Asher The hybrid’s blood-red eyes locked onto Malia, its twisted lips pulling back in a snarl that exposed rows of jagged, yellowed teeth. A vicious growl rumbled from its chest as it crouched, ready to lunge. I barely had time to think - just enough to grab Malia by the arm and yank her out of the way. We stumbled back, her eyes wide with terror, and the creature’s massive claws sliced through the air inches from where her neck had been. “Stay back, Malia!” I shouted, positioning myself between her and the beast. My heart was pounding in my chest, but it wasn’t fear. It was rage. Rage that this monster had targeted her, that it looked at her like prey. That it thought it could just storm in here and tear her apart. The hybrid whipped its head toward me, a sickening grin spreading across its face as if it recognized the challenge. It was massive —easily twice my size—with muscles that rippled beneath a thick coat of matted, pitch-black fur. And those eyes, still locked onto me, were
Asher Two weeks had passed since the four students who had been bitten died. The school had shut down in mourning, and a somber funeral was held for the lost students. It was a dark time. Grief and fear hung thick in the air as parents were worried for their children’s safety at the academy. This evening, an emergency meeting at the school was called to address these growing concerns. Every seat was occupied, with representatives from each pack present. All eyes were fixed on Beta Banes, who had been sent to speak on behalf of my father. A handful of us Lycans had been invited, so I sat among them, watching as Banes took the stage with his usual stern demeanor, which somehow sharpened to an even more intense edge. “First and foremost,” Banes began, his voice cutting through the silence, “our priority is the safety of everyone within these walls. The recent hybrid attack demands that we tighten security, enforce stricter rules, and take every possible measure to prevent further b
Malia After the hybrid attack, my parents were unexpectedly invited to an emergency meeting at school. I suspected it was because I was the only student the hybrid targeted - and failed to kill. Fear still crawled over my skin within the school walls, so I decided to skip the meeting. Instead, I tried to piece together who the hybrid could be and why they’d chosen me. I didn’t have stellar detective skills, but the urge to uncover the truth gnawed at me. Maybe if I walked the empty hallways, something would stand out - some clue everyone else had missed. After a while, exhaustion weighed me down, and I slumped against a locker in defeat. I had no way of knowing who’d attacked me or why, but as I sat there alone, Avan’s voice broke the silence. He was walking toward me, his steps light but his gaze intense. “Hey,” he greeted, leaning beside me. I said nothing, too wrapped up in my own thoughts. “Look, I heard what happened. I’m glad you survived.” “I only survived beca
Malia I watched Asher as he sat on my bed, his gaze drifting over my room with a quiet curiosity. His eyes lingered on the pale blue walls, softened by the amber glow of the bedside lamp, and he gave a slight nod. “I like the color,” he murmured. “Thanks,” I replied, sitting down beside him, aware of the closeness that made the air between us feel charged. For a moment, I was lost, studying him in the warm light. He looked tired with faint bruises tracing shadows on his skin. But it didn’t make him any less striking. If anything, the exhaustion gave him a realness I rarely saw, as if all the guarded layers he kept around him had finally slipped away. When his eyes found mine, he tilted his mouth in a small, lopsided smile. “Nice view, huh?” he teased, his voice soft but teasing. “Jerk.” I looked away, feeling a blush rise to my cheeks. Clearing my throat, I steadied my breathing. “I, um… I heard about your father’s attack. Is he… okay?” The teasing glint in Asher’s eyes fad
Asher I sprinted toward the house, my heart pounding heavily. The air felt thick as I burst through the door and into my father’s office, where I found my mother crouched behind him, sobbing as she held him close. Every vein seemed to stand out against her skin, grief pouring through her as she clung to him. I couldn’t believe it. The scene before me was impossible to process. How could this have happened? He was supposed to be highly protected. My mind raced with a jumble of unanswered questions. Why weren’t there enough guards with him? How could anyone even get close enough to bite him? Even now, I noticed that the house felt empty. It was barely staffed with the Lycans meant to protect my mother. The thought struck me cold—what if another hybrid attacked her? I knelt beside my mother, staring at my father’s face. His eyes were open, but he was completely still, his skin cold. My chest felt tight, but no tears came. I’d been raised never to show weakness, and crying was the
Malia The past two weeks drifted by in a haze. It felt surreal, as though I were floating in someone else’s life. Asher had been away, hunting the hybrid that had taken his father’s life, throwing himself into the pursuit with relentless ferocity. I knew this because I had been talking with Amara a lot. In a short period, we became pretty close, so I told her the truth about Asher and me. She was surprisingly very mature about it and gave me a lot of helpful advice. Amara also told me bits and pieces of Asher’s absence—how he barely slept, barely ate, how his entire focus had been on the hunt. She knew this because her mother was close to one of Brooke's personal aids. Thankfully, just a few days ago, I heard that Asher and his men finally killed the hybrid, putting an end to the terror that had lingered over us all. In a way, life had returned to normal, but nothing really felt the same. Asher was different. I hadn’t seen him yet, but from what Amara told me, it was as thoug
Malia I stirred my spoon absently, letting the broth swirl in slow circles as I sat across from Amara in the cafeteria. The noise around us felt muffled, like I was hearing it through water.No matter how hard I tried, Asher’s cold words kept playing over in my mind, relentless and sharp. He hadn’t just dismissed me—he’d looked at me as if I were a stranger, like the months we’d spent together hadn’t meant anything. The ache in my chest tightened, and I realized I’d stopped eating entirely. I forced myself to look up, only to see Amara watching me, concern softening her gaze. Her usual mysterious vibes always came off whenever she was around me. “Hey, cheer up. At least Banes backed off,” she said, her voice low and comforting. She kept her tone casual, but her eyes betrayed a deeper concern. “I could tell he was going to give you a hard time, but it's a good thing I got him to ease up.” A small smile tugged at my lips despite everything. “Thank you. Honestly, I don’t know what I
Malia I sat in her office, too stunned to speak, my mind swirling with confusion and dread. Part of me was numb and detached, while another part was filled with the relentless pounding of my heartbeat. Maybe it would be easier if she did expel me. At least that would mean freedom from this constant, never-ending drama. “Are you deaf?” she barked, snapping me out of my thoughts. The cold edge to her voice made me tremble. “Um… I shouldn’t be expelled because the public eye is on Asher now more than ever,” I replied, trying to keep my voice steady. I’d practiced this line in my head, but it didn’t come out as confidently as I’d hoped. The Luna’s eyes narrowed, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. “So? What makes you think the public will care about what happens to you?” She was baiting me, but I took a breath and kept going. “Well… because if I’m expelled, people will think Asher is being protected while I’m being punished. Besides, I just lost a baby.” I fiddled with my fingers, try
Asher I didn’t know how long I’d been unconscious. Time seemed to have slipped away, leaving me adrift in a sea of confusion and dread. The lingering scent of smoke, acrid and sharp, was the only tangible evidence of the terrifying encounter with Rayna. I pushed myself up, my body protesting with a groan. My head pounded, a dull ache that mirrored the turmoil in my mind. Rayna’s words echoed in the silence of the room, each syllable a dagger twisting in my heart. “You will have the whole world against you, Asher.”I stumbled to my feet, my legs shaky, my thoughts a whirlwind of fear and regret. Rayna was gone. Vanished, like a phantom in the night. But the consequences of her presence, of her revelations, were all too real. I looked around the living room, the familiar space now tainted with the memory of her chilling laughter, her fiery display of power. It felt like a different place, a place where my illusions had shattered, leaving behind only the cold, hard reality of
Asher The flames danced in her palms, a mocking display of power that sent a chill deeper than any winter wind through my bones. My mind reeled, trying to reconcile the gentle woman I thought I knew with this…person before me. “Who are you?” I demanded, my voice rough, barely a whisper. “What have you done with Malia?”The laughter that spilled from her lips was like ice on fire, a sound that scraped against my soul. It wasn’t Malia’s laugh. It was sharper, colder, laced with an amusement that bordered on cruelty. “Malia?” she echoed, tilting her head. The fire in her hands crackled, throwing flickering shadows across the room. “Such a quaint notion.”A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I stumbled back, my hand grasping for the edge of the table. “You’re not her,” I breathed, the realization hitting me with the force of a physical blow. “You’re not Malia.”Her smile widened, revealing teeth that seemed just a little too sharp, a little too predatory. “That's right,” she
AsherThe room felt like it was shrinking. The walls pressed in, the air thick and suffocating. I gripped the edge of my desk, fingers digging into the wood as I struggled to steady my breathing. My vision blurred at the edges, the faint flicker of candlelight casting long, trembling shadows across the walls. My heart was racing—pounding against my ribs with a force so violent that it hurt. I couldn’t stop the tremors in my hands. The weight in my chest was unbearable, and for the first time in a long time, I felt something I had convinced myself I was immune to. Panic. Not the kind I felt in battle—not the sharp, fleeting rush of adrenaline that kept me moving, kept me fighting. No, this was different. It was cold and heavy, sinking into my bones and coiling around my throat like a vice. Because for two weeks, I had believed—no, I had known—that I was right. I had done what needed to be done. Corey had to die. His death wasn’t just necessary; it was justice.He had hu
MaliaEverything was slipping away.Black spots flickered in my vision, and my limbs felt heavy, useless. Jamie's grip was unrelenting, his hand a vice around my throat, cutting off my air, my thoughts—everything.I thrashed, kicking weakly, but it didn’t matter. He wasn’t letting go. Everything around me was a confusing blur. I saw flames and angry faces, but nothing made sense. I clawed at his hand, my nails scraping against his skin, but his hold remained unshakeable. Panic clawed at my throat, a cold fist squeezing the last vestiges of air from my lungs. I thought this was it.Just as darkness threatened to swallow me whole, his grip loosened, and I collapsed like a ragdoll. My knees hit the hard ground, pain shooting up my legs, but I barely felt it. I sucked in a desperate, ragged breath, my throat burning, my lungs aching. Air flooded into my lungs, feeling painful and intense. I coughed violently, gasping, my hands shaking as I reached for my bruised neck. Jamie had let
Malia*Present day*The air was thick with smoke and the raw scent of sweat and fury. I stood off to the side, partially hidden by the jagged remains of a collapsed wall, watching as Jamie faced down the Lycan guards. His hair, once a shade lighter, had darkened in the past two weeks, as if grief had stripped the warmth from him. But it was his eyes that unsettled me the most. Behind the familiar glasses, his irises glowed an unnatural green—a sign of a vengeful Alpha. A warning to all who dared to stand in his way. "Give me my brother’s body." His voice rang through the tense silence like a blade being unsheathed. The crowd of wolves behind him—Storm Pack, rogue allies, and furious onlookers—rumbled in agreement, their anger a living, breathing thing. The Lycan guards, their silver-plated armor catching the flickering firelight, held their ground. Shields locked, weapons drawn, their stances unyielding. "You are not permitted entry into Lycone," one of the guards stated, hi
Jamie The woods were quiet, save for the occasional rustle of leaves in the breeze. I sat on a fallen log near the lake, staring at the water’s calm surface. It was an eerie contrast to the chaos inside me. The world around me was serene, but my thoughts were a raging storm I couldn't silence. Two days. Two days since I received that damned video from Amara. Two days since the truth shattered everything I thought I knew. Corey was gone—killed by Asher’s hand. And now I knew it was for nothing. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms until pain cut through the numbness. The image of Malia's face as she told her story played on a loop in my mind, but now it was warped by Amara’s proof. Proof that Malia had lied. Corey hadn’t forced himself on her. He hadn’t done any of the things she claimed. And Asher? He hadn’t even bothered to investigate. A sharp, bitter laugh escaped me, sounding foreign in the stillness of the woods. Asher, the mighty Lycan King, the lea
Jamie I had heard about Corey's death through a text from Amara but since then I didn't hear from her. I didn't understand how Corey would die until the news spread that he'd been killed by Asher for forcing himself on Malia. It made no sense. Sure Corey was into Malia for a short while but it never amounted to anything. He also would not force himself on Malia — not after everything he's already been through with Asher and Malia. I myself called him and warned him personally about his feelings for Malia and he assured me that they were gone. So how could he have done something like that? It simply was not possible. I still was in denial that Asher would kill Corey and it wasn't until I got a text back from Amara saying Asher kept her under close watch and that she'd found a way to meet me that I finally relaxed a little. Amara was always transparent. She wouldn't lie to me about what happened between my brother and Asher. On that night, the moon hung low in the sky, casting a f
Jamie The call ended with a hollow beep. My hand lingered on the phone, fingers trembling as if it would somehow summon Amara’s voice back to me. But she was gone—cut off by my own doing. I could still hear the echo of her last words, sharp and searing. “You’re really ending this?” There had been a stunned disbelief in her voice, stripped of the fiery edge that usually accompanied her words. I had wanted to say so much more, to tell her how sorry I was, how this wasn't what I wanted—but what would have been the point? The Moon Goddess’s priests had spoken. My family had pleaded. My friends had insisted. And in the end, I had caved. Because apparently, loving a Lycan was a curse waiting to happen. I sank onto the edge of my bed, the cold air of my room wrapping around me like a shroud. The ancestral mansion had never felt more suffocating. Heavy stone walls, generations of tradition, and expectations thick enough to choke on. I rubbed my face with both hands, trying to scr
MaliaThe walls of the cage flickered once, then dissolved into thin air. I stood there, stunned. They were actually letting me go? My feet remained planted as Rayna’s parting words echoed in my mind: “You’ll wish we hadn’t released you.” A chill ran down my spine, but I forced myself to move. Each hesitant step tested the reality of my freedom. I half-expected the barrier to snap back up or for Jude to appear and stop me. Neither happened. My steps were hesitant at first, each one testing the reality of my release. I glanced back over my shoulder, expecting to see Rayna’s smirking face or Jude’s calculating gaze, but the chamber was empty. Just the fading hum of magic and the distant sound of dripping water. My heart raced as confusion tangled with relief. What game were they playing? Why let me go now? With each step, my pace quickened. I had to find Asher, my parents—figure out what chaos had unfolded while I was locked away. But Rayna’s warning gnawed at me. “Why would I w