~Ashley~"Coming to this lake isn't that bad of a choice after all. At least, I get to maintain my peace of mind." I murmured, drawing whatever came to mind with my eyes closed. Ever since I compelled Cassie and Jenny, Blaine and Kiara have been at war. Their source of bickering didn't make sense to me so I decided to have a quiet time beside the lake. Like Marcellus often does. My ear suddenly twitched as I heard an ongoing conversation and hurried footsteps. "Did you hear?" "Hear what?" "Seven pack members died last night. The witch was asked to divine what happened and she said a banshee wailed close to our pack."A surprise gasp flew out of the listener's mouth. "We haven't had a banshee come near us for decades. Why does this one suddenly have to appear out of nowhere?" "That isn't the problem for me. The Alpha has ordered everyone to go back to training in the pack house. Young pack members, male and female, who have the will and desire to fight are urged to try it." "Bei
It didn't take long before a pack member sauntered into the pack house. His eyes fell on me, then it trailed down to Willow who was unconscious on the floor. "What—"Snap! I threw him to the ground as soon as I snapped his neck. Touching my forehead, I sighed and bent down to drag him up. "What do I do?" I asked Blaine, unblocking our connection. "First of all, you did the wrong thing. Compelling him would've gone a long way. Second of all, you haven't fed me in days, he doesn't look bad." I heard her reply. As usual, she suggested something cruel. Just like I expected, Kiara's voice came up next, "You're always suggesting terrible things." "Come on, love, stop judging me. Unlike you, I have the power to do these things and get away with it. That's the difference between us." Blaine retorted. "Shut up you two!" I snapped and felt them quieten. "Kiara, like Blaine said, I can't live without either of you. Hence, you have to learn to be at peace with each other." "Exactly! That'
~Ashley~ As I returned back to the pack, I noticed the dead had been cleaned up for their funeral. Even though the crying had subsided, the families of the deceased still had tears in their eyes. The burial was done around eight and everyone returned to their homes. Like every other night after I turned eighteen, my mother sat on the chair with a grim face. "I haven't set my eyes on you since last night, Ashley. Where have you been?" "As much as I would've loved to tell you, I don't think it's any of your business." I replied walking past her. However, she suddenly got up and wedged me against a wall, her eyes murderous. "I am your mother, you live under my roof so you should answer my questions whenever I ask them!" I stared into her face and scoffed. Then as quickly as I could, I pried her hands off and got away from her grip. "You've been housing me for eighteen years without any complaint. If you can house me for just one more year, I can consider moving out of your house
~Ashley~We stood far from them which made it impossible for Onniel and the other wolves to hear what was being said. But as the vampire that I am, I heard everything. "Your Alpha invites us to war against Thorny Heart Pack? Does he think we've become so weak because of the constant deaths within our pack?" I heard Marcellus ask with a kind smile. One of the messages chuckled and retorted. "A pack whose members die every day doesn't need to remain on its own lest the whole pack members dies. What benefits will that bring to them and to the ones who refrained from acquiring them." Marcellus touched the sides of his mouth as he muttered a thoughtful, "Oh, I see." Maverick on the other hand, had a somewhat ingratiating smile as he tried to ease the tension by saying, "Gentlemen, we can have a talk with your Alpha later. Return back and report to your Alpha about our reluctance to fight one of our own." Then he stopped and turned to Marcellus, "Please lead them safely out of here bro
New Jersey~Rebecca~"Nice place you have here." I heard and raised my head from the neck of the man I was feeding on. I wiped off the blood on my lips with a tissue and turned to welcome the Intruder. "Samuel Tonkins, to what do I owe your arrogant presence?" Samuel stopped just some meters away from me. I looked behind him to see he had come with three of his men, a lady and two men. "If paying an old friend a visit is described as arrogance, then I must tell you, you're the arrogant one." He replied smugly. I stared down at the compelled man who I had fed on and said to him, "You can leave. Be sure to return in thirty minutes, I ain't done feeding." He nodded and stood up. Then he walked away like a robot. "The last time you visited, I buried a dozen of my men who tried to stop you. Now, I hope you didn't do anything funny or I'll happily bestow upon you my punishment." He smiled and sat in the space beside me. "We both know why I'm here." "I don't." I replied and got up t
~Ashley~"My body hurts so bad." Cassie moaned in pain beside me. I turned to look at her and mocked teasingly. "We only jogged. How could your bones be so saggy?" She punched me playfully by the arm before Maverick graced us with his presence. "Welcome to the second day of our training. Those of you who think you can keep up are free to leave now. If you don't, there's no turning back." He announced, his loud voice echoing throughout the empty compound. Slowly, youths began leaving the compound. Half of us left leaving me in surprise. When I looked around, I sighed seeing it was people who loved to bully me. Maverick only continued when he noticed the ones who yearned to leave where gone. "Now, there's a banquet party done every month, whichever of you ace's this test gets to come with us." As soon as he finished, I heard whisperings, people happily discussing the offer. Cassie wasn't left out, after all, it was a great fit to leave the pack at and mingle with humans once in
~Maverick~I watched the white haired pack member interact with her friend and had to turn away from them when I heard the approaching footsteps of someone. I looked back to see if it was my mate, Jenson. She looked towards the two girls and back at me. "Where did you keep your phone? I've been calling." She said. I put on an apologetic look as I touched both pockets in search of my phone. I took it out to see seven missed calls from her. "I'm sorry, I got carried away with the training." I apologized, forcing out a guilty smile. Jenson nodded and walked closer to me. "I thought I'd remind you that the duel is tomorrow evening. How are you doing?" I swallowed forcefully but replied her regardless, "I've been preparing. If I push harder, winning won't be that difficult to attain." She smiled and patted my cheeks playfully, "I wish you the best, Mave. Always remember this will do us both good enough to last for a lifetime." Then she turned and walked away. I scattered my hair a
~Ashley~I shoved Cassie aside and walked ahead of her. Seeing her getting bullied by Claire only made my past memories swarm back. The weak, ugly, defenseless girl. "Come on, Ashley, I know you're hiding something." I heard her groan from behind me but didn't stop walking. Her next move was unexpected as I had my mask yanked out of my face. I stared at her gobsmacked face before reaching out to grab it and fixed it to my face, this time more tighter. "My eyes can't be deceiving me, Ashley. You're no longer scarred." Cassie rambled on behind me. I ignored her the whole time wishing we would get home quickly. However, she suddenly held my hand and threw me to the ground. Again, it was a surprise attack and I couldn't help looking up at her with a frown as I jumped back onto my feet. "If you're trying to provoke me into a fight, then know your plan will not work." I scoffed and turned to walk away again but felt myself being drawn back. Yet again, I got thrown to the ground. This
"Look at that. A perfect union of a mother and her daughter. And is that rage I see in your eyes? Beautiful!" Bardot exclaimed as he clapped his hands slowly. Ashley narrowed her eyes at Bardot's unfamiliar face. "I take it you're the stubborn sibling because I did see one of the Elshers on the floor with a dagger in his heart." "Don't worry, he'll be coming along with you and your mother. He's useless to me alive anyway." Bardot replied and raised the stake in his hand. But before he took a step forward, he felt the earth shake. He thought it was his imagination but the same thing happened again. He glanced behind him to see the people with him were equally shocked as well. Then he turned his attention to Ashley to see a group of people walking towards them in an organized manner. They wore casual clothes but that didn't hide the viciousness in their eyes as they stopped just behind Ashley and gazed at him. "Oh, I think I forgot to say something." Queenie sighed with a smile. P
Mia's Apartment, in the cellar Ashley watched Mia draw a big circle on the floor with a white chalk. As the woman drew it, Ashley felt a piercing gaze on her and glanced towards its direction only to see Iris. She sighed and folded her arms underneath her breasts. At this point, she had no doubt this girl would kill her if she was given a stake to drive into her heart. "Alright, Ashley." Mia said as soon as she was done. She straightened up and walked towards Ashley. "Just bleed some of your blood over there and go lie in the circle." Ashley walked over to the bowl Mia had pointed at and bit down on her palm. She repeated the process more than three times due to her quick healing. After a considerable amount had dripped into the bowl, she relented. She wiped her palm on her dress and walked into the circle. She laid down in it and closed her eyes. Soon, Mia took hold of Cassie and laid her right beside Ashley. "I need you to hold her hand. I need a connection between you two. A
"I don't know. I should be asking you." Drexa replied with a frown. She has risked her life coming here only to find out Taylor had no idea how to unlock the safe. "Do you have any idea what the safe was like when your parents were still alive?" Drexa asked but Taylor shook her head. "I was just a child. I think I was just 2. What would I remember?" Taylor asked rhetorically and Drexa frowned even harder. "Think Taylor. By coming to you I'm putting my life on the line. Cassidy will kill us both if she finds out this is what we discussed." Drexa paused and glanced towards the vampires she had killed outside the door. She turned back to Taylor to see the girl looking at her with a horrified expression. "I'm glad you get it. My siblings and I have already tried to kill Cassidy before and she surprisingly spares us but that means we'll be her slave for eternity. And other than that, she's going to continue wrecking havoc." "I know, I understand what you're trying to say. Without the
"Aunt Mia, what is she doing in your house?" Iris asked Mia, totally ignoring Ashley. Seeing this, Ashley smiled and relaxed on the chair. Then she looked between Iris and Mia. "This is Ashley Elsher, the daughter of Cassidy Elsher." Mia introduced them with a smile. Obviously, Iris hadn't recounted what Ashley had done to her in EverMore to Mia. "And I want you two to be good friends." Mia added. "No!" The two girls shouted at the same time. Ashley had only been nice to Iris because she was Mia's niece. Who said she cared about being friends with such a horrible person like Iris! "Don't worry, you'll get to love each other." Mia merely said with a light smile and directed his attention back to Cassie who was still unconscious. The name Ashley had mentioned came back and her smile faded. "Did you say Yoel?" She asked and Ashley nodded. When Ashley saw the look on Mia's face, she automatically knew the woman knew Yoel as well. "He's a jerk. He happily recounted to me all he had
Bardot opened his eyes to find himself in an unfamiliar room. The first thing he recalled was the sight of Drexa driving a stake into his heart. He quickly tried to get up but discovered he felt extremely weak in his arms. "I think you've been daggered and kept in a box for close to six months. Or is it more than that?" He heard a familiar voice say and slowly turned to affirm his suspicion. "Disappointed?" Cassidy asked upon seeing the horrified look on his face. Bardot quickly turned his face away from her. "I can't say I'm happy to see you until you've handed over the stake in your possession." He said weakly. "So you guys can finally kill me with it permanently? No, thank you." Seh retorted with a scoff. "It's either you get up in the next ten seconds, or you remain daggered in a box for the rest of your immortal life. If you're lucky, someone can stumble upon you and free you. If you're lucky." "What? Are you back to being the controlling freak that you really are?" He said
Damien watched over his people with a wide grin on his face. He noticed someone watching him and turned towards her direction. "If I didn't know better, I would've mistaken that look for admiration." He said, walking over to her. Claire, who had her hands folded across her chest, unfolded it and slipped them into her pocket. She watched the people as well without a word. "I've been thinking about your offer." She sighed, her shoulders slumping down in defeat. "I was born a beta, being a Luna isn't a future I imagined for myself." Damien smiled and placed both hands on her shoulder. She stiffened as his masculinity drove her crazy, courtesy of the mating effect. "You are sympathetic, you've been part of the crowd for way too long so you know the people best. In my opinion, you know the people more than I do. You'll be the perfect fit for Luna." He said. Claire said nothing but when the effect of the mating bond kept increasing, she pushed him away and stormed out of there. Damie
Texas "And where have you been?" Keller heard as soon as she got into the house. She slipped both hands into her pocket and turned to look at Liam with a frown. "I've been out with Zelena." She retorted and the man's cold eyes only became colder. He got up and grabbed her arms. "I've known Zelena longer than you ever will and I'm telling you that whatever you're feeling for her is just how she wants you to feel. You need to snap out of it." He said, his tone sounding more like an order. Keller wriggled her way out of his arm and glared at him fiercely. "Don't talk about feelings. You don't have one so I don't expect you to know how it feels to have it." She walked away from him but got blocked by Rebecca who appeared out of nowhere. "Keller, I'm sorry if we pushed you into this and it turned a little real. But the truth remains that Zelena has to die to guarantee Ashley's safety." Rebecca said with a small smile. "Are you sure this is about Ashley or you two are making it up to
Cassidy walked out of her room only to come face to face with Ashley who was about to enter hers. Ashley had totally forgotten her room was just opposite Cassidy's. "I haven't seen you in days. Where have you been?" Cassidy asked as she walked out of her room properly and closed the door. Ashley thought of ignoring her but decided against it. Yoel had told her a lot of things at the bar and she thought she could confirm it at most. "Tell me mother, how many fathers do I have?" Ashley asked. Her question took Cassidy by surprise. The woman first drew her lips into a thin line before sighing. "Mind if we go for a walk?" Ashley nodded and the mother and daughter walked out of the house. "How did you know about it?" Cassidy asked on their way. "You tell me what I want to know and I won't waste any time in telling you what you want to know." Ashley replied. The corners of Cassidy's lips curled into a smile. No one was authorized to bargain with her yet, this little one here said so
"Caddel?" Ashley repeated with a small frown. "Is it the Caddel I know or I'm I missing something?" "Yep. It's the Caddel you know. The teenage looking guy who came up to you a few weeks ago claiming he wants to be friends with you." Yoel affirmed. Ashley was in a little bit of a shock as she slowly connected the dots together in her mind. He had been so convincing when he told her he wanted to be her friend. Despite her harsh words to him, he persevered. So that's why. "If Caddel is your brother and he is my father. Then that makes you my uncle. But at the same time, I don't believe you because the theory about having two fathers is something that has never been heard of in the history of supernaturals or even humans." Ashley refuted, part of her clinging onto that. She refused to believe she really had two fathers. "Look at you looking so sullen and in self-denial. I bet it must be a very bad feeling." Yoel laughed coldly and leaned towards her, "Also, Cassidy is just a few witc