Liam made a habit to make sure his children were under supervision even though they were with their own mother, because the last time he left Jasmine with one of the twins, she tried to smother the baby with a pillow.
Fortunately, Liam came in time and shoved Jasmine away. He punished her by letting her stay in the dungeon for a week before he let her go and now, the twins were no longer breastfed by her. It was painful to see that their own mother didn’t love them, yet Liam had signed up for the worst case situation when he impregnated Jasmine without her consent.
It would be a miracle for Jasmine to come around and love their children, since she hated his kind with passion, especially after what Liam had done to her and everything he put her through the past year.
“You are human,” Jasmine stated one day while Emily and she were walking in the yard of the pack house with the twins in strollers.
It was a rare occasion where Jasmine could stand her children, maybe Liam had not yet given up on the idea for Jasmine to come to love their children, but of course, she wouldn’t be left alone with them.
To add additional security, there were four shifters around them, who paid close attention to Jasmine and Emily, so none of these people would try something funny.
“I am human,” Emilly admitted. She stopped walking and put the strollers next to her, while she sat down on the bench.
“But, you stay here with those filthy creatures,” Jasmine scoffed in disdain. Not even once did she look at her twins. “Don’t you have any desire to live with your own kind?”
Hearing that, Emily smiled, she didn’t need to think further to give an answer to that. “I just want to live with Eros,” she replied firmly, because that was what she wanted.
.....
She could live anywhere, as long as Eros was there. She would endure anything, as long as she was not separated from him.
However, for Jasmine, this sounded very stupid. This girl must have been brainwashed to think that way and until now, she had not yet realized that Eros was the same experimental object that escaped years ago from their facility.
“You will not say this if you have lived with normal people.”
The smile on Emily’s lips didn’t falter when she answered. “I have lived with humans and they are worse than the shifters. At least, I am full here.” She still remembered vividly how she went to sleep with an empty stomach so many times. Oh, not to mention the beatings...
Emily lived with her adoptive parents when she was so young. She was only two years old at that time. Thus, before Eros came, the way they treated her was way worse than what she had gone through here. Since she was just a punching bag to that couple.
On the other hand, Jasmine couldn’t understand that. She lived in luxury, since her father was the leader of the organization and used to be respected.
“You don’t know what you are talking about. You are only a child,” Jasmine scoffed, but Emily shook her head.
“I know what I am talking about. I agree that not all people are bad, but it goes the same with the shifters, not all the shifters are bad.”
“They are monsters.”
“And sometimes, humans are monsters themselves.”
Jasmine glared daggers at Emily, she was livid hearing what she was saying. She didn’t want to be lectured by... how old was she? Twelve? Thirteen? What a joke...
“Emily,” The two were interrupted by Eros, whose eyes were fixed on Jasmine, since he could sense her anger.
“Are you done with your training?” Emily stood up and immediately approached Eros. She looked more cheerful when she saw him.
“Hm.” Eros nodded. He shifted his attention to Emily and took her hand. “Go on a walk with me,” he said.
“I can’t, the babies...” But, Eros didn’t want to hear a refusal, so he grabbed her hand and ushered her away from Jasmine. “But, the babies... she is not allowed to...”
And before Emily could finish her words, from the corner of her eyes, she saw two warriors rushing over to take the strollers away, and proceeded to escort Jasmine back to the pack house, along with the four original guards that came with them before.
It seemed Eros had known about this and purposefully brought two more men with him to take care of it.
“I don’t want you to spend time with her often,” Eros said, he looked tired after the training, but his demeanor was so cold like usual. This was one of the reasons why many shifters would avoid him, despite him being so young in age.
“Alpha Liam...”
“I will take care of him.”
Eros had mentioned this to alpha Liam before, but he seemed to not listen. He didn’t want to let Emily be with a killer like Jasmine.
Yes, they were under close supervision, but Jasmine could end Emily’s life within seconds and it would be too late for anyone to save her and Eros wouldn’t want to bet on some unreliable benefit of doubt that she wouldn’t do that.
“Did you hear me?” Eros asked sternly, he stopped walking and stared at Emily, waiting for her answer.
Emily nodded obediently. “Yes.”
Eros looked at her hazel eyes and then extended his hand to caress her cheek, before tucking the loose strands of her hair behind her ear. Her hair was really long right now. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
He had spent most of his time trying to get strong and even almost died before he could claim this position, it was meaningless if she still got hurt.
Eros would talk about this again to Alpha Liam sternly.
========================
Zuri and Chaos entered a fast food restaurant since she wanted to eat fried chicken and of course, Chaos would oblige her, at least in this matter, he wouldn’t say anything.
Meanwhile, outside, the night sky looked so gloomy, it was going to be a rainy night apparently, especially when the rumble of thunder could be heard and the sky suddenly became bright with the lightning.
“Can you get us a car from there?” Chaos said to Zuri when they stood in the queue, to place their order.
“Car?” Zuri frowned and then followed Chaos’ line of sight. He was talking about a rental car place that was in business across from this fast food restaurant. “We can go there together after eating.”
“No, I want you to go there now,” Chaos insisted.
“Later, after we finished eating, we will go there.” Zuri was reluctant, she didn’t want to go there alone.
“Now, Blue,” Chaos said sternly. He fished out his wallet and gave it to her. “Choose a car that you want.”
Zuri rolled her eyes. This was not about the car... but, when Chaos already called her name sternly, there was no way she could argue with him. “Okay,” she relented.
Chaos’ long, black hair was tied behind his nape. It reached his waist already, and most of the time, whenever Zuri was upset with him, she was tempted to pull his hair.
Zuri left with the wolf beside her, it was clear to see that the wolf chose to be with her more than be with Chaos.
Only when the two of them left and Zuri crossed the street safely to reach the rental, did Chaos’ eyes turn hard, before talking to himself.
“What do you want now?” Chaos said in the most dangerous tone. There was not even a sliver of warmth in his voice when he turned around to face the man that had his back to him.
This man was standing in front of him in this queue.
At the same time, the lights inside the restaurant flickered and everything went dark, yet it only lasted for a second before all the lights came on again. However, this time there was no one there, except for the two of them.
There was only Aaron and Chaos inside this empty restaurant, while all the other people had disappeared mysteriously.
Aaron was standing right in front of Chaos with his arms crossed in front of his chest, while smiling smugly at him.
“Long time no see, Chaos...” he said in his rough voice. His golden eyes were locked on the man before his eyes. “How is your luck with all of your shattered souls?”
“What do you want?” Chaos repeated his question. He narrowed his eyes when he watched how two black Ageha butterflies fluttered around Aaron.
The Ageha butterfly was his symbol and it would never mean anything good.
“I just want to help you.” Aaron walked closer toward Chaos, but all of a sudden there was fire between them, which forced him to stop coming closer than this. He drew the line and the devil only cackled when he saw this. “You don’t need to be so defensive. I told you that I am here to help you.”
“Scram.” That was the only response that Chaos gave to him.
Yet, Aaron purposefully ignored that warning. “Why do you need to keep fighting the darkness inside of you?” He tilted his head. “I don’t understand. You should let the monster breakfree, because the more you hold back who you are, the more difficult it will be for you.”
On the other hand, Zuri glanced back at the fast-food restaurant and she saw that Chaos was still queuing up in the line along with the other people. There was nothing strange or concerning about it.