EzekielRhea stood in front of us, that apology having just left her lips. She held herself like she was afraid she’d fall apart if she didn’t. Her arms were wrapped around her stomach, and she looked down, her hair falling in front of her face. It was almost like she was afraid to look at us, afraid of what we might think or say.I hated seeing it. I wanted to run up to her and hold her tight, hold her together, so she didn’t have to do it herself. I held back, though, realizing she probably needed a bit of space right now.Footsteps behind me indicate Dylan and Gerard have entered the despite, despite my telling them to stay in their room. I thought I had locked the door behind me, but I guess I hadn’t. Now, all four of us stand in Rhea’s doorway, watching her every movement. “You shouldn’t have to be sorry,” I said instead, stepping forward. “We’re the ones that should say sorry. It’s my fault. I didn’t believe you. I trusted Anastasia over you, and I shouldn’t have. Yo
RheaThe boys stood there, unsure of what I was asking them. I knew what I wanted, and I knew they would give it to me. I just had to make them understand.“Are . . . are you sure?” Ezekiel asked. “You’ve had a rough night, maybe we shouldn’t—”“I want to forget,” I repeated, “and you can help me do that.”“Okay, okay,” Lionel said, raising his hands in surrender. “Just lay down, and we’ll get you to sleep. We’ll make sure you don’t have any dreams, either.”“No, that’s not what I mean!” I exclaimed, frustrated. Why weren’t they getting it? Did I really have to spell it out for them?I pulled my shirt over my head and threw it to the side. The boys all stopped and stared as I shucked off my jeans. I stood there in my underwear, hoping they understood. Judging by the lumps now in all of their pants and the blush creeping up their necks, they did.“I want you to help me forget,” I said a third time, looking directly at Ezekiel. “This is my wish. Can you do that?”
RheaI woke up and felt better than I had in a long time. I stretched and felt a little bit achy from all the physical activity, but it was a good burn in my muscles. I turned to see that Lionel and Zek were still naked and asleep next to me.My cheeks burned and I felt the instinct to cover up. I knew it was silly and foolish. They were my mates. I had slept with them so many times before but it felt different this time. I felt… awkward. I felt like I wasn’t sure I could be myself around them since I had been so open and vulnerable the night before. The previous night helped a lot with my anger and worries about Lionel and Zek but I wasn’t completely over everything. I didn’t feel completely secure yet—about anything. I got up quietly, headed for the closet, and got dressed. I felt a little shaky as I started to think about the monster and all the things still weighing heavily on my mind. I took a few deep breaths and tried to relax. I tried to remind myself they were still
RheaThe boys had been spreading the word for days. They sent information around to different packs and asked about the monster and Adonis. Adonis seemed to be an elusive mystery. No one really seemed to know anything about him. Several people had heard the name but no one knew anything else about him.It was like whispers of his name were all there were.I started to get concerned and a little discouraged. Perhaps this man had disappeared like my mother or died. My mind wandered through so many different scenarios about what could have happened and why he’d be impossible to find.Of course, there was the obvious—all I had was one simple name. I didn’t know his pack, his last time, or the type of wolf. I had no idea where he was originally, only the location where my mother ended up and sent the letter from.I groaned in frustration thinking about how little information I had. The task of finding the right Adonis seemed impossible. But the monster… the monster theoretica
RheaOur trail went cold. We couldn’t find the monster or any traces of it. Frustration built with every passing day. I just wanted to know what it wanted from me, and more importantly, why it called me by my mother’s name. I just wanted answers, and I was tired of not having any.Emma and Nina showed up at the pack house one day. They were glad the boys and I had made up, but that was the least of my concerns right now. I didn’t tell them that, though. I let them be happy for me. I hadn’t been happy with the boys for a while now, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to celebrate the little victories.Still, I was constantly distracted thinking about the monster. Where was it? What did it want? Did it want to kill me? I didn’t think so, but the option could not be discounted. I tapped my fingers on my legs, trying to keep myself in the moment. I tried to listen to what my friends had to say, but my thoughts drowned them out.“So, what’s going on?” Nina asked after a while. “You se
RheaThe monster huffed, its hot, smelly breath hitting me in the face. I tried not to wince. My eyes closed for a brief moment as it breathed on me. It looked at me, studying me like it had before.The mist swirled around its feet and leeched over to surround mine. It looked worse than it had the last time we met. More patches of fur were missing. I heard my mates behind me react to the ever-worsening smell of dead flesh and blood. Someone gagged, and everyone else made disgusted noises in the backs of their throats. The monster’s bright red eyes locked onto my blue ones. “Veronica . . .” it growled. It didn’t sound intimidating or frightening, though. It growled in a longing way like Veronica was the most important thing in the world to it.“I’m not Veronica,” I said with authority in my voice. I kept my shoulders and back straight, my chin high. With my powers, I was able to project my voice more than usual. “How do you know my mother’s name? Who are you?”The monste
Rhea“What? What did you just say?” I asked, demanding roughly from the monster. It took a step back and seemed agitated and confused. “Please tell me again! Tell me more!” I kept asking and moving closer to the monster but he kept backing up and getting more unsettled. I started to get desperate. “No. N—” it started to say but then shook its head, confused. It said nothing else, or at least nothing else human enough to understand. I could tell that it was getting upset and starting to lose focus. The boys urged me back but I pulled away from them. I couldn’t let it go. Not yet. They listened and let me keep going with the wolf, but they stayed close. Lionel looked ready to grab me and pull me away at a second’s notice.“Who are you? What’s your name?” I asked. But the monster shook its head and growled. It looked like it was having some sort of mental battle between how it was when it spoke and when it seemed more mindless and violent. I backed up and tried to give i
RheaThe whole room was eerie now as Emma leaned forward and kept her eyes on the ground. She continued like she was telling us some dark fairytale and we all listened intently. “I wasn’t sure in the beginning, though I couldn’t imagine what else could create a monster like that. Still, it wasn’t until I saw his reaction for myself that I knew it must be a curse. This is a seriously powerful curse from a strong dark witch.” Emma shuddered at her own words before continuing, “Dark witches are terrifying. They are completely outlaws—enemies of both werewolves and other witches alike. Most witches are good and work alongside werewolf packs when needed. They live outside the boundaries but they are peaceful and always willing to help. But dark witches…that’s another story. They are unfriendly to all and their magic is evil. It comes at a high price.” “So if it’s a curse we can ask another witch to look at him and break it, right? I mean they might not practice dark magic if they
RheaI had no answers and no ideas but I felt determined. I couldn’t just let this go. If my mother was out there and still alive, I had to find her. I had to save her.I turned to the only friend I knew might be able to help. “Emma, what do you know of this kind of dark magic and dark witches? Have you heard of a man named Adonis?” I asked the next time Emma was over with me.Emma frowned and shook her head. “All witches, but especially dark ones tend to keep to themselves. They know their actions are evil, but they aren’t about to display that to the world. They would be tricky to find. I also hadn’t heard of this Adonis person until you mentioned him. I’m sure that’s intentional. These types of witches are very good at hiding themselves and going unnoticed if they wish.”Emma picked at her fingernails and did her best to keep her eyes away from me—I could tell she didn’t want to talk about this. She wasn’t pleased I was going to put myself at greater risk to find my
RheaMy father nodded at me and continued speaking.“We moved many times all over the state, trying to get away from Adonis,” he said, “but Veronica still did not feel safe. No matter where we went, she always thought he was one step behind. I wanted to get your help, Angus, but Veronica thought she’d be putting you all in danger. She wanted us to stay hidden for as long as possible.”“You could have come to us regardless,” Alpha Angus said sincerely. “We have plenty of warriors who would have been willing to take this Adonis head on. I would have been happy to help.”My heart warmed at the thought of Alpha Angus helping my parents. He’d helped me for so long. He’d taken me in when I no one else would. In a way, I guess he did help my parents by helping me, I thought. I understood why my mother wanted to hide, though. She thought she was protecting everyone. I wondered what would have happened if they had come to Alpha Angus in the first place. Would everyone still be a
RheaMy father had everyone’s attention now. All eyes were on him and no one was objecting or arguing. He looked like some sort of prophet standing in front of a crowd, explaining the truth of things.Well, part of that was true.Adonis had been more powerful and clever than I had given him credit for. I hadn’t put together the idea he might have been the dark witch we were looking for but now it made sense.Now I understood why my father had found me now. Adonis had probably been close to finding me as well. “I had been tracking this man for a long time. He is the one who cursed me and killed my wife. I smelt him and tracked him here. I had been chasing him for a long time and I hoped to catch him before he reached any kind of civilization. I knew the deviation he could cause. I stopped him just outside your borders. I started to fight him and tried to stop him from doing more damage. Your mem…I’m sorry, they got in the way. They saw us and probably assumed I was the d
RheaI petted out my father’s fur. Patches were missing and dried blood was throughout his fur. I looked like a miniature person compared to him and barely straightened the fur on his paw. He was shaking and I could see where he was hurt and bleeding.He whimpered quietly and I worried he might not survive. My heart was pounding and I felt a strange sense of calm come over me. This was it. This was what I had been practicing and training for. I hoped I was ready. “It’s okay, I’m here. I’m here. I’m not going to leave you,” I kept whispering.There was a huge crowd surrounding me now. I did my best to soothe him and when I was certain he was stable enough I thought, now was the time to help him and cure him. I prayed to the moon goddess that he was strong enough to survive the healing.“I’m going to fix it, okay? Don’t worry, I’m going to fix this.” I looked around desperately for Emma. When I found her in the crowd I beckoned her to me. She came at once, pushing through
RheaI looked around, looking for any sign of my father. The clearing was empty. The safe house was empty.How could he just be gone? He was here not that long ago.Where was he? I looked back at my friends and my mates, who looked just as confused as I was.I took another look around, searching every nook and cranny. He was just gone.I left the safe house and saw my mates and friends standing there expectantly. I was about to say I hadn’t found him when a few people came running out of the woods. They were disheveled and limping. One of them nursed an injured arm. Some of their clothes were torn, and one of them had blood running down the side of his head.“Help!” they cried. “Someone help, please! There’s been an attack! We’ve been attacked by a monster!”My stomach dropped to my shoes. An attack by a monster? Near here? What if it was my father? What if he escaped from that pack he’d allegedly just attacked? What if he didn’t? Where was he now?While I stood
RheaWhen I woke up, people were surrounding me, yelling. Someone held me. It took a second for the world to come into focus. I was still in my bedroom, but I appeared to be on the floor. I pushed whoever was holding me away.“Guys, she’s awake,” Dylan said, his voice coming from above me. I looked up, and he was the one who had been holding me. “Sorry, Dylan,” I mumbled groggily. I forced myself into a sitting position. Pain shot through my head. I pressed the heel of my hand against my eye, trying to use the pressure to relieve some of the pain. “What happened?”“You passed out from overworking yourself,” Gerard said. “We’re worried about you, Rhea.”“Yeah,” Ezekiel said. “You’re doing far too much in far too little time.”“You’re scaring us,” Lionel admitted, his voice small.Hot shame crept up the sides of my face. I didn’t mean to scare them. I just wanted to help my father be free of his curse. I looked down at my hands, hoping to hide the tears springing in
RheaThe whole room was eerie now as Emma leaned forward and kept her eyes on the ground. She continued like she was telling us some dark fairytale and we all listened intently. “I wasn’t sure in the beginning, though I couldn’t imagine what else could create a monster like that. Still, it wasn’t until I saw his reaction for myself that I knew it must be a curse. This is a seriously powerful curse from a strong dark witch.” Emma shuddered at her own words before continuing, “Dark witches are terrifying. They are completely outlaws—enemies of both werewolves and other witches alike. Most witches are good and work alongside werewolf packs when needed. They live outside the boundaries but they are peaceful and always willing to help. But dark witches…that’s another story. They are unfriendly to all and their magic is evil. It comes at a high price.” “So if it’s a curse we can ask another witch to look at him and break it, right? I mean they might not practice dark magic if they
Rhea“What? What did you just say?” I asked, demanding roughly from the monster. It took a step back and seemed agitated and confused. “Please tell me again! Tell me more!” I kept asking and moving closer to the monster but he kept backing up and getting more unsettled. I started to get desperate. “No. N—” it started to say but then shook its head, confused. It said nothing else, or at least nothing else human enough to understand. I could tell that it was getting upset and starting to lose focus. The boys urged me back but I pulled away from them. I couldn’t let it go. Not yet. They listened and let me keep going with the wolf, but they stayed close. Lionel looked ready to grab me and pull me away at a second’s notice.“Who are you? What’s your name?” I asked. But the monster shook its head and growled. It looked like it was having some sort of mental battle between how it was when it spoke and when it seemed more mindless and violent. I backed up and tried to give i
RheaThe monster huffed, its hot, smelly breath hitting me in the face. I tried not to wince. My eyes closed for a brief moment as it breathed on me. It looked at me, studying me like it had before.The mist swirled around its feet and leeched over to surround mine. It looked worse than it had the last time we met. More patches of fur were missing. I heard my mates behind me react to the ever-worsening smell of dead flesh and blood. Someone gagged, and everyone else made disgusted noises in the backs of their throats. The monster’s bright red eyes locked onto my blue ones. “Veronica . . .” it growled. It didn’t sound intimidating or frightening, though. It growled in a longing way like Veronica was the most important thing in the world to it.“I’m not Veronica,” I said with authority in my voice. I kept my shoulders and back straight, my chin high. With my powers, I was able to project my voice more than usual. “How do you know my mother’s name? Who are you?”The monste