TERVAN.I paced the dark woods where I and Shikta always met. She was still late, as usual. Everything had been under control, but it seemed recently things were beginning to fall apart.The useless potion she claimed was going to kill Luxuria was obviously not working. Luxuria was still alive and healthy.Now, the Alpha is seeking a solution to his curse when, in fact, the solution was right here in his pack all along without our knowledge.It was all beginning to make sense. Nevada came into the pack many years ago when I was only a boy, seeking refuge. She had a little girl with her, who was barely five. She claimed not to have recalled what happened to her and how she ended up at our border. The previous Alpha, Alpha Candor, and my father, Beta Kai, took her in and observed her closely to make sure she wasn't a threat before making her one of us.They had concluded that she was obviously a survivor of a war or a raid and had lost her memory in the process.Now I understand better
ALPHA PARTHE.Fuck.I've never been so scared in a long time. My world had stopped tilting the moment I stepped into my chamber and saw her in that state.A lot of fearful thoughts ran through my mind in that millisecond that got me scared to my bones. So many what-ifs.I'd die if anything ever happened to her. I never knew the depths of whatever I felt for her until I saw her on the verge of death.The healers, along with Shikta, had come to tend to her.Shikta said there was nothing wrong with her and that it could all be due to stress, and I could only scoff."What stress? Physical, emotional, or mental stress?" I had asked before I could stop myself, and Shikta said it was a little of all of them put together.As soon as I heard the report, I immediately decided that I'd do everything within my power to keep her away from stress. No more tasks, no more hurting her emotions. I'd always try to make myself available to stop her from overthinking... Only the gods know how many resolut
LUXURIA'S POVThe room was silent, save for the soft crackle of the fire burning in the hearth. It was late, and the moon cast a pale light through the curtains, and somehow, the view made me feel alive.I lay on the bed, my mind wandering in circles, drifting from one thought to another like a ship caught in a storm.Rorden.My heart clenched. I can never thank him enough. His potions, sneaked to me through Dashi, had been my lifeline. Without them, I wasn't sure how I would have survived these past days.But something else still bothered me. The weakness. My limbs always felt heavy, and my skin looked pale. It was terrifying.Although the healers said they didn't see anything wrong with me, I still felt the fatigue dragging me down every second.My thoughts drifted to Parthe.I should have felt safer by now. He had been... different, almost softer, these past days. More caring. He hadn't let me lift a finger, and while I appreciated the gesture, I couldn't shake off the conflict twi
ALPHA PARTHE.I slowly deepened the kiss, and I could sense her hesitation. I pulled away, brushing a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, "Stay calm, little mate... I don't want you to be scared of me anymore," I whispered, placing my forehead on hers and feeling the warmth of her breath on my lips.She didn't answer, but I didn't need her to. I could feel her heart racing, hear the rapid beat as I gently cupped her face, my thumb brushing her soft cheek. "I know I was wrong, Luxuria. I've been so damn wrong for so long. But give me a chance to make things right. Every part of me wants you. You have no idea how much I crave you. You're like an addiction I'll never be rid of..."There was silence. Only our soft breaths filled the quiet room."What if..." She paused, almost as if the words she was about to say scared her."Speak. Don't be scared. Don't hold back," I gently probed."What if… my heart isn't ready to love again? What if I've waited so long for this that… now it's too
ALPHA PARTHE.Now, I am desperate. I have to admit it.I am a desperate man.It's been three days since I made the decision to treat my mate as she deserved. Three days since, I allowed myself to be vulnerable, to love her openly. And for those three days, I've felt something I haven't felt in years—hope.I was gradually breaking down the walls she had built around her poor heart, and now, she was even more at ease with me. I've seen a different side of her. A side I was starving for.I had intentionally allowed myself to love, and it felt so good. Ravorn wasn't wrong. I was behaving like a teenager in love. She made me feel things I didn't think I could ever feel again.I didn't allow a day to go by without getting her gifts and taking her for walks where we talked and shared stories about our pasts, fears, hopes, and all.We've made steamy, passionate love that I never knew I was capable of. Although I tried to mark her on three occasions, she declined. I didn't push. Perhaps she ne
ALPHA PARTHE.I held onto her body, my senses going numb as I totally lost touch with reality. My eyes were wide open, but I was staring at nothing in particular.What had happened? This looked natural. She wasn't strangled or stabbed. She wasn't hit... Nothing of that sort. It just felt like she was fast asleep and then passed from there.I wish... I wished a lot of things at that point.I wish this was done by someone... I needed someone to suffer for this. I wanted to kill someone so slowly that they'd wish the death would come faster, but it wouldn't.I wish..."Alpha!" My Beta thundered beside me in a powerful tone that pulled me out of whatever hole I was sliding into.I hadn't even realized my chamber was almost crowded with concerned people - my Beta, Gamma, Shikta, Vixen, Lorita... I couldn't take note of them all. They didn't matter."Allow the healers to take a look at her," Tervan said, but I wasn't willing to. I didn't want to leave her side even for a second. I held onto
ALPHA PARTHE.My sense of reasoning screeched to a stop as I wasn't thinking anymore. All I wanted was to kill someone. And unfortunately, Zendaya might be that unlucky person."Where is she? Where is your traitorous daughter!" I sneered at Nevada as soon as I saw her among the concerned crowd gathered outside my chamber.Her eyes held total confusion as she looked at me. "She... Alpha? What has she done to be called a traitor?" Nevada asked with a trembling voice.I could already smell her fear. I knew just how much she loved her daughter, and the look on my face told her that she might be losing her precious daughter at any moment.She fell to her knees with her hands clasped in front of her, "Please, Alpha Parthe, what has Zendaya done? She can never be a traitor. She can't betray you. She practically grew up under you... You know her... There must be a misunderstanding somewhere," She tried to defend something she didn't even know.All she was saying sounded very distant as my rea
TERVAN'S POV."Fuck it, Shikta! What happened? This wasn't meant to happen! How is she not dead?" I asked, pacing the dark, quiet woods."I don't know, Tervan! How am I supposed to know?" She replied, worry also lacing her tone."You're asking how you were supposed to know? You made the damn poison, remember? You said it was potent! You said..." I was still speaking when she rudely interrupted me."I know I did!" She half-yelled. I could feel the frustration radiating off of her. "I am as confused as you are. She wasn't meant to be this way.""Then what do we do now? This changes everything," I asked, rubbing my face with my palm. Everything seemed to be falling apart. Everything!"For now, there is nothing we can do about it. We can't kill her now. Not when we do not even as much as understand where and how she is trapped. We just have to pray she either dies or comes back to life for us to kill her again!" She said in a hurry through clenched jaws.There was silence. I was seething.
LUXURIA.TWELVE YEARS LATER.I jumped down from my horse, my warriors trailing behind me as I handed my sheath to Jaiya, my Beta."Take the day off, Jaiya. You need it," I said and smiled but didn't give her the chance to protest as usual.Between Jaiya and Niksha, I couldn't tell who was more stubborn than the other.Niksha, my best friend since girlhood, had insisted on joining my warriors the moment I took leadership. And I'd let her. After what I'd been through, it was clear—women needed to fight. To defend. To never be helpless again. I was living proof of that. So, I trained them myself.Since I became Alpha of the Ash Mountain pack after the death of Kahel – my mate handed the pack over to me, as it was one out of the numerous packs he had taken from the Alphas he killed in battle – I felt a better sense of responsibility, and I couldn't be more grateful for it. Like the world finally made sense. It felt like I had been born to lead."Luna! Welcome back," Rella called, jogging b
LUXURIA.It felt like a dream.No—not a dream. A fracture in reality. A soft, trembling pause in the fabric of the world where time stilled and all I could do was watch my curse being lifted.Tervan lay on the altar with no iota of fight in him. He didn't even as much as struggle when my curse began to sip into him.Kalaril was the one who also carried out my own extraction, speaking in the Old Tongue—the language of root and fire, of night and blood. His hands had moved over me and then over Tervan, forming sigils in the air that shimmered briefly before sinking like glowing brands into our skin."Luxuria of Ash Mountain," Kalaril intoned, standing before me with a staff carved from ashwood and bone. "Do you come freely?""I do," I had whispered."And you offer your curse to another?""Yes.""Then let the exchange begin."And then I felt the curse rising in me like a serpent uncoiling from bone and blood. Cold and ancient and furious. It didn't want to leave. It clawed at my ribs. Sc
ALPHA PARTHE.Tervan was forced to his knees before me, chains clinking around his wrists like the music of retribution.The crowd fell deathly silent, the atmosphere filled with anticipation.He dared not lift his head.The coward couldn't even meet my gaze.I took a slow step forward, the earth seeming to still beneath my feet. My voice curled out like the edge of a blade."Tervan… my beloved Beta," I sneered, each word I spoke dipped in venom. "Look at you."I circled him, taking in the gaunt hollows of his cheeks, the grime clinging to his skin, and the tattered remains of the arrogance he used to wear like a crown."You look… ruined." I crouched before him, my face just inches from his. "What happened, old friend? Where did all that fire go? What went wrong?"I reached out, my fingers brushing his bruised cheek with mockery. He flinched and turned his face away."Ah," I breathed, a dark smile tugging at my lips. "That's right. You only know how to face someone when they're unarme
ALPHA PARTHE."How do you feel?" I asked my wolf, but he was too weak to reply.We had been bound to the beast for so long that, in many ways, we had become one. And now, with that darkness torn from us, the absence felt unsettling.I exhaled slowly, feeling the exhaustion settle into my bones. I felt uncharacteristically weak. My limbs were heavier than I had ever known them to be, my mind sluggish, but I couldn't linger in weakness. I had to see this through. Luxuria's ritual was meant to happen immediately.There was no time. Mine had taken up to half an hour.I raised my hand to stop the cheering crowd."Bring him," I said to Urik who stood beside me and he bowed slightly before walking toward the dungeon.I watched him go, a strange emotion settling in my chest.I'd been thinking of ways to thank him but none seemed enough to show how thankful I truly am to have him by my side.Apart from Luxuria, Urik was the one person I doubted a lot for years. I always picked Tervan's side ov
ALPHA PARTHE."Let's begin," Kalaril said before leading the way to the large chamber that had been prepared for the rituals.The chamber was a vast, dimly lit expanse with air so thick with the scent of burning herbs and potent ancient power.The witches stood in a circle, their dark robes pooling around them like ink seeping into the floor. They hummed low chants that resonated through the chamber, carrying a tide of old magic.Kalaril stood in the middle of the circle, and for the first time since I had known him, he looked entirely in his element—an AshBlood wizard in his full, terrifying glory.The crowd waited outside.They weren't meant to witness what was about to happen. This moment belonged to the witches, to Kalaril, to Luxuria, to Sibile—and to me.Sibile lay on the cold altar, barely breathing, her face waxy and drenched in sweat. The gaping wound on her neck had turned an ugly shade, the blood flowing sluggishly. Her body was losing its battle against time.Too much time
LUXURIA.I ran breathlessly into our chamber and couldn't hold back the torrent of emotions threatening to consume me.He was still the same selfish man I had known. The same ruthless creature who saw lives as mere tools for his own survival.Why should I trust all he had said to me earlier? He only thinks about himself and no one else.I clawed at my arms as if trying to hold myself together, but the anger, the grief, and the sheer disbelief were too much.How could he even consider this?Why would he even think of using the poor girl for this purpose?Sibile had lived her entire life running, fighting to survive, and carrying a burden she never asked for. And now, at the very end, she was to be nothing more than a sacrifice?A broken sob burned my throat, but I forced it down. My hands trembled as I wiped at the tears that streaked my cheeks, furious at myself for even shedding them.Then the door creaked open behind me.I stiffened, knowing exactly who it was before I even turned.
LUXURIA.I woke up feeling better than I felt when I regained consciousness yesterday.I had woken to warmth. A steady, familiar heat pressed against my back, the feel of a strong arm draped over my waist, holding me close. The scent of cinnamon and musk surrounded me—Parthe.For a moment, I simply breathed him in, relishing the security of his embrace. It felt surreal, almost fragile, as if one wrong move would shatter the moment like delicate glass. But this was real. He was real.A soft clatter had drawn my attention to the bedside table. A tray of steaming food awaited me, the rich aroma wafting through the air. My stomach twisted with the overwhelming realization of how much had changed within the last few hours.I was here. Safe.But not everyone had been so fortunate.My heart ached for Rorden, I must say... The good side of Rorden.He was my friend and confidant at one of the most crucial points in my life. And I couldn't take that for granted.A single tear slipped down my ch
LUXURIA.The world felt unsteady. My head was light, my body weightless, as though I were drifting between reality and something far less tangible.My eyes fluttered open, struggling to adjust to the soft glow of the room. Everything around me was familiar—the scent of embers and musk, the dark tapestries, the heavy warmth of the space.Parthe's chamber.Our chamber.A tremor ran through my chest. I was home.And if the figure sitting in front of me was truly who I thought he was…My throat tightened, my vision blurring as I stared at him.My heart leaped, but not out of fear. I was finally safe. Away from Rorden. Because, if this was truly Parthe sitting in front of me, it meant one thing – He had saved me from Rorden.I couldn't remember anything about how I ended up in Parthe's pack or chamber, but I was grateful I did."Luxuria..." Parthe called in that voice I had been longing to hear for so long now.It seemed like a dream to me.A sob slipped past my lips. My chest ached with t
ALPHA PARTHE.I stood over her, afraid to breathe. Afraid to even move.Luxuria lay motionless on the bed, her body so still that for a terrifying moment, I thought I had already lost her. The weak rise and fall of her chest was the only thing tethering her to this world.It felt as though the air had been sucked from the room. As if the gods themselves were holding their breath, waiting for me to break.It seemed like the life she was holding onto would slip away if I even as much as shifted.Gods. How did I ever let myself be this blinded by the ones around me?The people I had called my confidants—the ones I had believed would never betray me—had been the very ones who tormented her. And I had let them.I had believed their lies over the truth that was in front of me.I had doubted her every single time.And now, she was caught in some silent battle between life and death while I could do nothing but watch.I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palm.Fuck.I didn't deserve L