NIRVANA “You’re not okay, Axell.” I finally saw the blank look in his eyes, as if he wasn’t there— as if he had lost himself in deep sorrow. “You should get yourself checked.” “I said I’m fine!” he yelled, startling me. “Okay.” I raised my hand. “I have to go. Go home, but I’m not coming with you.” “You will gonna regret this, Vana. You should have not left.” “Please, leave—” A high-pitched scream erupted from my throat, echoing around me. My hand flew to my mouth as I watched Axell fly, thrown away like a dead animal. With my heart in my throat and my feet rooted to the ground, I stared at someone who just appeared a few feet away from me. I wanted to run as fast as I could, but my knees wobbled, my chin trembled, and my body shivered. “He’s useless now. Nirvana, the daughter of Sophie, the descendant of Katzius. Do you know me?” His voice was echoey, as if we were in a theater. The man stopped just a yard away from where I stood. He was a black man, tall, in his fifties, bu
KNIGHT It had been four fucking hours. Nirvana had received a prophylactic drug, and she should have improved, at least woke up, but she remained the same. “Maybe you should go home and get some rest.” Kailin and McKaye arrived earlier. “I’ll stay with her, I promise.” “No.” I shook my head stubbornly as I watched Nirvana lying unconscious in bed. She had oxygen through her nose, and although her breathing had improved, her heart rate remained low. “I won’t leave her again. I won’t let her out of my sight ever again.” “You need to nap, cuz. You have to trust me if I say I’ll always be with her.” “Stop it, Kailin. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying by her side.” “I know you’re blaming yourself for what happened, but your property is safe.” “None of this should happen if I’m more very careful. Suppose she’s bitten by a wolf. At least we know how to treat her. I just let her walk out of the door. Who else should be blamed if not me?” My chest was in constant pain, and it was hard
NIRVANA I woke up to the beeping sound. I felt disoriented and so freaking exhausted, like I just climbed a mountain. Then I realized the room seemed familiar with a white ceiling, while the walls and scent alone were nauseating. When I was in high school, I got food poisoning, and I ended up in the hospital for two days. It all felt the same over again. The only difference was that my tummy didn’t hurt, but my shoulder did. It is excruciatingly painful. Then my gaze landed on the man I’d been longing to hug. He looked sad and exhausted, as did my best friend, hugging him behind his back. “Why are you hugging him?” Their reaction was comical. They froze, eyes wide as they stared at me with mouths hanging open. “Sweetheart,” Knight said breathlessly as he let Kailin’s arms go, rose from the chair, and hugged me tightly. He showered my face with kisses. “You scared the fuck out of me.” “Ouch, ouch.” I hissed in pain. “What’s wrong?” “My shoulder. It hurts.” I wanted to scream.
KNIGHT “What warlock are you talking about?” “Cyrius?” “Who the fuck is Cyrius? Why isn’t she healing?” I stopped breathing. I stopped living the moment I saw the poison spread fast down her back, up to the back of her neck. “Cyrius is the warlock that killed her parents.” “I thought he’s dead.” I glared at Zarah. “He is not dead after all. When you touched the mark on her neck, it weakened the spell that kept him locked up for years. Now, his mission is to find the last line of Katzius.” “Who?” I blinked off my tears when I felt like there was nothing they could do. “This can’t be. There’s something we can do.” “She’s drifting, Knight.” Even Zarah sounded devastated, and the room seemed filled with so much grief. “No! I don’t believe that!” I screamed at them. My voice boomed and rattled the room, startling Shadow, while Zarah didn’t even flinch. “I’m so sorry, Knight. I thought I could do something to help her.” “Try again, Shadow. Call your father. Maybe he can help. Ple
KNIGHT My head snapped at Zarah. “You don’t have any idea of what I feel right now. Of all people who have lived longer, you should know what losing a mate does to someone.” “We don’t have much time,” said the stranger. “How do I know it’s you? We buried you a long time ago. You could be Cyrius, for all I know.” “Ask your witch.” He turned his head to Zarah and offered his hand. “Go ahead.” Glaring, Zarah took his hand. She gasped and stilled for a moment before she let his hand go. “You’re Sophie’s great-grandfather?” “Yes, it seems he is,” Case said. And here I thought he was dead a long time ago.” “I didn’t die. It was another body glamoured as me.” “Then where the hell have you been all these years? Why should I trust you to bring my grandchild back?” “The moment Ophelia was born, I knew someone would always get interested in our family gift and suffer the family curse. Can we talk later? I want to save my great-great-granddaughter, and I have the man who helped find her.
NIRVANA “Wait. Are you my great-great-grandfather? My mom’s great-grandfather. Whoa. That’s cool. How old are you exactly?” “I’m Ambrose, little one.” My gaze landed on my dead ex-boyfriend. “Is that?” Warlock Ambrose, or my great-great-grandfather, just waved his hand, and my ex, that son of a bitch, just vanished. “Where did he go?” “It’s not important right now, Nirvana. How are you feeling?” asked Knight. I sat on the bed and held his hand. “Why are you looking at me like I just died and brought back to life, and now you look at me as if I vanish if you blink?” “That’s exactly how I feel. I can’t lose you again, Nirvana. Can you be a little serious right now?” “I’m so sorry.” I breathed deeply because what I was about to say might shock them or piss them off. “I’m feeling okay like before. I died, did I?” I looked at their reactions, and they just stared at me like I was some kind of magical creature. “Medically, yes, but magically, you did not die. Your breathing and yo
NIRVANA When Ambrose turned to me, I froze for a moment. “What?” “Your grandfather raised you well, but he’s too lenient. What do these kids say nowadays? Don’t be a pain in his arse.” I grinned like crazy. “So, what now, if I may ask?” Kailin said. “You all will face a lot of challenges, but use your brain and your heart instead of the animal inside you. You may have to make impossible choices, placing everyone else over yourself. That’s how you win the war. And it’s coming sooner than I expected.” “You’re scaring me. What are we up against?” “I won’t tell you that. You figure out yourself, and you will do good things than you can ever imagine if you only follow the right path.” His words gave me goosebumps. Whatever it was, it made me nervous. “So your gift, you can also see the future like my mother?” “No. You won’t get that either.” “What? So, will I stay like this, a human, for the rest of my life? Because I’m cool with that. It’s hard to shift naked, you know.” Knight
NIRVANA “So you’re leaving tonight? That can’t wait until morning.” I was still not ready for Ambrose to go. I still had a lot of unanswered questions, and I wanted to get to know him. “I can’t stay, young one. You have Zarah to guide you and answer your questions.” I sighed. “Thank you for everything. For giving me back my life.” “You earn it. As they say, you only live once, but be careful out there.” I smiled and found myself hugging him. “You too, take care.” “How do you go from here?” Knight asked. “I can send you wherever you go,” McKaye volunteered. “I appreciated the offer, but I can take it from here.” He stepped out of the house with his cane until I watched him disappear into the dark. Once he was gone, I felt suddenly sad. We went back inside in the living room. “I have to go, too,” Shadow said. “I may not be able to heal you, but I’m glad you trust me enough.” “Are you kidding me? You, being here is enough for me. I’m eternally grateful.” I hugged her. “I’ll se
NIRVANAThree months laterThis man wrecked me in every way possible, in a good-to-be-true way. The private island Lycan Alpha King Sebastien owned was more beautiful than he described, and we were here for the third day of our honeymoon. Yes, honeymoon. Knight asked me to marry him again, and I said yes before he could finish popping up the question. And here I was in bed, legs spread at his mercy. His searing gaze burned my skin. He stood at the foot of the bed, naked, and my hungry eyes devoured him. He was perfect from head to toe, and those muscles and his long thick erection in his hand with a small drop glistening in the slit of his crown.I licked my lips, squirming in bed. Knight knew precisely how to drive me crazy. My hands fisted above my head. No matter how I struggled, the rope laced with magic he used to tie didn’t even budge—no thanks to the book of spells my mother’s own. Dylan sent me a box full of my mother’s books and tools. Knight found out about it, and he u
NIRVANAI smiled at Carter. “Yeah. I’m a werewolf.”“You look wonderful, Vana. If he’s over you, come find me.”“Cut the shit, Archie.” Knight chuckled as he hugged Archibald. “Glad you could make it.”“I would not miss for the entire world,” Chance was the one to reply.Kain and Dane were engrossed in their conversation at the corner.“Hey.”Kain hugged me. “I thought we lost you.”“So do I.”“We wouldn’t be here without you.”“You all keep saying that when it was more of a team effort.” I patted Dane on his arm. He remained at Kain’s pack of assassins to protect Kailin and our allies. “You take care of my best friend, or I will rip your throat out.”“You can stop threatening him.” Kailin, in her beautiful blue gown, came and kissed me on the cheek. “I will be the one to rip his throat out if he betrays me.”The tapping of a spoon on the glass caught my attention. The whole pack house went silent, and the music stopped. Our attention went to Victor, Lennox, and my grandfather, who no
NIRVANAI shuddered at the loss of his thick dick inside me.“On your knees, Nirvana.” He growled. His breathing was rougher.“I don’t bow nor kneel to anyone, but sure.” I was too eager to do as he commanded me to, so I moved to my knees and faced him.“Open your mouth for me.” His eyes almost glowed. His jaw locked harder, every part of his body tensing.I opened my mouth as he gathered a fistful of my hair and gripped it, pulling me closer to his erection.“Now suck me.” He flexed his hips as he shoved his cock past my lips.I took it too eagerly, one hand gripping the base, the other on my knees, balancing myself on the bed. I swirled my tongue around him, sucked, and stroked him.My mouth stretched around his girth. I struggled to breathe through my nose, my eyes watering as I tried to accommodate him without gagging.“Relax your throat. You can take all of me.” He pushed my head into his cock, and quickened his thrust until a guttural groan erupted from his throat.He threw his
KNIGHTI stopped at the edge of the bed and watched Nirvana strip off her clothes one by one. Nothing fancy, even her skin tone bra, but her body, though, the sexiest and hottest fucking thing I’d ever seen, always would be and forever.She was on the last thing, her cotton panties, and there she was, the same body and curves I’d felt many times against mine, and the same woman I fell in love with over and over again, smiling at me as she spread her legs wide apart, revealing her always smooth and waxed pussy.Her cheeks flushed as she slid her hands between her thighs, and a low groan rumbled from within my chest as she let go of a shuddering moan.I found myself gripping my erect cock, stroking it. Locking her searing gaze against mine, she lay on her back, inviting me into bed. She didn’t have to do that because I intended to join her and make her feel what I longed for over a week.I crawled into bed, joined her, and braced my forearms on either side of her shoulders. Then I held
NIRVANA“No freaking way! That’s impossible.” My eyes grew wide as I stared at them one by one.“Is it, though?” McKaye said. “We trained for months.”“To fight that freaking monster?”“Your bloodline is some kind of link to an ancient warlock from Greece,” McKaye explained. “And you were the only one who could kill that son of a bitch.”“Yeah. My mother’s side from my grandmother were witches.”“And you don’t have a gift?” Knight asked me hesitantly.“No. Why? Should I?”He glanced at Zarah.“You’re a witch, Zarah. Can’t you jag my memory or something?”“It doesn’t work that way.”“Then I’m sorry to disappoint you, guys, but I don’t remember fighting an evil warlock named Cyrius.”“What about him?” Kaleb, the beta, tipped his chin at the alpha.Alpha Knight finally groomed himself, looking hotter and smelled so good.I couldn’t help but smile, and every time I looked at him, my heart skipped a beat. “No.”“You’re lying.”“Excuse me?” I arched a brow at him.“I can hear your heartbeat
KNIGHTWhen Kailin called urgently via our link, I thought someone was in trouble again in the tasting room, like the twins.I had struggled the past week without Nirvana, but I never gave up searching for my mate. Scratch that. I once considered jumping off the cliff, and there may be a minuscule chance she would appear and come to save me. But somehow, her promise kept my sanity intact.Everyone helped me check for the lost women or unclaimed bodies in every morgue in the region, but none of them was Nirvana, and I couldn’t find a record of her death either. I felt so relieved and hung in a thinner thread as the days passed, and there were still no signs of her.The underworld was back to normal— no more viruses or killings, thanks to my mate, and my uncle was offered a job at the council while I barely hung in there and not dealing with my loss. I barely slept, or I found myself in the woods mourning. I lost some sense of self-love and belongingness. I couldn’t work, and I hadn’t
NIRVANA“Grandpa! Where the hell have you been?”“Vana?” His eyes widened like he’d never seen me in years. He ran in my direction and squeezed me into a tight hug. “Oh, Goddess. Thank Goddess.”I chuckled as I hugged him back. “It’s only just been a week, Grandpa. You’re overreacting.”He looked me in the eye from head to toe, cupped my head, and kissed me on the cheek, and he was about to get all teary-eyed.“We don’t do that, Grandpa. Where have you been, anyway? I was worried when you did not pick up my call.”“What do you mean?” There was pain, confusion, and relief in his eyes.I slumped my ass to his couch. “You’re acting weird. What’s going on with you? How’s the pack anyway?”He came sniffing me, making me freeze. “You’re a—”“A werewolf?” I scoffed. “Yeah, since birth. Duh. You taught me how to shift. Don’t tell me you suddenly forget about it.”There it was again, the staring, and then he smiled. “I’m proud of you, kiddo.”“Of course, I just sold two pieces of my paintings
KNIGHTGasping for air, I woke up on the ground. The blood’s bitter, sweet, metallic taste dried on my mouth.A shudder of terror rocked through me as I got up. It felt like a new day, or nothing happened last night.Trees stood tall, leaves dancing against the soft breeze. Sunlight streaked from the sky.I saw broken trees on the ground from a distance, a reminder that something had happened around here last night.“Guys!” I went to Califf, shaking him. “Cal, wake up.”He sucked in a breath, staring at me. “What happened?”“I have no idea.”Luka and McKaye stirred and froze as they realized we were still in the forest.“What the hell?” McKaye looked at his naked self.“Did we win?” Sebastien dusted the dirt off his body.Alpha Frye came from behind us, confused, eyes roaming around. “I think she did it.”“Fuck. Nirvana. Where is she?” Terror filled my chest. “I can’t feel her.”“We’ll find her.” Michael, Grady, and Ryden went separate ways to find Nirvana.“Nirvana!” I called her nam
NIRVANA“Asina? Wow. You are gorgeous.” I was surprised to see her standing before me. For the first time, she showed me herself— a beautiful and tall woman with straight long, dark hair, brown eyes, and a smile that could bring men to their knees. She was truly captivating, a real strong heroine in a white flowy dress. “Am I dead?”“About to if you won’t wake up.”“I can’t. There’s too much pain and loss. I can’t do this, Asina. I’m too weak compared to his power. He killed everyone I loved, and I want to die along with them. I give up. And you leave me alone there.”“Nirvana, you take it all wrong. You don’t need me to win the battle against Cyrius. All you need is your courage, your strength, and your heart.”Frustrated, I sobbed as I fell on my knees. “He is powerful to stop, and you’re telling me to use my heart and my strength? I don’t have strength anymore. I can’t even level a percent of his power.”“Because you believe you can’t.”“Are you kidding me right now?” I growled in