Song: Talk by Adelitas Way The woods I find myself circling are dark due to the clouded sky that blocks the moon from shining down. The humid air sticks to my skin. Rain is coming. My anxiousness intensifies with the feeling of eyes on me. Rustling leaves in the gentle breeze is expected, but the snap of a branch, a big branch fills the woods. It echoes through the trees sending animals skittering, birds screeching. A silence follows. An eerie deafening quiet that has me hearing the pulsing of my blood rushing through my veins. But everything comes to a stop when a howl breaks that silence. A howl not from a dog or a bear, but a wolf. Frozen in place, legs refusing to move, I stand there like an idiot searching for the culprit. My eyes scan between trees trying to pinpoint where the animal is lurking. It’s then that I see a set of blue eyes looking back at me. Upon our eyes meeting my legs start working. Adrenaline or fear propels me in the opposite direction. Weaving in and out
A knock on the bedroom door startles me awake. Well, I fell back to sleep at some point in time last night. But the stiffness in my neck tells me that it was in a terrible position. As I rub out my sore muscles, Nexus prances into the room balancing yet another tray, “rise and shine,” she sings into the room. “You missed breakfast, so I brought you something to snack on before lunch.” She looks me over, eyebrows creased in pity, “I heard your first night back was rough." “And I wonder who told you that?” I mutter under my breath. "He was…I never seen him like that before.” Like what? “He’s not used to not getting what he wants. Everyone here will bend over backwards to please him, to do whatever he asks, but you…” She laughs as if this conversation is funny, “you test his patience and make him work for it. Then again, you always have.” Have I? “He’ll be fine,” Nexus says in an exhaled breath. “His ego is too big for his own good anyways.” She throws her hands up in the air. “Enou
(Song: The Death Of Peace Of Mind by Bad Omens) I’ve never been desperate before, but recently I’ve been nothing but desperate. Finding myself in the middle of the woods, even in the broad daylight, by my own means, I’m getting that feeling again. My nightmares come back to me tenfold. Why did I think this was a good idea? Desperation is what had my feet walking before my hands did some talking. Is what Raelyn said true? But what did she say that bothers me the most? This passing of daughters to the next alpha in line or that she has possibly been romantically involved with Nox? Both, but for some reason the latter leaves my chest burning as if it's been ripped open. Lost in thoughts, all bad, my feet continue to shuffle along. It isn’t until I come to a stop, nearly tripping over my own feet that my eyes lock onto a particular tree. It’s not like I'm not surrounded by trees, but this one. This is the one from that memory of Nox and I. I haven’t the faintest idea how I know that,
(Song: Animals by Call Me Karzima) Anxious, I speed walk down the path that will lead me back to the house. My feet stumble over small rocks and branches, which gets me grumbles from Nox. But there’s no way I’m slowing down. He follows just behind me, slow and calculated. He could easily reach my side, stop me and force me to listen. Among other things. Is it because he’s giving me the space I desperately want or because he’s waiting for me to slip up? But the longer he lingers without interference the more paranoid I get. I’m nearly out of breath from holding every ounce of oxygen in my lungs. All that air rushes from my mouth when I finally enter the pack house. He still hasn’t said a single word and hasn’t strayed more than a few steps behind me. I nearly get through the entire mansion and back to my room without a scene. But causing a scene is exactly what Raelyn wants to do. And it’s exactly what I need. I catch her in a bedroom, a door I haven’t seen open as of yet. Her room
I wake up to an empty bed. Is there another situation or is he running from me, not willing to tell me what the hell is going on. I’ve been here three days with not a single reason as to why my mother was killed or why I constantly have a chaperone watching my every move, babysitting me. After changing, I head out in search of him hellbent to get something out of him. But as I go through room after room, I come up empty. Either he’s behind a closed door or he’s not here. And without knocking on every single closed door in the house, which is the last thing I want to do, I decide to head outside. But my search is abruptly halted when I try to leave the house. Silas always seems to be there, lurking, ready to force me back into my cage. “I don’t think you should be wandering the woods, SuperNova.” he tells me in his typical demeaning tone. “And why is that?” I reply back with just as much snark. Except I’m met with silence. Everyone seems to be able to tell me what I can and cannot
Fuming, I reach the house only to run into Silas. Again. “That didn’t take long. I’m assuming he didn’t tell you what you wanted to know.” How observant of him. “Where’s Gideon?” “Oh, you’re going to the big man.” He’s unable to hold back his laughter. “He’s in his office.” Twisting his torso, he points into the house, “left of the staircase, down the hall, third door.” As I step forward, he wishes me luck as if this is going to be another pointless conversation. Following Silas’s direction, I enter an unfamiliar section of the house. Counting the doors, I stop in front of the third one, knuckles lightly knocking. A nervousness attacks me as I wait for him to acknowledge that someone is requesting entrance. It’s mere seconds before he hollers for me to come in. Entering the room, I find him behind a large desk, nose deep into a bunch of papers. So werewolves really do have business to conduct. It’s not just pissing on their territory and having howling contests? “Gideon.” As I an
(Song: Animal by Tom Morello and Barns Courtney) Bumbling around like an idiot is the last thing I want to do. Should I have trusted Raelyn? This would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of me. Help me slip out unnoticed and possibly forever lost. Before the trees thin they get thicker. The wheels on my bag continually get hung up on gnarled roots and twigs. A tightness in my chest can either be from paranoia or exhaustion. Maybe both. Maybe one causes the other. Talking to myself, I try to keep my feet going and my heart from crushing itself. With no idea of how long I’ve been out here, I’m more than grateful when the forest opens up to a road. Raelyn wasn’t lying. But her help isn’t without hassle. The trek through the woods didn’t lead me to the city. Hell, I don’t even know where the city is. So logically, standing on the edge of this unknown road, I choose left or right and hope that it leads me somewhere that has a phone. Somewhere that I can reach out to home. Left seems
Nox’s POV The sound of tires speeding down the narrow road to the barn has me tensing up. At first, I wonder how Nova got her hands on a set of keys, but with a quick glance at the driver, a different panic consumes me. Something’s wrong. Gideon doesn’t step out of the car, instead he barks orders through the open window, “get some clothes on, we have to go.” His face is emotionless and his shoulders are tense. It has my mind racing and muscles tensing. “What’s going on? Where’s Nova?” She said she was going to speak to him. Did she? Did she barge out of the house? Did she get her hands on a different pair of keys? Scenario after scenario race through my head. “Nova’s fine. The problem is Tariq. He has Roman and Michaela.” Shit. Sweaty and more than a little dirty, I put my shirt back on and hop in the passenger seat. We don't go back to the house to announce our departure. Instead, we leave immediately. Does Nova know we’re leaving? Does she know I’m leaving? Gideon’s priority