“What did he do?” Koa asked with eyes that spoke of danger.I had wondered when he would ask. Since I drew the line with him long ago, reminding him that we were mere partners and not friends, he stopped asking. Even when I mentioned taking Cassius’ life, he never asked about the dual life I led pretending to love a man while planning to kill him. He never asked but today, I suppose he could not help himself.When I broke through my window and ran from Cassius, I did not turn back. The only sound I heard was the sound of my heartbeat as I covered ground as fast as my legs could carry me. I did not know where I was going and I did not care, merely focusing on getting away.My legs carried me home. The home I abandoned when I chose to be Cassius’ mate. The home I was all too happy to leave in what I had thought would be the beginning of my happiness. My father’s house, a place that felt like my cage, one which I desperately wanted to escape. Even now, the heavy black gates appeared inti
“Alpha, he has refused to leave,” one of Koa’s enforcers said. “He insists he must see Miss Adelard.” “Throw him into the dungeons,” Koa responded without raising his head. “And ask the kitchen to start dinner.”“I will see him,” I cut in.Alpha Koa and I were in his study. While I went over the documents about Slater, he did his work. It was a peaceful environment that made me forget about Cassius for a while but he would not be the bane of my existence if he did not show up a short while later. How he knew to find me here, I would like to ask.“I would rather you not,” Koa said with an unwavering gaze at me. I held that gaze, watching as he wrinkled the papers he had been working on with gritted teeth. When I did not turn away, he sighed, falling back into his seat. “You are too stubborn for your own good.”“Whether now or in the future, I have to face him.” I squared my shoulders, ignoring my racing heart. “I would like to get it over with now.”“Fine. Let him in.” Koa said, word
That same evening, the Luna Queen sent for me. She received me without a smile on her face, her eyes hard as she stared at me.“I gave you a choice,” she said immediately after I entered. “Do you understand what you are doing?” Her gaze narrowed.Her eyes were sunken, something her makeup could not cover, and her jaw worked as she ground her teeth.“What have I done?” I tilted my head to the side. “I am confused.”“You may be a smart child but I am not a person you want to play games with. Your father must have warned you.”“Your Majesty,” I could not find it in me to show her any respect. “You are speaking in a roundabout manner which I cannot pretend to understand. What is the problem?”“What are you doing with Koa?” She asked. “You must know that anyone who stands with him stands against me.”“Oh, was your relationship like that?” I let my eyes widen and my mouth fall open. “I had thought Your Majesty and Alpha Koa got along well. That is how it seemed during the Hunting contest. W
CASSIUS’ POV“Alpha,” Theo was standing right in front of me and I did not know when he got here. “Alpha, Alpha Elijah from the Grey Wolves is here to see you. He has been waiting for an hour now and is getting…”“Send him away,” I snapped, irritated at his nagging. “Send him away. Send everyone away and stop bothering me!”“You have been holed up for three whole days. I am sorry but I cannot let you continue like this. Your behaviour affects the pack!”“Theo,” I called my Beta, leaning into my seat. “What makes you think you can command me as you please?”“A – Alpha, at this time, it is important to think of the pack. Everyone has been worried since Miss Persephone left. We know you miss her but you are still the Alpha. She may – she may just be throwing a tantrum so if we –“ He cleared his throat while I watched him. “If we give her time, she is bound to return. After all, she has been in love with you for a long time.”If she loved me then why would she not mate with me? If she lov
It was too late for Cassius. Whatever plans he put together now would barely have any effect on the plans I had had underway for a while now. He would be swept away by a tide before he knew what hit him and phase one of my revenge would be complete.The next stage would be easy. Dealing with Cassius after reducing him to a pauper would be a piece of cake compared to what I had had to endure so far.“How can she show her face like this?” Whispers followed me as I walked through the temple.“She is truly a shameless woman. If I were in her shoes, I would not be able to come out of my room for at least ten years.”“She pretended to be hurt about Alpha Raven finding his mate but she was nothing but a loose woman going after powerful men.”“I am certain Alpha Raven knew. No wonder he did not want to get engaged to her in the first place.”“Good day.” I stopped in front of the women gossiping about me without enough courtesy to lower their voices.“Argh – goddess, where did you come from!?”
KOA’S POVOne thing I have learnt is that one cannot play by the rules with people who do not care about the rules. As I stared at Carl’s lifeless body, I understood this fact anew. He was only a young lad, full of life and dreams, only nineteen and his cold corpse had been delivered to my doorstep in the early hours of the day.This was the boy, who no matter the task assigned to him, would comply with eagerness and eyes that sparkled with a determination to do a good job. He was full of life, one of the few people who mattered to me. His father had fallen many several rogues with me and that was how I came to know him. Carl was only a child and I sent that child to a war zone. When I asked him if he was clever enough to fool the Luna Queen and work beside the Alpha King to monitor him, he had nodded his head, full of life and energy but now, his lips were blue, his neck covered with scars that made it clear he had struggled in his final moments.“He was poisoned,” Faris said from be
“No, no!” I screamed, fighting the iron grip on my biceps. “No, you have to believe me. I never – Cass, please, you have to believe me!” I screamed, looking at my mate.I heard a whoosh. My heart went into free fall before my world went still. He didn’t believe me. I looked around at all the eyes fixated on me. No one did. No one believed me. The silence in the room rang in my ears. It was loud. Deafening.“Cass, I – I would never –“ The silence still rang in my ears. My voice sounded like it belonged to another woman. It couldn’t have been mine. “I would never poison April.” The silence shattered with the glass in my mate’s palm.“You dare – How dare you speak her name?” My mate hissed at me. His red eyes glowed in the dimly lit hall. They brimmed with hatred.“Cass –“ I looked around a second time. I did not want to believe it. How could I? How could I believe that everyone turned their backs on me when I needed them the most?“You will address me as Alpha Cassius Raven.” He stepped
“Goddess, no!” I swatted at the blinding white light filling my vision.“Miss Persephone, please calm down!” A muffled voice sounded in my ringing ears. Pins pricked all parts of my skin, making me moan in pain. “Miss–“ The voice calling out my name faded as darkness embraced me.“Anastacia,” an ethereal voice wrapped around me in the darkness.Anastacia.It was my middle name which no one addressed me by except my aunt who died over a decade ago. It was what my mother called me before she died but my father preferred Persephone, a name fitting for a bringer of death to his beloved mate.“Is she awake?”“Miss Persephone?” Blinding white light filled my vision again. My eyes opened to see what the afterlife had waiting for me. It was dark, quiet, mournful, and somewhat angst-ridden.“Where – Where am I?” I looked around me, turning back to the white light. I flinched when I realized the ‘white light’ was actually Doctor Lorenzo’s salty white hair. “Ha, did he get you too?” Light floode