ORLA“This is wild,” Ella said, sipping from a cup of fruit juice. “I’m trying really hard to believe what you’re saying right now, Orla. Please tell me that this isn’t some kind of prank.” She put her cup down and used her straw to chip at the ice cubes sitting inside it. “The Moon Goddess sent you back in time?”“Shh. Lower your voice. You don’t know who might be listening,” I whispered, looking around the little stall we’d chosen.I’d invited her over to the quiet eatery not so far away from home. I was even surprised that she’d obliged to my invitation without needing any explanation at all.She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. In the entire place, she stood out the most. Her shoulder-length hair was a wild two-tone consisting of a vivid, grassy green at the top that melted into a much darker shade of the same color as you went down the locks. Today, she’d pulled her hair into a clean bun and applied a wing of eyeliner at the corner of each eye. As a halfling, she’d grown up w
ORLAI told my driver to take us to the woods at the edge of town. He’d seemed skeptical about it at first, but I told him that everything would be fine. Ella was curious as well.We both got out of the car and descended into the woods. The air smelled so fresh and clean. It beckoned me deeper. I couldn’t recall a time in my life that I’d felt so at home. Every leaf, every tree branch, and even the squirrels moving around felt like a part of me.Was this what it meant to have your wolf awakened?“So, what’s the plan?” Ella’s voice cut into my thoughts, sending me out of the confines of my mind. “I think grass can be fascinating too, but my mother’s been calling me for the past ten minutes now. As much as I really hate to rush you, I need to get going very soon.”“I understand,” I said, already taking a deep breath and calling deep into myself. I could feel Eva’s presence, just waiting to be called upon.“You wish to transform?” Her warm voice flooded my mind.“Yes, please.”“It’s dayt
ORLAI sunk into my bed and tried to welcome sleep, but it didn't come. Restless and tired, I found myself turning and turning until I finally found a little peace.And then, I fell asleep.My dreams were a mess of images that I couldn’t understand. I saw faces that I didn’t know, and I saw things that my mind kept failing to comprehend. At one point, I even felt like someone was hovering above me and urging me to wake up, but I didn't open my eyes until sunlight had started flowing in through the windows of my room, signifying that morning had once again come upon me.I got out of my messy bed and found myself staring at the mirror. It was wide and square with a dark wooden frame. There was a notch at the corner where I'd accidentally broken it on the day of my failed Awakening ceremony. I could remember the day like it was just a few hours before. All of my peers had somehow managed to transform on the full moon after their 14th birthday, but I couldn't. I'd stood there untder the m
MAVERICKI came awake with a terrifying start. I had a dream where someone was killing my parents right before my very eyes, and I was too powerless to stop them. The killer stood over their corpses, and turned to me at last. She had blood red eyes, and a wide smile that made her look like a crazed, deranged lunatic. She came for me with her hands outstretched, claws ready to sink into my flesh and snuff the life out of me.And that was when I'd woken up.Sweat ran down my skin as I tried to catch my breath. "It's just a dream," I told myself. "Just a dream."I'd told myself the same lie for over nineteen years now, and each time I used it, it got weaker and weaker. But I didn’t have any other way to comfort myself.My parents died when I was just a baby . . . Murdered by a witch that I'd been told spared my life—but not before marking my face. Because of her, I had a scar running down a quarter of my face—from eyebrow to cheek.It was already bright outside, so I took it as a sign
ORLAAfter Eva’s revelation concerning why I couldn’t tell people of what I’d been through, I just needed a way to release all the pent up tension that I had. Definitely, I’d have to get on Ella’s good side, because she’d forgotten all about what I’d told her the day before, and still believed that we weren’t talking to one another.Five months . . . was it really that long? I didn’t think that we had stayed apart for that long. Five long months of acting like strangers to one another.I freshened up and put on some clean clothes. I never really liked dressing up in anything that exposed too much of my skin, so I dressed up in a simple t-shirt and a pair of bell-bottom jeans. I moved downstairs, drawn to the sound of voices.When I saw them, I immediately jumped to give both of them hugs. “Mom! Dad!”They returned the gesture, surrounding me with warmth and a whole lot of peace. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed them until that particular moment. My father’s eyes crinkled at the co
ORLANow reconciled with Ella, hopefully for real this time, I found my way back home only to be met with calm music and a couple of strange faces.My parents didn’t strike me as the party type, but of course, they had just returned after being away for a few days. All the people that must have been expecting them back could finally come around.While trying to quietly avoid running into anyone familiar, I ended up bumping into the last person I wanted to see.He smiled and pulled me closer to him. His hand sat firmly on my waist. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”I wriggled out of his grasp and forced a smile that felt too paper thin. “I stepped out for a little while. I didn’t even know that my parents were planning to have a little get together.”“Well, I actually came here to see you. I’d like us to talk about some things.”I didn’t need him to elaborate to know what he meant. He was likely talking about us and our mating ceremony. But I didn’t want to talk about that now. I
TWO NIGHTS AGOThe chilly wind seeped through her thick layers of clothing, rendering her practically incapacitated from the cold. She pulled her scarf tightly around her neck, while looking from left to right as she walked by the roadside. It wasn’t that late, but she was having problems getting a cab to take her home. That was why she had to trek down to a less secluded area. Maybe she should have taken Mr. Blackwood’s offer to have her dropped off at a spot closer to her place just so that she wouldn’t have had to bother herself walking alone on a quiet street.She’d left with another employee, but at some point, he’d disappeared and she didn’t see him again. Something about it seemed weird, but she didn’t want to waste too much time before getting home. Her little sister would probably be waiting for her to return so that they could have dinner together.A cold sensation made the hairs on her neck stand. She cast a quick look behind her and found no one there. “Weird,” she mutte
ORLA“Are you sure you’ll be alright dear?” asked my mom. “We’ll be gone for quite some time. It’s not too late to come with us.”Somehow, I’d managed to convince my parents that they didn’t have to stay within the town since they had so much to do. Dad frequently attended international meetings and events, and my mother had a lust for adventure that made her discontent in staying in one place for too long. How they managed to stay around home for all the years they had made me understand just how much they had sacrificed for the family and the pack. It was time for them to do what they actually wanted, without the fear of anything or anyone holding them back.Now, mom had gotten an invitation to a supernatural organization that needed her expertise with ancient artifacts and widespread knowledge about the supernatural world. Dad, as well, didn’t want to be too far away from the love of his life, and somehow worked his way into getting a job as an ambassador for the supernatural commu