CASSANDRAWhen Ms. Benn arrived at my room to pick up Lila, she handed me a small, folded-up piece of paper.“It’s an updated list of guests,” she explained when I frowned at her in confusion. “Many of the guests originally listed didn’t come and some new names have been added.”When I nodded my head, she released a reluctant sigh.“I also did as you requested and arranged most of the Southern guests in this building,” she revealed, a pained expression in her voice.Though I wasn’t proud of my actions, I knew they’d been necessary. Just before Ms. Benn had left my chamber earlier that day, I’d demanded that she move the Southerners to the same building I resided in. She’d been reluctant to oblige my request, but I hadn’t taken no for an answer.I was pleased to know that at the very least, she’d followed through. I hadn’t liked my actions, but this was too important of an opportunity to waste.“Thank you, Ms. Benn,” I said.“I don’t need your thanks,” the head housekeeper sniffed and
CASSANDRAI stopped struggling and widened my eyes as my heart stopped in my chest.Asher’s voice sounded coarse and more tense than I’d ever heard it, but I knew at once that it was him.It was almost impossible to believe, but it was true.Asher was here in Yurene.My mate was here in this cold, terrible country.He turned around to face me, and though we couldn’t see each other in this darkness, the scent, the warmth of his body… everything was so familiar it couldn’t be ignored.After a moment of silence, I felt Asher’s finger brush across my cheeks. I hadn’t realized I was crying until I felt the wetness of my tears against my skin.When he pulled me into a tight hug, he whispered in my ear.“‘I’ve missed you so much, Cassandra,” he said, and then he pulled away and kissed my neck and then my lips. Then he reached for my hand and began to kiss each of my fingers devoutly.“I couldn’t bear not seeing you,” he whispered in between kisses. “I’ve missed you so much.”As his lips danc
CASSANDRAConfusion flooded my mind and my lips parted as I stared at Asher. I felt lost, and I kept waiting for the Alpha King to say something more for clarification, but instead, he simply stared at me.For a moment, he reminded me of Finnick. The two looked so much alike and this expression was no exception. Sometimes, Finnick would stare at me in the same way if I forgot something I had promised like he was a puppy who had been wronged by his owner. It was a vulnerable look I’d never expected to see on an adult man’s face, and the mere sight of it made my heart hurt.“What do you mean?” I asked him directly after another moment of silence.Asher’s dark eyebrows creased together and then he let out a soft sigh.“I heard that you are about to marry the king of Yurene,” he revealed. “That you two are engaged to one another. Is that true?”A lump formed in my throat and my eyes widened.How had Asher found out about this? Kaleb had promised to not let him know. It was one of the requ
CASSANDRAAfter what felt like an eternity of hearing about the event, Ronald and Helene’s wedding day came.Aside from the new guests who had arrived early in the morning, everyone was invited to visit Ronald’s residence and have lunch with the happy couple.Just as I had yesterday, I’d decided to take a walk around the castle grounds, and as I roamed about, I shivered. The weather wasn’t ideal for a wedding. It was incredibly dismal and cloudy, not to mention windy, with no sun shining through the thick layer of clouds. It looked like it could rain at any given moment. I doubted there would be a visible moon in the sky when the night came.In the South, werewolf couples had to make their vows beneath the moon, otherwise, it was believed the marriage would be doomed. It was a superstition, most likely, but still, it was an important thing to my people.But the Northerners didn’t seem to care about such traditions. I heard no mentions of the moon at all amongst the guests or anyone el
CASSANDRAThe moment I’d noticed Rayden, it seemed like the guards had done the same. As the tall, dark-haired man from Wild Crawler approached me with long strides, I noticed the guards all tense up in unison.I began to panic. What was about to happen? And what was Rayden doing here in Vlokwell?Before Rayden was about to greet me, one of the guards stopped him from getting any closer to me. I flashed Rayden a firm expression and silently let him know that it wasn’t wise to show that he knew me.I half-expected confusion, but Rayden understood immediately. Instead of acting like he was coming to speak with me, he turned his attention to the guards and wore an expression of confusion.“I’m so sorry,” he apologized to them with a convincing frown on his tanned face. “I think I’m lost. I had been led to my room by a nice maid before, but I came out here to tell my servants that they needed to be careful with our boxes. I know it might sound silly, but when I decided to go back to my ch
KANEThe day after the sudden attack in Sky Pride, Asher departed for Yurene to save Cassandra, and not soon after my stepbrother left, Alpha Arthur fell into a coma.It was a sudden occurrence, even more surprising than the attack on Silas, and though the healers of the remote Pack couldn’t identify the exact cause, they suggested the attack had caused excessive emotional fluctuation.Arthur’s daughter Kiara was utterly distraught by her father’s loss of consciousness, and just after the Alpha was escorted to a private wing of his castle to be observed, I had to pull her into another room and rub her back as she wept.I wasn’t sure how long we were there, but time ceased to matter as I rubbed the poor girl’s back and assured her that things would be fine. I wasn’t entirely sure that was true, but I had to keep the hope alive regardless. We needed Sky Pride’s assistance if things we were to go to war against Yurene, but even that aside, I didn’t want Arthur to pass away. He was a litt
KANEEven as a child, I had been well aware of the fact that my new stepfather didn’t love my mother. Though the King of Wegalla had always treated us well, and Margaret never complained about his lack of attention or kindness, it wasn’t difficult to tell that he didn’t share any affection toward her. Truthfully, Asher’s father had only married Margaret because she had been his late wife’s maid. After Selene Collins’ death, the king was desperate to learn any and all information he could about the queen, and he saw his union with my mother as an opportunity.He asked Margaret to tell him everything about the late queen: how she had laughed, how she would smile, the things that brought her happiness. Every single detail about her. Selene was the only subject of their conversations, and while my mother didn’t outwardly protest or refuse him, it bothered her greatly.She had told me once that she believed the king was just trapped in his regret. He regretted that he had neglected his bea
CASSANDRARayden seemed completely surprised by the fact that Asher was here in Yurene as well, and though it was clear from his expression that he wanted to know more about the situation, he didn’t ask for the details.The new Alpha of Wild Crawler sat at the table patiently and allowed me to share some of the more vague aspects of the king’s presence while leaving out the ones that would get him in trouble if he were caught. I didn’t want to keep secrets from the sweet young man who had come here with the intention of rescuing me, but I didn’t want Rayden to get in trouble on my behalf and face punishment at the hands of these violent Northerners. I’d seen firsthand what the prisoners in the tower looked like after being tortured and medically experimented on. I wouldn’t risk Rayden’s life like that.At the same time, there were things I needed him for, and if it was possible to receive his help, I couldn’t refuse.I told him that we needed to take a sorceress back to Wegalla with u