My father is gone. The reality of it keeps sinking in every time I wake up. Sleep can’t fix or change reality, but it does bring the comfort of not worrying about it. I’ll admit that what I was doing was unhealthy. It’s something that I should face sooner or later, but in my situation, it’s a rather difficult thing to do. I could not talk about my problems with anyone. I could not even talk about it to my human friends because, as far as they knew, my father was already gone—at least from the story that I told them when I got here. The only person, or werewolf, that I could really confide in is Ajax, whom I refuse to talk to. I refuse to trust him again. He had made several attempts to talk to me, but every time he did, I would slam the door in his face. I didn’t go unpunished when I disobeyed an order during an emergency. After making a recovery in the infirmary, I was given a week of suspension. Well, not like getting in trouble or getting kicked out of the academy is any of
I darted past Ajax and ran out of my room for the first time in days. I didn’t get that far when Ajax grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. He holds me firmly at his side and addresses the other students who have gotten out of their rooms after hearing the alarm out of curiosity. “Stay in your rooms. The alert is at the facility. There’s no need to leave your rooms unless the alarm is on this building.” Ajax calmly orders them back. The students hesitated for a bit but soon began to retreat into their rooms. After they’re gone, I start to try to free myself from Ajax. “We’re done, Ajax. Let me go!” A growl escapes me when I whisper the words out. His strong grip is making it impossible for me to break free from him. “I don’t want to cause a scene, so let go.” “So do I.” He avoids my gaze while keeping his hold on me firmly. “Stay in your room. Like I told the others, you don’t have to get involved.” With the way that he clenches his teeth and how nervous he looks, I have a feeling
My worst fears have come to fruition. The instant I opened my eyes and saw that I was in the hunter's holding facility, my wolf went into a frenzy. I was locked up in a small room with no windows and only one exit. The bed is in a corner, and the only other fixtures are a sink and a toilet. At the top corner, there’s a camera, which allowed them to realize that I had woken up and destroyed my room in my wolf form. Well, the most damage that I have honestly done is scratch the walls, which were apparently made of durable metal. I don’t know how many days I have been held captive here, but all I know is that I have been tranquilized three times because of my rampage. I guess that much is enough for my wolf to realize that nothing will happen if we continue to trash around. Meals are being slipped through the small compartment on the door, where a little tray hangs in suspension. I was scared and confused. No one said anything. I couldn’t hear anything outside. I have been waiting to s
It’s the first time leaving my white prison, and I feel conflicted with different emotions. For one, I feel scared because I don’t have any idea what’s going to happen to me. I’m afraid, nervous, and happy. They told me that I was going to meet up with Markov Belemeire, Holly’s father. It’s not Holly’s father that I am looking forward to meeting, but Holly herself. Is Holly going to be with him? As much as I am excited to see her, I can’t help but feel afraid of what she’s going to think of me. To them, I am nothing but a beast. The hunters escorting me are even more wary. I can see their tense movements, even if I am already handcuffed. There are about four of them—two in front and two at the back. One of them is a werewolf. It’s hard to believe that I had conversations with them before. How they are treating and looking at me right now feels like they are handling a beast rather than an ally whom they used to fight with. It’s saddening, but I have to accept the fact that this mig
The day of the trial came, and I came in as prepared as I could be. The cuffs are scratching my wrist as my hands are bound in front of me. I was being escorted by four hunters. During these past few days of conversing with my lawyer, I thought that I would have gotten used to the criminal treatment, but it seems that those feelings have resurfaced when I am met with a bigger crowd. I was led into a courtroom, where I was escorted to one of the front podiums facing the lead hunters and leaders. According to her, the trial will be among hunters so they can disclose the rules amongst each other about what to do with a creature like myself. The crowd and the judges are all hunters. Men and women all wear tight, dry fit black tops, showcasing their scars and muscles while crosing their arms. They were all looking at me. I feel terrified, especially when I am led to the center, where everyone in the room is free to stare at me. I can feel the hatred and distrust in their gazes when they
I was so surprised to see Marian behind the doors. I never expected that I would be seeing her again. My hands clench. I want to look away, but at the same time, I can’t. The thought of meeting my friends often troubled me while I was in my cell. I thought of ways to explain the situation to them, but nothing seemed to come to mind. How could I tell them the whole truth about myself without getting looks of disdain? I am of a different race from them—a race that they consider a monster. Marian walks confidently to the front. When she manages to pass by me, she looks in my direction and surprises me when she suddenly smiles. Her pink hair is in a high ponytail that sways behind her when she passes me to head to the front to join Diona. I could not speak a word and silently followed her movements. She looks different, or more accurately, her demeanor is different now. “My name is Marian Atkinson. 37 days ago, the orcs attacked a small part of town, raiding and taking the women capt
It takes a while for me to get used to the collar around my neck. I never imagined that I would get to wear them, but here I am, strapping the cursed neckwear around my neck. Still, if I think about it, wearing the collar is way better than being locked up so I guess that this is a small price to pay for my freedom. I get out of my room and find Indigo waiting for me. At the moment, he is the one assigned to carry the remote that controls my collar. I vaguely remember Max being in a similar position as I was, only he had two guards with him the entire time. I guess that I should consider myself fortunate that they think that only one guard is sufficient to watch over me. Indigo and I didn’t talk on the way to the academy. With what happened, I don’t think that there’s anything we need to talk about anymore. I am sensing a little bit of distrust coming from him, which is understandable considering the risks that I put us through. Honestly, he was a father figure for me at some point
Perhaps I was a little in over my head when I thought that making a peaceful relationship with humans as I am now would be easy. If the writings on my desk weren’t proof enough or the stares that I get when I am walking the hallway of the school, then the whispers obviously are. Classes resume pretty normally, as normal as I can understand the lesson. I still don’t understand much about what they are teaching, but I swear I am making an effort. I try to comprehend what the textbooks say while listening to the lecture, but its hard to focus when things are thrown in your way—from crumpled paper to an eraser. I did try to make an attempt to block them but the professor ended up thinking that I was trying to cause trouble and threatened me that they wouldn’t hesitate to activate my collar if I did. It was embarrassing on my part, but there really is nothing that I can do. I don’t think that trying to explain the situation to them is going to work, not while I sense malice from the profe
I run into the woods as fast as my four wolf legs can carry me. My run would have been more joyful if I wasn’t being chased by someone. ‘Too slow!’ Ajax’s black wolf form appears out of the woods to come and jump at me. I sidestepped and leaped to my left. In mid-jump, I change my form. My legs grew longer and my back became straighter, elongating enough to support my new form. I bounce on my two legs, jumping high up until I am perching on one of the branches of a tree. I smirk as I look down on Ajax. His cold glare doesn’t even look nearly as scary as when I am standing on the same ground as him. ‘That’s cheating, Belle! You are using your lycan form!’ ‘Don’t be ridiculous. This is just me using my gifts.’ I give him a toothy grin. I feel like my smile is scarier as a lycan than it is when I am a werewolf. ‘Get down from there.’ ‘Why don’t you climb up?’ I continue to taunt him, enjoying the way that his face scrunches as he frowns. I chuckle. ‘Oh, alright. Fine.’ I jump do
I can feel the Lycan soul in my chest shifting impatiently as I follow Ajax and Indigo to the lair. The loud noises of growling and howling were making me antsy. It was so loud that I could hear them behind the waterfalls. Through the noises that they were making, I can somehow hear their fear and anguish. There’s nothing worse for outgoing creatures like us than to be held captive, especially in their own home. “Are you alright?”Ajax pauses when he notices me clutching my chest. His forehead creases with worry. “How long have they been kept in there?”My chest hammers wildly as I anticipate his response. “For as long as you were out.” When he sees my bewildered expression, he adds, “but we do try to let them out as much as possible!” I appreciate what Ajax did, honestly. He also knows that lycans get claustrophobic if they aren’t out and running—they are just like werewolves. However, in their minds, they are prisoners, so I know that they would never step foot outside even if t
About three days later, I return to the academy, much to my mother and doctor’s disapproval. I could not stand being in a sick ward room for so long because of all the smells of sickness and medicines. They give the two wolves inside of me anxiety. Arriving at the academy feels more like home to me than it was before. Getting out and smelling the familiar field of the academy fills me with so much ease that I even want to curl up in the dirt and sleep. However, there is one matter that I need to address.... “No.” Ajax straight up tells me before even hearing me out. I just got into his office after setting my stuff back in my room. “I won’t allow it.” “You didn’t even try to hear what I was going to say!” Ajax looks at me before grabbing my hand and leading me to the sofa, where he sits right next to me. He is still holding my hand. “You just recovered. You need to have a few more days of rest.” “Your idea of rest is based on human bodies. I am a werewolf and a lycan. My bod
My emotions are all over the place, even as I am in my room and fully dressed. Celine is no longer in the room, probably after she sensed that I was out looking for her with a murderous intent. The only one with me right now is Marian, who is helping me tie dry my hair after a shower. “Lay off the grumpy expression, babe.” Marian gleefully tries to cheer me up. “I am sure that Celine only said it as a sort of motivational speech.” “But I am motivated.” I reply. “I do hope that you don’t mean to strangle her.” I flinch, knowing that I was caught red-handed. “Belle, we all want to strangle her most of the time, so you might have to wait for your turn.” She smiles and gives me a subtle wink. “Belle!” The childish scream comes first long before the child behind the door enters. Holly enters, bouncing on her tiptoes as she heads right towards me. Her arms barely enough to wrap around my waist when she hugs me. I fumble with my words. I may not remember much, but I do know that I
I wake up feeling something in my skin. Soft beeping of machines is forcing my brain to wake and regain consciousness. I crack an eye open. My vision is blurry from sleep. It takes a while before my eyes settle, allowing me to see my surroundings. I am in a room that I am not familiar with, but based on the machines and the smell of the place, I am definitely in a hospital. My left hand moves to remove the oxygen mask from my face so I can get a clear sniff of the room. Yep. I am definitely in a hospital. But how did I get here? My head spins as I push myself up. Muscles scream at me for the abrupt movement. It has been a while since I felt sore and stiff. But somehow I sense that this isn’t the normal soreness that one would feel coming from overusing muscles. It comes from not using your muscles for a long time. A click coming from the door alerts me to my incoming visitor. My attention diverts in that same direction at the same time as the familiar scent of someone wafts i
I am a monster. To think that I harmed those I vowed to protect with these hands of mine. What I have aren’t even hands. They’re the hands of a lycan, the very species that I despise. How did it come to this? I am a werewolf just a while ago. Why did I become a lycan? These thoughts swirled in my head as I continued to run in the forest with no destination in my. The sense of smell in this form dwindles when compared to my own form, but I am feeling the physical enhancement on my body. One swing from my arm and I can break a thinking tree in half. It is something that I could never do when I was a werewolf. The immense strength scares me. No other lycan is this powerful—not even the late alpha. I broke another tree. I stare at it for long, feeling troubled when I cause another damage in the forest. My breath hitches as I walk backward to stare at the damages, causing my back to hit a tree. I got startled, and instincts kicked in. I claw at the trunk, sending splinters everywhere
I am filled with rage to the point that my mind is clouded. I am not sure what I am here for, but I want to wreck everything. Strong emotions are driving me to howl loudly. It was a loud howl that could even rival the howl of an alpha. The strong waves from my howl shook the cave and making my ears ring. A movement draws me to the closest target in front of me. He is a bigger looking lycan. I believe that he is the current Alpha of the pack—I forgot his name. Just looking at him is somehow igniting a strong fire of rage in my chest. I can’t remember what he did or what I am doing here. There’s one thing in my mind that was clear, though. It is to get rid of that lycan. I want to see him bleed. I want to see him in pain. A ferocious growl escapes my lips, and I find myself moving towards him. My legs feel heavy. I think I am moving slower than I originally do, but the strength that I carry feels like it is more than doubled. I wildly swing a claw at the lycan before me. The opposin
My ears were ringing when everyone was rendered speechless at my declaration in challenging his position. ‘Belle, what is this about?’ I can understand where Ajax’s confusion is. We talked about me taking over the pack before, and we deemed that it wouldn’t be wise if I am not fully committed to the role. ‘Don’t worry.’ I reassure him. ‘My intention for the challenge isn’t halfhearted.’ I briefly meet Ajax’s gaze, hoping my gaze can convince him of my conviction. As much as I hate the alpha, this is still my home. This is where I grew up. And although I didn’t have the best childhood, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t grow up with love. Not all Lycans rolled their eyes on us or made fun of us. Not all humans and werewolves are bad, just like not all lycans are. If that were true, I would have grown up to become rotten since my dad is a lycan. It’s just a matter of how the leader leads their colony. Ajax steps back. A proud smile seemed to creep on his wolfish feature. ‘You got th
Alpha Lupert gazes down upon me with a steady gaze. Even from where I am, I can feel the brewing hatred from him in his aura. I grew scared at first, but the fear soon subsided when the burning rage ate away all other fleeting emotions I had. If anyone should be angry, it should be me. The Lycan I am facing is the root cause of all of my hardships. He took away my family, my life, and now, he took Holly. “You gained a look in your eye while staying with the humans.” He comments. He was almost growling and chewing out the words while talking in his lycan form. He then snorted. “Though it doesn’t seem to stop you from being a foolish coward. I can’t believe that it takes us to take a human girl for you to show yourself instead of hiding behind human walls.” ‘I wasn’t hiding.’ Unlike the lycans, I cannot speak with my mouth when I am in wolf form. ‘I was contemplating something.’ “Care to share what a traitor like you is thinking about after murdering my son?” He is going to regre