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
NoraIn about an hour, Frank arrived at my house with the help of the coordinates I had sent him. I quickly picked up my handbag from the kitchen counter where I had left it, rushed to the mirror on the wall near the kitchen, and looked at myself. I brought out my powder and dabbed it lightly on my dampened face, applied lip gloss to my lips, and ran my hand through my slightly disheveled hair to make it more voluminous."What are you doing, Nora? Trying to make yourself look pretty for your supposed best friend Frank?" Kara teased."Oh, shut up!" I snarled…"I just want to look like a normal human being. I'm not trying to impress anyone," I lied through my teeth."Got it!" she said sarcastically, not believing a single word I said. That bitch knows me more than I know myself, maybe because she lives in me, sees everything, and hears everything.A knock came at the door, causing my heart to drop to my stomach as exciting nerves shot through my entire body. Breathe, Nora, breathe!I sp
NoraFrank tilted his head to the side as he stared at me with heavy-lidded eyes, not uttering a word."Talk to me, Frank. You are scaring the hell out of me. Who died?" I asked again, my voice a little tenser.He sat upright and heaved a sigh of agony. I could tell he was trying to be strong; that was all he had done since he walked into my house.He glanced at me and parted his lips. I waited patiently for the words to come out. "He died, Nora. My big brother.""What?" That was my first reaction as I tried to make sense of what he had just said. "You mean your only brother is dead?"He nodded his head, not being able to utter the words out loud.I blew out air from my cheeks as I felt a familiar feeling of pain hit my chest."I am so sorry, Frank," I said, my voice breaking. He glanced at me, and it was as though my show of emotions ignited his own. He couldn't hold back anymore.I had never seen Frank cry before. He was always this chilled, lovely, and romantic guy. He was never on
KlausI had just arrived at Nora's family house. I have not been to her house in years, despite being in this pack just a few weeks ago, but I could still remember where her house was situated like the back of my hand.Everything has changed, though. It isn't as it was six years ago when I last visited. On that day, I had been hiding outside, behind a large tree in the garden two houses away from hers. Unfortunately, the tree was not at the spot where it had been years ago; it had been cut off. That night, I couldn't go to her house and knock because her family was against our relationship. I rang her cell phone, and she came out, very much shocked to see me."What if you had been caught by one of the guards, Klaus?" she had asked, her voice barely above a whisper as I wrapped my arms around her slender body."That was why I came at night and hid here, don't worry no one saw me coming," I explained, smiling down at her.Even in the night with the moon being the only source of light
KlausNora glanced at the man and scoffed in disbelief. "This man standing outside here is Klaus, 'The' Klaus. Remember?"The way she had stressed my name bothered me. She said it as though the man was supposed to know who I was, like they had been discussing me.No way! My jaw steeled at the possibility of that being true. Even the tone she used on him suggested they must have known each other for a very long time. It was too friendly.I glanced between the two of them and watched the man smirk wickedly."The Klaus that betrayed you five years ago? The same one?" He raised a brow for emphasis.Nora looked at me and swallowed. Suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable, she brushed her temple with a hand. "Well, yes, he is the same person, Frank."His name is Frank… interesting discovery.Frank looked at me from head to toe in an irritated manner. "Would you tell her, or should I be the one to spill your secret?" he growled."What secret?" I asked with raised brows, putting my hands in m
NoraWe all arrived at Jessica’s house about three hours later with the help of Frank's contact, who created a barrier into the human world. As soon as Frank heard what happened, he left everything he was doing and rushed to Klaus’ pack immediately.“Where do we go from here? How do we even know where she has taken them?” Klaus asked, pacing around the front yard of Jessica's house, visibly frustrated.Grace and Beta Ken were standing by the doorstep, Aunt Kat and Frank were by my side. Everyone was quite troubled about what was going on.Aunt Kat turned to me, “Nora, I don't know where your children are, but one thing I do know is that you have the power to find them, especially now that you have the ancient relic…” At her words, Klaus’ head snapped quickly in my direction before he rushed towards me.“Nora… you heard what your aunt said, you can find them… please find our kids! Locate where she has taken them,” he urged. I could sense the fear in his voice. I was scared too. My hea
NoraSo this is what all this was about? The reason she was doing all this, causing so much havoc, was because she wanted her daughter to be with Klaus?Wait…if that was the case, then why did they want Klaus dead too? Unless…“Yes, Claudia is my daughter, and I initially wanted her to be with Klaus, but you were in the way!” she said the last part a little scornfully as she glared daggers at me.She sighed, her anger seemingly reducing as she glanced at Kristopher with admiration in her eyes. “When Kristopher came with me, all that changed. I decided to go along with the person I knew would provide my daughter with the kind of life she truly deserves rather than leave her to someone who cared nothing about her existence,” she glared at Klaus as she said her last words.Smiling at me, she added, “It was a good trade in the end, one brother for the other.”Kristopher stepped forward, looking as impatient as could be. “Now you have your answer…it is time to get down to the business of
KlausI could see my father in the corner of the room, crying his eyes out. I was still in shock at the fact that Kristopher, my twin brother who was supposed to be dead, was standing a few centimeters in front of me, in the flesh.“We had buried him. This makes no sense. How is he still alive?” I thought. My brain was processing a lot of thoughts at once until it finally settled on one.“Yes…that had to be it. The person standing before us isn’t Kristopher. He is fake! The witch had shapeshifted someone to look like my brother, maybe to manipulate my father.”The thought of that made bile rise to my throat as I saw my father crying.“Why, Kristopher? Why did you choose this path?” my visibly broken father asked amidst tears.Kristopher's laughter rumbled, filling the entire room. I could recognize that laughter anywhere. I had lived with the owner of it for more than twenty years until his demise. That definitely belonged to my brother.“How is he even still alive?” Justin mind-linke
KlausI really didn't know who my father had in mind, but the look on his face suggested he was most certainly sure the person he was going to mention was the culprit.“Aurora… I believe she is the one,” he said confidently.Nora looked at me in surprise, as though asking if my father expected them to know who Aurora was. Her Aunt Kat, on the other hand, gritted her teeth like she knew who was being spoken of.I was utterly confused, just like the rest of the people in the room, but before I could ask my father to explain further, Beta Ken asked, “Aurora the witch?”My father simply nodded, his gaze on him.“The same person that helped you kill Nora's family?” he asked again in disbelief.“That is correct… I had wondered what the person wanted with the relic in the first place and how they even knew I still had it.” He glanced at each of us and revealed, “Aurora is the only one who knows I secretly hid that ancient relic away over there behind this room.” He pointed at a small door
NoraBeta Ken and Grace refused to go back home. They both decided to stay at my place. I had told them I was just fine being with Aunt Kat, but they refused. In Beta Ken's words, “Don’t misunderstand us, Nora. We didn’t decide to stay because we feel you won’t be okay by yourself.” He wore a surprised look on his face as though he was asking what in God's name would make me think that. “I am pretty sure you are very excited right now. By that, I mean very happy and nervous at the same time because the moment we have all been waiting for is almost here.”He looked down at his daughter and then at me as he continued, “Grace and I would love to be here for every moment of it. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”Grace tapped his side gently. “You are absolutely right, Dad. I would love to witness the release of my baby. I want to be here to soak in all the excitement that comes with finding out Nora is finally free from the clutches of this wicked kidnapper.” She turned her gaze to me as she
NoraThe long-awaited day has finally arrived. I got a text message a few days ago from an anonymous sender, commending me on how well I had done in rejecting Klaus while also reminding me that, to get my child, they were expecting to hear news of Klaus’ death. Well, that was going to happen today.Klaus ingested the contents of the potion a few hours ago and would soon drop dead for at least 24 hours, which was enough time for everything that needed to be done.A few hours later, I was with my aunt, Grace, and Beta Ken when Justin called. I immediately answered it.“Nora, Klaus has fallen into a deep slumber…he looks pale and very much dead,” I could detect some level of fright in his voice as he continued, “Hope this is just temporary as you have said,” he added.My eyes flew up to my aunt's face, and she rolled her eyes, “He wouldn't die if that is what you are asking,” she said almost indifferently.“Nothing will happen to Klaus, Justin…he will be fine in about 24 hours,” I reassu
Klaus“I warned you, Klaus! I told you that woman is no good! To think I even started believing in the idea of both of you being together… I must…!” my father had been ranting ever since we got inside.Justin was still gobsmacked. He couldn't believe what was going on. He was, in fact, looking at me suspiciously because the way I had acted outside was quite different from the way I was acting now.I knew it was time to tell them all that was happening, but I needed my father to calm down first. He was really agitated. I wouldn't be able to get a word in with the way he was moving.“This is the second time I am getting humiliated in front of my friends! All because of my child!” he snapped, banging his hand on the couch as he glared at me. “How did you not know this was going to happen, Klaus?”Finally, he was giving me a chance to talk.But before I could even get a word in, Justin added, “Yes, Klaus? How didn't you know this was going to happen?” He cocked a brow as if asking me to s
NoraNow at home with my aunt, Grace, and Beta Ken, I still can’t believe I had been the one who said all those things unflinchingly to Klaus.“You are a badass actress, Nora,” Grace lauded, biting down on an apple as she munched.“I know, right?” her father added, smiling at me. “For a moment, I thought you meant every single word you said.”“Well, she should have!” my aunt chipped in, her voice hard. I knew she had not fully come to terms with the fact that our revenge mission against Klaus's family was suddenly supposed to be over.She had only reluctantly agreed but still harbored resentment towards them, especially Alpha Raphael. I knew it was going to take time for her to heal from what happened.I decided to change the topic to something else as her bitter words had settled in the air, providing a weird tension no one knew how to diffuse.“Is anyone else hungry? I am starving,” I said, rising to my feet. It was already 12 am.As soon as I stormed out of the field, Grace, my chie
KlausI woke up feeling very edgy. Today is the day of my supposed marriage to Nora. My father has been rather too excited about it.I have seen him having several phone calls, inviting his friends from far and near, telling them his son was getting married for real this time and explaining the reason the previous one didn't work out, which according to him was because he wanted to force me into marrying a woman I didn't love.But things were different this time as I was getting married to the woman of my dreams.Everything has been put in place. Justin has been running helter-skelter, getting things ready for the big event. He even went to our friend's bar and contracted him to be the one to supply all the drinks that would be used for the ceremony.When I asked how much they had both agreed it would cost, he had looked at me as though I had grown two heads, “Bro, you really think I would let you pay for the drinks at your wedding?” he chuckled, “Chill bro, I got this one.”Again, I