COLEI stood by the window, looking down at Evelyn sitting on the lawn.Her hands were folded in her lap and a gentle breeze kissed her cheeks and blew her long dark hair softly. Even from here, I could see a glimmer of happiness in her large hazel eyes.Samuel’s son and daughter were running around her, and she watched them with a soft smile. There was a faint flush of color in her cheeks and it made my heart ache to see her look so… content. Envious, almost.Not too long ago, I had envisioned this very scene, planned for it. When I had planned to elope with her, I had imagined a peaceful small town where we could live away from the crowds and chaos. A place where no one could find us. We would have a couple of pups, and we would sit together, watching them laugh and run freely.I could picture the children so easily- one with Evelyn’s eyes and my gold hair. Perhaps even the opposite- a pup with night-dark eyes to match the black of her hair.Regardless of the combination of features,
EVELYNMaria blinked at me like I’d grown a second head. In her lap, Daisy did the same, only her expression seemed even more shocked. I suddenly felt self-conscious and wondered if it was a stupid question to bring up.“I don’t know,” Maria admitted thoughtfully. “I… would have known if Sam had rejected me back then. But then again, my husband told me that even the idea of rejection was part of the moon’s test, to see how determined the fated mates could be-”“Nothing can tear fated mates apart!” Daisy said firmly, pouting at me as if I had uttered a ridiculous question. Her big eyes narrowed at me and I could tell she felt the urge to stick her tongue out in my direction.I knew it because that’s precisely what I would have done at her age too. I had been a daring little girl once too.I opened my mouth to speak but before I could, Daisy turned her attention back to her mother.“Will I find a fated mate, Mommy?” she wondered, her little brow furrowing as if what I’d said got under h
EVELYNThe Alpha King raised a golden eyebrow at me and for a moment, we were frozen. I searched his expression, trying to understand what he was thinking about, but before I could enquire further, he smirked and shook his head.“I thought you knew,” Cole remarked and then he looked away. “You called my name, you apologized, and then you pretended to forget it, believing it was your dear Aiden who saved you.”“Of course, I didn’t know,” I said as the heat of embarrassment ran through me. “You… I was told that Aiden was the one-”“Sure,” he cut me off with another snort. I wasn’t certain why he was acting so strangely. Was he embarrassed? Trying to save face? Or… or was he vexed? Annoyed about this conversation? Annoyed that I’d overheard his conversations?I didn’t care.“And what about the punishment for the Caddels?” I asked boldly. “Was all of that true as well?” Cole frowned. “What?”Anger swelled within me. Was he faking these reactions or did he truly not remember his conversati
EVELYN“Thank you,” the girl stumbled over her words as we rushed away. The village market had grown busy with movement, but we’d managed to slip away mostly undetected thanks to Cole. His wolf form had been so distracting that we’d gotten away without being pursued by House Fox’s guards.While the girl was far less scared than she’d been earlier, there was still fear in her large eyes and her lower lip trembled as she shrank into herself.“There’s no need to thank me,” I said with a shake of my head. “Truly. Tell me, honey, where do you live?”The girl was quiet for a moment. “I… don’t have a home or a family, but I usually stay in a small alley. I have a few friends there.”“Let’s get you there then,” I said. I was sad that the poor young lady didn’t have a permanent place to go and get herself cleaned up and safe, but there wasn’t much I could do about it.The most important thing was getting her far away from those wretched guards, even if her destination was merely an alleyway.A
EVELYNNo matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see anything through the heavy piece of fabric over my face. I tried to struggle and shout for help, but before I could even utter a word, cold steel pressed against my neck.I knew at once from the feeling of the weapon that it was a dagger. A sword would have been too large in such proximity, but it was more than a mere knife.Somewhere near, I heard Cake crying.“I’m so sorry, my lady,” she apologized. “I’m so so sorry, I didn’t have a choice. I’m… I’m sorry.”I heard a scurry of footsteps on cobblestones and knew she had run away. While I was angry at this betrayal of trust, I couldn’t blame the poor girl.Still, thanks to her, I had walked right into a trap.“Who are you?” I demanded. “And what do you want?”My attacker remained silent.“Who are you?” I snarled, again, but instead of a reply, I felt myself being turned around and then pushed forward. A gag rose from my throat as I smelled the damp, filthy odor of a drain.I gritted my
EVELYNTime passed by strangely after I was gagged and blindfolded. Since I couldn’t see or say anything, I had no idea how long it had been since Elsa and Cake had brought me here.No matter how long it had been, Elsa refused to speak to me. After the blindfold had gone back on, she’d scoffed, and that was the last sound I’d heard from her.At first, I wondered why Elsa needed to wait in this narrow alley, but after a while, I realized that Elsa was waiting for the sunset. It would attract too much attention if she kidnapped me and led me through the streets in the daytime. The village was bustling but not enough to move undetected in such a conspicuous fashion.Although Elsa kept silent, she didn’t lower her guard. Every time I adjusted myPosture, even just a little, I received a kick to the legs. Hoping to elicit a response from her, I kept shifting until finally, she spoke.“Stop moving,” she warned me in a cold voice.A shiver ran through me at the sound. This Elsa wasn’t the El
COLEI was furious with myself beyond words.I knew I shouldn’t have let Evelyn out of my sight. I’d known it the moment she’d left the market with the young girl she’d saved from the guard. I hadn’t wanted to let her go but she’d been so insistent on saving the girl that I felt I had no choice.So, I dealt with the guard myself and allowed her to leave.A foolish mistake.I had been overly careless in my choices. I’d waited for her near the entrance of the forest for a long time, but I hadn’t seen her. I hadn’t gotten even a tiny trace of her scent lingering around the forest. She hadn’t returned and I had no idea where she’d gone.When I stormed back to House Fox, she was nowhere to be seen as well. I interrogated her guard at once but Max said she hadn’t yet returned.“I haven’t seen her anywhere, Your Majesty,” the young man informed me with a grave expression on his face. “I’ve been keeping an eye out but she’s nowhere to be found.”Fear coursed through me as if I’d been struck b
COLEI froze in place as I watched Jack Elrod, my elder brother who should have been dead for over a year now, descend from the high pile of clutter in the alley. Even though I should have stopped him in his tracks, all I could do was stand there in shock.I was staring at a ghost. A ghost from the past who should have long since remained gone.Everyone who knew Jack had the same expression as me. Sir Webb, Evelyn, the guards… all stiffened as my brother gazed down at us.I looked at Jack’s chest, where Frank Crawford had stabbed him. He’d assured me a million times over that my brother was dead. It was obvious now that his death hadn’t been as ensured as he’d insisted it was.Jack approached the woman who had held Evelyn captive. “I didn’t expect that working in the palace would make you so weak, my dear Elsa.” Jack’s voice was as soft and measured as ever.The disfigurement on the side of his face was exposed by the twitch of his lips—the scars left by the fire. There were two ways