Everything was still. For the past year, there were no sightings of Christopher and things had returned to how they used to be: normal. The sun beat down through the glass windows of Tillbury's, casting a direct spotlight against the freshly painted wall. Sawyer set down his roller and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand before smearing it onto his jeans."Ya know I run a restaurant, right?" said Darren, reaching into his back pocket. His clothes were covered in teal paint and his temples dripped of sweat. "I have tons of these guys lyin' around." He flipped a cloth from behind his back and handed it to Sawyer.Sawyer extended his hand and took the cloth from Darren, running it across his forehead. "Well, if you got the air conditioner fixed, we wouldn't be dying from heat stroke." Darren waved his hand, dismissing Sawyer's comments. "We'll deal with that once the renovations are done. Now pick up your roller and get to workin'." Sawyer handed the cloth back to Darren,
Waverly struggled to maintain her balance as she regained control of her vision. She gripped the wall beside her and heard the clinking of the metal tray on the ground before feeling the pressure of Felicity's hand on her arm. "Miss, are you alright?" The spots that obscured her sight slowly vanished and Waverly blinked hard to regain consciousness. "Yeah, I think so," she replied, still slightly off balance. "I just had a weird headache. I must've been pushing myself too hard in the office." She looked at Felicity, who's eyes were wide with concern. "It's okay, I'm alright. Thanks," she reassured her. Felicity slowly let go of Waverly's arm and bent down to pick up her tray, which she had set beside her on the ground. "Why don't we get you seated? I guess it's a good thing I brought tea." Felicity guided Waverly to a spot on the couch overlooking the mountains. Waverly took a hold of the teacup Felicity handed her and felt the heat touch her lips as she took a sip. And almos
Waverly and Sawyer raced down the hill towards town still in their evening wear following behind Katia. At the edge of the road, the smoke from Tillbury's came into view and Sawyer made a sharp turn, sprinting faster at the burning building. Darren Tillbury stood outside of the restaurant, holding his wife in his arms as she cried. The rest of the Crimson Shadows had gathered around the most well-known building in town and watched in disbelief and helplessness the flames grew larger with each passing minute. Voices chattered in the background as people arrived, whispering their thoughts to one another. Darren's free hand covered his mouth as he looked on in shock at his family shop being torn apart by the smoke and heat. "Darren!" Sawyer exclaimed as they approached the store. "What the hell happened?" "I—I dunno…" he replied in astonishment. "After ya' left…I stayed behind to do touch ups in the back room and ran out of paint, so I went tuh the store and when I came back—I—" Hi
"What are you saying?" Waverly said as she followed him through the living room to the office. "You think one of the Crimson Shadow's did this?" "That's exactly what I'm saying," Sawyer responded as he sat in his chair. He moved the documents Waverly was working on earlier that day and placed them aside. His once neat hair was falling into his face as he moved around. He pulled off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. "But everyone loves Tillbury's. Who would even consider doing that?" Sawyer opened the drawers to his desk and pulled out a pad and paper. "I don't know," he replied. "But whoever did it knew when I left and how to get into Darren's shop once he went to the store." Waverly watched as he eagerly scribbled on the pad. "D*mn it," he said as he tossed aside the dud pen and grabbed a new one. Sawyer tested the ink on the page and then continued to write vigorously, noting costs the information they knew thus far. Waverly sighed and came around the desk, placing
When the light finally returned, it was morning and Waverly's eyelashes flickered open. She stretched her arms and reached to turn off the lampshade, which was still on. The papers that were sprawled on her lap the night before now sat tucked neatly on the bedside table. What happened? She didn't remember feeling tired to the point that she'd fall asleep unexpectedly—but maybe she was. Waverly stretched her arm to feel the space beside her. It was empty. She looked to see the sheets and blanket tossed to the side and blocked the orange sun that peeped in the window with her hand. She flipped the covers off her and rolled out of bed, making her way out of the room and down the hall to the entry. As she descended the stairs, the overwhelming scent of French toast and eggs filled the house. She turned the corner to see Sawyer walking in with a plate and setting it on the dining room table. Two additional plates were placed in their usual sitting locations."What's this?" Waverly aske
Six hours had passed, and they had only made a dent in the clean-up process. Waverly and Sawyer made their way up the pathway to the house and were greeted at the door by Katia."There you are," she stated, as they walked up to the entrance. "I've been trying to reach you for hours." Sawyer instinctively pulled out his phone and checked it, revealing a blank screen to Katia. "Guess it died.""You're an Alpha and you can fight rogue wolves, but not keep your phone charged?"Sawyer shrugged and put the phone back in his pocket. He pulled out his house key and started unlocking the door. "What is it?" "I think I've found something—well, not something, more like someone." Sawyer opened the door to the house and headed inside with Katia and Waverly following in behind. Waverly's ears were glued to the conversation. "And?" Sawyer asked as he took off his shoes. "Well, since I couldn't find anything at Tillbury's and Darren didn't have any answers, I thought the next best thing w
When Waverly fell into her dream, this time, she was in a distinct location. Surrounding her were several trees and when she looked down at her feet, she noticed she was standing in a body of water that reached her kneecaps. Waverly glimpsed to her right and saw a large rock surrounded by smaller ones in the corner of the river. The water crashed against her legs and the wind howled in a way that it resembled the sound of a wolf.She took a step back and her leg brushed against the tall grass on the outer edges of the bank, and she recognized a patch of pink cherry blossoms that appeared off-purple in the grey sky. Waverly brought her attention back towards the rocks where a silhouette now sat. It was tall, with long wavy hair, and from its torso wielded an elongated fin. Above it on a small hill stood another figure that loomed in the shadows; both were facing her directly, unmoving. "Waverly," a voice called to her. It appeared to be coming from the shape on the rocks. "Waverly…
"Waverly, is everything okay?" Her whole body froze. Did she just see what she thought she had? There was no way. He wouldn't dare...Waverly shook her head and looked back to the spot directly between the two trees. The person was gone. "What is it?" Katia asked, looking in the direction Waverly was. "Oh, uh…I just—" She stared at the location again with some part of her hoping he would show, but instead, only the trees remained. "Uhm, never mind. I just thought I saw something over there, but it's nothing.""What was it?""I—uhm, I think it was a branch falling from those trees," Waverly lied. Katia smirked. "You scare awfully easy." "Yeah, I suppose I do," Waverly replied, still half distracted. She blinked to clear her mind and reverted her attention to the task at hand. "Have you noticed anything?"Katia shook her head. "No. Whoever it was, didn't come here. But I think we're on the right track. Let's keep going; maybe there's something further ahead."After an unsu
Waverly stared down at Christopher's motionless body. It was over—all of it. She turned to Sawyer, who was now in human form, and was standing over Christopher. He was breathing heavily and held his chest wound with his hand, but with his other free hand, closed Christopher's eyes and whispered: "Until we meet again." He then backed away from the body and turned to his pack, who were watching the moment unfold. "Alright. Everyone who is able, let's get the injured inside to entry and cared for. Then, we can go from there."The pack all bowed their heads at the same time and began helping one another up, one at a time, carrying any wounded individuals indoors. Waverly put her arm underneath Sawyer's and used her body to support his weight, aiding him in walking back to the house. Once inside, she set him down on a chair and grabbed the first aid kit out of the living room before beginning to address his wound. Sawyer flinched at the touch of the alcohol against the cut on his chest
Waverly watched as the pack stepped out onto the gravel. To say the atmosphere was tense would've been an understatement: it was downright hostile. She stared as one by one, they transformed and launched themselves forward, starting the battle for Sawyer's life. Faintly in the background, she could hear Christopher screaming for his pack to ready themselves and not long after, the sound of snarling and bodies being thrown against the house began. She looked to her right to see Katia come up beside her, flash her a smirk, and then leapt out of the door, shifting in an instant. Waverly shrunk back into the house. What was she going to do? She couldn't fight as a human—she'd die. But she couldn't stay here either. Sawyer needed her; what kind of Luna would she be if she didn't defend her Alpha and her pack when they needed her the most? She took a deep breath and focused her energy on shifting, trying to feel herself transforming…And nothing. She shook it off and tried again, but on
Waverly felt as though the world had been ripped out from under her. He was there, in the flesh; his gap teeth exposing themselves as he grinned. "Waverly?" Sawyer said questioningly. "What are you doing here?" His gaze flickered up to the cuts on her cheek and the dried blood trail on her face, prompting him to rush over to her and examine her. "What happened? Are you okay?" Instinctively, he reached for her stomach, but Waverly stopped him. "I'm alright," she replied. She then corrected herself. "We're alright." Sawyer's eyes widened and then he looked at her, intensely. "You—" Waverly nodded, and Sawyer hugged her tightly, beaming. "I'm so sorry I missed it—but your cuts…how?"Waverly looked to Christopher, who sat still, grinning mockingly. Her face hardened. "I ran into his friend." "What friend?" Christopher chuckled to himself, causing Sawyer to spring at him, taking a strong hold of his ripped and bloodied shirt. "What friend?!" he yelled in a deep, husk voice. "The
Waverly closed her eyes the second she saw Felicity open her mouth, but because of her sharp senses, she could hear every single sound as Felicity finished the job. When she opened them again, Felicity had transformed back into her human formation, and was standing over the body of the siren. Not even a second later, Mia's frame changed back as well and in front of them, instead of a siren, laid a woman, who's blue eyes were glazed completely over. Felicity was still and her hands shook while she stared at the body; her eyes were wide and blood dripped from her mouth. "I—I didn't know what do to…I just…acted on instinct." "Well, your instinct was obviously correct. How did you know?""I—I didn't. I just thought…she was really annoying me." Waverly chuckled. She wasn't wrong; the siren did talk a lot.Felicity turned her gaze to Waverly and she looked at her, amazed. "Miss, your face…"Waverly wiped where her nosed was bleeding prior. "I know. I can feel it," she said, half-j
It all happened so fast—everything was a blur as Waverly raced forward, attacking Mia with all the pent-up anger and aggression she had felt not only for herself, but Sawyer, Pietro, and Darren. They were behind it all: the burning of Tillbury's, Pietro's death…Darren. Her arms swung in front of her while she moved to deliver a blow. She knew it wouldn't kill her, but it might just be enough to wound her so she could buy more time. Except when she was inches from her target, Mia stepped to the side, causing Waverly to almost fall forward."Now come on, let's be a little realistic here. You just gave birth. Do you really think you can really take me on right now?" Waverly looked at her, breathlessly. She knew she had a very slim chance of succeeding, but she still had to try. If not for herself, for Sawyer and her son. She built up her strength and then, once again, leapt towards the siren, hoping to catch her off guard.But it was like she knew it was coming. Once again, Mia dodg
Waverly held her baby tight to her chest while he continued to snore the night away. "You," she said in utter shock. "You're—" Mia laughed. "You still think you're hallucinating, huh? Well, let me ruin the suspense for you. Surprise, love. I'm here, flesh and bone." "H-how…? This place is remote…Sawyer said…""Sawyer said, Sawyer said. Listen here," Mia said as she walked towards Waverly; her heels clicking against the flooring. "We need to have a small girl-to-girl chat. This reliance on Sawyer is tiresome. You need to be independent and stand up for yourself." "Is that why you kill the men you enchant?" Waverly asked, forcing the strength to rise from the pit of her stomach to show some sort of dominance. "Precisely," Mia stated enthusiastically, pointing a finger in Waverly's direction. "I'm glad you've finally heard about me." "I've heard more than enough," Waverly retorted, cradling her son closer as Mia approached. "Is that the baby—?" she asked, narrowing her eyes
"What?!" Waverly shouted. Having her baby—now?! No, no way this was happening. This had to be a dream. Only when a long-lasting pain pushed through, she knew it wasn't. "But how—" she said between broken breaths. "It's not time! I'm too early!" Felicity took a deep breath and centered herself. She knew Waverly wasn't wrong. "Unfortunately, it is time, miss. But thank goodness you're a wolf and the baby's large enough to survive." Somehow, this didn't bring Waverly any comfort. A severe pang ripped at her insides, feeling as if it was tearing her apart. "Sawyer!" she suddenly shouted. "He's not—he's not here. I can't do this without him here!" "I'm sorry, miss, but you might have to if he isn't here within the next few minutes." "I—" Waverly's speech was instantly cut off by her shrieks. "I have to help you move," Felicity stated. "We need to get you to a flat surface and the bed is too high." She left the common area and emerged from the bedroom carrying two pillows. Felicity
While the day trickled into night, Waverly became increasingly nervous. She sat folded up on the couch with a hot drink, checking out of the window every few seconds to see if she could get a glimpse of Sawyer as he returned home. The cup clinked against her nails as she moved for the third time, but when she didn't see his silhouette, she slunk back down. "He'll be here soon, miss," Felicity stated as she continued washing the dishes from their late-night dinner. "I'm sure he just got tied up helping Katia with some things. It's her first time running the institute, you know." Waverly looked to her. "Really? I thought with her experience, she would've taken over when Sawyer was…cursed." The longer she waited, the more distasteful the word was in her mouth. "With her personality, it comes off that way, doesn't it? But no. Mr. Sawyer put in a lot of the work while she delivered messages. Speaking of, have you tried calling him?""Twice. It's just going to voicemail," Waverly repl
"Welcome home, brother," Christopher said manically. Sawyer treaded forward and Christopher instantly moved the knife by Katia's throat. "Don't," he said sternly, changing from friendly to cold in an instant. Sawyer halted and looked to Katia. Her makeup was running from the tears that she had shed, but she showed no fear. He glanced around the house for any sign of help, but no one was coming."Don't bother looking for anyone—they're all…a little unconscious.""What are you doing here?" Sawyer sneered, baring his teeth. It was taking everything within him to not attack. "Can't a man come visit his long-lost best friend? It's been what—a year now? Wow, time does fly, doesn't it?" Christopher grinned and his gap teeth revealed themselves. A chill went through Sawyer. This wasn't the same Christopher he had known his entire life, or the same Christopher that he had banished last year. This man was entirely different and more sinister. His usually neat curls were more wild an