Carena:I listened to him speak with the confidence of an alpha king, but this time, I refused to submit to him like the Luna Queen he envisioned. That phase of my life was over. I have grown up now and no longer wanted a charming prince to come riding his horse and save me with his intimate kiss.After enduring enough of his rambling, I tilted my head and spoke with certainty."I'm not here to beg you or to be accepted by you. I'm here to ask you, how do you call yourself an alpha king and then turn your back on your words?"I watched him squint, trying to grasp what he had just heard. But I wasn't finished yet."I appreciate you making me believe I made the right choice, but I never expected you to stoop so low," my tone turned harsh, deepening his frown as he slammed his hand on the table. It was his way of warning me to quit yapping."Watch your tongue, Carena!" he bellowed.Though my body flinched, I quickly regained my composure. I needed to confront him for what he had done to

Carena:The melodic chirping of birds and the warm sunlight streaming through the window signaled the arrival of morning. I forced my eyes open and realized I was lying on the cold bedroom floor. With effort, I struggled to rise, my body feeling numb on one side. Sitting up, I surveyed the room, realizing I had passed out there the night before.Glancing at the clock on the wall, another shock hit me. "9 am! I'm so late," I muttered to myself, noting with a pang that no one had come to check on me. It was saddening because I should have known I always deal with sorrow alone.As I showered, memories of last night flooded back. Sawyer with Ashley, my father's slap, and then those screams and the earthquake. "No!" I immediately regretted opening my mouth under the rush of water. But surely, the earthquake wasn't my doing. My freak-out wasn't that special. It was probably just an anxiety attack. Why the hell would the world shake when I am angry?Pushing aside my worries, I focused on get

Carena:“Here’s your ID. Keep it safe because I heard someone in the North is stealing identities,” he whispered as he got closer, too close for my comfort.I tried to snatch it out of his hands, but he held it so tight that my fingers slipped over it. It was only after I shot him a disapproving glare that he let it go.His face was so close to mine that I could clearly see the brown in his eyes.“Let’s drop you home now, Miss Arrogant Carena!”It really hit me when he used that word for me. I was always known as the nice girl. The naive and idiot girl, in fact.I don’t know why, but hearing the word “arrogant” didn’t offend me. For the first time in my life, it felt like somebody recognized that I do have a spine.I walked out to sit in the back seat when I noticed him holding the passenger seat open for me.“You don’t want people to think you were arrested, do you?” That man was so cunning.He was able to make me agree with him in such a sly way. I walked over to the passenger side

Carena:I woke up early in the morning, thinking I would be on my way to work without any more arguments. Usually, we take breaks between arguments, but recently, my family has learned this technique where they don’t want to leave me in peace for one second.Changing into a purple tank top, a black sweater, and pants, I grabbed my side bag and rushed downstairs. I kept my hair in a high ponytail, unlike how I used to keep it. Since I was changing so much, I decided to switch up my style a bit as well.Not to mention, there was so much I wanted to do when I was a teen but couldn’t due to all sorts of responsibilities. But now I was free, and this newly found freedom had given me a weird sense of courage and confidence.However, life was still the same because the people around me were the same. I had only stepped off the stairs when I realized we had a guest over. With my eyes narrowed and my heart sinking in my chest, I acknowledged it was none other than Sawyer, sitting on a chair wi

Carena:"Actually, thank you for the offer, but I have some work left to do," I excused myself, thankfully remembering I had to clean the kitchen."No! It's fine. You can go," the people pleaser spoke, making me clench my jaw."Would you look at that? I got you off work early," Sawyer joked. Even though it wasn’t funny, they laughed like it was a million-dollar joke.This was going to get me in huge trouble because they would make me work hard to please Sawyer."Great then, grab your stuff if you have any," Sawyer taunted before he scoffed and chuckled to himself. "Oh, sorry, I forgot, you don't even take your stuff when you’re rushing to leave."Wow! And I thought he had moved on.I gave a dead look to Mr. Bob, who was constantly eyeing me, urging me not to reject the offer and to walk after Sawyer. Since day one, they had made it clear they wanted people to come, even if it was because of me.I grabbed my bag and walked after Sawyer, who let me sit in the backseat where he also slid