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EIGHT | LIGHT
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2020-05-22 04:03:36My heart pounded. I could feel my pulse thrashing wildly against the skin of my neck. I span around, my eyes roving across the darkness desperately.
“Hey, it’s okay,” came Jacob’s soothing voice. It did little to calm me, but I took a deep breath before I jumped up.
“Jake,” I hissed. “Help me look.”
“It’s probably just an animal,” he placated, but he stood up beside me nonetheless. I held a finger up to my lips.
I crept away from the log we’d been sat on, my eyes wide. I was afraid to blink. I could smell something unsettling, and familiar, but I couldn’t place it. The sun had set completely now; the woods were washed in darkness, shades of black and blue coating the forest floor like bruises.
Another footstep fell to the ground. It was quiet, but the sound radiated through the trees like ripples in a pond. I turned towards Jacob, but my breath stilled in my throat when I caught sight of him.
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“Watching me?” I gasped. “But why?”“That’s why Silver Shore are coming early,” Jacob said. He stood and slid the chair back under the table, and then moved to stand beside me. “Their patrols caught a rogue between our border and theirs. They’ve kept her for questioning. She hasn’t said much, apparently. But she did let one thing slip. They haven’t told us what, yet, though. They said they wanted to discuss it in person, but that it couldn’t wait for the ball.”“I’m sorry we chose to keep this from you,” Kele said. “It was wrong. You fought off a rogue singlehandedly. I am ashamed that I thought you could not protect yourself, that hearing this would weaken you.”“It’s okay, Alpha Kele,” I said. My head was swimming with new information, but I was processing it quickly. I moved to add a dot to the map, and placed it where Rosa and I had come across the rogue. “In future,
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I spent the rest of the afternoon working with my mum. We ended up with a detailed security plan for the ball, and a concise note of key points to discuss in the meeting. We then met with the Female Gamma, Ryna, and Liliana, and talked through the rogue situation together. My mum encouraged me to share my concerns that the rogues may have formed a pack, but the idea was quickly shot down. Ryna looked at me patronisingly, as though she wasn’t sure why I was present. “The whole point of rogues is that they aren’t in a pack, sweetie,” she’d drawled. Unlike when my parents or Jacob called me sweet, a rolling ball of anger spat fire in my chest. Ryna was usually nothing but nice to me, so I was surprised by her tone. I shrugged it off, though, and was determined to stand up for myself.&n
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“I can’t believe I don’t turn eighteen for another month,” Rosa huffed.We were sat together in my bedroom, getting ready for the annual Mating Ball. Rosa was pouting, her lips bare without their usual swathe of red lipstick. It was unusual to see her without makeup on, but I knew that soon she would look back to normal and then some.We had about two hours until the ball commenced, and we finally got to meet the other three packs in attendance. So far, five of our pack had found their mates in the Silver Shore pack. Hopefully, tonight that number would increase drastically.The only two that I knew even moderately well were Michael and Ellie, who had quickly become the source of many jokes around the reservation. They surpassed even the grandest legends of the mate bond; they were near constantly entwined, not kissing, just holding one another and staring into their eyes. It was sweet, really, and underneath the ligh
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The Beta's Daughter 122 | EPILOGUE
I tugged nervously at my dress. Nami and Rosa were behind me, weaving flowers and plaits into my long, brown hair. It waved neatly, having been blow dried and oiled by my entourage. “Are you sure you don’t want any lipstick?” Rosa asked, fiddling with a daisy. She glanced at me in the mirror, her sharply plucked eyebrows raised.“I’m sure,” I said, rolling my eyes at her. They sparkled in the bright light, wide beneath the swathe of brown and gold eye shadow on my lids.“I think you look good without it, anyway,” Nami shrugged. She wound a small, black band around the end of the braid she’d woven into my hair, and then stepped back. “You’re all done, Ari.”“Thanks,” I smiled, turning from side to side to admire myself in the mirror. The dress was simple: I was draped in gold, tightly fitting and hugging the curve of my waist. It had a squared off sweetheart neckline, and I wore a shimmer of glittering highlight across my collarbones. My sun necklace, given to me by my parents, so very
The Beta's Daughter 121 | AIRINI
“It seems,” Alpha Gedeon smirked, “that an accord will have to be negotiated. Young Jacob is to be Alpha of your pack one day, if I am not mistaken. Airini will make a fine Luna; of that, I am sure.”But nobody was paying Gedeon so much as an ounce of attention, not even the wolves of his own pack. All eyes were fixed on Jacob and Airini.She, like Jacob, was covered in the mud and gore of battle. There was a deep, purple bruise blossoming along the side of her face, which stood out starkly against her white skin. Her hair was fine, golden gossamer that floated down to her shoulders. She was easily as tall as he was, but lightly boned and lithely muscled. She looked delicate, but sharp, like an ivory blade.I grabbed Samyak’s hand excitedly, and in that moment I knew that Jacob and I had never been meant to be. My love for Jacob poured out of me now, an expression of friendship and joy for h
The Beta's Daughter 120 | NIGHT
Death was easy. There was no pain in darkness, no anguish. There was no regret, no suffering. But there was no joy either; no elation, no sense of wonder. The darkness was all consuming, but it was not fulfilling. There was something missing, something niggling at the very farthest point of my mind.Then the darkness began to lift, and, though my bleary eyes stayed shut, a bright, golden light shone upon my face. I wondered if I would be opening my eyes into the afterlife, this first blurry vision of gold my eternal resting place.“Arienne?” Samyak murmured. “Arienne – please, open your eyes.” Then I heard him turn, shuffling despairingly to someone, anyone for help. “Why won’t it work?” He asked, his voice heartbroken, confused, like that of a child.This didn’t seem like death. Death was a painless, eternal nothingness. Samyak was crying, and I could see him w
The Beta's Daughter 119 | BATTLE
Alpha Brius was shadowed on either side by his family. His hair, red as blazing fire, stood out even in the darkness. The glow of the sun shone on it, blood dousing flame, and it rippled like water as he stepped forward beside his mate. I could just make out Luna Lucille’s classical features in the dim morning light, though her hair, darker than Brius’s, was obscured.“We said we would stand beside you,” he called. “No matter the task. You saved our son, and the White Elm pack is in your debt, Lapis Moon. We have come to fight at your side.”Luna Carla beamed, and walked down the slope to greet them, Alpha Felix at her side. “You came,” she breathed.“We did, Luna,” said Alpha Brius, bowing his head to her. It was a gesture of respect, and one that was not necessary under such circumstances. “You called, so we came.”I beamed dow
The Beta's Daughter 118 | THE DARKNESS OF THE DAWN
The sun was rising, the first glimpses of orange light tickling the purple sky of the dawn. I stared straight ahead, my flask of coffee going cold between my hands.They were coming, and we were ready.We’d been sent to bed halfway through the night. I’d struggled to sleep, but had fallen into its warmth an hour before I had to wake up again. The broken pattern of napping had made me more tired than I had been before, but my steely focus and determination was keeping me awake now.Samyak had excitedly filled his parents in on his gift, but when they had asked me about mine I’d had very little to say. Ryna’s aura, if that was what it had been, gave me hardly anything to go on. Samyak’s gift was real, palpable; we had both witnessed its effects first-hand. Seeing one maybe-aura was not much to brag about; besides, even if it had been real, I didn’t know what it meant.&nb
The Beta's Daughter 117 | AURAS
I felt my face pale. I clung to Samyak, my hands scrabbling at him like the terrified claws of a prey animal. The moon’s light glittered in my eyes, spinning slowly like a distorted, monocolour kaleidoscope.“Arienne?” Samyak asked, his voice whipping like static against my ears. “What is it? What’s wrong?”Black spots pulsed through my vision, but I shook myself, determined to find out more.Gedeon? What time tomorrow? I sent back, my mind scrambling to find his. But no reply came, and I felt myself falling.Before I hit the bottom, however, I yanked myself back up to the surface. The tidal wave was coming, but we had time. We were prepared, and we could be ready. We would be ready.I pulled back, and my gaze met Samyak’s. He looked soft, his lips plump and his eyes tender. They furrowed in confusion when he saw my own exp
The Beta's Daughter 116 | ORB
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The Beta's Daughter 115 | BLOOD
“Blood?” Samyak frowned, a crinkle appearing between his eyebrows. “How will blood help us?”“It’s all in here,” I said, gesturing to the small, purple book.Luna Carla’s eyes widened, and she cocked her head to one side. We were upstairs in the pack house; all of the highest ranking wolves from both the Lapis Moon and Silver Crescent packs were in attendance, cramped together in the seating area by Alpha Felix and Luna Carla’s offices. The last vestiges of the sun’s rays were slanting through the windows, burnished gold warming our faces and brushing highlights into our hair. Speckles of dust span through the light, floating upwards and spinning slowly as they rose.“What’s this old book going to tell us?” Ryna asked, sliding one hand onto her hip. Her slim, blonde eyebrows raised slightly, and I sighed.&ld
The Beta's Daughter 114 | SILVER CRESCENT
“Mum! Dad!” I shouted, a wide grin spreading across my face. Then I was wrapped in their arms, and I was finally home. I felt complete; whole, though I hadn’t realised that I’d been missing anything until now. They towered over my head, and I felt safe, secure.Then they released me, and another set of arms tackled me from the side. I pulled back, and stared up into familiar, warm sea-blue eyes. His short dark hair was tousled, more so than usual, and stood up at irregular angles, falling in waves across his forehead.“Jake,” I breathed, smiling. I felt dizzy, overwhelmed, as he pulled me flush against his toned body.“Ari,” he whispered, and the hole inside me filled a little more. I’d missed him; not the person he’d been when I’d last visited Silver Crescent, but the best friend that I’d known for years, before mates and relationships and sto
