Once again, thank you for being patient with me as I make my way through what life has thrown at me. I hope the wait was worth it, and I hope to be able to post the next chapter soon! Take care!
At the sound of Eve’s voice, the man on the other side of the room looked up. “Eve? Is that you?” he asked in a scratchy voice. Eve started toward him, but Arec touched her arm, causing her to stop and look at him with raised eyebrows. Arec shook his head and stepped in front of her. “Why did you turn Eve?” he asked, glaring at the other man. Craig turned his focus from Eve to Arec. His expression soured, and he snarled at Arec. “You!” he said, struggling to his feet. “Why couldn’t you have just left well enough alone? Why did you have to get in between us?” Arec snarled back at him and said, “You shouldn’t have changed her!” Craig sneered at him and said, “You should have minded your own business!” “Eve is my business!” Arec growled. Eve stepped in front of Arec, putting her hand on his chest. “Stop it,” she said, looking at Arec before turning toward Craig. Stepping toward him, she asked, “Why did you turn me, Craig?” “Because we’re meant to be together,” he said
“What?” Arec asked, hurrying toward Eve and taking the paper out of her hand. He scanned it and looked at Michael. “Mother has issued an official invitation to Eve to come to the family compound,” he said, holding the paper up. Michael walked to his brother and took the paper from his hand to read it. Arec put his arm around Eve’s shoulder. Lowering the paper, Michael looked at them and asked, “What’s the plan?” “Go and meet your family,” Eve said. “I don’t think I have any other choice.” Arec shook his head and said, “I don’t think that’s a wise idea, Eve.” Eve took the paper back and skimmed it again. “It doesn’t look like I can get out of it, Arec,” she said, shaking her head. Arec strode toward her and took the paper out of her hand. Crumpling it in his fist, he said, “You do have a choice, Eve, regardless of what my mother thinks.” Eve shook her head and said, “I don’t want to cause any trouble between you and the rest of your family.” Arec laughed without mirth and
“You should just tell Linda that you’ve got a family function with my family tomorrow night,” Arec said. Eve bit her lower lip as she looked at him before nodding and saying, “That makes sense.” She bent over her phone as she typed the message. Biting her lip as she waited for Linda to respond, she grinned in relief when she read her friend’s message. “She’s okay with waiting until next week,” she said. “Glad to hear,” Arec said. “I don’t want you to think you can’t keep up your friendships now that you’re a werewolf.” Eve sighed and said, “Well, it won’t be the same. How am I supposed to tell her I’m unavailable three nights out of the month?” “Maybe she won’t notice?” Bella said, shrugging with a hopeful look. Eve shook her head and said, “I think Linda’s a little smarter than that.” “I’m sure she is, but it’ll take her time to catch on,” Arec said. “By the time she does notice, maybe you’ll be able to tell her.” Eve’s mouth dropped open, and she blinked a few times bef
Once Bella had completed her makeup, Eve stared at herself in the mirror. “Is this really me?” she asked, staring at the beautiful woman in the reflection. Bella appeared over her shoulder and smiled, putting her hands on Eve’s shoulders. “It’s really you,” she said. Meeting Bella’s eyes in the mirror, Eve asked, “Will this make your mother approve of me?” Bella’s smile faded, and she said, “I’m not sure even this will make Mother approve of you, but don’t let that get you down. There’s not many people she does approve of.” Eve smiled wryly at Bella and said, “I get the feeling she approves of Sabrina.” Bella rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t even get me started on that woman!” “I take it you know her?” Eve asked. Grimacing, Bella nodded, saying, “Unfortunately, I’ve had the not-so-pleasurable experience of meeting her when Mother was trying to pawn her off on one of my brothers.” “She did what?” Eve asked, her eyes wide. “You mean she wasn’t just trying to get her together
Eve opened her eyes and lifted her head from Arec’s shoulder to stare at the enormous mansion ahead of them. “Is that your mother’s house?” she asked. Arec nodded. Eve saw his lips had pressed together so hard that they looked white from the lack of blood. “Did you grow up here?” she asked, squeezing his arm. Arec nodded again, not taking his eyes from the house. “I left once I had the chance to do so and bought the house I’m living in,” he told her. He looked at her and smiled, saying, “Besides meeting you, that was the best thing that has happened in my life.”“Was it that bad?” Eve asked, frowning. Arec tore his eyes from the house and said, “It was, but since she’s still the pack leader, I couldn’t go far.” “Do you have to stay in town?” she asked. “Why couldn’t you move far away from her?” Arec pressed his lips together before answering. “Lycans are bound to their families,” he told her. “Even if we don’t get along, we have to stay together for the strength and saf
Everyone at the table gasped at Sabrina’s announcement and turned to look at Eve. Arec’s siblings whispered among themselves as they glanced toward Eve. Eve looked at Arec in confusion.Eve leaned closer to him and asked in a low voice, “What does she mean? What is she talking about?” Arec leaned toward her and said in an equally low voice, “She means that she will fight you for the right of being my mate.” Straightening, he looked at Sabrina and added, “That won’t be necessary since I can make my own decisions, and I choose Eve. Besides, she is my fated mate, and no one can override that.” His siblings whispered even louder among themselves. Eve heard them whisper that werewolves and Lycans cannot be mates. She also overheard their questions if Arec was serious about Eve being his mate. She swallowed as she looked at them before turning her head to look at Sabrina. Sabrina scowled at Arec and opened her mouth to say something but stopped as Arec’s mother held up her hand. She
“What?!” Arec roared. “What do you mean this challenge is to the death?”“That’s how we settle things these days, bro,” Samuel said, smirking at Arec. “You’d know this if you attended more Pack meetings.”Arec looked at Michael and asked, “Were you aware of this?” Michael looked at his mother and said, “I had a suspicion that Mother might still follow the old ways when it came to this.” “What old ways?” Eve asked. Arec glared at his mother before turning to Eve and saying, “In the old days, Pack law was settled by a fight to the death, but these days, I thought we’d become more civilized.” Looking back to his mother, he added, “It seems that I was wrong.” His mother pursed her lips and looked away. “Too bad for your girlfriend,” Sabrina said, bearing her teeth in a grin directed at Eve. “Now, wait just a minute,” Arec said, starting to stand. Eve put her hand on his arm. He looked at her before sitting back down in his seat. “I’ve got this,” she told him, staring at Sabri
“Is this really necessary?” Eve asked Arec, looking at Michael in his Lycan form on the other side of the gym. Arec looked at his brother, patiently waiting for Eve to finish warming up, and nodded. “You need to know how a Lycan fights so you can be prepared for what Sabrina may come at you with,” he said. “Michael won’t go full Lycan on me, though, will he?” she asked, still staring at him. “He will be full Lycan, but he won’t be using his full strength,” Arec told her. “He wants to teach you how to fight a Lycan, but he doesn’t want to hurt you while doing so. You won’t be able to fight a Lycan until you transform again during the next full moon.” Eve nodded, not taking her eyes off Michael, who noticed her staring and winked at her, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. She started, blinking her eyes rapidly. “Are you ready to begin?” Arec asked her, frowning. “Or do you want me to give you a few pointers first?” Eve tore her eyes from Michael to look at him. “You’d do