The morning sun shone in through the window and woke Lola up from her light sleep. The day would bring warmth and crowded streets as people soaked up these rare rays of sunshine.Early winter cold wouldn't stop them as they layered on the clothing to stay outside for as long as possible.Lola groaned, the pain of knowing where she had to head off to in just under an hour had her questioning whether she should get out of bed at all.She and Lavina are supposed to meet at Mayor Clan's house to help plan for the Winter Whimsy- company she'd rather avoid and plans she couldn’t care less about, it wasn’t shaping up to be a good day after an awful night.She rolled out of bed, dragged herself to the closet, and got dressed.The Omegas whose job it was to look after the mansion had fixed the guest room in under a day. They had put in new closets, as well as other amenities, to make it more homey for her. As if they’d somehow gotten orders from high up as if they knew she wouldn't be spendin
The inside of the Mayor's house was nothing compared to the Blackwood mansion. It wasn't half as lavish and the size was perhaps a third of the mansion on the hill.However, it was clear that it had been passed down through generations ever since the first settlers of Wild Cliff. Portraits of the previous owners of the estate hung on the walls to remind every guest of the bloodline that lived there.They were guided through the long hall and gathered in the living room to start planning the Winter Whimsy.Already there was another University student, Justin O’hare. Lola stared bewildered at his shrunken presence on the couch.“His parents must’ve dragged him here,” she whispered to Melissa who nodded agreeably.“Girls, come and sit!” Mrs. Clan called and waved her bronzed hand delicately in the air.They all took a seat around the glass table in between two beige four-person couches.Mrs. Clan walked out and returned with a tray of cups, sugar, and cream, and a teakettle.It was all ve
PROLOGUE5 years earlier.Lola: 16 years old.The ground was painted red. The blood ran in a stream down the cracks and into the river. Little red clouds formed under the water, and she stared with tear-filled eyes at the bodies from which the blood was escaping. Her hands held the lives she had just taken, and her mind held the sounds of their screams. Their eyes were still wide open as they stared at their faith, she who had ended them all, she who nobody could escape.With shaky hands, she pulled their bodies to the river and placed them down. The last one was particularly difficult to let go of, her hands refusing to open as she held him under the water. The life had drained from his eyes, his heart had stopped beating, and his body hadn’t moved for minutes. Yet, she couldn’t part from him.Closing her eyes and filling her lungs with air, her fingers slowly spread. She watched as her father went with the stream.*Chapter 1.“Lola!”Lola turned her heavy head to look at Melissa, fin
Lola's studio apartment was dark and gloomy. The littlest light from the moon tried to seep in but barely reached inches over the floor. The wooden panels on the floor began to squeak as though someone had walked on them. Lola lay on her bed, with her head tossing back and forth as her mind filled with dreadful memories of a past not long forgotten.the creaking continues closer to her bed and she's too deep in sleep to notice him watching over her. He sees how her face is contorted in pain from her nightmare and the sweat that is forming on her face so he leans down, strokes her hair away from her face, and whispers, "Wake up."“No!” She sat up quickly in the bed and panted. She frantically looked around the room and into the dark corners of her apartment.“Who— Who’s there?” Lola’s words were hoarse and frightened, and she felt a presence around her. Somebody was watching her, but why couldn’t she see them?She shook her head free from the thoughts and the nightmares and laid back do
“I can’t believe how obsessed everyone has gotten! I mean, seriously, did you hear Lisa? She wants to marry the man,” Melissa boasted aloud as they walked to the café after school.“Man?” Lola asked with a raised brow and a disbelieving expression- Man was a little too much in her opinion. She was, however, glad that it had been three days since their interaction in the auditorium, and he hadn’t tried to talk to her again since.“It’s all I hear in class, Jax, Jax, Jax…” Melissa said, bobbing her head mockingly to the side each time she said his name.Lola opened the door and smirked at her friend while jokingly remarking, “Sounds like someone has a crush.”Melissa scoffed and pretended to shiver from the idea.“I’ll leave the crush to the bottle blondes who fantasize about marrying rich.” They laughed and walked into the café.The woman behind the desk was hurriedly writing down on a paper and looking at her wristwatch. Her hair was a mess from having stood over the milk steamer for
She turned around and immediately looked for Mellissa; she was sitting, entranced in the music, waving her hands in the air, completely oblivious to what was happening behind her.“She’s fine, for now. Whether or not it stays that way is entirely up to you,” he said with an amused glint in his eyes and a smolder that spoke more of his insanity than his words ever could.“Who are you?” Lola asked. Her body was pressed against his as his hand held on her lower back.“I’m Chuck, and you’re Lola,” he said matter-of-factly.She wondered for the second time that week how these strangers could know her name when most people barely even knew she existed.Upon seeing the wheels spin in her mind with the many questions she held on her tongue, Chuck smiled in amusement. Lola felt the other day, when she had first met them, that something was off. Something was trying to warn her, but she mistook danger for desire. Staring into Chuck’s taunting eyes, she felt another pair of eyes burning on the s
The birds chirped outside the open windows. The sun was beaming in and lighting up the room in a nice change from the days of rain they’d had in Wild Cliff. “She’ll be okay. She just needs some rest. Don’t go in there right now, Alpha, or you’ll scare her.” “She’s waking up. I hear her groans.” His deep voice rang through the wall, but the words didn’t quite reach Lola’s groggy mind. “You shouldn’t be the first person she sees,” an older woman said from behind the closed doors. Her voice was raspy and stern, just like that school teacher who mothered all her students. “Fine. When she’s up, you let me know right away.” His steps took him down the hallway. The thick carpet mellowed his heavy feet, and the door creaked open as the lady entered. She carefully closed it behind her, taking her time so as not to startle the patient. Lola’s eyes began to flutter open with caution. Her hands reached around her body, and a person used to the routine and the safety of home didn’t need much
Walking down the stairs into the foyer took longer than it should because of the magnificent decor of the house. Lola and Melissa were looking around, leaning their heads far back to see the ceiling, which had hand-painted linings and creatures in beautiful contrast to the house’s colors.In the middle, right by where the giant bubble lamp hung, was a full moon, and from the right was a dark crescent moon overlapping.“That’s beautiful,” Lola said and gawked at the art.On the walls were portraits, paintings, and masks that looked old but were perfectly preserved.The foyer was narrow and opened up into the living room on the right. As they walked in, they saw the kitchen connecting by the far-end wall with an island that subtly separated the two areas.