Alessia Stocklin and Ezra Withers are polar opposites, but they can certainly agree on one thing: their mutual hate for each other.
He's an Alpha deadset on killing every rogue he comes across, while she's a vigilante - known as Nightshade - intent...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"The Committee has postponed the hearing," Ezra explained when I woke up the next morning.
I couldn't help but let a faint smile fall onto my lips; it was the best news I'd had in days. While I would have rather traded the news for Apollo's safe return, I decided to soak in the silver lining in the overflowing series of unfortunate circumstances that comprised my life.
With the hearing postponed, it would give me more time to think of a solid way to save rogues. Instead of relying on the impact of me, Ezra's mate, speaking out against misrepresented rogues, I now was allotted ample time — granted I lived long enough to make it to the hearing — to think of an argument that could blow the socks off of the Werewolf Committee.
It would not be an easy feat, but who would be a better fit for the job than Nightshade herself? Of course, I would not let my pride get in the way of my goal: the legalization of rogue activity. If things ever turned dire, I was not above returning to my original plan.
But I had time to think — scratch that, I would have time to think about it once Apollo was safely back in our home territory.
"They've put a nationwide alert out for Apollo," Ezra continued. Ezra stood in the doorway while I was nestled in the cocoon of sheets I had built around myself. Even from his distance, I could see the dropping bags collecting underneath his ocean-blue eyes.
Has he slept at all? I wondered.
Sitting up, I tried my best to maintain my knotted bedhead before teasing Ezra. "I hope it's nothing like the way you tried to find me — wanted dead or alive with quite a large bounty on my head."
"On Nightshade's head," Ezra clarified, and I could tell he was not in a joking mood.
"What's wrong?" I asked, gulping. Had the rage within finally taken over?
I knew I deserved his unrelinquished anger. I mean, I did want him to be angry with me. It would be better than how he was acting — acting as if I had done more than merely try and scratch him. Because, honestly, it was a ginormous deal.
I almost killed my mate.
For a short while, I tried to reason with myself: you only had those desires because someone implanted them in your brain. But the truth did nothing to settle my mind. Sure, I had given in to the urge because lives were on the line, but I could have been stronger.
I should have been stronger.
Deep down, I knew if the roles were reversed, Ezra would have found a way out of the tortuous thoughts. He wouldn't have given into Elias' demands so easily. Granted, it did seem like he had a whole childhood to prepare and ready himself to deal with Elias's antics. But, in a way, I had prepared myself for the same thing by dawning on my Nightshade cloak.
