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.
ALPHA PARTHE.I looked down at the blood splattered across the floor. My blood. Its dark red pools glistened in the dim candlelight, snaking along the intricate lines of the symbols etched into the stone beneath my feet.The ritual was at its final stage, and there was no turning back. Not that I'd want to turn back at any point. If this was what it would take to save her, then I was willing to do it without a second thought.The ancient words rolled off my tongue, as I could feel my powers which have been dormant for years stirring beneath the surface.I had almost forgotten what this felt like—this raw, untamed energy. It coiled through my veins like molten iron, heating every fiber of my being.“Are you ready?” Lorita asked but I didn't answer. The look in my eyes said it all.I dipped my fingers into the pool of blood before me, set for the final step of the ritual.With a deep breath, I smeared the blood over the jagged scar across my chest. The scar from the day I had locked my
ALPHA PARTHE."Fuck! Lorita! What's happening?" My voice trembled. Sweat covered my bare body. I was wearing nothing but a doublet as I held onto Luxuria's almost iced-cold hands.I had her. I felt her. Although from a distance but at least she was there.She was scared. I felt her fear so much that I felt desperate and helpless at the same time. I was consumed by the need to pull her out of that maze at once.But what's happening? Why am I loosing her?"You need to stay calm and focus, Alpha. You are too desperate and it's ruining everything," I heard Lorita's voice from a distance in the background. My eyes were tightly shut as I was standing at the very edge of whatever world Luxuria was trapped in. That was the farthest I could go.I took in deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I couldn't let my desperation ruin this.“Luxuria…” I called out again, forcing my voice to steady, but the tremble was still there. I couldn’t help it. Fuck, I couldn’t lose her.I heard her shaky voi
LUXURIA."What? I... I don't..." The words stuck to my throat."You were never my child. You were the curse who made me lose my mate! A woman I had grown to love and cherish!" His eyes shot daggers at me as his jaws clenched.I was scared. He looked like he was going to murder me with his bare hands."Father... What are you saying?" I asked in a breathy whisper."Don't you dare call me father. I am no father of yours!" He thundered, rising to his feet, "You are a product of your mother's infidelity." He narrowed his gaze on me."But you... You said..." I sniffed, my whole body trembling, "You said my mother was one of your mistresses. She wasn't... She wasn't your mate."I didn't want to believe that the very little I thought I knew about my mother were all lies. My poor heart was aching terribly."That was a lie I had to tell everyone, just to cover up my shame," He took his seat, seeming calm now, as he rested his elbows on the table before him, facing me, "Your mother never listene
LUXURIA."Alpha?" I called when he kissed me to wake up. I didn't realize I had slept so late into the night."Call me Parthe," He said in response, stroking my hair and my cheeks heated up."Okay... Parthe..." I replied and he seems pleased."Did you sleep well?" He asked."Yes... Sorry for disrupting your day. I didn't..." I was saying but he kissed my lips, stopping me mid-sentence."It was worth every second." He stroke my cheek tenderly, "You want to say something?"I hesitated, not knowing if he'd be pleased with what I was about to say."I've told you, Luxuria, you don't have to be scared of me anymore. Feel free around me. You can do or say whatever you want to me, and it'll be fine. I promise." He reassured and I lifted my head from his chest where I lay, looking into his black eyes, and I saw assurance and sincerity in them.I smiled, "Okay," I said, resting my head back on his chest, "I wouid like to go to my father's pack..." I began, expecting a reaction but got none. But
LUXURIA.I stepped out of the bathroom, feeling fresh and energized. It's been a long night, and the most part of today had been far spent, too.Parthe almost didn't want to leave my side all day. We had made love all through the night until this morning, even before he stepped out.It felt... Perfect... I found myself falling for him even more. I liked this side of him when he wasn't being cruel or brutal or cold and all that.For the first time since I met him, I truly felt a connection between us. A connection that went deeper than sex and the mate bond. This connection was more intimate and exciting.The only worry I had now was the fact that he had marked me. I had stopped him too many times without a proper reason. I guess he was tired of waiting. I was his mate, after all. But Amelia's words kept haunting me. What if I was truly from the lineage of Calandus?Although the possibility of it seemed very slim, but what if...?Right now, all I could do was to hope not."What's my li
ALPHA PARTHE.Nothing ever prepared me for the surprise that awaited me. I didn't know what came over her but I was thankful it did.She seemed different.She teased me in ways my body couldn't bear. It took all the self-control in me not to snap that flimsy silk off my wrists, pin her to the bed and fuck her until she could no longer breathe."I am ready to love you, Parthe."Those words were all it took to snap the tiny thread holding my restraints. I'd waited so long to hear her say those words. I thought she'd never say them. I thought she'd never be able to love me ever again.But I was wrong."Unbind me, Luxuria!" I said, baring my teeth. I wanted to show her exactly what those words meant to me."Parthe..." She called nervously at my command and for a moment, the bravery she had put up slowly faded away."Scared?" I asked, arching a brow, "would you rather I break free myself?" Even I couldn't recognize my voice. Fuck, I was lost in her spell.I felt the nervous thrill that ran
LUXURIA.I waited nervously for his return. My heart drummed in my chest but I occasionally took in deep breaths to calm it down.I wanted to thank him for saving my life. I just didn't know how.The door finally swung open and he walked in, tired and sweaty."Luxuria?" He called when he saw me still awake, "Why are you still up?"I ignored his question, rising to meet him, "Welcome back. How was the meeting?" I asked, helping him undress.I had already prepared a very hot bath for him. As if I knew he'd return stressed, I had added some relaxing herbs and oils into the hot water."It went well. You still haven't..." He was about saying when I interrupted him."I prepared a hot bath for you. Come here," I said, pulling him into the bathroom.I didn't miss the surprise in his eyes. He looked at me as if I had been possessed by someone else.I guided him into the bath tub filled with hot water.He sat, letting out a long, relieving breath."Relieving, right?" I asked, managing a smile.
LUXURIA.It was hard to believe that Zendaya was the one who almost had me killed. She was the first friend I made when I arrived here. And despite everything, I wouldn't deny the fact that her death touched me.I wonder how her mother would feel. Nevada loved her so much.As the days passed, I felt stronger. The effect of the trauma I was exposed to in my unconscious state was beginning to wear off.It had been three days since I woke up, and Alpha Parthe had hardly left my side since. I wouldn’t deny the warmth his presence brought, though I didn’t fully understand why it comforted me so much. Perhaps I was beginning to get used to being around him."I can't believe you are back to us, Luxuria," Dashi said for the hundredth time in three days. She has been so overwhelmed with joy.“How many times do I have to hear that?” I teased, rolling my eyes, though a small smile tugged at my lips.“Until the day after forever!” She sat beside me, her laughter filling the room. Then her express
LUXURIA.It was all too sudden. I fell hard, right back into the darkness I was afraid of. It felt like a force had ripped me off the light and pushed me back into the darkness.I was terrified. My eyes were slowly shutting, tempting me to give in to the sweet sleep that threatened to claim me. I'd never felt so sleepy all my life, and this time, it was too difficult to resist. I was so tired. So unbearably tired. Maybe this was it—maybe surrendering to the darkness would be my salvation. What was the point in fighting it any longer?I allowed my heavy eyes to succumb to the pull, but suddenly, I heard it again.His voice."Luxuria..."My eyes slowly open. And this time, his voice held more power and desperation than the first time."Find me," his voice urged, "Come back to me, Luxuria. I know I don't deserve you. I've pushed you away… I've hurt you. But I need you to listen now. You're stronger than this darkness. Stronger than anything that's tried to take you from me."I wanted to
ALPHA PARTHE."Fuck! Lorita! What's happening?" My voice trembled. Sweat covered my bare body. I was wearing nothing but a doublet as I held onto Luxuria's almost iced-cold hands.I had her. I felt her. Although from a distance but at least she was there.She was scared. I felt her fear so much that I felt desperate and helpless at the same time. I was consumed by the need to pull her out of that maze at once.But what's happening? Why am I loosing her?"You need to stay calm and focus, Alpha. You are too desperate and it's ruining everything," I heard Lorita's voice from a distance in the background. My eyes were tightly shut as I was standing at the very edge of whatever world Luxuria was trapped in. That was the farthest I could go.I took in deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. I couldn't let my desperation ruin this.“Luxuria…” I called out again, forcing my voice to steady, but the tremble was still there. I couldn’t help it. Fuck, I couldn’t lose her.I heard her shaky voi
ALPHA PARTHE.I looked down at the blood splattered across the floor. My blood. Its dark red pools glistened in the dim candlelight, snaking along the intricate lines of the symbols etched into the stone beneath my feet.The ritual was at its final stage, and there was no turning back. Not that I'd want to turn back at any point. If this was what it would take to save her, then I was willing to do it without a second thought.The ancient words rolled off my tongue, as I could feel my powers which have been dormant for years stirring beneath the surface.I had almost forgotten what this felt like—this raw, untamed energy. It coiled through my veins like molten iron, heating every fiber of my being.“Are you ready?” Lorita asked but I didn't answer. The look in my eyes said it all.I dipped my fingers into the pool of blood before me, set for the final step of the ritual.With a deep breath, I smeared the blood over the jagged scar across my chest. The scar from the day I had locked my