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Chapter 21 : The Crown
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2023-02-09 14:03:24Related chapters
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 22 : Eye for an Eye
Ayda's POV It was surprisingly easy slipping out of the castle through the stable hand's entrance in the undercroft. Likely, it was due to the door being ripped right off its hinges. Nicolette and I looked at each other, another sign of sabotage. This one, in particular, made four.There had been evidence of tampering with the lock on the male servants' side (a deadbolt of pure silver was fastening their double doors together, locking the men within their hall), scent dampeners placed in strategic locations, and the deaths of several stable hands.Nicolette had been quiet ever since we'd discovered the bodies. More friends left to the slaughter.The scent led us through the woods and ancient temple where I'd first transformed, over the ravine where I'd nearly fallen, and towards the river that bisected the king's hunting grounds from those of the rest of the village. I almost overlooked the wagon on the road, eyes so focused on a scrap of red or the scent of
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 23 : Rats in the Larder
Sebastian's POV "No, I will not be making—if you would all just—"It was too loud, too much color and sound and light. Like I'd had too much to drink, or not enough of it. Where was Ayda? I could have sworn she was right behind me—where did she go? How could she leave me when I needed her most? My mind was spinning, and all I could see were my father's eyes as he clutched my shirt front, foaming blood. He was so scared at the end. He'd been so scared—"Bastian," Andreas was at my shoulder, crouched low to share my pain and offer his support.I could feel the pressure of his gloved hand on my back, a reassuring anchor as I spun, lost in the void of my own grief. I was the last, the last of my family, the last of the Lykaios. "Bastian, you…you have to let him go. We have to make arrangements. We have to—""I know," my voice was rust, the decay of steady iron against waves of loss. First Mother, then Alex, now Father. Alone, always alone. "Th
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 24 : Revelation
Ayda's POV We couldn't go back to the castle; it was clear Narcissa knew, not just about August and his true parentage but about my feelings for Sebastian as well. She had to have seen the way I held his hand, the way we'd both walked into the throne room together. She knew Sebastian didn't love her, and the feeling was hostilely mutual; I'm sure she expected him to stray just like her previous fiancé had.For now, the castle was off limits, though my heart ached to have Sebastian so far from me, trapped in the belly of the beast. I did not think Narcissa would slay him until after the wedding if being the sole ruler was indeed her game and had been from the start. Pelham had suggested, after we buried his brother and fellow soldiers in shallow graves, that the coup was only just the beginning of Narcissa's plan.If the lad was to be believed, there was an entire cult at work over in the Northern territories that had slowly been gaining support ever since the War
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 25 : Captured
Ayda's POV "Now hear me out, as a friend—as a very concerned and worried friend who has just seen a whole bunch of people get killed in various horrifying ways—maybe it isn't the best idea in the world to go back to the place that has all the people who want to kill you in it. Just a thought."Nicolette had her two index fingers pressed together, the point resting under her thick bottom lip. Pelham eyed us wearily, awkwardly holding the yoke in his hands, shifting his focus from the grazing cattle to our standoff. We were still about half a day's journey to the nearest settlement, but to go any further would risk the cattle to a tragic death by exhaustion.Pelham had felt that we'd covered enough ground that should anyone learn of Nicolette's and my departure from the castle, they'd be pressed to figure out which path we choose. Even if it was common knowledge that we both could shift, we still needed to rest, which meant there would be long stretches of time wher
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 26 : The Luna of Opal Hill
Ayda's POV As a child, I'd always wondered why royal packs and their lands were always named after gemstones or precious metals. My mother, Luna Miray, used to bemoan my endless need to question things. Why was the sky blue? Why were women called Lunas and not Alphas? Why did the guardsmen wear their hair so short to their scalps compared to the hairstyle of the average man?If my father was prone to calling me his Shining Light, then my mother was keen on calling me her Chatterbox.The question still remained unanswered. Perhaps it would always remain so, but now I had a new query posed on my lips. How on earth had the Opal Hill pack, a pack which never sent dignitaries to court nor ever was talked about at large in lycanthrope society, managed to construct a metropolis of this caliber?It wasn't as though Opal Hill was as expansive as other Lycan settlements, such as Eventide City, which was the biggest settlement in Capitoline. Opal Hill was maybe a tenth of the
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 27 : Misunderstandings
Ayda's POV The prison was a lot more wholesome and charming than I'd originally anticipated when the Luna of Opal Hill shackled us for suspicion of espionage from an enemy state a few hours ago.For example, the beds were properly stuffed in goose down as opposed to the straw bedding that I'd grown used to in the servants' quarters while I was in Castle Lykaia. The room itself was a very spacious twenty-five square feet of stone cottage with bay windows that opened out into the courtyard with an en suite open-air bathroom. Granted, the windows seem to be gilded in electricity somehow, as there is a constant hum that lets me know there's a live current running through it. I would hate to be stung by that, but I suppose that's the point. A good deterrent for those that try to escape or alter the windows. There also seemed to be hidden spike traps along the exposed walls of the bathroom.However, the door, equally as guarded as the window and the walls, was perhaps t
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 28 : Moving On
Ayda's POV "Did you not know I had been born an Omega? Surely I figured that bastard would have had my status ringing in his halls for all to hear. Goddess knows he was happy to let me know what a useless excuse of a mate I was to my husband." The Luna of Opal Hill drank her tea with the type of nonchalance one would have if they discussed trivial matters like the weather, not the illegitimacy of their heirs or their lack of fertility."I don't believe Kostas mentioned anything of the sort," I said while Nicolette looked at her like how a tree may grow towards the sun. Life-giving and confirming. "But then again, I was not really on speaking terms with the High Alpha.""I'm surprised; maybe old age has mellowed him out." So I was right then; Luna Kathrine didn't know of Kostas' death. Interesting. "Well, if there weren't jokes at my expense for my lack of fertility, then he always brought up my issues with holding a full shift. A 'poor excuse for a sh
Last Updated : 2023-02-09Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 29 : Secrets and Prophecy
Ayda's POV "How do you know my name?" I walked down into the sunken base where the priestess and the effigies stood, my hand sliding along the staircase's banister for support. I was thankful Nicolette and Kathrine had waited outside to give my audience with the priestess some privacy. Now that I knew she was indeed a genuine article, I didn't want her telling truths to parties I still was unsure of. "My true name?""A silly question for a priestess of the Goddess." The high priestess never turned her head to acknowledge my movement. Her eyes were still on the fire in front of the mirror. Well, the beads that symbolized her eyes were lost as they were in the writhing mass of tissue. "We know many things: what is now, what shall be, what never was.""Then you should know why I'm here."I stopped a couple of yards away from her. The woman made my skin crawl, and after all the deaths back at Obsidian Moon, I wasn't in the mood to try and go aga
Last Updated : 2023-02-09
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Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 50 : To Paint A Portrait of the End
Goddess' POV |Two Weeks Later|"August!"Ayda rose from her bed, chest heaving, cold sweat racing down her body like field horses during harvest season.Another dream, a nightmare of the night of the Blood Moon, when she'd thought all hope was lost. It had been so real this time, but they'd always felt real when she was caught in them. It was only when she looked out her window and saw the castle grounds that she knew she was safe.That they had won.Bested Narcissa, somehow…"Ayda?"Sebastian was on high alert the moment he heard his fiancée scream. He went to her at once, wrapping his arm around her, still difficult with how deep his arm wound had been. His nightmares were quieter but no less real. He worried not about the Fenrirwulf or how close he had come to meeting death, only that he was almost faced with his greatest fear again: losing a loved one."Ayda, it was just a dream," adjusting to life after such trauma took time; he knew t
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 49 : Blood Moon
Ayda's POV "Mom, we just can't let this crazy bitch do what she likes!" Miranda paced the room. Narcissa had locked us in the lower level of the ziggurat while she went to the top t with my son in one hand and a black dagger in the other. "She's going to use what's left of the townsfolk to make a sacrifice to open up the veil enough to see the Gates of Tartarus! She's going to destroy the world, kill all of us, and herself with it. Why are you just sitting there!?""Your mother needs that herb more than life itself," Kathrine flexed her fingers, and more chains snaked around Nicolette and me. I was starting to grow worried. Nicolette hadn't woken up yet, and her wounds were still bleeding. "Would you have me watch another mate die? Do you think I could survive it a second time?""You won't need to survive it if the world ends." I thrashed harder against my bonds, my body shifting to that of a half-wolf. Bolstered by the pull of the full moon, I knew I wouldn't have near
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 48 : Rivals
Ayda's POV "—Better not have died—""—hadn't hit her so—""—my fault—""—what do you thi—""—being—child—"Water, colder than the ice that sometimes capped the mountains to the north of Emerald Lake, splashed me in the face, shocking me to wakefulness."Oh, good," Narcissa purred, sitting on a throne. "The simpleton is awake."We were somewhere in the temple; I could tell from the cold stone and glowing sigils that now seemed to pulse an agitated scarlet. This was different than the room with the effigies of the Goddess. To my left, I saw a flash of flamingo pink ruffles. Callia looked apologetic, holding the bucket she'd upturned on me.I could see her youngest sister Lilia near where the door was. It looked like Dahlia was holding her back, keeping her away from myself and—"Ni-Nicolette!" My throat was a sandpapery hush ripping at my vocal cords. "Ni-Ni-Nicolette!""For the Goddess's sake, WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!?"I quieted
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 47 : Betrayal
Ayda's POV "Was there something the matter?"Nicolette had gone to the kitchens to talk to Liv after Maud's funeral. I'd been there in the beginning, offering what condolences I could until it came time to make a trek to the shrine in the woods where Kostas was having a private ceremony. At least, I had hoped it was private; other than the priestess and Sebastian, no one else had shown up for the old king. Not even his Beta."Not quite…" Nicolette glanced back, looking woefully unsure of herself. "I'm sure it's nothing but travel jitters. Don't pay me any mind…"She wasn't the only one who had strange feelings about our impending journey to Opal Moon. It was almost as if something dreadful was going to happen. Which was why, even though she objected rather loudly, I'd decided to keep Zoe at the castle. Sebastian assured me that he would keep an eye on my little sister, to which she petulantly declared she was not a child.It was hard not to ruffle her hair whe
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 46 : The Help
Liv's POV They laughed too much for me to forgive them truly, all of them blue-bloods mulling about as if nothing has happened when everything has happened.Everything has changed.They scheduled Ma's funeral on the same day as the king's, and somehow that seemed fitting. Fitting that the true queen of Obsidian Moon got her just deserts with the man who had done so much to destroy her. Before Luna Alexandra, before Luna Arianna, before he'd tried his hand at touching my sister—there had been my mother.Oh, the mad codger had claimed he loved her in the beginning when they were both young and dumb, and you could fall for false words if they were sugar-coated enough. With his strawberry blond hair and golden eyes, Kostas looked like that classic fairytale prince. You would have never thought Kostas to be the spitting image of his father Philemon, wife-beater and war bringer.He'd hit Ma so hard he'd knocked out three of her teeth.But times were different,
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 45 : To The Heart
Ayda's POV The morning came, and, to her disappointment, Nicolette wasn't cleared until tomorrow to travel by carriage per the good doctor's orders. Without someone to accompany me who was a little more trustworthy than Zoe (who was far too eager to travel about with a killer still at large), I was stuck until the next cock crow to venture again. Sebastian would have accompanied me to get our son, but he was too busy wrapped up in kingly duties to risk a few days from the castle.So, to not have the entire day wasted, I decided to keep working on my fencing lessons with Sebastian.Though I was much more careful to keep any sexiness out of it after we'd been caught the last time.Nicolette, not wanting to be trapped in her room for longer than was strictly necessary, decided that she'd join us in training. Granted, from the safe confines of the bench, hurling little throwing knives at a bull's eyes–looking miserable.I would have dispatched Zoe upon the poor wo
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 44 : Friendly Competition
Ayda's POV "You are," I said, huffing, the rawhide chest protector chafing my skin horrifically even with the shirt he'd loaned me, "a terrible man. Have I told you that?""You may have," Sebastian passed me his waterskin looking unbothered in his casual clothes, olive skin aglow from the exhilaration. His hair was completely devoid of any product, left wild and free to curl around the masculine richness of his face. His Adam's apple bobbed, not clownishly large, but enough to let me know—with the broadness of his shoulders, the bit of chest hair peeking through his tunic, the svelte thickness of his thighs which led to the tight laces girding his manhood—that he was all male.And, upon girlish realization, entirely mine.Fencing was even harder than I'd imagined; the weight of even the smallest of his swords—a rapier—still commanded more stamina in me than I was used to. I wasn't necessarily weak, but given the lack of proper nutrition—skipping meals to
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 43 : Is the Princess the Murderer?
Ayda's POV The morning after my fight with Sebastian was far more domestic than I thought it would be. We had breakfast in the tea room rather than the dining hall as I'd expected.The informality of the seating arrangement was just what I needed.One thing I liked about my life as a commoner was how everyday practices—like meal times, reading, or even hobbies—were all done in a communal setting. A practice only those who'd endured long generational friendships based on mutual goodwill and training, or for the formality of being related to each other, were allowed the privy of in an aristocrats' home. In a commoner's home, there was no stiffy nature of formality because of decorum; one could relax and truly be as they were amongst the common people! It made all the above practices even more enjoyable in a sense and staved off the inherent loneliness that seemed to plague the castle and manors inhabited by the upper echelons of Lycan society.I suspected S
Alpha's Secret Mate Chapter 42 : The White Queen
Narcissa's POV "Narcissa, please." Callia hung on me like one of those parasitic vines that choked the mighty redwoods near the Ruby Plateau in the Westerlies. "Just stay! You're not well, we don't have to go home. We could stay here, start anew!""GET OFF ME!"I bit her hard enough to break the skin, and the other two pulled her back, fearful of me. Good, they should be. For too long had I endured their endless sniveling, weighing me down with their uselessness. I didn't need ANY of them.I adjusted the hem of my new dress—white like the frozen lands of my home, lace flowers elegantly kissing my frame, and the pureness of the fetching A-line silhouette with matching cape—walked barefoot out of Opal Hill. I didn't require shoes; they would only slow me down; my legs—hidden beneath the long tulle skirt—had reverted to their true shape. Lupine and powerful, the white fur matching my look, a true werewolf queen.Had anyone seen a more beautiful woman?Someho
