CHAPTER 17My second week of training on Saturdays had arrived. Unlike last time, we had a lecture about werewolves and the different levels. Lycans are the most powerful; the king of alphas. They are the leaders of all the alphas of the different packs. Luckily, the town doesn’t have it. Chaz said they’re living in cities and they could be the richest person we know. He didn’t answer but I have I guess who the Lycan is.The second most powerful is Alphas. They are the ones who rule a pack. They’re the most powerful warrior of the pack that’s why they earned that position. Werewolves have a monarchy-like government. Once the Alpha wants to let go of the position, he had to decide on which sons he’s going to give it to. And the name of the Alpha’s wife is a Luna. It’s rare to have a female Alpha which they could call Luna as well. Chaz didn’t give an example for that.Betas are the assistants of the Alpha. They are the closest men that can reach the Alpha. Some of them are wicked and b
CHAPTER 18"Have you been punished?" he asked. He was bugging me all day yesterday and until this Sunday about what happened to me when I stayed inside the studio. Nothing happened. After my sentimental talk with Chaz, he told me to relax. He advised me to take physical practice more seriously. Mental ability alone wasn’t enough to face threats in the future.I told you so. I don’t. Chaz gave me a special task. " I don’t want to be emotional about telling him what we talked about. He was my friend—the closest one. Telling him about my conversation with Chaz wasn't in my confidence. There are things we should keep to ourselves and not tell others.We had entered my room. We’re not flirting, kissing, or having sex. I don’t know why people always think of that thing when there’s a boy and a girl in a room together. Life isn’t always about sensuality. We live because of other things. Though there’s a debate that sex is as important as food and clothing.Angelo has my brothers’ permission
Chapter 19Frozen pictures don’t stay frozen all the time. Perfect moments aren’t that perfect after a few seconds or so. My perfect gaze with Angelo didn’t last more than thirty seconds when Jay walked through the hallway beside my room.He staggered forward and slammed the door shut. Gelo and I quivered from our position, embarrassed that my brother saw us. I had to explain what we were doing at that exact moment. He had to believe that it was an accident."What the fuck were you doing earlier?" Jay asked. He wasn’t mad, but his crimson face was solemn. He didn’t like what he had seen earlier."Nothing. We tripped over each other, "I answered quickly." Jay won’t hurt Gelo physically, but if Felix finds out about what happened, I don’t know if Gelo could step inside our house again."She’s right." Gelo glanced at me. I liked how he helped me with explaining it to my brother.Why was I so nervous about what might happen? Our explanation wasn’t a lie. We did trip over each other. It wa
CHAPTER 20Outside, the fog was a ghost rummaging around. It could be seen through the house's square window. I'm guessing it's tinted from the front, and no one on the outside will be able to see through it.At least half of the food on my plate was gone. Nana prepared a large amount of food that we all enjoyed. When Gelo's father speaks to us, he has a pleasant demeanor. He was talking to my brother and kept asking him questions about their upbringing. He saw them when they were three and four years old. He described them as rambunctious children. That's what our parents told us when we were kids about Felix and Jay bickering over trivial matters.Chewing, Mr. Tyrant’s face turned me. I don’t want to be asked. There are questions about my life I wasn’t certain about.“What are your hobbies, Cath?” he asked. That was easy.“I read books. Also listened to audiobooks.”“Books are her life, Mr. Tyrant,” Jay added. “She planned to build a library in the future.” Jay and Felix laughed abo
CHAPTER 21Sunday would be my new favorite day of the week. The three of us are complete at home. Though we spent dinner or breakfast on weekdays and Saturdays, having the whole day to spend with my brothers on Sundays is the best.While Jay was washing all of our clothes, I helped Felix on preparing lunch. We started making the lunch earlier than the usual time we’re preparing it since it will take more than two hours before it cooks. Felix decided to make it a special one—Spicy Western-Style Spareribs.“Check the ingredients, Catherine, if they’re all complete,” he told me.That was my job earlier to check if have the complete set of ingredients. Pork, of course, we have it. Paprika, salt, garlic powder, sugar, pepper, and butter. Did we forget something? The lemon and chili! They’re the most important ingredient for this meal.“We forgot lemon and chili. Do we have it right now?” I asked Felix and tried to check the ingredients presented on the table again. Maybe I missed it or did
CHAPTER 22The last person I wanted to see in places like this was going to be any Beta or their children. And now, it’s Marvel. The guy who almost broke the cubicle on the campus because he sniffed me.He had a killing stare, dangerous enough to blow me away. His arms were similar to any wild animal in the forest. I doubt he’ll kill me in a public place like this, but of course, he can do that. He was lion-faced, not because he has a lot of facial hair—because he does not. His nose wasn’t pounded and his eyes were like scars. I never thought of encountering Beta children in this palace.I tried not to mind him and walked away towards the chili powder when he grabbed the back of my shirt. I stopped moving and faced him.“Do we have a problem?” This guy has anger issues. I had to keep myself calm while talking to him if I still want my life. He should’ve ignored me yet he pulled me towards me.“Why does the half-blood princess roam around the town as if she owns this place?” He smirked
CHAPTER 23“Whoever told you that I lost my mind doesn’t know anything about me,” she said. She sounded sincere and genuine, but the person who told me she was crazy was the only teenager by I trusted in this town.I trusted Gelo more than her. I also believed that Gelo could lie to me for the better. Or he may even don’t know the truth about Mila. Or what he said was the absolute truth and Mila’s turning crazy to make me think that the things she was saying were real.“How can I know if you’re telling the truth or just fooling me?” I took a step back. She could grab me instantly or put a knife in my belly. I don’t want to be kidnapped again. That night when the teachers kidnapped me was one of my haunting moments.She let out a sigh and touched my wrist. “Come with me inside. I can’t tell you everything here.” She was about to pull me inside when I stayed at my place. I won’t go with a stranger like her.“I don’t trust you. I won’t go with you.”Her lifeless eyes blinked. She was pal
CHAPTER 24I left Mila shortly after the confusion. She told me, “This isn’t the end for the two of us.” Which crept me out because she’s still a stranger to me. What if she was imagining things that didn’t happen. That the Alpha of the pack in this town wasn’t the one who killed her parents. I don’t know what to believe anymore because that woman was going to mess up my mental health if I thought of her more.What if it was true? That she’s just pretending to be crazy to save her life. That she’s somehow connected to the Alpha because he’s the one who killed her family. I somehow relate to her. If we join forces, we’ll be able to find out who killed my parents as well.She’d been living her life in this town for at least thirty-five years, based on how I see her age though she looked like she’s in her late forties because of her whisky hair. But my brothers wouldn’t let me cooperate with a person I didn’t know. As far as I’m concerned, humans, especially crazy ones, made up most of t
FINAL CHAPTERScreams of wolves, whispers of blood, and cries of battle filled in the dawn. My forces, my alliance, the good side of the war is about to win. I did not expect the amount of minions and troops that my father has. He has a lot, almost outnumbering us.I noticed they weren’t trained enough. Some of them were forced. One was a teenage guy whom Gelo spared a life because the guy explained he was scared of what the alpha might do to their family so he unleashes in the fight. However, some are straight-up evil. Just like the alpha, they believed that this is fun. A wholesome entertainment until I came upon and slit their throat with my slasher claws.I’m a bit tired. If this wasn’t a huge fight, I would’ve opted for a coffee break. I need that. Just like how I crave it when I’m reading a book at the very late hours of the night. But no, there’s no way I could until this ends.The alpha is gone. He’s missing. One of the troops, now dead, said the alpha’s family already fled o
Chapter 60As the sun falls into the horizon, the people, or should I say the werewolves, of the town of Dusk and Dawn starts to gather at our place. Tonight the alpha’s madness will end. Tonight, everything will be more normal and free. No more threats and darkness. Only good, light, and life.“We’ll become a victor,” Jay told me while he was in the process of wearing the protective gear Nana personally made for him and Mom. They were the only humans to fight. Heroes, I believe. “It felt like I’m going in a fantasy war with these yet I have a small knife instead of a sword.”“It’s sharp though,” I said, trying the knife on my skin. A little more pressure and it will cut my skin. Nana told them to their brains or the heart. This knife will surely pierce through those body parts. “I’m scared.”“On what aspect?”“To fail. I have planned this. I have committed to this. The scary news is that it is really gonna happen.”Jay faced me and touched my face using his palms. “Darkness won’t end
Chapter 59Gelo wasn’t talking or even showing up to me for days. I hate that it happens because I love talking to him. In this town, he is my favorite person to talk to. My best friend. My boyfriend. But I do understand why. His father died. Another person in his family died. And as far as I know, his greatest fear is losing a person who’s been a huge part of his life.I swear I wanted to talk to tell him I’ll be by his side no matter what happens. I’ve been through what he’d been through before. I lost three important people in my life. Then I found out how fucked up my life is. Being the daughter of the worst man on the planet.“It wasn’t your fault,” Gwen told me when she came over to visit. “You didn’t do anything. It’s just it is that bastard who kills almost anyone.”She wrapped me in her presence. I’ve been longing for this feeling. Gwen is the only female friend I have in this town. I don’t know if I can treat Stacy and other women the same. Gwen listens. It’s just we rarely
Chapter 58“Mom.” I smiled at my mother who died months ago. “Dad.” And to my father who died with her the same night. “I’m sorry if I broke your rule of consulting you out before having a boyfriend. But I have one.”I expected them to throw killer grin at me. I expected them to shout at me for breaking their rule. In the neighborhood I lived in, it is normal for teenagers my age to date a whole set of men. My parents were different. They won’t let me unless I tell them. Maybe my brothers were the only exception, or maybe I am the exception to this neighborhood’s culture.I opened the door so Gelo could enter. He wore his wide and happy smile as he greets my parents on a very nice day. We all sat on the couch, everyone has their own teacup of the hibiscus tea my parents like to bring whenever they’re on a vacation from different states.We all chattered even though I couldn’t understand anything. We were just… talking. Nonstop. My parents seemed so happy to finally meet Angelo. It all
CHAPTER 57This could have been my perfect date with my boyfriend, who happens to be my only best friend in this town. I thought that the place Gelo picked is a safe one. It happens that the alpha is going to be here, ruining my fucking date.He grinned like he wins a reality television show where the father caught his daughter dating someone he doesn’t want to. Why does he always think he’s winning? Why does he’s always the one with power? Is it because he is the leader of the werewolf pack in this town? Or because he is a man?Just because he’s a man, it doesn’t mean he can claim everything he wants.He can never take me away from the family that took care of me. He already killed my brother, Mom, and Dad.After all, he never became a father to me.“What are you doing here?” I asked. Galo rushed behind me. He touched and caressed my hand which somehow calmed my system. The man in front of us is the one who ruined lives in this one. The antagonist of everyone’s story and I don’t nee
CHAPTER 56Gelo asked me on a date! I feel like a normal teenager asked by her long-time crush to go on a date. I never knew what a date feels like. I badly wanted to experience the right person.A perfect date in my head is when a person waits for you outside your house with his fancy car and a bouquet of roses and chocolates in his hand. That’s romantic, even in books.But reality struck me. After fixing myself on my spring-themed dress, I got down to face Angelo. He didn’t bring any bouquet of roses, just a stem on his hand and neither he has a car as well. But that’s love. Neither person or date is perfect. The world was just cruel to provide that for us.I do love Angelo, that’s the only thing that matters for now.“You’re going on a date?” Mom asked me. She pretends to be the evil stepmother who will do anything so the princess could not go on a date. “You’re not even asking me and telling me everything.”“I swear I forgot. Ever since I came here, Angelo’s been the person who we
CHAPTER 55“Chaz! Chaz!” I rushed to Chaz’s house the next day. He should know what we are planning and I know he’s going to join us. He’s one of those I knew who was wronged by the alpha so badly.Chaz didn’t answer. I was so excited to enter his house without knocking. Gladly, it wasn’t locked.The house smelled plain. I saw Chaz making out with Kaz in their living room. Holy shit! My innocent eyes! “Oh, Catherine. Can’t you knock for once?” Chaz said. “You came to bother us.” He stood up from the sofa, as well as Kaz. They only have their boxers on their bodies. I faced my back to them and waited to wear their clothes. “I’m gonna sue you next time. You can face us now.”“I’m sorry. I was just too excited to see you. I forgot that the last time I got here, you were doing the same with Kaz. I promise not to do it again.”“Don’t promise things you can’t accomplish, kid. So what’s with your commotion on ruining my morning sex with the love of my life?”I told him the story. What he ne
CHAPTER 54Their jaws dropped. They didn’t expect what I’ve said. But that’s the very best thing that I know that could benefit everyone. Not just me but every family who lost someone because of the alpha.“The alpha killed Mom, Dad, and Felix. He killed more people from what we knew. He manipulates people. He’s using his power.”“But you’re not a killer, Catherine!” That’s the first time Jay shouted at me. “Do not let your instrusive thoughts to ruin you. You can’t become this kind of person. I know you’re not like that.”“Cath, as much as I want to kill that man. As much as I want to give him waht he deserves, I don’t want my only daughter to become a killer. You can’t hold a knife and just kill somebody. Please.”“I talked to him last night.”Spoons clattered on plates when I said that. Gelo almost choke himself as well. Maybe telling them the truth will make them understand my point more. I have to tell them this now. I know the alpha. He won’t stop getting what he wants until he
CHAPTER 53I shouldn’t feel bad about what I did to my father, but why I am crying on my way back home? It was midnight and it was cold, so I could feel the tears warming up my face. I never longed for a father, even before. My past Mom and Dad were there. I never feel any complications in our relationship. I felt full. I felt loved.But when I saw him when he touch him. I felt a pang inside my chest. This man is my father. And this man killed the ones I loved. It wasn’t because I want us to be a complete family. We can’t be like that. My heart aches because the truth is my father is a killer. And I have to live with that truth until the day that I die. It wasn’t a history to tell. It’s a carved mark on my identity.Although there wasn’t any noise on my way, I don’t feel that everything is silent and quiet. My mind was attacking me with all of my thoughts. What are Mom and Alpha living better? What if they got to each other? What if the mess didn’t happen? What if Mom, Dad, and Felix