Zydan-All morning, I have been trying to find clues about where Arielle was six years ago. My only clue was that she had been sent to live abroad a few years prior. There was nothing about when she returned to the country or anything else after that.Obviously, she had returned, but it would help if I knew when. Since I couldn’t find anything, I could only believe that Arielle was telling the truth. The more I tried looking into it, the more intense my migraine became. Why was it so difficult to investigate Arielle’s past?“We have a problem!” Jaxon burst into my office without knocking.“Can’t you knock before you enter?” I sighed as I glanced up at him.“That isn’t important right now. You need to get downstairs. There is an issue between Arielle and Lia, and Arielle fell down the stairs. Lia is…”I was out of my seat and out of my office before Jaxon could finish. As I ran as fast as possible to see what was happening, my thoughts weren’t on Arielle. I was more worried about if Li
Zydan-For the remainder of the day, Arielle didn’t return to work. After finishing my work, I went to seek her out at my house. I found her lying on my bed in my bedroom, reading a book. Although I let it slide last time because I wanted to leave, I wasn’t going to put up with it this time.“Get out.” I demanded.“What is wrong?” Arielle asked, placing the book she was reading next to her on the bed.“This is my room. I want you out.” I entered the room and started packing her items in a duffle bag.After I took her to get her car on Sunday, I followed her to her apartment so she could pack a few things. When we arrived at the house again, I hadn’t gone inside, so I didn’t realize she had moved into my room. As I tossed her stuff carelessly in the bag, Arielle jumped out of bed as if she wasn’t injured at all. I should have known she had only pretended to be hurt at the office.“Why can’t I stay in here?” Arielle tried to stop me from packing her things, but I evaded her every move.
Accalia-I felt rejuvenated after spending the rest of the week with my father. It helped that my father hadn’t tried arguing with me about Zydan. Instead, we enjoyed each other's company, went shopping, ate out at various restaurants, and talked about everything except things related to my future.If it weren’t for the fact my father was supposed to be busy the following week, I might have stayed longer. I also knew that I couldn’t keep running from reality. This was the path I had chosen, so I needed to face it.After getting off the plane Friday afternoon, I went directly to the Renegade Base instead of the apartment. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to see Zydan. When I arrived, Silica practically attacked me with a hug before I could put my kickstand down or turn off my motorcycle.“You have no idea how much I missed you!” Silica had a tight grip around me, nearly squeezing the air out of my lungs.“I was only gone for a few days.” I coughed as I turned off my bike and put my kick
Accalia-As Silica’s friend had promised, she finished the dress in time for the event. It turned out better than the sketch she had drawn. She also added an element I hadn’t requested, but I was happy with the final product.The dress's base was a light purple, but it had a second tulle layer of fabric that was a darker shade of purple. No matter what identity I use, my favorite color is still purple. The only changes were the actual style. As Akira, it was more of a gothic style. As Accalia, it was generally a lighter and more elegant style. As Lia, however, I could mix it up.This elegant dress had a gothic flare. Black sequins were scattered over the tulle fabric, while black diamonds covered the corset-style bodice. The only thing I hadn’t asked for was a necklace to accompany the dress, but Silica’s friend gave me a black and purple diamond necklace.She also helped me with my hair and makeup. My makeup was light, and my hair was a messy updo style, giving off the illusion that
Zydan-Shortly after Shaw escorted Lia out of the room, I grabbed Arielle’s wrist and dragged her toward a door near the back. She complained the entire time that I was hurting her, but I ignored her. Taking her into a changing room, I flung her inside, not caring that I caused her to fall to the ground.“Zydan!” Arielle cried as she sat on the ground and rubbed her wrist, which was slightly red. “You hurt me!”“I will do more than that if you don’t stop causing problems!” I yelled as I slammed the door shut.“But…” Arielle started, but I cut her off.“I don’t want to hear a single argument from you.” I towered over her, with my hands balled into fists at my sides. “You have no idea how close I am to disregarding the fact that you saved me! If you continue to cause conflicts between me and Lia, I will make your life a living hell!”Fear came off her in waves as tears streamed down her face. I didn’t feel a single ounce of remorse as I loomed over her. I thought she had learned her les
Accalia-“What happened next?” Silica asked.This was the first time I had a chance to spend time with her in a week. After the incident at the last event, I have been busy. I also needed time to adjust to everything that had changed. Now, we were getting ready to attend the full moon event.“At some point, I fell asleep on the ride home. When I woke up the next morning, Zydan was in my bed.”“Oh?” Silica’s brows lifted.“Nothing happened.” I rolled my eyes as I had an idea of where her mind wandered.“If you say so.” Silica’s expression relaxed, but I doubt she believed me.“Seriously.” I sighed. “Anyways, I had every intention to kick him out, but he pinned me down and refused to let me up until I talked to him. I wanted to stay mad at him but didn’t have it in me.”“Honestly, I still don’t think he is good enough for you, but I also have seen he has changed a lot this past week.”“I still don’t know if it is real. Every time things go well, I expect the other foot to drop. I also e
Accalia-When we arrived at the hotel, I was surprised that the party was already in full swing. I thought we would have arrived an hour early, so there weren’t as many people. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one because the room was full of pure-blood werewolves.The fact that there weren’t any half-breeds made me feel at ease. At least this way, there shouldn’t be any mishaps at the event. That did make me worried that there might be issues elsewhere.“Are you on your way?” I texted Silica when she still hadn’t arrived after ten minutes.“I will be after a bit; right now, Jon is tracking what looks like a high level of wolf activity.” Silica responded a minute later.“Okay. Let me know if I am needed. This party is a little boring.” I looked up from my phone and saw Zydan standing across the room with a crowd of people.My phone vibrated, alerting me to another text from Silica. “Don’t worry, I will be there soon. Isn’t Zydan keeping you company?”“As soon as we walked into the room,
Accalia-Seeing Arielle’s wolf form become complete, I was too stunned to move. It didn’t look like she noticed me because she quickly turned and burst inside the event room. I saw the tip of her tail was black, as if it had been dipped in paint. She would be easy to spot with that feature.Shaking off my shock, I ran toward the nearest door in the hall, which led me to where the fighting was happening. The door was locked, so I stepped back. Without a word, Silica moved forward and kicked the door open. The door came off its hinges easily, falling with a thud onto the ground.Entering the room where everyone was involved in an all-out war, I noticed more wolves had arrived, and many pure-bloods had transformed. Needing to draw everyone’s attention, I grabbed my necklace that hid my scent and yanked it off my neck. As the chain broke, I pulled the necklace out from under my dress, as it was long enough to be hidden.“You take this.” I handed Silica my necklace.She took it and shoved
Accalia-“I already told you that whenever you are ready, I was willing. All you need to do is say the word. I know you wanted to wait to become Alpha Queen, so there is no rush. I will wait until you are ready.”My smile widened. “I am ready now.”Zydan’s face paled, and I wondered if he had second thoughts about marrying me. “Wait. Are you serious?”“I have never been more serious.” I nodded. “I realized that while I was going through all my memories again, I have always focused on what mattered to me and what I wanted. I thought I was making the right decision by waiting until my project was complete and becoming Alpha Queen before marrying you again. I now understand that when I get married was never important. Even if I am married, I can still abolish the marriage law for the future generations.”“Then when do you want to get married?” Zydan smiled, and excitement sparkled in his eyes.“Now.” I stated bluntly.“What about the wedding?” My father asked when Zydan threw my covers o
Accalia-Ow, my head, I thought as I started to wake up. Opening my eyes, I took in my surroundings but didn’t recognize where I was. I was lying on a large bed with a dark purple comforter and black sheets. I also wasn’t alone in the room.The person sitting on the edge of the bed was looking at his phone and not me, so I tried not to move. I didn’t recognize the man, so I didn’t want to make sudden movements until I knew the situation. I was oddly familiar with the man and the room but couldn’t remember anything.“Good, you are awake.” A voice I didn’t recognize spoke as someone I didn’t recognize walked to the side of the bed where the man was sitting.“How are you feeling?” The man, who had been preoccupied with his phone, quickly turned on the bed to look at me.Without a word, I slowly sat up and flinched when the man tried to help me. He took his hand back, but the look in his eyes was filled with pain. Sitting on the bed, I rested my back on the headboard and continued looking
Zydan-Rolling to my side, I avoid Shaw’s attack, but it takes a moment for me to get onto my feet. My ears rang from the hit he delivered when I put myself between him and Lia. Once I was on my feet, I prepared myself for another attack.A sudden burst of energy erupted around me, and it took me a moment to understand that it was Lia’s wolf. Since I was between her and Shaw, I witnessed the moment Shaw was hit with a small lightning bolt. It zapped him but didn’t seem to do any harm.When Shaw’s attention moved past me, I realized she had only used enough of a shock to get his attention. Turning my attention to Lia, I witnessed her transformation into a black wolf with the most captivating violet eyes I have ever seen. It wasn’t until now that I realized this was the first time I had seen her wolf.More than that, Lia’s wolf, Akira, had purple streaks of lightning swarming her as if caressing the fur on her body. The power that rolled off her was nearly ten times more intense than in
Accalia-Staring at the computer in a trance, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It has been two weeks since I sent Arielle and the other test subjects out. I thought it would take more time to determine the results from the final phase, but the indicators on the screen didn’t lie.The full moon was three days ago, and every test subject had maintained excellent results. I could have ended the final testing a week ago, but I put it off until after the full moon. I wanted to be sure there weren’t any issues. For the first time since I began the project, I felt as if a lot of pressure lifted from my shoulders.“Is something wrong?” Emily’s voice pulled me from my trance.“We did it.” I mumbled without taking my eyes off the computer screen.“Seriously?” Emily asked and then shoved me to the side so she could look at the computer. “I don’t understand this stuff, but the indicators are the best I have seen.”“We did it.” I repeated as if I needed more confirmation.Suddenly, I jumped out of my ch
Zydan-Upon returning to the lab, I watched helplessly as Lia became busy again. It wasn’t like before. This time, it was as if she needed to keep herself busy in order to survive. Every time I tried to approach her, she would move on to her next task.When the volunteers Darnell sent to us arrived, it took away more of her freedom. I tried to help her, but there wasn’t much for me to do. Everyone was working hard to speed up the research results. Over the course of three weeks, we went from only having Arielle as a volunteer to having twenty more.We tried to see if the results from Arielle’s implant would be the same without the full moon. After the second volunteer was implanted and was able to shift and have the same results as Arielle, they continued implanting more volunteers. I couldn’t begin to understand what was going on with Lia or why she was pushing herself too hard, but I knew I couldn’t do much to help.I had a feeling it had much to do with the pressure she was under a
Accalia-“Forgive me! I didn’t know.” The man who had greeted us when we arrived said.Shaking my head, I smiled and turned to face him. “It has been a while since I have been here, and although my identity is no longer a secret, not everyone knows who I am.”“I still should have sensed you.” The man kept his attention on his feet, with his head bowed.“I was severely injured recently, so my wolf is resting.” I stepped forward and placed my hand on his shoulder. “Seriously, it is no big deal.” I dropped my hand when he lifted his head.“Well, now that you are here, I will report the most recent developments. I assume you were at the Kenyon residence?” He asked, and I nodded in response.“The members who went after the attackers just reported back.” The man continued as I turned to open the office door so that we could discuss things in private.He stopped talking long enough to sit on a chair across from my desk. Instead of sitting, I leaned against the desk, resting my hip on the edg
Zydan-When the fire finally started disappearing, I was overjoyed. No longer feeling the need to keep spraying the house, I rushed forward to help Lia. The fire wasn’t completely out, but the majority of it was, other than a few small areas. The biggest issue now is the smoke.As I ran toward the house, I saw a group of people gathered, anxiously looking at the house. It looked like they were all inside the fire, meaning Lia had helped them escape. Looking around, I hoped to see Lia, but she wasn’t in the crowd.“Where is Lia?” I asked the couple huddled together, leaning on each other for support.“She went inside to save my son!” The man said, who I recognized as Darrion Kenyon’s father.“She is still inside?” My eyes quickly moved to the house, and fear plunged into me, nearly suffocating me.Even if the fire wasn’t as bad, it was still dangerous. With how many she had already saved, I assumed her wolf was reaching its limits. I tried to sense her, but the signal was weak. Without
Accalia-“What is going on?” I asked as I glanced at Zydan.“I don’t have time to explain, but we need your help. We are under attack!” Darrion yelled, and not even a second later, I heard a crash, followed by the call being disconnected.I rushed into the lab and quickly informed Emily that I needed to leave. “What is wrong?” She asked.“I don’t know, but I believe the Kenyon family is under attack. Darrion called me, and it sounds urgent. Due to their distance, I have no choice but to go myself. Can you handle things until I return?”“Don’t worry about things here. I will take care of them. We have more than enough staff.”“Thank you!” I turned away from her to talk to the tech team and saw Jason.Although he wasn’t always in the lab, he was the one person I knew who could handle things on a technical level until I returned. I barely took two steps before he yelled out to me.“Don’t worry, I got it from here. You take care of whatever you need to.”Nodding my head, I turned to leave
Accalia-“Arielle told me what happened with everyone after I fell asleep.” I twisted in my seat to look at Zydan.“I admit that I have let my thoughts run wild. There are times I feel as if I am not worthy of you. I feel I haven’t contributed enough when I see how hard you work. If I had done more, you wouldn’t be working yourself so hard.” His focus remained on the road as he spoke.“You know, I couldn’t do half of the things I can do if it weren’t for you and everyone around me.” I smiled as I took his free hand in mine.“You are the future Queen, the leader of the Renegades, and in charge of a project that can change the world.”“My identity doesn’t define me. I might be the future Queen, but that has much to do with who my parents are. It isn’t like I came from nothing and worked my way up to that point. As far as being the leader of the Renegades, you have a huge part to play in that.”“What do you mean?” Zydan glanced in my direction briefly before focusing on the road.“When I