Walking down the stairs into the foyer took longer than it should because of the magnificent decor of the house. Lola and Melissa were looking around, leaning their heads far back to see the ceiling, which had hand-painted linings and creatures in beautiful contrast to the house’s colors.
In the middle, right by where the giant bubble lamp hung, was a full moon, and from the right was a dark crescent moon overlapping.
“That’s beautiful,” Lola said and gawked at the art.
On the walls were portraits, paintings, and masks that looked old but were perfectly preserved.
The foyer was narrow and opened up into the living room on the right. As they walked in, they saw the kitchen connecting by the far-end wall with an island that subtly separated the two areas.
Melissa grabbed the blankets from her bed, took two pillows, and grabbed her favorite pink PJs before running into the kitchen and opening the cabinets. She and Lola raided the fridge of cake, the freezer for all the ice cream they could find, and the pantry for cookies, chips, and every other cavity-inducing goodie.They took it all into the movie room and locked the door so that Melissa’s parents wouldn’t disturb them. They giggled as they laid the cushions underneath and put the blankets on top, creating their own fortress.“God, I love that you’re in my life,” Melissa said with a sigh as they grabbed all the snacks and put them between them on the makeshift bed.Lola smiled. A little laugh tumbled from her, and she looked with adoration at Melissa.“I am too, Mell,&rdqu
Melissa groaned and turned in the bed. Lola was wide awake. She sat with a cup of coffee in her hands and thought about her dream. It was one of the memories she hoped to be buried, but for some reason, they continued pushing their way up to the surface whenever she slept.That was the night that everything changed, but something else was familiar about it, something that correlated to her life right now. Still, she couldn’t put her finger on what it was and didn’t want to pry too much into the past.“You’re up?” Melissa groaned.Lola handed her the other cup of coffee and smiled.“I am. How’d you sleep?” Lola asked.“Not sure, I had a weird dream again,” she said.“Was i
His big frame cast a shadow on the floor. The lamp behind him was the only source of light in the small studio apartment.“Jax, what are you doing here?” she stammered, trying to keep her confidence. However, it was hard when a man she barely knew sat waiting in her apartment in the dark.“What happened that night when I found you?” His voice was cold and calculating.He held the knife’s handle in his hand and turned it clockwise on his way over the floorboards.“What happened, Lola?” he repeated when Lola didn’t answer.She didn’t remain silent out of spite. She was simply too stunned to speak. Fear was creeping up her body. Her senses were telling her to run.Could she leave this l
Lola stood pressed against the wall. Her body was frozen in fear, and her memories played in her mind. She shouldn’t have stayed. That night would be the beginning of the end for her. She should’ve run.Her chest rose with each deep breath she took. The two guys towered over her, waiting to hear what she had to say.“Lola,” he said her name so gently. “Please, tell me what happened that night.”She swallowed and looked into his capturing eyes, avoiding the guy standing next to him. She counted: one, two, three.“Melissa was bitten,” she said. Lola giggled. It rose from her throat and exited her lips before she could stop it. The giggles turned to laughs, and then her head flew back as the laughter peeled out of her. “She was bitten,” she laughed. &ld
“Is it done?” They stood in the library. Walls covered in shelves with all the books of generations gathered in one place. Two floors with a grand staircase led you up closer to the painted ceiling. Jax grabbed hold of the step on the ladder on which he swung around, playing as a child. “Not exactly,” Jax said through clenched teeth. He turned around and faced their judgmental gazes. “If you want to take over the title, to rule this pack and become Alpha, then you must take a wife. You will be taking over not only our pack but the businesses, Jax, and you know the board wants someone stable.” Jax scoffed. They wanted someone who wouldn’t go around fooling around with different women, partying, and bringing shame over the family name. “She’s here, isn’t she?” he spat. “Listen, son, you were fortunate enough to find her, to find your mate, and the fact that she is human could work in our favor.” Jax shook his head in disbelief. “Not everything is about gain, Father.” His dad walk
Lola was gasping for air. Even though the room was massive, the windows were open, and nothing was lodged in her throat, she still couldn’t seem to catch a breath. It was as though an invisible hand was wrapped around her throat, squeezing it tighter until black dots formed in her vision. “Lola!” She saw through her blurry vision how Ash stumbled back. Someone came up in front of her. He held her shoulders and slowly sat down on the floor with her. “Breathe!” He dragged his fingers through her hair, pinning her head back as he tried to see her face. Her face was turning red from lack of oxygen. “For fuck’s sake, Lola, you need to breathe!” “Should I not have told her? Whoops!” Ash laughed, walking to the table. “Look at me. You’re okay. You’re not dying. You can breathe. Feel the air, Lola.” He moved her hair away and lifted her face. “Feel the air going in your nose, down your windpipe, and feel your lungs expanding. Don’t think about anything other than the next step of the ne
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
“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