Clarissa let me cry alone for a little while as I bundled myself up on the bed feeling every negative emotion possible: sadness, anger, betrayal, pain. All of it built up into that long, painful crying session. I’d wrapped myself in a blanket so tightly I could barely breathe, or maybe that was just the ache in my chest. I thought we’d gotten past that stage of our hatred and distrust toward one another. I hadn't caused any more problems as far as I was aware and he'd been the one training me. He’d even seen me plant the graves for my family, and I knew it was him who had given me that blanket that night. And yet, he was still blinded by his hatred of rogues and suspicious of me."Miss Clares?" Clarissa knocked at the door before letting herself in, carrying a tray with toast and a cup of tea.Hastily, I wiped away the tears that had left streaks on my cheeks and sat up, the blanket still wrapped around my body as a comfort. I didn’t say anything to her as Clarissa set the tray on t
That question. That damned question! This was exactly why I didn’t want anything to do with a witch because deep down I knew she would find out! I spun towards her with a fear I hadn’t known before clawing through my body and I shifted away from her, knowing that I was completely at her mercy. Who knows what she would do with that information? Would she tell Alpha Jackson? Would she try to blackmail me? Only my family knew about my lack of a wolf and I trusted them, but I didn’t trust Clarissa, not that much anyway.“Elise,” She said softly, not making any movements to try to get closer to me, “Elise, I’m not going to hurt you, I-”“You’ll just need to tell the Alpha, is that right?” I cut her off harshly, my hands curling around the bedsheets desperately and I tried to look for a way out.The only exit was a door that was shut. Could I get there before the witch stopped me?My mind was a blur of panic as multiple scenarios shot through my head and my chest grew tighter, so tight th
“How would we get it out?” I asked desperately. I had never dreamed that I would be able to meet my wolf in real life. I wondered what her name could be and what she would look like. What would our first conversation be like? Had she seen everything I’d seen but been unable to do anything about it? But never had I truly thought I would be able to meet her.Clarissa thought for a moment, looking at my shoulder once again, “I don’t know how deeply the Blessed Silver is embedded. I would have to make an incision into each scar to find out first. The procedure to extract it will be painful and we’ll need to get help from a healer just in case it.”I bit my lip nervously, “Do… do we need to tell them why?”“Does anyone outside of me and you know about this?” She asked me out of professional curiosity to see who could be trusted with this secret.“No,” I shook my head, “I haven’t told anyone… But I think Doctor Heath suspects.”“Why would he have reason to suspect this?”I remembered the g
This path through the forest was familiar to me. I came here at least once a week to visit the graves of my family and to offer a prayer to the Moon Goddess that their spirits were safe with her. It didn’t surprise me that the alpha knew the way here too considering he’d seen me make them.As we rounded towards the three small mounds that had begun to grow grass on them, I noticed the small daisies placed on top of one another. The small bundles looked new and I was sure they were because I hadn’t seen them before.“What are you trying to do here?” I asked suspiciously, turning towards him. “Nothing bad, I promise. If there’s one thing I respect, it’s mourning,” He replied with sincerity as he moved towards my family’s grave and kneeled just in front of it. I hesitated before I took a deep breath and sat beside him, looking at the dainty flowers on the ground.“Did you do that?” I mumbled, feeling the tiny stem of one of the daisies that was on my mother’s grave. It wasn't much, but
I don’t know why it affected me so much, him saying those words with a deep sense of promise. He was offering me something I hadn’t had in a long time, a home. Even with Annabelle I had felt so alone because it felt so temporary but now... now I could stay.I thought about it for what felt like forever before I opened my mouth.“I don’t know what it is I want anymore,” I whispered, looking at my family’s grave. They had tried so hard to protect me from one pack only for me to be trapped in another. How would they feel if I gave myself to this pack so easily, as if to forget them? Why was I allowed to move on when they were still stuck there?But didn’t I deserve that? I desreved a chance to start a new life, have a new home and maybe even find someone to love. You weren’t a blessing! I heard my father’s voice from that dream so long ago You were a curse! It made me shudder, immediately making me feel guilty.No… No I didn’t deserve something new, not when it was my fault that they we
It was worse than any of us had imagined. I smelt it before I saw him as I was encouraged to walk down the thin corridor that led to the basement of the Pack House. I could taste the ash from the candles and smell the burning of skin the second I walked down the first step. Frederick wanted that, to prolong my thoughts and fears of what he’d been doing to my father. I was almost sick from the anxiety, and still we walked. It felt like we would never reach the bottom.The claustrophobic corridor began to open up and the first thing I saw was Fredrick smiling at me with that sadistic smirk on his face that made me flinch. He held out a hand like a groom accepting his bride and I trembled as I took it. He led me to a silver-lined door with bars and inside was my father, bound in silver, lying on the floor, screaming in agony through his gag.I rushed to try to open the door, but Fredrick held me back, firstly by my shoulder, then by encircling his arms around me like a lover’s embrace. I
I barely said a word when I got back from the Pack House. My mother had only asked one question:“Is your father okay?”I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears at the question, wishing I could give her any other answer. But I couldn’t. And soon she pulled me into her arms tearfully, sobbing into my hair before we both sunk to our knees, weak from the stress and sorrow. My brother got angry instead, swearing that he was going to rip Fredrick’s head from his body.It took my mother standing in front of the door, tears streaming down her face to stop my brother from leaving the house. He tried to get past her but she held him tightly, begging him.“If you challenge the alpha you’ll end up just like your father,” She cried, clinging onto him for dear life. “He needs to pay! I’m going to tear him limb from limb,” He screamed.“Please,” My mother whimpered and I’d never heard her voice be so small in my entire life, “Please son. I won’t be able to take losing both of you.”That was
We didn’t say much else after the crying session. We managed to compose ourselves and had a few minutes in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but more one that we didn’t need to talk to understand one another.Jackson was the first person to stand up and dust himself off.“I’ll give you some more time with your family,” he said before placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, “Think about the offer I made you.”I only nodded, offering a small smile, “Thank you.” I didn’t need to add the ‘for everything’ for him to know what I meant. He smiled back at me and turned to go before he remembered something. He knelt again and with a small click, the silver band around my ankle was freed. He pocketed the item and offered another small smile before he headed away, giving me that valuable time with my family.I rubbed at my ankle, the cold air feeling strange against it. It was like the anklet had become another part of me and some weird part of me felt sad that it was now gone. Anoth
I had gotten so used to these dreams now that I wasn’t even surprised as I found myself floating in the sky above a familiar forest. I was pulled towards one direction and it felt like it would take forever before I ended up where I needed to be, even as the moon stayed stagnant and bright. Finally, I saw where I had floated towards. It was the New Moon pack. I tried to turn around and fly away, wanting nothing more than to never see this pack again, but there was a pull my body couldn’t ignore no matter how hard I tried.My body lowered itself to the pack house and I was forced to take a step closer towards the door that led me to my father’s fate.This time, I didn’t go down those steps, but rather I went up and some part of me was aware that this was the way to the Alpha’s Room. Frederick had the entire floor to himself and made it so he could access anything he needed. He had his bedroom, meeting room, an en suite and much more on that floor.It was cloaked in a black shadow and
We didn’t say much else after the crying session. We managed to compose ourselves and had a few minutes in silence. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence but more one that we didn’t need to talk to understand one another.Jackson was the first person to stand up and dust himself off.“I’ll give you some more time with your family,” he said before placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, “Think about the offer I made you.”I only nodded, offering a small smile, “Thank you.” I didn’t need to add the ‘for everything’ for him to know what I meant. He smiled back at me and turned to go before he remembered something. He knelt again and with a small click, the silver band around my ankle was freed. He pocketed the item and offered another small smile before he headed away, giving me that valuable time with my family.I rubbed at my ankle, the cold air feeling strange against it. It was like the anklet had become another part of me and some weird part of me felt sad that it was now gone. Anoth
I barely said a word when I got back from the Pack House. My mother had only asked one question:“Is your father okay?”I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears at the question, wishing I could give her any other answer. But I couldn’t. And soon she pulled me into her arms tearfully, sobbing into my hair before we both sunk to our knees, weak from the stress and sorrow. My brother got angry instead, swearing that he was going to rip Fredrick’s head from his body.It took my mother standing in front of the door, tears streaming down her face to stop my brother from leaving the house. He tried to get past her but she held him tightly, begging him.“If you challenge the alpha you’ll end up just like your father,” She cried, clinging onto him for dear life. “He needs to pay! I’m going to tear him limb from limb,” He screamed.“Please,” My mother whimpered and I’d never heard her voice be so small in my entire life, “Please son. I won’t be able to take losing both of you.”That was
It was worse than any of us had imagined. I smelt it before I saw him as I was encouraged to walk down the thin corridor that led to the basement of the Pack House. I could taste the ash from the candles and smell the burning of skin the second I walked down the first step. Frederick wanted that, to prolong my thoughts and fears of what he’d been doing to my father. I was almost sick from the anxiety, and still we walked. It felt like we would never reach the bottom.The claustrophobic corridor began to open up and the first thing I saw was Fredrick smiling at me with that sadistic smirk on his face that made me flinch. He held out a hand like a groom accepting his bride and I trembled as I took it. He led me to a silver-lined door with bars and inside was my father, bound in silver, lying on the floor, screaming in agony through his gag.I rushed to try to open the door, but Fredrick held me back, firstly by my shoulder, then by encircling his arms around me like a lover’s embrace. I
I don’t know why it affected me so much, him saying those words with a deep sense of promise. He was offering me something I hadn’t had in a long time, a home. Even with Annabelle I had felt so alone because it felt so temporary but now... now I could stay.I thought about it for what felt like forever before I opened my mouth.“I don’t know what it is I want anymore,” I whispered, looking at my family’s grave. They had tried so hard to protect me from one pack only for me to be trapped in another. How would they feel if I gave myself to this pack so easily, as if to forget them? Why was I allowed to move on when they were still stuck there?But didn’t I deserve that? I desreved a chance to start a new life, have a new home and maybe even find someone to love. You weren’t a blessing! I heard my father’s voice from that dream so long ago You were a curse! It made me shudder, immediately making me feel guilty.No… No I didn’t deserve something new, not when it was my fault that they we
This path through the forest was familiar to me. I came here at least once a week to visit the graves of my family and to offer a prayer to the Moon Goddess that their spirits were safe with her. It didn’t surprise me that the alpha knew the way here too considering he’d seen me make them.As we rounded towards the three small mounds that had begun to grow grass on them, I noticed the small daisies placed on top of one another. The small bundles looked new and I was sure they were because I hadn’t seen them before.“What are you trying to do here?” I asked suspiciously, turning towards him. “Nothing bad, I promise. If there’s one thing I respect, it’s mourning,” He replied with sincerity as he moved towards my family’s grave and kneeled just in front of it. I hesitated before I took a deep breath and sat beside him, looking at the dainty flowers on the ground.“Did you do that?” I mumbled, feeling the tiny stem of one of the daisies that was on my mother’s grave. It wasn't much, but
“How would we get it out?” I asked desperately. I had never dreamed that I would be able to meet my wolf in real life. I wondered what her name could be and what she would look like. What would our first conversation be like? Had she seen everything I’d seen but been unable to do anything about it? But never had I truly thought I would be able to meet her.Clarissa thought for a moment, looking at my shoulder once again, “I don’t know how deeply the Blessed Silver is embedded. I would have to make an incision into each scar to find out first. The procedure to extract it will be painful and we’ll need to get help from a healer just in case it.”I bit my lip nervously, “Do… do we need to tell them why?”“Does anyone outside of me and you know about this?” She asked me out of professional curiosity to see who could be trusted with this secret.“No,” I shook my head, “I haven’t told anyone… But I think Doctor Heath suspects.”“Why would he have reason to suspect this?”I remembered the g
That question. That damned question! This was exactly why I didn’t want anything to do with a witch because deep down I knew she would find out! I spun towards her with a fear I hadn’t known before clawing through my body and I shifted away from her, knowing that I was completely at her mercy. Who knows what she would do with that information? Would she tell Alpha Jackson? Would she try to blackmail me? Only my family knew about my lack of a wolf and I trusted them, but I didn’t trust Clarissa, not that much anyway.“Elise,” She said softly, not making any movements to try to get closer to me, “Elise, I’m not going to hurt you, I-”“You’ll just need to tell the Alpha, is that right?” I cut her off harshly, my hands curling around the bedsheets desperately and I tried to look for a way out.The only exit was a door that was shut. Could I get there before the witch stopped me?My mind was a blur of panic as multiple scenarios shot through my head and my chest grew tighter, so tight th
Clarissa let me cry alone for a little while as I bundled myself up on the bed feeling every negative emotion possible: sadness, anger, betrayal, pain. All of it built up into that long, painful crying session. I’d wrapped myself in a blanket so tightly I could barely breathe, or maybe that was just the ache in my chest. I thought we’d gotten past that stage of our hatred and distrust toward one another. I hadn't caused any more problems as far as I was aware and he'd been the one training me. He’d even seen me plant the graves for my family, and I knew it was him who had given me that blanket that night. And yet, he was still blinded by his hatred of rogues and suspicious of me."Miss Clares?" Clarissa knocked at the door before letting herself in, carrying a tray with toast and a cup of tea.Hastily, I wiped away the tears that had left streaks on my cheeks and sat up, the blanket still wrapped around my body as a comfort. I didn’t say anything to her as Clarissa set the tray on t