ARIFor a cruel day, the weather is perfect.The cold air hit my skin and I exhale, feeling the weight of my circumstances heavy on my shoulders. I have never considered this to be my home, but the view on my balcony of my bedroom is so beautiful. The vast green rolling fields before a forest line breaks it is so perfect.I sigh when I scent the pancakes that mother is making me for my eighteenth birthday. Every wolf looks forward to this day, the mark day when they will meet their mate.I hear my mother coming in and I slip in my bedroom, jumping in bed and pretending to be still asleep. I am determined to avoid any confrontation today if I can and being absent until I am off to the new school.The thought of the new school makes me nervous but I will myself to be calm when I hear my mom turning the knob to my room.“Honey, wake up. It’s a new beautiful day,” she goes straight to the window and draws the curtain and comes to sit beside me.“I know you are awake, so stop hiding from m
ARIThe limo rolls through the massive gates and a long driveway comes into view, giving into tall stone buildings that look like castles. The school is so massive, and beautiful that it puts to shame all the private top schools I went in the human world.“Do you like it?” Mr. Parker asks me and I nod, while turning to look at them. “I wanted us to stay and meet your new friends and mates but Jacob has a meeting in New York so we are leaving tonight; you don’t mind do you?” my mom asks and I shake my head.“Mom, I will be okay. I will let you know everything tonight,” I wave the gadget I am holding, “I have this thing called a phone, it allows people to communicate when they are long distance.”My parents laugh, my mom rolling her eyes at me. “Look at you, treating me like an old lady,” she cajoles, and I laugh as I look outside the window again just as the limo stops.Some students are mingling at the front and I wonder how I will be received since I am the only one who is attending
ARIStanding 6’5 foot of perfection is looking at me with … hate and murder in his eyes that I forget how to breathe.Dressed in all black, his hands are tucked in his pickets, his perfect body so evidently godly sculpted despite the layers, a sharp jaw, chiselled cheeks, and piercing blue eyes. His hair cropped short leaving the front a little longer, he is so magnificent, insanely beautiful it should be a crime.“If you are done ogling-““I am just wondering why you have declared war on me. I just got here.”The lanky guy who is behind me chokes and I wonder what his deal is.“Don’t ever interrupt me when I am speaking again.”I have imagined my first time meeting the prince so many times and it always involved us wearing formal clothes, and acting cordial even though the only thing that connects us is our parents. I never thought it would be this harsh and unwelcoming.He comes near me, his alpha energy palpable that the lanky guy starts to choke. I try to hold my own but I feel i
ZADEI never expected her actually to come here.She must have been so stupid or deluded because when I saw her getting out of the limo with my father and her mom looking like a perfect family, I knew she had just signed her death warranty.I haven’t seen her physically before, but I have kept my eyes on her all these years since they came to my home. Ever since my father mated another woman and forgot about my mom like she never existed in the first place.Nothing pained me more than when he assumed to be perfect and began being an actual father to her and a loving doting mate to the whore of the mate who then proceeded to come into the house, my mom’s house, and get the title, Luna; the title my mom was proud of.I hated them.My thoughts are cut short when I see her walking towards the ballroom from the balcony I am standing on. I didn’t think she would attend, but she is; walking and looking like she belongs here. I want to show her how much she doesn’t and make sure she regrets i
ARI“What a phony!”“So delusional!”“I don’t even feel sorry for her. Everyone knew Zade was choosing Olivia tonight.”The students sneer and talk about me so openly, throwing me disgusted glances like I am the worst person in the whole world.I do feel shitty but it has nothing to do with the way the students are all looking at me where I am still on the floor, tears running down my face, looking like a mess.I try to stand up but trip on my dress and fall back down again and they snicker, before going back to the ballroom and closing the door behind them.They can’t stand my sight.I have always been alone and I never minded it, because I knew I had my mother. But in this moment I feel so alone in the world when I am left in the hallway. I knew that getting mated to Zade would not end well, but this was a catastrophe.I am still feeling our shredded bond very fresh and I wonder if I will ever heal, or if the pain of being rejected tonight is going to add to the grave of pain that I
ARIHave you ever felt so alone in the world that you knew that no one was coming to save you?No matter who is around you, they won’t help you even if you are on your last breath. When you can’t reach out to those who can help you because your back is against the wall?That is my life.The first days are supposed to be chill, and boring and the new student is supposed to be invisible.Not me.At least not this time.A hot cup of water is thrown on my face and I feel it burning my skin, scalding me that I am in so much pain but I don’t cry out.One thing I promised myself yesterday night after reality dawned on me is that I won’t cry. I have no more tears to cry, and giving them the satisfaction of seeing me crying and in pain is something I won’t do.Even though I want to cry out and run to stick my face in the freezer, I only clench my jaw as I try to open my eyes.The girl in front of me is smirking, looking at me …daring me to say anything. I am nothing here. A mere dirt, poor, ch
ZADEI settle my eyes on the girl who is giving me the cold shoulder like she has any right to ignore my presence.So, my mom died and then my father found another woman immediately after. There is nothing wrong with having to fuck another, but to marry the said woman, to mate her and claim her, months after my mom’s death? That’s downright cruel. To make it worse, he invited the whore and the daughter to my house. The home my mom has decorated and made it ours. The home she grew up in. Then she redecorated. The last time I went there, I couldn’t even recognize anything. All the memories, any trace of my mother is gone and what’s left of our family … is nothing. All gone.So yes, I hate them. They have taken my family away. I hate my father as well. How could he do this to my mom?I hate him and his new family. I hate them all.If I hate them and I want nothing to do with them, then they should stay in their space and I will stay in mine. The contact should be as minimal as possible.
ZADEI am far ahead of all classes, a requirement I have been drilled into since I could walk and attend school.That’s why I can afford to miss the normal classes and meet my grandfather.I have always been close to him, but ever since I fell out with my father, we have been closer than before. I meet him in the country clubhouse outside Oakland.“How is school?” the tall man whose strength I can feel even standing a few feet away asks me.Our generation has always sired alphas and leaders. We have always been the king alphas, and I will continue the bloodline by making sure my children and the children of my children all follow in their footsteps.“I have passed all the examinations. I am ahead of all classes by two lessons,” I respond as I hit the small ball with my stick feeling impressed.“That is the bare minimum. How is your combat level? Are you keeping up with the training? Political classes that you are taking outside your normal school work?”My smug smile fades as I nod. I
ARI“What's going on inside this little mind?” his voice is so close to me, nose brushing my temple.I should feel something. A tingle, but I am so damn tired. All I want is to sleep, forget that I exist for a few hours before I start going back to my life. I can't escape it anymore, now can I?“Nothing,” I sigh. “I am just a little sleepy.”Is he expecting more from me tonight?I wish I had the girls with me. They would allow me to be in your space. Maybe I should call them, text them, but I don't have my phone. I remember crashing it in the hotel suite before I walked out into the traffic.Maybe I am not as okay as I think. But getting a grip is important.If I am going to avenge and face the people who ruined me to begin with, I can't let go of the reality. I need to be focused and work hard to make sure they don’t destroy me before I destroy them.I know I am not going to come out of it. The plans I made to go study law as further studies, get out of the pack and live my life as a
ARIMy life is a mess.It’s a fucked life, painful, dry, bland, void of colour.I am ugly too, rotting slowly inside, underserving of anything good because that’s just what is set in stone for me.Despite it all, despite feeling all of that, as Zade looks at me like I mean something, like I matter … I can't help but want to be under that gaze for a longer time.He is looking at me how he used to look at Olivia, like he might love me, like I mean something. He wants to know if I am okay, taking care of me, a gentle, caring touch on my cold, withering soul.I don’t deserve it, and yet.I yearn for it. Crave it. I can't not shudder under it.“Do you want me to ask you?”Yes. I want him to ask me. I want him to push for me to tell him what's going on in my head. For him to fight for me. I am selfish like that. Mother didn’t say anything untrue, because here I am, asking and taking what doesn’t belong to me.I came into this life, took Olivia’s man under fate’s guidance, and yes. It hurt.
ARII don’t think I have ever truly let myself think deeply about Zade, who is becoming, and his birthright. I am not one to attach my identity to the boy I am seeing or crushing on, and in this case, the boy I am mated to.But it's still heavy. I find it … sexy that he is already so mature, powerful too, and it's only going to get even better.Yes, I think I am crushing on Zade, and I can't control choking on my water once that fully hits me.“Are you okay?” he asks me as he rushes to my side, rubbing my back.“Yeah,” I wheeze out. “Guess I am a little surprised.”“Why?” he chuckles as he gets back to cooking.“The first thing someone sees when they see you is how spoiled you are.” That’s not true.The first thing I saw and felt when I first laid my eyes on him was just how magnetic and powerful he was. Yes, you could tell from miles away that he is wealthy, but it wasn’t the kind I got from the rest of the students.No, his was the quiet, generational wealth that just didn’t come fr
ARIIt’s weird.I woke up feeling this gut-wrenching painful reminder that I was still alive, that I am still feeling, and my mind is still as loud as before.I wasn’t ready to face myself, the world, or even reality, so I went back to sleep despite not knowing where I was. I could hear someone, a female, who would come and look after me once in a while. I should have been worried that a stranger was hovering over me.But I didn’t care. That’s how gone I was. I did manage to sleep more until I woke up again, and the tension in my temples was lessening.Someone was touching me like I was so fragile, and I could feel how gentle they were being. I knew it was Zade even before I could open my eyes.It felt better, the chatter, the exhaustion… it all lessened when he was around like this. It’s something I have come to notice, not ready to admit it yet, but it’s there.I could hear his thoughts. They were so unguarded, I wondered if he knew I could hear them, and it’s the first time I've be
ZADEShe is so beautiful.I exhale softly as I sit on the bed, watching her sleep. I can't resist reaching out with gentle fingers as I push back her hair off her face.Her hands are tucked under her chin, pressed to her chest, her body curled in as if she is feeling cold or protecting herself from something.But she isn't feeling cold; her body temperature is higher, too, which prompts me to stand up and walk over to the screen door. I slide it open, and the soft light curtains let the air in, billowing soundlessly.I had this bedroom built with a terrace garden, so it feels like someone is sleeping in a garden. I know she will love it when she wakes up.I sit on the floor, watching her as she exhales softly once cool air hits her skin.She had a massive panic attack, and I wasn’t there to help her. The first one she ever had was when she saw me kill that crush of hers –something I don’t regret, but I do regret triggering it- and she broke down in the bathroom.I knew she didn’t want
ZADEMercy.That word alone makes me hit her at the back of the neck as gently as I can, rendering her unconscious. I hold her limp body, my eyes on her now sleeping face, as I breathe hard.I am scared.I almost lost her a few minutes ago, and then watched her as she almost slipped out of her mind. I stand up as I carry her bridal style to my car, where I am parked. I don’t mind the eyes on me, murmuring bout the girl who almost got run over by walking to the busy highway.I secure Ari on the seat before I get in myself and drive away.I knew something was off, from the moment I saw her mother walking out of the hotel, minutes after I had dropped ari and then the coldness that overcame me like I had been pushed in an extremely icy frozen lake.I don’t think twice, taking her to my private home, somewhere no one knows, not even my father. She is still out cold, and I start to worry that I might have hurt her. Lying her gently on the bed, I clean her up, making sure she is comfortable
ARISomething is breaking inside me.I can’t feel my touch, even as I touch my chest. I have gone numb, nothing truly registering as I sit on the floor, remaining in a state of static as she has left me.What you are doing is not worth it.Not worth it.Nothing is worth it.What do I do now?A murderer. A misguided child. Doing things that I shouldn’t, wrecking her life.A broken wail escapes my lips as I hunch down, feeling like I am taking my first breath.This is not how it was supposed to go. How can this happen? I killed someone, but I don’t know why. I don’t know why I keep getting angry, like I am in a cage, and when I am let out, I lash out at the first person closest.I wish I could stop, remember myself, and stop getting so angry, to stop my actions before they are thrown back at me, like I am going crazy and need to be put down.Everything I am doing feels wrong. Everyone keeps telling me that I am doing the wrong thing the wrong way.I don’t know what to do anymore. I don’
ARIMy phone starts to vibrate incessantly, but I choose to ignore it.Everything is overwhelming. From this car ride, to the boy sitting next to me. I just want to be alone, maybe stare at the wall in silence for hours until I feel like I am coming back to myself.But it won't stop, now starting to ring nonstop. I sigh, picking it up and seeing that my mother has sent me a bunch of texts, starting calm, asking if she can talk to me until they all progress, calm evolving to anger.“Stop calling me,” I say as soon as I answer the tenth call.“Where are you?”“Why?”“I need to speak to you,” she sounds like she is out of breath.For a second, I thought the bad guys who had been chasing us had come back, and she was in danger.“Are you okay?” I sit up, alert. “Are you in danger?”“No, but we need to talk immediately. If not, I will go to your dorm and then we can talk there, but I am sure you don't want people to eavesdrop on this conversation.”My heart is hammering, and I can feel the
ZADEI don’t think twice, swerving the car by the side of the road and killing the engine. It happens all too fast, and Ari is heaving fast, palm pressed on her chest as she looks at me like I have lost my mind.Maybe I have, but I can't have this conversation while driving.“Why did you stop? Let’s get going, I need to get my car back and go on about my day.”“I am sorry.” It comes out in a whisper, where I bow my head, forehead pressed on the wheel.“Call it even, I left you for dead anyway,” she says, sitting back.“I am sorry,” I repeat, this time a little louder. When she doesn’t say anything, I turn my head to her. She is looking anywhere but at me.She knows what I mean, it’s the very thing that has been hanging above us, the thing that has been suffocating us both. The unspoken thing.“I don’t know what you are apologizing for.” She can't even look at me.“I am sorry for rejecting you, Ari.”The silence that stretches between us is deafening.Until she breaks it with a word th