Esther’s days had been bumpy for a while before they went back to being usual. She didn’t spot Asher much at the school although her ears were full of gossips on him. Apparently, he had beaten up two of school’s teachers the other day.
Luke and Julia didn’t approach her either. That was slightly disappointing, but at this point, Esther was used to it. Even her siblings went back to barely acknowledging her presence.
Esther felt lonely but not enough to cry over it. After making a purchase at the local bookstore, she was carrying the books home when she heard a soft cry. At that, she looked down to see a bird’s nest.
There were three baby birds inside.
Esther bent down and grabbed the bird’s nest. Some naughty person must have brought it down. Esther shook her head and decided to place it up, knowing how dangerous it will be for the baby birds.
Although Esther wasn’t athletic, she wasn’t particularly b
"The thing is that the photo of the winner will be published online, and now with there being very high chances of me winning— not bragging, simply being honest— I don’t want to have my identity exposed.” “Why?” With Louis’ attention seeking personality, she thought he would want to shout out to the entire world about his achievement. “One, it would ruin my reputation. The entire school, especially the guys, would be laughing at me. And most importantly, my family wouldn’t approve of this. That’s why, it should be a secret.” That sounded reasonable. “But still shouldn’t you be owning up what you do? It’s not that you’re doing anything shameful,” Esther said. He smirked at her. “You saying that Esther when you can hardly talk. You get bullied for it all the time, Esther,” he teased. She scrunched up her nose. “That’s irrelevant,” she commented. “Sure, it is,” he mocked before staring at her with desperati
Esther didn’t expect to hear knocks on the door of her balcony as the dead hours of the night. She had to admit that frightened her. Hugging her blanket, she stared at her balcony and could vaguely see a figure moving behind the curtains.Born with very much little courage, that frightened Esther, and a scream escaped from her lips. Getting down from the bed, she was about to rush out of the room when the familiarity made her stop in her steps.Taking in a deep breath, Esther mustered every bit of bravery inside her as she slowly walked over to the balcony door and, closing her eyes, pulled open the curtain.Then, she slowly lifted her eyelids as her heart beat rapidly inside her chest, and genuinely surprise crossed through her face when she saw Asher standing there.Did he accidentally get the wrong balcony?Nevertheless, understanding how low the temperature can be, she opened the balcony door for him and stared at him in confusion. The wi
In the library, Esther read through the book before her. Seated beside her was Louis. Laying his head on the table, he stared at Esther and invited, “Come over to watch our match with Highlight this weekend. I will save you a VIP seat. This made her shake her head. “I can’t,” she responded regretfully. This made him sit up straight and look at her questioningly. Everyone was eager to watch the basketball games and VIP seats were hard to get yet Esther so bluntly refused without thinking twice. “Why? You dislike basketball?” “Nothing like that,” she answered. “I broke my nose the last time I went to one of these matches. You know how terribly clumsy I can be.” Esther’s self-awareness made Louis sigh. He couldn’t argue against that. During this short period of time he had gotten along with her, he learned how easily she got injured. No wonder she lived so carefully. “That’s a pity. This game was going to be grand, and I wanted yo
Esther was on the verge of tears as she sat on top of the brick wall. Compared to her fear of height, she felt more afraid about the creature down, occasionally barking for her.The fear she had for dogs prompted her to get up on the brick wall. Her position was embarrassing, and that’s why, Esther considered herself lucky that no one passed through the streets here now.“Shoo. Shoo. Go away, good Doggy. Be a good boy please. Or are you a girl? No, that’s irrelevant. Please go away. I don’t have anything delicious with me. See.”Esther carefully waved her hands around.“Woof!” The dog barked loudly, startling her. She was almost about to fall off the brick wall at the sound.“Please spare me,” Esther desperately begged.However, her tear-filled pleads were not conveyed to the dog, and it stared at her with excitement.That’s when, she noticed the figure driving through. That
Esther never expected being ambushed at her own house. She heard the footsteps when she was about to climb up the stairs, and upon looking back, she had a clothing being pressed on to her face. Before she could even panic, she was out.The perpetrators stared at the sleeping girl. They were dressed in black and had their face covered up. One of them leaned over to pick up the unconscious girl.“Erase the tracks,” another one ordered.°°°The next time Esther opened her eyes, she was met with never-ending darkness. The sensation told her that she was blindfolded. Her limbs were bound tightly— the material biting into her skin. This restricted her movements.Esther was most likely seated on a chair.Losing all sense of security, Esther began to panic. She loathed the darkness, and now that was what she had all around her. This had her heart beating rapidly in her chest.Anxiety overwhelmed her, and a nausea
“Bitch! I was being kind to you! Is this how you repay me?”He stomped over to her. His loud footsteps made dread arise at the pit of her stomach. Bowing down, he grabbed her by her collar and raised her. Bruises started to form on Esther’s face.He sneered.“Since you do not prefer the nice way, I have to go rough on you. Whores like you do not deserve to be treated with mercy after all.”Esther had a low pain tolerance to begin with. That’s why, this much was enough for her to break down and hope for this to end. She hated how she couldn’t lose her consciousness. At least at an unaware state, she wouldn’t have to suffer.She did want to hope that someone would save her. But that was highly improbable. Her siblings were not home for two days. Her parents hardly cared about her. And then that image that flashed in her mind.Would Asher even know that she was abducted? No, even if he was aware,
A frown formed on his face at her silence. Sitting up, he observed her and questioned, “Are you feeling alright?” Esther felt foreign to the care in his tone. It made her flustered. She nodded her head. “Was a little thirsty,” Esther explained. “You cried for that?” He raised an eyebrow. Esther immediately shook her head, wondering what image he had of her to even bring up. “Just pulled on an injury.” He knitted his eyebrows and commented, “So fucking delicate. Don’t move then.” Getting down from the bed, he left the room. Honestly, Esther was shocked to learn that Asher saved her. How did he even know where she was kept? That made her look at her bandaged wrist and recall about her siblings. Did they know she was missing? They must be worried. However, her phone wasn’t with her, and she couldn’t make a call. She wondered how long had she been unconscious for. Regardless of how comfortable it was
It had been almost a week since Esther was brought into Asher’s apartment and kept here. Esther did feel as though she was somewhat abducted. No matter how many times she wanted to leave, Asher knew how to deflect the matter. Because of that, she ended up staying in his apartment for such a long period. He provided her with food, a warm bed to sleep at, and books to read or movies to watch when she was bored. At the same time, he had cut off all her connections to the outside world. Esther felt as though she was a pet being raised by him. Esther, however, was curious in knowing his intent. That’s why, she silently bore through this while observing the man. Moreover, she did find the care he showed towards her to be endearing. His gentleness was addictive to Esther. Esther was going through the newly bought romance novel. She didn’t know where he got her preferences in novels from and did feel guilty that he was spending so much on her. However
“Was your love for me a lie?” Esther cried out.Asher pressed on to his forehead and expressed, “Quit being so dramatic.”“Men are really heartless creatures or else how can you push me to the execution ground. Yesterday you were hugging me and loving me, and now, you want me dead?”“Esther.”Asher stared at her sternly.This made her pout and deflate, almost falling off to the ground in the process. Asher grabbed on to her collar to prevent that from happening.“Why have you only grown to become more and more childish?” Asher pinched her nose while staring at her with adoration in his eyes.She scrunched up her nose.“Alright. Your family is waiting outside of the door. I will go and open it.”Esther showed a helpless expression. Whatever, sooner or later, she will have to face her family. It doesn’t matter if she gets beaten up. Just a little painful and a whole lot embarrassing.Taking in a deep breath, she steeled herself and gestured to Asher to open the door.“Alright. I am read
Asher sounded disappointed.“That’s all? Because I hardly looked at you for few days, you thought I had no feelings for you? Even after I opened about everything to you? I told you over and over again that breaking the bond wouldn’t change anything. You couldn’t trust me?”“How am I supposed to read your mind!? You are always blowing hot and cold. It’s tiresome. What about you? You weren’t any less insensitive! Didn’t you think it would hurt me if you avoided me?Don’t you have common sense? Or was it a game you played to torture me because I wanted to break the bond with you? That’s your favorite hobby, right!?”“My hobby? Yeah, you are right. I am paranoid. I enjoy testing people at every turn and don’t trust anyone. But I wanted to do that with you. Fuck! If it wasn’t for your sake, I wouldn’t have ignored you.Do you know what I felt like every time I looked at you? Tortured. Do you understand how empty I felt without the bond? Unable to read your emotions, it was all too foreign
Asher stared at her in disbelief.“I am in last stage of stomach cancer. That’s why, I will be content to get to see you married, and it’s sad that I won’t have the luxury to see your children. Nonetheless, I hope you will be happy in the future.”“You are lying,” Asher responded.Esther sighed.“I wish I was too. There’s a lot I wanted to do, but too bad, my life is short.”At this, Esther saw Asher taking out his phone, and alert, she grabbed on to his hand, asking, “What are you doing?”“Arranging for the tests. You will be done for if you are lying.”This made Esther nervous.“Can you not? I am exhausted of having to go to doctors, getting poked, and having to take medicine. I won’t stop you from doing whatever you want, but please, don’t force me to see a doctor. There’s no hope already. I just want to spend my last days peacefully.”“Shut up,” he ordered, “there’s no way that’s the case, and you will be seeing a doctor whether you like it or not.”“I was sad, thinking that you w
A chill travelled down Esther’s spine. At the sane time, she felt indignant. What right did he have to accuse her in this manner as though she cheated behind his back?Back then, it was him who fervently ignored her, and these years, she suffered badly. She was all alone with strangers. And it’s not like she wanted to be away; she had to be away.“I-uh, it’s none of your business. It’s been five years, Asher. Weren’t we just childish high school students back then? What happened back then shouldn’t even matter?”Asher’s eyes darkened further.“Say that again.”Esther was about to repeat those words when she got intimidated by his eyes. Her senses could easily perceive the danger, and she silently turned to face the window. She wasn’t foolish enough to provoke the beast.And then, they stopped in front of a mansion. It was grand. Esther stared at it in amazement and wondered how much Asher actually made in a month. Asher then got down of the car and ordered her to follow behind him. A
“Dad’s home. Yikes! I am going to bed, Esther. Good night.”Before Esther could say anything, the child rushed off to her room, and she laughed at her antics. Despite Dylan’s repeated warnings, Lily still got into a fight in school and got injuries. Not wanting to be scolded by her father again, she hid.Esther shook her head.The main door opened, and Dylan stepped in. She raised her eyebrow at the signs of joy seen on his face. Work made him exhausted usually, so this was new.“What happened?” she questioned as the man removed his blazer and placed it on the couch.“I met with an old friend from the council today, and it seemed that Stephen was caught, five years ago at that. It’s sad we lost connection for long.”Stephen and Esther did lay low for these five long years. Esther had no connection with the werewolf council, and Stephen didn’t have complete trust in them. He was afraid getting involved would result in him being caught.“You sure?” Esther asked.Dylan nodded.“Confirmed
Esther bent down and fixed the hair of the child in front of her. No older than five, the girl had doe brown eyes, brown hair pulled into two ponytails, and chubby cheeks that made one want to pinch them.In other words, she was adorable.“Now, take care of yourself, and don’t get into fights.”“Yes, Mom! Are you coming to pick me up?”Esther pretended to think about it for a while.“I am not too sure about it.”“I will give you a kiss, Mom.”With that, the tiny girl plastered her lips on to Esther’s cheeks, leaving behind a small kiss before stepping back with sparkling eyes, blinking at Esther in expectation.Esther laughed. She hated leaving her apartment, but she could do anything for her adorable baby.“Sure.”The child grinned widely.“Then, make sure to bring enough money with you. I want to buy this big dollhouse. Dad scolded me, saying it’s a waste of money, and I will break it. What would he know? The dollhouse is so pretty. I want it.”The girl scoffed, folding her hands ov
Before he passed out, he growled at Esther. Although he tried to resist, the drug was too potent for his self will.Stephen was a cautious being, but due to his arrogance, Esther had the upper hand in this. He thought he figured her out entirely, and due to this, he felt she would be helpless. Esther was after all like an open book.Esther’s acting skills surprised even herself. When push came to shove, even Esther can adapt and act accordingly. She was proud of herself for staying calm under the situation and not breaking down.Of course, Esther did not have the time to celebrate for long. What was way more tasking for her had to be when she moved the man to the shotgun seat, so that she could take the driver’s one.With all the rough handling, she was almost scared he would wake up. His weight felt nearly impossible for her to handle, but her willpower made sure she carried on.Following so, she drove the car following the GPS. Upon spotting the man and his child by the roadside, sh
Asher made her frustrated, incredibly at that.Because he believed Esther fell in love with someone, he kept an eye on her the entire time, and once the day at school was over, he dragged her to his apartment. She couldn’t even resist because he was ready to start a fight with her siblings over her.Esther too held on to her will and didn’t talk to Asher unless it was regarding breaking the bond. That only got him to be more aggressive, and he threatened about marking her.Just when Esther thought one bond was too much.Marking is the werewolf version of being tied until death. At least it was too harsh to force it upon someone else. But the way Esther kept on challenging Asher’s bottom line, she distinctly saw it as a future possibility.That’s why, she had to do something drastic.She tried a lot of techniques. She cried and begged him, screamed at him and tried to provoke him, threw a hunger strike, and attempted to come out of her shell to act ambiguous with another man which ende
“Was that what upset you these days?” Asher asked.Over this period of time, he noticed that Esther was unusually tense and spent lesser amount of time with him. He didn’t push it, thinking it was due to exams coming up. She should be stressed over it.“Why didn’t you tell me about it?” Esther asked.At first, she thought that she would have to act sad, but now, the reality of everything hit her, making her emotionally unstable. Asher didn’t want to do anything with her.When it was an unrequited love on her part, she wasn’t saddened by this because for her, it was impossible for Asher to like her back then. But now that she got to taste his sweet affections, everything was painful.Asher sighed.“It didn’t matter,” he responded, “that’s why, don’t let it create an issue.”This made Esther’s heart sink.“Your mate, it could have been someone else, and you would have treated her the same.” Esther voice was low. Her eyes were on the floor, and tears started to well up in them.At this,