ASHER “The trash bins were empty when we found them, Your Majesty,” the guard lamented to me with a bowed head. “We searched high and low. We even checked with the cleaner. He couldn’t find anything either. It seemed that the supposed masked man worked too quickly.” I released a heavy sigh though I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. I sat back in my chair and fought the urge to grow frustrated. The guard resumed a more polite posture and waited for my response. When he’d arrived in my study just minutes ago, I’d been hoping for good news. But sure enough, the masked man was far more skillful than I wanted. He had to be, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to hide here in Anemond for so long. I’d sent a team to investigate Spike’s claim that he’d discarded the books stolen from the royal library in a trash bin out in the street in the development beyond the palace. Now that I knew that the books were still missing, I wasn’t completely certain if Spike was lying or not. “I want h
ASHER Cassandra seemed lost in her thoughts for a moment. As I waited for her to answer my question, I tried to read her expression. I hadn’t meant to sound so harsh, but I knew there was something she wasn’t telling me, and it was killing me not to know. “There’s nothing you can do about this,” she said finally. “I could do anything for you, Cassandra,” I insisted, and I stared deeply into her eyes. “I can deal with Margaret. I assure you, it won’t be like last time. She isn’t going to get away with this, not if I have anything to do with it. You can trust me.” “How?” she asked. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. “How will you deal with it, Asher? You said you would look into this, but there’s nothing to look at. Margaret and Adalyn want to punish Erika because she’s associated with me. What could you do to them? They’re your wife and your stepmother. Besides… as much as I hate to say this, they have very good, plausible reasons to do all of thi
CASSANDRA “Name it, Cassandra, and it’s yours.” My new name from his lips sounded just as sweet as ever, and a chill ran through me. No matter how many days went by, I remained so enamored with Asher Collins. For a moment, I was surprised by his generosity, but then I realized I was just getting a glimpse at the old Asher. He’d always been so dedicated and caring. There was no reason for me to be shocked that he still was. As his gorgeous gray eyes stared into mine intensely, I thought of what Erika had said. I wanted to ask him about Adalyn and the circumstances that led to their marriage. I wanted to know if she’d trapped him or if there was some unknown reasoning that I wasn’t aware of. If I could get answers, maybe I could settle the storm of my thoughts and figure out how we could move forward. Everything was such an intricate puzzle and all I wanted were answers. Before I could gather the courage, Asher spoke again. “Think about it,” he advised. “In the meantime, I wanted
CASSANDRA My jaw dropped in surprise and my eyebrows shot up. What? Marley and her mate had always seemed so happy together. Their children were incredibly sweet as well, so I was a little surprised by all of this. “Oh Marley,” I sighed. “I’m so sorry… what happened?” “He cheated,” she revealed, and her tone was somewhere between sad and angry. “I caught them with another woman one day after work. It was a slow day at the clinic, so I left early, and I caught them right in the middle of the… act.” “Oh no,” I breathed. “Oh no.” “Yeah,” she scoffed. “Can you believe it, Cassy? I was so shocked that I tripped and fell down on the way out of the room. I almost broke my nose. And then, the shameless bastard tried to blame the whole affair on me. He said all of this happened because I was too focused on my work and cared too little about him.” “That’s bullshit,” I blurted out, and anger swelled within me. “It’s not your fault in the slightest.” “I know,” she said quietly. “Doesn’t
ASHER The meeting with the king of Yurene was arranged in the biggest meeting room in Merliscire. My attendants had been hard at work all morning, seeing to it that all of the place settings were up to par and that every last surface was clean and tidy. Normally, I didn’t care much for things like this or worry about the appearance of the palace, but in a way, I didn’t mind showing off a bit. Kaleb had seemed wholly unimpressed with Anemond, and Wegalla in general, so I was more than happy to have my servants put in a bit more work to show the foreign king that we weren’t uncivilized. Most of the councilors had announced to me that we were going to discuss some key business with the king of Yuene. Admittedly, I was a bit nervous. Grand meetings such as this were not often held. In fact, the last time so many had gathered together here in this hall, my late father had called all of the councilors together to discuss Cora’s father’s intention to kill Oliver Moses. A lump formed in m
ASHER After what felt like damn near an eternity, the meeting reached a conclusion. Despite the long hours of bartering and propositions, nothing had really been decided. The councilors were unwilling to give away any sort of information or allow any type of goods to be taken back to Yurene. They seemed too afraid of the Northern country and unwilling to allow any breach of security. The poor recorder had written pages upon pages of notes. I felt sorry for him, as his job certainly hadn’t been easy. I hadn’t expected so many arguments and disputes, and my head was pounding intensely. I desperately needed some medicine to soothe the aches brought on by my illness. “We will take all of the proposals that were made today into consideration,” I announced to the room. “Once we reach a conclusion, we will gather again and renegotiate. Thank you all for granting us your time and ideas. Councilors, you are dismissed.” The councilors and diplomats rose to their feet and bowed obediently. A
ASHERWhat the fuck did he just say?I sat there in disbelief, but surprise soon gave way to anger. Meanwhile, the king of Yurene seemed surprised.“I didn’t realize she hadn’t mentioned it to you yet,” he mused, and then he sat back in his seat casually. “I suppose you may wish to discuss it with her next time you see her. Perhaps speaking with her directly would be best-”“There’s no need,” I said shortly as my hands curled into fists at my sides. “Healer Cassandra will not be going to the North with you.”I expected Kaleb to have a different reaction. He remained quite calm and gave me an interesting expression.“I had heard that the current Alpha King of Wegalla was less arbitrary than the former ones, but it seems like that isn’t true,” he stated, and then he smirked. “You can’t decide this for Cassandra. She told me she would think about my offer instead of denying it at once, so clearly it’s something she’s taking under serious consideration.”“I don’t see why she would leave W
KALEB The nights in Anemond were always bustling. Much to my surprise and confusion, plenty of shops remained open late well into the evening hours. Citizens moved about the streets happily and mingled with one another in an almost picturesque sort of manner. Their laughter, music, and conversation melded together to create a disjointed yet delightful chorus. As I roamed the streets with my guards, I took care to smile at anyone who made eye contact with me. My gestures were always met with a friendly expression. To the citizens who lived here, I was just another friendly foreigner. It was a relief to go about my stroll calmly. I’d taken extensive measures to appear to be just another kind face. I continued to stroll through the town until I entered a sea of greenery at the very edge of it. Lush plants and trees with long branches that loomed over the path like a curtain were plentiful, and I took a long, deep breath. The plant life filled the air with a sweet floral perfume that
CASSANDRAIt was a sunny day, the first one in a long time.After the long winter and cold spring, summer eventually came, and it was hotter than it had been in forever.Sunlight streamed in through the clinic window, and I was a little distracted as I stared out at the window at the kids in the yard.Finnick, Lila, Marley’s boys Eric and Adrian, and Dominic were all chasing each other, playing a game of tag with one another. Marco was out there with them too, but he was sitting on a bench alone, meters away from the rest of the kids. He looked lonely and didn’t move as the others played around him.It had been a month since the chaos in Merliscire and Adalyn’s death. I supposed it was still hard for Marco to accept the fact that his mother was gone. She had killed herself right in front of him after holding him hostage and threatening to hurt him. The poor little boy had endured so much trauma in such a short amount of time.He wasn’t a bad kid. He had a mean disposition at times, bu
ASHERIt had been a while since Cassandra entered the building, and with every passing minute, my nervousness and anxiety grew stronger. While I knew she was capable of handling herself, I didn’t like the idea of her being in the House of Moses without me.I began to feel restless. It was a mistake to let her leave with Adalyn alone.I pondered my options for a minute and then decided I couldn’t wait out on the grounds any longer, not when my mate could be in danger. I started to walk toward the building, but before I could get too far, the soldiers guarding us stopped me.At first, they were polite but quickly, they became rude. They shouted and told me to back up. I wasn’t allowed in, not until Lady Adalyn said so.I considered pushing past them but didn’t want to escalate the situation, so I nodded and retreated ever so slightly. All around me, the councilors grew restless. They too, wanted to leave, only they desired to go back to Merliscire. However, when a group of them tried to
BECKYAfter our conversation with Oliver Moses, Dickson and I had been seized by the Moses guards and taken into a room that appeared to be used for interrogation. The door was crafted from iron and there were no windows, so the room was dim and quiet. There were only a pair of chairs, each a little rickety and old-looking. It was a pathetic, desolate sort of place, which was surely on purpose.Time didn’t make much sense in there and I soon couldn’t figure out how long we’d been locked in. My body ached and my mind was spinning out with a million thoughts as I absorbed all of the information I’d heard in the past couple of days.I had thought Oliver Moses would quickly find out the truth or ask me to confront Adalyn again, but Dickson thought the opposite when I presented the idea to him.“Look at this place, Becky,” he said, his voice gloomy and negative. “No one is going to visit us any time soon.”Sadly, he appeared to be correct, and his point was only proven as time went on. Tho
ADALYN Ada. How long had it been since I’d heard that name? My parents had never referred to me as Ada. They had never given me a single nickname or pet name. Mother had always said it was improper to call a child by anything other than their name and Father had never given me enough affection to bother. There were only two people in this world who had ever called me Ada. Asher. And Cora. I tensed as I tried to understand how Cassandra knew this. Had Asher told her about our close friendships when we were young? No, there was no way. Suddenly, I was hit with a realization, one I couldn’t ignore. I stared at Cassandra and studied her carefully. I searched her features, scrutinizing her nose, her mouth, the shape of her eyes. None were familiar, but as I stared at her deep emerald green irises and recognized the hue of them, it all began to make sense. I’d never understood how Asher could fall in love with a common healer. Cassandra wasn’t ugly by any means but to care so deepl
CASSANDRAAdalyn’s golden eyes narrowed and then locked on mine.“Why would that wicked woman come with us?” she demanded as she continued to shoot daggers in my direction.“Those are my terms,” Asher insisted. “You want an audience with me? Those are my requirements.”It was a bold assertation on his behalf. As long as Adalyn had Prince Marco in her grasp, she had the upper hand, but she was far too weak to realize her power. Asher was still the Alpha King, after all, so I supposed that subconsciously, she felt compelled to obey.Silence hung heavily in the air and then finally she sighed.“Fine,” she huffed and then she flashed me a sneer. “Let her come. Perhaps we’ll have some fun with your little plaything once we’re there.”“You won’t harm her,” Asher growled.“We’ll see,” Adalyn said with a shrug. “Come. It’s time we left this musty room.”Her big eyes scanned the room and then she addressed the councilors. “The rest of you shall come as well. Might as well make an event of it.”
CASSANDRAAdalyn’s face twisted again at Karsh’s cold and daring question, only this time, she didn’t recover and lost any sense of calm within her.“How dare you demean the future king’s mother?” she roared, her golden eyes flashing with anger as she bared her teeth.Despite her outrage and fierce expression, the councilor remained as cool as ever and didn’t even flinch. It was an impressive sight to behold and it made me respect Karsh even more. Adalyn had always been a brat but I had the sense that her ferocity wasn’t something to take lightly, at least not today.“I’m just stating the truth, Lady Adalyn,” Karsh said with a slightly raised chin, his eyes locked on hers. “The king is alive, I can assure you-”Before he could finish his statement, Adalyn motioned with her hand and gave a signal to the soldiers behind her.“Seize that traitor!” she ordered, and her men launched into action at once.My heart raced in my chest as I saw the soldiers approach Karsh, but before they could
CASSANDRAThankfully, Adalyn’s proposal wasn’t as convincing to the councilors as she’d expected. It was clear from the glint in her golden eyes and the proud expression on her beautiful face that she assumed all would accept the idea of Marco’s ascension without complaint, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The room dissolved into whispers and gasps at once.One of the councilors I didn’t know the name of cleared his throat and all fell quiet.“Pardon me for my bluntness, Lady Adalyn, but it’s absurd to announce a new Alpha King when there is no evidence showing that the king is dead,” he pointed out, his thick dark eyebrows furrowed at her. “We have nothing of the sort before us-”“The forensic report will explain everything-” Adalyn began to say but the councilor waved her off with his hand.“A report means nothing,” he stated boldly, and then he glanced around the room to garner attention from the other councilors. “If the Alpha King is dead, we need to see his co
CASSANDRAOne thing was absolutely certain amongst Asher, the councilors he trusted, and I.Whatever Oliver Moses wanted to do at the council meeting, we needed to stop him. We were in complete agreement but knew we needed others to agree to our cause. We needed the support of other Packs in order to bring him down, and knew we wouldn’t get far without it.“Oliver Moses has quite a number of soldiers stationed in Anemond, especially around Merlisicre,” Karsh revealed solemnly. “If we want to confront the Moseses, we will need a troop of good soldiers of our own.”Though I didn’t want to admit it, the councilor was correct in his assessment. Despite having support from Alpha Gareth, Wild Crawler on its own couldn’t provide enough soldiers. If we wanted to gather real numbers to stand against the Moses soldiers, we needed to contact other Packs and ask for their support.“Your Majesty, it would be best for you to remain in the darkness before the meeting,” Jacoby advised after a moment
ADALYNThis girl was stupid and annoying, to say the least.Yet, despite these facts, I regretted that I had underestimated her. I should have dealt with the tiny redhead girl right after Cassandra Keller had disappeared. Now, she had become a big problem, one I wasn’t sure how to handle.“I was hiding in the room next to yours when you spoke,” Becky chimed in.Father’s face changed when she mentioned the meeting. His complexion paled and his hazel eyes widened, but when he ran his hands through his graying hair, it was clear that he seemed convinced by her words.I had to hand it to her.Placing herself at the scene of the crime was a bold move, one I wasn’t sure how to work around. This was damning to be certain but I had to remain collected if I wanted to make it out of this and continue my plans without interruption.Silas’ little kitten was a true thorn in my side.Father studied the girl’s expression like a fox studying its prey. “I hope you acknowledge that you will be punished