ELIANA.SIX YEARS LATER. My eyes settled on the untamed flames of the bonfire and even with the warmth that emitted from it, it was still a cold night in the mountains of Tuscany, where I’d stayed for the last six years. There was a rumble in the skies above me, preceded by a bolt of lightning that struck the earth. The breeze was cold against my skin, grazing through my hair which swayed left and right. I folded my arms with a jacket over my shoulders. Until the rain started to pour, I wouldn’t go back into my tent, I resolved in my head. It had rained heavily here each night for the past week. And although it was hard to believe the Tuscany mountains were a real place, they really were.I had to see for myself when I stumbled here one random day six years ago after journeying halfway across the earth in search of a home. There wasn’t one quite as welcoming as here. But the weather said otherwise.Of course, I had found ways to cope but still, on some days when the harsh winds wou
ELIANA.“Eliana…”“Are you there?” My Grandmother asked and a loud sob rang through my ears from over the phone. Heartbroken, terrified and soul-shattering. I could hear the pain in her fragile cracking voice.And soon, tears started to form in my eyes. I stopped in my tracks on my way down the hill and Elijah was right beside me. It took a moment for me to fully grapple with what she was saying and even longer for me to say anything back. I just…I was just so confused.“I don’t understand” I softly whispered. “Your father is sick, Eliana” I’d heard her the first time but that was only one of the many things that raced through my mind at that moment. “No, how are you even…how are you talking to me right now?” I asked. “I thought you were dead, Grandma.”“All those years, they told me—“ “Eliana” She interrupted, her voice was just as I remembered. “I wasn’t dead, your father only kept me away. It was what Sienna wanted. She’d brainwashed him for all those years” She added and I pushe
ELIANA.The bumpy roads caused my shoulders to sway back and forth, gnashing against the sides of the truck. I was in the back, alongside all the other travelers after we alighted from the train that brought us into New Orleans. I knew my way from there.Squatting in the back of the truck with a helmet around my head and blanket wrapped around both Elijah and myself, we finally arrived at the town’s market. Oakland was not so far from here but to get across to it, I needed to go through Tombsdale.The scent of the ever-dark and eerie town sent a shiver up my spine and Elijah jerked forward immediately after the truck came to a halt. The driver alighted and opened the back for us to come down.“Come on,” I held around my son’s shoulders, holding him up so he didn’t fall. His eyes were obviously still blurry as he’d just woken up and the sun was merciless in its shining from above the horizon. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw a morning as bright as this. Tuscany could be hot but
ELIANA.“Grandma!” I immediately threw myself into her arms as soon as I walked into the cabin doors. She was strapped to her wheelchair but her arms were still strong enough to wrap around me. Tears welled up in my eyes before they came running down my cheeks.I never thought I’d see her again and even after hearing her on the phone, it was nothing compared to actually seeing her—holding her. And I sobbed onto her shoulders. “Eliana” She sang softly from her lips. “Oh Grandma” I heaved and there was no emotion quite like this. As Adams stood at the door with Elijah, it took me more than a moment to fully gather myself together. And when after I stood, my eyes were stillwet with tears. They fell to her and so were her own. “I…” I stuttered. “I can’t believe this.”“Me neither” She echoed, intertwining her fingers with mine. I darted my eyes around the wooden cabin. It was warm and cozy in here although it was a structure at the furthermost outskirts of Oakland. This was a place I
ELIANA.It was well into the dead of night when the car came to a halt. I gazed outside my windows to see people flood through the Villa’s entrance. They were dressed extravagantly in the brightest colors, even some wearing masks. That sort of thing wasn’t unusual in werewolf ball parties.In fact—I looked to Adam who had driven me here.“I told you.” He heaved. “You were right!” Braiding the rope of my mask through my hair, I balanced it upon the bridge of my nose and a scoff escaped my lips. Only then was I ready to alight and he came down too.We walked up the sidewalk before I turned to the side again.“This is the perfect disguise.”We made our way up the steps, gliding through the bodies of Pack Members scattered around the pub and it wasn’t until we entered through the door that Adams and I came to a halt. Looking around, it wasn’t any more quieter inside here. The air was filled with the intoxicating blend of laughter, clinking glasses, and the faint melodies of a live jazz ba
ELIANA.“Shit!” I cussed, immediately throwing myself to the ground as I crawled behind the table, making my way into the curtains that split halfway across the room. I was panting heavily from my lips although I tried my best to be silent. The door was left open for a while.Someone had walked in.My heart pounded against my chest as I clutched my lips with my hands. I heard the sound of approaching footsteps move even closer and terror creeped into my eyes. I remained as still as a sculpture as a shadow drew across the room, heading toward my father.It was when I peeked a second time that I saw her.“Nora?” A soft gasp escaped my lips. She walked right to him with her face buried into a book in her hands. But she halted when she got to my dad’s table—our dad’s table. The thing is after my mum died, Sienna bore two more children for my father—one was Jaxon, and the other, about twenty years old now was Nora.She could be quite invisible in the Pack, usually just throwing her complet
DENVER.I couldn’t believe she was the one standing in front of me. At the start of the ball, I could swear I caught a glimpse of her and a whiff of her vanilla scent in the air. She captured my attention amidst the tens of thousands of people in the crowd.But I shook my head confidently—it couldn’t be her.Perhaps she had been infused deep into my mind that I was now seeing her where she wasn’t, scenting her when she had disappeared for six years now. I remember pushing a hard lump down my throat, forcing her out of my head like it was even possible.For the past six years, Eliana was all I could about.Some days, I was filled with worry about where she even was. Being a rogue was no easy feat, especially with an Omega like herself. She hadn’t been out in the world and it scared me. On other days, I was filled with regret that the other night ended the way it did.And there was a possibility that I would never see her again. The thing was, I didn’t realize how much Eliana did for
ELIANA.Grief came in the morning. The sun was barely out and gloom hung above like clouds of darkness. The air was humid with a little moisture in the atmosphere from last night’s rain. I leaned against the car, praying and hoping it was all a dream but alas, it wasn’t.It happened.Holding Adam’s lifeless body in my hands, or what was left of it—that happened. The bloody gore, the million thoughts racing through my mind. “You have to call for help, Denver!” I remembered chanting and my voice echoed back to me the next morning like a hangover. “Call someone!”“It’s over, he’s gone.” Denver had replied as the rain beat into us, carrying the flood that flowed from Adam’s mauled body down the road. I had never seen anything quite like it. My first initial thought was that an animal did it but the bites into his neck narrowed it down to a wolf.But from the looks of it, it was not an ordinary wolf. That image kept on replaying in my head over and over through the night. I hadn’t slept