Jayla We both turn around at the same time to see Megan standing in front of the tent with her hands clasped together in a shy manner, and a tiny frown on her face.The wind makes her clothes stick to her skin, making her bony and fragile body even more evident. It brings pain to my heart every time l look at her."He is your guardian," she says, repeating her sentence and grabbing my attention.We both stand up and walk up to her."What do you mean?" Shane asks, voicing my thoughts.Megan sighs and motions toward the tent. "Can we please go inside and talk? I am feeling cold out here."It in't even cold at this time of the year, but we didn't object because she probably isn't used to standing outside in the nature and bearing the wind anymore."Sure," Shane agrees and I nod my head.We go inside and sit on the bed that I had prepared for myself. I notice that she has covered Kendra's body with a blanket and the sight makes me breathless for a moment, so I have to turn away quickly t
Jayla"What are guardians?" I ask Megan curiously, now confused as ever.As I ask my question, she looks surprised as if she expected us to know about it already."You don't know what guardians are?" she asks, confirming my thoughts and again, we both shake our heads.She sighs softly before she starts to speak. "I will tell you," she says.I cut in. "Okay," I say, nodding my head, curious to know more about what she said.The she resumes speaking again. "Guardians occur in pairs. It can be two females, two males, or one each of the two genders who are selected by the Moon Goddess. Guardians are always mutual. And that means if you are his guardian, then he is your guardian too. Guardians were made by the Moon Goddess for all those who don't have a tough life or a potentially tough life. You have a special connection with them. Just like you do with your mates, but in this case, it is a bit different. First of all, it is far less intense than the mate bond which means that you won't r
JaylaThings are going to be tough for you, Jay. As soon as we get back to the pack tomorrow, you will have to face all the pack members and you know how they are. They are going to talk about you, gossip about everything, and they won't care if you hear it," Shane says with a severe expression on his face as we sit on the green grass of the forest outside the tent."I really don't care about them anymore. Or anyone for that matter. I don't care about what they say," I tell him. "You know after all that I have been through, if there is one thing that I have learnt, then it is that when hard times come, you are all that you have -only yourself. Everyone ceases to help you, your parents, your friends, your partner. Everyone. Regardless of whether they wanted to help or not. You are only one who can drag yourself up from the dark abyss that you are into bright light. Someone can lend a hand but we have to reach out ourselves first."I don't really care about what others think because I
JaylaSo when Shane stands up and walks away, I want to walk away too. And it is certainly because I am not ready to confront this person I had once loved with all my heart.My eyes fall on Tyler once more and I give him the best glare that I can muster, hoping he will just leave but he doesn't. Instead he comes and sits beside me with a determined look on his face.Oh how I wish he had this determination before when I had literally begged for his love. But now this determination is just like an unnecessary stubbornness for me.I don't speak. I don't want to be the one to start the conversation. Then he opens his mouth to speak when he gets the hint that I am not speaking first."So," he begins. And I have noticed that it is a sort of habit that he has. Whenever he is nervous, he starts a conversation with 'so.'I still don't say anything and I look ahead. It is almost dark by now so I can still see his face but l don't really want to see it."I just don't know what to say," he says a
Jayla"Strength comes at a cost I never knew I was capable of paying," I finally say after a long pause.He looks up at me, while I look at the woods and continue. "You know when I was there for weeks," I say, referring to the place where I had been held hostage. "I was locked in a smelly room. That room smelt to the extent that it was hard to sleep at night. I have fought darkness alone in those nights. Sometimes I would hear screams of other prisoners being tortured and abused. Those voices scared me. I hugged myself because I was seeking comfort in those times. There were days when he beat me up to the extent that my wolf couldn't heal fast. I have held my wounds overnight so that I wouldn't lose too much blood and I have seen my blood stain the floor many times. One time, he chained me with silver and it numbed my senses to the extent that I couldn't feel anything. "I have reminded myself of who I am when I was alone. I had no one to help me, Tyler. Kendra was the only one who u
Jayla I stand in front of the mirror, and I run my fingers over the black dress I am putting on. I try not to let my fingers shake as I do so and clutch the tiny piece of paper tightly in my left hand.I slip my feet in black heels to match the dress and sit on my bed afterwards, just staring at space. I need a moment to collect myself.It takes me all of my courage not to run back into my bathroom and curl up like a ball and cry. It feels like I am lifting heavy stones up as I move my legs to walk out of my room.I close the door behind me and quietly walk down the stairs, holding the railing tightly becauseotherwise l would have fallen due to my shaky legs."My poor baby," my mother coos, her eyes filled with remorse and tears and she rushes forward to hug me.My father stands behind her with a sad smile on his face, silently offering his comfort just like always. They too are clad in all black, ready for the tough day."Come on," my mother says, sniffing as she grabs my hand and
Jayla"Kendra Simmons - A selfless soul "The biggest gift you can give to yourself is through giving the gift of happiness to someone else.Beloved daughter, sister, friend and mate."The gravestone doesn't express half of what she was, how great of a human being she was and the great deeds she did to help others. They might not be so great to others but to me, she was an angel who came into my life and tried to make everything alright.I watch silently as the proceedings go on. Shane, Tyler, Jessica and her brother, Liam are also in attendance at the funeral along with Megan and Kendra's parents, of course.I was surprised to see them at first, but then I found out that Megan called them from their pack so that they would be able to attend the funeral. Megan's parents are here too, comforting their daughter as she sobs relentlessly. My heart squeezes in guilt every time she cries and I have to look away in shame.It is difficult for me not to break down myself, but I contain my emo
Jayla"Why is it that I am excited and nervous at the same time?" Megan asks me as she sits on my bed with me, packing up the last of her things into a travel bag."You will be okay," I say, chuckling at her excitement."No, but you don't understand! I haven't been there in ages!" she says. "I am looking forward to going to school again and meeting new people, but I am afraid of the kind of looks I will get from the people who know me and have seen me before. Also, I don't know what they will think of me or if they will pity me. I don't want them to pity me, Jayla. I am really tired of receiving sympathetic looks from everyone everywhere and people treating me like I am made up of a brittle material like glass that can shatter into pieces at anytime."Her eyes cloud over in sadness and I completely understand what she means and how she feels. I really sympathize with her and her plight."You don't have to worry about anyone," I tell her."If you think about others, you will stop thinki
JaylaTHREE MONTHS LATERI smile brightly just as Jessica and Anna enter into the dressing room. Today is the coronation of the new Alpha, and by the new Alpha, I mean Jasper. And me, Anna and Jessica are all dressing up in preparation for the ceremony. After Jasper apologized to us that fateful day three months ago, we observed him and noticed that he had truly changed just as he said. So we forgave him, welcoming him back into our fold permanently, and he has soon proved himself. He has been nothing but supportive to all of us in our friend group and he was the one that got Jessica's mate, Hunter settled in when he finally moved here. Jess was given the title of Head of the pack warriors after her father so her mate decided to move here because of her importance in the pack. I was actually surprised that he did something like that but it only goes to show how devoted he is to Jess. After the new head warrior was crowned, the Beta and the Beta Female were also crowned which is Tyl
JaylaJasper closes the door of the car and steps out completely, walking towards where we are. He stops in front of us, looking from one person to the other while he still doesn't say a word.No one among us sitting on the blankets even open our mouths to speak. We just stare at him as he stares at us and the tension in the air begins to rise, blanketing all of us with its thickness. Then Shane — ever the do-gooder — chooses to speak. "Good day, Alpha," he says with a slight bow of the head. Shane feels that even though he is older than Jasper, Jasper still remains his Alpha and he has to be submissive to him, which is why he bows almost every time he greets Jasper. Then Anna, following Shane's lead greets too and very soon, all the others start to greet Jasper. Before I know what is happening, Jessica and Hunter greet Jasper and even Tyler grunts out a greeting to his former best friend.I am the only one left to greet Jasper, the Alpha but I don't budge despite the looks I get f
TylerIt is weekend already and I am glad. The whole school week has been so hectic so I am happy that is finally weekend. That way everyone can get to rest and that is exactly what we are doing now. Me, Jayla, Jessica and her mate, Hunter, Shane and Anna are all here together and I can say that we are already having a good time despite the fact that we just got here. Jessica's mate has been here for about three days and we haven't really hung out. He has just been going out with Jess whenever she has time. So we all decided to come out today and blow a bit of steam from the past week especially since Jessica and Jayla were planning a big hangout for all of us on the day that Jessica's mate arrived at this pack. Everyone here is all smiles and since we just got here, we haven't really had the chance to order food yet. But we have ordered drinks so we sip on that as everyone engage in conversations. I can see that everyone is happy. This is how it is supposed to be. We are suppose
JaylaI am standing under a leafy oak tree in the school compound. But the shade the tree provides is the last thing on my mind right now. Other important things are occupying my mind at the moment. It's been about thirty minutes since Jessica was called to the principal's office and she hasn't come out yet. Frankly, I am getting worried more and more with each minute that passes. I just hope she is okay. I hope she hasn't gotten into any trouble. But why would she even get into trouble? She hasn't done anything wrong according to school standards. I just hope she comes out very soon. I am lost in my thoughts so much that I am startled by the sound of someone calling my name."Jayla!" the person calls out and I shake before turning around to see who it is. I see Jessica walking towards me and beside her is a handsome young guy with blond hair. The guy doesn't look familiar and I can immediately tell that he is not from around this place. Also, his skin is slightly darker than even
JaylaIt is Tuesday and the day I resume school after my three day suspension. The time away from school did me well, and I can say that I am energetic and more relaxed now. Our final exams are around the corner and I feel confident that I will do well in them and come out in flying colors.I don't even want to come out in flying colors alone; I want to graduate at the top of my class. And I will. I will make sure of that. The first three classes of the day is over so me and Jess are walking down the hallway while we talk about what we want to do after school today. "I think all of us should go out to a diner and hangout," Jess says. "It's been long we have all gone out and done something like that. What do you think, Jay?""It sounds great. We should do it. But I am not sure it would work today, though. It will be at such a short notice and the others might not be up for it," I say."Okay. So we will have it either tomorrow or the day after. We will have to inform everyone today so
TylerShane and I have been sitting here for about half an hour just playing games. Jessica left not long after Jayla left for her house. She said her father needed her to do something for him so she really had to go. Anna had said she had to go home so Shane had to see her off. I noticed that he spent a very long time before he came back so I know they talked for a while. I have been observing Shane and Anna these past few days and I can tell that there is something between them. I can see it in their eyes that they have feelings for each other even though they are not mates. But both of them have been denying having feelings for each other. All the times that I have asked Shane about it, he has always denied it. But I won't relent. I will keep asking and pestering him till he admits that he has feelings for her. She is the type of girl he needs and they complement each other. In fact, they are perfect for each other. One would wonder why I am so interested in Shane's affairs si
JaylaAfter I shift abruptly without warning, Jessica stares at my pure white wolf in amazement. She has never seen my wolf before so I understand why she is as surprised as this. I would be surprised too if I was in her position and seeing a beautiful white wolf for the first time.She takes her time to "ohh" and "ahh" over my wolf, circling it multiple times and gasping in amazement before she is satisfied. Then she pulls her clothes off, folding them into a neat pile which she keeps in a secret hideout deeper into the woods.I begin to wonder about which clothes I will put on when we finish running since all my clothes have been shredded to rags as a result of the way I shifted without any warning whatsoever. But I push the thought out of my mind before it lingers too long. I am exhilarated because Mia has finally come back to me and I want to enjoy every moment in her skin for as long as I can. And thinking about which clothes I will wear after the run won't help matters at all
JaylaAs soon as I ask my question, everywhere and everyone becomes silent, so much that if a pin is dropped on the floor, the sound would be heard clearly. The air around all of us becomes thick with tension and I look at the faces of everyone around the table, moving from one to the another. As my eyes meet theirs, they all look away. Well, all of them except for Anna who looks at me with a confused and probing expression on her face. That is when I realize that I have done something wrong. I shouldn't have talked about the revenge we are supposed to be planning for Jasper because Anna is here and she is not supposed to know about it.Well, I have committed a mistake but there is no going back. Anna has already heard the beginning of it so I might as well tell her all about it. I feel like she deserves to know since she is more or less a part of our friend group now. We have gotten really closer these past few days and I can tell that she is someone I can trust. I fix my gaze on
Jayla The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is to open my eyes because of the light pressure I feel on my waist. Wait, I think. Why am I feeling like someone's arms are wrapped around my waist? Am I not supposed to be at home? Even the room doesn't look like mine.I look to the side and there is Tyler, and he is looking at me with a cheeky grin on his face. He is the one whose arms are wrapped around me. As I come to that realization, I start to remember the events from yesterday from the beginning to the end. I remember Anna and Jessica being at my house and how we all came to the pack house with me driving. I also remember all the games we played and how we all got really drunk. Which makes me to realize that the drinking is the cause of this throbbing headache which I currently have. I groan as I rub my hands over my temple, wondering how I allowed myself to get as drunk as this. Then another thought flits through my mind and I sit up immediately, my eyebrows shoo