Chapter 12
1177 Words
The meeting room door opened silently, revealing the dim corridor beyond. The polished floor reflected the faint glow of hanging lamps.
The figure at the corridor’s end froze mid-step. A woman, trembling, hand pressed to her chest, eyes wide with fear. Emric recognized her from childhood—someone he had known once, long ago—but he felt nothing more than acknowledgement. She was here now, but for what?
Her fear was sharp and tangible, radiating urgency. She didn’t resist his presence; she only looked at him, wide-eyed, desperate. Every gesture, every subtle tremor, every falter in her stance spoke volumes. He noticed it all.
Nate leaned closer. “Should we—?”
Emric shook his head. No. He needed to observe, to assess. Every motion she made mattered. Every micro-expression contained meaning.
"Why are you here, Ana?" Emric asked at last.
She swallowed hard. “I… I don’t know why I came. I… I was drawn here.” Her voice quavered. “I just… I just needed to speak to you.”
Emric raised an eyebrow. “Speak, then.”
Her hands trembled on the strap of her bag. She hesitated, took a shuddering breath, and uttered words she didn’t fully understand herself:
"Emric Ashford, confront yourself or answer to the sea."
The sound of the words fell like a weight in the corridor. Emric froze, attention snapping sharply to her. The fear in her voice, the urgency, the unnatural clarity in her tone—everything made him take her seriously.
But before he could respond, her fear and memory evaporated. Her shoulders sagged, her hands loosened, and the intensity left her entirely. She blinked, confused, vacant.
“I… I don’t… I don’t know why I’m here,” she stammered, voice uncertain, eyes scanning the room as if seeing it for the first time. The urgency, the fear, the message—all gone. Even Emric felt the shift: the tension that had demanded his focus disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.
The betas exchanged uneasy glances. Mark's jaw tightened. Theo furrowed his brow. Whispers ran through the group. “Is she… insane?” “Did she just… what?”
Nate frowned. “Or was she… telling the truth before?”
Emric’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t respond immediately. He studied her carefully, noting her vacant expression, the way her fingers fidgeted, the absence of the fear she had carried just seconds before. It made him hesitate—but not because he didn’t take her seriously. It made him confused. Her sudden normalcy, her complete forgetfulness, undermined any reason to act.
She sank slightly into the nearest chair, dazed. “I… I don’t understand,” she said softly. “I… I don’t know why I came here. I… I just…” Her voice faded into uncertainty.
Emric remained standing, observing. There was no warmth, no concern—only vigilance. He registered her as a person, but the meaning of the moment had vanished. The fear had done its work, but the work was invisible now. Nothing about her behaviour suggested urgency. Nothing to indicate the strange, impossible importance of her words.
“Step back,” Emric said finally, dismissive, tone measured but slightly impatient. “Calm yourself. Collect your thoughts.”
She blinked rapidly, struggling to hold onto a memory that no longer existed. “I… I can’t… I don’t know,” she whispered, voice small, trembling.
The betas whispered among themselves. “She’s crazy.” “Was that… real?”
Emric said nothing. He did not smile, did not scold, did not react with disbelief. He simply watched, noting the discrepancy between what had just occurred and what was now present. The corridor was still, quiet, mundane once more. Ana had delivered her words—and in doing so, had disappeared from her own urgency.
For the pack, it was absurd. They couldn’t reconcile the intensity of the moment with her current state. Emric’s focus remained sharp, but even he couldn’t decipher what had truly transpired. No one had seen the force behind the message. No one understood the implication. It was beyond them.
Ana’s head lolled slightly, as if overwhelmed. She had completed the task imposed upon her—though no one, including herself, would ever know why. The message lingered faintly in the room, almost a whisper in the mind, almost too subtle to take seriously.
Emric finally broke the silence. “Whatever this is, it’s over for now,” he said, voice firm. “She’s done. That’s all we know.”
Ana nodded, uncertain, still trembling slightly, her gaze vacant. Emric returned to the corridor, signalling the betas to resume position.
The room remained quiet. Confusion hung in the air, lingering like smoke. No one understood what had happened. No one knew why she had appeared, why she had spoken, or why she had forgotten.
And yet, something deep down told him this wasn't merely nothing.
***********
Conrad Ashford was used to getting what he wanted.
It was a reputation that followed him everywhere at Ashford High. Most people assumed it was arrogance, but the truth was far simpler—Conrad rarely bothered pursuing anything that required too much effort.
If something interested him, he enjoyed it.
If it didn’t, he moved on.
Simple.
He was a player through and through. It wasn't something he had control over. And even though he was beginning to have real feelings for Thea, he'd made a bet with his cousins. And the reward of winning the bet was far more important than his feelings. He wasn't interested in pursuing them. He was interested in winning the bet.
He was willing to do anything just so he could emerge victorious. That was why he made another deal with Jace. His brother was good at watching people and he knew he was just as ambitious. So when he told him about the plan he didn't hesitate to help, and just a week after, Jace had brought him a notebook filled with tight, precise handwriting.
The routine. Delphine's routine.
Another reason why he had to include Jace in his plan was that he didn't want Thea to grow suspicious seeing him constantly around her sister. The objective was simple. He had already won one sister's heart. Winning Delphine's was just one more step to winning the bet. Another step to feeling euphoric with joy, pride and satisfaction. Another step to greater confirmation that he could definitely get anything he wanted.
Conrad was sitting on one of the premium faux leathered sofas, a nearly empty pint of vodka on the billiard table, reading through the extra notes he got from Jace.
"I want to end this bet once and for all. Are you sure this is all I need to know?" Conrad said, swinging a glass of vodka in one hand while scanning another line.
Jace, who was sitting on the arm of the sofa, replied, "Sure thing. There's nothing more."
A faint smirk played at the corner of Conrad's lips. "Perfect." he said, drinking in long gulps.
- Writer
