DAKOTA
Few hours before the banquet. Clenching my fists, I tap my right foot on the ground, repeatedly. The silence is discomforting, almost eerie. For the past sixty minutes, I've been sitting here in this large room with it's imposing paintings and jarring interior decorations. On the center table is a bottle of wine and a couple of wine glasses. My anxiety is peaking. Earlier, I'd been summoned by The Six. I'd stepped out of the house and had arrived at a strange looking building. My limbs had moved of their own accord. I find it disturbing. But, what can I do? The Six basically gave me a rare opportunity, I don't have a choice."You're here."I look up, my gaze meeting Landon's warm ones. He's standing in front of the door, a hint of a smile on his lips. He walks towards me and sits on the couch directly opposite me. He picks up the bottle of wine and opens it. I watch him as he pours the red liquid into two of the wine glasses. He hands one of them to me. I hesitantly accept it."You remember what your mission is, don't you?" He questions."To find the seals?"He hums, taking a sip of red wine."Dashiell is going after one of the seals, today. As a matter of fact, in two hours, he will succeed if you don't stop him"My eyes widen."Where is the seal?" I ask."A vampire will attend a banquet tonight. He will bring the seal with him. Dashiell will be making an appearance at the banquet. This means you have to attend the event as well"I lower my glass of wine, nervous. I wonder how he'd made his discoveries."We have prepared your dress and shoes. All you have to do is stop him. He think he can do whatever he wants. He's your murderer as well, you can't let him escape"...At the banquet, My gaze follows Dashiell as he heads up the stairs unhurriedly. Taking a deep breath, I stalk him, making sure to keep him from noticing my movements. He suddenly bumps into a man wearing a golden three piece suit. My brows knit up as I watch the man turn to face Dashiell. My eyes widen the moment he stabs the vampire with his claws. However, before I can reach him, he has grabbed the seal and beheaded the vampire. Chaos breaks out and screams of terror fills the air as the guests race towards the exits. I can see the back of Dashiell's head even as he mixes with the crowd. I can barely make my way through the mass of bodies. Frustration fuels the rage welling up inside of me.Just when I think I've lost both Dashiell and the seal, I catch sight of him close to one of the exits. A woman is standing behind him, the tip of her knife pressed to his lower back. I try to push my way through the crowd but I only get pushed to the ground. Letting out a growl, I scramble to my feet. Again, I'm pushed down. Dashiell's laughter reaches my ear and I rise to my feet, desperate. A gunshot goes off and I instinctively duck. More gunshots go off and my heart races in my chest. When it all goes quiet, I straighten. Dashiell is gone and so is the seal. I watch the unfamiliar woman as she loses her shit and shoots at the wall. Disappointed, I head out through another exit. My phone vibrates in my pocket and I take it out.'Pull out. There's been a change of plans'It's a message from Landon....I stare at the sky through the window of my new room. The sky is particularly gloomy today. I think it's about to rain. Thunder rumbles in the sky and I let out a sigh. After leaving the hotel, I'd returned home and had stayed up all night, waiting for some sort of scolding from The Six. They never showed up. I feel terrible about failing to stop Dashiell from getting his hands on the first seal. I know I can always try again. But, what if I keep failing?'Don't think so negatively' a familiar voice invades my mind and I let out a gasp."Ocean?" I breathe, my eyes filling up with tears.'I'm back' she says.'How? I thought-"'I'm Melanie Knox's wolf spirit. I'm attached to you' she tells me. A big grin curves my lips.'I couldn't feel you. I thought I'd lost you' I whisper.'I was only adjusting to your new body, Mel'The knock on the door attracts my attention."Come in" I say, turning away from the window.The door opens and Hunter walks in. He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners."Morning, beautiful" he states as he approaches me. I take a moment to appreciate how good looking he is. He's so fine.He kisses me on the lips when he gets to me, his hands resting on my waist."How did you sleep?" He asks."Not well" I mumble and he raises a brow. "Although you've lost your memories, you still haven't changed.""What do you mean?" I ask and he grins."You never sleep well unless I'm with you" he whispers, stroking my cheek with the pad of his thumb. I lower my gaze, feeling my face heat up."Are you flustered?" He asks with a teasing voice."Don't be ridiculous" I mumble."Don't worry, I'll make you fall in love with me all over again"I am a sucker for confident men, I can't help but blush."First of all, let's go on a date" he says."Right now?" I breathe, my eyes wide. He nods, takes my hand in his, and leads me out of my room. I contemplate turning him down but I decide against it, a moment later. I have decided to be selfish for once. Guilt niggles at the back of my mind but I refuse to acknowledge it.As soon as Hunter and I walk into the sitting room, I find Dashiell sitting with Dale, my brother. Dale beams at us and turns to look at Dashiell."Who is he?" Dashiell asks."Right, you haven't seen him before. This is Hunter Sparrows. He's Dakota's boyfriend" my brother tells him.Hunter and I join the duo in the sitting room. An awkward silence sets in. Dashiell's gaze meets mine and I quickly look away."Babe?" I turn to look at Hunter. He looks concerned."Are you feeling alright?" He asks and I nod stiffly, giving him a smile.He leans closer to me and plants a kiss on my cheek. I can feel Dashiell's gaze on me. It's making me feel uncomfortable. Hunter's phone rings and he picks the call, rises to his feet and leaves the sitting room."Does she not remember anything yet?" Dashiell suddenly asks and my brother grunts.Dashiell's gaze is beginning to make my blood boil. He has the audacity to look at me like that. The bastard murdered me. I can't stand the fact that he's in the same room with me, breathing the same air with me. I want to rip his heart out."Dakota? Can we talk privately for a second?" Dashiell suddenly states, catching me off guard. Dale glances at me, a bewildered expression on his handsome face."Is there something I don't know about?" He asks. I shrug."I don't know."Dashiell rises to his feet and brings me to my feet."Let's go to the garden" he tells me. Although, I want to kill him, I quietly let him lead me out of the house. When we get to the garden, he runs his finger through his hair, pushing it away from his face."What is it? What do you want to talk to me about?" I ask, refusing to look him in the eye."I have a question for you" he tells me. Folding my arms across my chest, I shift my weight to my right leg."Get on with it""For someone who has amnesia, you seem to be well familiarized with me" he says. I scoff."Look me in the eye, Dakota" he orders and I freeze. Ocean, my wolf suddenly begins to whimper in my head. Slowly, I look up to meet his azure gaze. He grabs my hand and takes one step closer to me. Despair washes over me when my wolf begins to whimper even more. I can feel sparks and it's because he's holding my hand. Something is wrong. My heart.... it's pounding too hard. I can't breathe. My head's spinning. I'm too excited. His scent. Fuck, his scent. It's driving me insane.'Mate' Ocean whimpers and color drains from my face."I saw you at the banquet, Dakota. I know you were watching me. Tell me, why did you follow me there?" He asks and I freeze, my blood running cold in my veins.DAKOTA "Give me an answer, Dakota. Did someone ask you to go after the seals?" "What seals? What on Earth are you talking about?" I demand, deciding to feign ignorance. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Don't lie to me" he spits, his eyes flashing with rage. He is intimidating this way. It is taking me so much will power to stand upright before him. "I told you, I don't know what you're talking about! Stop accusing me!" I cry out. His expression falters, confusion written all over his face. "Get your hand off my mate, right now."I freeze at the sound of Hunter's voice. Dashiell's frown deepens. Slowly, he releases my hand from his grip."Your mate?" Hunter approaches us and takes my hand in his. His gaze meets Dashiell's."You heard me." My heart sinks. If Hunter was Dakota's mate and Dashiell is my mate, my secret is bound to be exposed. The only way to prevent it from happening is to block my scent, subsequently blocking out Dashiell's ability to sense me. "S
DASHIELL"...signed contracts... Ashville...CEO will be visiting today...Sir? Are you alright?" I can vaguely hear the voice of my PA.I lower my head, trying to breathe through the gut wrenching pain threatening to rip me apart. "Sir? Should I get help? You don't look so good-""I'm fine" I cut him off, leaning back on my chair as my vision dulls. A groan escapes my lips as the pain reaches it's peak, nearly bringing me to my knees. I can no longer tell where I am."Dash! Hey! Focus!...at me!" West's voice drifts into my ears as I struggle to stay conscious. Slowly, the pain lessens. I can now make out the feeling of West patting my face to keep me awake. "You can stop doing that, West" I mutter, exhaling slowly."What the hell just happened? You scared me!" He stresses, his eyes wide. "I don't know""Do you need to lie down?""I'm fine. I just..I just need to catch my breath" I whisper, keeping my eyes closed. "This can't be normal. It's been years....No....decades since I've
DAKOTA The tension between Dashiell and the newcomer is edge cutting. West looks worried. He seems to be aware of the history between the two. At first, I had mixed feelings about Violet. Now that she has appeared again, I have realized that she's the member of the Guild Landon had spoken of. She is beautiful, anyone can see that. Clad in a pair of white pants, black ankle boots, a t-shirt and a black leather jacket, Violet is a solid ten. I can tell by merely looking at her. Needless to say, she's giving off ex girlfriend vibes. "What are you doing here?" Dashiell is the first to snap out of his haze. She ignores his question, her gaze drifting and meeting mine."You must be making friends already. Who is she?" She states. "You haven't answered my question, Violet" "What's with the unfriendly stare, Dash? We used to be crazy in love with each other, remember?"The look in her eyes says otherwise. She's still in love with him. I avert my gaze to Dashiell. I'm startled by how cold h
DAKOTA Denial cannot get me out of this mess. At the moment, my mind has gone blank. "Cat got your tongue?" Dashiell says, a smug expression on his face."I...I..uh""Shouldn't you be happy? You said you have feelings for me. So, why did you keep it from me?" Dashiell is smart. If he knows that there's something I'm lying about, he won't hesitate to behead me."Alright, guys. Can we go somewhere private to talk? You're already attraction attention to yourselves" West comments. Dashiell and I turn away to look around. Sure enough, there are students eyeing us with curiosity. Desperate to somehow sneak away, I begin to rush towards the opposite direction. When I realize that he isn't following me, I quicken my pace until I get to the park. Heaving a sigh of relief, I take a seat on one of the metal benches. "That was a close one" I mutter, closing my eyes. "Who said it was over? Did I?" My blood runs cold at the sound of Dashiell's voice. My eyes shoot open, our gazes clashi
DAKOTA Scarlett, West and I are awkwardly sitting on a bench under one of the trees in the school park. Needless to say, I didn't think something like this would happen. "So, who's your friend?" Scarlett asked. "His name is West. We met at the hospital" It is the first thing that comes to my mind. West eyes me with displeasure. But, the thing is, it was in the spur of the moment. There's no time to think. "At the hospital?" Scarlett asks, her eyes filled with concern. "That's right. West has leukaemia" I tell her. West glares at me and Scarlett's gaze softens."I'm so so sorry, West. If you're friends with Kota, you must be a good person" she utters. West gives her a smile. "I try to live rightly. Besides, I don't have a lot of time left. It's hard but I'll get through it" West plays along with me. Scarlett places a hand over his and squeezes gently. "If you need anything, I'll gladly offer my help if it is within my capacity " "Thank you...uh..""It's Scarlett. Scarle
DAKOTA "What are you talking about?" I say, moving backwards out of Hunter's grip. Sweat rolls down my spine, my heart pounding against my rib cage. Hunter is barely containing his rage, it is written all over his face. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you?!" He rages, his nose flaring.He's not going to hit me, is he? I can't help but think. If I failed to find a way out of this mess, the situation could spiral out of hand. Dragging in a shaky breath, I gaze up at Hunter with the most sincere expression I can muster. "Calm down, Hunter. This is probably as a result of my near death experience," I tell him.His frown deepens, confusion written all over his face."But-""You don't trust me. Why?" I breathe, pushing my hair away from my face.He lowers his gaze, his frown fading."I'm sorry. I've been on edge. I shouldn't have-"Again, I cut him off."Forget it, Hunter. I just want to get some sleep. I want to be alone " I say, turning away from him. "Kota, I'm really sorry-
DAKOTA "Who hurt you?" Dashiell's question snaps me out of my daze and I pull away, diverting my gaze from him. In the pit of my stomach, bitterness brims at the thought of the fact that this man who is standing in front of me, is the person responsible for the situation I've found myself in. He deserves to die. "Dakota?" He whispers, reaching out to touch my shoulder.It's true that in this moment, I do wish to drive the blade of a knife through his heart. However, I can't do that. The mission comes first.Mustering some strength and courage, I take a deep breath and look up at him. This is my chance. I must seize it."Dashiell, would you do me a favour?" I ask, feigning an expression of desperation. He furrows his brows and in the depth of his uncovered azure eye, I can see his concern for me. "What is it?" He asks, keeping his umbrella above our heads. "Let me stay with you in your house."For a moment, silence settles between the both of us and he stares at me, now
DAKOTA Lowering my gaze to look at the rose necklace I'd just picked from the floor, I straighten, placing the necklace on Dashiell's desk with shaky fingers. He stalks towards me, his brows furrowed. I'm panicking inside, but I won't let him see it. "Give me an answer, Dakota," he drones, stopping in front of me."I... looked through the drawer. I was curious... that's why I took it out," I tell him with bated breath. He stares at me for a moment, stoic and unblinking. Then he silently takes the necklace from me. "I shouldn't have done that... I'm sorry," I breathe.With his shoulders slumped, he returns the necklace to its original position and turns to stare at me. There's a crease in his brows, and his eye seems to have lost its shine. Unable to hide my curiosity, I decide to take the bull by the horn. "Does it belong to your lover, perhaps?" I ask. His frown deepens."Why do you think so?""I mean...it looks like a woman's jewelry," I tell him. Heaving a sigh, he sink