Allie P.O.V.“Wakey wakey little bitch.” A whiny female voice says in my ear, while nails dig into my throat. I’m tied to a chair, and the female is nauseatingly close to me, her perfume almost making me gag. I recognize her voice immediately and Dawn growls in my head, but I chose to not let it show as I slowly ‘wake up’. Apparently it’s too slow for her, because she lets me go, only to douse me with cold water. I blink the water out of my eyes, lifting my head to see Lucy’s smug face smirking at me. “Well, well. How the tables have turned, huh.” She says victoriously, but I ignore the obvious jab. I instead search the room with my eyes and find a still unconscious Athale opposite me, also tied to a chair. Dammit. So they got her too. Something hits me like a ton of bricks. Tristan came. He came to help us. He must have been close to the blast, but not close enough to be affected by it. He found us in the forest. They killed him. Tristan died trying to protect Athale and me from bein
Talia P.O.V. “Come on, babe, we need to bring her to your parents. We’re not getting answers out of her.” Ethan says with irritation lacing his voice. They have kept out of the trap they set for me, knowing they seal themselves in here with me, on my terms, if they did. The first thing I did when they let up on the electric shocks a little, was search the little snare they had laid out. It was way out of both their leagues, and I decided my mother or father must be the ones who set it up. They made sure only the person who is directly inside the pattern in the ground is trapped, and his or her active powers do not work on those outside. Searching and understanding the concept of the trap is a passive magic, so it worked quite fine. It also told me they had to render me unconscious or put dampening cuffs on me to move me. “NO! I finally have her where I have wanted her for decades. Centuries. Helpless. She is mine!” Ophelia screams at Ethan, who takes a step back from my sister's ou
Bane P.O.V.I finally had her where I wanted her. She was here and she couldn’t do a single thing to me. I was going to enjoy breaking her little by little, seeing the light that shined so brilliant in her eyes now dim with every blow and stab. I had planned meticulously for her capture. For my victory. And then someone from the outside had to fucking ruin everything. I was allowed to be there when they captured Annabel and that witch bitch, but I could not touch her, could not be near her. I wanted to taunt her; see her face when she realized I was winning, but no. They put them in a room with a guard, and told that fucktard of a guard to not let me in. I was livid. The only good thing to come out of this was Lucy. She came to us when we came for Annabel, and she joined our forces. At least she could be a distraction amidst my anger. And she was more than willing to play my little games. She told me everything she knows about her former pack, her former Alpha and made me promise to
Prologue “How dare you speak to me like that you ungrateful bitch? I am your husband! You are bound to me, and I am sick and tired of your excuses!” The slap is precise and hard, snapping my face to the side with its force. The tears in my eyes don't spill, because I know if they do he’ll just be even angrier than he is.“Honey, just leave her already! You don’t need her anymore.” Jocelyn says from beside my husband. She has been his mistress since just after we got married 2 years ago, and he never treats her the way he does me. He never raises his voice to her or his hand. All his anger is aimed towards me, and I know why - because I am trash! “No! She needs to learn her lesson. She is nothing to me or to anyone else! Her family married her off to me, knowing she would suffer the consequences of my wrath. She is ugly, unworthy and stupid!” “I know, babe. But.” “I said no, Jocelyn!” His angry eyes switch from me to her, and she takes a step back in sheer fright. I understand the
Annabel P.O.V.The restless energy swirls through my body as I pack a bag with the things I need to take with me. I have put on make-up to conceal the bruises, and turned off my phone. I always turn it off before leaving the house, but I also always have it with me to turn it on when my half hour is up. Pete knocks on my door when the clock says 10 am, and I open with the bag in hand. He looks at it suspiciously, and I give him a smile. “Some things for the red cross.” I have done this before, and Bane thinks it’s to keep up pretenses, but it’s actually to help me today. This day has been coming for a long time, although there were times, like that night, I was sure I would never see this day. Pete grunts an answer and walks down in front of me. Neither of the men ever speak to me. They know it’ll be fatal if they try. Yes, Bane is that insane. Downstairs I don’t waste any time. I walk directly out to the car, going into the backseat. I know where my lawyer is located, and luckily
Annabel/AllisonAfter what seems like a lifetime, I finally hear footsteps outside the conference room. Outside the sun has gone down, and I am sure I have been sitting here for hours. “Annabel, are you still here?” Mr. Felton’s hush voice echoes in the empty room. I peek out and it’s only him. “I’m here.” I say, crawling out from my hiding place. “What time is it?” “Almost midnight. I brought you food, and something to drink. You must be starving.” I looked at him for a second, before realizing what he said. The smell of the food invaded my senses. “I’m used to..” I shut my mouth and Mr. Felton raises an eyebrow. “Used to what exactly?” I shake my head. I am not going to say it out loud, because once said I can’t take it back. “Alright. Let’s get this show on the road.” He sits down at the conference table, food, drinks and paperwork in tow. “I made a call to the bank today, after your husband left - which wasn’t an easy feat by the way. Someone tattled, and I will make an inqu
Bane P.O.V.“Boss, there is still no sign of your wife.” Pete says. I throw my coffee mug at him, and he dodge as per reflex. He knows my temper better than anyone as my Beta, and he knows how much he fucked up letting that little slut to my mate slip away! I need her back. My wolf has not given me any time to rest the last three weeks because he is pining after her. At least he gave me peace, more or less, when Annabel was here with us, even though he would scold me for how I treated her. I kept reminding him who’s in charge by holding him in a tight mental cage. He’s only let out when I allow him to be out. ‘I can still speak to you, dumbass.’ The flea infested mutt says. I growl out loud, the lack of sleep really annoys me as much as my stupid wolf and stupid Beta. “And why is that, Pete? She can’t just disappear.” I answer, my black eyes staring him down. He cowers under my stare. “I’ve personally looked over every camera there is in and around the law firm, and there is nothin
Allison P.O.V.The morning is beautiful when I drive into the town of Marigold. I have driven all night to reach here, and I have prepared myself as well as I can for what the cottage looks like. I’ve bought cleaning stuff, a vacuum, bucket, gloves and other house stuff. I don’t even know if it has a washer and dryer, or anything else about this place. But right now it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that I’ll be there in a few minutes and I’ll be home. A new home, a new start and new life. A life away from Bane and his abusive ways. I still have nightmares almost every night, but I am getting better at going back to sleep. Listening to quiet meditation music and soundscapes helps as well. The town is a decent size from what I can tell from the main road. I have to go straight through and do a right turn on the other end of town. Then I’m down a forest way, used frequently as there are fresh tiremarks, and then I’m there. The cottage is a little way into the forest, with a view
Bane P.O.V.I finally had her where I wanted her. She was here and she couldn’t do a single thing to me. I was going to enjoy breaking her little by little, seeing the light that shined so brilliant in her eyes now dim with every blow and stab. I had planned meticulously for her capture. For my victory. And then someone from the outside had to fucking ruin everything. I was allowed to be there when they captured Annabel and that witch bitch, but I could not touch her, could not be near her. I wanted to taunt her; see her face when she realized I was winning, but no. They put them in a room with a guard, and told that fucktard of a guard to not let me in. I was livid. The only good thing to come out of this was Lucy. She came to us when we came for Annabel, and she joined our forces. At least she could be a distraction amidst my anger. And she was more than willing to play my little games. She told me everything she knows about her former pack, her former Alpha and made me promise to
Talia P.O.V. “Come on, babe, we need to bring her to your parents. We’re not getting answers out of her.” Ethan says with irritation lacing his voice. They have kept out of the trap they set for me, knowing they seal themselves in here with me, on my terms, if they did. The first thing I did when they let up on the electric shocks a little, was search the little snare they had laid out. It was way out of both their leagues, and I decided my mother or father must be the ones who set it up. They made sure only the person who is directly inside the pattern in the ground is trapped, and his or her active powers do not work on those outside. Searching and understanding the concept of the trap is a passive magic, so it worked quite fine. It also told me they had to render me unconscious or put dampening cuffs on me to move me. “NO! I finally have her where I have wanted her for decades. Centuries. Helpless. She is mine!” Ophelia screams at Ethan, who takes a step back from my sister's ou
Allie P.O.V.“Wakey wakey little bitch.” A whiny female voice says in my ear, while nails dig into my throat. I’m tied to a chair, and the female is nauseatingly close to me, her perfume almost making me gag. I recognize her voice immediately and Dawn growls in my head, but I chose to not let it show as I slowly ‘wake up’. Apparently it’s too slow for her, because she lets me go, only to douse me with cold water. I blink the water out of my eyes, lifting my head to see Lucy’s smug face smirking at me. “Well, well. How the tables have turned, huh.” She says victoriously, but I ignore the obvious jab. I instead search the room with my eyes and find a still unconscious Athale opposite me, also tied to a chair. Dammit. So they got her too. Something hits me like a ton of bricks. Tristan came. He came to help us. He must have been close to the blast, but not close enough to be affected by it. He found us in the forest. They killed him. Tristan died trying to protect Athale and me from bein
Tabatha P.O.V.“Can you get in touch with your Alpha, Damien?” I ask, trying to think fast. We need to move, and we need everyone to understand the severity of the situation. “Of course. You want him here?” I shake my head, we’ll need to be somewhere else, somewhere safer. A place where we can regroup. I sigh. There is nowhere safer than here at the moment. The battle has completely died down here because of the blast and the vast numbers of dead still on the ground. I close my eyes, feeling for Talia ‘s aura as well as Ophelia’s and Ethan’s; they are not in our vicinity. Someone is. Someone who I don’t recognize immediately. I frown, but right now I just need to focus on this task. I handle this person if they make a move. I make sure to put a passive tracking spell on him, so I know where he is at all times. I know it’s a he, but something is off and familiar at the same time. This is going to drive me crazy. “Yeah, I actually think it is as good as anywhere. If he can get some of
Tabatha P.O.V. I didn’t like the idea of splitting up with Talia, but she was right; we would cover more ground this way. I know our family is spread out through the battle as I can feel their dark auras pulsing in different directions, but the thought of her going into that training ground alone. The aftermath of the blast held so much dark power, it must be a trap. I shake it off mentally. Talia will know it’s a trap and prepare accordingly. She always was the smartest of the two of us. I’m more like a punch first, ask later kinda girl. It took a lot of fucking balls on our part to leave our family behind in the first place, and now we are going to protect our peace with everything we have! I swore to Talia that no matter what happens, I will fight on. The gloom tries to settle into my heart, but I push it away. We’re not going to die today. Not her, not me. “Warrior, DUCK!” I yell at one of our allies. He throws himself to the ground, and I blast the enemy with an energy ball, m
Talia P.O.V. That was a close call on Tristan. Luckily we reached him in time before his soul left his body, otherwise there would have been nothing we could do. Tabatha and I teleport to our next destination. We bound ourselves to the others before the battle started without them knowing, which is why we knew he had been severely hurt, and we felt it when his heart stopped like it was in ourselves. “That was a close call, Tal.” My sister says, looking around for enemies in our proximity. I nod gloomily, knowing we won’t be this lucky all night. We can’t be everywhere, and Tristan needed the both of us. He was just very fortunate that we were together and could reach him. “I know. We need to form a plan.” Tabatha gives me a grim grin. “So, you’re saying teleporting all around the area to defend our friends and family isn’t much of a plan?” She asks, blocking a rogue, sending him flying away from Alpha Pete’s wolf. He looks around, sees us and nods once before he is back in another
Blake P.O.V. The chaos of the battlefield is total. Dawn moved the group she was supposed to in the trap we laid for them. I stayed and engaged the main group and Bane, kept him distracted so Dawn could get away. Shadow moves seamlessly through the enemy and allies, killing all who dares try to defy him and helping all who are outnumbered by the rogues. Bane’s wolf keeps back, watching and delegating I guess. The blackness was supposed to render us confused and blinded, and the fact that we are not is giving the chaos another dimension. Bane’s wolf snarls as one of my warriors is in front of him, growling and challenging him to fight. I urge Shadow to go to the young wolf. Mindlinks are a total chaos as well, and I’m not sure the young man will heed me in time, although I am his Alpha he might be too engrossed in the battle and the bloodrush to recognize my command before it’s too late.Shadow sprints towards the scene with Bane’s wolf and our warrior. They are still just snarling a
Allison P.O.V. The wait for Bane and his band of misfits seems to take forever, but truly we only wait a couple moments longer before they penetrate the border and we get mindlinks from our warriors about their advancement. Blake squeezed my hand, looking into my eyes. For a moment everything else disappears and it’s only him and I out here. ‘I love you Allie! Stay alive and kick some ass.’ I grin, raising an eyebrow. ‘I love you too, Blake! You stay alive as well, or I will have to come hunting for your soul in Selene’s world, and I’m not sure she would be happy about that.’ His laughter in my mind is raw and hoarse. ‘Athena needs both her parents. Stay with us.’ I continue more softly, watching as the light in his eyes soften with my voice and my plea. ‘I would never leave you without a fight.’ He replies, bending down and capturing me in a whirlwind of a kiss. Someone claps, and we break apart. I look to the side to see Bane standing stark naked in front of his army, his eyes g
Allison P.O.V.“Are we sure we can trust Elias’s judgement and information?” I ask Blake as we hurriedly make sure all our warriors are in position along the border and well hidden. They know to stay hidden and quiet as Bane and his men advance. Talia, Tabatha, Diamina and Athale have been all along the border on wolf back to shield the warriors so the witches with Bane cannot track them. They all promise it’ll work, and we trust them. I just don’t hope Talia and Tabatha’s family had gotten new tricks and powers up their sleeves while they have been gone.“He is getting it directly from his mate, so yes, I trust it to be true.” Pete answers, although the question was for Blake. I turn my head to stare at him. “Bane kidnapped her to get his father to come to the Summit as a spy. They were supposed to use their mindlink connection to tell him what is going on here. They chose to help up. Elias said it was the decision to strip him of his title that made him convinced they had a chance t