AIDEN“The King wants to discipline House Fox? That’s hilarious.” Isaac scoffed. “How could you be sure that the King wants the miners to fight the Lords? He may dislike Housr Fox, but would he really want us miners to go against the authority? I bet not.”“You’re always so pessimistic, Isaac,” Peter said with a small sigh. “We’ll never get anywhere if we’re always timid and hesitant.”Isaac’s mouth drew into a thin line of annoyance .“I’m just a realist! Don’t you understand we’re prisoners? This is rebellion! If you fail, you die. If you win, you die too.”“But if we do nothing, we still die. At least there’s a chance if we fight.” Peter argued.Isaac shook his head and sighed deeply.We had been in this conversation for quite some time, and Peter and Isaac had completely different stances on our next move. As a bystander, I was seated on one of the chairs in Isaac’s hut, arms crossed as the old men deliberated.Ben was beside me, his expression weary as he witnessed this heated deb
EVELYNFor the first time in a very long, long time, I dreamt of my family.But this dream was different from the ones I usually had. Those consisted of pleasant memories, laughter, the first time I had ever held my little sister in my arms… happy things that made my heart ache when I awoke.Occasionally, I dreamt of that dreadful trial day. Those my made my heart hurt in a different way and often elicited anger and tears upon my waking.This one, however, was completely different.This dream was about Windsburn Island, a place I’d never visited, but haunted me often.I saw my father working in the mines, where all exiled to the island worked tirelessly to repay their debt and atone for their crimes. He looked emaciated, so much so that I could hardly recognize him. His eyes were sunken, as were his cheeks, and his skin was paper-white as if he hadn’t seen the sun in months. He worked like a lifeless puppet, sweat streaming down his gaunt face without him having time to wipe it away.
EVELYNI stood there, stunned, and tried not to let my expression betray my thoughts.Sweat broke out on the back of my neck and I felt a surge of emotion as my mind cruelly repeated Melanie’s words. When I noticed that Melanie was watching me closely, I discreetly dug my nails deep into my palm and the slight pain of it somehow helped me maintain my composure.I couldn’t let myself feel anything at all. Not when Melanie’s eyes were upon me.She continued to gloat and lifted her chin arrogantly. “The King also invited Lady Skyla to spend the night with him in his chamber tonight.”My jaw clenched and my lungs started to ache. I had been holding my breath unknowingly as anxiety and surprise sank in. I hated this feeling. I felt… useless.I didn’t want Cole Elrod.Melanie continued to speak, using harsh words to speak poorly about the other ladies, but I blocked out her voice out and turned to look at Anna and Lucy. They were obviously just as taken aback as I’d been, but not in the sam
EVELYNIt was a few minutes before I could even manage to pull myself together enough to stand.Maybe Skyla Fox was lying. Maybe she was just trying to make me miserable. Maybe she heard it wrong or misunderstood it.Aiden couldn’t be dead.Could he?Breathe, Evelyn. You have to breathe. You need to. You have to.I took a few more deep breaths, banishing the images of Aiden from my mind to help steady myself, and straightened up. I wiped the tears from my face, smoothed my hair down, and straightened my gray uniform before heading back to Leila’s chamber.The last thing I wanted to do was attend to her, but I couldn’t just disappear without a word.“What was going on out there?” Leila asked when I entered, still in bed. She appeared less cranky than earlier, but still annoyed. “Why was everyone shouting?”“The King is taking Lady Skyla to visit the House of Fox,” I explained vaguely. “The servants are preparing her things.”Leila frowned, raising a dark eyebrow in confusion as she sa
This chapters contains sexual content intended for individuals 18 years of age or older. Please read at your own risk. EVELYNOnce the door was closed, Cole approached and stood in front of me, his dark eyes trailing over me as if I was something to eat though the rest of his expression was calm.Another step closer and then his finger rested on my shoulder and played with the strap of my slip dress. His fingertips gently brushed against my skin but despite his touch, his expression remained cold and bored, as if he had little interest in me or my body.A stark contrast to the story his eyes told me.“Why have you come tonight, Evelyn?” the golden-haired King asked me, his voice low. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but hadn’t you cried and begged me to let go of you the other day in my study? Interesting that you’re back here unsummoned.”I didn’t answer because I wasn’t good at lying and I was afraid that I might lose my determination if I stared at Cole any longer. He was the Alpha, the
EVELYNAs the sentence escaped me, I began to doubt my plan. I didn’t want to cry, but tears sprang out against my will.I watched as Cole’s face slowly turned cold and his eyes shifted from disbelief to mockery.“So that’s the reason...” he scoffed. “You want to trade information with your body? Don’t you think you’re thinking too highly of yourself?”His voice was filled with contempt. “Was she telling me the truth?” I asked boldly.He suddenly reached out and cupped my chin, raising it up as he stared down at me.“What will you do if I tell you that it’s true?” he demanded. “Are you going to be buried with him? Do you love him so much that you’ll fall to pieces?”“Aiden is my friend,” I managed to say through my trembling.“That’s what you would do for a friend?” Cole sneered. “I didn’t know you were so loyal to friends, Evelyn. Aren't you a traitor?”Tears rolled down my cheeks, blurring my vision and twisting the image of Cole’s face.How many times would I have to bear this?Wh
COLEStriding silently along the corridor, I tried to calm down but to no avail.Sever the mate bond?Where the fuck had Evelyn learnt about this?The very fact that she wanted to fuck me only because she wanted to learn about Aiden’s condition infuriated me.What was she thinking?I had stupidly thought she had started to soften. For a moment, I even thought she was returning to the sweet girl she had used to be, back before this entire mess had started.But it turned out to be another fucking lie.She fooled me once again. She used me, which made me feel like a total idiot. I couldn’t believe she begged me to fuck because of another man.This thought was driving me crazy, making me want to kill. I wanted to rage, throw things, sink my claws into something, and shred it into ribbons, just as I had that dress of hers.She needed discipline. I should have done it earlier, back when she’d first arrived in the palace. I would lock her in my room and fuck her until she had no other though
COLEAddison took another deep breath as Flynn and I waited for her to tell her story. Her gray eyes were uncertain at first, like she didn’t want to follow my orders. Part of me didn’t want to blame her for her hesitation, given this situation with her twin sister, but the other part was the Alpha King. If my brother or his followers were somehow responsible for Jasmine’s disappearance, I couldn’t allow her to withhold information from me or Flynn for that matter. “I understand you don’t trust us, Your Majesty,” Addison said as she glanced at Flynn with a trace of mockery. “The Madden’s hands are always dirty with blood no matter what we do. But I assure you that House Madden is utterly loyal to you, Your Majesty. Because that’s our only choice.”I lifted a brow. “That seems like a poor choice of words given the context of this situation, Addison. Proceed with caution.”“I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly, holding her hands up as if to settle my rising irritation. “I said that inco