Vale: I sat on the kitchen island, eating a bowl of Moose Track ice cream drenched in fudge. My sweet tooth had kicked into exceptionally high gear today, and I knew why. I hadn’t eaten a meal- a real meal for almost a day and a half. Trying to be a good girl was definitely not agreeing with me. With a small sigh, I dug into my bowl and took a large bite of my fudgy ice cream. Eyes closed, I savored the rich fudge when I started to get a splitting headache. “You alright in here?” I heard the resoundingly deep voice of my father ask me as I sat on the island counter trying to enjoy my sweet treat. “Brain freeze,” I murmured as I squeezed my eyes shut tightly as if that would help alleviate the pain that I was feeling. I took a deep breath after the pain subsided and just looked at my father, giving him a small smile before I returned to my steadily melting treat. “Those can suck.” “Yeah,” I replied to him. “They certainly can. In fact, I am almost certain that they always do.”

Harylyn's eyes were bloodshot and narrow. She could hardly put proper words together as she stumbled through her response. “As…as the blo...ody…v-vampire said. Well, e...except I can…I can hold my alcoh-my alcohol,” she slurred.“Apparently, you can’t," I hissed under my breath. So irritated by Harlyn's reckless behavior. Already, things were turning out to be a mess, and the meeting hadn’t even started yet. I simply could not afford to have two children acting out erratically.Toran’s son, Talon approached with impatience. “If it’s alright with you, alpha, I’ll take her upstairs so she can sleep it off.”“Thank you, Talon.” I knew it was as frustrating for him to see her that way as it was for me. When I handed her off, I noticed the flush in her cheeks. She seemed to be ashamed of her actions now when she noticed that Talon was standing before her. Harlyn suddenly became silent and docile. It was all of a sudden that Harlyn was seemingly more aware and apologetic of her actions.

Ares:When I saw her standing there, staring at the house, her eyes wandering along the length of the Wade estate, I stood there and simply watched. I liked watching her. Something was on her mind, and I had no idea what it was. What is she thinking? I asked to myself as I stood there in the distance, desperate to know what was on her mind.I didn’t make myself known just yet as I shamelessly took that time to admire how beautiful she was. And the sweet scent that seemed to change into something ever sweeter whenever she was near.The black distressed pants she wore hugged at her thick thighs and a plump backside. She had on a leather jacket that covered the mid-drift shirt t

ALASTAIR:Weeks had come and gone since Val and her mother returned home. Though my eldest little girl and I were not necessarily on bad terms, my situation with Merari and even Harlyn was a little rocky. Well, a little more than rocky.Harlyn still hadn’t completely accepted the fact that Valene was home, and she seemed quite cross with me for having as good a relationship with her as I did despite everything that had been going on. It didn’t make sense to me but the best that I could figure was that maybe she was resentful of the fact that Val became the one thing that she never thought she should be.I could not begin to understand the complexities of my baby girl’s mind, and at this time of my life, I felt it a waste to even try. I knew enough to love her unconditionally, and for me, that was enough.This was all besides the fact that things had been too shaky around Shadow Veil to be concerned with such trivial matters.Was I still concerned? Of course, I was. What kind of fath

VALE:It had been nearly a week, and still, I was forced to stay at this hospital. Apparently, the poison was significantly stronger than I had expected it to be. Than anyone had. It didn’t make sense to me that their poisonous bites had gotten stronger since Ares’ injury. Then again, two years had passed, and I shouldn’t have been surprised. But I was. Mutations like this never happened so fast.Bearing this in mind, I couldn’t help but feel that maybe I was weaker than I had originally thought I was. I mean, what other reason could there be for me to have succumbed to the bite so quickly?Honestly, I preferred the idea of being weaker than I thought than these beasts mutating so quickly over the last two years. It was off-putting. Fortunately, I was at least permitted to sit up and walk around. Leaving, however, was a big bloody no-no for me. Rolling my eyes at the thought, I look outside the window, watching as the autumn sun began to set. I wanted to be out there so bad. I wa