Lina got out of her room, rubbing her eyes, still closed from sleep. She got out because she heard a lot of noises from downstairs and the mouth-watering smell of the bacon reached her room.
“Eon?” She called him in a hoarse voice, heavy with sleep as she walked down the stairs.
The men who were horsing around the kitchen saw her first. Their jaws dropped. Lina was a sight to behold, wearing a long white flowing dress that reached her ankles, she glided down the stairs with her hair, dancing behind her.
“When are you going to finish that?” Eon popped out from the kitchen, holding a spatula and wearing an apron. He was making some pancakes to go with the bacon he was cooking. When Travis and Trent didn’t answer his question, he followed the sight that made the rowdy cousins shut up.
“Good morning,” Lina called from the middle of the stairs.
His breath hitched when he saw Lina. And his eyes shifted to Travis
“Okay.”“Okay?” She jerked up from her seat and gazed at Eon with excitement.He blew a soft sigh for he couldn’t help but worry. Will Lina stay with him still if she already knew her real identity? His worries suddenly flew when Lina dropped a kiss at the corner of his lips. He was stunned and moved a bit to the right, making her lips land right on his lips.“Uhm…sorry, I’ll come back later.” Travis awkwardly fumbled with his words when he went inside the kitchen and found Eon and Lina kissing.Lina slowly pulled back from Eon’s kiss when she heard a soft whistle. When she glanced over Eon’s shoulder and saw the two men who ran away to the back when she came down. The one who spoke elbowed the younger man who whistled when he saw them.“Lina,” Eon cleared his throat, pulling her attention back to him. “This is Travis and Trent. They are working with me. And curren
“The process is different to everyone.” He gave her a smile, being careful with his words as he doesn’t want to lie to her.“It doesn’t seem painful every time you shift.” Her voice was devoid of any fear and he breathed easy. He knew that Lina had already had a lot on her plate and he didn’t want to add to her worries.With Travis and Trent gone, the house became quiet once again but with bubbling excitement and dread in the air with the new agreement of calling Briare. Lina was the excited one while Eon was full of dread.“Let’s not worry about it right now. Instead, I want you to be ready, contacting Briare.” He had to remind her of the most pressing matter and to make sure that she won’t get disappointed and hurt with her choices.Briare may be able to answer her questions but his presence won’t be an assurance that she would be able to shift, which was what she wanted the most. T
“What time will they arrive?” She was biting her thumb, hugging herself, pacing the front of their cabin. Eon received a call that Briare arrived at the fork road and on the way to the mine. “What’s taking them so long?”Eon, who was lazily leaning against a tree, biting some grass between his teeth, watched Lina with amusement. She was like a kid who couldn’t wait to open a gift.“Hey, can you call Travis and Trent?”“What for? If they say they are on the way, they are on the way.” He slid and sat down on the ground. He didn’t have to call Trent and Travis to know where they were. The wolves of his father’s pack had already told him. They were howling a while ago but Lina still couldn’t recognize those sounds. She just considers them as wild animals in the forest.The idea of calling Briare to answer her questions becoming a really good choice right now for Lina shows no indica
“Who is us?” Lina asked Briare. Her voice was full of sheer curiosity as she slowly sank on the couch next to Eon.“Us. Our family. Our pack.” Briare answered with no qualms. “Where you belong.”“That’s funny.” She scoffed. “I grew up looking for a family to belong to and now, many years later, you’re telling me I belong to some family? A pack? Are you trying to make me laugh?” The bitterness in her voice cannot be hidden. She had no plan to be emotional with Briare.This talk should be indifferent as much as possible. She had a list of questions to ask and he would just read them and answer. She would listen to them and that’s that. She didn’t look forward to a confrontation of any sort. She wasn’t keen on having another drama just like the one that she had with her mother.“Lina, I know that you don’t like me—”“I never sa
The wind and the rain were whistling and it seemed that because of the bad weather, the rest of the forest was keeping in. The night was still early but no sounds could be heard except for the raging of the storm. Two shadowy figures were slightly hidden by the trees, in front of a small cave situated on the stonewalls along the eastern borders.“Why don't you want to challenge Alpha Aaron? He might be stronger but your own father would support you!” She was shouting in anger. Not caring that anyone could hear her for she was confident that the storm was keeping them safe from any listening ears, not to mention that the guards of the eastern borders were sleeping soundly in their sleeping quarters after drinking some water laced with a tranquilizer, strong enough to put down two adult wolves.“Are you insane? My father is his Beta! He can’t go against his Alpha…our Alpha!”“Oh, please. You are just a wimp! He won’
“Still no sign of her?” Elyon asked Fredo—the leader of the group that was watching the eastern borders. Larissa laced their water supply with some tranquilizer but he didn’t drink any of it for Elyon gave him a heads up. However, he allowed the other wolves for Larissa not to doubt anything. Elyon had been telling them that Larissa was being more unstable these days. She had been calling Elyon saying strange things, pushing him to start a rebellion against Alpha Aaron—her own father!“No. It was just the two of us and we can’t cover a large area in this storm.” He wiped his face clumsily as he stood under a tree to protect himself from the blasting of the rain. “I told the others to be more watchful.”“That’s good. Even though the security had tightened since Eon stayed at the mining ground, we should not be too careful.” He strained his ears to the sounds around them but he couldn’t c
Before the break of dawn, Eon, Briare, and Lina were all awake. They were in the kitchen drinking coffee. None of them were talking.Lina scooted next to Eon as if she was cold and needed some warmth despite wearing two layers of clothing. “It’s going to be fine.” He said on top of her head, his arms circled around her waist, pulling her into his lap. “We are just going to talk to my father today. The ritual won’t be until the day after tomorrow.”It was Briare who wanted to do the ritual on that day but he wanted to talk to Alpha Aaron today, hence, they were all huddled in the kitchen so early in the morning to travel on foot. No car or any other kind of vehicle can enter the Deep Forest. It was Lina’s first time going there as well. She pulled the zipper of her hoodie, covering her neck, for Eon told her that the forest can be cold especially for her.“Your father is waiting for us?” Briare speaks after be
Eon brought them to a tree house. Or what seemed to be a tree house because the tree house was just an entrance because they had to enter another door and crossed a garden and entered a metal gate covered with some vines that if you don’t know where the gate was, you’ll never find it. Also, it seemed that for the gate to be opened, you had to have the password to it. In Eon’s case, the gate asked for his thumbmark. A camera also swirred and focused on their faces before the metal gate swung open with a loud thud. Lina realized how thick and heavy the metal gate was with how loud the noise it produced when it opened. “Is your father hiding from the government or something?” She whispered, gripping Eon’s arm. Eon chuckled. “This world is different from what you think, Lina. The security of the Alpha is everything to a pack.” He slid her hand off his arm and held her instead. Lina didn’t reply because she remembered the security that they had to pass thr