RosePanic filled my throat. For a moment, there was nothing but silence. We were stuck, frozen in limbo whilst staring at each other.Then the wolf growled, and the adrenaline sparked up in me.I turned back, twisting my body in a whiplash in the process of doing so, all the while racing toward my bedroom door. My body shook from the force I sped. My mind raced.‘Get out. get out. get out!’ rang clearly in my mind.I heard the heavy footsteps thump on the floor, making me run faster. Dear lord. If I didn’t get there in time, I was certainly going to die.There would be no escape.The moment I packed my things, I twisted the door, shutting it behind me as hard as I could before twisting it till it locked. I placed my bag behind, pushing my weight onto it.I was jostled immediately as the door shook from the force of its collision, a loud bang ringing loudly. The impact made me fall to the ground. Covering my mouth, I forced closed any whimpers that threatened to come forth. Several
Rose’s POVI remained firmly attached to his arms while he led me through the rubble that was once my apartment. Even after he had shut the door, I still felt like I couldn't breathe.“Were they any downstairs neighbors?” I asked. My voice was rough, making it sound like I had just smoked a cigarette rather than screaming and crying after facing a wolf that was about to kill me and surviving another near death situation.Rael paused for a moment, holding me in suspense. He shook his head. “There are no neighbors. The apartment below for the next few halls are going through some renovations. You were the only person aside from several people at the ends of the hallway.”I should have felt a bit of relief at that, but the upset filled me even more. I had only occurred to me how horrible I was close to death. Even if other normal people couldn’t beat him, it would have been comforting to know that people were present and had noticed. So knowing this now brought shivers up my spine.I was
Rael's POVI watched her till she fell asleep as I had promised. Now her breaths were even, eyelashes fluttering very little as she was deep in slumber.Still, there laid a furrow on her brows that definitely wasn't supposed to be there, a tightness in the way she gripped the bedsheets and a tenseness that hadn't fully left her. Although she was unconscious, it was still there.If anything, it made me angrier than ever.But what bled in me distastefully was not the anger. Rather it was guilt. Bitter, nauseating guilt.I looked back at her arm. By now, the wound would have scabbed over but the initial sight still made the rage bubble up within me.I held my fists back, trying to breathe as carefully and slowly as I could. In this state, I wouldn't be surprised if the wrong noise could bring into full alert, waking up in terror.That was what held me back as I stood up, slowly walking out of her room in silence, and passing glances at her for most of the way.When I finally reached the d
Rose's POV“No…”The wolf - no. Dankeh was here again. This time in an enclosed space. It started growling, taunting me.I couldn't let him hurt me.My body trembled, chills running down my spine.My body scrambled through, searching for a solution. But there was none. It was just the wolf and I. There was no escape.“No!”Suddenly I was falling, deeper and deeper into a darkness I couldn't understand.“Help! Help!” I screamed out, searching for help where there was none.“Rose!"What! Who was calling me? The dark chasm opened up even worse than before, sending me falling…falling…“Rose!”I gasped out, scrambling forward for anything I could hold. Firm warmth blocked me, and so I grabbed on.“It's okay…you're okay."My eyes shot open, the blinding light throwing me off for a moment as I looked around in panic. My eyes darted through the place for the wolf, when I realized the warmth that was now on my face, firmly moving to face him.Dark eyes penetrated mine, stilling me before I co
Rose's POVAgainst my wishes, the day dragged on for long.I breathed out within the plain mattress, shutting my eyes so tightly I swore I could see stars underneath.Shortly after I gathered myself following Rael's exit, I didn't have the strength to move anymore, lounging on the bed.I had hoped that just like the day before, time would go fast and it would soon be evening. It was the reason for the core bitter feeling of disappointment when I looked at my phone to find that it was barely afternoon. I sighed, dropping it back down.I still hadn't called or informed Kayla and Lily. Scrolling through endless pages was meaningless and exhausting to do. I couldn't bear looking at my phone. The constant reminder of the attack and the memory of my destroyed belongings sparked without fail, constantly sending waves of dread down my belly.The only thing I could do sparingly was watching the window to see the expanse of green of the forest.Even when the tempting draw of sleep came, my fea
Rael's POVNo matter what I did, I couldn't get the look on her face off my mind.It wasn't just about the nightmare. Even though that was tempting enough. Adian and his mention of my faltering stability had impacted me, but the feeling of her sobbing in my arms, crying from being chased by someone who was far from present, made me want to go back and obliterate the dankeh that had invaded her home.‘Not her home' the primal part of me echoed, unstoppable in spite of my attempts to restrain it.Even now, in the plain sheets that didn't reflect the colors and contradictions that was Rose Bentley, she still fit in. She belonged and most of all, she was safe.‘Safe’ I swallowed inwardly, hot bitterness welling up in me. It was guilt, yet I pushed it away.Seeing her appetite come back relieved me, and I couldn't help but watch her, reminding myself that she was present and not cold with her throat torn apart by the danekhs. It was not like the last time.The memory of her back in the for
Rael's POVShortly after she left, I delved deep into my work, uncaring of anything and everything. Her words had made me restless, reminding me of everything that was at stake. Things I had almost ignored.How foolish of me. Aside from major decisions, there was little to nothing left for me to deal with in the office. I sat there, thumping my feet in staccato as I gazed at the glass windows that showed everything. The skyscrapers and houses that looked smaller than ever from my view and all the people that resided in it, ignorant and otherwise oblivious to the others that lived among them. And to the dangers that they faced.A snap brought my attention, prompting me to shift my eyes to my hands. The pen I held was broken in two.‘To hell with this.’I stood up, moving toward the elevator down to the ground floor where the real matters were at.Although I had told myself to wait for Kayden's prompting, my impatience had risen to the rim of my sanity.They were surprised as they saw
Rose's POV I opened my eyes to look at him, all hints of my facade gone as he turned to meet my gaze. His expression clearly held surprise, meaning that he actually fell for it.I couldn't deny that I had turned drowsy under the continuous droning. The strange warmth of companionship and safety I hadn't felt whilst alone was what drove me to close my eyes and slip under.Unlike the deep chasm of slumber I was used to, it wasn't anything like that. My eyes were closed shut, darkness swimming around me but with enough grasp on reality to feel everything. It was a strange sort of limbo between drifting and awareness, the kind of 'sleep' I could take during a nap after a study session back in college.I felt when Adrian had carried me up from the couch even though I didn't have the will to move at the moment. I let him slide my body under the covers, and heard his voice stating “Sleep tight" right before he left. I didn't do anything about it, vaguely hearing the click of the door.There