STEPHEN'S POV I walked through the forest quietly, clutching Clyde's car keys in my hands tightly. My legs were hurting, but I knew everything would be worth it if I just sucked it up and continued going forward. I had always complained to Clyde how parking his car that far away from the pack house was ridiculous. He claimed it was for safety, but even I knew that it was easier to keep your vehicle close to you most of the time since it could always be used as a means of escape if you were suddenly plunged into a fight or flight situation that you knew you couldn't win even if you cheated. I sighed tiredly, my right foot stepping into the fourth — or was it fifth — puddle of mud in the past ten minutes. My boots were drenched, and I was starting to regret my decision. The skies were starting to darken considerably, the sun setting further down the horizon as it abandoned the world, leaving us to succumb to the rapidly approaching dark night. It would be a starry night. I could fe
CLYDE'S POV I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, turning the cap open as I tilted the mouth of the plastic container against my lips. The water rushed out, sliding down my throat and cooling it down. My tongue lapped up the ones that it could, but that didn't stop some droplets from escaping the corner of my lips as they slid down my chin. I emptied the plastic bottle, placing it on the counter as I raised my hand up to wipe the ones that still dripped down my chin with the sleeve of the jacket I was wearing. Yes, I had later gone back to add a black jacket to top up the outfit. An impulsive decision, but I looked good nonetheless. It was like the full fit was ugly anyway — I bet I looked like I was about to go rob a bank or something. I grabbed the cover of the bottle of water, covering it as I moved to the side of the kitchen where the trash can was. I placed my foot on the little lever thing, the cover of the trash can rising up well enough for me to throw the can insi
CLYDE'S POV “You called me your son.”I glanced at where Ardyn was sitting in the passenger seat, kicking the car floor's rug slightly as one of his hands fiddled with the radio again. God, Cyrus was going to kill me if something went wrong. We had just left the hospital, gaining nothing but more things to over think about. We were currently on our way back from the hospital and to the city. We still hadn't found any place to get food, and Ardyn had settled for nipping at his bottom lip while still playing with the radio buttons. All Doctor Michaels told us was that he said he was going on a trip, which was most likely a lie knowing how fluently Stephen spat lie after lie these days. I kept the things he told me in the back of my mind though, because I wasn't sure taking them into consideration would do me any good. If anything, it would only confuse me and make my process of finding him harder. I tried to think back to the time Ardyn was talking about specifically. “I know!” I r
I was scrolling through my phone when Ardyn had finally woken up, for real this time. He woke up multiple times at night, which was a habit or pattern that we hadn't really figured out how to handle yet. He never really told me what caused him to wake up though, but I was suspecting that it was nightmares or something like that since he usually shocked himself awake. Well, one step at a time I suppose. Ardyn stared at me, unblinkingly with most of his face still hidden under the covers. “Aren't you going to get up?” I asked, looking back down at my phone. “We still have a long way to go, you know.”A pause, and then, “Did you carry me here?” “Yes? What's the problem?” I stared right back at him, and Ardyn only shrugged as he pushed the duvet off his body. “Nothing,” he said, getting up and stretching his arms. “Thank you.”I hummed in reply, only sparing him one more glance before I turned back to my phone fully. I was seated on the couch, my legs crossed one over the other as us
STEPHEN'S POV I anxiously sipped the water that I had turned into a glass earlier, the coolness doing nothing to help with my feeling of nervousness. I could feel a drop of sweating sliding down my forehead and down my face. It went even further, going beyond my chin as it gathered a bit before it finally dropped, joining others to hit the soft material that made up the collar of my shirt, causing the colour of the shirt to turn into a darker shade.I licked my lips anxiously, spending a few extra seconds to place my bottom lip between my teeth as I applied pressure and bit lightly on it. Clyde fixed me with a pointed look, the same one I was familiar with because I had seen him use it on Ardyn one too many times when he knew the younger was about to do something stupid. His harsh and intimidating gaze didn't relent, so I, unwillingly, released the hold I had on my lip, resorting to fondling with my fingers instead. I could hear Ardyn rummaging through the cabinets in the kitchen.
STEPHEN'S POV It took a while, but Ardyn finally finished getting ready. And when he did, he came running out with an oversized jersey and jorts. The jersey was customised, clearly. It had the numbers zero and seven on the front and nineteen on the back. Also on the front, at the top left corner, was Ardyn's name in gold block letters with “ARD” being on top and “YN” being underneath. It was somehow done in a way that they were all still within the same space, regardless of the extra letter. At the back, on top of the number nineteen was “Goldberg” in all capital letters, and in gold just like the number. The main colour theme for the jersey was black and gold, but the gold numbers were outlined with white a bit. His jorts were mid blue, and they were slightly baggy as well. Ardyn had a pair of black Naked Wolfe sneakers on, and they were the type that was all black except for the brand name on them that was written in white. He had white socks on as well. He had his hair down, t
DENZEL'S POV“P-Please.” I clicked my tongue, annoyed and tired at the same word repeated at us by the same person. It was a new girl I had seen the others dragging in about two days ago. I wasn't sure of her age, but if I were to guess I would say she would be around sixteen or seventeen years. Worst case scenario, maybe fifteen years old. I was seated on one of the only chairs in the basement dungeon of the mansion. For some reason, I was on guard duty for the new girls today. I figured it was the best punishment Nightshade could think of when I told him what I did to Andrew. Of course though, I left out the details since I didn't want to be asked questions that I wouldn't know how to answer properly. It wasn't so bad. I had received a slap or two, and then I was choked against a wall for taking actions like that without permission. I think he decided I would be more useful being kept alive or something, but he must've felt that I still needed to be punished for my, quote on quote
DENZEL'S POV I was never really the kind to share things with people. Except it was food, of course. I loved my things, and anything labelled as my property was simply just that: my property. It wasn't like I was obsessed with things or anything crazy like that. I simply just didn't like it when people touched things that belonged to me. I didn't like the fact that I had to stay and stand still upright as another man — a disgusting one that just happened to be my boss at that — fondled with and touched my woman. Nightshade's hand slid up higher and higher, and I was starting to wonder if he would finger her or do something sexual — or at least more sexual than this — right in front of me. I wasn't the kind of person to beat around the bush, nor was I the kind to make empty threats. When I said something, be it out loud or in my head, I would follow through with it for sure, under any circumstance and without taking possible consequences into consideration. So, as I continued to