ROSE I heard this voice earlier. The authoritative one. The one that belonged to—. 'Did the Luna sent you two?' he asked. Did he not recognise Rum? Oh, we weren't facing him directly so he couldn't tell. I glanced at Rum. His eyes were on the floor, struggling. He didn't reply. He couldn't. If there was a hole in the ground right now, he'd jump into it without any hesitation. I kinda understood why. I caught the name too. Earlier. And I knew for sure this was him—Rum's best friend and the husband of his first love—Gamma Hector. 'Speak up!' the voice hissed in a hushed tone, as though he didn't want to be heard by anyone else other than us. I should probably answer him. Rum looked like he wanted to remain anonymous. 'W-We're here to fetch for Alpha Magnus,' I said, mimicking the language here. And Rum's face jerked up, appalled. What the fuck? He mouthed. Glaring back, I flashed my palms in my robes and mouthed, What else then? 'Alpha Magnus?' The werewolf at t
ROSEOh, what a jerk! My feet stomped forward, ignoring the cries behind me. 'Hey! You're going the wrong way, goddamn it!' Rum came after me. 'Rose!' Why can't he tell me? The name of his first love, the one who dumped him to marry his best friend. Just tell me if she was Rola or Roseb, is it that tough?! 'ROSE!' A fierce grip came over my wrist and a strong force twirled me around. Two angry blue sapphires bored into my face. 'Have you forgotten about the rogues? Stay close to me, damn it, what the fuck is wrong with you?' I tried to pry my hand out. 'Nothing's wrong! There! That's what you wanted to hear. Nothing's wrong with me! I'm perfectly fine!' His grip tightened. I could tell from the look on his face, he was trying to fight the agitation. 'I was being honest when I said I don't want to talk about it.' His voice was calm and serious. Which made me feel childish—and hence even more infuriating. 'Because it's all in the past.' I stared at the ground. 'Fuck… that look.
ROSEHe made me rest on top of him, all stretched out from head to toes, so it would feel like I’m lying on a mattress. The giggles couldn’t stop. His arms circled my waist, half-hugging me, half keeping me from rolling off him. ‘Seatbelts,’ he said and I giggled harder. ‘You like that, huh?’ I nuzzled my nose against his shirt and then lay my left cheek on his chest and followed his heart beating softly against my ear. ‘Yeah, you like it.’ His body tensed up and I felt a kiss on the top of my head and it relaxed again. ‘Let’s rest a bit before we find that irresponsible feline.’ I giggled lightly. A long silence washed over us and then, very quietly, he said, ‘I’m with you now. And you said you like me. So don’t go back to the past, eh?’ I opened my eyes and lifted myself to hover my face over his. Those blue sparkles caught the hint of sunlight that managed to sneak through the canopy above us and were dancing to their own music. Suddenly, I saw daddy’s smile when he looked
ROSE I stared at the swell in the throat of the one who had just made love to me in the most passionate way. His calm breathing has become a lullaby necessary to numb my senses and put me to sleep. Since that day on the roof, I couldn’t sleep like normal. Maybe the sudden switch to a normal life—one without bullies, without someone constantly berating me, without the stress and adrenaline grip to keep my body in a perpetual alert and flight or fight mode—is the cause of this. I have so much energy stored at the end of the day that I lay awake throughout the night. Or maybe it was that dream of me turning into a monster that gnaws on my nerves, keeping it awake and alert. I reached out to stroke that angled jaw, rubbing my skin along the stubble, and his breathing skipped a beat. The arms around my waist tightened and I was pushed deeper into his embrace, my breasts flattened against his muscular chest, its black curls tickling me. I felt a smile on my lips and leaned in to k
ROSEI walked up to the handsome guy standing by the river, pondering.Hands listless at his side, his eyes at some place distant where I can’t see, he looked lost…and frightened. I slid my fingers through his and snuggled to his side, and he blinked, awoke from his thoughts, and glanced down at our hands entwined before turning to me. He lifted our hands and kissed the back of mine before pressing it to our chest. ‘You look like shit,’ I muttered, resting my cheek against his shoulder. A chuckle vibrated through his skin to my cheek. ‘I feel like shit.’ I wanted to check his face, out of concern, but I knew that would make him feel worse, so I shrugged and said in the most casual tone I could muster, ‘that makes two of us.’ He laughed a little and fell into another long silence. Then, very quietly, he said, ‘My uncle’s consumed by the dark whims.’ I tensed up but forced myself not to look at him. Instead, I stared at the flowing waters before us, trying to distract myself wit
ROSE ‘But there was nothing here when we first came. And there’s nothing here now.’ I scanned the familiar vast sea of green grass swaying gently in the fresh mountain breeze. Rum looked around. ‘It’s hidden. That’s why we can’t see it.’ He tugged my hand and moved closer to the pond. ‘It’s here alright. I’m sure of it.’ ‘Rum….’ He looked at me with a warm smile that seemed to remind me of what I had agreed to earlier. I need you to trust me, Rose. I squeezed his hand to tell him I’m fine and shifted closer to him to let him know that I trust him. I guess I was scared to leave Mrs. Hook’s cave because that place felt safe; it was high enough to disappear from plain sight and Mrs. Hook has lived there all her life—well most of it—so with her skills, she’s a strong fighter. As we circled the pond, I observed that strong jaw I’ve held and kissed many times and chided myself for being a scaredy cat. The dark whims are contained within a single werewolf so there’d be none floa
ROSE Because Alpha Erick hardly leaves his room, it was safe for Rum and I to move around the halls of the castle—I mean the manor—without announcing our arrival. Erasmo gave us a map to help us navigate around the manor, reminded us for the fifth time not to go anywhere near the main hall, and that our quarters would be outside the manor—his stone hut—and then left us at the library. ‘What if someone sees us?’ I asked in a low whisper when the door closed behind us. ‘Erasmo will take care of it.’ Rum moved into the library and I followed closely. ‘He’s going to tell the others that we’re his VIPs and we’re not to be disturbed.’ ‘And they’ll listen?’ ‘Gosh.’ He halted and turned around with a frown. ‘I really need to do something about those bullies when we go back there.’ Chilling fear gripped my back, straightening it. ‘Are we going back?’ The human world now felt like a nightmare to me. It shouldn’t because Joy’s still there. But it is. And I can’t seem to help it.
ROSE Rum quickly searched the second scroll he’d picked up earlier while he explained, ‘I remember reading it. The dark whims must’ve struck a deal with my uncle.’ A deal? I arrived beside him, watching his finger scroll across the page. ‘Like a contract?’ ‘Yes!’ Rum unrolled some more and scanned the paragraphs. ‘I remember reading it… it must be here somewhere….’ ‘Kinda like the Ghostrider.’ I still feel surreal about the idea. ‘Or Doctor what’s his name, who made a pact with the devil and sold their souls for something—that kind of deal?’ Rum frowned at me. ‘Goddamn it, the Ghostrider didn’t sell his soul—his father did.’ Irritation narrowed my eyes. ‘Who’s the human here?’ Those blue eyes widened with the recognition of his signature response and rolled skyward. ‘Fine. Five points to Cintilar.’ He returned his focus to the scroll and added, ‘but no–it’s not like that.’ I was grinning from ear to ear when he exclaimed, ‘here it is!’ And I shifted closer to read the p