Ohhh I guess if I HAVE to stay...
~Luke’s Point of View~Once in the hall I pull my schedule out of my pocket, and sigh with relief when I see it's time for lunch. I’m starved, but then again, I always am. The council was able to make a deal with the school to accommodate me, and since I require something that isn’t exactly on the menu I have to be very careful. At the idea of quenching the ever present burn in my throat, my feet move a bit faster. But again, at a human pace. I make my way to the cafeteria, finding the space simply by following the smell. The foods of today are so vastly different and for the most part… garbage. I’ve been very spoiled living in the Shadows headquarters, getting meals catered to my needs. That isn’t going to be my daily reality now though the Alpha of my new pack is making an effort.I quickly see the side door that Chance told me would be there, and it nearly kills me not to just dash to it. Every second wasted is time I don’t get what I need. What I crave. Most importantly, it's time
~Harlow’s Point of View~“It was crazy, unlike anything I’ve ever seen! And then there were Shadows literally all over,” I say, eyeing the basket of food in front of me. But my stomach sinks, thinking about the male that died. I didn’t know him, he was a popular jock though, and his death will be a big deal.“I’m hearing his uncle is the Gamma of Dark Thunder,” Skip says, rubbing his face.My eyes go wide, figuring that’s really bad. Things like this just don’t happen here! I mean, not that I’ve seen. But then again, I don’t expect things like what happened to me to happen. I make a face and reach for an onion ring.I wait while Skip goes to speak to several others, and I slightly wonder why he cares about some teenage boy. By the time he comes back, I’ve downed the entire basket of food and a milkshake. I rub my full belly, noting the slight pudge that seems to get a little more pronounced by the day. This bar is gross for the most part, but the food is too good.“I gotta go honey, yo
~Harlow’s Point of View~“Doing okay? You weren’t at dinner,” I hear, as the voice breaks my daze. I look up from the laundry I’m trying to move from the washer to the dryer and see Luna Viola. “Yes, I just uhm, ate at work. How are you,” I quickly ask. Few people I know I have a “job” and those that do thankfully don’t ask much about it. You know like what I actually do there.If I keep a mild conversation with her, and act interested, she often keeps things short and to the point. There’s also been a few times she’s brought up things out in the open where anyone could hear, and I don’t appreciate that. I have enough problems! But I couldn’t exactly come here to live without the Alpha and Luna knowing what they were taking on.“Well I have some clothes for you if you want to come by my room later and--” She’s cut off immediately by two of her pups, running through the laundry room screaming. She shakes her head. “Sorry, I have to…” she says, making gestures. I simply nod, indicating
Chapter 12 - Accountability~Luke’s Point of View~“I can only conclude that the females of today are certifiably insane,” I mutter, rubbing my chin. The two females in the room both give me death stares, but especially Penelope, a Greek half witch half wolf hybrid who is posing as my mother. It’s obvious she doesn’t much like me, and I can’t blame her. She hasn’t even scratched the surface yet of knowing me: once she does, she may not ever look me in the eye. But her job here is probably more important than mine so I have to kiss her behind to no end. She keeps my secrets. Without her spells, everyone would know what I am. Imagine sitting in a crowded lunchroom and all of a sudden people smell a vampire. It would be a nightmare.I also have a “dad” who is a panther shifter named Stan. But the Alpha requested he immediately take up with the guardians who protect the pack’s borders. So he’s gone a lot. But it also gets him an “in” with all the gossip the higher ups have. Laughter eru
~Harlow’s Point of View~There aren’t going to be a whole lot of days this year where I can get away with a summer dress, so this is it. I look down at a mint green knee length dress with white polka dots and lace trim that I pulled from the rack. It's probably the prettiest thing that’s ever been against my skin. It even cuts a bit low, revealing some cleavage I seem to have gotten recently.I gape at my reflection in the mirror and literally don’t even recognize myself. In the last few months I’ve easily gained thirty pounds. It's amazing what happens when you can actually get food whenever you’re hungry. And Goddess knows I’m eating more than my share these days.Since my entire body has filled out, thankfully my belly pudge isn’t even that noticeable. For now. Yeah, it's just a muffin top. Curvy is just a word for females to feel sexy but that’s not me. I’m happily chubby because it means I’m not starving.My eyes move to the cute black boots against my dresser. I’m not entirely su
~Harlow’s Point of View~What the heck am I doing? Ohh damn these hormones! I thought I had them under control, but I’m apparently no match for Luke Payne. I’m likely just some warm body to him, there’s no way he cares about me.Right now I’m not sure it matters. Can I be one of those females that doesn’t have any emotion attached to being with a male? It’s just… scratching an itch right?Because Goddess I itch more than the time I got poison ivy!My mind whirls as I lead him outside, without a clue as to where I’m actually going. For a moment I think about going out in the woods where I get my morning package for Skip, but something tells me not to. I push out a door on the opposite side of the school that’s away from the woods, into an empty parking lot. For fire drills, everyone is supposed to go out front, unless they are being bad or just leave completely. Goddess why does it feel so good to be bad? Or maybe just do as the bullies who I hate do? Maybe just this once I can see wha
~Luke’s Point of View~Absolute shame hits me along with the fresh air near the football field. I dash into the woods, knowing I’m seconds from losing it. All of it. Having Godrey’s wrath reign down on me all because I had this moment of weakness.I knew that touching Harlow would be bad, no… heaven. She would be utter heaven. But my control… that… That was on the line. I was literally a second from ruining my entire existence. What I should be doing is confessing, I know several Shadows are here right now. I should call for help, come clean. I need to feed and the idea I could be having a warm human right now pushes me even further to the edge.But I don’t want just any human. I sure as hell don’t want a male. Only one that reeks of sunflowers and sun, has a kiss that’s like a straight shock to my dick and tastes like no one else I’ve ever experienced. And I haven’t even had her blood.No, I simply can’t. I know without a shadow of a doubt if I taste Harlow, I probably won’t stop.It
~Harlow’s Point of View~“You doing okay hun? You seem a bit distracted tonight,” Angel says, giving me a small smile. I shake myself a bit, knowing that the council witch is basically a human lie detector. She’s also served as a shrink to me of sorts, making sure that I don’t have any lasting effects from my attack. She’s been so knowledgeable with all of my thousands of questions. I really do look forward to our weekly appointments.“I’m okay. School’s been a lot. I’ve also been anxious for my scan tonight,” I say, knowing that it’s a big one. She nods with understanding and thankfully buys my explanation. I mean, it isn’t a total lie.“I’ll go ahead and renew the spells I have in place on you before you go, to keep things hidden. But pretty soon your body is going to change too much and it’ll be obvious. We’ll keep the scent hidden indefinitely as long as we can so it only smells like you,” she says, rising to her feet. I don’t answer her, because it's nothing I don’t already know
~Tate’s Point of View~“I don’t know if he ever saw me. All I know is I never met anyone matching Anna’s description of Caden,” I say, running my hand over my chin with great irritation.“We need someone undercover at this auction. Last count we’ve got over two dozen dead or missing males and a dozen missing females. That’s just what’s been reported… rogues rarely are unfortunately. I’m going to bet that’s where the females will be, the rest is still up in the air. At least I’ve never seen males in these types of things,” Shane snaps, falling into the large chair behind his desk.“You need a fairy, someone to match their power. Get one of my uncles. Rich, powerful, arrogant as fuck. They’d fit the bill to a T,” I offer, dropping my hands on the desk and leaning in.My wolf stirs, hating the idea there are so many young girls being sold off. Even remotely imaging what kind of sick bastard buys a human being. “It has to be a Shadow, someone who’ll fully get the gravity of the situation
~Harlow’s Point of View~I nod at Jett as he again follows me to class. French class, no less. I stop in the doorway and see Luke’s seat empty, and it just hurts all over again. The note of my nightmares still sits on the floor, half under my bed. I peeked at it poking out last night a hundred times but I couldn’t bring myself to read it. Finally, I cried myself to sleep and today my face more than shows it. “Awe lover boy left you finally? He didn’t want a fat beached whale knocked up by someone else huh? You look like shit. Good luck getting a male now,” Gigi states, passing me as she stares up and down my body.I have no energy for her today, and the fact that she still doesn’t know who the father of my baby is. It absolutely pisses her off not to know, and that gives me a small bit of satisfaction. No one outside of the Shadows, Skip, Caden and Luke knows I was assaulted. I can only pray it stays that way. For all anyone else knows I had a one night stand.“You look like a $2 who
~Rowan’s Point of View~“What do you mean he’s gone,” I question, annoyed with the female standing in front of me. “I don’t know, his entire family left earlier today. Like their house is empty. Nobody at Dark Thunder knows anything,” she says, shrugging. I make a face, but pass her the wad of cash in my hand anyhow. I can’t take my anger out on some random she-wolf but right now my temper doesn’t understand that.I quickly teleport back to the bar, not knowing where else to go. I’ve lost Otis and now Luke. It isn’t acceptable. When I catch a floral scent near one of the doors that’s barely still attached to the ruined building, I follow it. It hadn’t been there the other night, but then again there were a hundred scents. Once inside I find there’s a table still in good shape, virtually untouched from the fire. It sits right in the middle of the rubble and it’s got a sheet of paper on it.“You can’t have me Caden, not now, not ever. Go fuck yourself.”I burst out laughing at the word
~Luke’s Point of View~When the sounds of feet pattering picks up, everything in me says it's her. Dante agrees to shift, and when we’re on two feet, we dash through the woods. Within seconds, I see her. My heart thuds in my ears, and Dante growls through me. I’m not sure I even remember a time I was THIS angry.She’s carrying a small flashlight, and probably nothing else. No sort of weapon certainly.“Harlow, you are getting spanked until you can’t stand up. Do I have to lock you in a damn room,” I say, as I walk out from behind a tree about twenty feet ahead of her. She stops running and sighs when she sees me. Lowering the flashlight, she leans forward and puts her hands on her knees for a minute, and I let her collect herself as I stalk forward.“What the fuck are you doing? Were you outside the borders, do you not have any fucking idea how dangerous that is right now?? Do you get it?? The threats are literally all over,” I shout, my anger getting the better of me.She has to get
~Luke’s Point of View~*I can’t let it go, I swear she smelled like another male yesterday,* Dante whines. I shrug him off as I watch our sunflower dancing by the fire with Anna and some other females. The fire that Anna conjured up out of thin air, and no one seemed to think it was even the slightest bit weird. It still baffles me that all these different creatures can truly co-exist. Can be open about who they are, but I can’t. Even if it was okay, I don’t know that I could do it. Handle the looks, the stares. People constantly thinking I’ll flip out at any given moment and be the monster their fear tells them I am. If I wasn’t feeding directly from a human at least twice a day, I might very well be. In my younger years I lived for the looks, the stares. The fear and terror I elicited. How wrong I was, and how utterly foolish.*Let’s get her inside and naked. We’ll make sure she remembers who she belongs to,* Dante says, wagging his tail. I know she sees so many different males wh
~Rowan’s Point of View~“Dark Thunder huh, you have many undercovers living there,” I question. Not that I know shit about shifter packs, but it shouldn't be hard to find if I have the name. Something just tells me that Luke is a Shadow, he has to be. They’d never allow one such as him to roam free, unchecked. The fact that he didn’t attack or try to drain me, that he was trying to take Otis alive… it all adds up. If he’s a thousand years old there’s no way they don’t know about him. How many like that could there even possibly be?“Yes, there are several living under the guise as a family, even two posing as high school students,” Councilor Quinn says, blowing a puff of smoke in my face. My dad grunts next to him on the large leather sofa, also sucking on a cigar as well.I rub my chin, realizing that if not for seeing this “Luke” fly, if not for seeing his red eyes, I never would have known he was a hybrid. They have his vampire side virtually hidden, so it isn’t surprising some cou
~Harlow’s Point of View~~Two Weeks Later~I grin as I watch several kids struggling to roll a snowman with barely three inches on the ground. Since playing in the snow was free, it was one of the few luxuries I could have while in foster care. One constant I could count on that wouldn’t be taken away from me. A mere glimpse into having a normal childhood.My personal favorite was just eating it. Not like many places I lived had freezers, some might have had a small refrigerator but getting ice was a rare treat. One of the puppies nudges at my boot and I quickly bend to pick it up. I think they named him Bark but I can’t be too sure.“Who’s a good boy! Ohhhh look at your widdle ears,” I coo, nuzzling my nose into his face. He licks me and wags his little tail for all he’s worth. I wish I had a treat to give him, and briefly think about going inside for--“Here you go boy,” Luke says, from just over my shoulder as he holds out a large piece of breakfast sausage. I lean back into his wa
~Rowan’s Point of View~I dash to the stairs near him, absolutely hating that while I can move fast, I’m not capable of levitating. It pisses me off greatly, because there’s little I can’t do.The male cocks his head to the side a bit, taking me in. I do the same now that I’m closer, and when my eyes rake over his body, my cock literally twitches. It catches me off guard, it's absolutely been dormant for years. I don’t even pleasure myself anymore, just taking satisfaction from my work.And my dick likes … a male? That can’t be right! But my eyes want to soak him in, his hair is long enough to fall over his ice blue eyes, his rugged square jawline, his high cheeks and pert red lips. When his tongue darts out over them, something flutters in my gut. Am I really checking out a fucking guy right now?While I haven’t had sex voluntarily, I’ve still looked at and appreciated many females over the decades. In my early 30’s I went through an aggressive addiction to pornography until I got to
~Rowan’s Point of View~Shadows… ugh. I fucking hate Shadows. At least they’re predictable. “Oi! Are you even listening,” Declan barks, as he points to something on his computer screen. “You’re barking so damn loud how could I not,” I retort, crossing my arms in annoyance. I rarely work a job with anyone else. I’m nothing if not methodical, and I can’t go through my rituals and processes with a crowd. I damn sure won’t have someone looking over my shoulder.But also, I have no clue what he said. And I simply don’t care. I’ll let them think they’re helping me.“Calm down brother, don’t let the wedding get yer knickers in a twist,” Conor teases. Declan gives a low growl, and I take a step back from his desk. I’ve only been back a few days, and they act like no time has passed. Like I haven’t been completely absent for a whole year. Subjected to water torture, electroshock therapy and sleep deprivation just to name a few of my fun memories.What’s worse is they all bought the lie. They