Neaera-
At Stryker’s words, I dropped my phone, that I was holding. It crashed on the floor, causing everyone to turn to look at me. A look of pain flashed over their faces and they each tried to take a step toward me.
Holding my hands up, I shook my head and took a few steps back. Feeling betrayed, I couldn’t stand to look at anyone right now. Needing to get away, I stumbled back before turning to run out the front door.
“Nea!” Stryker called after me.
As I ran away from the house, I looked over my shoulder to make sure I wasn’t being followed. Our parents were holding Stryker back. Actually, no, they weren’t my parents. The realization that I was truly alone in this world hit me.
Once I was sure I was out of sight of them, I took a detour and made my way toward the forest. With tears in my eyes, I ran as fast and as hard as I could. My lungs were on fire as I ran, and I still felt as if I was on fire.
At this moment, I wished more than anything I was in better shape. No matter what, I couldn’t stop running away. I didn’t care if I collapsed from exhaustion, as long as I got as far away from here as possible.
Knowing I was adopted was a hard blow. More than that, things started to make sense. I always wondered why I hadn’t fit in with everyone, but now I knew. My entire life has been a lie and I never belonged.
Tears flowed freely down my face, but I didn’t allow myself to break down just yet. No matter what, I needed to escape this place. Without turning back or slowing down, I ran as fast as I could.
When I ran as far as I could, I stumbled to the ground. I wasn’t sure where I was or how long I had been running. Forcing myself to stand up, I struggled to remain upright. My legs didn’t want to work as they felt like jelly.
That wasn’t the worst part, however. The burn in my throat was much worse than before. Now it felt as if someone was stabbing me in my throat with a thousand needles. Clutching my neck with my hand, I started gasping.
Perhaps I was thirsty from running for so long. My body felt strange, and I ached everywhere. If anything, I felt as if I was dying. Moving forward, I tried to put more distance between myself and the place I thought was my home.
I was at my limit, yet I wasn’t ready to give up just yet. My eyes wandered around the area I was in, which didn’t look familiar at all. In my emotional state, I hadn’t bothered to pay attention to where I was going.
I stumbled to the ground again, tripping on a rock that was on the ground. Pain shot through my leg, and I cried out. Turning over so that I was sitting on the ground, I reached for my leg to inspect it. Oddly, I could smell the scent of blood.
Thinking that there was a lot of blood, I lifted the fabric of my pants to see that I was bleeding. At the sight of the small amount of blood, I felt pressure form behind my eyes. It was barely a scratch, which didn’t make sense to me.
There is no way my sense of smell is that good for me to be able to smell a drop of blood that was forming. As I continued to look at it, the feeling in my throat intensified. My mouth even began to water.
Pushing my pants back down, I tried to stand back up, but my body felt heavy. Panic began to set in as I didn’t understand what was going on with me. As the seconds ticked by, I felt as if I was going to die if I didn’t get something to drink.
Just then the sounds of the forest became enhanced, and I could hear the sound of running water. As if a sign from the heavens was given to me, I moved to my knees, since my legs weren’t working properly. Crawling in the direction of the water, I hoped I would find water and it wasn’t just my imagination.
With each movement, it became more difficult, but I wasn’t going to stop. Even if my world has fallen apart, I wasn’t ready to die. I didn’t care what I had to do, I was going to get as far as I could away from this place and search for the truth.
Using every ounce of strength I possessed, I persisted forward, in search of water. When I came to a small stream, I released a half cry, half laugh, as relief flowed through me. On my hands and knees, I approached the stream. Collapsing as soon as I reached it, I cupped my hands and gathered as much water in them as I could.
Like a crazy woman that was possessed, I drank the water greedily, not caring that it wasn’t sanitary. It didn’t matter how much I drank though because my throat was still burning. Despair filled me and I stopped trying to drink out of the stream.
Maybe this was my destiny, and I was supposed to die out here. Was my life so meaningless that I would never amount to anything? Propping myself on the bank of the water, using my elbows, I looked down at the water and waited for it to calm so I could see my reflection.
When it calmed down, I let out a scream when I saw red eyes looking back at me. Turning over, I looked behind me but didn’t see anyone. Taking the chance to look once more, I slowly rolled back over to look again.
Once again, red eyes looked back at me, but I now realized that they were my eyes. Touching my hands to my face, I examined my reflection as I pulled my eyelids further apart. What the heck was going on? My eyes used to be green. Was I just imagining things?
“Over here!” The sound of a male’s voice caused me to look up.
A man I didn’t recognize stood across the stream, looking straight at me. When our eyes met, I was filled with panic when I realized that he was probably human and would freak out if he saw my eyes. With as much strength as I could muster, I pushed myself up and crawled to the nearest tree.
Although it didn’t do much to hide me, that was as far as I could make it. Squeezing my eyelids together, I silently prayed the tree could swallow me whole. Pulling my legs and arms into my body, I wrapped my arms around my legs and buried my face in my knees.
I couldn’t let anyone see my eyes. It could just be my imagination, but I wasn’t going to take the risk. If only I wasn’t feeling the way I was, I could attempt to make a run for it.
The sound of leaves rustling made me realize that there was more than just the man that was surrounding me. Like a coward, I tensed up and attempted to fold into myself. Silently I prayed they would leave me alone and go about their business.
“Hey. Are you okay?” A man’s voice spoke, sounding as if it were only a few inches from my head.
His voice was soft, and he sounded friendly, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous. He was probably a werewolf from a nearby pack. Since I hadn’t paid attention to where I was going, I could have crossed into another pack’s territory. The worst part, if my eyes really were red, I was more than likely going to be mistaken as a vampire.
They were the only ones I could think of that had red eyes. There was no way I could be a vampire though because I would have remembered if I had been bit by one. Not to mention that I could still feel the blood rushing through my body.
“Please leave me alone, I didn’t mean to intrude on your territory, and I promise I will leave after I get a little rest.” I managed to speak, but my voice sounded strained from the intense burning in my throat.
“There is nothing you need to apologize for. I am here to help you. I imagine you must feel very scared right now.” The man responded, making me feel a little more at ease.
For a slight moment, I forgot why I was hiding my face, looking up, I saw a man crouched next to me, smiling. “There you are. My name is Zach, what is your name?”
“N-Neaera.” I stuttered.
“I don’t know how you manage to find hybrid just as they transition.” A female voice said with a lightness to her voice that sounded calming.
Pulling my eyes from the man, I looked over to see a female standing not far from me. Also, just like me, she had red eyes, but she didn’t look like a vampire. The word hybrid began to repeat in my head, like a broken record before I found myself asking.
“Hybrid?”
Neaera-“I can tell from the look on your face that you are in shock. Why don’t we go somewhere a little more secluded and I will tell you everything I know?” Zach said as he reached for my hand.While he didn’t seem threatening, there was no way I was going to go anywhere with him. Pulling out of his reach, I backed into the tree, ignoring the bark that was scratching at my back. For all I knew, he was going to take me somewhere and kill me.It didn’t matter that my world was spiraling out of control right now, I had no desire to die. Looking around at my surroundings, I noticed a total of six others with Zach. Other than that, the place looked secluded enough.“Just tell me now. I am not going anywhere with you.”His eyes moved from mine, and he released a sigh. Following his line of sight, I noticed he was looking at the man that was standing closest to him. Unlike the others surrounding us, Zach was the only one that didn’t have red eyes.“Create a perimeter and make sure there ar
Stryker-After an hour, Neaera still hadn’t returned. My parents tried convincing me to give her more time to calm down, yet I couldn’t do it. It was bad enough that I gave her an hour. I couldn’t believe my own stupidity for arguing with them where she could hear us.I knew she must be upset, which was why I needed to find her. She needed to know the truth about everything. I have been holding it in for two years because my parents thought she wasn’t ready. Now that she was eighteen, she needed to know we weren’t related and that I was her mate.Running around the territory like a madman, I checked out every hiding spot I knew about. Since we were children, we have always been close. I didn’t know she was adopted until I was older. My first instinct has always been to protect her, but I always thought it was because I was her older brother.After learning the truth, I realized my feelings for her were more than just brotherly love. Harboring my feelings for her has been difficult. Wh
Neaera-“You have a new mission.” Alpha Zach said, not bothering to knock as he entered my office.Looking up from the paperwork I was working on, I raised my brows at him. For the five years I have been here, I figured he would be better at communicating with me. Not that I could really complain, considering I wouldn’t be who I am today without him.“Hey Neaera, how are you? I know you just returned from a mission, but I have another one for you if you’re up for it.” I said in a mocking tone, deepening my voice to make it sound similar to his.“I think you have known me long enough to know I don’t care for unnecessary pleasantries.” Zach moved from the door and came to lean on the edge of my desk.“As you should know by now, I don’t like being told what to do.”Leaning back in my chair, I crossed my arms over my chest. My eyes narrowed on him, as I silently challenged him to argue with me. He might be the Alpha, but I was done having others attempt to control my life.It wasn’t that
Neaera- Seeing the name of the Alpha, I sat up straight in my chair. My hands tightened on the folder, as shock reverberated through me. I had to blink a few times to make sure I was reading it correctly and I wasn’t just imagining it. “No.” I stated simply before throwing the open folder on the table. My eyes remained glued to the folder, but my hands now felt as if they had been burned. It took me a year to come to terms with my past. Another year for me to let go of it fully, enough to move on completely. “This isn’t open for debate.” Zach said, picking up the folder from my desk. I wanted to throw something at him enough to knock him out cold. He knew about my past and for him to ask me to return there was beyond my understanding. Looking up at him, I noticed he was hiding his emotions well. “How can you stand there and ask me to go back?” Disbelief filled me as well as betrayal. “It isn’t like anyone would recognize you. You aren’t the same person you were when you left. As
Stryker-“The two we sent out, just returned. They report that they haven’t found anything yet. Shall I send the next two out?” Mathew, my Beta said as he entered my office.For the first time in five years, I felt utterly defeated. Every day I have been trying to find Neaera, but I keep coming up empty-handed. I knew everyone was getting tired of looking for her. I just wasn’t ready to give up.Every pack across the country that I was allied with, was helping me search for her. I kept getting complaints that I was wasting resources trying to find a human girl. It didn’t matter, until I found her, I wasn’t going to stop.“I need to find her.” I said through clenched teeth.My tolerance was getting low. I knew I should accept I was probably never going to find her, especially since she was possibly dead. I couldn’t understand how she could just vanish so easily.For all I know she was taken in by someone that found her or killed by the same vampires that murdered my parents. It has bee
Stryker-“Who?” Mathew shoved himself up against the window to get a better view.“Nea.” I breathed out as relief filled me.Before I could stop myself, my body reacted. Racing out of my office, I ran towards the front door, only to stop as my hand covered the door handle. Realization settled over me as I considered what would happen if I ran out to her right now.She has been gone for five years; I couldn’t run her off right away. Now that I knew she wasn’t dead, she must have had her reasons for staying gone for so long. I needed to play this by ear and find a way to make sure she doesn’t run off again.Taking a deep breath, I calmly opened the door and stepped out. It was difficult to keep my wolf in check as Nea came to stand in front of me. For a brief moment, I saw a flicker of recognition on her face before it was completely masked by indifference.“Hello, Alpha Stryker, I am Alpha Zach, and this is Slayer.” The unfamiliar male spoke while motioning towards Neaera.I did my bes
Neaera-Standing inside my old room, I was overwhelmed with many various emotions. Returning had proved to be more challenging than I had expected. From the moment I saw Stryker, to the moment I locked myself in my old room, I had nearly succumbed to the same girl I had once been.If there was one thing, I was good at doing, it was hiding what I was feeling, even though it was nothing more than a façade. I had thought I would be okay when I arrived, but that thought quickly vanished when I saw Stryker. Just like myself, he has changed a lot over the years, losing his boyish charm and becoming more rugged.I wasn’t sure what to feel regarding him. On one hand, he looked like the brother I once knew, while at the same time he didn’t. The only thing I knew was that my feelings for him weren’t simple. Hopefully, I can complete this mission before I have a chance to figure it out.Pulling out my phone, I looked at the screen to check the time. In about two hours the sun will be down. Once
Neaera-Having decided not to let it worry me about if I was found out or not, I returned to my room to get a few hours of sleep. When I woke up, I was surprised to find an array of dishes on the dining room table. All my old favorite foods were scattered around the table, as well as some other types.Stryker was sitting at the head of the table, where our father used to sit. I had to remind myself that it was Stryker’s father and not mine. Expecting that his parents would be joining us for breakfast, I felt a moment of panic.Since I arrived, I haven’t run into them, even though I knew it would be a matter of time before I did. I was tempted to turn around and wait until later to come downstairs. Taking a step back I thought I could get away without being spotted.Before I could take another step, Stryker looked up and a smile spread across his face. Oddly, I felt strange with the way he was looking at me. An image of him from when he was younger flashed in my head, and I nearly forg