From a young age, Rhiannon Brink felt like a failure that didn't belong. No matter how hard she tried, nothing she did seemed to ever be good enough in the game of life. Every day felt like nails being dragged across a blackboard, and the only thing that kept her going was the thought that there had to be more to life, more than what the small town in the middle of nowhere offered her ..... but what happens when that's exactly the case? Truths are revealed turning Rhiannon's life upside down, and she must learn to trust others as well as herself ..... can she handle what's thrown at her and become the woman she needs to be, or will reality break her to pieces?
Lihat lebih banyakRhiannon
The rain beat down on my head as I walked home from school, soaking me to my core. I looked up at the cloudy skies and wondered why nature hated me so much. Then again, the day started horribly, so why not have a completely unexpected rainstorm for my walk home? It wouldn't be the first time that the weatherman was wrong, and it surely won't be the last. It must be nice having a job where you get paid to be wrong more than right. As I was cursing at the fact that I didn't have a rain jacket, a car horn screamed from behind me. Even though I knew what was coming I didn't move quickly enough to get out of the way as the tan car sped by, driving through a large puddle and completely saturating me with dirty road water. "Hey, A****n Queen! Drowned rat is so last season!" Laura Cole's highly annoying squeaky voice yelled from the passenger window while the car continued to drive away. I closed my eyes and gritted my teeth as I flipped off the fading car with my right hand while I spun the ring I wore on my left ring finger with my thumb, a habit I picked up that helps to keep my emotions in check. The ring was nothing special, just a plain silver thing that I had found years ago in the woods behind my grandma's house. It quickly became something that my fingers searched for whenever my temper and anxiety got the best of me. Just a few more days .... a few more days of final exams and I'll be out of the hellmouth that's masquerading as a high school. A few more days and I'll be able to get away from all of this when I go stay with Gram for a week. I used to love school, but then again I used to have friends, too. Everything changed from when I was in elementary school to when puberty hit me like a freight train. I became the tallest girl in school at a little over six foot tall, and my body filled out in all the right places. I tried to hide my curves the best that I could with baggy clothing, but that didn't stop the guys from starring and the girls from giving me dirty looks. As if their unwanted attention wasn't bad enough, I was the smartest one in my class. Yeah, I know, it all sounds like the perfect life, right? Not so much when you're in Redneckville, Pennsylvania. In my small rural school, athletics mattered more than anything, and if you didn't have anything to do with sports you were treated like a leper. My good grades didn't matter to anyone, not even the teachers. No one cared if the students were barely passing, all that mattered was that our sports teams excelled. And that left me at the bottom of the pecking order and opened the door for non-stop harassment ..... especially from girls like Laura Cole. Laura and I are complete opposites. She's five foot nothing of picture-perfect beauty with black hair, hazel eyes, and naturally tanned skin. She just so happens to be the head cheerleader as well as the daughter of the vice principal, so she's pretty much treated like a Goddess. A shiver ran through my body as I walked up the stairs of my mother's house, partially from being soaking wet, but mostly because I simply didn't want to be home. I exhaled as I turned the doorknob and pushed the door open, sliding Catherine's stuff out of the way as I walked into the old farmhouse. Years ago my father, Matt, walked out on my mother, Catherine, and I. He left our little family for another woman, Becca. He discarded Catherine and I like we were trash, stopping any communication with me as soon as he found out Becca was pregnant with a boy. He always wanted a son, and now he had what he wanted. At first, I was crushed, but I quickly realized dwelling on it wouldn't change anything, it'd only weigh me down. Catherine, however, took his leaving pretty hard. Where I became cold and jaded, she became emotional and childlike. Our roles in life were reversed, and at a young age I not only had to start taking care my myself, but also doing all of the household and barn chores as well. I became nothing more than a live-in maid stuff Catherine. Cooking, cleaning, yard work, what maintenance I could ...... It all sounds simple enough, unless you're just a kid trying to figure things out without anyone actually teaching you. It's not like I could afford to hire someone, so I taught myself how to do what I could through trial and error. And let's not forget the reason why I had to slide stuff out of the way with the door ...... Catherine turned into a hoarder, of everything. From stuff that she'd get at the thrift store where her sister works, to animals, and everything in between. The animals can't take care of themselves, so guess who's responsible for 8 dogs and 5 horses? That's right, me. It seems like it'd be so easy to tell her no, to run away and leave her to her own devices, but I just haven't found the strength to do so. As hard as it all might be, she's still my mother, and my memories of the good times we used to have dragged me down like cinder blocks. I closed my eyes as I slid my soaking wet sneakers off of my feet before turning to walk upstairs to my room, thankful that Catherine and I lived on separate floors. "Rhiannon, have you taken care of the horses yet?" Catherine's voice loudly asked from her bedroom. I let out a sigh before I answered her, "Not yet, I got caught in that rainstorm and wanted to change my clothes first." Without another word, Catherine came out of her bedroom, grabbed her purse, and left to go to work. I shook my head as I continued up the stairs, not because of her attitude, I was used to that, but because I simply didn't understand how we faced foreclosure multiple times and had utilities being shut off when she had a good-paying job. I quickly changed my clothes and left to walk over to the neighbors where we kept the horses. As soon as I was on the front porch I saw that in the short time it took me to get changed it had stopped raining and the sun came out. I looked up at the sky as a gentle breeze blew a faint lavender and lemon balm scent towards me, "Seriously? You couldn't have done that an hour ago?" It only took about 20 minutes to walk over the the Kurtz's. I took care of their chickens, beef cattle, and pigs before I set up the horses' feed in their stalls. Taking care of the Kurtz's livestock was something that Catherine agreed to do to keep the horses on their land. It didn't take long for it all to become my responsibility, but I didn't mind. Barn chores brought a little bit of peace to my life, plus if the Kurtz's had extra meat and eggs they happily shared with me. They really were kind people, and I couldn't help but be envious when they'd have their family get-togethers. I walked over to the gate that was up between the pasture and the barn and leaned on it as I let out a few loud whistles. A single whinny echoed from the back of the pasture, bringing a smile to my face, and I closed my eyes as the sound of galloping hooves grew closer. Warm air and whiskers danced across my arms, and I opened my eyes to see Dub, my handsome strawberry roan stallion. I opened the gate and each horse walked into their stall and stalled, putting their heads in the buckets of feed. Once I got everyone's stall door shut I walked back over to Dub's stall and wrapped my arms around his withers, "Hey, big guy ..." I whispered as I hugged him tightly, inhaling his scent while I listened to him chew Out of all the horses, Dub is the one that has my heart. He's the first horse that Catherine took in, and the only thing that's ever been consistent in my life. He's not only my sanity but my savior as well. Despite the fact that all of the animals Catherine gets become my responsibility, I am thankful for them, especially Dub. After the horses were done eating I kissed Dub on his nose and inhaled his scent one more time before letting them back out into their pasture. I finished up my nightly barn chores and reluctantly made my way back home. I stopped at another neighbor's house where I do yard work and picked up the extra vegetables that they left out for me, along with my weekly payment. After making myself a small dinner I went upstairs to take a shower. I stripped off my clothes and stood in front of the mirror, staring into the dark blue eyes of the pathetic individual standing before me. My blonde wavy hair was now frizzy, making me look like a poodle. I had dirt on my cheeks from hugging Dub. Then there were the scars on my arms ...... scars that I made on my own body to try to pull myself out of panic attacks, scars that I never realized I had made until after the fact, scars that I tried to hide from others the best that I could. They're not something I wanted attention for, but something I did when I was in a different state of mind and wanted to try to save myself from the horrible moments when I was filled with fear and a longing to escape this life ..... to escape this world. Others in my life caused the scars on the inside, but I caused the ones on the outside, "Just a few more days. I just have to survive for a few more days ......"Isabella "A Gonakadet?! You're part water fairy?! And you NEVER once thought to mention it?! You want me to trust you? You want to work on rebuilding us? But you don't even have the fucking decency to tell me the truth?!" I yelled my questions as I made sure to keep my chest covered. Hypocritical as my lower half was very visible, but I didn't give a damn. I wanted my heart covered. My emotions were swirling around inside of me like a tornado, but I tried to keep them in check the best I could. Now was not the time to turn into a bird. "Bella, I seriously don't know what you're talking about right now, " Damian whispered as he took a step towards me, looking at me like I was bat shit crazy. I immediately took a step back. "Are you seriously going to pretend that you don't know what you are? I never thought that you were a liar, D. But I know what I fucking saw. I just don't understand why you never told me. Why would you lie about being afraid of water? Why ....." "Will you s
Damian The only thing that was going through my mind was how much I had missed Bella and how badly I wanted her. I felt like such a moron for having ghosted her the way that I did. But that's exactly what I was. A young, dumb moron who freaked out because I fell in love and worried about what would happen if I stayed with her and found my fated. And all of those Omegas that I screwed around with? They were nothing more but a distraction from Izzy. If only I knew then what I know now. But, that's life. It's messy. It hurts. And mistakes are made for you to learn from. I hadn't even realized that I was treading water when Bella evanesced away from me, leaving me with a hard-on that ached for her So many thoughts were driving through my head, but none of them had anything to do with my wolf. That is, not until his voice interrupted my thoughts. "Bro, I'm sorry," Ace said in a weird tone that didn't make much sense. Sorry? What was he sorry for? My arms and legs stopped
Izzy After breakfast, Damian and I left the packhouse to go on a walk as the others went to the stables to start cleaning it up. I know that everyone assumed I'd be staying, but I just didn't know if I was ready for that. I still needed time. "Have you seen that dog since he was let out this morning?" Damian asked quietly as we walked towards the woods. I shook my head. "No. It's kind of hard to call around to find his owners when he's not here. Maybe he ran back home or something?" Damian playfully grabbed my hand, spinning me around to face him with an obviously fake cared expression on his face. "What if he's a secret spy?!" I raised an eyebrow as I bit my bottom lip to try to contain my smile ..... and my sarcasm ..... but it wasn't working. "Don't worry, D, I'm pretty sure everyone already knows what a slut you've been ....." I immediately started laughing as I watched Damian's face fall, letting him know that I was playfully busting his balls. "Low blow, Bella!" D
Rieka The smell of coffee woke me from my deep slumber. As I stretched and opened my eyes, I immediately noticed that I was alone in Seth's king-sized bed. As soon as I sat up, I saw that there was a single cup of coffee with a small handwritten note leaning up against the cup so that I could easily read it. 'I didn't want to wake you. We're in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Seth.' I reached over and picked up the cup of coffee, smiling when I realized that not only was it still hot, but also because Seth remembered that I preferred my coffee black. I sipped the nectar of the Gods as Lupa groaned in my mind while she woke up. And to think I was enjoying having my own thoughts to myself .... Lupa scoffed with annoyance. "Sucks to be you. How about breakfast?" I stayed in bed as I finished my cup of coffee. I honestly didn't want to get out of bed .... out of Seth's bed. It was the most relaxing night's sleep that I had ever had, and it wasn't just because of the mattress.
Mia When Jay went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, I stripped out of my clothes and put on his robe. Once I heard the shower running, I decided to sneak in and brush my teeth. "You can't really sneak in when I can smell you," Jay said with amusement from the shower. I rolled my eyes as I continued to get the taste of dinner out of my mouth. I keep forgetting that everyone has a scent and that werewolves can smell their mate. Vampires have a strong sense of smell, but we smell .... other things. Blood things ..... "If those two were honest with each other, you and I would have met so much sooner," Jay's voice coldly trailed off, and I knew he was just vocalizing his frustrations. "If that happened, where would Rhi be right now?" I asked after rinsing my mouth with mouthwash. Jay was silent for a few seconds, but it didn't take long for him to go back to the subject we were discussing before Izzy's storm interrupted us. "You're really OK with living here?" I smile
Rieka After I got out of the shower, the smell of pizza called me downstairs to the living room, where I found the others already sitting around with full plates. "I wasn't gone THAT long, was I?" "I seriously thought we were going to have to send a search party, " Izzy answered sarcastically before eating a chicken wing. I rolled my eyes as I grabbed a plate and helped myself to the pizza and wings that were on the coffee table. "If I could do a happy dance right now, I would," Lupa said with glee. "Now that the guest of honor has finally joined us, can someone here explain to me what the hell the bird thing is about?" Seth asked as he gave me a coy grin, moving over so that I could sit next to him on the couch. I quickly looked over at Izzy, hoping she'd make room for me, but instead, she grinned and ever so slightly shook her head no. Bitch. Lupa chuckled as I made my way to the only open seat and sat down next to Seth. "Why don't you ask Jay and Blue," I grumbl
Rieka "Don't ever fucking do that again!" Mia's voice yelled as soon as we got out of the truck. "Oof ..... easy, killer. I feel like I was hit by a train," I heard Izzy say with a pain-filled groan. I looked over to see that Mia had evanesced over to Izzy and was hugging her tightly. Seth walked up next to me, gently placing his hand on the small of my back. I immediately spun around and glared at him. "You're the one that chased Dub and I!?!" "Fucking asshole," Roxie said with a scoff as she walked by us towards the packhouse. Seth closed his eyes and lowered his head as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry, I ....." SLAP! The sound made us turn towards the front porch to see Damian holding his cheek while he stared at Roxie with a surprised expression. I guess the comment that Roxie made wasn't directed toward Seth. "What you did to her was so disrespectful! Then, you start fucking your way through Omegas? Disgusting!" Roxie yelled at Damian as she poked
Rieka There was a loud ringing in my ears as I continued to rub and blink my eyes. It didn't matter how many times I repeated the process, nor if my eyes were open or shut .... all I could see was blinding white. "Give me a minute, " Lupa grumbled with irritation. My sight slowly started to return as the ringing in my ears faded away. But the ringing was replaced by the sound of Mia's scream ..... ..... Izzy ..... I pulled my arm out of Cerulean's grasp and clumsily made my way down the stairs towards the spot where I last saw Izzy. Damian was kneeling on the ground with a hand on his forehead, struggling to come to his senses, and I hurried past him like he didn't even exist. My heart sank as I reached the unmoving black mound that was in the middle of the charred spot in the yard ..... no, no, no, no .... please let her somehow be OK ..... Too many emotions were running through me to think straight, and I never bothered to take the size and shape of what I was lookin
Rieka Izzy followed the black SUV up a long dirt road, or at least what we thought was just another dirt road. But to our surprise, it was the private driveway of the breathtakingly beautiful stone and log packhouse .... a building that I had seen in the past and just assumed was some type of resort. "This place is to die for," Mia whispered from the back seat. "Fall in love with your mate, Mia. Not the house," Izzy lectured her sister as she put the car in park next to the SUV. "Yeah, yeah, " Mia replied with an eye roll. Izzy let out a deep sigh as we watched Jay and Damian exit the SUV, turning around to look at us expectantly. I had to admit, I was a little jealous of Izzy and Mia. I know Izzy wants to reject Damian, but both he and Jay were easy on the eyes. "Let's get this over with," Izzy whispered as she unclipped her seat belt and placed her hand on the door handle. Mia reached over and gave Izzy's shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she eagerly got out of
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