Ella’s POV “I was with my mother,” | told him quickly, which wasn’t a lie. | was with my mother and a few others, including Colton, doing the protection ritual and summoning the guardian of the earth. But | wasn’t going to say that to the detective and Headmaster Prescott.
“With your mother?” He asked, raising his brows.
I nodded my head, leaning back in my seat.
“Yes, sir,” | answered as confidently as | could. “I was with my mother. She was in town visiting and we enjoyed the day together.” “Ella’s mother is a very powerful Luna for the Nova pack in Elysium,” Headmaster Prescott explained to him.
“Her father is Alpha Bastien. He's the leader of the Alpha Committee so he’s often traveling around and checking out neighboring packs. He's very close allies with your Alpha as well, detective.” Detective Sanchez tensed at the mention of his Alpha, whom I'm assuming was Alpha Jonathan. Most of the authorities and emergency services in Higala were from the Crescent Moon pack, which was Alpha Jonathan and Sarah's pack.
“I see,” he said, clearing his throat. “Then | suppose that checks out.” “If I need to call my mother, | would be happy to do so, Detective,” | said, giving him a coy smile.
“That won't be necessary, Miss Ella. | appreciate your time. That's all the questions | have for you.” | nodded and stood to my feet.
“Gamma Alexander, would you please escort Ella back to her dorm?” Headmaster Prescott asked kindly.
I had almost forgotten that Alex was standing nearby; he was so quiet during all that questioning. I'm glad he didn’t scoff at my obvious lies or make any grunting sounds to show his disbelief and annoyance at my answers.
“Yes mam,” he said politely. “Should I return here once I'm done?” “Ill let you know the next student to escort here once we discuss it,” Headmaster Prescott informed him.
He nodded and turned toward the doorway; this time, he walked first and trailed after him.
Once we were outside, | noticed he was walking in the direction of the dorms.
“I have to go back to Colton,” | told him.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“I'm not getting in trouble for you,” he muttered. “If you want to go back there, you have to sneak back yourself.” | frowned at his back, but he did not attempt to stop or turn to look at me. I just rolled my eyes and turned in the opposite direction.
“Fine,” | muttered and then | walked further away until | reached the faculty housing.
If | was spotted on my way back, nobody made it known. But as soon as | got to Colton’s house, the door swung open, and Colton stood beforewith a look of sincerity and worry. He looked very pleased to see me, but he also looked distressed and worried.
He sighed relief when he saw that | was unharmed and smiling up at him. | flew myself into his arms and he pulledinto his house, closing the door behind us.
“How was it?” He asked, kissing down my temples and across my cheekbones.
“Intense,” | admitted. “He was askinghow close | was to Merida and how she was as a student. | didn’t really know how to answer him. | wasn’t that close to Merida... but everything | said made it look like | was purposely shunning her.” “If he knew anything about you, he'd know you’d never shun anyone,” Colton said, peering down at me. “You are the most compassionate, caring, and loving person | know.” | smiled up at him, standing on my toes and kissing him gently.
“I love you,” | said to him.
“And | love you,” he said in return, wrapping his arms aroundand pullingtoward his chest.
His kisses trailed down the nape of my neck and across my shoulders. | closed my eyes, soaking him in and basking in his incredible scent. My heart was thudding rapidly against my chest to the point where | thought it was going to explode from my chest.
It was incredible the effects of a mate bond, well after it's been established. Every tI'm with him is like the first tand it was a feeling | never wanted to go away.
| couldn’t fathom the thought of ever losing him; I'm fairly certain it would literally killand my wolf. We would never be able to recover if anything happened to our mate.
As he continued to kissand tear my clothes off my body, ravishingin my true form and making love to the human outside the wolf, all | could think about was, “I will protect him until the day I die.” Third Person POV Fear consumed Rachel as she barricaded herself in her room. Her entire body trembled as tears fell at a rapid speed down her pale features. She sat on the floor in the darkest corner of her room with her knees pressed to her chest and her head lowered.
Her windows and curtains were drawn, keeping out the sunlight that desperately wanted to seep into her room.
Her roommate and close friend, Becca, had knocked a few times to get her to cout and eat something. It was obvious that Becca was worried for her, but Rachel couldn't bring herself to get up or face reality.
She had killed someone.
She was the reason for this lockdown, and she was the reason for the interrogation. It would only be a matter of tbefore they realized this and imprisoned her.
She hadn't wanted to kill anyone; she could hardly even remember the events that led up to that poor girl's death. All she remembered was feeling ravenous and having such a strong craving.
The craving.
She craved blood.
Bears don’t drink blood nor are they known for their brutality. But there was this thing inside of her that needed it; this darkness was what craved that blood and that darkness is what killed that girl.
Rachel shuddered at the imagery of that girl's dying face. She cried and begged Rachel to leave her alone; she begged for her life. But Rachel wasn’t there; it was the darkness. All Rachel could do was watch from the farthest part of her mind as her body tore into that girl's chest and took out her beating heart. She was smashed against the wall, cracking her head, and making blood poor from her open wounds.
When Rachel got her control back, it was already too late. She was sitting in a pool of blood in the academic center and the girl was drained and dead in front of her. She didn’t know what else to do so she locked the doors of the center.
Thankfully, it was after hours so there was nobody inside.
She quickly cleaned the mess as best as she could and hid the girl’s body in the basement of the building.
Nobody ever goes there; the likelihood of the girl being found was slim if Rachel hid her properly. She tried to bury her in the dirt that the basement floor was made up of; | was unfinished, and they hadn't completed the flooring.
Once she was sure the body was hidden well enough, she went to her locker and changed into the extra clothes she had stored in there a while ago.
She hadn’t expected to see Professor Colton standing outside the academic center when she left. Her heart was nearly beating out of her chest as she looked into his curious and yet suspicious eyes. It was obvious that he knew something was up, but she couldn't tell him the truth.
She couldn't tell anybody.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAll she could do was hide and hope that nobody ever found out the horrific and hideous truth.
“You should have hidden the body better,” that voice returned to her; it was the voice of a woman, but she also sounded animalistic. Hearing the voice horrified Rachel to the bones; she knew something terrible was going to happen and she was once again going to lose control of her body.
“I'm sorry....” Rachel managed to sputter through her tears. “But I'm not a killer.” “Of course, you're not, darling. You are a survivor. You do what it takes to survive.” “But...but that girl... she was harmless,” Rachel whimpered.
“But you needed her blood to live; without it, my pets would have died. If they die... so, do you.” “Your pets?” Rachel asked, lifting her head, and looking at nothing in particular. “You mean the darkness inside of me? The ones that take over my body and makedo awful things?” “Smight call it darkness yes,” she purred. “But they are what makes you strong. Nobody can tell you that a bear is weak again. Not with my pets living inside of you. You will be known as fierce. Nobody will mess with you again.”She opened her mouth to protest, but she felt the claws of the darkness inside of her, once again, attacking her brain and forcing her to remain silent and obedient. She had lost the little control she had over her body, and she was now a vessel again.
“Now, we are in quite a predicament; are we not? A detective is trying to find who murdered that girl. We can’t let them know that it was you, obviously.” Rachel lowered her head and let out a small whimper, but she was restricted from speaking.
“But lucky for you; | have a plan for that,” the voice continued, much to Rachel's horror.
Rachel found herself standing to her feet; she was now shoved into the back of her mind; unable to control her movements, she went to the window and opened the curtains, and then she opened the window itself.
She was on the second story of the dormitory, and she worried about what was about to happen. But before she could fully grasp it, she was flinging herself out the window. She wanted to scream so badly but the darkness that took her over wouldn't allow her to.
When she landed, roughly, she heard a snapping in her leg, and then pain coursed through her leg and up her entire body. Her body shuddered and jolted, and Rachel gritted her teeth. She wanted to cry out and scream that her leg was broken and that she needed help, but the darkness wouldn't allow her to do that either.
It kept her still and pressed against the cold and hard wall of the building. Tears threatened Rachel's eyes; she stole a glance at her leg and saw that it was twisted in the wrong direction. It had to have been broken.
But then, to Rachel's utter terror, her leg automatically snapped back into place, sending a wave of pain around her body.
It took a couple of heartbeats, but she could finally move her leg again and once she did, she was standing and moving against the shadows of the building until she reached the front doors of the dormitory.
She watched as her body opened the doors of the boy's dorm and made its way inside. A few gamma warriors were standing by and when they saw Rachel, the darkness emerged from her, appearing to her like snakes, and slithered towards the warriors who stood frozen and in shock.
The snake-like creatures wrapped around their necks and choked them until they had passed out completely and bit into their flesh, tearing open their necks and drinking from their bodies.
The snakes returned to Rachel, slithering back into her body and nestling against her brain as they were before.
Rachel turned and walked toward one of the boy's sections of the dormitory. The living quarters were vacant thankfully; Rahcel didn’t want anyone else to die who got in her path.
She made her way up the stairs and knocked on one of the doors to the boy's dorm.
After a few minutes the door opened, slowly and hesitantly, and she cface to face with Scott.