Ignominy had a bitter sting when it was paired with a wounded pride, and it radiated within her. The pungent taste left behind had a distinct acidic quality that burned in her throat. And although the physical wound had quickly mended, Vanessa found herself still nursing her bruised ego. Humiliation and disbelief were her new companions. Both churlish in body and spirit the disesteemed woman soon found herself seeking vindication amongst her peers and the humans whom she so despised. Along with this newfound need to seek reclamation Vanessa was overwhelmed with a need to leave the Burrow. The bar she soon found herself in was far beneath someone of her caliber, but she was itching to justify what she deemed as mistreatment by the werewolf she desired. Simmering over the humiliation and masking its ever-present bitterness lay the boiling rage that she directed toward the pathetic humans of a nearby town. The Native American woman found an odd sense of comfort in having human males tr
Time is a funny thing, she always thought, everyone always wanted more. And the more one wants the less one seemed to get. Plagued by the concept of time people find themselves enslaved by the ticking hands of a clock. Time waited for no one and did not conform to the ideas of others. The faster one wanted time to tick the slower the hands seemed to jump from one second to the next. For Alexa, the gears in the clock that haunted her seemed to have sped up instead of slowed down. In what seemed to be a blink of an eye she soon went from being infuriated with Aiden to somehow finding herself trapped in between his tanned and muscular arms. The redhead was confounded by the day’s events and could not for the life of her, figure out how she had once again ended up with his arms wrapped around her. Wasn’t she still mad at him for his behavior earlier that day? But laying there with her back flush against his chest while his soft breath tickled the back of her neck, she felt nothing but
Although said in utter adoration the word held nothing but fear and darkness for the frazzled redhead. Instead of Aiden’s deep voice, she heard a different man altogether. Except this man did not say the word in reverence instead he said it sinisterly covetous manner. The word bounced around her head like a piece of shrapnel as her world imploded all around her all over again. Her heart stuttered and nearly stopped when her mind was sent reeling back to that harrowing night. The face of her tormentor flashed behind her closed eyelids and sent her into a near state of panic. The hysteria flashed from her and into Aiden through their bond and had him lurching from her body in his own panic as if he had been doused with a bucket of ice-cold water. In his haste to back away from her trembling form he all but topples off of the bed. And lost in her terror Alexa thrashed around on the bed to loosen her legs from the bed sheets. “What? What is it?” he questioned, seeking the great terribl
She took a shuddering breath, and steeled herself for what she said next, “And when you did it too, I don’t know it sent me back to that night” He didn’t know what to say to her in return, a bitter taste left in his mouth at the mere thought that he had resembled that good-for-nothing piece of trash. As they sat facing each other in utter silence the sun rose to greet a very somber atmosphere that hung so heavily it could have choked any who wandered into it. The air hung thick with a nauseating mixture of guilt, shame, and a touch of anger. The room’s two occupants turned to face the symbol of the Sun God in all its glory, but no words escaped from clenched lips. The silence was almost deafening to the young teenage girl, and she longed to break it as her discomfort grew. She could feel his anger, his hatred, and his guilt. It was pouring in through that open pathway like a tidal wave until she was almost drowning in it. Knowing that she had been the cause of his dark emotions fil
Home, what a strange and unfamiliar concept to one who had been without one for so long. What was it that made a place a home? Was it the place itself or the people that lived there? Going back home was one of the many surreal moments that the redheaded teenager experienced in such a short amount of time, almost as if she were in a dream. It had been ages since she had left the beautiful house behind for what was supposed to be a fun family trip. Now instead of the unburdened teenage girl who believed her life complete another had taken her place. As she got ready to return to a home she had long since left behind, she returned as a different person where everything around and within her had changed. Alexa had been irrevocably changed and there was nothing she could do about it. The helplessness she felt as the world as she knew it warped into something unrecognizable left a bitter taste in her mouth and a feeling of dread in her heart. No longer was she the strong, carefree human
Her fear immediately alerted the sulking werewolf to her distress. And even though she had told him to stay put he found his feet carrying him toward the front door. As Aiden rushed into the home of his mate and her family he narrowly avoided running into Isaac. “Hey! Watch it!” The male witch cried out as he jumped away from the alerted wolf. Aiden paid him no mind and instead went on the defensive, searching for signs of danger. He found none on the bottom floor and was quick to make his way to the stairs where he heard Luna Jean and her youngest child moving around, unconcerned by a danger they did not know existed. Thundering footsteps echoed and reverberated around her as she stood frozen just inside her doorway. Although no sound had escaped her, he had still known that she needed him just by the fear leaking through their bond like the acid that churned its way bitterly around her stomach, threatening to make its way viciously up her throat, which already felt as if a frog h
The absolute glee that fluttered within his undead stomach and was sickly sweet and he savored it with everything he had. Oh, what fun it was to watch the panic and anger settle on that mutt’s face. His own resentment had flooded through his ice-cold veins and his predatory instincts practically begged him to tear the mutt limb from limb. The wound on his shoulder from when that mutt had attempted to rip his head from his shoulders throbbed agonizingly. He had, of course, failed in that attempt and it was a failure this newborn would ensure he regretted. A painful reminder of his human weakness which only caused his acidic venom to drip sinisterly from his fangs. To have such a wound permanently marring his once-perfect skin only served to add fuel to the flames of his malicious anger. That mutt would pay, he’d make sure of that. Turning his ruby gaze from the retreating obsidian he thought back to the exact moment his prey had realized she was being hunted. He could relish in the f
Contentedly unaware of the misanthropic gaze that observed their hasty departure, the occupants of the car sat in a heavy and tense silence. With nary a sound penetrating the dense atmosphere only that of the hushed fall of snow, trodden upon rubber tires as they made their hasty retreat. Not one word was uttered between the four occupants of the vehicle. Hearts still pounding and minds still racing in the perplexity of their temerarious departure from the old Winters home. The two young girls, aged 11 and 6 respectively, merely sat in the back seat almost stupefied at a situation they clearly did not understand. Although they were clueless about the danger that lurked in the shadows, neither of the two adults sitting tensely in the front seats wanted to explain it to them. Alexa sat with her fingers painfully digging into the leather seats, her nails scratching the smooth interior, but Aiden was unbothered by the damage. Her stomach lurched when the car skidded on the icy roads as