by Jennise K
“Issy?”
There, quietly sitting on the bed, was my forlorn best friend with her packed and sealed suitcase beside her.
“Hey, Liv,” she greeted and smiled a slow sad smile I had come to know well ever since we had become friends. Smiling a little brighter, she patted the space on the bed beside her. “Come sit.”
“You’re leaving?”
There was no point in beating around the bush. We both knew it wasn’t really a question. She knew it. I knew it. And knowing her, I bet she has already booked her tickets. She was ready to go.
“Yes, I’m leaving,” she admitted, nodding as she patted her suitcase.
“You don’t have to.” I frowned, moving to sit beside her now.
“I know.” She nodded, sighing, and put her hand over mine. “I’m moving out—out of the house. I’m done living as someone’s shadow. It’s time I stood up for myself.”
I sat speechless.
How could I tell her not to give Dominic and her bond a chance? Surely there was. She felt it, too, when they first met each other. But how? Dominic couldn’t see her as anything but a shadow of Emily. How could I tell a girl—who was my best friend—to stay despite this knowledge, when I had encouraged her against ever being someone else’s shadow all throughout our childhood? I couldn’t.
I knew both Dominic and Isabelle were hurting. To find one’s soulmate, no matter how lightly some people took it, was still an incredibly pure thing—an important thing. But they were both broken. And to be able to breathe together, they had to heal themselves first.
I slowly nodded, then looked up at her, her moist forest green pools boring on my blurry soil brown eyes. “When’s your flight?”
A tear slipped down her cheek, something I had grown up seeing every time Isabelle’s mum missed her birthday and only remembered Juliana’s. Somehow, today I knew this was caused by something more painful than a forgotten birthday.
Isabelle’s hand squeezed mine.
“In an hour.”
~
A Friday
One week later
The semester end examination hall
“Pens down, guys, please. Time’s up.”
A round of muffled groans rang around the examination hall, and I almost groaned myself as I watched my paper being collected. I had a very strong feeling I had messed up the last question.
Minutes passed before Professor Heirnzberg finally walked back to the front and put the papers into a brown envelope. Looking up, he smiled at us brightly.
“One semester done, another to go guys. Plans for the break, Kelvin?” Professor Heirnzberg asked one of the boys in the hall, placing the envelope into his bag.
“Taking a trip to the crazy house, Prof,” Kelvin responded loudly, mentioning his own destination project. I smiled at his usage of the old brothel-turned-apartment’s nickname.
“Ah! A very interesting location. Please do keep someone with you during your…” Professor Heirnzberg stopped, turning to give a knowing, Mona Lisa smile at everyone, his bag strap now placed over his shoulder. “All right, guys! I hope you have a safe and interesting semester break! See you next semester!”
Professor Heirnzberg walked out of the hall, and all of farmer’s market broke loose. Various excited laughs and disappointed groans echoed around the halls, and I smiled as I caught a part of a joke being said in German. I didn’t get to catch what they were saying, as I wasn’t really good in German, although I had always wanted to be.
“I am so glad this semester is done for,” Abigail announced, catching up to me as we walked out of the hall.
“Speak for yourself. I’m less than happy to sign into that manor of Heirnzberg. I can’t believe he actually lives there,” Jaydin grumbled, joining us on my other side.
“Well, if it makes you happy, I’m returning to the castle this evening,” I told her as we walked out the doors and into the corridor, a soft sigh leaving my lips as I inhaled the cold outside air.
“Olli, do you and Abigail mind coming and staying over at the manor the night I move in for the break? I’ve asked Professor Heirnzberg, and he thinks it might be a great idea,” Jaydin suddenly inquired.
A curious expression came over his face, and he frowned. “It was strange how he said it really. He literally said, ‘Yes, that’s a good idea. It’ll give the manor time to adjust to you.’”
Getting into the driver’s seat of my car, I frowned at what Jaydin said. Professor Heirnzberg was never an odd fellow per se, but sometimes…he acted a little scary.
“Sure, I think I could stay over. When are you moving in, anyway?” I asked, nodding softly at Jaydin and smiling when he sent me a grateful grin.
“Next week, Monday. So, the day after tomorrow.” Jaydin suddenly turned to Abigail who was curiously silent. I cocked an eyebrow up at her indistinguishable expression.
“Can you make it, babe?” Jaydin smirked as he nudged Abigail on her side. A grin lit on my lips when I noticed Abigail deliberately smacked Jaydin’s arms so he couldn’t see her blushing.
“Nutter,” she grumbled, her cheeks still red as a ripe tomato. “Yes, I’ll be there.”
Grinning, Jaydin turned to me, and I wiggled my eyebrows at his gleeful expression.
“Alright then, I’ll take my leave now, girls! River and I are going out bowling tonight.”
I watched Jaydin walk towards his Jeep when Abigail suddenly spoke up, “You should probably come over tonight, before you go back to the castle, for, like, a sleepover!” My eyes snapped to her. It was a good idea but…
I slowly shook my head apologetically.
“I’d love to, Aby, but I really want to go back to the castle. I don’t know why, but I’ve had this odd feeling lately—like something isn’t right. You remember when I told Romanov I’d stay home for another week? The afternoon Issy left because the semester finals were coming up? He agreed. Just like that. Plus, I haven’t seen him in a week. Something feels wrong.”
Alarmed, Abigail immediately took a step forward and grabbed my car’s open door. “Livy, there will be a full moon tonight! You shouldn’t.”
Everything stopped.
The full moon…
Romanov…
Soulmates…
Mates…
Mate.
Mate.
I shook my head, smacking my palm against it. How could I have missed that? The full moon made mating urges nearly impossible to ignore. All of a sudden, I paused, as another thought came into my mind.
The full moon made mating urges nearly impossible to ignore. And from what I read, usually the effects began showing three nights prior to the actual night of the full moon. So how had Romanov managed to stay away for so long?
Oh no…
Eyes wide with dread, I turned to Abigail. “What did he do?”
“What do you m—”
“He chains himself up in the dungeons. The chains are laced with wolfsbane. The dungeons have an airway for wolfsbane to be pumped in every five hours.”
Immediately, both Abigail’s and my eyes snapped to the person who had spoken, and my breath hitched in my throat when I saw Greyson looking uncharacteristically dishevelled and tired.
The arrogant glint in his eyes that I had come to know well shone, and I watched as he took a step closer to us.
“Did I mention that somehow Alpha Romanov is rapidly becoming resistant to wolfsbane? That means he has wolfsbane pumped into the dungeon—and therefore into his body—every fifteen minutes. Did I mention he is rapidly becoming resistant to wolfsbane? Oh, I did? Great! Let’s get you to the castle.”
In a heartbeat, Abigail was in front of me. “I don’t belong to your pack, Delta. You’re not taking my best friend without her permission. You’re not forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to.”
Greyson let out a scoff before his haunted-looking eyes connected with mine. “Do you see how I am right now, Luna? I feel like I have acid in my veins instead of blood. Every second fe
els like a million silver bullets are pelting through my brain. Dominic and I can’t sleep. We can’t eat. We can’t breathe because our minds are always open to the alpha. And when it’s not, he unknowingly rips it open. We feel what he feels,” he said with a look of intense pain on his face. “Only he feels this a thousand times greater. And tonight, if he continues this way—continues being stubborn—I will have to kill someone or myself!”
“That’s a little overdramatic, don’t you think?” Abigail gritted out from between her teeth, holding her ground. I continued to stare at Grayson.
“Oh, sweet Abigail, how I wish you would just shut your pretty mouth.” Greyson rolled his eyes as he lazily mocked Aby. His hands, however, were now fisted into tight balls of rage on his sides.
His eyes connected with mine again.
“He doesn’t want me to know, does he? Then why…why are you telling me this?” I whispered, my mind tearing with thoughts of how much must Romanov torture himself so he could stay away.
Grayson shrugged. “Because I’m a fucking badass. Because he is my alpha and because his father was the only person who trusted in me, even when my own parents didn’t. Fuck it, let’s just stick to because I’m a fucking badass, okay?”
Grayson and I kept eye contact for a second before I sighed and looked away.
“Aby, it’s okay. I’ll go.”
“You’re sure about this, right?” Abigail asked me for the nth time since we arrived in my apartment fifteen minutes ago. I let out a shaky breath of air before nodding at her, adding a small smile on my lips so she wouldn’t worry.
“I’m sure, Abs. Romanov is hurting himself and—I just can’t.”
“Can’t what?”
A new voice spoke up from my bedroom door, and Abigail immediately scowled, rolling her eyes as she turned to face the guy leaning against the open door.
“You should respect people’s privacy, you know that?” she scolded Grayson, folding her arms in front of her.
Grayson rolled his eyes and mimicked Abigail’s stance, folding his arms in front of him as well. “Sweet Abigail, trust me, I’m respecting your privacy. Your clothes are still on you, aren’t they?”
Abigail tensed, her hands forming into tight fists. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Telling you that I didn’t think you’re worthy enough to use my seduction skills on? Yes.”
Immediately, my hand moved forward and grasped onto an almost leaping Abigail. “Relax,” I begged her under my breath as I held onto my suitcase by my other hand.
Amused and grinning, Grayson quickly reached forward and took my suitcase away from me.
“For being so tortured every second, it’s appalling you’re still as annoying as ever,” Abigail snapped at him just as he reached my bedroom door.
Oh no, Abs…
Grayson stopped in his steps. Turning to look back at Abigail with a small smirk, he replied, “The sass is indestructible.”
~
“Are you okay?”
I was panicking. Halfway into the drive, Grayson had suddenly pulled over, an expression of sheer pain on his face. Half an hour had passed, and we were still on the side of the highway. It was already getting dark, and the moon was already shining brighter and brighter every minute.
Another look of horror ripped through Grayson’s expression, and I almost gasped as the sound of pure pain slipped out of his mouth.
“Okay, you’re not definitely not okay, Grayson. Let’s get you to the passenger’s side. I’ll drive us over. The faster we get to Romanov the better, right? We’ll be fine. We’ll be fine,” I repeatedly assured him as I saw him roll out his eyes and grind his teeth.
I quickly tumbled out of the car and made my way to his side, dragging his heavy body to the back seat and unceremoniously dumping him there.
“We’re getting there. We’re getting there. You’ll be fine, Grayson. I promise.” I tried to mumble out things with as much positivity as I could give, making sure Grayson was in a comfortable position in the back seat as I drove back into the lane as fast as I could.
How the minutes seemed to pass I had no idea, but I had a feeling that I had probably broken a few road rules. But that was not the worst thing. It seemed like as the minutes passed, he got worse and worse.
The sight of the castle brought a breath of relief from my lips, and I almost smiled with victory when I drove through the castle gates, quickly parking Grayson’s car at a random spot.
As I opened the door, five strangers leaped out in front of me at once. Seeing Orik in their midst, I quickly sighed in relief and handed him the car keys.
“Please get Gray into the castle and get his car parked,” I told him, motioning towards the backseat.
Orik was only happy to help, and he quickly handed the keys to another man standing behind him and taking the third man with them, moved towards the back door.
Marsha, who was also part of the welcome party, was also quick to approach me and offer help. “I’ll get your luggage into your room, Miss.” Marsha beamed as she moved to the boot of the car.
Dominic was also there to greet us, although, true to Grayson’s word, he looked tired and tormented. I nodded at him and asked, “Where is he?”
It felt like a whisper. I almost didn’t hear myself say it. But thank God for werewolf abilities, Dom did. He quickly grabbed my hand, pulled me close, and scooped me up in his arms. Then…he ran.
My eyes were closed the second he ran, and when I opened them next, I saw we were already in front of a metal door.
Dominic let me down and looked pointedly at my jacket. “You might want to remove your jacket, Olli.”
“Oh, right.” His scent was probably all over the thing. He began removing my jacket. I let him. His scent was probably all over the thing.
He then pressed his thumb on the security detector beside the door and crouched down for a quick face detector. The door slowly clicked open, but Dominic immediately took a step back.
“I can’t go in, Olli. With the amount of wolfsbane in there, I can’t,” Dominic said.
“Wolfsbane is poisonous to humans too,” I mumbled quickly.
Dominic smiled a broken sort of smile and pressed on a button just beside the security system.
“That will pull most traces of wolfsbane from the dungeon,” he said.
I took a step forward but stopped when his hand grabbed mine.
“He’s not letting himself shift. It’s worse in our human form.”
I couldn’t help but cringe at the sound of a distant yell when I walked into the dark and damp dungeon. It suddenly turned into loud growls and snarls, then, just as suddenly, turned back into yells.
He’s really torturing himself.
I held my breath as I stopped in front of the cell I knew he was in, the telltale sign of presence from the burning light coming through from under the door. My hand grasped onto the doorknob. Another round of growls ripped past through the walls just as I twisted the knob and turned the door open.
My breath hitched in my throat, and I almost forgot how to breathe as I stood there, frozen, taking in the red welts the thick chains had made on Romanov’s body. His pants seemed burned in the places where the chains were wrapped, and I couldn’t help but let the tears slip as I watched a broken Romanov chained to the wall. For all his muscular build and his impressive endurance, he looked like he’s not going to be long for this world. His head was bowed as his wet, dark hair fell over, hiding his face from me.
I took a step in. Instantly, Romanov’s head shot up, and he growled, his glazed, golden eyes burning with fury. I froze, then took another step towards him, my tears falling freely now.
The keys jingled in my hands as I continued to walk towards him who has now turned into his beast form, frantically and tirelessly pulling on the chains, his hands bleeding from the contact with the wolfsbane that laced the chain. Romanov was desperate to get to me.
His eyes were almost dark with lust now. I felt a shiver r
un down my spine as the significance of the phenomenon finally struck me.
We would have to have sex. When we weren’t even dating. When he hadn’t even acknowledged my meaning in his life out loud yet. When we didn’t even lo—I stopped in my steps.
No…Did I? Was it too early to tell?
I shook my head and then began my stride towards him again.
He was hurting himself to give me a chance, going through so much pain for me. A strange warmth spread in my chest as I reached my beast, my hands immediately caressing his locks.
One lock opened and immediately his left arm wrapped around me. Ignoring the crazy beating of my heart against my chest, I unlocked the other chain and almost fell backwards as Romanov at once slumped against me, groaning in pain.
My hands wrapped around him as he sunk down to his feet. Shifting a little against him, I quickly began working on the chains around his legs, all the while crying harder for Romanov.
With every tiny tug of the chain, he winced in pain, but he was still careful not to do anything else that might harm me. It was destroying me to see him this way.
His legs were now freed from the chains, and I almost hurled all over the floor when a bleeding welt came into view from under his pant fabric.
“Olivia.”
It was only a whisper, but I snuggled closer to him, sobbing into his chest. I couldn’t even begin to count all the injuries he had caused himself. But it’s not like I wanted to.
“Olivia…soul—” Romanov paused, moved his lips closer to my ear, and pressed a small kiss on my earlobe “—mate.”
Crying harder, I moved my face to kiss his jaw, feeling helpless and lost. I needed to get him to safety.
“Let’s get out of here, please, Rome?”
In an instant, we were on our feet, and another second later, I was in Romanov’s arms as he sped through the hallways. My heart thundered in my chest, scared and worried for him.
The fact that he was so hurt and weak but still speeding through the halls—with me in his arms—was scaring me. I was scared for him.
His room’s door came into view, and Romanov began to slow down. I jumped out of his arms just in time to hold him up as he faltered on his feet.