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My cellphone chimed again but I didn’t look at it. I was sure it was a text from Apollo and I was damn sure that it was dirty. How could I read that in front of Nicole? And just as I thought it would be, two more texts came after which my phone started ringing. “Who is that?” Nicole asked me as she winked and removed her arms around my waist. “Must be aunt Paula,” I lied. “She is very worried about me.” “Then pick up her phone!” Nicole said. “Aren't you being rude?” She jabbed a finger in my chest and then left. I pursed my lips tight. And I didn’t pick up the phone. I needed space. Space rocket. I wanted to sit in it and go to Mars or maybe Saturn or perhaps a different galaxy. Determined not to read his texts or pick up his phone, I sat down at the table and started reading the menu. Gabe’s bakery was a cute little place. There were several tables on the inside and a few under the alfresco on the outside. Harry Styles, Falling, played in the background. I chose to sit by the tin
I ignored Apollo’s calls and texts for the next two days. The wedding was round the corner and the last thing I wanted was to get distracted. It was different that I was at the edge. There was not a single free moment when I didn’t think of him and that awareness sliced my guts. His thoughts elicited tingles in my lower belly. Nicole had bought an iced cantaloupe bridesmaid dress for me but it was pretty huge. We had to give it back for alterations. Since the wedding was at the packhouse which John had insisted upon as a venue, Gabe, Nicole and I were rushing around everywhere to fix things. Gabe had arranged for decorations, food and drinks beforehand, yet it was important that we oversaw all the preparations. Nicole had asked her father to keep the guest list to a minimum, but John said, “It’s not every day that your daughter gets married!” He had to show it off to the entire pack. Still, Nicole managed to slash half the invites. In the morning of wedding, Nicole was dressing up.
Releasing a ragged breath, I walked back to the wedding venue. I couldn’t make the head or tail of what Artemis just said, but it left me wondering why he would say that about his brother. The thought stirred something inside me and I staggered a little. it was as if that thing touched the surface of my body. I pressed my hand against my chest as beads of sweat broke on my brows. I felt a strange tug inside, as if something or someone awakened from deep sleep. The feeling lasted for only a minute. Sucking in a sharp breath, I tried to gather my wits. When I entered the main hall, I saw John giving a speech of fatherly love and Gabe was busy kissing his bride behind his back. Gabe just couldn’t keep his hands off her. He had lifted her off her feet and carried her to the center where people had already started cheering them for a dance. There was complete mayhem and John had to cut short his speech after muttering threats that he would see them all while training. He had prepared it m
Apollo POV After Kevin’s complaint, my father had sent me to the project site. I protested, but my father used his compulsion for me to visit. I must have cursed Kevin a hundred times a day but that wasn’t enough. I wanted to draw blood. I parked my jeep in front of the temporary cabin at the site that was built for the construction workers, and jumped out of it grabbing a satchel. Kevin had come back the same night after the scuffle and I didn’t want to see his face because I knew that the moment I saw him, I might end up murdering him. I raised my eyebrow as I entered the empty hall and then exited out into the backyard only to be greeted by howling winds. The cabin was built overlooking the river and I saw evidence of construction work going on over the river. Oddly, not a single wolf was there. I narrowed my eyes upon the vacant site as unease settled. The slope of the river was thick with brambles and bushes. Mist rolled over them as if trying to protect it from invasion. I
“Are you sure you don’t feel anything for me?” I asked Natasha in a low voice, when I left ravaging her mouth as I carried her in my arms to my jeep. I could feel her sucking air sharply and hiding her face in the crook of my neck. I placed my hand behind her head and gripped her waist with one. Perhaps she became aware that everyone was watching us. She remained quiet and closed her eyes. I leaned over her ear and said, “My place or yours?”I knew that every damn person in the packhouse would talk about us or must be talking about us and by tomorrow this thing would become the talk of the town. It would soon reach Rita and her parents and then to my parents. But who cared? The last week had established that I couldn’t stay away from my mate. Every day I didn’t see her, every day I didn’t feel her breath on me and every day without touching her, gnawed at my soul. I held her possessively, feeling her heartbeat against mine. That rhythm soothed me. Confidently, I walked out with her t
Natasha POV There were no panties and my dress was ripped apart. I was naked for Apollo to do whatever he wanted to. I had never been this exposed to anyone in my life. He lifted his head and looked at my flushed body. I was already breathless under his ministrations and his dark gaze that ran over my body should have embarrassed me. All it did was to burn me. And why did I feel that he yearned for me? Or was I season’s flavor? “You are perfect!” he murmured through his glistening lips. He licked them and dipped his head to my navel. My fingers slid through his hair as I closed my eyes. Every sensation zeroed in to where his tongue was. I squirmed needily beneath him. Slowly, oh, so slowly, he went further down. And then he bit me right above my sex. The bite induced pleasure that spread through my belly and hips and thighs. Instead of going to where I ached for touch, he came up again to my breasts and latched on to my nipple all over again. He took his finger down to my core and
There was so much blood that it reached my little feet. “Ghost?” I whispered to the boy who was on the floor, who looked at me. His face blurred in and out of my vision. Moreover, there were so many cuts on his face that it was difficult to make his features. One eye was black and swollen. His hands were tied behind him, his shirt was soaked in so much blood that if I hadn’t seen that streak of white, I would have thought it was red in color. There was a suffocating stench of piss and blood in the room. I puked all over. The boy kept staring at me with amused dark eyes. When I looked at him with tears in my eyes, he whispered, “Go away…” He was so white and thin. How could I leave him? So, I padded to him, trying to avoid dried and moist rivulets of blood on the floor. As I neared him, I saw how horribly beaten he was. “Ghost?” I called his name, as I started sobbing. “I will free you.” I stepped over him to untie his hands, but the ropes were so tight that they dug in his flesh an
Apollo POVI woke up hearing a commotion. I must have slept like a log because I didn’t remember a single nightmare haunting me in the night. When I somehow peeled open my eyes, I found Natasha mumbling something while trying to look for clothes. It was a beautiful sight. I was lying on my stomach with my arms crossed beneath my head as I watched her. It was a sight I could get used to, or was I looking forward to it every day? She had a perfect body. Generous, plump, mouthwatering breasts. Small waist flaring into enticing hips, and skin as smooth as silk. At this point of time, I fully believed that all good things were coming my way and that they were highly overdue. I watched her fussing, trying to put her messy hair in a bun but failing. I loved her tousled, sexed up, messed up hair. My gaze went to her breasts that were bouncing as she jumped around with a creased brow. I was totally entranced, when all of a sudden, I saw her picking up something white and wearing it. I jerke
It had been a month since Apollo had become the Alpha of the pack. He was extremely busy with the pack activities. Taking over was a massive task. With Artemis as his Beta, they had so many things to look into that a day seemed to stretch for twenty-eight hours. And in that time, I saw Apollo only during nights when he would come back home, exhausted and grumpy. He would not let me and Lucas go out of sight until he slept. I could understand the pressure he was having. The positions of The Head Tracker, Head Enforcer of arms were still vacant and he had to fill them soon. Kirill had informed me that Ivan died that night when the attack took place. It was said that he was in his room while the whole carnage took place on the outside, watching his mate, Dahlia. When they forced open his room, he shot himself in the head, his last words being, “I love you, Dahlia.” I mourned my father’s death even though he had been a monster to me. As the days passed, I realized that he was missing m
When we reached the Black Moon pack, it was past midnight. Luna Mira had come to the airport. I could sense that she wasn’t alone. The whole pack was with her. I could hear wolves howling in the background. The news that Alpha Jacob had died came faster than us. I clutched Lucas in my arms as Apollo curled his arm around my shoulders and took us out. I came to stand in front of Luna Mira and even though I had coined the words of apology a hundred times in the airplane, I simply couldn’t utter a word in front of her. My throat was choked with emotions, as guilt weighed me down. Because of me, she had lost a lot. She was on the verge of losing her son, but Alpha Jacob went and got him back. And now Alpha Jacob went to recover me. His sacrifice was greatest. He was an alpha wolf who protected his family till he breathed his last. I guess the day I came into the Vries family, the day I was wedded to Apollo, he had accepted me as a part of the Black Moon pack in his own way. Luna Mira s
“Olga?” My whole body jolted in shock and I sat upright. “What the hell? Are you sure? How can that be? God, I had so many questions!” “Shocking,” he replied and to my frustration, Apollo just smiled. He crossed his arms beneath his head and settled on the pillow cozily. “You always have questions.” Shooting him a glare he was used to, I said, “How did Kirill take it?” “Obviously, he took it badly. But I was ready. Nash gave me video evidence of how Olga came to him to give Ivan’s names to the authorities. At that time, he was already with my father and going against Ivan. Olga became furious but she never asked Nash to not go against Ivan. In fact, she gave him some of his secrets and what would be the best way to take him down.” If the revelation that Olga betrayed my father had shocked me, all this information punched the air out of me. “Olga was always my nanny. She loved my parents and she was very protective about me. I never saw her leaving me, except when she went for he
I saw two wolves—a giant black one and a massive gray one, heading in our direction. They were both heading in our direction with ferocious snarls. Snow had started drifting around us and I knew that we had to find a cover before the cold affected my son. Kirill yanked me in the shadows of the naked pines as those wolves slowly came towards us, snarling menacingly. They stopped about thirty feet away and I picked up the familiar scent. “Apollo? Artemis?” “That’s them! Come on.” Stunned, I couldn’t even breathe as Kirill tried to drag me to them. As soon as Apollo saw us, he dashed through the snow to us, yapping and nipping and swishing his tail. I sank on my knees, not able to bear the shock of seeing my mate after such a long time. Apollo licked me and then his son who giggled. My eyes flooded with tears and my mouth was like a cotton ball on a cactus. I had been riddled with so many dreams of this meeting that it looked surreal to me. I threaded my fingers in his fur and brou
Natasha POV A rough calloused hand over my mouth woke me up in the middle of the night. Panicked, a scream surged through me which was smothered into the palm. A face leaned over me with wide eyes. He placed his finger over his lips. “Shhh!” Throat dry as a desert, I blinked my gummy eyes to see who was it through the darkness. Kirill was hovering over me. “If you promise to stay quiet, I will pull my hand away.” I nodded as I stared into his hazel eyes. “Kirill?” I gulped my panic down with some saliva to wet my dry throat. “What is going on? What are you doing here?” “We are under attack from rival rogues.” There was commotion on the outside. Red and blue lights flashed through the gaps of the curtains. My heart leapt out as I jerked to a sitting position. I whipped my head to Lucas who was still sleeping soundly in his cradle. Kirill raked his fingers through his hair looking perturbed. “We thought it was a plain police attack, but these are hardcore rogues. They are t
Apollo POVTwo months. It had been two months since Natasha had left with Lucas. I had become like a shell. I had stopped eating and looked so gaunt that my mother winced when she glanced at me. I knew that she would cry in silence seeing my condition. No mate should be treated like this. We had had numerous arguments over how much she had warned me against Natasha and that I should have rejected her. Every fucking time I would stomp out of the house and find myself in the bar where I had met Natasha for the first time. I would drink until I could no longer think and then had to be brought home. Each time it would be Artemis who would bring me home. He would mumble curses under his breath and I would chuckle and tell him never to leave his mate. I had stopped going to the office, stopped meeting people and had withdrawn into a cocoon. My father had not moved an inch when Natasha called for help because he had to protect his people. And Natasha? My little mate? She sacrificed herself
October November December was the most cruel in Russia. Ever since father had brought us back to Vyaska, our hometown in the north of Russia, he had been extra vigilant. All his energy was usually spent in taking measures that I was highly protected. He had started giving orders from home and barely stepped out even for grand political functions that he was invited to in the human world. My cell phone was snatched and smashed. The two months without Apollo seemed like eternity. I wondered if he was finding me. I didn’t feel like eating, having lost all my appetite. The only thing that kept me going was Lucas. I ate because I had to feed Lucas. I breathed because I didn’t want to leave Lucas in the hands of Olga. I stayed alert because I wanted to escape. I needed only one chance and I would leave, even if that meant running across the wilderness of snow-clad Russia. Ember wanted an out and she was aching to come out after my first shift. She was getting antsy inside me. Once I h
“Natasha!” I heard my father’s astonishment in his voice. “You have shifted!” When I looked down at myself, all I saw was brown fur that covered my hands. My gums were aching for they had protruded painfully long. And I heard a dangerous snarl, which belonged to me. For the first time I had shifted into my wolf and I couldn’t believe that she chose to come out now. ‘I am Ember,’ she growled. I was so much in awe of her that I let her take full control. The transformation was liberating and it felt so good. So, this was how every werewolf felt when their wolf came out. Now that I had my wolf, I understood the hollow, the void I suffered for so long. My wolf completed me. And right now, she was snarling because people had attacked our mate. ‘I will kill all of them,’ Ember hissed. I padded with my chin dipped and a low snarl. The four men in the room stopped beating Apollo. He was almost unconscious. “Natasha, you have to stop!” Ivan’s voice fell on my ears. “This is not what you w
I took a shaky breath in when my father repeated, “I had lost all hope to see my heir ever again, but now my hopes are renewed.” “Father…” I said, my voice breathy. “I am married… and I belong to Apollo and his pack.” I gazed in his eyes to see some kind of reaction, but all I saw was coldness on his face. I pursed my lips and looked away. I had to make him understand that I could never come back to him. He sipped his vodka as tense silence settled between us. When he didn’t speak, I continued, “I can't come back with you to Russia. This is the place I belong to.” From the corner of my eyes, I saw a dark figure moving behind the glass very quickly, as if hiding for being caught. I drifted my gaze back to my father avoiding it. My father swirled vodka in his tumbler as he became silent as if contemplating his next move. At this point of time, I realized that I had to be very careful. There was a darkness that spilled out of him and darkened his expression. He leaned back on the sofa