"That's it?" Nebra inquired, her gaze closely following the woman's movements around the room.The woman, who had been tidying up her materials, paused momentarily, casting a brief glance in Nebra's direction. "You should get some rest.""Get some rest? I was forcibly taken by your people and brought here to endure mental torment. I'm not typically one to question, but you've delved into my memories in search of something, so I believe I deserve to know what's happening," Nebra retorted, her finger gingerly touching her aching head.Only a few moments ago, the woman had removed the chains that had bound Nebra after completing her numerous spells. These spells had physically drained Nebra, and she couldn't shake the persistent dizziness."Forgive me if releasing you makes you believe you have a say in this matter," the woman hissed, grabbing her stuffed duffel bag and striding toward the exit.Nebra muttered, "You could at least share your name," realizing the woman was indeed right abo
"I'm surprised you're not trying to discourage me from going. Do you plan to nap me along the way?" Neon joked as Cleopatra handed her the blueprint of the Vause family house. "You haven't visited her in years. Even though she might not be in the right state of mind, I'm sure she'd be happy to see you. Who knows, she might even stop being crazy." Cleopatra shrugged, masking her sadness. Neon paused briefly. True, she and Nebra had left as soon as the attack ended. All this while, they never stopped to wonder how their aunt who lost her two brothers and sister in-laws, along with numerous close friends, was faring. "Is that guilt I see in your eyes?" Cleopatra scoffed and walked ahead. "Nebra and I should've gone to see her sooner." Neon murmured. "Despite being in so much pain, she made sure you tried to bring us back to the Council." "It's 18 years already, Neon. Besides, I think it's good none of you visited. My mother was a big mess. She still is, though." Cleopatra concluded
With five tournament winners being absent the following day, they were only five people in the training house.There were two sparring groups currently sparring while Daya had a cloth wrapped around her knuckles as she trained on a punching bag. The door soon opened and Madison walked in, hands behind her back as always. Everyone took their position opposite the mat, hands behind their back and eyes firmly staring ahead of them."Jenna, Tiffany and Mary will not be joining us for a while because they're still unconscious. Neon was excused out of the Council and will meet us in the human city." Madison said as she unhurriedly paced to and fro. "What about Freya Armstrong?" One of the boys with black spiky hair, suddenly butted in. Madison halted and slowly tilted her head to look at him. His eyes met her chilly gaze for a second and he quickly lowered them to the floor again, cowering in fear. "Forgive me." He apologized, but added, "I went over to Brianna's office this morning and
"No, Cleopatra. We can't go to war against the witches because simply because of your cousin. Look around. Over the past few weeks, we've lost a lot of men and currently, we have groups of them outside the Council doing one vital thing or the other. Facing off against the witches with the men we have at hand is nothing but sheer suicide." Hercules tried to reason with Cleopatra, desperation clinging tightly to his voice. She had her back to him and her eyes closed in thought. The silence that ensued after he made his speech scared Hercules. He knew Cleopatra long enough to know what happened whenever she went silent for such a long time.Hercules thought long and hard about what next to say before a brilliant idea came into his head. "How about this; you hasten the trip of the Combat Tournament winners to the human city. Nebra said she didn't know where they are holding her hostage, and since everyone knows we hold the tournament every year, they won't find it weird when the childre
"What's going on with Freya?" Sarah inquired, her footsteps echoing softly in Rose's room as she entered.Rose, who was diligently sharpening her knife, briefly halted her task before resuming it with a focused determination. "I have no idea," she replied in a tone tinged with uncertainty.Sarah, her voice laced with curiosity, continued her musings, her fingers gently encircling Rose's waist as she spoke. "Not even Cleopatra walks around with that many guards. I know she's important to the Council in a sense, but that doesn't mean she should be treated like royalty."Rose's body tensed at Sarah's touch, her usually unwavering gaze briefly betraying a hint of nervousness. Her eyes drifted downward to the knife in her hand, and she softly responded, "I'm sure Cleopatra has her reasons."Sarah, seemingly unbothered by Rose's reaction, nonchalantly expressed her disinterest in Freya's situation. Her fingers ventured further, sliding under Rose's top, and traced idle circles on her stoma
"Ten minutes ago?" Rose repeated, her voice tinged with frustration, and turned away from the girl."Thank you, Amy," Cleopatra expressed her gratitude to the girl and patiently waited until Amy had walked out of the training house. Only then did she shift her attention back to Rose. "Even if you leave now, you won't be able to catch up with them."Rose's brow furrowed in confusion. "How is that possible? And why the hell am I even here when the girl I'm supposed to be protecting is outside the Council?" She hissed, tilting her head to look at Cleopatra.Cleopatra maintained her composure, her tone unwavering. "Freya has spent time in the Council. She has learned how to defend herself, so I thought she should be allowed to go to the Council on her own.""Why?" Rose pressed."Because she has to be strong to be a Luna. She...""Don't say that nonsense about it being impossible for her to have people guarding her whenever she leaves her future pack, because she will be a Luna. Not just
"There's a significant obstruction looming ahead, and as a result, we've decided to seek shelter for the night in this very spot," Ryan proclaimed, the wind carrying his voice through the quiet forest. The group of teenagers nodded in unison, their faces illuminated by the dappled light filtering through the dense canopy above. They wasted no time, retrieving their tents from their backpacks and setting up camp.Freya struggled with her tent, attempting to wrestle the fabric into submission. Seeing her struggle, Mendoza approached her with a warm and friendly demeanor. "Hey, what transpired between you and Jenna last night?" Mendoza inquired after a few moments of assisting Freya. Her eyes were curious, yet beneath the surface, a well-concealed tension lingered.Freya paused, contemplating Mendoza's remarkable ability to mask her true feelings and maintain a facade of affection toward someone she secretly despised. She couldn't help, but chuckle within her. For what it was worth, M
"After the attack on the Council, I made my mother believe she was crazy. I even went as far as almost destroying the room she prepared for the baby." Cleopatra exhaled shakily, her voice tinged with guilt. She stood close to her office's window which had a view that made it possible to oversee the whole Council's activities."You didn't know. None of us knew." Neon shrugged, walking up to her. After making her discovery, she called Cleopatra as soon as possible and conveyed what she found out. "Neon, Nebra was right." Cleopatra exhaled heavily again, tilting her head to look at Neon, "I was the closest to Freya and I never caught on to any hint, but just a day in the Council and Nebra already had her suspicions." "If you're about to say something about Nebra going to take over the Council when she returns, then you should keep shut." Neon scoffed, directly cutting her off. "I used to be good. I've taken care of the Council and the people in it for so long that I let someone so i
Jerome Nichols' House,"We've gunned down every werewolf we know about, and for those we are yet to find, we're doing our possible best to bring them in," a Werewolf Hunter stood opposite Lance and reported."What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jerome Nichols yelled at his son as he rushed into the house.Lance dismissed the Werewolf Hunter with a wave of his hand and walked up to Jerome. "Just taking care of business, Dad.""Taking care of business? You're tearing apart everything!" Jerome seethed and looked around him. "Where's Hezell? Why didn't he stop you?"Lance adjusted his tie with a stoic gaze. "Hezell... isn't here."Jerome spun around in disbelief. "Where did he go? And who authorized you to do this then?""He had something to take care of and left the house to me. But then the man he left behind passed on an instruction he had received to me," Lance said and leaned towards his father's right ear. "He said we were in great danger if he didn't call the house seven hours
“What?” Sarah straightened up seeing Joshua and the four other witches step backward. “The barrier is opening up on its own.” He glanced at her warily. Knight, Landon, Adley and Kourtney got serious recalling what Joshua had said before he began trying to reopen the barrier. “Why do you all look surprised? Did you really think they stood a chance against Hezell just because they were Alphas? Bless your delusional heart.” Mendoza's mocking voice came from behind them. “Release me and I'll consider talking to him to at least keep one of you alive. That's the great length I'm willing to go just for old times’ sake.” However, the group ignored her and armed themselves with the guns her pack warriors had taken with them. “Those things you're holding won't deter him.” Mendoza stated the obvious. “I swear if you keep talking you won't be alive to witness what would happen in the next one minute!” Adley glowered, glancing behind her shoulders to look at her. Mendoza frowned and as muc
Hezell suddenly laughed. “I didn't think I'd ever be captured again, but just to be safe, I left a few orders that should be carried out if I don't call Jerome Nichols’ house hours after leaving.”“I never should've let you out of the Council for any reason whatsoever,” Cleopatra clenched her fist tightly.“It's not your fault. He just has a way of getting to people,” Nebra exhaled, glancing at her.“This isn't something that can't be taken care of. A quick trip to the Council should solve it once you return with Council guards,” Steele uttered calmly.Cleopatra looked away from him guiltily. “I sent half of them to the human city to help Hezell out in searching for you since he told me you were captured by Hazel.”“You… how do you come up with these things? You make life hard for others even when you're totally powerless,” Neon sighed, glaring at Hezell.“You can't blame me for trying to stay alive,” Hezell shrugged and looked down at the chains on his wrists. “The massacre will cont
Mariah gasped and stumbled backward, while Freya sat up and proceeded to stand on her feet. Her previously pale face had brightened, and her dull eyes were now full and vibrant.“If you wanted to kill me, you should've done so on the podium. A knife into my abdomen without the boring words you said would've been just fine,” Freya stretched and glanced at Mariah.“You were unconscious just a few minutes ago. So how is it that you're suddenly so hale and hearty now?” Mariah asked and warily got on her feet.“I woke up two nights ago, but I discovered I couldn't move. It wasn't until this morning that I realized Lalisa did something that made me weak. When Hezell killed her, the magic began wearing off. But when your goon brought me here, meters away from Lalisa’s body, the magic wore off totally,” Freya explained with a shrug.Mariah didn't know when she swallowed nervously. This was the Freya she knew, but at this same time, she didn't feel like she knew this person in front of her.“A
"I know no one has ever told you this before, but you're misguided. You're doing things for the wrong reasons," Terry didn't to struggle with Hezell as he knew his attempt would only be futile. Hezell's eyes were cold as he tightened his grip on Terry's throat."Hezell," Freya called out to him weakly, her voice barely audible over the scuffle. He flung a half-dead Terry down the stairs before rushing to her side.By the time Terry reached the foot of the stairs, his eyes were barely opening, and his breath had become a raspy whisper. None of the heartstealers had the heart to help him as they feared it'd make Hezell see them as his enemy. Nebra, on the other hand, hurried up to him. She held his arm, ready to relieve him of some of his pain, but he stopped her with a feeble gesture."There's no need. I'm more than ready to finally meet my ancestors," Terry coughed weakly, forcing his eyes open, "And you shouldn't be so eager to help the man who almost sacrificed your cousin.""Us
While they remained outside, attempting to reopen the barrier, Nebra fell onto a pile of sand once she was inside the barrier. She groaned and rose to her feet. As she patted away the sand that had gotten into her hair and clothes, she raised her head and looked around.The sky was blue and crystal clear, almost like a painting. Just ten meters away from her were numerous rows of houses.She cautiously sauntered towards them, but much to her surprise, she didn't come across a single soul.She was still wondering if she was dropped in the wrong location when she heard shouts coming from a particular direction.At the same time, the sound of numerous hearts beating at once overwhelmed her.She zoned out of her wolf hearing and rushed towards the direction of the shouts until she walked into a town square filled to the brim with people."So many heartstealers," she mumbled in disbelief, staring at the people who she feared numbered more than two thousand.Her attention was drawn to an el
"Hezell... what a bastard!" Sarah seethed as she got flung backward by the barrier.She waited for a few seconds and didn't get an expected rebuke."What? You didn't find anything wrong with what I said? You don't find me wh... Neon?" She glanced around to see Neon was nowhere to be found."Steele and Hunter are gone too," Knight said, noticing his two competitors were absent."Nebra too," Kourtney scoffed."That's ridiculous. Where could they have gone?" Landon frowned. He refused to believe Nebra somehow made it into the barrier and he couldn't."If they aren't here, that only means they slid into the barrier just before it closed," Adley stated the obvious truth."I was at least a few inches ahead of Neon, so how could she have gotten in and I didn't?" Sarah hissed, waving Adley's words aside."Well, it's not that surprising given she's a beta and you're not," Adley retorted, meeting Sarah's enraged eyes."Beta? What's so good about being a beta? I'm going to be stronger than a bet
Joshua's brain momentarily shut down as he stared back at the man. He had every reason to believe they were serious, but for some reason, he was hoping they were just messing with him. However, one minute later, and they still had the same suspicious look on their faces."Cat got your tongue?" One out of the two men across from him raised his brows provocatively."Mr. Hezell won't take it lightly with you once he hears of this. But if you explain things to us, we might put in a good word or two on your behalf when we report you to him," the second man across from him added seriously.Realizing that what was happening wasn't a joke, Joshua slowly raised his hand, getting ready to mumble a memory-erasing spell when the man next to him suddenly laughed. He widened his eyes a little bit in surprise as the other two joined him in laughing."We totally had him fooled," one of the men across from him laughed."He was first confused, then horrified. I'll give anything to see that look on his
In the woods where Sarah's pack is located,"You took off the chains, but we're still pretty much your prisoners, aren't we?" Sarah hissed as she was pushed into a room by a pack warrior.She stopped talking, seeing the others in the room as well. "Tell me you dragged them in here the same way you did to me.""This isn't the time for one of your incessant whinings, Sarah," Neon hushed."So you think it's okay that I was dragged in here like I can't walk by myself?" Sarah asked provocatively."Hezell has been informed of Freya's whereabouts, and he's already on their territory. It'll only take him a few hours to get through their barrier," Mendoza's voice successfully drew their attention to the other end of the room where she was.Sarah looked away from her and glanced around the room, which turned out to be the armory room."You have guns. I take it you stole them from the humans," she commented, picking up a pistol. "Ouch!"She dropped it immediately when it burned her palm and glar