Maxine P.O.V"I told you not to help me earlier." My voice was sharp as I opened the door to our room, stepping inside without waiting for him to respond. The adrenaline from the Annual Hunt was still coursing through my veins, but it wasn't just the hunt that had me on edge-it was *him*. Again."You behave like a child, Maxine. Are we not a team?" Alph followed close on his heels, his tone soft yet firm.I spun around to him, anger busting inside me. "No, we are not a team if you keep babying me. You keep rescuing me, and that is just not right. I did not come here to be rescued every five minutes by you. I came here to learn. To grow.”His brows furrowed, the confident air around him tightening. "I know you're strong, but it was just a little help. Don't make a big deal out of it."I slapped my forehead in disbelief. "*A little help?* You stepped in again when I didn't ask you to. It's like you don't trust me to handle things on my own.He stared at me, his silence slicing through t
"Why are we leaving?" Maxine whispered, her voice heavy with confusion, silent and still in the shadows as they crept towards the back gate. It was 3 a.m., and the night lay still. The guards weren't patrolling the estate this time of night, and the silence around them only seemed to include the weight that hung above.“Shh! We have to be silent," Trevor said, his head flicking round over one shoulder. His usual lightness and vivacity gave way to a weightiness, an importance which unnerved Maxine. Urgency streamed through his very movement, every tensing step of his body.“But tell me why first," Maxine insisted, her frustration evident. She wasn't one to blindly follow without understanding what was happening, especially in the dead of night with no explanation.Alph walked ahead and half-turned, his gaze catching hers in the dim light of the moon. "Just follow me, Maxine," he said, his voice steady but carrying an edge that told Maxine there was no room for argument.Maxine puckered
Alpha Ador P.O.VTension was palpable, as Relon walked confidently towards us, all his features unreadable yet serious. Time seemed to slow in the flash of an instant, and visions danced inside my head-the day he left without a word-the day he saw me talking to Miranda at that coffee shop. I have never seen him that way before. The coldness he put into his silence and Miranda's fury said it all.I would never have pegged him to return.Relon was my beta for some years. The guy made a great friend and confidant, always standing on my side whenever I needed him. He was loyal, dependable, and sharp-- a true leader in my absence. But on the day he left, I came to realize that there was more to him that I didn't know, or at least, the extent of his connection with Miranda. She and I had quite the complicated history, and in many ways, Relon was caught right in the middle of it all without my even realizing it. Now, here he stood before me, as if burdened with the weight of the world upon h
Alpha Ador P.O.VWhen she stepped through the open door, the sight of her alone was enough to thicken the air already stifling in the room. She glanced alternately at me and Relon, clearly marked by the tension between us. A little longer on Relon, then her eyes snapped across to me. I could see it: what had looked like ease on her face before suddenly collapsed into discomfort. But I didn't show any reaction. I'd chosen not to even now."Ador," she said finally, her voice low, but heavy with emotions she tried to keep inside. She stepped closer.I hardened my voice. "Tell me everything. No cut. Leave nothing out." My words were crisp, but I had no choice. Compassion and tolerance had no place now. Not on a day when so much was staked on the balance."Tell him everything, just like how you told me," Relon added, only this time with a tone more mocking than helpful. Miranda did not acknowledge his words; they were too much of a jab.She just sighed, a deep heavy breath as if it were ca
Miranda's P.O.VThe shadows of the forest reach long, and the coolness of the air tickles my skin as I hide behind the trees to watch Alex's house in the distance. Maxine clings tightly to my chest, her small heartbeat steadily skittering in time with my own. How she and the Eclipse Essence had saved her from Alex's ruthless clutches shoots like an unsettling specter in my mind. That power. It was a curse and a blessing at the same time. It saved me, marked me, and now I'm stuck in this chaos that I do not know what to do with myself.I escaped. At a price.Alex, and all his wickedness and greed for power, was only a scrawny wolf—a very pathetic creature whom the thirst for something more had devoured. Thirst for Eclipse Essence had blinded him to everything else. He never loved me; he only needed what I held inside me. Now, I watch from the shadows how silent his house is, home, under the night sky holding his new life - his family.My once-hardened heart, but each time betrayal set
Maxine's P.O.VI sat on the edge of my bed, my mind moving around in circles, focused intently on the clock on the wall. Each tick seemed to drag by time tortoise-slow, minutes elongating into hours. My mother's voice echoed within my head - "Stay in your room, Maxine. Don't come out till we say."But now an hour, two hours had passed with no one coming to see or say anything. My anxiety was gnawing inside, twisting my stomach into knots. What on earth was going on? Why wasn't I allowed to be there?The room, however, was broken by the door slowly creaking open. Alph walked into the room, his face serious, his expression tense. My heart leaped in my chest as I stood up and ran towards him."What's going on? Are you finished?" I asked, trying to sound even as my voice began to shake."Yes, we are," he replied coolly and analytically, sounding like a robot instead of a man.I frowled my brow in time and frustration. "What's the matter with Alph? What was this about? Why wasn't I allowed
Alph P.O.VPale moonlight filtered through above the canopy; we moved quietly through the forest, throwing eerie shadows upon the ground. My heart seemed to pound in my chest; every muscle tensed. Leo was out there, and with him, the civilian pack-wolves created by coercion, turned from humans by the strain of their existence; forever driven by rage and a bloodlust, they could no longer be the people they once were. Now they had become something far darker, something twisted. Leo was at their helm.Beside me, Martin and Trevor moved in silence, their faces equally drawn with a grim determination. We needed to find Leo, stop him before this got any worse. The fragile peace between the wolves and the humans had always been on the edge of shattering, but Leo was about to smash it to smithereens. And if that happened, everything that we had all fought for would be torn asunder."We're close," Martin whispered, his voice barely audible over the wind rustling through the trees.I nodded, my
"Where do you think you're going?" Adam had only just made it to the gate when Coreen's voice came ringing into the air. He turned round, his jaw setting as he found her standing before him, arms across her chest, eyes shooting fire with anger. She was out of place, glaring furiously because she'd been left behind while the rest of the pack moved on.“And who are you?" Adam asked low, and not in the mood for a fight.Coreen stepped closer into his personal space, irritation clear across her face. "It doesn't matter who I am. Where's Martin? Trevor? Alph? Maxine? Everyone's gone, and I was asleep, clueless. What the hell is going on?"Adam sighed, his impatience growing thin. "We don't have time for this. Just follow me. We need to find Maxine before something worse happens.She raised her gaze to the sky; then her eyes widened at that creepy red hue bleeding across the horizon. "I have never seen the sky like this before."Adam hurried his pace; he didn't want to hear more. "It is a
Thirteen Years Later…."Maxine, your daughter was found in the woods," the messenger said his voice quivering in shock and disbelief. "It's not confirmed yet, but the healer said her blood matches yours. It is … from your bloodline."Maxine froze, the aching ache of longing in her chest now replaced by the flicker of hope that she hadn't felt for years. She had scoured the earth for Hannah, year after year, refusing to let go of hope. The pack continued to move forward, living and thriving, but for Maxine, her heart was suspended in time. Since Hannah was taken from her by Leo, nothing in her life had held the promise of joy ever again.Rededicating herself, Maxine sped off to the healer's chambers. As she entered, her breath caught in her throat. There lay, on the bed, a young woman who resembled she had been taken from the very pages of Maxine's memory—a young Hadzen, her son, at the age that had passed since his own existence. This young woman was carrying his features that so clos
Hannah P.O.V.It was going to be perfect. Tonight. I wore my white dress. Wildflowers clutched in my hand. The heartbeats in my chest are not from fear but with excitement. It's going to be the beginning of our new life. Now he stood before me at the altar, his face alight with a radiant smile as he looked out at me as if I were his entire world, the small circle of his family smiling warmly to engulf me in a feeling of belonging that, up to now, I had never known."Victor," I panted, barely above a whisper. This was it. We were here finally, about to promise our lives to each other. Away from the craziness, away from the world of packs and politics, we had found a haven within the humans. We could just. exist. Love. Grow.But I could take only one step in his direction when a sound pierced the stillness, like a knife. A heavy thud of paws on earth. My body tensed, my instincts screaming at me. I knew that sound. Wolves.They descended upon us before I even had time to react.The cere
Days slipped by, going to waste and slipping past one another in that little village where Lenor and her family dwelled. Hannah could see reason in her new life; she curled up in their little house in the warm spots and clutched a blanket she had spotted the first night there - light in scent with a fragrant smell of lavender - which Lenor brought home those aspects of comfort after years of love and care.In those early days, her quiet sobs filled the home, breaking the silence every morning and night. Only Victor, the ten-year-old boy who found her by the riverbank, could sometimes pull her out of her sadness." Hadzen…," she would whisper the name of her brother, softly, as if a fragile yet determined voice; as if saying it may somehow bring him closer: "Hadzen… "Victor would sit there, looking at her with a tearful light of sadness and determination in his eyes. He didn't understand the depth of her pain but could see how much she was hurting, and he wanted to help. After digging
"Hadzen!"The hysterical voice echoed through the night as Hadzen leapt out of bed his heart pounding. He could hardly see the figure in the darkness on the balcony but he knew he wouldn't mistake that shriek."Hannah!" he yelled jumping to his feet as his twin sister's body was dragged away by a tall, dark figure.Looking over his shoulder, he flashed Hadzen a derisive smile before leaping over the balcony. "Catch you later, Hadzen."He plunged into darkness with Hannah's screams."HANNAH!" Hadzen shouted, sprinting toward the balcony-but she was already gone."Hadzen! Wake up!" his mother cried in a panic, shaking him out of dazed shock.Hadzen blinked, dazed. To his left was his mom, Maxine, crying, her face streaked with tears, scared. His father, Alph, paced around the room, scanning everywhere, up and down."Where's Hannah?" Hadzen stuttered his words, his voice thick with panic. He looked to the bedside he shared with Hannah; she was gone."M-mom. she was here, right next to me
Five years had passed since then, and the children's laughter was again louder, as Hannah and Hadzen played with their cousin Dylan under the great oak tree in the courtyard of their estate, a warm afternoon spent in sheer energy as the three children ran round the great oak tree in the garden."Hannah! Slow up, wait for me!" he yelled as he chased after her as she plunged toward the tree. He had just been bumped by Tylan, their family friend, and was laughing as he tried to catch up with Hannah who always seemed faster."Catch me if you can, Dylan!" she laughed as her brown curls bounced and she climbed higher into the branches of the tree.Hadzen sat on a nearby bench, with a book in his lap, reading and looked up from his story with a frown. "Hey, don't be so noisy!" he said sternly.Hannah stopped half-way up the tree, looked down to Dylan who stood under, panting. The two looked at each other, their mischievous grins even as they understood each other without words — this was som
Eight months had passed since the arrival of her twins, Hannah and Hadzen, and the house was full of baby laughter and gentle cooing. Sunbeams streamed through the windows as she sat on the floor playing with Hannah cradled in her arms. "Dada, tell him Dada," Maxine said, nodding towards Alph, who was sitting nearby cuddling their son Hadzen.Hannah's look remained steady, directed up at Alph as her mouth worked on the syllables with a visible effort. "Da-ah," she said, her voice unstable but clear enough to send a shiver down Maxine's spine.Maxine opened her eyes widely in amazement. "Oh my gosh! You spoke!" she squealed, hugging Hannah closer. "That is my baby girl, such a rapid learner!Not to be outdone, Alph grinned and held Hadzen aloft in the air, bouncing him lightly. "Okay, little man, let's show your mom what you've got. Can you say 'Ma-ma'?"`Hadzen was shrieking with laughter as Alph twirled him around, his chubby little hands reaching up toward his dad. Though no words
There she lay in the bed, her body now enervated but the spirit of her high and big. She could hear the softly crying sounds of her newborns-the twin babies that she had fought hard to bring into this world. They were perfect, tiny, with so much life within them. One boy, one girl. She already decided on the names: Hannah and Hadzen. And as she looked at them there, all rolled up in their cradles, they all seemed like such ordinary babies. Their innocence filled the room, and it was quite impossible to believe that so much danger still surrounded them.Her heart hurts to love and to worry for them. She was a mother now, and truly, she wanted to be able to protect them. However, at the back of her mind is the warning her mother had given her: the curse of the eclipse essence. It still lingers over her, over her family. She needed to know the truth.Coreen, her stepsister, stood in the same room with her maids. She had come to visit as soon as she heard about the birth, but Maxine could
Miranda paced back and forth in the dimly lit room, her heart racing as she tried to keep her tears from falling. The weight of her decision was suffocating, and her chest tightened with every step she took. She glanced at Erick, her oldest and closest confidant, hoping he might have some way to ease the unbearable pain in her heart. But his face was set, his eyes focused."You know what will happen!" Miranda snapped, her voice breaking under the pressure. "I already told you that! This isn’t just some story or legend. It’s real, Erick."Erick leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples. "I know, Miranda, I know. But we have to do it anyway. We don’t have many options left.""What options?" Miranda's voice was laced with frustration as she threw her hands into the air. "What way out do you think we have? I don’t want to lose Maxine! She’s the only one I have left." Her voice faltered as her fear took hold. "You know how dangerous it is to have the eclipse essence in one bloodline. I
Maxine poured milk into a glass, watching it swirl before handing it to Coreen. She looked at her sister’s swollen belly, trying to imagine what it would be like to hold her own child in her arms.“So, you and Trevor?” Maxine asked, raising an eyebrow as she leaned against the counter.Coreen grinned, placing a hand on her round stomach. “I didn’t know I’d fall for that jerk, either,” she admitted with a laugh. “But he’s hot, I’ll give him that.”They both burst into laughter, the sound filling the small kitchen. It felt good to share a moment of levity, especially given how serious everything had become lately.“How many months now?” Maxine asked, her gaze flickering to Coreen’s belly as she took a sip from her own glass.“Eight,” Coreen replied, her voice casual despite the significance. “It all started after that one wild night, and well… it just kept going from there.”Maxine shook her head, smiling. “So, you’re about a month ahead of me, huh? You always were a bit ahead of the ga