The Council.Cleopatra was in her office as usual when someone knocked on her door. The door was pushed open without her approval and Hezell took long strides inside. He first rubbed his neck, before settling his eyes on her. "You're so busy you have no idea someone has slipped out of the Council and is probably dead by now." "Some of the Council guards have returned. They patrol 24/7 everyday. If someone slipped out, they'd know and report to me. But they haven't reported anything to me." Cleopatra frowned, meeting his eyes for a brief second. Hezell shrugged with a downturned smile and took his seat opposite her. "Putting aside the fact you're implying that my eyes are wrong, are you trying to say someone who knows the Council like the back of her hand and has a strong motive for leaving the Council, won't use the opportunity the chaos yesterday brought to leave?" He questioned with a raised brow. Cleopatra's eyes narrowed as an image formed in her mind.She soon sprang up and r
Human City. To make the car he was in unrecognizable, Jerome Nichols had his security drive in the same car as him. His distraction worked as Landon and Neon had a hard time pinpointing which of the car he was in. Meanwhile, he sat in the backseat of the second Bentley with a woman. "The government has approved my petition to let me hunt anywhere for werewolves. I've not had such a pleasant news in a very long time." Jerome cackled as he got off his phone. He was used to the woman's silence, so he wasn't surprised that she didn't see the need to respond. "Talking to me more will do our partnership a lot of good. It might even lead to an increase in your salary." He added as his lips stretched into a wide smile. The woman had a face cap covering her face, but he could see that she had her eyes closed. "I'm fine with what you pay me, Mr. Nichols." She replied after a minute of silence and Jerome who was expecting her rejection, shrugged and turned his attention to the window. T
“Do you know her?” Cheyenne asked and pressed her lips tightly together. Landon could hear her heart slamming against her rib cage in fear and realized there was more to the story than she was letting on. “You're scared. What else are you keeping from me?” He leaned towards her reassuringly. “Her eyes. She doesn't have an iris. She only has the white, and they are bloodshot.” Cheyenne gulped down nervously. Bloodshot eyes? A familiar feeling tugged at Landon, but he was in no position to think properly nor recall where he had seen such before. “Get under the seat. We'll leave here once I'm done.” Landon exhaled and turned to leave. “You don't understand.” Cheyenne shook her head and hurriedly held on to his arm, her voice trembling as she added, “It's not safe to be in the same space as Hazel. Let's just leave here. We will be long gone before they notice.” Landon's lips slowly stretched into a smile as he placed a hand on hers. Then assured her with a gentle voice. “I'll be fi
"Dad!" Cheyenne screamed, running into the scene.Jerome's security men directed their guns toward Cheyenne, and Hazel was distracted for a second."Don't kill them. Please!" she begged, rushing to Landon, who was now on the floor, clutching Neon closely."I suspected you were with them, Cheyenne. Right from the start, you've always liked to involve yourself with werewolves. Always doing the one thing I warned you not to do." Jerome frowned a little.Cheyenne placed her ear to Landon's heart and panicked hearing his faint heartbeat. Tears welled up in her eyes, and she looked up at Jerome and promised, "If you let them go, I promise to be on your side from now henceforth."Jerome stared at her for a few seconds before he shifted his attention to one of his men. The man dropped his gun and advanced towards her."No! Don't touch me! If you're going to kill them, then you should as well kill me too!" Cheyenne screamed, kicking her legs in the air as she tried to escape the man's grip.U
"Nebra, Steele, and I will pay the witches a visit. You four will follow Jerome and Hazel at a safe distance. Don't engage or make yourselves noticeable," Landon laid out the plan of action once they were at the back of the van.Nebra shot Neon a warning look. "Emphasis on following them at a safe distance and not engaging.""I heard him the first time," Neon sighed and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment."You heard me the first time in the Council. Did that stop you from assaulting Cleopatra and leaving with the crest?" Nebra raised an accusing brow.Neon bit the insides of her mouth and looked away."What if Jerome tries to kill Freya or Cheyenne?" Kourtney asked."He won't," Steele interjected. "Neither will Hazel.""I agree with him," Adley nodded and stepped forward. "For one thing, witches hate losing. It bruises their ego. And the easiest way to bring us to her is to have Freya in her custody.""And Jerome Nichols doesn't seem like one who'd let us off after attemptin
Her threat silenced Cheyenne for a moment."I don't know anything about any of them," she clenched her jaw tightly.Hazel rubbed her nose, then trailed her finger to her neck. "It will take me nothing to kill your pet. But it'll give me a certain kind of satisfaction to see your father kill it and give its heart.""You have five seconds to tell me what I want to know," she added and rhythmically began tapping her foot against the floor.Each tap aligned with the beat of Cheyenne's heart.Subconsciously, Cheyenne was counting the number of times Hazel tapped her foot against the floor, and a growing sense of unease crept over her."I met him a few days ago, and I know his name is Landon. That's the only thing I know," she finally blurted out, her eyes bulging from fear."Tell me something I don't know, Cheyenne," Hazel hissed."I swear that's all I know," Cheyenne retorted desperately. "Please don't tell my father anything.""What about the other two?" Hazel questioned further, ignorin
Human City. Jerome spent the next few hours in the laboratory while his men guarded a shaken up Cheyenne. She saw him walk back to the car while Hazel joined the Bentley in front. "Those are werewolves, aren't they?" Cheyenne swallowed, her eyes pinned on the tanks. Jerome followed her eyes until it settled on the tanks. Then he turned his eyes back to her. "They're not dead, Cheyenne." He assured, fastening his seatbelt. "They aren't, but they will be." Cheyenne scoffed, her accusing eyes resting on him. Jerome was about to respond when his phone rang. It was a video call from his son. He answered the phone and held it up. "Dad, you won't believe what I discovered!" Lance Nichols' voice erupted as soon as the call connected. Jerome didn't share his enthusiasm. "What is that, Lance?" "I think I'm getting close to this Council place. Two days ago, I captured a werewolf. From all indications, she came from the Council because she has a backpack. A modernized backpack." Lance c
"I don't get it. How is it that Freya has three alphas as her mates, and none of them has ever tried to mark her?" Landon asked as Steele pulled into a driveway."There's one of them in front of you. Ask him," Nebra spat out and alighted from the car."You refused to let me end my story, so you have no idea why he didn't make a move on her. I, on the other hand, know exactly why. So I guess I'm just going to wait for the other two," he shrugged and alighted from the car as well."I find it unfair werewolves and vampires get chased around by humans while witches live amongst them with no worries," Nebra scoffed as she stared at the duplex in front of her.Landon was about to take a step forward when he frowned and looked around. "Is this a friend of yours or a foe?""Neither," Steele replied.Nebra also frowned, smelling something in the air. "Say, would he try to kill you or anyone in general for trespassing?"Their ears caught the sound of something, and they quickly moved out of the
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