AliceAfter burning the letter, I could do nothing but cry.This is devastating, I thought, with a lot of pain and remorse.The worst part was that I had to clean everything up before Bella showed up because she had agreed to stay that night with me since she could stand to be alone without Angel. The truth is that I understood her, and that's why she had given in, but I couldn't lose my temper with her, or it could be worse.I was afraid to face the truth and to let Stefan know that I was okay.I didn't want to lose my freedom.I didn't want to fall into his clutches.In all those days in the Northern Pack, I had learned to deal with the sense of helplessness, with the feeling of guilt, and with the damned feeling of inferiority. I was learning to understand that those were not problems in this territory and that, if I put my mind to it, I could make a good life with friends, with people who respected me and really appreciated me for who I was. The very idea of Stefan taking that aw
AliceI couldn't believe it.This is impossible, I thought painfully.I had understood that my father was the only private who had not been promoted during the war because he had made too many mistakes. And I was sure it was him because his name was unique in the pack; no one else had the surname Brown precisely because that was the founding family of the pack in the old days, but it was the Gray's who took power when they could because my old lineage was in cahoots with dangerous sorceresses.That was what I was always told.So I couldn't believe I had distinctions and was considered a war hero.My head was going to explode; there was too much information in one second."This man, what was he like?" I asked between hesitations to the Alpha."He was a great person; he knew a lot about plants, healing, and food. He was always one step ahead in everything, so he knew how to read the tactical moves of the vampires very well, to the extent that they had to make several ambushes until they
JacksonSleeping next to Alice was peaceful.So much so that Alfie, for the first time in weeks since we had met her, was completely calm and had not insisted for that night that we should sleep outside her room to take care of her sleep.It felt good in a way it hadn't before, and that spoke to how much I loved being bonded with her.It felt great—so good that I couldn't imagine what happened in the middle of the night.It was strong enough to make me realize certain important things that I wouldn't have noticed or even turned my head to see before.Alice had had a dream.But this dream was not simple; it was very vivid and on a level of unconsciousness where it was impossible to wake up, and I was thankful in the morning that she didn't remember any of what could easily be night terrors.However, what I felt as I listened to her cry and beg for mercy and how she demanded not to be touched broke my soul. Somehow, I had confirmed that she must have some kind of relationship with Alexan
AliceCooking for me was as easy as breathing.There was no other definition that fit better, so I was in a good state when I went on to organize everything Enya had asked me to make into a list that seemed to be endless. That's when I realized that the woman was careful with details, so I was much more careful and could better realize the proportions.Her phrases were funny, plus there was something interesting about them.Put some cinnamon in the dough; believe it or not, it gives life to the buns, and Bella loves them.Don't put too much pepper in the meat marinade mixture, or Angel will have allergies like when she ended up with her butt on fire from poison ivy.Don't even think about overcooking the carbonara. Jackson doesn't like it too much; he prefers it creamed just right. He's very polite, and he'll eat it however you give it to him, but he'll go eat any nonsense in the middle because he's not going to be satisfied.All those notes were gold, so dinner that day was a complet
StefanI didn't know how it was that things had gotten a little off my mind.I only knew that for now I had achieved the goal of having the former Beta and his pathetic sons locked up while they did the investigation. That would give me time to find a way to frame them without any doubt that they were bad guys, and I could appeal for them to be sent back.The problem was that the whole thing had gotten out of my men's hands."How did that happen?" I asked my men. "The plan wasn't to kill anyone powerful; it was to give them a scare with the deaths of the soldiers. How did Luna end up dead?"That was the main question about my plan."I don't know," Ariel said with a frown. "I followed all of Dalia's directions. The infiltrator sent the gift on behalf of Question; this artifact was supposed to help control Alpha Enzo, but everything that happened from that point on is out of our hands. The men did what was necessary in the ambush, but they did not wait for Luna to have that defensive an
JacksonAlice had taken a very marked distance from me.It was much more noticeable after Angel left after establishing himself as a member of the Species Council's formal commission to investigate what had happened in the Southern Pack.There was much more space between the two of them and the work days had become a compendium of monosyllables on her part. Yes and no seemed to be the only words in her vocabulary and every time I tried to talk or establish the subject with Alice, something would come up that would make her pull away.By the third day, I couldn't take them anymore."Do you know what's wrong with Alice?" I asked my sister, and she denied it with concern."I don't know, and she won't tell me; she has days like this. To be exact, shortly after Rita arrived," she said, and I frowned. "But I don't think it's because of Rita or the fact that he already went to two sessions with her; it's something else. I'll try to figure it out, but no promises because he's been a little un
AliceI was not feeling well at all.I had days with a general malaise that was affecting me more than I would like to admit. It was as if my body was demanding that I rest, lie in bed, and never get up. I felt drained in a way I never imagined could happen.Every day was a new challenge, not only to stay on my feet but also to ignore the Alpha, who kept asking if everything was okay and didn't seem to understand my intention to mark space.After hearing what Diane said, I didn't feel comfortable, and then she told me about Jackson's exploits in the war. How he got human and wizard allies to join the crusade the werewolves were waging against the vampires."One of the things he did was tangle with most of the coalition women," she said once we were alone at the dining room table, and I couldn't chew a mouthful after listening to her. "He had no qualms about flirting with anyone to achieve his goals. That's why a war hero was the one who 'got him on track' to the sane side of life.""W
AliceWinter had come mercilessly so I grabbed the only thick coat I had to get out of the aging cabin I lived in. I put on my gloves after layering my fleece hat and went out to face the driving snowfall that was lashing the town of Beltone in the South Pack.As I did so, my bones immediately felt numb from the cold, so I took a deep breath and concentrated on walking as fast as I could to our Alpha's house to do my day-to-day chores. I did so under the scrutiny of the other members of the pack, who viewed me as if I were an insect to be eliminated.To the supernatural world, especially the werewolves, I was an abomination.To me, being a werewolf-human half-breed had turned out to be a curse that I wished would end that very night on my birthday. I had hoped that when I came of age I could become a wolf; it was my only chance for some acceptance, and if that didn't happen, I would flee to a place where the purity of species wasn't as much of an issue. Which turned out to be a kind o