~Ashley~
I woke up because of the chirping of birds. It was a pleasant morning as the golden sun rays suggested, but recalling the last thing that happened before I fell unconscious, I got up immediately.I looked beside me to see the dry bones beside me. His skin had gone thin and clung to his bones so tightly that it was difficult to tell them apart.I felt nauseous remembering I had rendered him in such a condition by draining him of his blood.I staggered to the river bank and instantly drew water up with my hands. I splashed it multiple times on my face before I breathed out in relief.My eyes soon narrowed down to the water which reflected my face. A spotless face. Without any scar on it!Minutes of staring emotionlessly into the water didn't help, my face still remained the same.I was prompted to splash mud on my face when I heard hurried footsteps coming from the forest.I felt a hard hand press down on my shoulder then I was thrown backwards. I landed on my back and when the man tried to strike me again, he got held back by another person.I looked up at Cage who towered over me before squatting. He tilted his head to the side and asked me. "Who are you and what are you doing in Burning Heart Pack?"My heart almost jumped out of my mouth when I realized I had left the dried bones of the man I had killed earlier."My name is Ashley Nicholas and I am a member of the Burning Heart Pack." I finally replied after calming my nerves."Oh." Cage muttered and got up. Then he turned to the man who had intended to hit me earlier. "She's one of us. Please escort her back to the pack safely."The man nodded and walked towards me. Then he yanked me up, helping me onto my feet."Be a little careful with her, Jerry." Cage reminded him and turned to me. "The forest is dangerous at the moment. It's better you don't come around here in the future."I nodded and looked at the grumpy Jerry beside me. "Then I'll have to trouble Jerry to take me back to the pack. Or better still I can go back on my own."I saw Jerry breathe out a sigh intending to take a step backwards when Cage's voice stopped him, "I insist that Jerry take you back."Then he turned and walked into the forest with the other warriors behind him. As soon as he was gone, I heard Jerry say grumpily as he grabbed my arm. "Hurry up, I have something to do!"As soon as we appeared in the pack, he left me and disappeared into the forest. Clutching the hands of my bag tightly, I quickly made my way home.However, I realized they were all engrossed in a particular discussion. When I got home, I saw mother outside with a group of women."I've been looking for you all night!" I heard a jubilant voice say from behind me.With a smile, I turned to meet Cassie's happy eyes. The only person who I can consider my friend.Cassie had straight brown hair. Something that never failed to sway whenever she walked. Just like it was doing now."What's with the mud on your face? Were you bullied again?" She asked sadly, her small lips letting out a sigh.I chuckled, but refused to divulge any words to her. Looking around me, I asked, "What's happening?""This morning, the pack's witch said something about a looking danger for the pack. She asked them to ransack the forest earlier today because an evil had been done there." Then she paused and sighed with heartache."What's the problem?""Well, the body of Onneil's father was found in the forest, devoid of even a drop of blood." She revealed.I narrowed my eyes at the sound of that and turned to look at her squarely. "Isn't Onneil the guy you've been crushing on?"Other than being the father of Onneil, Omega George was also known for his interest in young girls. Cases of him getting intimate with them wasn't something new for the pack as it was often consensual between the fee girls he did it to.However, thinking back to that night, I doubt he really wanted it to be consensual between us as he had literally creeped up on me."Yes, he is." I heard her reply and turned my eyes to see a smile instantly appearing on her face.I raised the corner of my mouth and asked again. "So what is the Alpha planning on doing?""A body devoid of blood can only mean one thing: a vampire intruded into our territory."For the second time this morning, I felt my heart skip. I was about to ask a second question when we saw the warriors approaching again.When they passed us by, I happened to catch Cage's eyes on me."I don't know if it's me but did you see the way Cage looked at you! Tell me the truth, is he your mate?" Cassie questioned curiously beside me, whilst clutching onto my hand.As much as I would've loved to wriggle her hands off, I knew it'd upset her and since I still had a question to ask, I refrained from doing so."You seem to have all the gist. What do you think they'd do next?"Almost immediately, the warriors passed by again. This time, with a sinister expression. Just then, a girl ran out after they were gone and announced, "The vampire who lives beside the stream is responsible for this!""There's a vampire who lives beside the stream? Why don't I know about this?" I panicked, turning to look at Cassie.If this vampire lives beside the stream then he must have heard or... seen me kill Omega George!I guess my nagging took Cassie by surprise. It also caught the attention of the other wolves. Then I heard the girl who had brought the news say, "Omegas might be low in rank, but they are still considered better than those without any rank. Talk more of an ugly, terribly scarred, duckling." "You—" The word slipped out of Cassie's tongue before I could stop her. Surprised at my defiant look, Cassie snorted and lowered her head angrily. I turned to look at the girl and smirked amidst the mud which had stiffened my face. "Omegas like you only know how to look down on the pack members. If we don't give you the fear you want, that makes you like us." I had a lot of things in my head so I didn't bother to listen to whatever she had to say or the surprised gasp that rang out of everyone's lips. I walked into the house and slammed the door shut. When I got to my room, I picked up my mask and headed to the bathroom, taking with me a small, rough mirror. I once again confirmed I was beau
I heard Cage move from where he stood to my front. Then he squatted to my kneeling height. "You were the only one we saw there, are you sure you saw nothing?" Once again, I shook my head. "I really didn't." "That's okay, you can raise your head now." I heard Maverick say and obliged by looking up slowly. I evaded everyone's eyes and stared towards the air. I saw Cage nod his head at Jerry who walked forward with a necklace. He held it thinly and dangled the pendant. "Isn't this yours?" I looked down on my chest to notice the crescent pendant which often hung on my neck was nowhere to be found. "I must've lost it when I was running." I replied. Jerry breathed out and turned to Cage. "I found this right beside the body of Omega George." That was when it hit me! It must've fallen off when I went unconscious. "You better not be lying because—" Jerry was interrupted with the abrupt presence of Marcellus. He entered the room like he owned the place. How could I forget, he really d
~Willow~I waited anxiously in my room for night to cover. If there really was a vampire beside the river, it could be my only chance to make father happy. I was distracted when I heard a knock on my door. So I got up and walked towards it, when I opened it, I came in contact with a servant. "The Alpha's eldest son asks for you to meet him beside the lake." She delivered, bowed slightly and walked away. Marcellus wants to see me? The thought of it made my wolf excited. Without wasting another second, I slipped out of my room and headed towards the lake. When I got there, I found him seated on his usual spot, his drawing book in his hands and his attention solely on whatever he was sketching under the moonlight. However, he closed the book as soon as I got closer to him and got up. We stared at each other in silence before I decided to break it. "You asked for me." He breathed out and walked towards me. I could hear his soft breathing and the urge to be marked by him overwhelmed
~Ashley~I woke up due to the voices in my head. "Blaine, Kiara, can you two lower your voices? I'm trying to sleep here!" Kiara quietened but as the demon that she was, Blaine didn't want to. "Come on, there's no need to be harsh on the little wolf." "Who do you think you're referring to as little!" Kiara rebuffed, getting ready for another squabble. The same one which woke me. Just when I was about to caution them, the door to my room swung open and Cage walked in. "Good morning and sorry for entering in such a rash way. Your presence is needed at the meeting room." He said as he walked towards me. "Ever since I got into this house, I've lost my right as a pack member as most of them now think I killed one of my kind." I said as I got up from the wooden bed. "We didn't really blame you, we just hoped you had seen what happened. But I don't think you're needed again because another killing transpired last night." He smiled and looked towards the door. "Let's move along while
I jerked up as soon as I heard approaching footsteps. When I looked towards the door, I saw mother standing with a bucket of cold water in her right hand. She smirked seeing I was awake. "I was beginning to think you won't wake up." I didn't reply her as I struggled to get up from the bed. When I passed her by, I grabbed the bucket in her hand forcefully, "Permit me to use this in washing my face." I walked out with it and returned back when I was done. She already changed positions, sitting on the wooden chair. "If you have anything to say to me. Say it!" I scoffed, dumping the bucket beside the chair. "There are different news flying about. Some say you tried seducing Marcellus and others say you killed Omega George. As your mother, I'm caught between crossroads at which to believe." Then she turned to look at me and asked seriously, "Don't you think you should tell me what it is you've been doing ever since you turned 18?" "I don't need to tell you what I've been doing. As you
~Ashley~The sound of children playing outside made me open my eyes slowly. I held my banging head and sat up. I looked around and noticed I was in my room. When I looked outside, I noticed it was morning. Jerking up, I rushed to the window dumbstruck at how I got there. Other than that, I had no memory of what happened with me and Rebecca. As I thought hard on what happened, Cassie's face soon appeared in my view. The look in her eyes wasn't something new to me. "I'm sorry I couldn't make it last night." I apologized. Cassie just stared at me, her expression changing from anger to shock. "What is it?" I asked apprehensively. "Y-our sc-ar. It's gone!" Oh no!Whatever happened, I just found myself scaling through the window and jumping over to her room. I held her head and narrowed my eyes down to hers. "I've been taking something which has been clearing it. If you want it, I can lend it to you." She had a blank look on her face before she slowly nodded. I nodded as well and s
~Ashley~"Coming to this lake isn't that bad of a choice after all. At least, I get to maintain my peace of mind." I murmured, drawing whatever came to mind with my eyes closed. Ever since I compelled Cassie and Jenny, Blaine and Kiara have been at war. Their source of bickering didn't make sense to me so I decided to have a quiet time beside the lake. Like Marcellus often does. My ear suddenly twitched as I heard an ongoing conversation and hurried footsteps. "Did you hear?" "Hear what?" "Seven pack members died last night. The witch was asked to divine what happened and she said a banshee wailed close to our pack."A surprise gasp flew out of the listener's mouth. "We haven't had a banshee come near us for decades. Why does this one suddenly have to appear out of nowhere?" "That isn't the problem for me. The Alpha has ordered everyone to go back to training in the pack house. Young pack members, male and female, who have the will and desire to fight are urged to try it." "Bei
It didn't take long before a pack member sauntered into the pack house. His eyes fell on me, then it trailed down to Willow who was unconscious on the floor. "What—"Snap! I threw him to the ground as soon as I snapped his neck. Touching my forehead, I sighed and bent down to drag him up. "What do I do?" I asked Blaine, unblocking our connection. "First of all, you did the wrong thing. Compelling him would've gone a long way. Second of all, you haven't fed me in days, he doesn't look bad." I heard her reply. As usual, she suggested something cruel. Just like I expected, Kiara's voice came up next, "You're always suggesting terrible things." "Come on, love, stop judging me. Unlike you, I have the power to do these things and get away with it. That's the difference between us." Blaine retorted. "Shut up you two!" I snapped and felt them quieten. "Kiara, like Blaine said, I can't live without either of you. Hence, you have to learn to be at peace with each other." "Exactly! That'