-Anastasia- Instead of saving Roman and torturing myself by going back to him, I stayed with Daphne. I did feel a little bad, but I really couldn’t handle those people and listening to them gossiping. I could see Roman was trying to escape so he could join us. But every time he ended one conversation, more wanted to talk to him. I knew I had to go be with him. I was his queen, after all, and I was just about to excuse myself when someone called out to me. “Ana!” Suddenly Jackson came pushing through the enormous crowd and I smiled at him, walking over to him and I surprised him as I hugged him. “What the…” I pulled back and chuckled. I was better at accepting people’s touch if I had initiated it. Jackson was very surprised, though, and just looked at me like I was a stranger. “You’re not Ana,” he said. “Funny!” We both laughed, and I then grabbed his hand and pulled him over to where Daphne was. But when I focused on her again, she had almost paled. “Eh, Daphne, this is my cou

-Anastasia- My uncle and aunt found us a little later in the evening. My aunt let out a happy squeal as she found me and then grabbed my uncle’s hand, running over to us and hugging me hard. “I have missed you so much!” “I have only been out of the house for two weeks,” I told her. “And it has been so quiet!” she told me. I pulled back and looked at her weirdly. I barely made any sounds. I barely talked. I didn’t make messes or threw big house parties. Jackson and his friends were the loud ones, so I did not know what she was talking about. “Quiet?” “Okay, not quiet in that way,” she said and brushed a small strand of hair away from my face. “But I do feel you aren’t there.” “Because there isn’t a dark cloud hanging over the house?” I joked. My aunt rolled her eyes before she focused on Roman and me together. “I see things are going great,” she said as she saw the arm he had around me and the smile on our lips. It was hard to hide how happy we were, and why should we? I didn

-Anastasia- Roman twirled me around and brought me back to him, and I laughed happily. I had forgotten all about why I was even here tonight. I couldn’t think about it because I was so happy. I just felt fantastic. It felt literally like I was flying and that was because of Roman. He made me forget the anger, just like he said he would help me do. I mean, I still had a nagging feeling like there was something I needed to remember, but really I had mostly forgotten about it and just allowed my mate to move me around the dance floor. We continued until the music stopped, and then we clapped together with the rest before we left the dance floor. We did go and get a drink, but then Roman turned to me with heated eyes, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. “So, what do you say?” he asked. “Home?” “Oh, definitely home,” I told him with a big smile. We drank our drinks, but before we could go anywhere, two couples came up to us, wanting to chat, and now this time actually seemed intere

-Roman- It was not really how I had imagined my mate confessing her love for me. Really, I had seen us in bed together again, just enjoying being around each other, loving each other’s bodies, and just having a great day together. Instead, I was in this room with her, holding the very knife she would have used to kill one of the lycans who had taken her family from her, and she was desperate to get it back. I understood that. She had waited so long for revenge. I just hadn’t realized how long or how deeply this went. I hadn’t seen how desperate she was to see the lycans dead. She would gladly be the one to drive a knife through their hearts as long as it meant they would finally be dead. “What?” I asked her. Ana had tears in her eyes and they slowly travelled down her cheeks as she groaned and began to pace in front of me. I just looked at her and heard the lycan outside walk by us and away. At least he was safe from her for now, but he would not feel safe for long. Once I uncovered

*Warning: Another flashback, can be hard to read for sensitive readers* -Anastasia- “Take her!” I was being handed over to smaller arms, but I still felt their power. It was all very chaotic, and dark. I couldn’t figure out what had happened. One moment we were laughing, and I was running around with the other kids. My brother was standing not far away, joking with his friends. He was so happy. We were all so happy, but it wasn’t long before screams filled the air. I stood frozen in my place as I watched a lycan attack my brother and tear him to pieces. My father roared loudly, going for Dean, hoping to save him, but there was nothing to do. His blood spread over the grass, almost leading a way to me. The lycan had looked up seeing me, but my father had been faster, shooting it in the face, and then running to me, picking me up. “Tif!” My mother came running, and my father handed me over to her. “Run! Just run!” “But…” My father silenced her with a kiss, and then took off befor