Fated to the Enemies Daughter

THE MISFITS

Imani's Pov

What i am about you…you’re never going to be able to guess what it is.

The apartment building i had rented earlier…it belonged to Madam Josphine. What are the odds actually? The moon goddess must really be on my side.

As we walked in, the man, eating canned beans with a spoon looked up and greeted her before going back to eating the canned beans he always has for some weird reason.

“that’s what happens when Icarus flies too close to the sun” she says as we walked up the creaking stairs.

“What happened to him” i muttered.

“he discovered what this building was really about. Just had to remind him that he was human after all” she explains

“what is this building about?” i halted for a while looking at her before following after her.

“it a place for you and me Imani…the misfits zoo i call it. Catchy right?”

“is Brenda.. a misfit too” i thought back to how weird she was. I wouldn’t be surprised is i found out she sucked her big toe for protection.

“oh no darling…she’s human. Just acts like she’s high on mushrooms. Either here or the loony bin” she says pushing open large metal doors.

Lol oh Brenda.

"Guys! Listen up!" Josephine yelled.

A guy sitting on the kitchen counter dropped his piece of toast. He didn't look like any wolf I’d ever seen. He was lean, with skin the color of rich mahogany and ears that were slightly just slightly pointed. He was wearing a silk shirt that was half-unbuttoned, looking like he just rolled out of a photoshoot.

"Who’s the guest?" he asked, hopping down. He moved like liquid, way too smooth to be human. He walked a slow circle around me, sniffing the air. "You smell like cinnamon. I like it."

I huffed a bit, my eyes following him. I wasn't in the mood for games. "uh…thanks? What are you?"

He grinned, showing teeth that were definitely too sharp. "Dax. Fae exile. I was kicked out of the Summer Court for having a 'disrespectful attitude.' Apparently, telling the Queen her crown looked like a bird's nest is a crime."

"It was," a deep, rumbling voice came from the sofa.

A massive guy stood up. He was at least seven feet tall, with skin that looked like grey, cracked stone in some places, like a dry riverbed. He was wearing an oversized hoodie that said I'M A DELICATE FLOWER. The irony.

"I'm Zev," the stone-guy said. His voice was so deep I felt it in my shins. "Troll-hybrid. Don't mind Jax. He thinks every woman is a toy."

"I'm not a toy," I said, looking from the pretty Fae to the stone giant. My wolf was pacing in my head, confused by all these new scents. "I'm Imani… a werewolf."

"7B," Josephine said, tossing me a key. "Dax, show her where the towels are. Zev, stop intimidating her."

Josephine headed back downstairs, leaving me alone with the two weirdest guys I’d ever met.

Dax leaned against the wall, his eyes tracking the black ring around my iris. "Star-crossed, huh? Which man was stupid enough to let go of ya?” i shifted uncomfortably.

As I stood there, more people started trickling in like it was the busiest intersection in the city.

A girl with skin that shimmered like fish scales pushed past me, carrying a bucket of ice. Two twins who looked ten years old but had eyes like ancient gargoyles were playing a card game in the corner, and the cards were literally floating. There had to be at least fifteen people living in this one open space. It was loud, it smelled like a mix of wet dog and expensive perfume, and it was the most non-wolf thing I’d ever seen. And I oddly loved it.

"Move it, Newbie," a girl with bright pink hair and a literal tail hissed as she walked by.

I didn't even have the energy to snap back. I just wanted to find my room.

Then, the heavy front door creaked open, and the entire room went silent. Even Dax stopped checking his reflection in a spoon.

A guy walked in, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe.

He wasn't a giant like Zev, but he had a presence that made the room feel smaller. He was wearing a simple black hoodie with the sleeves pushed up, revealing forearms that were corded with hard, functional muscle and dusted with dark hair. He moved with a grounded, predatory grace and no wasted movement, no flashy Alpha strut. Just a steady, dangerous and very…very sexy confidence. Goddess grace.

I found myself fixated, my eyes tracing the sharp, clean line of his jaw and his messy dark hair that looked like he’d been running his hands through it in just because. When he pulled his hood back, I saw his face clearly. He was handsome…like the Goddess carved him from the stars them, at this point she was just showing off while making him. His skin was tan, marked by a small, jagged scar just above his eyebrow, and his eyes…gods, his eyes. They were a stormy, piercing grey, like the sky right before a tornado hits.

He didn’t look like a wolf or anything. I couldn’t tell but he smelt different from the others he smelt like…cherries… He was the kind of man you’d follow into a war without asking what the fight was about.

He stopped, his gaze sweeping the room until it locked onto me. I felt a jolt of electricity shoot down my spine, a heat that made my skin prickle. His eyes dropped to the black ring around my iris, staying there for a beat too long.

My heart gave a massive, traitorous thud against my ribs.

No.

Panic flared in my chest. Not now. My stupid heart.

The rejection from Kaelen was still a fresh, gaping wound, and seeing this mysterious, beautiful man felt like salt being rubbed into it. I felt sick. I felt like my heart was literally going to fall off and shatter on the floor if I stayed under his gaze for one more second.

"Who’s this?" he asked. His voice was a low, resonant rumble that I felt in my marrow and core.

"Imani," Josephine said, but I didn't even wait for the rest.

I turned on my heel, my breath coming in short, jagged gasps. I pushed past Vane and the gargoyle twins, not caring who I stepped on. I needed to get out. I needed a wall between me and those stormy eyes.

I scrambled into my room 7B and slammed the door, locking it with trembling fingers. I leaned my forehead against the wood, my eyes burning.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I whispered, clutching my chest. "Don't you dare look at a man like that. Don't you dare lust over that…hot man"

I caught a glimpse of myself in mirror on the wall. Beads of sweat decorated my forehead and chin, my eyes wide. I looked down at my body…my wide hips, the curve of my stomach, the heaviness of my chest that Kaelen had mocked.

I took a deep breath, forcing the air into my lungs until my ribs ached.

"Wait a minute," I muttered, straightening my back.

I wiped a stray tear away with a aggressive swipe. I was a big girl. I was a midsized baddie with confidence…okay…some…working confidence and a father to avenge. I had survived a ballroom full of wolves laughing at me; I wasn't going to let some mysterious guy in a black hoodie make me run like a scared rabbit.

I smoothed down my shirt, feeling the solid weight of my own curves. If he wanted to stare at my mark, let him. If he wanted to see what a big girl looked like, I’d show him. But I was done running.

I sat on the edge of the bed, my jaw set. Kaelen Thorne had tried to make me small. Nobody can stop me. I am going to become the best version of myself there is.

"He's just a guy," I told my reflection. "A very, very hot guy. But just a guy."

I stayed there for a long time, listening to the muffled sounds of the hostel, waiting for my heart to stop acting like a caged bird and start acting like the storm I was supposed to be.

I freaking hate hot men!!