ARII am grappling in the dark. Ever since my mother got mated to the king alpha, I waited and kept watch for the other shoe to drop. Years of running and hiding, never settling, and always on the road have turned me into someone who doesn’t believe in happy endings.Why did he agree to let us in his territory so fast? Why did he mate my mother so fast, then take us into his beautiful home?As I sat in that mansion—too big and grand—I felt like I would stain it. He assured us that we would be safe with him and that all the bad people looking for us would be dealt with.That we had a home now and we could rest because he is in our lives now.I don’t believe in knights, I don’t even believe in saviours overall.But then I saw her. She looked so tired, worn out, and in need of a break. I saw how she leaned into him, sighing as if she was resting for the first time in years.How could I ever take that away from her?It has been just the two of us, and it hasn’t been the best. She has tri
ARIDo I continue living a lie, or do I take a chance at this new life?I can't quit it, If I do, the one person I want them to be happy won't. If I show everyone just how lost, just how confused I am, they won't hesitate to tear me apart.So here I am, lost, still fumbling in the dark. Feeling all these things and wondering if they are my feelings or not.Tonight has been a perfect example of what my life entails. A show. Performance.I think Zade saw through that.A part of me hates how much I see myself, even if it's just a small part of myself in him. The only difference is that he has so much anger toward his father, hates my mother for receiving something that he feels she shouldn’t, something that she doesn’t deserve.And hates me for taking his place.It should be his mother and his father. It shouldn’t be my mother and I, happy and being a loving family. I can understand where he is coming from.And I hate that. I hate that I can relate in some way, even if he is hurting me.
ARIIt's safe to say winter is my favourite time of the year.“I hate when we do this every year.” Mimi is shaking next to me, bundled up in so many layers I can't help the chuckle that slips out.“Are you that cold?”“I can feel it in my bones. I don't understand why you are wearing that.” by that she means a hoodie and that’s it.I could be naked and in the snow for days and not feel a thing.Yes, we are very warm by nature, but only to some degree. Some wolves prefer warmer weather, and others are much at home deep in the snow.I was born in the white Alps, where it’s snowing all year round. This place reminds me a little bit of home.We are on a school trip- a trip that will last for a week. So deep in the mountain, where snow is so thick, if you don’t shake it off after two minutes, you will be layered in it.I was expecting some sort of ca
ARI“Only my most trusted people and the ones who need to keep you safe. There is nothing wrong, I assure you. You can be yourself and not worry or fear that you will be in danger.”“But what if they see me as different?”“Then I will deal with them accordingly. You shouldn’t hide yourself to appease a bunch of teenagers who don’t know anything.”“I fear that …” I close my eyes as I bounce on my heels, feeling jittery. “I fear that someone will spot me, and the people who have been after us will know where to come find me.”A beat passes, and Mr. Parker is silent on the other end. “I should have told you this earlier.”“Told me what?”“We found them.”It's my turn now to pause.“What?”“We found the guys who were trailing you. They are taken care of. Your mom knows this
ARIEverything is heightened in this place.Feelings are much heavier, emotions much more prominent.What would I give to not have walked in on Zade and Olivia making out in the hot tub, which is a little secluded from the rest of the hot spring, where others are all in?They are in their cozy world, hands all over each other as they kiss. Olivia’s giggle breaks the spell I am under- a painful spell- and I turn around, opting to avoid that area and continue with my walk around the grounds.I have said that I won't feel anything, I won't even bother thinking about him, and yet here I am. I wish I could be unfeeling and unbothered by anything Zade does.I wish I could entirely blame it on the bond and say that it's making me this way. But a bond only highlights what exists already.The last time we talked, he told me he is lonely. How can someone like him be lonely? That’s impossible.He is surrounded by friends and powerful people at his whim and under his thumb. He has a girlfriend, s
ZADE“I have been looking for you.”Max walks up to where I am, and Olivia sits up.“And what do you want?” she asks, clearly not looking at the interruption.Max gives her a side glance. “I am not here for you, I am here for him.” Her chin juts towards me, and she stands on the other side of the table.“What can I do for you, Max?” she has been getting close to silvers, something I didn’t see coming.“I am looking for Ari. Have you seen her?”“How would I know? I am not her keeper.”She doesn’t look thrilled by my response, which makes me tilt my head as I regard her.“Well, can you at least tell me where I can find her using your bond? She isn't in our room, and I have been trying to find her all over the place. I think she might be lost.”True concern mars her face.“How rude of you. I thought where you were taught you better manners to not to disturb your alpha with such trivia matters.” Livie shifts closer to me, her hand falling on my thigh to drive a point.Max doesn't miss a s
ZADE“She is having a hard time, you know?”“What part of not wanting to talk about this did you not get?”Max nods, hands in her pockets as we walk around looking for silvers. Where could she possibly have run off to?“Do you think she feels happiness when she thinks of her new life?” Max asks me after a few minutes.I exhale, giving up. She will persist until she has said what she has in her mind. That’s max.“You tell me.”“I know you know, aren't you her ate? You are more connected to her than you will ever be connected with anyone else.”“And here we are, walking around looking for her, unable to pinpoint exactly where she is.”“She has suffered a great deal, just like you.”“I know you want me to feel connected, bond over the trauma we might share and each other’s pain. But I am just not there yet; all I feel is anger.”“Why?”I exhale, my shoulders loosening as I look up at the dark sky. Snow is falling heavily now.“At the dinner we had a few days ago, my father told me that h
ZADEShe is lonely.Feeling anguish.Good.I turn and start walking away.“What … where are you going?” Max asks.“You found her.”“Yes, but-““I am leaving now, Max. My nighttime schedule is behind because of you.”She doesn’t object, not that I was expecting her to.I need a drink.When I get to my room, I find the boys all gathered in front of the fireplace playing a game.“What you doing here?”“It’s so boring, there is nothing to do here other than be at the hot tub and then back in the rooms. It blows,” Cass groans as he stretches on the floor.I frown, shrugging off my coat. “Since when has that made you all look so sorry for yourselves?”“Since you started blowing us off to go for a midnight walk with Max.” Rowan rolls his eyes and throws the cards on the table.“Okay, then let's go roam the grounds.”The two look up at me, surprise marred on their faces. Logan only nods before he smiles. “I thought you had started to lose your spark.”“Never,” I smirk. “Let's do what we do be
ZADEEverything should have gotten better.No, everything should have changed once I decided not to let my dislike for silvers get in the way of me making amends to her. But she has been avoiding me and acting like I don’t exist at all.I haven’t been able to get her out of my mind before but now? now she is all I see. Now she is the epitome of my existence.She is posing a challenge and that is to ignore me and treat me like I am inviscible. Like we are not bonded and I cant sometimes fele her when she hasn’t blocked me out.Like I cant feel her so close to me like we are sharing the same skin, breathing the same air. We are intertwined, I am wearing her mark on my skin, and she is wearing mine, a sign that we are meant to be together, wheter we like it or not.I haven't liked it for a long time and I hated her some more for it. But even then, when I was swimming in my denial, I knew that my life would never be the same once she busted in.She is not someone you simply forget or even
ARII learnt how to drive when I was thirteen.My mother was so sick in the middle of the night, and it was the month we had to stay in a cabin away from towns and civilisations because she feared that the ones we had been running away from had caught up to us.I still don’t have a driver’s license, but I am a decent driver.The car, too, is so good and so sexy that I can't help the laugh that bubbles out of my throat. When I told Mr. Parker that I needed a car to get out of school like other students, he told me he already had one for me.It was a gift that he didn't think I would like but bought anyway. He is … thoughtful and trying to fill in my father's role.I appreciate that.I run my hands on the steering wheel, smiling so widely my cheeks are aching.A black mustang; sporty, sexy, just how I love it. The interior is all dark red and leather too, that new smell making my norse itch and I giggle as I start it, gearing as I speed out of the gate.Weeks ago I couldn’t get out of t
ARII am a girl that is broken.I have tried not to let it consume me, and when it was too much for me, I have tried containing it so that it won't consume those around me.Life for me has not been easy. It has been an endless darkness that threatens to twist me and fold me, shatter every new vine, every bone I form, and render me helpless, weak all my life.You can say I have tried not to let it show that I am drowning and just how broken and damaged I am. My mother can't tell you that I have been dead; she thinks I am fine.How can she know when my one purpose in life was to ensure that she never once realized the truth about me?But I am tired of keeping the darkness away. I am tired of carrying it like it weighs nothing, when it's only I who knows the truth about it—about the weight. I have been dead for a long time, just floating in the world.I have had to be with nothing, be nothing that it has infused in my blood, in my psyche. If you are nothing, if you don’t know anything, t
ARI“Are you sure you're okay?”“I am,” I take Max’s hand. “I promise if I feel any discomfort pain, I will tell you immediately.”She laughs. “You better.”“Okay, Mom,” I roll my eyes as I get off the bed. I have been cooped up here for some reason, but I have had enough.“I am just taking care of you, I feel partly responsible for this.” She isn't looking at me, head bowed in guilt.“You have no reason to. You aren't the one who pushed me off the roof,” I shrug. “I was a little reckless too, going up there in the middle of the night to meet with the same girl who beat me to death a few days earlier.”“Why did you?”I sigh, leaning on the small closet in the room where my clothes have been put. “I wanted to get it over with? I knew we had to talk at some point, so getting that out of the way … and I was curious what she wanted to say.”She frowns, obviously disagreeing with my choices. I can't blame her, I mean, look where it got me. "What did she want?”“She wanted me to stay away f
ZADEI get to my room, feeling like I am about to lose it, only to find …“I have been waiting for you.”Olivia. Naked in my bed, waiting for me.“I knew we had to talk alone,” she kneels on the bed.My strides are quick as I reach over to the bed and clamp my fingers around her neck, making her gasp and look up at me with wide eyes, confusion, and then terror reflecting in her eyes.“I told you I don’t allow anyone in my bed.” I don’t feel a thing, not even as she starts to scratch my hand, trying to get me to let her go.“I thought I made myself clear when I told you that me amd you are done. Why don’t you get through that your little skull?”I squeeze tighter, all the mindache that has been assaulting me since I got away from that hospital room, finally zeroing in on the girl in front of me. Maybe she should die.Would Silvers forgive me if I killed her? Would she see this as a good form of apology? Will it be enough?Olivia starts to lose consciousness, the fight leaving her body.
ZADE“I did it for you.”Experated sigh, then an eye roll. “I didn’t think you were attached to her like this. Don’t you hate her?”The longer Olivia keeps talking, the angrier I get.“Get out.”She looks at me, surprised. “What?”“Get out.”“You can't be serious,” she huffs, flicking her hair over her shoulder. You can't talk to me like that and tell me to leave just because of her.”I have a feeling if she doesn’t move, I might remove her myself. “I am. Now get out while I am being nice.”She tripped. I am not to blame that she is clumsy! What was I supposed to do when she fell? Jump after her? I called you, that’s enough to show I care.”“you didn’t call me, I found out on my own.” my hands are shaking. I a barely holding myself back from making sure she gets what she has done to ari only worse.“Whatever, all I am saying is, I did it for you. I called you and found you not because of her but for you.”“Olivia.”“You only call me that when you are serious.”“I want you to listen ca
ARII shouldn’t have agreed to come here.I don’t trust her, but I couldn’t ignore the call either. I wonder what she wants to say now that she has called me.The location too is very strange. I mean, who call someone up a frooftop in the middle of the night all in the name of talking?Olivia, that’s who.“I thought you wouldn’t come.” Her voice echoes before I see her. She shows herself from the stone she was leaning against, blending in with the shadows.“I was curious as to what you wanted to say to me.” I try not to show that I am intimidated by her. She did try to kill me, so of course I am wary. I would be a fool if I weren’t.“I suppose you would be,” she chuckles, tilting her head to the side. Her long hair slides off her shoulder, making the angle even more alluring. I still cant see her face, as her back is facing where the moon is illimunating from the sky.Soo, talk,” I shrug, hoping she will start already and I can go back to sleep. Not that I was, but she doesn’t need to
ZADEI don’t move an inch from where I am, exhaling slowly as Olivia sits next to me, shoulder to shoulder. I didn’t hear her coming up.I must have been distracted. Again.“can't sleep?”“When have I ever been able to?”She chuckles, before laying her head on my shoulder. “sorry, I forgot you are an insomniac like me.”When I don’t say anything, she sighs. “Just one of the things we are alike, don’t you agree?”“I guess.” I have been trying to spend less time with her. She must have noticed that he sought me out like this.“You haven’t come to see me for a while. I am starting to think you are ignoring me again.”“I have been busy.”“If its school work, I know you are way ahead and you have already aced the exams even before they are announced.”“I have other duties other than academics.”“I know, I have your full schedule, remember?”Right, I forgot.“Why have you been ignoring me?”“I thought it would be easier if we slowly got out of each other's lives.” Not even my grandpa is sup
ZADEShe has changed.It's in the way she is talking and interacting with others, or lack thereof.It's in the way I can't seem to be getting under her skin anymore. Even the way she is looking at me nowadays, like she can see me but not really. As if she is looking right through me. Together and in front of me but not truly with me.It's annoying me.We are back to the academy, thank hells for that because I couldn’t take more of that camp any more. I dont want to be around her, so close yet so far away and I don’t know how to even fix it.She was starting to look at me differently, too. It started as wariness, then to fear and then to something akin to … familiarity. Comfortable.But now it’s something I hadn’t seen from her before. She is looking at me like I don’t matter at al. she can see me and in her mind, I simply don’t matter, don’t hold anything of importance for her to regard me as anything but someone who she has to deal with in the specific moment I am with her.I don’t l