I was beyond frustrated today, and I knew being at school wasn’t going to help my situation in any way. All I could think about were the answers I desperately needed. There were only two explanations for what was happening to me: either I was going insane, or I was turning into some cliché version of an alien.
I dragged myself into my fourth class of the day, which was Literature. The moment I stepped into the room, I nearly choked when I spotted one of the seniors Bryan and I had seen last Saturday at the restaurant.It was Jake ....I groaned remembering ur last encounter. 'What is he doing in my class?' I thought, wide-eyed, as I made my way to my desk in the middle of the room. Damn, the guy was hot—seriously, why did he have to be so attractive? I could literally feel his gaze burning holes into the back of my skull, and it made my entire body feel warm, almost uncomfortably so. Thank God, Mr. Huggins, our teacher, walked in before I could embarrass myself further. “Good morning, students,” Mr. Huggins began, his voice steady as he adjusted his glasses. “Today, we’ll be conducting a critical analysis of the poem RedWolf. Our very own senior poetry expert, Mr. Jake Adams, will be assisting us today.” As soon as Mr. Huggins finished speaking, the entire class erupted into applause, and I couldn’t help but notice how every girl seemed to light up as if they’d just won backstage passes to see Justin Bieber or something. High school life was so cliché—there was always that one guy every girl drooled over. I glanced around and saw that some of them were practically drooling—literally. And for some reason, that irritated me. Something deep within me twisted with a strange possessiveness, a sudden urge to claw their eyes out for ogling him. Yup, I was definitely starting to question my sanity. This had to be the first step toward madness. After Literature ended, I hurried out of the classroom, determined to avoid Jake at all costs. There was something about him that made me feel... unsettled. Nervous, shy, heated, and excited all at once. It was as if my body couldn’t decide how to react around him, and I didn’t want to find out what would happen if he tried to talk to me. Honestly, if he ever said ‘hi’ to me, I’d probably faint right on the spot. What sort of sorcery was this? As I speed-walked toward the locker room, hoping to disappear from Jake’s radar, I heard a voice again—the same mysterious voice that had haunted me for days now. It sent shivers down my spine. ‘What now?’ I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes. After an internal debate that lasted all of thirty seconds, I decided to follow the voice, hoping that maybe it would lead me to the answers I was so desperately seeking. Besides, it wasn’t like I had anything better to do, and maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t losing my mind. Hopefully, this wouldn't lead to my untimely death, like in those cliché horror movies where the clueless girl follows the creepy noises. The voice led me straight to the school basement. 'Of course, the creepy basement,' I thought with a sigh. I was really starting to hate this place; it felt like something straight out of a bad teen horror flick. There was obviously something "off" about it, and every fiber of my being screamed at me to turn around and leave. But curiosity, and maybe a bit of stubbornness, kept me going. “Is anyone here?... I guess it’s just me then,” I called out, my voice echoing in the emptiness. I looked around, taking in the dimly lit space, and nearly jumped out of my skin when the door behind a rickety old chair creaked open on its own. 'That definitely didn’t happen last time,' I thought, my heart pounding wildly in my chest. Hesitantly, I approached the door and entered slowly, waiting by the entrance just in case it slammed shut like in every horror movie ever. Beyond the door was a long, dark corridor that stretched on forever. The whole place felt like a dungeon, and the air was heavy, almost suffocating. I shivered, rubbing my arms for warmth as I cautiously made my way down the passage. After what felt like an eternity, I began to wonder if this corridor had any end at all. This was a bad idea. I was sure of it. Then, finally, I heard real voices—male voices—and decided to follow them, even though every rational part of my brain screamed that this was beyond stupid. But I had to know. I needed proof that I wasn’t losing my mind. I reached the end of the corridor and pressed myself against the wall, eavesdropping on their conversation. “The Alpha is her protector, and he’s a hybrid! We need to warn Master Jasper about the Alpha’s return!” the first voice hissed urgently. I gasped softly, my heart racing. 'Alpha? Hybrids?' What on earth were they talking about? Was this some sort of code language, or had I stumbled into a secret werewolf society meeting? None of this made any sense. I dared to peek through the slightly open door, hoping to catch a glimpse of who was speaking, and I almost screamed when I saw what was inside. Shadows danced around the room, and I could make out strange symbols glowing faintly on the walls. My heart threatened to burst out of my chest, but before I could react, a strong hand clamped over my mouth, stifling my scream. Sparks shot up my skin from the contact, and, oddly enough, it felt good—comforting even. But panic surged through me as I was dragged to a hidden corner. I began kicking and thrashing, desperate to break free, until the person spun me around to face him. “Jake?” “Don’t make a sound,” he warned, his stormy grey eyes boring into mine. I nodded, taking in a shaky breath, my heart pounding against my ribs. Why was he here, and how much did he know? “What the hell?” I managed to whisper, my face flushed from how close he was to me. Every nerve in my body was on high alert, and I couldn’t tell if it was from fear or something else entirely. “Follow me and stay close, okay?” he commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. There was something about the way he spoke that felt so... dominating. And what was worse, I felt compelled to obey him. I told myself it was just my survival instinct kicking in, but deep down, I knew there was more to it. “First, tell me what’s going on! What are you doing here?” I demanded, keeping my voice low, but he only shook his head. “If you want to live, you’ll stop talking and follow my orders,” he snapped. He began walking, and despite my irritation, I trailed behind him, unwilling to risk my life over a petty argument. Who did he think he was, giving me orders without so much as an explanation? I promised myself that once we were out of this mess, I would demand answers—and I wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer."Jake, tell me what the hell is going on here!" I demanded as soon as we stepped out of the dark corridor, but he still didn’t answer. My anger flared. "Jake!" I repeated, louder this time.Without a word, he grabbed my arm, pulling me into the school basement before closing the door behind us with a sharp click.“Just shut up for a second… okay?” he growled, his voice low and dangerous as he jammed a chair under the doorknob. I blinked at him in disbelief. Did he just… growl? Who does that?"Did you just growl at me?" I asked, incredulous.He sighed, his expression hard. "You need to stop asking questions!"That only fueled my frustration. "You need to stop telling me what to do and start answering those questions!" I whisper-yelled, trying to keep my voice low but failing as my temper rose. Seriously, I could be the next Nancy Drew with how many questions I had lined up, and I wasn’t about to stop now.What he did next nearly caused me to jump out of my skin. Without warning, Jake t
JAKE'S POVI was beyond frustrated with everything happening in my life. It seemed like nothing was going the way I wanted. To top it off, I had been assigned to protect a witch. A freaking witch. Of all the people in the world, it had to be one of them.Werewolves and witches never got along. That had been the case for as long as I could remember, and I had no intention of changing that anytime soon. But now, as if fate was playing some twisted joke on me, the witch I was supposed to protect turned out to be my mate. Just great. Fate’s cruel sense of humor.I didn’t want a mate. Not now, not ever, really. Especially not a witch. Mates were nothing but a weakness, and in my position, weakness wasn’t something I could afford. I had met her twice already, and each time my wolf had nearly broken free. That was dangerous. I couldn’t afford to lose control, not with the weight of my pack on my shoulders.As the Alpha of the strongest pack in New Orleans, one of the best packs in the entire
PRISCA'S POVI was in the garden, picking flowers for the dining room table. Daniel really needed to brighten up the house, and these red roses would definitely do the trick! I gathered them in my arms and placed them in a glass vase, then headed inside to see how they’d look on the table.I entered the dining room with a wide smile, only to find my dad sitting there, lost in his thoughts.“Morning, Dad. What’s wrong?” I asked, placing the vase in the center of the dining table.He looked at me, and for a moment, I saw something that resembled fear in his eyes. “We need to talk, Prisca. Please, sit down.”Oh no. My heart dropped as I sat next to him, suddenly feeling nervous. “What do we need to talk about that’s got you looking so scared?”He sighed deeply. “Please, try not to freak out about what I’m about to tell you.”The only way I’d freak out is if he said he was dying of cancer. I nodded, waiting for him to continue.“Prisca, you’re special. You are… well, we are both different
PRISCA (POV)HOURS LATERNEW ORLEANSHours later, I found myself sitting in my father’s car, already in New Orleans, driving to I-don’t-know-where! I was so sad, but I couldn’t cry anymore because my eyes felt like a desert after crying for hours at home, locked up in my bedroom.I mean, I couldn’t even say goodbye to my newest best friend, Bryan, because he was in Australia for the winter holiday. But I did manage to send him a text message, lying that I was going back to Canada to live with my mom because some problems came up. I honestly felt so bad!"Where are we going?" I asked my dad, who was trying to concentrate on driving since it was apparently too dark and we were surrounded by a lot of trees. There weren’t even streetlights! Honestly, I was beginning to hate this place—not only because of the lack of lights, but because I had a really bad feeling about it."We’re going to the Silverstone pack. One of your protectors is there, and he is the strongest... I don’t like him ver
"So the girl will be staying with me, especially considering the fact that she is my mate, unfortunately," Jake said bluntly, taking a seat opposite me and my dad. 'What does he mean, unfortunately?' I felt really hurt somehow, though I didn't know why. It's not like I wanted to be his mate either... right?My dad balled his hands into fists. "She will stay here for a while, but that won't be long. She is my daughter, and she belongs with me... Alpha," he said, emphasizing the last word with a hint of disgust.The atmosphere grew tense, and I could feel it. Nina was whimpering, wanting to disagree with my dad. I was guessing she really liked Jake, which was bad news for me."What's wrong, Nina?""We belong with our mate. Your dad is making him angry, and I don't like it," she said. I rolled my eyes."Nina, our mate—so you say—doesn't want us, okay? Calm down. Besides, he was making out with that blonde, remember?"She didn't reply.There was a loud, angry growl from Jake. He stood up
"So, you are my brother's lucky mate. I totally knew it," she stated with a glint of excitement.I looked at her, trying to study her. What’s lucky about having that arrogant jerk as a mate? I would have asked if I wasn't so nice. "Yes, I guess so, and you are his sister." I mentally face-palmed—of course, she’s his sister, but I thought her name was Mila.I felt my wolf roll her eyes as she sat on her paws. "Remind me again, why the hell are we stating the obvious?"I sighed. "I have no idea.""Well, I'm basically his cousin, but we grew up like siblings. My name is Stephanie, but you can call me Sophie—most people do. Anyway, I'm so glad you're his mate!" Sophie said excitedly. "From the moment I met you, I knew you were special. We need to celebrate!"'Wait, what?'Sophie stood up and grabbed my hand. "Where are we going?" I asked her, confused. What were we even celebrating? I just wanted to crawl into my blankets and dread the day my father walked into my life with all this garba
Fear, constant, blood-draining fear. That’s what I was feeling—the kind of fear that makes your heart sink, your stomach twist, and your body shake violently. Right now, I was wishing for death itself, and trust me, anyone would too in this situation. Maybe defying the Alpha wasn’t such a good idea after all. I was incredibly ashamed.After last night’s episode, the Alpha practically threw me onto the bed in my new room and stormed out, slamming the door so hard on his way out that it almost broke off its hinges. It was all a blur, but also very clear to me that he had looked scary as hell.Thankfully, I managed to fall asleep despite everything, but unfortunately, today was another day. I woke up feeling like shit, and sadly, I remembered everything that happened, including the fact that I had gotten myself into deep trouble. I regretted waking up at all. Why did he even save me if he was going to kill me anyway? I brushed my hair off my face with my hand. I still remember the look o
It has been three long days since that dreadful day when Jake put me under house arrest. I haven't seen anyone—not even Cathy or Sophie. I kind of missed them, and it's crazy that I also missed Jake, really badly. Maybe it's the mate pull. I’ve been stuck in my room, Googling about wolves, werewolves, and witches. I learned quite a lot, actually. I learned about mates, the bond, and that the Alpha is the leader of a pack. He has a Beta, who is second in command, and a Gamma, who is third in command. The pack also has higher-ranked wolves like the Delta, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Epsilon, and the Luna, who is the Alpha’s mate. Unfortunately, I also learned that packs have lower-ranked werewolves known as omegas. Throughout history, omegas have been mistreated and abused because of their inability to shift into a werewolf or because their wolf is premature, too small, or weak.Right now, I looked like a caveman with my hair in a messy, huge onion bun—no makeup—wearing only a large baseball T-sh
The ballroom was alive with music and laughter, a stark contrast to the heaviness that had lingered over the pack these past few weeks. Fatima had outdone herself, organizing this ball to remind everyone that joy still had a place in our lives.Dressed in a flowing emerald-green gown, I swayed gently in Jake’s arms as we moved across the dance floor. The light in his eyes, the way his fingers traced soothing circles on my back, made me forget—if only for a moment—that our world was still in pieces.“See?” he murmured. “A night without doom and gloom. Feels nice, doesn’t it?”I smiled up at him. “It does.”He twirled me, and for a second, I felt weightless. Then it hit me.A sharp, piercing sensation in my skull.I stumbled, the room tilting violently.Jake’s grip tightened. “Prisca?”I couldn’t answer. The pain spread like wildfire, and suddenly, the music and chatter faded into the background. My legs buckled, and I was falling.Darkness swallowed me whole.And then… I wasn’t in the
The weight of what I had just seen clung to me like a second skin. Even as I sat on the edge of the bed, back in the safety of our room, I could still feel the cold presence of that figure. The sound of its voice—my voice—echoed in my head like a haunting melody. Choose. But choose what? I could still feel Jake’s hands on my face from before, the desperate way he had searched my eyes, pleading for an answer I didn’t have. Now, he paced the room, his body tense with unspoken frustration. The others sat nearby, watching me with equal parts concern and curiosity. “You need to tell us everything,” Althea finally said, breaking the heavy silence. I rubbed my arms, trying to rid myself of the chill that had settled in my bones. “I was… alone. You were all gone. And the figure—it wasn’t just some shadow. It was me.” Sophie’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait. You? Like… a doppelgänger situation?” I nodded slowly. “Exactly like that. She—It—told me I had to choose. But I don’t know what t
The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a blade. We had all woken up in a cold sweat, shaken by the fact that we had the exact same dream—no, it wasn’t just a dream. It felt too real. The streets of that town, the heavy feeling of being watched, the way the air had seemed almost alive with something unnatural. I glanced around at the others, my heart still hammering in my chest. Jake sat at the edge of the bed, his muscles tense, his jaw clenched as if trying to process everything at once. Fatima and Sophie had both fallen into a heavy silence, their usual humor nowhere to be seen. And Althea… she was staring blankly at the candle burning on the bedside table, deep in thought, her fingers twitching slightly. “This isn’t over,” I finally said, breaking the silence. “We left that place. We returned here. But somehow, it’s still with us.” Jake turned to me, his expression unreadable. “There has to be a reason why we all saw the same thing.” His voice was low, controlled—b
The morning air was crisp, carrying the scent of damp earth and pine as I stepped out of the cabin. The town was finally behind us, but a strange unease still lingered in my chest. It wasn’t just the eerie experiences we had—it was something deeper, something clawing at my subconscious, demanding my attention.Jake was already outside, sharpening his dagger with a quiet focus that sent a chill through me. His jaw was tense, his muscles coiled, as if he were ready for another fight. I walked up to him, rubbing my arms against the cold. "You look like you're expecting trouble," I said, trying to sound lighthearted, but he barely acknowledged me at first.Finally, he sighed and set the dagger down. "I don’t like that we had to run from that place. It feels unfinished," he admitted.He wasn’t wrong. We had gotten away, but at what cost? The things we had seen, the presence that still clung to us like an unshakable shadow—I knew deep down that it wasn’t truly over.Sophie came strolling ou
The tension from our near escape still clung to me like a second skin, even as the night stretched into silence. My body was exhausted, my mind running circles around the events that had unfolded. I lay curled against Jake, his arms wrapped securely around me, his breath steady and warm against my hair. But sleep refused to claim me. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw flashes—red eyes in the dark, the twisted town, the feeling of time slipping like sand through my fingers. It had been too easy. Too clean of an escape. And that made my stomach churn. Jake shifted beside me, his grip tightening. “You’re thinking too much,” he murmured against my temple. I exhaled softly. “I can’t help it. Something isn’t right.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead, but there was tension in his touch. “We’ll figure it out in the morning. For now, just rest.” I nodded against his chest, but the uneasy feeling wouldn’t leave. And deep down, I knew—this wasn’t over. ---Morning came far too soon. T
The moment we stepped out of the inn, an eerie silence wrapped around us like a suffocating blanket. The town, which had been brimming with life just hours ago, now felt abandoned. The streets were empty, the lanterns flickering weakly, and the air carried a heavy stillness that made the hairs on my arms rise.Jake was the first to break the silence. "We need to get out of here. Now."His voice was calm but held an undertone of urgency that made my stomach twist. I reached for his hand instinctively, feeling the warmth of his skin grounding me.Althea, Sophie, Fatima, and Chris followed closely behind as we hurried toward the town's exit. But as we neared the main road leading out, a dense fog rolled in from nowhere, thick and unnatural. My breath hitched as the path ahead of us blurred into nothingness."What the hell?" Chris muttered, stepping ahead cautiously. He reached out a hand to push through the fog, but the moment his fingers touched it, a pulse of energy knocked him back on
The road stretched before us, endless and winding, as our SUV rumbled down the cracked pavement. The eerie little town we'd just left was nothing more than a fading memory in the rearview mirror. Or at least, that’s what we thought.Fatima sat in the back, fiddling with the radio, static crackling through the speakers. Sophie drummed her fingers on the dashboard while Althea stared out the window, her fingers twitching like she was trying to grab something unseen. Chris, sitting next to Fatima, was uncharacteristically quiet.“I swear, I’ll never step foot in another weird-ass town again,” Sophie muttered, shifting in her seat. “That place gave me the creeps.”“Agreed,” Jake said, his fingers gripping the wheel tighter. “Let’s just get home and pretend this never happened.”Silence settled over the car for a while, broken only by the hum of the tires against the road. The trees lining the highway were dense, towering over us, their darkened silhouettes illuminated by the occasional f
The idea of taking a break from everything was both ridiculous and desperately needed. The pack had been through hell, and for the first time in weeks, there was no immediate crisis to solve. So, when Sophie suggested a road trip, I had laughed—until I saw the way Jake looked at me, like he knew I needed this more than anyone. And maybe I did.That’s how I found myself crammed in an SUV with Jake, Althea, Sophie, Fatima, and Jake speeding down an open road. The wind blew through my hair as I rolled down the window, feeling something I hadn’t in a long time—freedom.“Alright, we need road trip rules,” Sophie announced from the backseat, pulling out a notepad. “Rule number one: No talking about pack politics.”“Agreed,” Fatima said, munching on a bag of spicy chips. “Rule number two: The driver does not get to pick all the music.”Jake, who was behind the wheel, raised a brow. “Excuse me? Who else would pick?”“Literally anyone else,” Althea said, crossing her arms. “You listen to brood
The morning air was crisp and fresh, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth through the open windows. It was the kind of morning that whispered of new beginnings, of hope gently stretching its fingers through the cracks of sorrow. I stood on the balcony, sipping warm tea, watching the sun rise over the treetops. The pack had been through hell, but today—today felt different. The heaviness that had lingered like an unshakable fog finally seemed to be lifting. Laughter drifted up from below, the sound of children playing near the training grounds. Warriors, who once walked with the weight of grief on their shoulders, were smiling as they sparred in the courtyard. The pack was healing, slowly but surely. I had found a place here. It had taken time, patience, and a lot of self-doubt, but now, watching the people I had come to love rebuild their lives, I felt at home. A pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me against a warm chest. “You’re up early,” J