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Eighty-Seven
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Set me Free, Alpha Eighty-Eight
VALERIAThere was something waiting for me at the other end. I knew it. I wanted badly to reach it so I did my very best to focus. After an indeterminate length of time, I began to panic, thinking I was still in the void and then I heard it; the steady beep of something that sounded like a machine, the soft rustle of something, (Clothes?) and the sound of someone's deep, heavy breathing. Somehow I knew that I had heard these sounds before, but now they were clearer than they had ever been. I focused on the sound of the breathing and struggled towards wakefulness even though I found myself slipping away once or twice. It got easier the longer I kept at it and then I opened my eyes.I was in a brightly lit room, lit mostly by the sunlight streaming in through the open window. The bland decor told me I was in a hospital. So did the continuously beeping machine that seemed louder now. I turned my head and saw the heart monitor at the same time I saw Vance seated at my bedside. The magazi
Set me Free, Alpha Eighty-Nine
VALERIA"I'm sorry," I said after Dimitri had come tentatively into the room and we had been staring at each other for what felt like forever."Valeria..." He reached out to maybe stroke my hair, clenched his fist and gripped the chair's armrest instead. "There is nothing for you to apologize for. None of what happened was your fault.""It is," I insisted. "Partly anyway.""Isn't," Dimitri said. I almost smiled as I was reminded of his usual mulishness."No matter what had happened, I should have known better than to run blindly down the stairs like that in my condition.""You couldn't have known-""That I would fall? No, but at least I should have thought about the consequences if I did fall.""Valeria-""But that's not what I was apologizing for. Not really. I'm sorry I didn't entirely believe you earlier. Noah and Ivy told me about the announcement of your breakup with Summer. They told me the news has been everywhere for two days now. But what about the product launch, our product
Set me Free, Alpha Ninety
VALERIA"How is this even possible?"I held up my finger, examined every inch of it. I felt a sudden surge of hope when I thought that perhaps I had bandaged the wrong finger. I couldn't get my hands open fast enough. I even extended the examination to my wrists and elbows, but after a solid five minutes of close inspection, I had to admit that I was not hurt. Not one bit.My heart began to race. I leaned over the bathroom sink, stared right into the frightened eyes I could see in the mirror. Maybe, just maybe, I had not cut myself at all. Hadn't the knife slipped from my grasp while I had been making sandwiches? I had even been half asleep while doing it. It was possible I had everything completely mixed up in my head. Although the blood... I was almost sure that I had seen blood flow out of the cut. I had even sucked the injured finger. Or hadn't I?I let out shaky laugh. It would be funny if I eventually found that I had gotten myself all worked up for nothing. Who ever heard of cu
Set me Free, Alpha Ninety-One
DIMITRIThe look in her eyes was fear. I had seen it on the faces of people more times than I could count. The question I had been asking myself these past few days was why the hell was the fear directed at me. I paused with one foot at the bottom stairs, taking care to keep my movements slow and deliberate. If I approached, she was sure to go stumbling down all in a bid to avoid me. She looked from me to the lower part of the stairs. I shifted closer to the railing so she could get a better view. I heard her sigh of relief the minute I was no longer half blocking her path. Valeria came down the stairs, taking care to keep close to the railing on the other side."Hi," she squeaked and immediately hurried past me as though she was afraid I would lunge at her or something. I watched her until she was out of sight, then I continued climbing upstairs slowly. I sighed heavily. This was Valeria's attitude these days. She was now frightened of her own shadow. Being around me made her frig
Set me Free, Alpha Ninety-Two
VALERIAI was thinking about how needed a drink- something cold preferably when I heard a voices coming from the kitchen which I was heading towards. Curious, but not wanting to be seen, I peered around the kitchen door to see Silas chatting with Amelia while he wolfed down a plate of porridge she had set in front of him.Wolfed down... An Interesting choice of words, especially when used in relation to Silas. I was a hundred percent sure that Silas was what Dimitri was- a werewolf, and that would take a lot of getting used to. Careful not to make a sound, I took several steps backwards and then went back up to my room. I had thought Silas had gone away with Dimitri, most likely to attend to the affairs of his... pack.Ugh! I still had a really hard time getting used to that word. Since Dimitri and Silas were practically joined at the hip, that could only mean that Dimitri had made Silas stay back so he could watch over me.My suspicions proved correct later that afternoon when I noti
Set me Free, Alpha Ninety-Three
VALERIABy the glint in her eyes and her exasperated expression, I knew just what Ivy was going to say to me.To forestall her, I quickly said, "I'm fine. Really. I'm just usually so tired out after work that I always want to stay at home.""No, you're not," she said firmly. "Valeria, you have been holing yourself up in the office and at the house for some time now. It's like you're practicing on how to be a hermit or something."I smiled in what I hoped was a convincing manner. "You are exaggerating, as usual. I have been fine. I'm fine. I'm just tired and-""And when has being tired ever stopped you from going out? I don't even remember the last time we both hung out. When did we even have a girl's night out? It's been... ages."Ivy was actually right. Even our friendship had received a few hits because of my recent discovery of my abnormalities. A girl's night out with Ivy sometimes meant us hanging out at the spa, a bar, club, restaurant, but the thought of being in such close pro
Set me Free, Alpha Ninety-Four
VALERIA"Why are you suddenly telling me where everything is and what to eat this evening?" I joked. "You always insist on babying me by getting my food for me anyways.""True," Amelia admitted with an indulgent smile. "But I won't be around this evening and for a few days as well."I carefully set down my glass of water. "Why won't you?""I will be traveling for a few days," she explained."I will really miss you. So where will you be traveling to, if you don't mind me asking?"Strangely, Amelia seemed flustered by the question."Oh. I'll just go somewhere not too far away for a while," she said dismissively. "But I'll be back before you know it."She turned away and resumed slicing the vegetables with a little too much noise than was necessary, in my opinion. It was obvious after this that she didn't want to tell me where she was travelling to. That only made me only more curious. Amelia basically had no one that she would want to pay a visit to. Since she didn't want to pursue the
Set me Free, Alpha Ninety-Five
DIMITRIIt was official. I was going to have to spend more time at the pack. I had known it the moment Nox had hurried in and said something about another attack. Tiredly, I gestured for him to have a seat. He perched on the very edge of it. He was too wound up to relax. Beside me were Damon and more of the other pack leaders."Tell us what happened," I said.Nox launched into a tale of the attack he had gotten from some members of the pack which had been attacked. A worried hiss echoed around the room when Nox revealed that the pack which had been attacked was the one close to ours."It's just as I had suspected," I said. "They probably stopped the attacks for a while so we could let our guards down so that they could strike.""Maybe they were even looking to attack us too," said Damon. "They probably found out that our defenses were too strong and that's why they only just attacked the neighboring pack."I spoke loudly to be heard over the murmurs Damon's theory had caused. "Now it
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