Klaus I walked back into the house feeling dejected. All my efforts to tell Nora what happened that night had been in vain; she wouldn't even give me a listening ear. All the while, she acted as though I was some kind of pain in the ass she wanted to get rid of. The first time I tried to talk to her in the hallway, she brushed me off. I had quickly gone to make her a copy of the peace treaty she had signed without even reading through, hoping to meet her as soon as I returned and get another shot at telling her the things that had burdened me for the past five years, only to return to her absence. "She just left about two minutes ago, Alpha Klaus," the guard at the entrance doorway revealed when I scanned the area and didn't see her, and had resorted to questioning him. I immediately ran out in search of her. If she left two minutes ago, she must still be at the garage, I believed, and fortunately, I was right. I called out to her just as she was about to get into her car and s
NoraRight in the cave, a few feet from where I stood, was a skeleton with a knife stuck between its ribs. Someone had been killed here and left to die.I staggered backward until I felt my body lean against a hard substance. I turned in fright and exhaled deeply in relief when I realized my back had made contact with the wall.I immediately took to my heels, my heart beating sporadically in my chest. I could hear the ringing of blood in my eardrums so loudly. As soon as I successfully got out of the cave without any mishap, I slouched and breathed in a much-needed lungful of air before making my way back to my car.I got in and turned on the radio just to distract myself from what I had just seen. But even the radio did nothing to take my mind away from it as I wondered what might have transpired in that cave. From the state of the body, that probably happened decades ago. Who could that have been, and what could have caused his death?My phone rang just at the right time, pulling
NoraI had almost arrived at my pack. I didn't know what to expect, but I was going to make a brief stop at Beta Ken's house before going to my father's house.As soon as I arrived at his compound and killed the engine of my car, I saw Grace, my ex-best friend, come out of the house. She must have heard the car drive in and come to see who it was. I swallowed hard, not knowing what to expect from her.I slowly got out of my car, determined to walk up to her and let her know that I have righted my wrongs and was truly sorry for what happened in the past and how everyone had suffered because of me.She stood motionless by the door and watched me. I glanced briefly at her face; there was an emotion there, one I couldn't quite decipher. I lowered my head and continued taking slow, unsure steps towards her.All of a sudden, she rushed towards me at full speed, and I braced myself for the beating I knew was going to come. Unfortunately, her father was not here this time to restrain her fr
NoraOf course, I knew who it would be. I brought it out while Grace and Beta Ken watched, and as soon as I saw the content, my heart skipped a beat in pleasure. I knew I had to take some moments away from Beta Ken and Grace to make an important call in my car."Please excuse me, Beta Ken, Grace. I will be back with you shortly. I need to quickly make an important call in my car," I smiled."Of course, go ahead," Grace returned my smile."My father and I will be here waiting," she linked her hand with her father's, and they urged me ahead.I turned around and walked straight to my car. As soon as I got in, I looked at the message again."The ancient relic has been received, and I have word that the Calypso pack is now a free pack. As promised, your son Justin will be released. Send someone to pick him up at Central Park, New York, by 2 pm. I will text you his exact location once we get there. Again, don't do anything stupid, or a child would die!"I heaved a heavy sigh after reading t
NoraAt exactly 2 PM, I had gone to my late father's house, trying to put things in order with Beta Ken and Grace helping me out when suddenly, I got a text message.I immediately excused myself, telling them I would be back soon as I needed to quickly grab something from my car."That's alright, babe," Grace, who was overseeing some children cleaning the house, said as she squeezed my arm.I smiled at her and went out of the house, half running towards my car. As soon as I was safely inside, I checked the text message.It read:Latitude and longitude coordinates are: 40.785091, -73.968285. Your son Justin is there on a bench.With trembling hands, I immediately forwarded the message to Jessica and then dailed her line. We were finally so close to getting one of my children!I panicked as I spoke to my best friend, "Jessica! Yes, I just sent you a message with his exact location...""They already contacted you?" she asked in surprise."Yes!...He is there…Put the location in your Googl
NoraI stared at my cell phone screen, completely gobsmacked. The text I had gotten from the anonymous sender was unbelievable. How could they expect me to do this? Just How?"You are to make Alpha Klaus fall in love with you and reject his betrothed, Claudia. Remember the drill: you either do this or one of your two remaining children dies."Dread curled up in the pit of my stomach, and I suddenly felt the urge to go and empty my intestines. This was absurd. How the hell was I even supposed to do this? Was this some kind of a silly joke?I started typing out a very lengthy message that I wanted to send back to the anonymous sender. They needed to reconsider their ask, as this was an impossible one. I had thought my second task was going to be about something else, maybe rebuilding our pack, which I can actually do. I have the money, and even if mine wouldn't be enough, I have a friend who wouldn't mind giving me as much as I need.I sent them the text message, urging them to change
NoraI went to the door at the entrance of the house and opened it.Grace and Beta Ken were standing in front of me, with bright smiles stretching their lips."I am so sorry we couldn't inform you before coming," Beta Ken said as I moved from the pathway to allow them entrance."Yeah... that is because we forgot to get your cell phone number yesterday," Grace cocked her head sideways as she stared at me, "...and now, you are going to punch in your number here for me."She extended her hand with her cellphone in it. I smiled and took it from her as I shut the door."You know you both are always welcome here anytime, as long as I am around; you don't need any invitation." I walked back inside and sat on the long black sofa beside Grace. Beta Ken was sitting on a single sofa opposite ours."Aha! I told you so, Dad, Nora wouldn't mind" Grace said triumphantly at my words.Beta Ken smiled, "You did, but as our Alpha, she needs to have her personal space, one that we should respect... so li
KlausI barely slept last night; I couldn't keep thoughts of Nora off my mind. I need to see her and bare my heart to her. All the regrets I harbored from the past gnawed at my skin, threatening to peel it off.My eyes dart across my office to the wall clock. 9:45 a.m. I close the document in front of me and rake my hand through my hair. It is time; I need to do this now. I need to go find her and tell her everything.I storm out of my office, go through the hallway, and am about to head out of the building when a deep voice calls out to me, halting me in my tracks."Klaus..." I turn to see my father sitting on a long couch in the sitting room with a glass of wine in his hand."Come, son." He touches the soft couch, gesturing for me to come and sit beside him.I let out a slightly nervous laugh. "Father, I need to go somewhere now.""I want to discuss something with you, Klaus," he says, pinning me with a serious gaze."I'm afraid it will have to wait till later, Dad. I won't be long