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
RheaI had been awake since before the sun rose. Sleep was never something that came easy to me. I often found myself staying up later than everyone else or waking up earlier just to have a few moments of peace. To have quiet time where I could pretend like my life was normal. Or I could pretend that I wasn’t always so sad and hurting all of the time.I sat on my window sill and watched as the world outside came to life. It was beautiful. The birds and animals outside looked free and happy. Even the flowers bloomed with bright colors and looked careless as they blew in the breeze.I envied them greatly. More than anything I longed to be free. To have any moment feeling so careless and happy.I finally got off the ledge when the alarm on my phone rang softly on my nightstand. I grabbed a rubber band from my dresser and threw my long hair up in a tight ponytail. I grabbed my sweater and backpack before heading out. I was going to be late if I didn’t get out to the kitchen soo
I climbed onto the bus and kept my head down. Everyone stared at me, putting their backpacks on empty seats as I passed. I found an empty seat in the back and took it quickly.I looked out the window and avoided the looks and whispers from the other students. Everyone knew who I was and everyone knew how I was treated. It had been worse when the Horace brothers were still in school. It almost gave the other students license to mock me and tease me just as ruthlessly.Now they mostly just talked about me behind my back, which was easier to ignore. Everyone except Anastasia, who seemed to think it was her mission to make sure I continued to suffer just as much as I would have if the boys were still in school. Part of me wondered if she blamed me for the twins breaking up with her. It was possible. Though she should have known better than to think that Dylan, at least, would have settled down with her. “Hello,” came a new voice I hadn’t heard before, “is this seat taken?” I
“What? It was just an accident. I promise I will knock on the door next time!” I said with panic, but the twins had their iconic evil smiles on their faces when they heard my begging. I could see the excitement in their pretty eyes.“Too late to apologize, Rhea. We will help you to learn the lesson.” Dylan grinned as he walked closer. Gerard stood next to him and looked around the kitchen like he was thinking of how they were going to punish me. My brain ran through all sorts of things they could do to me. The twins—especially—loved opportunities to torture me further. I was like their favorite toy to play with and destroy.Often they’d encourage Simona to starve me or lock me out of the house. One time I spent a weekend sleeping in the old shed during a storm because of their ‘punishments’. They would set traps and tricks to catch me in a mess or get me in trouble just to harass me further.I mentally tried to prepare myself as best as I could for whatever they could come
I felt better and more confident heading to school. I knew Emma would be there and she would help make things more bearable. I got onto the bus and took my usual empty seat in the back. It was easier to ignore the stares and whispers from other students now—their gossip didn’t matter.I waited anxiously as the bus rounded the corner to the next stop. Several people got on first but then there was Emma, smiling and waving at me. I hadn’t realized until I saw her that part of me still felt like it had been a dream that I had found a friend. “Good morning,” she said, sitting next to me. “Good morning, how are you today?” I asked. “I’m doing good, though I’m a bit tired. I stayed up too late doing homework,” Emma explained. “What about you?”I thought about the strange encounter with Dylan and Gar yesterday. I thought about how I felt afterward and my time alone in my room. All the uncomfortable and confused feelings rushed back. I forced them quickly from my mind. “I
“No, I am fine.” I held my tears so they wouldn’t come out. I learned to not cry in front of the boys. It would only make things worse and they wouldn’t feel sympathy—they only thought it was fun to watch me cry. “Did you just come out from my brother’s room? What are you doing?” Lionel said as he pulled me closer and narrowed his eyes. “You cried because he did something to you? Tell me and I will ask them to stop.”Before I could even think Lionel pulled me close to him again and ran his hands down my back until he was gripping my ass. I wanted to pull away instantly but he held me tight. I was very aware of his body pressed against mine. Sometimes when I was alone with Lionel he was nicer than the others. He wouldn’t treat me so poorly and would even comfort me. Now was clearly not one of those times. He never seemed to fail in reminding me that no matter how nice he could be, he was still one of the Horace brothers. I would never be someone he could really respect. “
Alpha Angus was home when I woke up. I felt a little better. Things were always calmer when my adoptive father was home. My brothers were always on their best behavior when the Alpha was around to watch. But it didn’t stop Luna Simona from treating me like a servant and reminding me that I was not and would never be her child. I dragged myself out of bed and headed toward the shower. I tried to wash off all the negative feelings from the days before. I would start fresh and focus only on graduation so I could leave. The day went by quickly. I tried to be quiet and ignore everyone but Emma. She was concerned but I tried to brush her off. I couldn’t explain all that had happened with the brothers. When I got home and it was time for dinner, Alpha Angus insisted I eat with them. Part of me wanted to see him and spend time with him. But I didn’t really want to endure more torture or conversation with the brothers or Luna Simona. I could only imagine the little whispers she woul
GerardNone of us were particularly excited about the mating ball but none of us objected to our father. Our mother seemed weird and flighty about the whole thing. When she talked to us directly—especially Ezekiel—she seemed excited and anxious that we should all find mates. But she acted strangely whenever Rhea was around. I could tell that she was not excited about the idea of Rea finding a mate.Rhea.Thinking about her sent a strange mix of emotions through me. When she first moved here, none of us liked her. She was a small worthless little thing that our father had taken in. She was almost a nuisance to the family.It was very clear that my mother had a high distain for her. I wasn’t entirely sure why my mother hated her so much, but since my feelings were the same, neither me or my brothers argued with her.I was certain there was something we were missing. Something between our father and Rhea that we were missing. There had to be a reason he felt so connected to
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