Harlyn “Bernardo.” I called out inside my head, hoping that he would connect with me but all I could feel was rage. He was running.“I am going to kill him. I am going to kill them all.” That was all he said. “Come on, Bernardo. Get back here. Don’t do what you are thinking right now.” I tried but my head went silent. He cut the connection off and he was about to make a mistake. I had to do something, try to stop him but I couldn’t run to him because I couldn’t shift yet.“Are you a shifter?” I asked the driver who looked just as shocked as I was. He shook his head. I let out a sigh and got back into the car. I grabbed his phone that he left and called Damien as he was my only option. I tried to calm down as it won’t do me any good to panic right now. Maybe I should have waited until we were at the palace before I showed him. I should have waited. It would have been easier to hold him back.“Alpha.”Damien called out when he took the call. “No, this is Harlyn.” I corrected him
HarlynI spent all day with Leah, I couldn’t stop panicking as the time passed, and still no call or signal from Bernardo. I kept wondering if Damien and the Beta were able to stop him. I tried calling Damien but he didn’t take my call.Leah saw how worried I was and called her husband and even tried to mind-link him but he didn’t respond to either of those and that also got her worried. Her kids were the only thing that kept us busy all afternoon. I read her youngest a book and played dress up with her daughter just to pass the time but when it got dark, my worry increased. We even had dinner together and Leah went to put her kids to sleep, still no sign of the men.“What’s taking them so long?” Leah said, coming to stand near me. I turned to her and let out a sigh. “I don’t even know. They have been gone for hours. What if they didn’t get to him on time? What if he actually killed them?” I asked her. I know they deserve to die for what they were planning to do but I hoped that h
Harlyn“Baby.” I heard Bernardo’s voice and jerked in shock.“What?” The princess asked as I looked around. “He just spoke.” I let out still looking around and then I remembered that he could get in my head.“They are back.” The princess said and let go of my shoulder. We both started walking out at the same time, I practically started running when I saw Bernardo. I didn’t stop until I got near him. He opened his arms and I threw myself into his arms. I let out a deep sigh of relief.“Bernardo. I was so worried.” I said and wrapped my arms tight around his waist. “I am sorry for making you worry. I didn’t mean to run off like that and stay out all day.” He apologized.“You both should go do that in your room. Some of us can’t have our mate here.” Damien voiced, I looked to see him standing away. I didn’t even notice him or Beta Ryan. The beta was also hugging the princess and that’s why Damien felt alone.“If you don’t want to be lonely then make her move here soon.” Bernard
Bernardo“Bern? Where were you all day?” She asked again. I smiled, trying to get myself out of trouble. Maybe I should just lie but the thing is, I didn’t think of any lie before coming back. Heck, I kind of forgot that I now had a mate who would want to know my whereabouts, and all the way home, both Damien and I teased Ryan about having to explain to his wife why he was unreachable for the whole day.I should have thought of myself too. I had someone to answer to now and she was currently glaring daggers at me.“Don’t tell me you were off doing some crazy men stuff while I spent the whole day worrying about you.” She scolded. Actually, after Ryan and Damien stopped me just when I made it into that betrayer’s house after watching some betas go into his office. Same betas whose names were on the list that Harlyn had shown me.After they stopped me, Damien suggested that we go for a run to blow off the steam and it seemed like a very good idea. The run wasn’t supposed to last but
Bernardo “The truth is that I am not okay. I don’t think I will ever be okay, Lyn. I really cared for my uncle. I really loved him and truly saw him as a father figure. To find out that he didn’t give a fuck about me all these years hurts so bad. It won’t hurt this bad if it was someone else.” I told her sincerely. If I could speak to anyone about how I truly felt about everything I have found out, it would be my mate. She surely would understand how I feel. She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my hair. My arms on her waist tightened as I drew warmth from her.“You don’t need to get over the pain of betrayal, you just need to experience it and learn from it. At the end of the day, it’s not you who did wrong.” She said, I nodded. It’s true, I did nothing wrong by trusting him. They just made me see that I shouldn’t trust so blindly.“Thank you.” I said, she responded by kissing my hair. We stayed like that for a while. My head was blank. I didn’t have any thoughts for a
HarlynI sighed for the hundredth time today, it was the first full moon since I found my mate, and since my expectation of my wolf taking control for the first time was raised to an all-time high. My mate did a good job distracting me last night and most of today but as the day drew closer to nighttime, I got even more anxious.I specifically asked to be left in the room because I didn’t want to ruin everyone’s happy mood with my anxiety. I know just how much the pack looked forward to the full moon. They spend so much time in their human form that when the full moon comes in, everyone just lets loose and lets their wolf side run freely.I didn’t want to be a party pooper so I stayed in the room and the only person that I saw today was my mate. Alpha Hillan called to give me a word of support and so did Julia. I felt loved and happy that they remembered and called.“Baby? Are you sure you want to stay in here until the sun goes down?” Bernardo asked, strolling into our room. He we
Harlyn“But you manage just fine and have a job where you have to see blood all the time even though you might need to feed.” I said. I didn’t know what it was like to be a vampire but Harry told me that he needed to feed sometimes even though he didn’t tell me how he managed to do it.“I don’t feed on human blood. We were trained to live among humans, sis, Harry does feed sometimes but not every time and he got himself sorted out. As for me, my wolf side is dominant so I don’t need to feed, I just learned to not get burnt in the sun.” She explained. That made a lot of sense.“That makes sense.” I turned to Bernardo and he was watching with interest. I shot a smile in his direction and focused on what my sister was saying.“I actually called to tell you something that you might like to hear. I am currently at Harry’s mansion.” She said, yeah, I know now that my brother was super rich and successful. He started working hard from a young age and managed to build an empire for himsel
Harlyn“You are about to shift,” He whispered, I couldn’t believe it, really? It was really going to happen to me after waiting for years? I blinked back the tears that formed in my eyes, the pain wasn’t enough to stop the excitement inside of me. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound of my mate’s voice.“There is nothing to be afraid of, don’t fight it. It will be so beautiful. Just let it wash over you and let her lose.” He urged. I couldn’t get any words out, if I could, I would have told him that I wasn’t afraid, I waited so long for this moment. I felt my wolf rush forward, she was edging to break loose. I held my breath and braced myself for the change that would snap my bones and stretch my muscles. It was a painful process but the pain was beautiful to me too.The tears fell freely from my eyes as the moment that I had spent so long waiting for happened in a few seconds. I heard a loud howl and opened my eyes when I realized it came from me. I was no longer in control.
Harlyn “Sure, I will do that once I arrive. I can’t believe your mate’s family members are the ones against him. Don’t they know the importance of family? I can’t imagine our aunts and uncles hurting each other. Our family have lived together for decades and still care about each other.” “Maybe because there’s no throne to fight for.” I said even though I knew that wasn’t a good excuse.“We have treasures, fortunes that go way back to centuries ago. We have generational wealth too yet no one is fighting.” “Tell me about our family's generational wealth.” I said with interest and Helaine laughed before diving into a story that got us talking for hours on the phone. I didn’t even realize how much time had passed until Bernardo walked back into our room looking worn out and ready to crash for the night.“Laine, I have to go. His majesty is back.” I told Laine who made a face that made me smile.“Are you picking your mate over me right now? I am your sister. Your blood. We met in th
Harlyn“It doesn’t matter.” I told Laine.“I know. It doesn’t. You will be just as gorgeous. Wait, even more gorgeous. Once the pregnancy glow hits you, you will be more breathtaking. I should watch out for my brother-in-law.” I laughed at her words and she laughed too. We both went silent and just stared wordlessly at each other for a minute before she spoke again.“I went to see our relatives and we talked about you. They are all so eager to meet you.” Same. I want to meet them too. All of them. I wanted them to hug me and welcome me into the family.“Me too.” I told her.“I found out something from our aunt and would like to try it out once I arrive back at the kingdom.” Helaine told me.“What?” “Triplet power. Apparently, the birthmarks that we carry aren't just there for fancy. Something is supposed to happen when we join hands in the right order.” I stared at her with interest.“In order?” She nodded.“Yes, in the order that we came out of mom’s womb. Harry, me and you.
HarlynI don’t know how long I slept after Bernardo left me in our room but when I woke up, it was lunch time so I had lunch alone in our room and then went right back to bed. I felt exhausted and knew it was a result of the strength I used to heal that bastard.I fell asleep again only after a few minutes on the bed and woke up to my phone ringing loudly. I reached for it and picked it up without looking. I placed my phone on my ear and almost lost the ability to hear when Helaine shouted out my name.“It's a video call. Move your phone away from your ear, your majesty.” I sat up immediately and rubbed my eyes to clear the sleep off.“Hi, Laine.” “Hi sleepy.” She greeted me back. She was wearing a lab coat which took off immediately. She looked so much like me that for a moment, I thought I was staring at myself. Even her smile. “That’s us!” My wolf chirped in. glad, I wasn’t the only one who thought so. It must be the sleep getting into my head. Laine went off the screen and t
Bernardo “I can’t imagine my father’s brother or his children fighting me for my position as alpha either.” Hillan added.“I can. My father’s brother almost killed my parents. If not for our Luna, he would have succeeded.” Damien chirped in, reminding me of the good deed Harlyn had done for his family. I smiled proudly.“That’s fucking sad,” Harry said and both Damien and I nodded in agreement. It was sad because families are supposed to have each other’s back. I wanted so much for my family to be that way. That's why I did my best to keep a close relationship with Sean and his family but that turned out to be my biggest mistake.“Guys! I think we should take a break. You guys go to your mates and have a good time and we will come back tomorrow, refreshed and ready to hatch out a plan to end things fast and clean so that we can go back to our normal life.” Hillan suggested. It was a nice idea so I nodded in agreement and then felt bad when I remembered that he didn’t have a mate
Bernardo“Bastard,” He was truly a bastard in many ways. How could he be so ruthless? My grandmother took care of him after his own mom passed away. My father became alpha king because he was more deserving. It was a unanimous decision and not because they stole anything from him.I still couldn’t bring myself to accept that that bastard killed my grandmother after everything she did for him. Lyn told me how disrespectful he had been towards her from the beginning.“Hey yo! King!” Hillan’s voice brought me out of my thoughts. I gazed at him in confusion wondering what he told me. He snapped his finger in my face as if to wake me up.“What?” “Where are you? Why are you glaring at the screen? We can go check it out if you want.” Hillan suggested. I shook my head. We have been through enough today already. No need to rush into some hideout without plans.“Is Theo still coming over?” I asked, remembering that the witch had said earlier that Theo was heading back to the Crimson Moon.
Bernardo“What do you mean why? You are the king of the Crimson Moon and you got shit to do.”“Yeah? But I am your mate and I got shit to do here.”I said pointing from myself to her.“Whatever you want to do with me can wait. The kingdom needs its king during the day. I will take the nights for now.”Wow, I couldn’t believe her.“What if I don’t want to leave you? After what happened, I don’t feel okay leaving you on your own.”She sneered at me.“I am not a baby and what happened before won’t happen again. You have a lot on your plate. The sooner you are done; the sooner we can spend more time together without you worrying. I am doing this for myself. Small sacrifice for the bigger enjoyment. I love you.”She added the last part and I couldn’t argue.“You are literally driving me away and doing it lovingly that I can’t even say no.”“You are right. Now go be king. I love you.”She brought my face close to hers and kissed me. I let her kiss me for a while before I took over and kisse
Bernardo“Bern,”Harlyn whispered my name. I looked at her, my only reason for still being sane after everything that I had just heard from her. If she wasn’t with me. If not for her presence. If I had been hearing the things I heard from her from someone else, I would have lost my sanity.Heck, I wouldn’t have even believed those words if they came from someone else. The fact that he was so fucking close to me. We ate together, we did things together for years and all those times, he was plotting to take over.No, even before I was born, he was already plotting. From the moment he found out he wasn’t going to be the next alpha king after my grandfather, he started plotting. His plans worked. At least halfway. He took out my father and many other pack members just to get what he wanted.If Harlyn hadn’t come into my life. If I had let her go and stubbornly not tried to look for her, I would probably have died, and not just me. Every member of my family would have faced the same fate.
HarlynDenial.That was the emotion he settled for. He didn’t want to believe it and I really wanted to tell him that I was mistaken but I wasn’t. Sean said it himself and I saw the flashes of his plans too and how he went about it.“I am sorry, Bern.”I told him when I saw how the news affected him. He shook his head and held my hand again.“It’s not your fault. It's just that, I never thought he would go that far. Grandma didn’t like him. I was the one who went out of my way to get them to meet. I should have listened to her. She raised him. She knew him and yet I didn’t listen and because of me, he got close to her. Close enough to do something to her.”He lamented bitterly. I hugged him, wanting to give him all my strength and take away his pain.“It’s not your fault.”I tried to console him but he wasn’t having it.“You know damn well that it was.”“No, it wasn’t. I am sure he would have found another way. He had his eyes set on her and everyone in the royal family who wasn’t on
Harlyn I woke in a bed. I jerked up in fear. Two strong arms wrapped around me, holding me in place and I almost screamed out in fear until I heard Bernardo's voice.“Lyn, hey. It’s me, don’t be scared.”He told me and I breathed out in relief as the event that happened a while ago came rushing back to me. I fell asleep inside the helicopter and must have missed our landing. He must have carried me back to our bedroom.I didn’t get any sleep last night after what those bastards had knocked me out with fazed off. I leaned into Bernardo, feeling relieved that I was no longer in that place. His warm arms wrapped around me reassuringly. I felt safe in his arms and closed my eyes again letting the familiar feel of him envelop and surrender me.“Bern.”I whispered his name after a while. I have so much to tell him about the things I found out from Sean but I don’t even know where to start from. Where would I start listing the things that evil losers did? There was so much that he should be