Markov Belemiere. Apparently, he is the top dog on human land. He doesn't seem particularly formidable; rather, he seems like a regular, frail human being. A few times I have caught a glimpse of him through the window as I spied on him from afar, and I was surprised to see a skinny man with brown hair and a strange square mustache. “My daughter!” He cries when Holly rushes towards him. He wraps her in a tight embrace. “I was so afraid. Why did you have to go out of the borders like that?” The scene reminded me of my father that I had to look away. While Holly and her father were conversing, I busied myself with looking at my surroundings. There are so many things in here that doesn’t make sense to me. All I know is that humans are using too much unnecessary items for their comfort. Not to mention that two hunters positioning themselves at the door behind me. “Belle, is it?” I look up the moment I hear them calling my name. I try not to frown or growl because I want to keep the fa
I wake up later than I usually would back in the woods. I can’t help it. The sleeping quarters of humans are too comfortable, as much as I hate to admit it. The animal called “bed” must have died and been stuffed meticuously for it to be this soft to lie down on. It must be a rare creature that is only bred by humans because I don’t think that I have ever seen one of its kind before. Speaking of which, there’s something that bothers me here. Somehow, humans seem to have captured the sun’s offspring and placed it on the ceiling of this room. Apparently, they can control it by pressing something called a ‘switch’. The door of my room opens and a girl in frilly clothes enters. I remember her name from last night. I think it was Kylie. I sit up from where I am laying down and rub my eyes to keep myself awake. I still do not trust humans to be asleep when one of them is here.“Miss Belle, what happened here?” Kylie gasps when she sees the mess on the ground. “I freed the sun’s child.
The day after my visit with Ajax and Holly in the human town, I got a letter. Since I could not read it, I had to ask Ajax to read it for me since even the maids had no idea how to decipher the thing written on the thin sheet of bark. Ajax tells me that my exam will start in two days, which gives me little time to get used to moving in the clothes that we bought. According to Ajax, the clothes are supposed to fit snuggly on my body, but not so tight that they would hinder my movements. I don’t even know how the hunters find these types of clothing comfortable, but after doing a few lapses and trainings with them on, I somehow manage to get used to it. Wearing it is one thing, but taking it off is another. I especially hate the things called sports bras. They do provide good support, and it makes my chest feel secure and lighter, but things are hard to remove. The day of the testing is finally here. We rode the car again to get to the academy. Compared to the town, it took us a lit
Staying in the office and waiting for the verdict on my performance with Indigo and Ajax is more agonizing than I thought. I don't hate being here because I'm ungrateful to Indigo for getting me this far or because I'm bitter about losing to Ajax. I hate that I have to sit here and wait for Lizzen to fail me. “Don’t worry too much about it, Belle. Lizzen may be a difficult woman, but she is not that heartless.” Indigo assures me. I know that it is meant to be consoling, but somehow I just feel even more terrible. “I lost. You heard her say it back there.” I don’t want to talk. I am afraid that I might growl at this point. All this anxiety is not good for my wolf. I need to get out of here. My wolf needs to run. I start to get up and head for the door. “Where do you think you’re going?” Ajax blocks my path. Great. Just what I needed. It’s the hunter who causes me most of my troubles. All I want to do right now is punch him in the face. Then again, it is not his fault that he won.
To find out that I have a room of my own in the academy and I have to move out is not something that bothers me. More like, it bothers Holly more than I. “I want to live with Belle!” Holly demands while clinging to my waist. We’re currently at the academy, where my what little of my belonging are being transferred to my new room. Well, it’s not like I have much to transfer anyway. “Miss Holly, you can’t.” Indigo, who is her acting bodyguard at the moment, says. He speaks to her in a lower voice, hoping that she’d understand. “Belle is going to stay in this room so she can study and become a strong hunter.” “She’s already a strong hunter.” She argues. “But she will become someone even stronger if she studies.” “No!” Holly says obstinately, her face buried in my hip. Indigo turns to me in defeat, like he is asking for my help. How can these humans be so weak that they can’t tame their little ones? I scratch the back of my head after letting out a tired sigh. I don’t even have a
“We heard you were touring the new student, so we dropped by to greet you.” One of the guys slings his arm over Ajax’s shoulder in a friendly gesture. The other guy seems composed, while Ajax seems like he is about to elbow him in the chest. His attire is the same one that Ajax and I are wearing, which I learned is a standard uniform for a hunter in training–black shirt, army pants, and combat boots. “Feris, you better remove your arm before you lose it.” Contrary to the friendly young hunter in training’s tone, Ajax’s is more threatening. Despite Ajax’s warning, Feris just laughs like he just heard a joke. “Geez, why are you so temperamental today? You always are, but this time it seems like you are more moody.” Feris is a tall guy with a short cut red hair. At first glance, he and Ajax appear to be the same height, but a closer look reveals that Feris is actually taller than Ajax. He has a few freckles on his cheeks, but you can’t really notice them because his green eyes would
Not being able to move around in my wolf form is putting me in a lot of stress. Back when I was in Holly’s mansion, I used to be able to sneak around at the back since my room faces the garden. Granted, I can’t run to my heart’s content, but at least I am able to shed into my wolf form. Not only am I stressing my wolf, but I am also stressing my brain from trying to understand complex letters and words during class. I felt like screaming. I don’t even know why hunters would even study the concept of math when you can use your instincts to capture a prey. Seriously, I am going to say it again, humans make their lives complicated! “You’re late.” Ajax informs me as soon as I manage to arrive during the morning training exercise of our combat class. My schedule is the same as Ajax, which I have an inkling that it was arranged that way so he can keep an eye on me. “Your hair is in a mess.” He frowns when he sees my ruffled knot of hair. “I just overslept.” I lie with a straight face.
Last night, I had trouble sleeping because I kept thinking about which of the lycans was idiot enough to get caught. Honestly? I can think of several, but I will not name them because I might end up naming almost half of our village. My only problem is, how do I find out where they are keeping the lycan prisoner? More importantly, how am I going to ask this question to Ajax without him noticing? If only Ajax is the type of human who would fall for my looks, I learned that I have a certain charm with most of the men here, which helps me a lot and, at the same time, scares me as it seems like humans and lycans are not that different, after all. “Tell me what you want, and stop following me.” Ajax sounds irritated while I am following him to the library. Even though Ajax might not look like it, he’s a pretty studious student who I just found out is ranked 8th in our age gap. Since he’s this smart, I might as well thread my question carefully. “Are you going to spend your entire day
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