Thrust into a world that humans weren’t supposed to know about, Lola got swept up in the stories being told, from vampires to werewolves to mystical creatures and witches. Magic and supernatural beings are all roaming the earth alongside humans. She had read about them in books and seen them on TV. To think they were real hadn’t crossed her mind until that night when her whole life flipped upside down. *** The car turned off. The driver stepped out. Her father pulled Lola out from the backseat. He was shaking, sweating furiously as he walked her to the men. “This is Lola, my daughter.” Her father’s voice trembled in fear. “Lola, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Come on inside.” The blonde man reached out his pale hand to her. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t safe, but the woods stretched for miles, and the road leading up to the house was long and extremely uneven. She couldn’t run. She wouldn’t make it far. Lola stepped inside the house, her eyes catching the crackling fire and the man
The morning started with someone banging on the door to the guest room.Lola turned and pressed her face into the pillow, trying to hide from the sun that streamed in through the curtain-less window.Yesterday was just a big ball of weird crap that she still wasn’t sure happened. She turned on her back and stared at the ceiling. Maybe it was all just a dream. Maybe she fell again, and that was why she was here with a throbbing headache and a million questions.Just to make sure, she looked up and scanned the room. Yup, still at the Blackwoods’ mansion.“What?” Lola yelled when the knocking sounded louder and louder.The door opened up. She gasped and flew out of bed.“Melissa!” Lola pulled her in for a hug and closed the door behind her.“What are you doing here?” she asked when she pulled back. Melissa’s eyes were red, with deep dark circles covering them.A small frown pressed down on her forehead, and her eyes narrowed.“Do you see this?” She pointed to her eyes. “Have I ever looke
They walked into school like it were any other day. However, in the back of Lola’s mind, she had yesterday’s events painfully pressuring her.Students stopped in the corridors and eyed them. At first, Lola couldn’t figure out why they were staring so openly, but then she saw how their eyes fell over Jax as he stopped next to her. Persephone, who had classes with Melissa, walked over with a smile.“Hi!” They started talking about the upcoming test while Lola stood stiff like a pole, wanting to disappear from everyone’s judging eyes. She shrunk into the floor but didn’t disappear. In her head, she had run, but her feet wouldn’t move.Jax was looking around, a deep scowl on his face, and his shoulders slowly raised.Anytime their gazes met him, they looked away, understandably so. He looked murderous.However, he wasn’t looking at them, his eyes were fixated on something else.“You’re staring,” Lola said and nudged his arm.Jax turned his head, but his eyes still scoured the halls.Inste
Lola ran around the apartment. She pulled open the few drawers that were left untouched. Her slim fingers wrapped around the knob of a drawer, and she pulled it, but it wouldn’t budge. She couldn’t remember what was in the drawer. Was it clothes? Books? She had no clue, and apparently, she wouldn’t find out. Lola stepped back. The duffel bag was next to her feet on the floor with one book and a pair of shoes inside. She stood staring at the drawer, wondering not only what was in it but also realizing it was the last of her personal effects.A whipping sound echoed past her, and a large hand grabbed the knob and broke the drawer by pulling it open. He held the board in his hand and looked at Lola’s shocked face. She slowly turned her head, her eyes following swiftly but unable to take in the view. His face was covered in blood splatter. Drops fell from his mouth, and his teeth were stained crimson.“Jax?”His eyes fell down her body to her feet. He looked at the bag that lay open, and
Lola stared at her best friend, the one person in the world she cared about. She wanted to tell her everything, but how could she explain something that didn’t make any sense?“Lola?” Melissa’s voice rang out softly, and her eyes pleaded for an explanation.“I—”“It’s our fault, really,” Ash said, getting in front of Lola. “The bodies outside, the wrecked apartment, the door — Well, that’s more my fault,” he joked, but no one was laughing.“The bodies are your fault?” Melissa’s eyes flickered between Ash and Lola as she took a small step back out into the stairwell.“They are, but the good thing is that you won’t tell anyone.” Ash grinned. Melissa gasped when Ash was in front of her just as she blinked.He cupped her cheek and leaned her head back. “I’m not?” she whispered.Ash flicked his tongue and shook his head. “No, you’re not because you wouldn’t want your mom to meet the same faith, would you now?” Melissa shook her head. Her eyes widened and glistened in fear.“Ash!” Lola scol
Jax closed the door to the bedroom, throwing one last glance at Lola sleeping on the bed. He clenched his fingers around the key and stared at the keyhole. He bit down and pressed the key in, turning it and locking the door. It’s for everyone’s good, he told himself.“We’re locking her up?” Landon, Jax’s wolf, said, his voice dripping with judgment.“It’s for her own good.”“For her own good or your own peace of mind? I mean, it is easier for you to handle her when she’s locked up, no?” Even though they were one, it didn’t mean their thoughts were the same or their actions always coincided with what the other felt was right.“I can’t have her run away. Ash is right.&rd
Lola stood by the window, trying to break it open. The chair she had thrown against the glass was lying on the floor, and her knuckles were red from beating against the impenetrable glass.Her hair lay messy, and her cheeks stained crimson from the blood on her hands when she dragged them over her face in despair.Her foggy mind was still trying to comprehend everything from the last hours, but only bits and pieces were forming in her memory.She remembered her apartment and Jax. Ash was there too, but then what had happened? She pulled her hair and clenched her jaw in frustration as the flight in her erupted but without the ability to act on it. The door was locked shut, and the thickness of the door made it impossible for Lola to kick down. Her mind reeled to the possibility of the guy’s ability to break it down, given the fact that they
Lola sat on the chair in the kitchen, surrounded by Jax’s family members and the scary man from the hallway.He was eyeing her with a monotone expression. It seemed that he could catch any secret she held.Lola was thinking of ways to get out, but none seemed likely to work. She wondered at that moment who these people were and what they wanted from her. Many knew about the Blackwood family and their history in this town, but Lola was not one of them. She barely knew the town she lived in, let alone the families that had been here for generations.One thought that crossed her mind more than others was Jax said that they were werewolves. Did that include his parents? Was she surrounded by supernatural beings?There was no use in pretending that they didn’t exist. She had been attacked twice now by
“Get your butt in here right now, young lady!” Lola scolded while running around with a towel chasing her two-year-old daughter who was running down the hallways butt naked. With her arms swinging in the air and laughing menacingly, the water traced her steps on the carpets, and she headed towards the stairs. Just before reaching the end of the hallway, she was lifted into the air by two large arms and flown around like an airplane. “Daddy!” “My darling Ophelia,” he said and lowered her gently. He tickled her nose and hugged her tight when Lola came to a stop with the towel. “That little girl is definitely wolf,” Lola panted. She halted to a stop and raised a brow when she took in Jax’s appearance. “Daddy indeed,” Lola purred when she watched her husband’s bare upper body as he stood sweating after his workout with the warriors. “She could be a Doe,” Jax said and looked into his daughters’ eyes. “She has your big, beautiful eyes,” he remarked. Lola giggled and cupped Jax’s che
They were back at the mansion and had constructed a plan on the way. The danger was still not altogether eliminated, not all enemies had been neutralized and they were those on the inside still aiming to break Jax and Lola apart.Jax and Ash walked into the mansion with Lola keeping her distance behind them. She turned away from them and hid where they wouldn't see her until it was time. Jax had called for a meeting on the way and told his parents and Lavina to meet him in the study. Nobody had suspected a thing, they were all just glad to hear that he was alright and their Alpha and son were returning home. The Blackwood boys entered the office and let the door fall to a near close. “It is so good to see you again, darling,” Mrs. Blackwood gleamed.Lavina ran up and wrapped her arms around him. The wide smile on her face and the wrinkles on her eyes deepened as relief washed over her. “I was so worried I almost went after you myself but Lola insisted she had it covered,” she said
Lucien clapped his hands, starting slow as the sound echoed in the room before he picked up the speed and laughed menacingly. He slammed his fist in the air and blew into his hands in celebration.“I have played this in my mind for months, going over what it would be like to have you all here and to tell you the things I knew but now that it is happening, holy shit, there is not a feeling like it.” He licked his lips and wiped the sweat from his face.He used his speed and kneeled next to Lola in a second. She fell back and tried to widen the distance between them by crawling backward but Lucien circled his fingers around her ankle and pulled her in with a rough grip. He gestured with his hand towards Jax and said through a deep smirk, “How I have been waiting for this. Be honest now, which do you prefer- getting fucked by a werewolf-” he grabbed her chin and forced her head back, “-or a vampire?” He asked. Jax’s mouth fell open and his eyes glistened as though all the pain came rus
Ash’s eyes glowed as his wolf stepped up, his canines extended and his growl shook the walls of the house when he pulled the knife out of his side and he flung it at his cousin's hands. They all turned their heads and watched as the knife cut through the air and went clean through the chains that bound Jax's hands. Jax fell into a pool of his blood, his heart barely beating and his body weakened from the poison in his wounds.“What the fuck?” One of the vampires spat and tried to overrun Ash. Ash grabbed the vampire's arm and spared no time as he ripped his head clean of his body and through against one of the windows, shattering the glass.“Let go of her.” He growled and walked towards Lucien. Whatever they had laced the blade with was eating at his insides, burning his flesh like acid but Ash refused to fall, not until he knew that she was safe.Lucien pulled out his fangs and lifted his head, looking toward the ceiling in a euphoric high.Three of his men jumped on Ash who was alre
They went to sleep not long after their talk and Ash slept on top of the covers. He watched Lola drift off into slumber and lay awake completing his choices.His cousin had been taken and he was making moves on his girl. Though he knew what he wanted, he now began to regret the many decisions he’d made that had led him this far. He looked at her lips slightly parted in her sleep and her eyes softly closed still, the faint freckles on her nose and her thick hair landing over her shoulder.She was a special girl, loved by many and desired by more. Perhaps it was the curse of being the Doe or maybe it was just her heart that sparked interest once she trusted people enough to show it to them. Regardless of the reasons, Ash realized now that his fighting was futile because her heart was not his to win. He should've been grateful to have felt her love, the one she gave him when she chose to trust him. The love was addictive, at first taste he wanted more, and he wanted what his cousin had.
They drove up to the Inn though it was further away from the street than advertised and they circled a sharp turn that led up a narrow path.As they arrived at a red neon sign saying ’open’ and a lady sitting with headphones on behind the desk inside they looked at each other, a lingering silence that was questioning just how good of an idea it was to go in. The rain poured around them. Drops on the roof of the car began to sound like firecrackers went off in a tunnel.Ash gave Lola his jacket to hold over her head and they shared a look before they ran from the car and slammed open the door as they tumbled inside.The lady looked up, slowly and gently as though a couple of strangers hadn't just tumbled into her hallway. She slowly leaned to the side to look past them and watch the pour outside of the Inn.“You kids don’t listen to the news, do ya?” She laughed.She wiggled her finger in front of Lola and pointed to the den.“There are towels in there, go grab yourselves some and I'll
They were back in the mansion. Ash had gathered the Alpha's warriors and filled them in on the situation. One of the cleaners had turned on the radio and Lola heard on the news that extreme weather was to be expected as she walked down after having changed clothes. Extreme rainfall was to occur during the night and the following days in and around town.She had the keys to her car and a small bag with toiletries.Ash and the warriors came out of the office and saw Lola standing at the entrance. His shoulders rose in a predatory bow as he stalked towards her.“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked. “To find Jax. Whatever he and I are, it’s my fault that he’s been taken. I'm going to bring him home,”Ash was in front of her before she could blink and ripped the keys from her hand.“The hell you are.” He put the keys in his pocket and grabbed her wrists when she tried to get them back. “It’s my fault that he was taken, he was protecting ME!” “And I will get him back!” He growled
She froze, time stilled around them and that picture would now be etched in her mind forever as it was all she saw wherever she looked.Nobody moved, she heard faint gasps and a low growl behind her but she couldn't turn around.For Lola, it felt as though hours passed without either Jax or Lavina moving but when a hand weighed down on her shoulder and forced her to turn she noticed everything moving a lot faster and people not having noticed what happened.She looked over her shoulder at Jax and Lavina and saw that they stood apart from each other, Lavina was by the table and Jax wiped his thumb over his lips and turned his head, his eyes locked with Lola’s, and his hand fell to his side. “Lola,” Ash said and tried to get her attention.Melissa had her arm hooked in Ed’s and watched with a glimmer in her eyes as her worst fear came true.But at that moment Lola couldn't breathe, she couldn't hear what anyone said and needed to get away from all of the people that surrounded her.On
“She did an amazing job,” Lola said, trying to break the thick ice coating when they were alone.“She did.” He said huskily and looked down at her. His gaze burned into her skin, his eyes glistened as they scanned her as they had many times before and his tongue slid over his lips.They stood staring into each other's eyes and Lola noticed the life in Jax’s eyes had dimmed. It wasn't what she looked into before, he seemed hardened and cold. Not just towards her but in general.Lola didn't know the first thing about being an Alpha but she was starting to realize that perhaps it entailed your persona shifting from tough but fair to cold and hard.Was it Alphas or just Jax?There didn't seem to be any in-between.“You wanted to talk.” He said.Taken aback by the hurry in his tone she realized he wanted to leave.“We haven’t talked since that night in the guest room. You slept in my bed, told me to be patient with you and then I don't hear from you for weeks.” Jax’s brows furrow and a ch