Ludovic's POV
"Motheeer!" I growled awake, my eyes glowing. It was a nightmare. A horrible one.in the terrifying nightmare, I found myself in a dark ward with a bright white light blazing down on a still figure on a hospital bed. The ward was deserted and silent, except for the rhythmic beeping of the heart rate monitor and my thumping heart.Afraid of what I may find, I picked my steps to see who it was. The repulsive sight that stared me back in the face rendered me weak and powerless. I feel helplessly to the tiled floor beside the bed weeping uncontrollably like a child. It was my mother.A part of her face was dripping with fat worms and maggots. The once beautiful long wavy hair on her head which I inherited had all turned white and tousled. Her limbs had thinned out to the point of revealing her skeletal frame. I could see her rib cage heaving slowly up and down beneath her hospital robe."My sweet baby boy." She turned to face me, but I was too ashamed to look her in the face. I bowed my head in shame, clenching my hands on my laps."I tried mother... I tried to find her." I snivelled, leaving my head bowed.She raised her hand and placed it on my head, combing through each follicle as if it was going to be her last. I took her fidgeting hand in mine and kissed it intently. I couldn't restrain myself from holding her anymore; she was all I had left."I know. I know you've tried all you could." She managed a weak smile on her damaged face. A few maggots fell out from the pores on her cheeks when she smiled that I couldn't bring myself to look at her broken smile. I tore my gaze away from her the second time and cried into my palm.She had become a fragment of her former self.I brought her bony hand to my lips and planted a long kiss on it. "I swear to you with my life, I'll get you the healer.""Let me go, my child." She whispered."No! Never!" My body tensed, a wave of strength surging through every tissue in me.Immediately, the environment changed to an unknown part of the woods. A whirling wind like a tornado swept her from the bed, and lifted her into the air. I held unto her hands to bring her back to me, but the force was too powerful to contend with."You must let me go, my child. My time has come." A lone tear dropped from her eyes and fell on my forehead. I didn't understand the force that propelled the tear, but I noticed that I became weak to maintain my grip on her. I fell back to the floor on my back. Helpless. Again."Motheeer! I yelled into the emptiness, my eyes glowing, and my claws barred."Ludovic." A familiar voice echoed my name from the empty ends of the woods. My ears stood on end to trace the direction of the voice, but it seemed the voice was coming from everywhere at the same time."Ludovic." The voice called again. This time, it sounded worried, and loving like mother's.I felt a hand clasped softly around my shoulder, but it was too dark for me to see who it belonged to. My super sight for reasons best known to it failed me to decipher who it was. I found myself rooted to the spot, unable to run or do anything to defend myself in case the voice decided to attack me.I saw a movement in the shadows approach me. The shadows swallowed each other till they formed a coherent human figure. The silhouette of the figure belonged to someone I knew so well like tying the laces of my Oxfords."Amber?" What could she be doing strolling in the dark woods at that howling hour of the night? She could fall into the teeth of a hungry rogue.She approached me with concerned written all over her face. "Wake up, Ludovic!"I forced my eyes open and found myself in the room of the motel. Amber was sitted beside me by the edge of the bed. Her eyes carried the motherly love I see in them everyday for the past seven years. I had come to be grateful for her after my mother fell ill."The same dream?" She smiled into my sweaty face, a note of worry padded her voice.I shook my head in affirmation and held it in my hands, too lost to utter any statement. It was always the same dream every night, and to say the least, I was beginning to get scared. I couldn't shake off the possibility of losing my mother, it I did not find the fixer.When I realized I had found the fixer, I turned my head swiftly to the other end of the bed, forgetting for a moment that Amber was in the room with me. It was empty. My heart jumped a mile at the thought of her running away."Where's Iris?!" I asked, returning my gaze to Amber with my eyes bulging."She's not here." Amber replied. The worry in her deep blue eyes deepened.I had worked so hard to find her. I can not lose her now."What do you mean she's not here?" I was afraid now."Take it easy, boy. It was just a one night stand. The 'fraidy' girl must be ashamed that she lost her maidenhead to a complete stranger.""How did you know that?" I threw her a puzzled look.She turned her gaze to the other end of he bed and gave me the 'see-for-yourself' look. I followed the gaze and saw a pool of dried blood on the blanket."Fuck." I slanted my head backward and swept my hand over it in exhaustion. "I need to find her."It was when I wanted to get out of the bed I realized I was naked. I gave the room a quick survey for my cloths and shoes, but the room was bereft of them. Her champagne gown still lay unblinking at the entrance of the bathroom.She was the sweetest girl I had ever met in my life. Not even Cathleen could measure up to her."She must have taken your dress." Amber said the words for me."I can see that." I pulled the sheets to my chest in embarrassment.Amber rose up to accord me my space, but ended up making a joke out of it. "Wait... What are you covering, young man? Is there anything you're hiding from me I haven't sucked or blown off to orgasm before?" She dramatized."Amber!" I feigned irritation to make her stop. "That's gross.""What. I'm still smooth and curvy to get me a cock if I need one." She twirled in front of me, pouting her lips with her eyes closed and her head tilted sideway."Jesus, Amber. I need some privacy." I threw her a pillow, forcing her out of the room."All right, all right. I just want you to be happy. I don't like it whenever you wear that sad face. It doesn't suit that cute face of yours." She dropped her shoulders. She was indeed worked-worried for me.After mother, she was the next best thing that had happened to me."Thank you, Amber. I can't thank you enough, " I said, smiling sheepishly."Awww." She gasped. "Can I come touch those fluffy cheeks of yours.""Never." I cupped my face with my hands to protect my cheeks from being mutilated by her fingers again."It appears you don't have fresh clothes to wear out of here. So, here's the deal," she glowed, "your cheeks for fresh clothes.""What?!" I gasped in surprise. Way to go to strike a deal.She winked at me, a grin playing at the edge of her lips. "Chose wisely, baby boy.""Have you settled for blackmailing now?""A woman's got to do what a woman's got do." She shrugged, biting at her fingernails."Fine. Just this onc_" She didn't let me finish my statement before she spirited to my corner with her hands spreading my cheeks wide.Her laughter that morning was everything I needed to get back on my feet."I'm coming for you, Iris." I swore. "I'm gonna find you."Iris' POV"Where did you get that claw mark from?" Gustav was everything except calm. His nostrils flared wide and his ears puffed out angry fumes to intimidate me into telling him the whole truth. He reached for the serrated Muay Thai dagger, and stood inches away from my pounding heart.Damn it! How did I not see the mark in the first place? And why doesn't it hurt the way normal bruises do?Telling him his henchman marked me while giving me the best sex of my life would infuriate him and bruise his already crucified ego. I could lose a limb or have my eyes gorged out. I thought against it, and decided to corner him in his own turf."Your henchman did this to me," I spat, hiding my fear as subtly as I could muster."What henchman?!" He squinted in confusion, and relaxed a bit."Don't play that card with me, Gustav, I know you sent two assassins to come get me. But you know what, their lazy asses couldn't capture me." My blood rippled with courage, hoping I could buy myself some time
Ludovic's POV"Awww" Amber meowed at me. She wore a cute face with her hands clasped on both sides of her cheeks."It's a title oversized, but it'll works just fine." I smiled into the full length mirror screwed into the concrete wall in Amber's small square room. The Morning Sun Motel is her home, as well as her work place.I had never seen her with a relative from near or far away. She is lonely; just as I am. We had that in common, and I took it upon myself to spend time with her every night with a bottle of whisky, laughing over old jokes. Some of them are bland, but sweet Amber had a way of re-jigging the jokes to make them come out fresh as a new born.I looked at her through the mirror and I saw why I had held back my primal instincts. She was an angel to good to be snacked upon. Order than the fact that I am in enemy territory, she had the strings of my happiness tied mischievously around her fingers. She pulled them at will, and who am to stop her?Well, I have to give up my c
Ludovic's POVKa-boom!The grenade went off, destroying every item in its radius. Shards of glass pierced into my back as I shielded Amber with my body. Unlike me, if she sustained grave injuries, she might run into shock, or bleed to death.When I noticed she was not looking, I shook off some of the glass pieces and felt my flesh closing up, but slowly. The sickness made my healing process slow, even as a Lycan. My speed had reduced; same as my strength and keen sense of smell. They were all affected."Iris, where are you?" I gnashed.I wrapped myself around her to keep her shivering body still. But it was not enough to keep her still. Her body quaked with great force like a leaf in a thunderstorm. "Are we under attack?" She gritted, her eyes opened wide.The fire crawled to the bed, licking the dry cotton and maple frame greedily with a crackling sound. Thick smoke rolled out of the burning fabric and the creaking wood, saturating the room. We must get out of the room, or I would hav
Gustav's POV"Ludovic." His name tasted sour on my lips. Thinking about him and all the hardships he had caused me and my pack made me angry at myself. Maybe it was because he had a better strategy than I did. Or maybe because he was born a Lycan, and I, a struggling hybrid.For all I cared, being a Lycan in a battle of werewolves was an unfair tool to bring into the game.I gulped the remaining glass of '74 McKinnen Scotch down my patched throat and refilled the old fashioned glass cup in a haste. Dry scotch on a patched throat- a very bad combo no one would tell you not to try.Regardless, I poured myself another glass, and leaned back into my black rotating chair in my commodious office."That cheating Lycan. He also got the girl before me." I downed the second glass, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. My body trembled with so much vexation that I feared for the vodka glass cups in my hand.I was hopeless. I was not winning the protracted war, and to make matters worse, it d
Gustav's POV'A silver bullet? Where the hell did she get a silver bullet?'My thoughts were disheveled as I marched into the dungeon in the basement of the mansion. Drogo trailed behind me panting helplessly. He was becoming old to keep up with the widening gap between us. Even as a werewolf, your glory days are numbered. Drogo's glory days ended with my father's reign. My time to lead was here.No, my time to rule had come, and I was having a field day at it. Father would look down from heaven, or up from hell in awe, that I surpassed his fears and limitations.We got to the mouth of the dungeon, and turned of a big flashlight affixed to a hinge on the wall to brighten the dark corridor. The corridor was as quiet as a graveyard, except for the tapping of our shoes against the concrete floor.The dungeon could pass for a graveyard after all. Both humans and werewolves in their drones had been tortured to death by my skillful hands in the same room Iris was being held.Seeing my victi
Ludovic's POV"I'm so sorry about your place. I know you had lots of memories established here."Amber and I stood outside the ruins of the Morning Sun Motel, hand-in-hand. Her face was as expressionless as a still lake. I could give a penny for her thought, but I was damn sure that whatever the clogs in her head were tuning were not happy moments. We watched with regret, as the flames from the building travelled up to the roof, burning half of the building. In no time, it extended its destructive tongue to the other parts of the building."You know, this place used to be Geoffrey's idea." She began. "We spent all of our lives and time building this legacy out of nothing."I shifted my gaze from the burning ruins to look into her eyes. The reflection of the roaring flames were vivid in her blue orbs. She was a strong woman, full of surprises; but no doubt, she was shaken up badly."Do you want to talk about it?" I placed my arm around her shoulder, pulling her close to myself. She rec
Iris' POV"Ah!" I peeled my lazy eyes open to the soft yellow beam from a semi-flushed mount dropping from a false ceiling in a strange room. I was too weak to move an arm or raise my body to examine the room I was.Suddenly, I forced mg eyes open, forgetting the pain throbbing my temples. 'Have I been fucked again?' I asked myself, raising the black blanket to see if I was naked.'What a relief. I have a pink nightie covering me this time.' I closed my eyes in relief and sat up on the bed, leaning my back against the puffy pillows that once cushioned my head. The last memory I remembered was me kneeling on a cold concrete floor in a cold dungeon being punished by my psychopathic Alpha mate, Gustav. He had said something about helping me unlock my caged wolf by having sex with me, to which I rebutted sternly."Are... Are... Are you all right, my dear?" A nasal female voice broke through my thought, bringing me back to the room. She was not alone. Gustav and Drogo were with her opposi
Iris' POVHis thin lips melted into mine, mingling with the rapturous taste of the meat loaf in my mouth. I wanted to push him far away from me, but my senses were numbed by his overpowering kisses. He was a ruthless maniac who would not bat an eye to torture me at will.He can not drizzle me with sultry kisses one minute, and the next minute, went ballistic on me. If no one said it, I was better than being his submissive plaything. I need to do something to remind him of that. And fast."I said I'm hungry." I turned my face away from him, looking at the large expanse of forestry stretched across the uncultivated plains. I did not develop a sudden keen interest in observing the importance of nature to humanity, but it was the better place to look at than getting lost in Gustav's weakening seductions.He moved away from me, and sat up straight on the edge of the bed. He swept his hands down his face as if he wanted to clear his vision.Maybe he forget the injustice he meted out to me in