Chapter 1

Thirteen Hours Ago

“Can you listen to yourself at all? Why on earth would you suggest a thing like this?” Darrell asked, knitting his brow.

“Then would you have me sit here and do nothing about this?” – Annie shot back with a flash of anger in her eyes. “The Cunninghams are in possession of something that's mine, and I've to get it back at all cost. So even if it means drinking this, then I don't mind.”

“Alright… I get it but wait.” he gestured, trying to calm her down. “What would you tell Alec? Have you thought of how he would feel about this whole thing? I mean, what if he doesn't feed you his blood? He has refused giving you his blood countless times because he doesn't want you to be a monster just like him. So how sure are you that he would feed you his blood now?”

“Leave Alec and his feelings to me. Right now, there's a greater cause at hand.”

“That's not the solution to all of this!” Darrell thundered, breathing heavily. “I don't want you to be a blood sucking monster, just like every one of them.”

“It's gone past what we feel now. The Cunninghams have to pay for what they did to the lot of my pack!” – Annie slammed the wooden table before her as a flash of transformation lighted her eyes.

“What if your cover is blown?” he asked, trying to keep his voice steady. “Then what becomes of you? Us? The pack?”

Darrell's eyes darkened with pain.

He was right, there was every need to think this through again. What if Alec refuses to feed her his blood, just like he did some time back? What becomes of the pack if things eventually goes south? However, considering all of these things would only mean that Virginia remained in the hands of the Cunninghams which would see them go unpunished for murdering the lot of her pack.

She got on her feet, blinking back tears, and then embraced him. “While I'll be away, keep the pack safe. Also, you know what to do when I drink from that mug, right?” – she whispered, her arms slackening from around him.

Without a second thought, she gripped the mug and gulped down everything in it. Before long, the mug escaped from her grip and crashed on the floor. She almost collapsed too, but Darrell was quick enough to catch her In his arms as his eyes burned with tears.

“You didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye.” he uttered softly and kissed her on the forehead.

In the meantime, he laid her body on the sofa and sat beside it with his hands clasped together. Although she had made her own decision by choosing to drink the death potion and sacrificing her life for the pack, despite knowing the dangers ahead. However, it was time to make his decision. A difficult one at that.

Life hadn't been fair to her and the pack, but above all, life had not been fair to him. She didn't even give him the chance to express his feelings and spend some more time with her before she drank the potion. Now all there is to have some faith that things would go as planned, even though it didn't seem like it.