Stormie- Pushing past the last bit of leaves that fell low from a tree, I stepped out into an open area. My breath hitched at seeing the beautiful waterfall, which glowed as if it were mystical. The waterfall splashed into a lovely pond. It narrowed, and the water ran down large rocks that reminded me of a set of stairs, and then it turned into a river. The water glowed a beautiful neon blue. It was weird how vastly different my imagination had been. From town, you could see the slight glow from the river displayed over the trees. It was almost as if I stepped into another dimension entirely. Behind the waterfall, high in the sky, was a large mountain. The water almost seemed to be falling out of the sky, just under the brilliant glow of the moon. It wasn’t just any full moon; it was a super blue moon known to be magical. Many massive trees surrounded the waterfall, and it was as if they were there to guide and protect the water. A dense fog floated above the trees but was clear ab
Stormie- “What are you doing here?” Axel gritted out as he led Misty into the foyer. “You know who I am?” Misty asked, sounding slightly alarmed. I almost laughed at how much she was acting until I remembered that Axel had told me he had made her forget about the night she told him the truth. Hiding behind a pillar next to the stairs, I pressed my back against it, but I couldn’t peer around it out of fear of being spotted. “Did you think I wouldn’t figure out that the one I married isn’t you?” Axel scoffed. “Then you know that she stole my identity, and I am the one you should be with.” Misty’s voice rose a few levels as if she were excited and scared at the same time. “I don’t have time for this right now.” Axel sounded as if he was clenching his teeth a little too hard. I no longer heard their footsteps, so I figured they stopped in the middle of the foyer. Careful not to be seen, I lowered myself to the floor and crawled under the staircase. There wasn’t much room, but at lea
Axel-Taking a step back, I looked at Stormie’s wolf form in complete shock. While I have heard of white wolves, it was rare to see one. Although she wasn’t purely white, the black markings on her fur were even more shocking.It has been over fifty years since a white wolf was spotted, but female wolves were never black. Even if they were born of an Alpha bloodline, only male Alpha wolves were black. It has been said that a white wolf is a child of the Goddess.“How is this possible?” My mother whispered.Looking around, I saw my parents and friends were stunned as they looked at Stormie. Luckily, I had Doctor Henkes retrieve Landon. I didn’t know how others would react to this. Perhaps it would be good as others would see the Goddess truly blessed her. Then again, knowing Misty, she might twist things.Unable to form any words, I forced myself to blink a few times as I returned my attention to Stormie. I wasn’t sure if what I was seeing was real or if I passed out from hearing Stormi
Stormie-When I woke up, I had been lying on the ground in Axel’s arms. When I passed out, I remembered being by the waterfall, but I had woken up next to our clothes. Axel was still asleep, so I had carefully got up to get dressed before he woke up. I wasn’t embarrassed by being naked, but suddenly, I was a little shy.I don’t know what came over me last night to be so bold. It was almost as if I had no control over myself. I didn’t regret what happened. Facing away from Axel, I smiled as I zipped my coat. It was weird that I didn’t feel like I needed a coat until I remembered that now that I have a wolf, my body temperature was much higher than before.“Good morning.” Axel’s groggy voice startled me, and I quickly turned around.He was sitting up, rubbing his hand through his tussled hair. He didn’t seem shy at all as he slowly stood up, stretching his arms high above his head. My eyes traveled to his groin. Heat spread over my face, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted a repeat of last ni
Stormie-We returned to the house, and no matter what I said or did, I couldn’t calm Axel. It was like he was on a warpath, determined to put an end to Misty. While I did want it to come to an end, I also didn’t want Axel to lose his sanity.As soon as we entered the house, he went to his office and locked himself in. For a bit, I stayed in the room, taking a shower and changing into sweats and a T-shirt. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to leave, and Landon was still in the hospital.I was tempted to ask another warrior, but I wasn’t sure who I could turn to. The entire situation was causing me to overthink, so after an hour of sitting in the room, I decided to roam around the Palace. I was grateful that the staff were all aware of my identity before this happened.Every time I passed a maid or another staff member, they smiled at me as they always have. Some even offered me a word of encouragement to keep my head up. It felt good knowing I still had people on my side despite everything.
Stormie-Catching up with Axel, I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket to stop him. “Axel.”He quickly pulled away, and in a split second, he had me pinned against the wall, with his hand wrapped around my neck. His eyes were dark and deadly. It was as if he wasn’t aware of what he was doing. As his hand tightened around my throat, my ability to breathe was cut off.“Axel…” I managed to gasp as I tried to pull his hand away from my throat.He didn’t respond as he squeezed tighter. My wolf surged forward, but I held her back. I don’t know what happened to him, but I could tell he didn’t know what he was doing. I wedged my fingers between his palm and my neck, not wanting to startle him. Placing one hand on his chest, I massaged his chest gently.“Axel, p-please. I-I can’t b-breathe. It is S-Stormie.” As I spoke, I could see some inner conflict inside him.He still didn’t loosen his grip. Feeling lightheaded, I thought perhaps he was going to kill me. Since my attempt to get him to see him
Stormie-We didn’t get started right after we ate. Instead, Axel was worried about having another episode. He avoided all electronics and spent the rest of the day speaking to his parents and others he trusted about the situation. We also visited Landon, who was finally released from the hospital.He seemed not to remember much about what happened the night of the waterfall incident, so we suspected someone influencing him to take me there. Landon appeared sincere as he apologized, so I let it go. After what happened to Axel, it was possible he had been forced to do something by a witch.Axel explained in detail what was going on, and I noticed Landon seemed to be torn up about the matter. I wondered what was going through his mind, but I didn’t think it was right for me to ask. He was willing to devote his time to help me learn to fight when Axel couldn’t.We left him to process everything, and for a split second, I thought maybe he was hiding something. I quickly pushed the thought
Axel-After Stormie’s first training session, I was impressed. She told me she had no formal training. If it weren’t for that, I would have guessed she has. Her reflexes were sharp. If she continued at this pace, I believe she could become a top warrior in less than a year.I wished I could focus on her a little more, but my schedule was tight. Other than giving her an hour’s training in the evening, I barely saw her for nearly a week. I was trying to find out information about her parents after learning they didn’t originate from this Pack.It was weird because I couldn’t find out anything prior to them coming here. Every lead I had turned into a dead end. Luckily, there haven’t been any more incidents since I choked her in the hall. I felt terrible leaving Stormie to learn things on her own.After training every night, I had to shut myself in my office to find a new lead. I only saw her when I returned late at night and found her asleep in the library. I knew she was working hard, b
Axel- Sitting at a table in a holding cell meant for visitations, Stormie and I waited for a guard to bring Landon in. Considering Landon had been involved in harming Stormie, I wasn’t about to let him near her without enforced supervision. After waiting for five minutes, the door to the cell opened, and Landon was guided inside with his wrists and ankles handcuffed. Once Landon was sat down and chained to the chair, I waited and watched to see what would happen. I didn’t have much to say to Landon, as I never planned to forgive him entirely. Until he could prove himself worthy, I would always regard him as a danger to Stormie. I was only here to give my mate the support she needed. I noticed that even as Landon sat across from Stormie, he avoided her gaze. Stormie, on the other hand, stared at Landon for a long time. Neither of them said anything, and I wondered if we would sit here silently for the entire hour. “I am sorry.” Landon mumbled forty-five minutes later. Stormie kept
Stormie-“Is it because I am the Alpha King?” He chuckled.Feeling a knot in my stomach, I tentatively nodded, my hand instinctively reaching up to rub the back of my neck. “A little.”“When I met your mother, she pretended to be human. When she was pregnant, she left me a note telling me that she was pregnant but had to return home. I tried to find her, but it was like she vanished off the earth and then reappeared with you and your sister. She vanished into thin air before I could ask her where she had been. I realized that nothing about her was simple. After I lost the two of you, I stopped searching for your mother and focused on finding you.”Feeling like this was a lot to take in all at once, I wanted to change the topic. “I am sure I will have more questions, but we can slowly get to know each other over time. Why don’t we head to the cemetery now?”Axel stood and helped me to my feet just as my father stood. Still a little nervous, I grabbed Axel’s hand as we headed toward the
Stormie-When I went to the living room after my shower, Axel was pacing the floor. Before letting him know I was done, I watched him for a few seconds. He kept mumbling something as he paced, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. He kept rubbing his hands together, and his eyes were drawn to the ground.“Axel?” I approached him slowly.His movements stopped as his head snapped up. Like a deer caught in the headlights, he stared at me before rushing toward me. I couldn’t help but flinch when he suddenly grabbed me by the shoulders and steered me toward the couch. Forcing me to sit down, he resumed pacing.“What is wrong?” I asked, starting to feel anxious.Rapidly, he stopped pacing and sat beside me on the couch. His body was angled toward me, and I could see he was trying to process something. The longer it took him to speak, the more afraid I became.“While you were sleeping this past week, there is something I did that I didn’t report.” Axel said in a rush.“Whatever it is, you
Stormie-Moving from room to room, I was amazed at how spacious everything was. The apartment had a living room, office, kitchen, and dining room, all of which had an open concept. Aside from the bathroom connected to the primary bedroom, a smaller bathroom was next to the living room.There were also three bedrooms in total. One of the bedrooms had been converted into a nursery. The nursery hadn’t been fully set up, but it was filled with things for a baby.A box contained magazines and samples for decorating a nursery. I felt emotional as I sat on the floor and skimmed through one of the magazines. Inside, I found hundreds of notes in Axel’s handwriting.He noted the things he liked and put my name and a question mark on a few others. Many of the notes were about what to get depending on the gender of the baby. There were also notes about whether something would be safe for an infant.Tears filled my eyes as I flipped through a few more magazines. At the bottom of the box was a book
Stormie-When Landon released her, I rushed forward to get Misty away from him. In a split second, Landon turned Misty toward him and plunged the knife into her chest. My own chest exploded with pain as Landon pushed Misty away, and she fell to the ground.Placing my hands over my heart, I gasped for air. Falling to my knees, I was thankful when Axel caught me. My eyes focused on Misty as she lay on her back, with blood pouring out of her chest. Her eyes were staring blankly at the ceiling.I didn’t need to confirm that she was dead, as I could sense it. A dark cloud formed inside me, and I slowly succumbed to the darkness. Falling limp in Axel’s arms, everything around me disappeared.While I was asleep, I kept dreaming of the life I had, starting from an early age. Every good and bad moment replayed in my head. When I woke up, I abruptly sat up, gasping for air. My hands covered my chest as if I could relieve the pain in my heart.“You’re awake.” Axel moved onto the bed from a chair
Stormie-Something snapped inside of me at the last second. As if time slowed down, my face hardened as I glared at her. Feeling my strength return in a hot burst, I broke through the rope that tied me to the chair.My eyes burned with fury as I narrowed them on her. Seconds before Misty could shove the needle in me. I caught her wrist with my newly freed hand. Her eyes widened, and I could feel fear resonating from her. Keeping her wrist in my hand, I rose to her level.She took a staggering step back as he attention darted to my hand around her wrist. Misty attempted to twist her wrist as she tried pulling it away. Not willing to release her, I tightened my grip.“You have made me suffer, almost killed me, turned people against me, abused everyone around you, stolen from me, tried to take away the one person you will never be able to have, and so much more.” I edged forward, pushing her back at the same time. “Never again will I allow you to treat me like this. From this moment for
Stormie-“How can I trust you not to change your mind again?” Axel's jaw muscles tensed as he glared at Misty.“If you want to be technical, you were the one to break the rules.” Misty stepped away from me.“What rule did I break?”“I told you your body can’t touch the ground, but you did multiple times. The only reason I didn’t say anything was because I was enjoying the show.” Misty moved away from me, but she was out of my line of sight.Craning my neck, I looked over my shoulder to see what she was doing. I was nearly at full strength but still needed a little more time. When I saw her approaching the crate holding the wolfsbane, my eyes widened as I turned my head toward Axel.From what I could see, he was watching her every move. Turning my head again, I couldn’t see what Misty was doing, as her back obstructed my view. It wasn’t difficult to guess that she was preparing a syringe to inject me again.My gaze moved past her, where Landon was standing. His eyes were also focused o
Axel-Hearing a noise from behind me, I didn’t need to look behind me as I heard a whooshing sound, like a bat swinging through the air. Ducking my head, I grabbed the bat after it passed over my head. The rogue held tight.While he pulled on it, I reached behind me and grabbed the rogue's ankle. Another attack came as I pulled the rogue's leg out from under him. At the last second, I had full control over the bat. Using it as a shield, I blocked the next attack and then retaliated.Swinging the bat as hard as I could, I smashed it against the second rogue’s leg. When I heard the sound of a bone breaking, satisfaction swirled within me. A third rogue came at me with a whip in his hands.Unlike the others, he didn’t directly approach me. He stopped a reasonable distance away before swinging his arm out to throw the whip toward me. Using the bat, I held it out so the whip twisted around the bat. Grabbing the end of the whip with my hand, I pulled it toward me.The guy holding it wasn’t
Axel-“What do you want us to do?” Breck’s and Dominic’s voices overlapped as they spoke inside my head.“It is too risky to try anything right now. Until I can find an opening, I have no choice but to play by their rules.” I responded through the Pack link.I hated that Stormie was injured twice because of my failure to abide by Misty’s wishes. I could tell that Stormie was more upset about what I was being forced to do than the pain that had been inflicted upon her. Regardless of how much it hurt mine and my wolf’s pride, nothing was as crucial as Stormie’s life.“I have never asked you for anything, but I am begging you to please stop.” Tears streamed down Stormie’s face as she looked at Misty.“I am okay.” I gritted my teeth and smiled at Stormie, but she didn’t look in my direction.“I am just getting started.” Misty swatted Landon away from Stormie.Landon seemed reluctant at first but ended up backing away. Seeing that Landon was showing a little decency to Stormie, I might all