/-Melucia-/Blood, fire, Iron. Arrows.Screams disturbed the silent night as people ran helter-skelter, throwing balls of magic, in hopes of buying time. I saw wolves rip my people apart with their canines and tear open their stomachs with their claws. What would have been a peaceful night was adulterated with chaos. I didn't even have the time to reason how the wolves had been able to find our coven. All I knew was the air was polluted with poison and we needed to get out as soon as possible.“Enough!” I screamed, triggering a dune. The violent wave swept everyone within a ten-mile radius, and my body weakened momentarily. I took a look around. There was no attacker or victim. Everyone was on the floor now, some wounded and a few dead. I created a portal and hurried over to help a few of our people. I was hoping to buy us enough time for the remaining living witches to get out of there but then something struck me in the shoulder.It was an arrow, made of pure iron and it sent c
/-Melucia-/After accepting to his terms, he gave me a room in his wing. I was not to leave the room for any reason and I was appointed a personal maid to take care of me. Later that night, a maid came in to prepare for him. I didn't utter a word as she undressed me and prepared a jasmine bath. As I soaked in the water, I thought about the things that would happen tonight. As a priestess, I had never known any man, but today, I was going to lose my virginity to save my people. It made me anxious.Ezra was a very frightening man and I didn't know how he would react if I failed to please him.“Your shoulders are too tensed, my lady; you should relax,” the maid told me. It was shocking to hear a wolf speak so nicely to a witch. “I'm trying…” I told her, giving an awkward smile. After a few minutes, I decided to ask her. “Your Alpha… what kind of person is he?” “You mean Alpha Ezra?” She asked. “I can't really say. He has more of a mysterious personality. He can be extremely nice when
/-Melucia-/At the end of the fourth month, I had utterly resigned to my fate. Nine heads were already enough to crush whatever flicker of hope I had. However, the gods seemed to have seen my plight.My eyes watered as I stared at the doctor’s smiling face. “Congratulations, miss. You're one week pregnant!” He announced and I literally jumped off the bed in excitement.I was pregnant! Finally!After three months of unending violation and annihilation, I was going to give the cruel man a son. After being locked up in a room surrounded by iron bars with my only connection to the outside world as the windows, I was finally going to be free.My people were turned into slaves and although it was good to see them alive, the nine heads I have been forced to see haunted my dreams.It was a relief to see that all that was about to end. “Are you certain?” Ezra walked into the room. I shot him a glare. She was a doctor, why on earth wouldn't she be certain? He was just looking for a reason t
/-Ezra-/I sat at my desk, going over the reports for the day, but my mind kept drifting back to her. The witch. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Melucia. Yes, our deal was done. I didn’t just have a son—I had two. That was all that mattered now. She was gone, and so were her people. She had been a breeder, nothing more. I couldn’t afford to think otherwise. I just hoped she wouldn’t cause any trouble for me. I pushed the reports aside with an exhausted sigh. Why couldn’t I stop this troubling feeling gnawing at me? Is it that I’ve made a mistake? Should I have kept her with me? I shook my head, reminding myself that I had made a deal to let her go. She had given me two sons—Axel and Dani. Now my focus needed to stay on them. Just then, a knock at the door pulled me out of my thoughts and I looked up. “Alpha,” the guard's voice came through. “You need to come outside. The sky... it’s bad.” “Bad?” I grunted before pushing the chair back, rising t
/-Ezra-/The drive back to the pack was silent. No one spoke, not even Carden. My hands were gripping the steering wheel harder than necessary as I kept glancing at the side mirror. I could still smell the smoke, still see that twisted sky, and that damned anklet burned into my mind.I decided to drive because some men had stayed back to clean up Carden’s mess. I had privately given orders to one to bury Melucia’s body in a separate grave and it was to be marked because in spite of everything, she was still the mother of my sons.When we pulled up, a crowd was already gathering near the meeting hall. They knew something was wrong. There was obvious tension in the air. I stepped out of the vehicle, and the crowd parted like a wave, their eyes full of questions. I didn’t give them any answers.Inside the hall, Carden stood in front of me, his face blank. Behind him, the elders were lined up. They were like a wall of stoic faces, ready to defend him. They looked like they already knew wh
Ten Years Later/-Melucia-/I woke up to a steady beep and a sharp sterile smell. My head was throbbing painfully and I felt a dull ache behind my eyes. I shifted a little, but everything felt heavy, like I was weighed down. I could hear voices whispering, but I couldn’t make out the words. I decided to force my eyelids open but I immediately shut it. The lights were too bright, the ceiling above me was white and I figured that it was a hospital. I turned my head just enough to see a machine blinking next to me, with wires connecting it to my arm. My throat felt dry, and I swallowed, but it didn’t help. Why was I here? What happened?The throbbing in my head made it hard to think, and I squinted at the blurry surroundings, struggling to piece together anything that made sense.“Thank you nurse,” a woman squealed. “Oh, thank goddess.”“I’ll get the doctor,” I heard a younger woman say.Nothing felt right. I felt like I’d been pulled out of one life and shoved into another because
/-Melucia-/ The doctor had just finished his examination when the door flew open, banging against the wall. I was worried that it was the handsome frightening man again but a man and woman rushed in, their faces etched with worry. The woman’s eyes were red, like she’d been crying, and the man looked like he hadn’t slept in a while. “Annabelle!” the woman gasped, rushing to my side and throwing her arms around me in an embrace while the man stood at the foot of the bed, obviously relieved to see me. I flinched, pulling back from the woman. “I’m sorry, but…” I said. “But I don’t know who you are.” The woman’s face fell and she exchanged a confused glance with the man she had just come in with. “Oh, dear, it’s me. I’m your mother,” Her voice cracked on the last word, almost making me doubt what she was saying. The man’s eyes narrowed at me. “You don’t recognize us?” I took a deep breath, before answering. “No,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.” The room went silent. I could feel the te
/-Melucia-/ Days passed since I woke up in that hospital room, and I was taken home to a large house I didn’t recognize. The walls were decorated with family portraits—faces of people I should have known, yet I felt no familiarity at all. Mimi and my father insisted I look at the pictures to jog my memory, but all I saw were strangers. It was when I was looking through a photo album that I saw her—Nephtar. A girl who looked so much like me, yet I had no recollection of her. My mind swirled with questions and when I asked, I was informed that I had a sister. I was curious about why hadn’t I met her? Why hadn’t I known I had a sister? And why no one mentioned her before. When I asked Mimi where my sister was and why she never came to visit me at the hospital, all she said was that I’d meet her soon. That answer wasn’t enough for me so I stood up so I stood up from the sofa and headed to my fathers room because I couldn’t shake the need to know more. The curiosity gnawed at me unti
ANNABELLE“Then my life is yours,” Ezra said, dropping to his knees right in front of me and bowed his head in defeat.I struggled to mask the shock I felt within me and not let it show on my face. When I demanded his life, I expected him to act the way he did the first time I marched into his throne room. Defiant, arrogant and so sure he could bend me to his will. I thought he would refuse, fight back, or try to talk his way out of it. But now, it seemed he finally understood that I wasn’t bluffing. I wasn’t here to make deals or be swayed. I had made up my mind. I was the one in control now, and there would be no negotiating.Maybe it finally hit him when I killed Elder Matthew right in front of everyone, and then, without a second thought, used his bones to hunt down the other elders who were still scrambling around the throne room like scared animals. Bloody fools. They were strong werewolves. Old, but strong. If only they were smart as I thought, they could have used their stren
ANNABELLE“You’re not Annabelle! Annabelle would never have done all these terrible things! She was a good woman who loved me and my kids!” he shouted, his voice laced with anger. It was as if he was mad that I would claim to be sweet Annabelle. Innocent foolish Annabelle who wanted his love. Oh, what I wouldn’t give to tell him that I was the innocent Annabelle. The real Annabelle would have never accepted to be with him and his kids. She wanted nothing to do with him. I hated that I was the good Annabelle! I hated that I fell in love with this vile man standing before me.I tilted my head slightly, a sly smile playing on my lips. “Oh? But you would have done even worse, wouldn’t you? Why do you think you’re the only one capable of evil?”His mouth opened, then closed. He had no response.I stepped closer, my eyes locked onto his. “You see, Ezra. Everybody has some degree of darkness in them and they only need a reason to let it all out. Oh wait, you don’t need a reason to be wicked
ANNABELLE“Wow… such a lovely speech, Elder Matthew,” I drawled, a slow, mocking clap accompanying my words as I sauntered toward them. I stopped a few feet away. Close enough to unsettle them, but far enough to react quickly if anyone dared to make a move on me. I wasn’t foolish enough to trust that they wouldn’t.Ezra’s snarl cut through the tense silence. “How long have you been here?” he growled, his voice rough and tinged with a dangerous edge. His eyes flared gold, his wolf straining against the surface.Perfect.Ezra rarely let his control slip. Cold, calculating, and infuriatingly stubborn, he only acted when it suited him. The most he’d ever given me was the kiss to my feet, and only because he had no other choice and was desperate for answers at the time. He was a man who needed to believe he was the one making the decisions. Poor thing. He still hadn’t realized that no matter what choices he thought he had, I was the one pulling the strings now.I could see the battle ragin
EZRAThe spell Melucia had chanted as fire consumed her whole still rang in my brain, a curse etched into the very marrow of my bones.“By the flames that take my flesh,I rise anew from fire’s breath.Your hate shall feed my wrath untamed,In death, I live, your souls I claim.As I burn, so shall you,From this pyre, my power grew.The smoke you breathe, the ash you tread,I will return, the unforgiven dead.My blood, my bones, your fuel to light,But in your dreams, I shall ignite.Curse your lands, your lives, your kin,From my ash, the dark begins.”The elders had spoken of it for years, laughing and saying it would never be possible since they watched her burn before they eyes and then they buried her remains with their hands. Even though I hadn’t been there the day Melucia and the last of her coven were burned, those words were burned into me and remained with me for all these years.“I will return, the unforgiving dead,”Her words, even now, echoed through my mind. This particu
EZRA“Alpha, we need to do something about what’s happening in the pack.”I lifted my head slowly, my body heavy with exhaustion.“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, my voice coming out as weak as I felt, “I’ve tried to speak to the witch, all to an avail. She’s been playing with me, toying with us all,” The witch treated all of this like a game. The elders said they’d seen her watching my people suffer, laughing—no, cackling—as if their pain were entertainment. If only I could have strangled her when she came to me the other day then all of this would have been over but I couldn’t do it. Not when she had my kids with her. I shook my head, refusing to let the thoughts of my missing children cloud my mind. I needed to be level headed if I were to find a solution.“Then we find another way. Contact another witch and…” Elder Matthew stopped abruptly when elder Lazarus shot him a sharp, warning look. He looked away after that but what he said has gotten my attention already and elder L
QuinnEven after I’d emptied the contents of my stomach, again, I still felt nauseous. My body trembled, my skin clammy and cold, but it wasn’t the sickness that had me this way. It was fear. Dread.Everyone knew Alpha Ezra was ruthless. Cold. Capable of things most alphas wouldn’t even consider. But if someone had told me he’d been involved in the war between the werewolves and the witches, I wouldn’t have believed it. No way. Not him. Not back then.That war happened over ten years ago. If what Madonna had said was true, he would’ve been nothing more than a teenager when it all went down. Eighteen, maybe nineteen. Still practically a boy. What the hell was he doing in a war between witches and werewolves?I rubbed at my arms, trying to shake the chill that had settled deep in my bones.Yes, I knew the bloodline he came from. His ancestors loathed witches, and his father—gods, his father was a madman in every sense of the word. But Ezra wasn’t his father. At least… I thought he wasn’
QuinnThere was only one chair in my garden. One I use to sit when I needed to rest. I asked Madonna to sit in it but she refused and said if there was anyone who needed to bed seated, it was me. It made me suspect that whatever made her come to me after all these years apart, my mind would be blown.“I don’t know if you’ve heard anything. I cannot be too sure but BlackClaw pack has been taken under control by a vengeful witch,”“I’ve heard about it,” I released a deep sigh, “I was planning on contacting you because of it,”“You were?” She asked.“Yeah, I was going to do it yesterday but something came up. I was just thinking about it again when you appeared. It was almost as if thinking too much about you summoned you,”Madonna nodded as she began to pace in front of me. My sister was deeply troubled. Seems like what was going on in Ezra’s pack is more than what we’ve heard. My heart began to thud hard and fast against my rib cage as fear threatened to overwhelm me at the thought of
Quinn With Nepthar back, there was a little delay in my plans to contact my sister and bring Annabelle back. It’s been a whole day since Nepthar returned and we’ve been dodging the question of where Annabelle was. Knight and I did not know how we were supposed to explain that we forced Annabelle to replace her to become Ezra’s wife because of our pack issues after her sudden disappearance but Annabelle tried to run away and had an accident that caused her to lose her memory. Nepthar would surely blame herself. She would think it was her fault but it wasn’t. If our pack was not in such a grave situation, we wouldn't have asked either of them to suddenly get married. I wanted them to find their fated mate like Knight and I did. I wanted them to have the freedom to pick who they wanted to spend the rest of their lives with. How was I supposed to explain to Nepthar that after her sister woke up from a coma and with a vacant memory, she suddenly wants to right all the wrongs and help t
Quinn “Nepthar is back.” The words kept echoing in my mind like a drumbeat, relentless and surreal. Knight and I had barely registered what our Beta had said before we were flying out of our room, down the hallway, our feet barely touching the ground. My heart pounded in my chest, part hope, part disbelief. And there she was. Our daughter. Standing in the center of the living room, flesh, blood, and everything in between. Her presence was radiant, her aura undeniable. She looked older than the last time I saw her. She looked stronger, changed, but unmistakably her. Nepthar. “Mom. Dad.” She beamed, her smile wide, eyes sparkling with something between excitement and nervous anticipation. Knight and I froze at the foot of the stairs, speechless. We couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. She looked like a ghost, too good, too whole to be true. Maybe she was. Maybe we were dreaming. The smile on Nepthar’s face faltered and her chin wobbled, “Aren’t you happy to see me?” Her voice,