ZADEOlivia is mad.I wouldn’t blame her, I have been subtly avoiding her as I take care of this mess we are in.“Did I do something wrong?”I hate seeing her mad or making her uncomfortable.“I have been up and down dealing with this mess. You haven’t done anything wrong,” I pull her to me, kissing the top of her head.I used to feel good holding her. I used to love being in close contact with her, touching and even fooling around constantly. As werewolves, we are highly sexual and tactile so as much skinship as we can get, we welcome it.Now I am getting no joy holding her. A big part of me desires to keep her at a distance and not touch her because she doesn’t feel right.Because she isn't her.I think Olivia is starting to notice it too because she pulls away, giving me her back. She wipes a tear away, crossing her arms. I feel like a dick for doing this to her.“I thought that I could ignore it but you can't even hold me without thinking about her.”There is only one person who h
ARII have hardly slept the whole night.So when I hear the knob of my dorm room turn, I am wide awake, alert; but I am too slow because the door bangs open, and before I jump from the bed to the living room, I am tackled down on the floor before being hauled back on the bed.I am not weak, but I haven’t eaten for days too, so the assailants easily overpower me.Five girls to one.They are all wearing ski masks, but I know who it is even with the masks. Two people have promised me to make my stay here so much more interesting, and one of them is making it true to make their promise so early in the morning.She is carrying a bucket. I am struggling and trying to fight off the girls who have me pinned on the mattress, but I can't. So I am immobile as she tips the bucket, and ice-cold water that must have been from the freezer drowns me.The cold hit me, and I gasped, trying not to drown. I am soaked from head to toe, but I still struggle until the girls start hitting me.Punching and ki
ARII am a ghost, fleeting through lives and not even living. I get told to go this way, I do. When I am told to jump, I do.The only color and life that is in my life is the fact that I will be done with this life when I graduate. I thought it would be when I turned eighteen but no. That came with being told I had to mingle and be like the rest of the kids. Be like the legacies.The owner of the life I am living.Owners. That’s how I feel about them. Nothing in this life is mine. I don’t feel like I belong. I don’t wish to. I lost my home, I lost myself and right now I am only going through the motions.Sure, I act and show my mother that I am normal. I put on a fucking smile when I need to, and I laugh and tell a joke when it is needed. All for her not to look at me too closely. Not to question my character because then she might see me. The real me.Then she will see the real daughter she has.Dead. Hollow. An empty shell grasping at life even though I am failing to hold on.I find
ARIIt’s all happening too slowly, yet my whole body is frozen. My eyes widen as his face slowly closes in and his lips press on mine.They are soft, cushiony… and very hot. I can feel his breath on my face, the way he smells, closing me. Before I can control myself, I close my eyes, one hand touching his chest that’s inches away from mine, leaning in.It's hard ... defined ...I part my lips, and his tongue brushes inside my mouth, causing me to shiver and a moan involuntarily escapes from my lips, my knees getting weak.Just as I relish this feeling … this alien warmth I have never felt in my life … it gets ripped away and I am left panting, seeking it but the cause is stepping back, putting some distance between us.Zade looks at me with a cruel smirk, those silver eyes so dark and cold I think I might turn to frost as he spits down.“just like your mother and yet you say I shouldn’t do, what?” he wipes his lips like it's disgusting, no. Like I am disgusting before he sputs again.
ARINo beauty of the morning can melt away the anguish and the coldness slowly seeping inside my heart.“oh my!” my mom’s high-pitched exclamation makes me wince a little.“Hi Mom,” I murmur, tugging my lips into a smile as we hug but before I can sit down, she pulls me closer to her.“Whatever happened my baby? Have you been crying?”I nod, looking down, and when she pulls me for a hug, I feel the tears prickling again at the back of my eyelids. I squeeze them shut, not wanting to start another crying session. I missed my mom.I let her hold me until I am ready that’s when we pull apart.The visitor's court is set up like a restaurant, with an actual restaurant and tables under fancy umbrellas and green lawns.“I am so sorry baby, I should have come sooner,” she grips my hand and I frown.“What?”“I heard that you got mated but he rejected you,” she looks so guilty. “This is all my fault.”“How is this your fault?” my words come out a little sharper than I intend to and I notice her
ARIOn the flyer I was given, Evencrest Academy- the name scrawled out in big bold letters, it was made clear from the beginning that it would be nothing like the human schools I attended so far.Sure, it has only wolves, but they all come from different packs under one massive tree: the legacies.The legacies themselves are in the official pack- the Phoenix pack where Mr. Parker is the alpha, the king alpha, and his son zade, is the future alpha prince.With all the royalties going to the academy and the top of the cream pack daughters and sons of the pack members going there too, the curriculum is bound to be special and top-notch.Or so I expected.Today, there is a sort of trial going on.Yep, the school has an annual cull that happens after every red moon and the reason is to eliminate. One would ask themselves to eliminate what? After all, the students here are people who say death would cause shakes and disturbance. But no, this is a special type of trial.This is where all tho
ZADE“She is going to kill her.”Rowan, my best friend snickers as he continues playing against me in the video game we are matching up against.“She is not going to kill her, because she knows that she is not supposed to,” I correct him, as I defeat him in the game.“Rhea said they are going to be jumping her, do you think she can survive that?”I know his twin sister is a menace and Livie’s best friend. Maybe Rowan is right, that the girl mated to me might be in danger tonight.“Dude, how lucky are you, being fought for by two hot girls, all wanting to be your mates?” Castiel, my other best friend's shoulder bumps me from my right side, as he takes the controller from Rowan's hand and starts another match against me.“he doesn’t want the new girl, he is set on only Olivia, his childhood sweetheart,” Logan who is seated behind us watching us play sounds so bored by the conversation, and his sarcastic tone grates on my nerves.“says the guy who is being driven crazy by a girl,” I stan
“Why do you hate her so much anyway?” a girl who is wearing all black asks as she crosses her arms, looking so bored.“Rhea, she is mated to Zade. What other excuse do you need to support me on this?”Rhea shrugs. “That's enough, it's just that she looks so pathetic. She is shaking.”“And? When has that ever stopped you from stepping on a cockroach?”Rhea shrugs again. “you're right. Let's do this I need to catch up with my show.”“do you think Zade might get back on us for this? I know you are not worried since you are his girlfriend and all, but I don’t want to get on his bad side,” the third girl looks at Olivia with wide baby blue eyes.“Katie, focus,” Rhea snaps her finger on her face.“zade doesn’t mind. He told me to have fun tonight right before he gave me this,” Olivia raised a club stick.“I see why you two are a match,” Rhea rolls her eyes.As they have this conversation, Olivia is still pulling my hair, and then she presses the club on my face.“Should I ruin your face fi
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
ZADE“I think we should be honest with each other.”“I have been honest with you from the get-go.”“No, no, you haven’t been,” I exhale, as I clench my fingers around the wheel. “We haven’t both been honest. At least one of you is going to hate me, let it be when you and I have no miscommunication or misunderstandings between us.”Ari only shakes her head, arms crossing. “I don’t know what you are getting at.”“I will go first.” I want us to have at least a less explosive relationship. Bickering every time and throwing each other glares and snide comments whenever we are together is starting to get old for me.Because I am starting to wonder if she will ever look at me with anything but hate, disdain when we are outside the bed. If she ever smiles at me genuinely, and if we ever are in silence, even hold hands without wanting to kill each other.I am starting to wonder how it would feel for Ari silvers to smile at me. How her eyes crinkle, of they do when she is smiling, what her laug
ARI“You thought I would forgive you after you reported me to my father that I am not a good mate?”I almost choke on the cake, and I have to glare at him. “I don’t care what you think, but I didn’t go to your father to complain about our lack of a good relationship.”He sits back as he crosses his arms and those damn muscled arms that I remember touching … holding onto …I clear my throat, shrugging. “Are you mad at me for your father approaching you, or are you just being petty?”“I am not going to forget about you paying for the damages if that’s what you are hoping for, Silvers.” He leans forward as he stands up, our faces so close that his breath fans on my face. “But I can be petty too, and you know it.”“How can I forget one of your redeeming qualities?” I ask, raising my eyebrows and closing the distance between us, and I don’t miss the way his nose flares in surprise.“If you are not by the parking lot after your last class, I will hunt you down, and it won't be pretty. You w