My feet moved quickly on the sandy ground, fighting to make it home before the sun disappeared behind the horizon, Mum is going to be pissed. “Mum, Dad, I’m home.” I panted, shutting the door behind me, only to be met with unusual silence. I listened for any noises coming from the kitchen as I walked towards it but came up empty, the counters sparkled, and not a dish was out of place. “Mum?” my eyebrows furrowed and an uncomfortable feeling settled in my chest, “Where is everyone?” I whispered to myself. “Where were you?” My father’s gruff voice scared me, I almost didn’t recognise him with his matted hair and red eyes, something was wrong, very wrong. “I- I was at the clearing, my phone battery died and I lost track of time. I’m sorry, Dad.” the blank look on his face was even scarier paired with his lack of reaction, “Where’s Mum?” I looked around the room as if she would appear out of nowhere, my father’s strange behaviour was making me uncomfortable. “She’s dead.” the ici
I watched blankly as the casket lowered into the ground, Ben’s grasp on my hand had long turned it numb, and the world around me was a blur. Neither the pitiful looks nor tearful condolences of pack members and friends received any acknowledgement. Looking at the headstone to the right dated exactly a year prior, the picture somehow looked complete, they were back together, and not even death held the power to do them part. “He was an important member of this pack, we shall all miss him dearly. I am very sorry for your loss.” Lady Agatha caressed my cheek softly, giving me a soft smile before moving on to Ben. To them it was simply a loss, to us, our whole world had shifted and no matter how hard I tried, it seemed as if my future had vanished right before my eyes- I didn’t know how to live a life without my parents. “Sophia, it’s time…” Luna Yasmin’s soft voice broke through my haze. “O- Okay.” I glanced at her briefly, but my eyes wouldn’t leave the scene before me. “We’ll
TWO MONTHS LATER Climbing off the car, I swallowed deeply, the pack house in front of me was almost two times the size of the one back home and I felt my palms sweat. When Luna Yasmin proposed the idea of moving to America for a while, I agreed very hesitantly, after all, we were at her mercy, but the last thing I expected was to be brought to one of the biggest, most notorious packs in werewolf history. Stories of Alpha Allison’s victory over the rogue uprising spread far and wide, she was a legend. After our pack had been devastated by the rogue attacks that took place five years ago, none of us ever expected that we would recover from that, but after a trip to the Blue Moon pack, Luna Yasmin returned to Gwydir with her mate and born Alpha in tow, ready to fix what was broken and our fate was restored. “Oliver, Yasmin, welcome back!” A handsome young man approached us with a wide smile on his face. “Jacob it’s very good to see you both!” Alpha Oliver embraced the man while h
The sky was a deep shade of blue littered with thousands of glowing stars and the evening breeze was cool against my skin as I sat in the bay window of the Alpha House. The day Alpha Allison was discharged from the infirmary, she insisted that Ben and I move into the Alpha house, citing that she needed help with Dominic and I was powerless to disagree. There was a low rumble that emanated from the living room downstairs, which was followed by the smell of popcorn. Everything around me was peaceful and at some point in my life the smell of popcorn would have me racing down the stairs, but the peace inside me didn’t match the world around me and that alone froze my muscles in place. “Sophia?” A soft knock on my bedroom door startled me, I didn’t even hear someone coming up the stairs. “Alpha Allison, I’m sorry I didn’t hear you coming.” I hurriedly pulled the door open, worried that she might scold me for locking it, but she only chuckled. “Not to worry dear, all the rooms in the
My body jerked as I shot up in my bed, the sound of a baby’s cries suddenly fading away as I surveyed the dark, empty room. Sighing aloud, I threw the covers off my body and placed my feet on the cool floor, there was no way I’d fall asleep after that. Pulling on the door handle, I opened it a little more and a familiar sound reached my ears, I could hear Alpha Allison softly cooing at the restless baby downstairs and another pair of footsteps I assumed belonged to Alpha Devin which made me freeze with the door wide open. Baby Dominic’s cries sounded tired, I didn’t even realize when I’d stepped out of the room and onto the staircase till Alpha Allison’s pacing figure came into view. Her shoulders were sagging and her steps were sluggish, I could see the exhaustion written all over her face when Alpha Devin approached her, holding a bottle of milk. I watched silently as she tried feeding him, but the attempt only seemed to make him more irritable and his cries got louder, making
Fear gripped me as I looked around the darkened forest. The cool breeze that blew left a trail of goosebumps on my skin and the shadows of the tall trees felt like they were closing in on me. In the distance, an owl hooted which only added to the eeriness of my surroundings. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand how I got there, the last memory I had was watching reruns of a random TV show after Dominic’s welcome ceremony. A rustling nearby kicked my heartbeat up a notch and once again I surveyed the area, hoping to spot something even remotely familiar, but the Moon Shadow pack was new to me, I’d only been here a week and apart from the drive from the airport, I hadn’t stepped foot in the forest. The rustling grew louder and my head whipped around for any indication that I wasn’t alone when suddenly a figure pounced from the bushes, eliciting a high-pitched scream from my throat before I watched the red-eyed rabbit hop off into the darkness, as far away from me as it could g
Trekking back to the packhouse with a young boy clutching my hand was not the way I planned to spend the early hours of Saturday morning, but as the sun rose in the sky and the scars on his malnourished body became visible, I scratched any item from my non-existent to-do list. “We’re almost at the infirmary, Allison has the team waiting for us to check him out.” Alpha Devin informed after a few good kilometres of walking and the treeline came into view, revealing the buildings of the pack. “Sophia! Are you okay?!” Alpha Allison engulfed me in a tight hug before letting go to examine my body for any sign of injury, which apart from a few small scratches, I was free of, “I was so worried!” she smoothed her hands over my face and looked at me with a deep frown. “I’m sorry I worried you, I’ll-” I looked around at the curious eyes which wouldn’t seem to leave us and dropped my gaze to the hand clutching mine, “I’ll explain later, he needs medical attention first.” As if she only then
Footsteps outside my door shocked me from my trance, my eyes shot up just as Alpha Allison pushed open the door to peek inside. “Hey, are you busy?” She questioned, scanning the room. “No, it’s- it’s okay.” Glancing back down at the sketchbook my heart skipped a beat, I quickly shut the book and shoved it off my lap. “May I?” She pointed to the space beside me at the bay window and I nodded quickly, scooting over to give her more room. “Did- did you speak to him?” I wrung my hands together and resisted the urge to tap my foot, the suspense was nearly killing me. “I did.” She raised an eyebrow at my antics, “His name is Jasper Queen, he’s a wanderer.” A shiver ran through my body at the name. “How did he find us?” Questions were running rampant through my head, but somehow I was able to get one out. “He claims he saw the boy in a vision, he says he’s been trying to find him for months.” Alpha Allison frowned thoughtfully. “What’s going on, Sophia?” Her voice held confusion
Jasper dragged me through the forest in the direction of the clearing. “Jas, slow down!” I cried as I giggled uncontrollably, hopping over fallen branches and dodging low branches. “We have to get there before the sun sets!” He proclaimed and all I could do was shake my head. The sun was still quite high in the sky since it was only three in the afternoon. Arriving at the clearing I gasped when my eyes landed on the checkered picnic blanket set up at the base of the large rock. “We’re a bit too big to fit up there anymore.” He pointed to the rock with a grin. “You did all this for me?” My heart melted into a puddle and tears pooled in my eyes. “Of course I did- Baby, why are you crying?” Don’t you like it, we can go somewhere else. I’m sorry, please don’t cry. I’m sorry.” Jasper gathered me in his arms and stroked my hair as I tried to get my emotions under control. “No! No, I love it, I’m just a little emotional, that’s it.” I hiccupped, taking a step back s he could see the sm
I stood awkwardly beside the tiny sofa where Jasper’s large form took up most of the space. Halle and Nathan had welcomed us in when we arrived at their door, but I the tension in our presence was palpable. “How do you feel?” Nathan asked suddenly. “Fine, I guess,” Jasper answered curtly, accepting the cup of coffee Halle offered him. “Have your memories returned?” Nathan shifted uncomfortably in his seat, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. “Some of them. Why are you holed up in this tiny cottage in the middle of nowhere when you have a whole pack house and several guest houses nearby everything? Surely it isn’t easy getting around the forest with that thing.” Jasper motioned to the wheelchair. Nathan’s eyes turned to me with confusion, I could see the question in his eyes. “He doesn’t know,” I stated, not looking at Jasper when his eyes turned to me. “Doesn’t know what?” Jasper narrowed his eyes as he glanced between us. “The pack wants nothing to do with me.” N
“What?” I asked shakily. “I remember your voice.” He stared at me with startled eyes, “I heard you, Sophia.” He scrambled off the bed and shuffled towards me. Jasper took my hands in his, “I heard you asking me to fight.” Jasper ran a hand through his hair while I just stood there, shell-shocked. “Ho- How? You were unconscious.” I croaked, my throat felt like it was closing up. “I don’t know. I don’t know how.” He shook his head gravely. “Do you remember anything else?” I asked hesitantly and Jasper’s eyebrows knitted in concentration. “I- I think I saw you, but it feels like a dream. You were walking towards me- dressed in a purple vest that hugged your figure, and you had a duffle bag over your shoulder. You smiled at me.” He had a faraway look in his eyes and his hands squeezed mine as he recalled the memory. “That was just before-” “-I was stabbed in the back.” He completed my sentence and looked at me with startled eyes. “Do you-?” I couldn't even get the words out,
Jasper sucked in a deep breath when we entered the pack house. It was still early which meant the grounds were practically empty when we made our way over there, but inside, pack members hustled and bustled around getting ready for the day.“I’m right here. Just tell me when you want to leave and we’re out of here.” I squeezed his hand in mine.Jasper had taken the news of his true identity quite well, I knew it was because he hardly understood what his position meant or what he meant to the pack. It’s been a week since he crashed my inauguration ceremony and we’ve made good progress, today was the first day he’d be around so many pack members at once and so far he was doing great as he greeted everyone we passed with a kind smile.
“Ardere…” I reached out shakily, glancing between his troubled eyes and reddened fingers. Ardere’s eyes met mine and for a moment he just stared as I took hesitant steps closer while I felt like my heart would beat out of my chest. “Stop! What are you doing, you could get hurt!” Nathan’s voice travelled through the crowd and Ardere’s eyes widened. He went to pull away, but before his hand was out of reach, I threaded my fingers through his and held on tight. “He wouldn’t hurt me,” I whispered, squeezing his hand in mine as pleasurable tingles spread up my arm from his touch. “My Jasper wouldn’t hurt me.” My vision swam with tears as the truth hit me square in the face. It was him, if there was any doubt before, there wasn’t now. “Jasper?” He questioned shakily. “Yes, it’s you, it’s really you.” I choked on a sob, the relief that spread through my body warmed my heart and for the first time in three months, I smiled a genuine smile, watery but genuine. “I- uh…” He trailed off an
The pack buzzed with excitement as the three of us climbed the stairs, everyone was whispering about the bulky man who walked behind me with confidence radiating from his being.Marcel and Jason took their places behind me as I stood at the podium, “Good evening High Tiders.” I grinned widely. “First, I’d like to thank you all for taking the time to be here tonight. We’ve faced some tough times as a pack, but I’d like to think this is the beginning of a new era.” I looked around at the hopeful faces that stared back at me, pausing a little when I caught sight of Nathan and Halle seated right at the back.“With that, I’d like you all to meet Marcel Miller.” I motioned to him when he stepped up beside me and nodded at the crowd before him, “Marcel was a warri
“Okay, I’ve made sure no one will come back here to clean or look for me today. You can watch TV and play around with my tablet while I’m gone, use the time to try and figure out some of the things you don’t remember, but don’t make a lot of noise please, I don’t want anyone poking around here.” I motioned around the house.“I’ll be back late today, there’s food in the fridge, you can heat it up in the microwave.” I pointed to the appliance behind me and turned back to look him dead in the eye, “You have to stay here, okay? Under no circumstances can anyone find out you’re here, so please just stay hidden and if you hear anything, hide. You can use the tablet to call me on this number if you need something, my number is stored on there.” I tapped the screen where I’d typed out instructions on how to make
“You can wear these for now.” My jaw clenched as I handed him some of Jasper’s clothes.“Thank you.” He took them from me, his fingers brushing mine in the process and without thinking I snatched away my hand like he burned me and his eyes flashed with hurt.“I’m sorry.” I looked down, holding my hand to my chest.“It’s okay.” He flashed me a tight smile and for a moment an awkward silence fell between us.“I’ve uh- been thinking, we need to find you a name, at least till we figure out who you are.” I cringed a little at my own word, hoping he didn’t see how awkward I felt.
My heart thudded wildly in my chest as Selene’s utterance registered in my mind.“Wh- who are you?” I swallowed thickly, reaching behind me to steady myself on the boulder.“I’m sorry for following you, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His soothing baritone voice sent shivers down my spine and tears gathered in my eyes without warning.“No, this can’t be real, I must be dreaming.” I shook my head vigorously and stumbled back into the rock before I spun around and took off in the direction of the High Tide pack.‘This can’t be happening. It’s just a dream.’ I repeated