Taelin-I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t been able to settle in before I was already called down to get to work. Not that I really minded, considering I needed to get used to being here. Sara was great, but the guys here were already on my last nerve.It wasn’t like I shouldn’t have expected it to happen. Very few males couldn’t care whether I was a female or not. In a way, I had hoped that once I finished my training, people would be more welcoming to me.What makes me being a female any different? I went through the same training everyone else did to get the position I now held. I guess there wasn’t much I could do about it, other than do what I have always done. Prove I belonged.Gathering up the last of my gear, I made sure my thigh halter was properly secure. I might have the benefit of shifting into a wolf, but we were trained to fight in our human form. Since I didn’t know the area, I wasn’t going to shift to defend myself.Taking one last look in the floor-to-ceiling
Taelin-Trying to keep my attention on our surroundings, I found it rather difficult to ignore the feeling that I was being watched. I thought perhaps I was just imagining it. Chancing a look over my shoulder, I found that I wasn’t.Ryker was staring at me. He didn’t even turn away when I caught him. It was as if he was entirely okay with the fact. I wasn’t sure what bothered me more. The fact he was staring at me with an expressionless face, or that I liked him looking at me.His face might appear to be emotionless, but there was something in the way he was looking at me. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it made me feel good. Like tiny little ladybugs fluttering around over my skin.I was about to avert my gaze and return to keeping an eye on things when I noticed something from the corner of my eye. It was to the left of the truck, the side Ryker was on. Focusing my eyes in that direction, I thought maybe I had just imagined it.Until I realized I saw a rogue running towards the
Ryker-How stupid could I be? When I told her that my main priority is keeping my members safe, I hadn’t expected her to risk her life as she had. What is worse, I called her an idiot when she did.I told Julian to stop, but he just reminded me that under no circumstances are we to put ourselves in danger if it can be helped. I had hoped that Taelin would be on the road waiting for us on our return, but she wasn’t. We even looked around the area but didn’t find any of the rogues or Taelin.I couldn’t believe she had gone and got herself killed not even a few hours after arriving. We picked up the supplies and made our way back without any issues. I couldn’t get Taelin out of my head though.“Ryker, you need to let it go. There is nothing that can be done now. She was hot, but obviously not cut out for this job. It is time we contacted the Alpha King and explained what is going on.” My Beta said, pulling me from my thoughts.“It can wait until tomorrow. Right now, we need to get everyt
Taelin-During the span of three days, I barely ventured outside of my quarters. It wasn’t because I felt infected, but I hadn’t wanted to go out. Food was brought to me three times a day and I was under surveillance by Alpha Ryker.Instead of wasting my time away, I focused on learning everything I could about the people here and whatever else the folders I had contained about this place. There were only a few members that had any details about them.First, there was Julian Drake, the beta of the pack. He also had a twin brother named Ryan. They were both strong and very skilled snipers. Of course, I would need to see that for myself, since I was also rather skilled, not to brag or anything.Then there was Sara Andrew, who was the sister of Leon. I haven’t met Leon yet, but from the folder I had on him, he was the main one that oversaw the lab that was downstairs. I had heard from Ryker that he had a man that was locked downstairs with the rogue I brought in.I immediately disagreed
Ryker-Whatever possessed me to do what I was doing, was beyond me. There was no way I could stop myself now. Just having Taelin under me was the most exhilarating thing I have experienced in years.Even though I knew this couldn’t turn into more, I would deal with the consciousness of it later. For now, I had to have her, even if it was just one time. When I kissed her though, I didn’t think I could be satisfied with just a one-time thing.There was this urge inside me that was strong and the need to have her grew with each second. As I continued to rub her now wet clit, I was overcome with the desire to take her. The taste of her lips was also sending me into a spiral of pleasure.The way she responded to me was intoxicating. Not only did she taste like sweet cream and berries, but her arousal also smelled of it. In all of my life, I have never smelled or tasted something so delectable.It turned me on in ways I didn’t think were possible. As my lips mingled with hers, and my tongue
Taelin-As much as I wanted to chase after him to demand answers, I knew it was for the best. Things were far too complicated. It wasn’t like I had any expectations between us. As far as I was concerned, even if it were just one time, I would cherish that memory.What concerned me is when he mentioned a curse. From what I have heard is that witches had been wiped out by the rogues. There is also speculation that they are the ones that created them and just went into hiding.I guess that could be it, but if that had been the case, we would have noticed traces of magic. We might not be able to use magic, but as werewolves, we were, in a sense, magical creatures. For as far back as I could recall, witches and werewolves were natural-born enemies, along with vampires.If there was some sort of curse on Ryker, it would make sense. Except, if he were cursed for being a werewolf, wouldn’t the rest of us be as well? The biggest question was, what kind of curse was it?I now had an objective o
Taelin-“I can see something is bugging you, so I am offering to listen. If there is any way to get through all of this, we need to be able to have some we can confide in. You are in a new place, with new people, but if something is bothering you, talk to me.” Ryker said.With the way he spoke, I wondered if he did care about me or something. If there was anything I knew without a doubt about the man standing next to me, was that he confused me to no end. One minute he tells me that his priority to his pack only, the next he is making me feel things I never thought possible, and now he was concerned about what was bothering me.Sighing, I decided to tell him what happened when I returned home. In order to tell him that though, he needed to understand who Theo was. I just hope it didn’t upset him to know I had considered choosing him as my mate.I also included how I received my ring, which I then explained I wore it now as a promise to do everything in my power to help him. Lastly, I
Taelin-I was sure I didn’t sleep for more than a few hours, but I felt fully rested. After getting a shower and a fresh change of clothes on, I made my way down the stairs. Since I knew Sara was working the monitors, I went to see if she wouldn’t mind if I joined her.“Well good morning sunshine. I hope you got some rest.” She said, sounding like the chipper Sara I first met, instead of the timid girl that came to my room a few hours ago.I had barely entered the room before she greeted me. Her observations of her surroundings were at least good. Considering she didn’t even turn around when she spoke.Sitting in the rolling chair that was next to her, I smiled at her. I didn’t know what it was about her exactly, yet I truly felt like we were friends. It didn’t make me feel so awkward.“I did. If I am interrupting you, I can leave if you want. I was hoping to get a little insight on how things worked though. Since my job is to help safeguard everyone here, I thought this would be the
Taelin-“If we would have known you were going to take this long to join us, we would have just started the party without you.” Theo teased us when we entered the large dining hall, where we were having the party.“Can’t have a birthday party without the birthday boy.” I stuck my tongue out at him as I led R.J into the room.He has been walking on his own for nearly a year now, but I still held his hand because he had a tendency to run off on his own also. Between everyone that lived here and the staff, he could be a handful at times. I blamed his father though because there was no way I had been this wild as a child.My mother disagrees with me, but I will deny it. Laughing to myself, I didn’t get extremely far before my mother pushed through the others to make her way toward R.J. Speak of the devil and she shall arrive.That is the way it has been here lately. Any time I so much as think of my mother, she shows up out of nowhere. I was beginning to think that she had radar detection
Taelin-“What are you thinking about?” Ryker whispered in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me from behind, while I looked over the balcony from our room.From this view, I could look over the town where the Palace resided. There wasn’t much, other than a few houses where the staff of the palace lived. Everyone that lived inside the Palace were warriors and those training to become warriors.I never thought much about the life that everyone that lived here had until I came here, not as a sixteen-year-old girl training to join the Royal Guard, but as the current Alpha King. It was still weird that I was referred to as an Alpha King. I was the first female to take on the role as Alpha, but I felt like the title should remain as it has always been.Placing my hands on his arms, which were embracing my shoulders, I leaned against his broad chest. “I was just thinking back to when I first came here. I still can’t believe that it has been more than five years since I showed up here with
Taelin-When the start of the battle commenced again, I took a deep breath. I might have lied about my lung, but I wasn’t entirely sure. All I knew was I was still capable of fighting, even if I felt like all the air inside of me was being sucked out and my lungs felt like they were on fire.What I told Ryker was true, however, I wasn’t going to last another ten minutes. I either needed to end this now or let him take me out. I had been playing it safe as much as possible. His movements were fast and just one hit from him was enough to knock me on my ass.Running around and dodging him wasn’t doing me any good because every breath I took was painful. The more I tried to get away from him, the more likely I would get injured. Regardless of if I was working with less lung capacity or if I was just winded, I knew it would be a matter of time before I passed out from the exertion.I had felt that the Beta had tried to speak to me telepathically, but I still had my mind blocked from anyone
Ryker-I had been watching the timer and neither had moved for seven minutes. Taelin looked regal in her stance, like she was completely in her element. The Beta had seemed unwavering, until just moments before he made the first move.At first, I thought something was wrong because they both stood out on the field without moving for a long time. The second the Beta made the first move, I held my breath and waited to see what would happen. It wasn’t that I didn’t support my mate in this, but the fear was still there.“About time.” I heard someone say sarcastically from behind me.Without looking, I felt Ryan turn around, more than likely to make a comment to whoever spoke. Reaching my hand out, I placed it on his arm firmly. This was Taelin’s fight and there was no point in anyone trying to talk others out of what they were feeling.“Don’t. Words won’t do any good. Let Taelin show everyone what she is capable of.” I spoke, without taking my eyes off my mate.Ryan sighed and faced forwa
Taelin-I thought I was ready for this, but now that I was standing in the middle of the arena, surrounded by onlookers, I suddenly became nervous. The Beta of all the werewolves still wasn’t here, but I had arrived a little early. After watching the last video of the Beta’s fighting skills, I quickly got ready.I figured if I arrived before anyone else, I would have a chance to get a little time to meditate. Upon arriving though, I saw many others had already arrived. The crowd was a lot larger than I expected it to be.Frank informed me that many people that had been relocated here from safe houses wanted to see if I was capable of becoming the next Alpha. Ryker was standing next to me, wanting to show his support as we waited. The whispers of the crowd were loud, making me wonder if it was done on purpose.“There is no way she can defeat our Beta. She is just a girl. Look at her, she is tiny.” A male voice from the crowd said, his voice a little over a whisper.“She is cute though.
Ryker-Taelin seemed prepared to fight with the Beta, but I wasn’t ready for it one bit. I don’t know what she was thinking by agreeing to let him shift. It wasn’t a sure thing if she could shift or not, but there hasn’t been a she-wolf that could, while pregnant.Wanting to give Taelin a bit of space to get her mind right, I have kept myself busy helping Leo. Today was the day Taelin would be facing the Beta in the arena, but there were still hours before it was scheduled. For the past three days, I have helped him fast-track distribution.We were almost done, but we needed a little more of Taelin’s blood. Since she was getting ready to fight, I wouldn’t allow Leo to take anymore until after. I am sure that if she knew we needed it, she wouldn’t hesitate, which is why I told him to stay away from her.The last thing I wanted was for her to ask how things were going and for him to end up telling her. She was more worried about others than she was about her own self, which was both ann
Taelin-In the last few days, we have only had a few run-ins with rogues. There hadn’t been many, so we were able to cure them and relocate them to the nearest safe house. I also felt much better, and my mind was more clear than it had been.It helped that I managed to do a little meditation. Which, I have also learned that I would more than likely need to continue a daily meditation when able. It not only allowed me to focus and ground myself to what I needed, but I was able to learn to control the intensity of feeling everything I did.It wasn’t perfect and sometimes it could be a little overwhelming, but I managed to get it under control. It helped that Ryker stayed near me. It was like he could sense when I was uneasy. His touch helped calm my mind as well, although I was fairly sure it was because of the mate bond.I also had plenty of time to think and get a grip on things. A few days of mostly silence and more than enough time to think did help a lot. I started to come under th
Taelin-“How are you feeling?” Ryker asked after I finally moved into the seat next to him.I would have stayed on his lap for the entire journey, but I had become slightly uncomfortable from being cramped in a vehicle for so long. It was now nighttime, but we chose to continue driving. The further we got, the faster we could arrive at the palace.“Other than needing a shower and a little sleep, I feel good.” As I spoke, I leaned against him, using his shoulder as a pillow.“Is there a safe place we can pull over for the night?” Ryker asked Frank, who was now driving.“There is no need. Really, I am fine. I can sleep here.” I attempted to argue, knowing that the more we stayed on the road, the faster we would arrive at our destination.“There is a safe house not far from here.” Frank answered, completely ignoring me.Sitting up, I tried to wipe the sleepiness out of my eyes. It was more than likely from the stress of the day and now that I could feel every werewolf. It wasn’t too bad,
Taelin-Time had slowed down for a moment, but when it sped back up, everything happened so quickly. One moment I was standing, looking at Ryker, the next I was being blown back, with a heavy object landing on me. Dazed by the blast, it took me a moment to realize that I was still alive.My ears were ringing, and I could feel something wet coming from my ears. Every part of my body ached, and it was difficult to breathe. There was a body lying on top of me and I didn’t have the strength to push it from me.Instead of trying, I simply lay there believing I was dying. I realized the moment it happened that I was going to die, I just wished it would have been instant. Tears blurred my vision at the thought of leaving Ryker behind and not getting the chance to hold the baby I carried.I should have been more careful and not so thoughtless. Because of my actions, I would hurt Ryker in the worst possible way, not to mention that the cure would die with me. Hopefully, Leo gathered enough of