Prologue
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“It was beauty killed the beast.” —King Kong, 1933
POV: Lily’s
THEY say that love can conquer so many things.
My mum used to tell me loving somebody is as easy as breathing. She loved my dad to the moon and back. They were inseparable. I always wanted what they had.
Love apparently has the ability to make us better people. Once you find love, things are easy from there.
All of that, every single word of it, is wrong.
I have had the unfortunate experience of love and let me tell you, it is not worth the pain.
The worst part? The person I was in love with was my so-called soul mate. Yeah, that’s right, I met my soul mate. The man who was supposed to be the yin to my yang, the other half of my soul.
When we first met, I was completely entranced by him. He was utterly gorgeous—too gorgeous to be human. I should have seen that immediately. Nobody could look that perfect, it should be a crime.
Of course, the moment he opened his mouth, he had to ruin everything. For a while, I spent my time pining over him like some love-sick puppy. I watched him be with other girls whilst gazing lovingly at another girl. A girl who became my friend. I allowed myself to feel utter torture in the name of love.
It was fruitless. It was all useless. He was so in love with another girl that he couldn’t even glance my way. I could see why though—this girl was my superior in every way. She was dangerously gorgeous, kind-hearted, and good. Actually, she was perfect. Why would he want me when he could want her?
She wasn’t broken. She wasn’t incomplete. She was healthy, light, and happy.
Nevertheless, I believed I had a shot with him. Foolish, I know. I tried to hang around him, I tried to get him to notice me. I tried everything.
After so many attempts, something switched. One day he came to me and told me he had feelings for me too. That day will forever be burned in my mind. I will use it as a reminder of the type of man I had to avoid.
I completely forgot about the pain he put me through and gave him a chance. I wanted him so badly, I didn’t care about anything else.
I later discovered how stupid I was. I was so naïve and silly. You’d think after having your heart broken by a worthless man once was enough to teach you a lesson. But, alas, it wasn’t.
I just had to jump in headfirst and accept his apologies.
Idiotically, I let him into my heart. I believed he could mend my fragile heart.
Deep down, I knew he was made to break it. I was the bomb and he was the trigger. He would ruin me.
Arlo Gold was a manipulative liar.
We are all told the classic fairy tales. We had all heard stories about werewolves, witches, and vampires. It didn’t mean they were real. Believing in them would be absurd.
Yet, I witnessed Arlo shift with my own two eyes. I watched him leap into the air and transform into a large, brown-haired wolf.
He had lied to me about who he was and what I was to him. And not only did he lie about that, but he also didn’t want me. His soul mate.
Instead of desiring me, he wanted his brother’s girlfriend. My friend. He loved her so much, that he couldn’t even fathom being with me. And just when we were getting somewhere, he went and kissed my bully and nemesis, Trinity.
So, leaving my boarding school was never not an option. I had to put as much distance as I could from Arlo Gold and his pack of liars and manipulators. I couldn’t look any of them in the eye without remembering who they were and what they did to me.
Ironically, I once compared Arlo to gold. He felt unobtainable, just like gold. He was beautiful, tough, and enchanting. He made me want him only to destroy me.
I would never let myself fall for their wicked tricks again. I’d sooner die than let myself walk straight into their trap. They couldn’t lie to me anymore.
Because that was what they were—liars. I could never trust them. Not again.
I wanted nothing to do with any of them. They could go straight to hell.
My name is Lily Cartwright and I have finally learned that this world is pure evil. I will never let somebody as sinister and deceiving as Arlo wreck me again.
The one good thing that came out of all of this was my newfound strength.
After all, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right?
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