Valene:“Your father’s been looking for you, love. He’s worried.”Of course he was. I would have been worried if my father wasn’t worried. I appreciated that, but I just could not see him at the present time. Not after what I had found out after coming out of my slumber of truth.“You know that I cannot talk to him right now, Ares. Not right now.” Ares’s footsteps approached me from behind. “I cannot keep speaking for you, Mimar. My word only goes so far with the man. And I will not stand between him trying to see you and make sure that you’re alright.”I turned around to face him. “Why not? I thought you had my back.”“I did, and I do, but if a wolf or lycan or any creature tried to stop me from seeing my daughter when they are not even officially committed to one another, I’d kill him.”His blunt truth was amusing to me. I chuckled and shook my head. “Point taken.” But I still couldn’t bring myself to face my father. Not yet. Not just yet.The tip of his large forefinger playfully
Harlyn’s POV:When she told me that she remembered her death…that she remembered every waking moment of her demise…to the very last breath…I didn’t know what to say.“You were right outside the car,” she said to me. “Talking to…to her.”I could see it in her face…her eyes; that veiled rage that was simmering beneath the surface of her story, “I…I’m s-I didn’t-” she lifted her hand in a polite gesture to silence me. I kept quiet.“I know, Harly,” she said and then continued. “They…had me sedated, then they dragged me out to the forest. They fed…” her eye flashed a rageful color before she snapped out of it. “Gorged themselves…” Then cut me open,” Valene made a swift, fluid movement across her neck and it was only then at that moment that I had noticed something that I never had before. Something that…had I been a truly good sister, I would have. . There was a slightly jagged line that ran the length of her neck. It was a scar.“Then they left me to die.” Her eyes went distant. “Sca
Harlyn:It was a beach. Not the one where I was attacked, where Penelope abandoned me to be ravaged by hungry, mindless beasts of the night; where my sister…where Vale saved my life. No, it wasn’t that beach, but it was one like it. Alpha Ares had gone ahead to ensure that all weak spots of Shadow Vale were secure. Turned out that the great Alpha was not in the mood to party. But then, who was?Certainly not me.After what I had been told by Vali, part of me-that annoying, and naively arrogant part of me found it hard to believe that someone like Penelope had the bloody stones to do what had been done. Vali knew this. I assume that was the reason why she had said that she was giving me a heads up. She wanted me to know that one way or another, Penny would be held accountable. She knew that, despite Penny’s betrayal that night at the beach, despite how positively aggravating she could be, she was still-is still my best friend. She had been for years. I usually didn’t befriend people
Harlyn:The sand pressed with a crisp warmth beneath my feet as we walked along the shore together.I’d have much rather been having this walk with someone else, however. Talon.“I know I’ve said it a lot by now, but I really am sorry about that night at the beach. This isn’t the same beach but it gives me like, PTSD just thinking about it.”And just like that, Penny cut off any meaningful thought that I was beginning to have about my true mate. She was always good at spewing random idiocies throughout a conversation.PTSD, I scoffed. I mean is she really serious?!I guess, it was for the best, as I the reason I had even sook Penny out in the first place was to have a conversation that…may change everything after this night.“Imagine how those who actually have PTSD feel.” I found myself saying.“I-I didn’t mean to imply that-”Before Penny could continue to stumble over her words, I cut her off. I wasn’t in the mood to hear her switch up on me because she realized that I was irritate
Recollecting that night was something that I had done quite often since it happened. It really put things in perspective for me about how much Valene had gone through.“I wasn’t-I…am not the only one suffering, Penny. Sure, I’ve lost a mother but…Valene has…she has lost just as much, if not more.”“How can you say that?” asked Penny. “She still has both her parents!”“And lived most of her life as a slave to her own father,” I reminded her. “Branded like a bloody gopher when-”“But Harly, she-”“Living with the fact that her parents didn’t want her. Thinking that all this time, then…being killed? How do
AlastairI stepped out of the backseat of the large unmarked SUV, contemplating what was about to happen. My right hand and beta stood at the rear passenger door, waiting for me to step out of the vehicle. He closed the door behind me whilst I took that moment to take in the large establishment standing before us both.Suddenly, my stomach churned, a large blow to my pride as I considered the reason why I was standing there-why I had wound up at this place.“You alright, Alpha?” I heard my long-time friend ask as he settled himself by my side. I could sense his concerned verdant eyes staring unwaveringly at the side of my face. He would not stop until I answered. “Why do you ask?” Naturally, I knew good and well why my beta had asked me this question. He thought that I was having doubts because he most certainly was having them. When Toran didn’t respond right away, I glanced at him, my brow raised, awaiting his answer.“May I speak candidly, Alpha?” Toran requested. I rolled my eye
AlastairThe pack dashed through the forest floor near the Blue Ridge Highlands, running down prey. With Aziz at the helm, we’d taken down our second hide for the day, the first-a bobcat would not fill this large form, and so we went in search of a Black Bear next.Twice every week, the Shadow Veil Pack was required to go on hunts into the mountains by my command, some lasting no less than a day and sometimes as long as three. It was a great release for our wolves, not to mention it kept both our beasts and us on our toes. No better way to keep ourselves, as well as our counterparts, in peak shape than running the wild for the hunt.I enjoyed these outings with the pack, often needing a welcomed distraction from the heavy weight of life as not only an Alpha but a widower and single father. It’d been over seven years since the death of my beloved Caris. I could not figure out whether it was a good or bad thing that I could not find the time to mourn the anniversary of her death, with
Valene When the school day ended, I was glad that Harlyn had decided to go home for the day. It was a school night after all, though it was Thursday-a day everyone seemed to consider synonymous with Friday. Especially Harly. To me, the days blended into one another like an artist would their paints to create the perfect color that would perfectly mesh with the thoughts they were trying to convey on canvas. Perhaps that was the wrong example to compare me to. Artists were free to release whatever imaginative creativity they saw fit. I was no artist, and I was nowhere near as free. There wasn’t very much freedom for a vassal, and while I was not to be considered the same as the rest, my role was essentially the same as the others. There were one or two freedoms allowed to me that no other knew about outside of Master Wade and Harlyn. Master Wade made it a point to try and make me feel as…free as he possibly could without anyone else noticing it. The need for no one to figure it ou