"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
Behind the Council building, a figure clad in leather pants and jackets tossed her backpack over the fence before attempting to jump over the wall."Going somewhere?" Cleopatra's familiar voice shattered the silence, causing her to freeze."What do you want this time?" Rose hissed, twisting her head to face her."I've just received word that the tournament winners and their instructors might not have made it to the human city," Cleopatra stated somberly. "In fact, they might be dead."Rose's eyes welled with tears at the thought of Sarah being dead, and she turned away from Cleopatra. After what felt like an eternity, she scoffed, "Are you here to sympathize with me or exploit me again?""When you put it like that, it makes me seem like the villain," Cleopatra guiltily scratched the back of her neck.Rose had indeed warned her about her witch enemy, but she didn't believe the witch could eliminate Sarah without alarming the others with her, so she didn't think anything would happen to
Hearing Freya's name, Nebra reacted; her hands grabbing Nelly by the collar and pinning her against the wall. "Are you trying to tell me Freya Armstrong is in danger because of your fellow witches?" She asked aggressively. Nelly sighed, holding up her hands to show she wasn't going to resist or do anything tricky. "I don't know the details, but from the little I've gathered, it seems Braeden Vause made a deal with the witches just before he was killed." "What does he have to do with Freya Armstrong?" Nebra asked slowly, her pupils dilating in realization as she already guessed what Nelly was about to say. "The look in your eyes doesn't seem to be that of curiosity. Thankfully, I got my hands on you first, otherwise, the people who also connected the dots, would've bombed what your kind calls the Council in search of Braeden's offspring." Nelly responded and smacked her lips together. "Now get your hands off me." Nebra clenched her jaw for a moment before she obliged and stepped
Freya shivered in cold as soon as she walked into the pharmacy. She knew she weather was cold, but the cold seemed to have amplified as soon as she walked in.She wrapped both arms around her body, rubbing her frozen fingers on her body as she glanced around in search of the source of the cold. "Good day, ma'am. How may we help you?" A polite voice asked.Freya froze for a moment, then slowly shifted her eyes towards the direction of the voice The girl, who seemed to be the same age with Freya, was on the other side of the counter. Freya calculated it'd take her a few minutes to chase after her once she took off with the med kit. "I need a med kit and if possible, a fresh set of clothes." She responded, returning the girl's smile. "Just walk down this way you'd come across a shelf." The girl said, pointing towards a section of the pharmacy. "Thank you."As Freya walked towards the direction she was pointed to, she couldn't help but notice there were a lot of customers looking at
"You won't ask me why I left you at the pharmacy?" Sarah inquired just minutes after Freya had meticulously cleaned and dressed her bullet wound."No," Freya replied in a calm tone as she efficiently returned the items she had used back to the medical kit."If you weren't an omega, you would've died. Are you telling me you're not angry with me that I left you to die?" Sarah couldn't help but scoff in anger. "I'm not," Freya affirmed resolutely, her gaze unwavering as she locked the medical kit. They had sought refuge in the dimly lit alley in the street after that of the pharmacy's and thanks to the encroaching darkness, the number of people passing through the valley had significantly decreased, shielding them from prying eyes. Freya gently placed the kit in the sheltered nook of the alley and rose, stretching her body to get rid of its stiffness after sitting in one place for thirty minutes. Sarah stood as well and approached her, concern subconsciously etching her features. "Is
The Council The chattering within the auditorium slowly stopped as Cleopatra climbed the podium. "I'm aware that many of you have heard the news." She began and scanned their faces before continuing, "Which is why I'm here to clarify you. Yes, werewolf hunters seem to have returned." "Is it true that they got the Combat Tournament winners? That they are likely to be dead?" "I also heard it happened just two forests away. If something like that can happen so close to the Council without anyone realizing on time, doesn't that mean the Council is no longer safe to stay in?" "Why weren't we informed when this happened? How many things are you keeping from us?" The crowd clamoured, each person raising his voice to ask his question and soon, chaos erupted. Hercules who was standing by the side had to step forward to calm them. "If she didn't have a solution to the present problem, she wouldn't be inform you about it. So calm down and listen to her!" The people found sense in what h
Rose gazed intently at Cleopatra, her eyes lingering on her for what felt like an eternity. Then, with deliberate slowness, she shifted her attention to the wall behind Cleopatra."I know what you're doing," she finally broke the silence, her voice dripping with a mixture of anger and taunting. Cleopatra's surprise was obvious as she asked, "What am I doing?"Rose's lips curled into a sardonic smile, "Using guilt to trap me? What are you going to say next? Mention my first mate that I couldn't save, then go on rambling about how Sarah will face the same fate sooner or later if I don't help you stabilize the Council. That's an old trick, Cleopatra. Learn a new one."A faint twitch at the corners of Cleopatra's lips betrayed her amusement. "Well, someone seems to be soaked up in guilt."Recalling how Rose lost her mate, Cleopatra wiped the smile off her face and said seriously, "I was going to ask you how you think Sarah will feel when she returns and finds out you did nothing to help
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