CASSANDRA “Oh, Cassandra, that’s amazing!” Becky exclaimed as she entered the clinic. My assistant’s already large eyes grew even wider as she shut the door and peered around the building. She had just returned from her holiday and it was officially our moving day. “Isn’t it?” I remarked as I carefully set down a pile of boxes. Once they were on the ground, I wiped the dust off of my hands and walked over to her. “It’s great to see you, Becky. How were your days off?” “They were great,” Becky said with a small smile. “I always feel so much pressure working in the palace, but I was able to catch up on some rest and I’m feeling much better.” Sure enough, the color had returned to her cheeks and her dark eyes were no longer underscored with dark circles. Her dark red hair was nice and neat, and I noticed she was wearing a light touch of makeup. Becky looked great, and I was glad to see that she was in such good spirits. “I understand completely,” I said, and then I lowered my voice
ASHER As Bert read his report about the preparations for the celebration in honor of Silas Moses, I could hardly focus. I knew it wasn’t good that my mind was elsewhere. With Silas returning, I needed to pay special attention to the Beta’s family. I didn’t know much about him personally, just that he had a long history of military service and that he was new to the position of Beta. His role as a military official could make him potentially difficult to work with, as I had little experience when it came to matters of war and battle, but truth be told, my concerns weren’t about him. I was still preoccupied with what Kane had said to me the other day. His strange disposition brought me to a realization I’d never had before- I knew too little about my own brother. I hadn’t asked Kane if he’d discovered Cassandra’s true identity, as exposing it directly could be risky, but I knew something was up. I was puzzled about why he seemed to care so much about her. From what I could recall fr
CASSANDRA As Becky and I sorted through the equipment that had been packed up from the palace and tried to find the right places to assemble them, I couldn’t help but think of the upcoming celebration Kane had mentioned. “Have you heard anything about the celebration to honor Silas Moses’ return?” I asked my assistant. “The Alpha King’s brother mentioned it when he stopped by earlier.” “I hadn’t heard anything about it yet,” Becky remarked, and she tucked a strand of her dark red hair behind her ear. “It’s definitely something I would love to see, though. I haven’t attended any type of party or Pack event since my mother fell ill. Of course, I’m sure only the royal healers will be allowed to participate, and since I’m only an assistant…” Her voice trailed off and I felt a little sad for her. Becky had been so dedicated to taking care of her mother, but she deserved some fun, no matter who the celebration was honoring. “Why don’t you come with me?” I suggested. “Really?” Becky ex
KANE After returning to the palace from Cassandra’s clinic, I decided to go and visit Mother. It wasn’t my first choice of things to do, but I couldn’t wait any longer, so I made my way to the South Wing until I reached her chambers. I knocked on the door but didn’t bother to wait for a reply before entering. Mother seemed surprised to see me, and when she rose from the bed, her eyes were large. She appeared more tired than usual, not that I could blame her. She was experiencing quite the ordeal, and the stress of her confinement seemed to be taking its toll. Her already fair complexion had lost all of its color and her eyes seemed sunken. Her hair was loose from its usual intricate style, and her lips quivered. “Kane,” she greeted me quietly. “What are you doing here?” “I came to visit, Mother,” I replied as if it were obvious, and after I crossed the room to give her a hug, I took a seat in the velvet armchair in the corner. “How are you?” “I’ve been better,” Mother remarked d
KANEThat same night, I hadn’t anticipated Asher’s visit, but at the same time, I wasn’t surprised to see him.“Come in, brother,” I said when I opened my chamber door, and I held it open for him to enter. As Asher crossed the threshold, I detected a look of sullenness in his expression, though his greeting was kind enough.“How are you?” he wondered as he took a seat at the chair beside my small desk. As he crossed his legs and stared at me with those piercing gray eyes of his, I considered my words carefully. The Alpha King didn’t seem to be in too great of a mood and the last thing I needed was to escalate the situation.“Fine,” I remarked as I studied him carefully and folded my arms against my chest. “How are you?”“I’ve been better,” Asher replied, and then his eyes narrowed. “Tell me Kane, what is it that you want? I know you visited Cassandra today and I also know that you lied to her about the ‘gift’ I allegedly asked you to deliver on my behalf. I don’t understand. Why did y
CASSANDRA The morning air whipped around me and made me shiver as I eagerly waited outside of the clinic. I wrapped my thickly knit sweater tighter around me. Not even the coldness of the day could ruin my mood. I glanced down at my watch. Any minute now. Moments later, I heard the sounds of wheels against the pavement, and suddenly, a car appeared in the distance. Excitement raced through me and I bounced in place as it drove up to the clinic. When it came to a stop, the back door flew open, and Marley practically flew out of the vehicle. “Cassy!” she exclaimed, and as she barrelled toward me, my smile brightened. I braced for impact, but it did me no good. Marley ran right into me and wrapped her arms around me tightly. As we embraced, tears sprang from my eyes and I began to cry from happiness. “Marley,” I managed through my trembling lips. “Oh, Marley, I’m so happy to see you.” “You’d better be,” she joked, and after we shared a laugh, we pulled apart from one another just i
CASSANDRAI’d never been down to the palace dungeon before, and as we descended the staircase, a putrid odor reached my nose and I shivered from the cold. Back when my father had been imprisoned in this very same dungeon, I hadn’t even had an opportunity to visit because he’d made me swear not to. My father had encouraged me to stay away, thinking I might be incriminated if I went to visit him.At the time, it seemed like sound logic, but it was one of my biggest regrets. I hadn’t gotten to say goodbye or tell him I loved him, and now… it was too late.My heart pounded against my chest as we walked through the corridors, and when we arrived at the cells and I saw the man behind the iron bars, my temples pulsed. It would be a lite to say I wasn’t afraid. Facing the man who had nearly taken my life was both intimidating and frightening, and part of me wanted to turn around and run away. But I managed to stay calm.“Well, who do we have here?” the imposter remarked as his eyes trailed ov
KALEBAs I waited for Anubis to meet me that night on the bridge above Selene’s Tear, anger swelled in my belly, stronger than it ever had before. I’d kept my feelings submerged in the palace, but now that I was out in the city limits, things were different.I expelled an angry sigh of disappointment and leaned heavily on the railing of the bridge. The sun was a mere sliver on the horizon and the sky was an incredibly deep blue. It was beautiful, and normally I would have appreciated the view much more, but tonight, I was in no mood to care.Merliscire had been abuzz with preparations for the return of the Beta of the empire, and I had made it a point to keep myself scarce. My mood was too troubling and I thought it best to maintain distance so my armor wouldn’t crack, so to speak.When Anubis finally appeared, he took note of my mood and the moment my guards allowed him passage onto the bridge, he stared me down with fierce intensity.“What’s wrong, Kaleb?” he asked with a dark raise
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