Belinda was dying. She could feel her lungs giving way, the air in them finally exhausted. Her nerves had gone numb from the freezing temperature, and her hand ached from all that struggle to swim to the surface of the water. The cannonball at the end of the chain clamped around her ankle held her at the bottom of the river, however. She'd tried to free herself from the device, but she hadn't been strong enough. Nothing she ever did was enough. Giving up on holding her breath, Belinda let the water flow into her from every opening in her body. How had she gotten here? That was right, she'd had this coming for a while now. It would have eventually ended this way—her life was a tragedy bound to be closed in misery. Could she remember the last time she had been happy? She could, but it was so long ago. Most of her memories were either tainted with misery or anger. Had she ever done anything to deserve it? Nothing she knew of. As her body grew limp and stopped moving altogether, Belinda
"What in the moon goddess' name are you wearing?" Cecily placed a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh on entering the bedroom. She herself was dressed in a stylish white dress, one which looked suspiciously like a wedding gown, but Belinda decided not to comment on it. She would not give Cecily the satisfaction of knowing she was annoyed. Sashaying to Belinda, Cecily invaded the other's personal space by hooking an arm around Belinda's. She brightened her smile, and Belinda could have sworn that if she smiled any wider, her cheeks would tear. "Don't let it bother you. You look pretty no matter what." Cecily tapped her hand reassuringly over Belinda's. Only an expert would have detected the hidden layer of viciousness in the compliment, and that was exactly what Belinda was. She wasn't fooled, but she felt no anger toward Cecily either. In fact, at this point, the younger woman's silly games had become amusing. "Really, you're so lucky." Cecily let go of Belinda's han
Silence fell over the ballroom like the mist of the morning dew. All watched for Belinda's reaction, but the latter remained calm and unmoving. She gazed steadily at Derek, her eyes revealing none of her thoughts. At a point, Derek grew very uncomfortable. He looked away awkwardly, his hand moving to rub the back of his neck. "Please say something, Belinda." He finally turned back to her, his hazel eyes twinkling with what appeared to be remorse. "Please. I don't want to hurt you... or break your heart. I just—there's no easy way to break off an engagement, is there?" "So... You're rejecting me?" Belinda asked, her voice lacking any emotion. Stunned by her directness, Derek blinked stupidly. "What? No—I mean—yes! I'm really sorry, Belinda."His apology was ignored. Snapping her head to face her brother, Belinda fixed a vicious glare at the alpha of the Chicago Pack. Her countenance remained cold, but the venom in her eyes made up for the hostility her facial expression lacke
"Why are you acting all righteous now? You haven't been very kind to her either. Have you forgotten, you were the one that poisoned and killed her brother, your own son?"Belinda could hardly believe her ears. No, there had to have been a mistake. She must have overheard wrongly. Her family was cruel, but they weren't bloodthirsty. They would never go as far as murdering their own blood. Every muscle, bone, and vein in Belinda's body shook. They wouldn't. They couldn't. Right? That day was still so fresh in her mind—the day her twin brother had died. He'd suffered for weeks, so weak that he couldn't so much as get out of bed. Belinda had had to take care of him because no one else in the family would. She'd fed him, bathed him, and ensured he'd taken his medicine. She'd been 15 years old then—a young girl who was losing the one person who loved her and she loved back. Belinda remembered holding tightly to Baron's hand on his last day on earth. They'd both known he didn't have mu
Why was Cecily in front of her? Why was she in her bedroom? How could Cecily speak to her so casually after what she had done? Belinda had so many questions, but at the moment, she was preoccupied with one thing—protecting herself. Still facing Cecily, her fingers searched her bedside table for anything she could use as a weapon, and they curled around a sharpened pencil. The writing utensil might not do much to hurt a werewolf, but it would distract Cecily enough for Belinda to escape. "The dress looks a bit off on you, but it doesn't matter because it's just right for the occasion." Cecily clapped her hands together in delight. Belinda's facial features squeezed into a confused frown. "What?" "Don't tell me you haven't figured it out yet." Cecily folded her arms and pouted. "It's obvious Derek intends to propose tonight. He bought you a dress, told you to wear the dress, and is having dinner with our family." Her words only angered Belinda the more. "What are you talking
Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Belinda played with her engagement ring while battling with her thoughts. She was trying to wrap her head around the fact she'd traveled back in time. Really, it didn't sound out of place in a world where werewolves, vampires, and witches existed, but it was still overwhelming. One minute, she was drowning, the next, she was repeating an engagement that happened months ago. But how had she done it? Belinda absentmindedly slid the ring up and down her finger. She couldn't remember anything that would explain how she'd gone back to the past, but for a second, at the bottom of the river, she'd felt her wolf. She was certain of it—her powers had awakened whilst she fought for her life in those waters. Then why couldn't she feel anything now? Belinda tried communicating with the beast inside her, but all she got was silence. Had her wolf really gone dormant after finally awakening? Closing her eyes, Belinda massaged her temple in frustration. Her wolf was
With a flashlight in hand, Belinda walked down the stairs leading to the villa's wine cellar. She briefly gazed at the countless bottles filling the many racks in the large underground space, some over a century old. The Knight family boasted one of the most exotic wine collections in the country, but it was not why Belinda was here. Moving to a rack at a far corner of the cellar, she pushed down a bottle, and a wall slid away to reveal more stairs. At the bottom of the stairs was an iron door. The door was locked, but Belinda had learned how to pick locks as a kid. She'd been more mischievous than her brother, and infinitely more bored. After a few twists with a hairpin, the door swung open, and she stared at a smaller basement lined with more racks, but rather than wines, they were occupied by boxes. Belinda smiled to herself. She knew more secrets of the Knight family than anybody gave her credit for. Entering the room, she stuck her hand into one of the many unsealed boxes and p
Belinda was startled at her body's reaction to the stranger. Sure, he was attractive, but how could she feel such strong attraction for someone she'd just met? Squaring her shoulders, she fixed the man with her iciest stare, one that never failed to unsettle people. "This club isn't yours." She told him. "If you want to be alone, go home." The man lifted an amused eyebrow. "Should I? Why are you here, then? Shouldn't you also be heading home rather than searching for a place to hide?" Annoyance shot through Belinda. How dare he use her retort against her? Because she wasn't the type to let her emotions show, she kept her face blank and her voice steady. "I never said I wished to hide. That was you." She paused, thinking her next words over. "I'm looking for someone, actually." "And who is that unfortunate soul?" Belinda took a closer at the man in front of her. She couldn't tell if he was a werewolf or a human. An easy solution would have been to sniff out the scent he g
A knock resounded in the small but organized study and to it, Draven replied, "Come in." With the scent wafting into the room, he already knew who the visitor was, and he had only given one person permission to come up to the penthouse. A man entered the office a beat later, bowing low before closing the door behind him. "My lord." The man greeted with worshipful respect. He was tall and quite bulky, with gleaming brown skin ripped around bulging muscles. However, behind his gruff exterior was a highly intelligent man, who could be subtle when he wanted. And that was why Draven had assigned him to this particular task. Pausing what he had been doing, the Lycan propped his pen between the pages of his open book. He leaned back into his chair, his pose casual yet powerful, his focus zoning in on the man in front of him. "Well?" He probed flatly. With a solemn nod, Travis Jonahson went on to deliver his report, like he'd been doing for the past few weeks. "In the last week,
Belinda watched Derek through the large screen of the television. He looked handsome, in his pressed black suit and meticulously combed hair. He was standing on a podium with a microphone bent towards his mouth. Below the steady timbre of his voice, cameras clicked and voices murmured. Occasionally, when a reporter asked a question, the screen switched to their faces, their viciousness masked in polite curiosity. They were baiting him... waiting for him to say the wrong thing. "You say the former CEO of Knights & Co. retired due to personal grievances. Do these grievances have anything to do with his recent multiple scandals? Or does he consider himself no longer fit to lead?" Derek waited a while before replying, clearly measuring the answer he was to give. "The former CEO is a competent leader who has dedicated himself to Knights & Co. for years. The decision to step down was a difficult one, but he believes it is time to usher the company into a new age." More reporters made
They sat across each other at a table in a pub a few buildings from the bank. As it was only afternoon, the place was almost empty, but the two women didn't concern themselves with the scantiness. They were too busy staring at each other. Belinda felt extremely uneasy in Lexie's. She hadn't seen the other since that fateful day she'd walked out of the Lycan's residence. Despite being convinced she'd done the right thing, she couldn't help feeling guilty about the horrid things she'd said to Lexie. Belinda warily studied the woman in front of her. Usually, Lexie was skittish when placed in an awkward situation. There was no trace of that jumpiness in the hard features of her face, however. She sat with her arms folded across her chest, her eyes narrowed in a condemning glare. "Well?" Lexie bit out bitterly. "Aren't you going to say something?" Belinda gingerly raised an eyebrow, her expression blank and her tone flat as she said, "Long time no see?" Her humorless quip made Lexi
Belinda walked through the double glass doors of the building, dressed in a corporate wear of white pantsuit. Heads turned as she walked past, staring at her ethereal beauty. Despite being aware of the eyes on her, however, she kept her gaze straight ahead, her steps purposeful in her pearl white pumps. This was the second time she'd come in two weeks. She was back here to follow up on a matter she'd brought to the management of the bank on her first visit. Briefly, Belinda glanced around at the simple yet majestic interior. The institution was one of the oldest of its kind in the city. And regardless of its reduced clientele, it still held plenty of respect. Without bothering to meet a cashier, although one was unoccupied, she proceeded to a narrow entrance at a corner of the hall. The lonely hallway led to even lonelier stairs, and she climbed up it to step onto an eerily quiet floor. Belinda pushed open a wooden door to enter a small room, with a single desk and a woman typing be
“The Chicago Pack has to be the most disgraceful pack out there. Their alpha daughter is a lying whore and idiotic bully, while their alpha is a common criminal. I'd literally die of embarrassment if I were them."Cecily's vision spotted red as she read the post made in the werewolf community forum. Anger gripped her chest, making her feel as though she was a boiling kettle about to explode. The imbeciles! Out of habit, she made to fling her phone on the wall, but her mind recalled that she couldn't afford to do so just in time. After her last scandal, Paul had made sure to remind her she was no longer an alpha daughter of the Chicago Pack at every turn. He'd cut down her allowance to almost nothing, had put her in one of his filthy apartments for low-ranking werewolves, and had taken away all her Knight privileges. She got that he was angry, but it'd been months now of living this way. As she couldn't cook, she had to rely on McDonalds and Red Lobster for her meals. She told her
"And that is why, the council has reached the decision that it is in all our best interest for you to step down from the chairman seat of Knights & Co." In one of the many hallways of the Knight mansion, Lila halted in her tracks. Her gaze dropping, she focused on picking up the conversation in the study up ahead. The voices she heard she didn't recognize, but they all held this polished timbre and belonged to men. "So it is." Paul's low voice was calm and steady, his emotions impossible to read from his tone. "The Beta will take your place as the CEO. He will work endlessly, in your name, to renew the spotless image of our esteemed company, and report back to you." Lila waited—with her breath held—for all hell to break loose. If there was one thing she'd learned about her husband-to-be, it was his pride was his most beloved treasure. And that pride had just been threatened. She expected him to fly into a rage, to hold whoever had spoken by the neck and strangle him to
Lila's back straightened in her chair the instant she saw Belinda approaching. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the sight of the pale woman with an unearthly beauty, but she remained where she sat. She was curious, that was why. The summons she'd received on her phone only that morning had neither been detailed nor polite. Regardless, Lila had wondered why Belinda Knight—someone she'd clearly made enemies with—had asked to meet. "I apologize for the tardiness. I had other important business to attend to." Belinda took the empty seat at the table outside the suburban city cafe, absentmindedly tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Lila hated to admit it, but she looked absolutely stunning in her all-black outfit and simple chignon hairdo. "I'm glad you feel remorseful for wasting my time." Lila's lips spread into a smile that had been absolutely intended to be vicious. "I, too, have more important matters to attend to." Though Belinda returned her smile, her expre
Men and women poured into the theater, some young, so advanced in age, and some very elderly. They murmured to each other as they took the front seats of the space, as they weren't aware of why they'd been called here today. All the text message they'd received had said was that the matter was very important. They would be discussing their future in Knight & Co., and they had to be present at 3 o'clock sharp. Derek sat at the stage, alone, and not nearly as calm as he appeared. He kept expecting the alpha to rush through the doors any minute, raging at him for calling this meeting without his permission. That didn't happen, up till the moment the clock struck three, and the first three rows of the small theater were filled. Sucking in a deep breath, Derek stood. He'd called all these people here, he might as well go ahead with this insane plan. Stepping onto the podium on the stage, he leaned forward, his mouth to the mic. "Good afternoon, esteemed members of the Chicago Chicago
They sat together in his living room, both sipping a hot cup of tea. Belinda's suitcases lay at her feet, as she relaxed on the comfy couch opposite Derek. He watched as she casually blew steam from her cup, unable to wipe the frown from his features. In many ways, she appeared calmer than he felt. "Let me get this straight..." Derek began. "The Lycan discovered you're an offspring of the Sorcerer Clan?" "That's correct." Belinda unceremoniously brought her cup to her lips. "And he let you go?" He was more flustered by how unbothered she seemed more than anything else. "I suppose it was his form of mercy." Determining her drink was still too hot for her tongue, Belinda lowered it and blew at the steam once more. "He can't punish my mother and everybody involved without coming after me first." Seriously, was there something he was missing?As far as Derek could understand, the woman in front of him—and basically everyone in the Chicago Pack—were in deep shit. It was