[The Prisoner II]SEBASTIAN“If you don’t know why you’re here, how can you say you didn’t do it? What didn’t you do?” I scanned her face, watching for any telltale signs of lying. Arianne was an open book; she hid nothing. My heart felt like it would pound out of my chest as our eyes locked, hers asking me to believe her.“I know, which is why I’m telling you I’m innocent of whatever they’re saying I did. Sebastian, you know who I am. Am I the kind of person to commit a crime, whatever it may be?” She stretched her arms across the table, keeping her gaze fixed on me.Atticus tried to take control, wanting to jump across the table, wrap my hands around her scrawny neck and squeeze until she spit out the truth, but I stopped him. Her blood wasn’t clean enough to have on my hands. We wouldn’t be any better than her if we did.“Where were you last night before midnight?” I asked her, watching to see her reaction, though I didn’t have to wait long, which was disappointing.“In my room—alo

[Galloping Heart] ARIANNE I jolted awake in bed, screaming my heart out. My palm shot to my chest, trying to calm my galloping heart. I was reluctant to open my eyes for fear of not being back in the comfort of my bedroom, but trapped in a never-ending loop of Sebastian saying I killed him. That look in Sebastian’s eyes chilled me to the bone. Dream or not, I could never hurt Sebastian. Not intentionally, at least. Never. He was my everything, and I loved him. Sighing, I slipped from the sweat-soaked bed and headed to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. That nightmare left something broken inside me. Despite Sebastian’s icy, piercing eyes forever imprinted in my brain, I understood what the dream signified. One thing was certain: that nightmare had nothing to do with Sebastian and everything to do with Sierra. The expression was correct, but from the incorrect face. Even if I tried, I couldn’t forget the look she gave me. She stared at me with such sympathy. Could you b

[The Returned] UNKNOWN I stood at the window, gazing off into the ravine on the western border of the McKinley Ranch. Just beyond that ravine of trees was the place I spent the last five years. I spent those five years hating the very people I spied on and without my beloved, only because I had to pretend to be one of them. No one could grasp the torment of wanting to slit their throats as they slept, or poison their meals and rid the world of their abhorrent existence. Today didn’t go exactly as planned. My mission was to fiddle with the cameras so the others could slip into Ambersky’s territory without detection. That part worked all too well, thanks to my role in installing them. The guys got in and immediately split up to execute their parts. Perhaps we underestimated those mutts. Everything was going according to plan at first, but one mistake had the men dropping their guard, which left themselves and the others unguarded. Unfortunately, we lost three good men, including the

[Unbelievable] SEBASTIAN “So, how will we do this? For one thing, we can’t just release him and expect him to lead us back to his people.” I leaned against my desk and folded my arms, my bulging biceps straining at the buttons of my shirt. “These people have been doing this for years if I remembered the stories my father shared with me as a boy. I am sure they had a plan if something like this happened. We have to be smart about this,” I said to Rory as we stood around in my office formulating the best plan for a greater outcome with what we were about to do. “You’re right. If we released him like that, he’s bound to suspect something. Who knows, he can even lead us into a trap,” added Rory. I exhaled a sigh, mumbling a few incoherent profanities under my breath. “Honestly, how did my ancestors deal with having so much to deal with at once? It’s like the moment you have one complication under control, another problem shows up, and you need to figure out how to address that one, to

[Goodbyes] OWEN “Are you excited about being home?” Amanda muttered, glancing over her right shoulder. Her long, dark auburn hair whirled out, split by the wind, and streaming over her shoulders, whereas her khaki coat flapped in all directions behind her, protecting her from the blistering breeze that came out of nowhere. With slow, deliberate steps, I drew closer to her. My thoughts and emotions were still playing catch up, unable to believe that after five long years apart, we were finally together again. Nothing had made me happier since I left her to join the Ambersky pack. When Blair’s father, Tyrone, asked for a volunteer to join the Ambersky pack, and I said yes, it was not my best decision. I would admit that. But with Amanda going to school and her father being such a nag about me being a distraction, I figured, why not? What I didn’t know was that it would take five years. Five years of pining for her touch, her love, and her smile. I tucked a few stray hairs behind he