In this pack and right at the grounds where they are currently gathered, Emily can't help observing the number of handsome men, young, middle-aged and old alike.But there is something about Mathew that makes him stand out in any crowd, those raggedly handsome looks, the confidence in his walk and the killer smile, it would all drive any healthy female crazy. And all the unmated she wolves are going crazy, as usual. Earlier, they were all fighting to be near Alpha Marcus, two of them almost getting involved in a cat fight just to have a chance to be his training partner, and now their attention is caught by the younger man.One can't decide which of the two men is better looking, both being dead gorgeous in their own way.The fact that Mathew appears younger makes him all the more desirable, but the funny part is that being older also makes Alpha Marcus more appealing to marry. He gives the impression of having more experience, stable and well ahead in terms of life achievements. Not
She is probably thinking too much. If she is not into the idea of falling in love and all the sh*t that comes with it, Mathew hates the idea even worse than her. He made that clear the first time she visited his house, when she found out Twyla was forcing things with him.Oh, of course, Mathew must want them to start the game right now. The Alpha is in sight so the two of them have to start behaving like they are in love with each other."Right," Emily smiles at him.She tries to pull her hand out of the Alpha's grip but he holds on tightly, unwilling to let her go."In case you haven't noticed," the Alpha says to Mathew, his voice dripping poison. The two men must hate each other a great deal, judging from the tension in the air as they lock eyes, and Emily suspects that she has nothing to do with this hatred. It is old, but whatever caused it, it is real and intense. "I have chosen her as my training partner. And you will do well to back off."Mathew ignores him, looking at Emily ins
The first thing that enters Emily's thoughts is, 'how did she find me?' but upon looking at Ella's face, it soon becomes clear that Ella had no idea that she would find her in the house because she's just as shocked as she is.Ella still looks exactly as Emily remembers her; the adorable baby face, round with big blue eyes and a bump for a nose. She had always appeared to be younger than the rest of her friends and always perceived by strangers as a kid, and that can sometimes have it's advantages because people become themselves when they think they are in the presence of a kid. Which allowed her to read people easily.And she still has the same looks, nothing has changed about her except the hair that she dyed a bright pink.Last Emily remembers, Ella did the same college program as her, and it is puzzling to see that she is possibly an interior designer.Maybe she is the man's girlfriend?Only one way to find out."Emily!""Ella!" The girls shout at the same time, rushing into each
"I didn't expect to find you here, my goodness, what are you doing here?" Emily gets the chance to ask the question first as soon as she and Ella let go of each other.She beams, still looking Emily over, as though searching for mishaps, "I escorted my boyfriend." she gestures at the man with her. Oh, she found love, good for her. Emily is happy for her childhood friend, but she feels a little stab of pain at the memory of her own failed relationship. She doesn't blame herself for the way things turned out to be between her and Jack, but it would have been very nice if he had been a good man and had given her what he had promised.She doesn't know about the other friend in their small circle, but it is good to know that one of them has found genuine love.Emily turns to look at the man in question. He is not very tall, but taller than both her and Ella. His build is athletic, lean and muscular, dressed in fitted black jeans and grey t-shirt.He is really good looking, and Emily finds
"You. Are. Staring. At My Man." Ella draws out every syllable, showing mock jealousy. "Oh, I am just curious about him, that's all," Emily quickly tears her gaze away from the good looking fellow."I don't blame you, you know," Ella winks. "He is quite a hunk.""Oh, stop that, Ella.""You know you've always loved handsome guys. I can see you are in the company of one already."Now she is going to make her appear like she used to be a whore who dated every handsome guy she could get."Don't mind her," she says to the man. "She is always like this with her friends.""I gather you know each other," the man says curiously, his eyes shifting between the two women."That's right. Ella is my childhood friend.""I see," the man smiles, walking into the room. "It is quite pleasant to meet old friends. Especially when one doesn't expect them.""You are right." From the casual comment, Emily can tell that the man is requesting for an explanation as to why she is here. He is curious too. "I moved
Mathew and Emily glance at each other, and they smile, Emily because she is embarrassed and Matthew smiles because he senses her embarrassment."Ella, we are not a couple," she says, as though this is something so obvious that Ella should have worked out for herself."Oh, of course you are not," Ella says, her eyes moving between Emily and Mathew. "How silly of me to make such a mistake. What's the name of your friend? Is he single? He is good looking, but since I am taken, I am going to set him up with one of my new girlfriends."This is, of course, Ella's way of testing if there's really nothing between Emily and the man, and she doesn't miss the moment when Emily gives her a sharp look before looking away again."Ella, you talk too much, as usual," Emily rolls her eyes. "His name is Mathew, and no thanks, he doesn't need a girlfriend. He doesn't date.""But why are you speaking for him? He might be interested...""No, he's not!" Emily insists, surprising even Mathew himself by how s
Seeing Ella is a kind of therapy Emily never knew she needed. For a moment, she feels like her old self, more connected to her body than she has been in a long time. It doesn't matter that Ella is deliberately teasing her about Mathew, infact, her ability to annoy her or find ways to corner her when she suspects something a friend doesn't want to admit is just one the many things she adores about Ella."Can we go out of here while the boys work?" Ella suggests.It is Mathew who responds. "No. I need her to help me decide the decor. We already agreed on that. If you two want to hung out just the two of you, you will have to do so after the work is done."This confuses Ella even more. There is definitely more to this pair than they care to admit. First it was Emily displaying signs of jealousy, and now she is discovering Emily agreed to help with the decor for his living room. Ella looks shrewdly between them, smiling inwardly."I insist that she leave with me," Ella says, smile still in
"What issues are those? I do not understand. It is one thing to make yourself believe that werewolves are real, but you getting involved with them? Just how?" Ella says, her face displaying how puzzled she is inside."That, I am yet to find out," Emily says, beginning to regret having brought up this story. She should have found something else to lie about. "That is as much we I was told, I am still waiting for someone to give me a proper explanation as well.""I am more confused than I was before you told me anything," Ella says."I totally understand. I imagine myself in your shoes, I'd think I sound weird too," she gives a light laugh. "If you have issues with believing that werewolves exist, we will clear that by having someone shift in front of you. After that, you can even help me uncover the secrets of what happened in the past that made me a target for the supernatural."By the time they will revisit this conversation, perhaps Emily would come up with another lie, a better lie.
Emily straightens up immediately, no longer feeling the burning from the chains.Mathew is actually here, in all his handsome glory. He is not dead, she knew it! He has never looked more alive, except that he looks so pissed it will be a miracle if a life is not lost before they leave this place.He gives the chains a tap and Emily is instantly free. She immediately throws herself at him, surprising both herself and him by breaking into noisy sobs."Mathew, I was told you were dead. I met Travis, he...he got burned and died. I was almost raped, twice in the same day. I am so sorry, Mathew, there is no way to prove that you are innocent now, Jack is as good as dead his soul has been sucked out of him..."Mathew holds her head against his shoulder, murmuring quietly to her."It's okay, it's okay now. Breath. You will tell me everything that happened later, baby girl. Just relax."At the closeness of him and his scent, she starts to feel her wolf awaken, and soon, the wounds on her body b
Seeing the look of defeat on Jack's face (it maybe a fake look but it's still there and it can only mean one thing; he is coming with her) Emily holds out her hand to touch him so they should leave."Wait. I need you to take me to a certain pack first. There's a man there, and I consider him as a father. Please, allow me to let him know that I have been caught."Emily frowns."What?""I mean, I will go with you, but allow me to visit the old man before I go. He is like a dad to me."Emily stares at the man that hurt her so much, and her heart fills with hatred. He didn't just hurt her, he hurt Mathew as well, killed people and put the blame on him, resulting in Mathew living in hiding for so many years. Living a miserable life.She would like to see him rot in some enclosed space."Please. You are too powerful for me to do anything to harm you, so I don't think you need to worry about that. I really need to see the old man."He is right, he can't hurt her. And Emily is curious to see w
The scream seems to have attracted someone's attention, because Emily hears food steps rush towards the room before someone swings the door open, only for them to stand frozen by the door.Travis jumps from the bed, stares around as though in confusion for a moment, then he raises a hand, gesturing for the two people at the door to come inside the room."What happened to me?"Instead of answering, Anna and Jack only shake, knowing their end is sniffing at their heels.How did he wake from an enchanted sleep?Then Jack steps forward."My Lord, we have no idea what happened to you. We tried waking you after we brought in the young woman you sent me to fetch for you."Well, he will make up to Emily later, right now it is more important to save his ass from the demon lord, as his eyes have started turning a dangerous red glow, showing his anger.The hair of every person in the room stands on end, fear instilled in their hearts, because the demon lord, Travis, is more upset than he has ever
Roused to fresh alertness, Tara's eyes go round and her mouth gape open. She looks shocked, so much that Emily starts to feels she is ringing the bell before time.Mathew might not be in any kind of trouble and she is getting paranoid.She is about to say this to Tara when her phone rings, and in her eagerness to answer it, Emily almost drops it. A strange number is calling. Thinking it is Mathew calling to inform her that he lost his phone or something, Emily presses the answer button hastily."Hello?"The words that come from the other end chills her to the bone."Are you related to Mathew? We don't know his last name and that is all he's been able to utter just before he died. We found your number on his phone and decided to call you because you are the person he seemed to communicate a lot with."In this moment, the world comes to an abrupt halt. Emily fails to believe it. She fails to breathe.Mathew, dead? She feels a funny ringing in her ear, and an unbearable lightheadedness
There is a blank expression on Gianna's face, but on Becky's, shock is written all over it. "What?" Becky asks, looking genuinely surprised."Hey, what are you getting surprised about? Isn't this the family you came to search for when you lost your mate that time?" Gianna says to her sister, who still has a puzzled expression on her face."What are you saying?" Becky says, whipping around to look at her sister. "Are you implying that we are related to this girl?"Even Gianna has a baffled look on her face now, matching Emily's."Come on, Beck, we were together when we decided to look for the existing relatives of our parents because they wouldn't tell us shit about them, remember? They isolated themselves from their family and we found out our closest living relatives were Alphas in this pack? Don't you remember?""Hey, we found out they died...shit...is this the daughter of our dead relatives?"Gianna rolls her eyes to the ceiling."Who did you think she was, Beck? It has always been
Mathew laughs and shakes his head."I believe I am the husband you are referring to because, no matter what, I am the one who is going to end up with you...""You are so confident...""...And when that happens, I will never cheat on you. You are the only girl I have ever loved and the only girl I will continue to love till the time I will retire from this Earth, so me cheating on you? No chance, madam Alpha."The words sound so sweet and sincere that Emily doesn't dare argue. She swallows and looks nervously into his silver grey eyes, then a sudden thought enters her head."Mathew, what was the original color of your eyes? Your hair too. You said you changed them when you started hiding from those people.""Of course you want to know."As he says this, Mathew closes his eyes shut, then blinks them several times. When he looks at her, she takes a sharp intake of breath.She has never seen this version of green eyes before. They captivate your attention and hold it, making you get lost i
Even though Becky's parents were upset at first for what Marcus had done, they agreed that Marcus had saved their daughter's life by marking her immediately she lost her mate, and they let him keep their daughter in the end.Becky and her family got to know that the Alpha and Luna of White Wolf pack died a long time ago and that, by marrying Marcus, Becky would be the new Luna. Her ambitious father was so thrilled by the news, but soon disappointment washed over him and Becky because they discovered Marcus was just a makeshift Alpha and not the real one, that the pack secretly anticipated the return of the Alpha's daughter to take the position. However, as the years went by without any sign of the girl returning, the father and daughter had hope that Becky would be the Luna forever.A year into her marriage, Becky received a call from her sister, asking if she could come live with her because she had been thrown out of the house at home.Despite Becky having been their parents' favouri
The information puzzles Emily so much that she feels like wringing the answers from Mathew.She waits with forced patience while he sits down and stares at her face, and then he starts talking again."I was just as puzzled when I read that piece of information. So I asked Gianna what she meant by it, and she explained."~According to Mathew, Gianna and Becky are sisters and they are daughters of an Alpha couple somewhere in New York.As the diary indicates, Gianna is the older sister but had always felt like their parents did not like her, like they liked Becky more.Gianna was the pretty one, they would say, and Becky was the smart one. The parents also pointed out how Gianna had no talent at all, all that she prided in were her looks. Oftentimes, she was treated like the younger sister even though she was more than three years older than Becky. Since she was always made to feel inferior at home, she went out to seek validation elsewhere. She slept with lots of men just to feel usefu
Emily watches Mathew eat for a moment and when he looks at her, raising one of his thick brows, she sighs and drops her gaze."Didn't your parents ever tell you it was rude to stare?" He jokes, but Emily doesn't smile."That's not funny, I don't have parents," she says in a quiet voice.She is still irritable, he can see that. He knows her parents are no more, it was just a joke, and doesn't she know that Mathew's own parents have been missing from his life since he was a baby? They might not have been dead in the actual sense but they were to him.Nevertheless, he apologizes, then asks;"What made you irritable? Still mad at me?""Wha... no, I am not mad at you, I am just having a crappy day.""Any reason that is happening?"She sighs again. "Oh, Mathew, do not think I am crazy, but have you ever slept with Gianna without using protection?"He gets confused and it shows on his face. He places his fork down, then takes some juice before bringing his attention back to her."Where has th