CLAYTON'S POVWhat he’d said shut down any space to argue with him, as uncomfortable as it left everyone else. I noticed the look on my father’s face, and I realized something I hadn’t spotted before in that moment.Azalea and I had swapped fathers.It was obvious that she and my father had already established a closer relationship than I have with him, just as I have established a closer relationship with her father than she has with him.I know the two of them are a lot closer than they were when they were first reunited, but before the talk they had back at the Draxlar castle, she’d admitted to me that things between them weren’t smooth sailing just yet.Whereas King Aragon knows everything about me, and has adopted me fully as a son.I’d just met my father, so I knew that relationship would take time to grow, but I couldn’t help but compare the two relationships. It didn’t take me long to bond with King Aragon, and I wondered if it had to do with the transfer of power.Either way,
AZALEA’S POVI was back in the fog, and this time it felt like I couldn’t breathe. I could hear it laughing, taunting me. It was telling me to go in many directions, and try as I may, I couldn’t scream out, much to its delight.“Breathe baby. Close your eyes and just breathe.”The voice was soothing, and I followed its instructions. Suddenly, everything went quiet and when I opened my eyes, I saw her. She looked just like I’d seen her in the pictures, but there was also something missing.However, the love she has for me was clear as day.“Mom,” the word left me unexpectedly.She laughed a little, reaching out to cup my cheek. “Oh, my baby, look how much you’ve grown.”“Is this real or am I dreaming?” I asked.“Both. It’s very real that I’m using some magic to get through to you, but I’m also doing so in a dream. I also happen to be dreaming right now. It would appear that our enemy didn’t cover all bases,” she replied.That confused me. “What do you mean?”“Let’s take a walk,” she su
AZAELA’S POVApparently, my father had driven to our family home, which is where Clayton was taking me. It was dark out, and Clayton wanted to go later in the morning, but I insisted. I hadn’t exactly shared with him what had happened in my dream.My hand rested on my belly as I thought back to the dream. I’d barely taken in it, but I knew that I had to talk to my father. Thinking about the pain on my mother’s face when she told me she missed him made me realize that he was hiding a lot of the pain he was actually feeling.We finally arrived and as soon as the car was parked, I stepped out on my own, very much aware of how upset Clayton would be by that. Instead of scolding me though, he was at my side as soon as I reached the door.My father was in his operations room as I suspected he would be. Clayton told me that while they agreed to call it a night and meet again later today, my father seemed intent on working still.So, I knew I’d find him there.“Dad,” I called out to him.He t
CLAYTON’S POVI can remember the day I found King Aragon’s notes like it was yesterday. I grew up hearing about him and his greatness, much to Carlton’s annoyance, so when I found his notes, I knew I’d hit the jackpot.His thinking was already beyond the time all those years ago, and it took me two years before I fully figured out how he’d gotten around to everything. His notes made me better at what I do.And watching him do his thing was exhilarating.I’ve watched him in action a couple of times, but it wasn’t the same. Whatever this device was, was a work of genius. We watched it twist and turn a couple of times while he simultaneously coded. It wasn’t long before I realized that it was a decryption code, and it only worked with him getting the numbers in sequence with the turning of the device.By the time he was done, Queen Valencia’s face popped up on the screen. I looked to both my mate and my father in mating, and they were stuck. The video was waiting to be played, but neithe
CLAYTON'S POVWe got up to head in that direction. “Why would the information be in the royal archives? Is it not known information?”“Believe it or not, turning other creatures into Lycans is forbidden. I imagine when Genevieve bit Carlton, she was going for the kill. He must’ve escaped from that. There isn’t much information on turned Lycans simply because it doesn’t happen that often,” King Aragon responded.“So, we’re basically hoping that there’s actually some information?” I asked.He nodded as we approached the vault door. “Precisely. Luckily, I’d digitized most of the archives before I left, but we might have to go old school if there’s nothing in those records.”There were a couple of chairs in the middle of the room, and I moved them around to make a space for Azalea to be comfortably seated while her father searched the digital archives. I massaged her feet while we waited, and when King Aragon came up short, I had to help him get the books.There were seven thick books tha
TITUS’ POV“What exactly are we meant to do?” Bennett questioned.“Since the rest of us got caught on their cameras and are wanted people over there, the two of you need to and get the weapons,” Thane told them.I crossed his arms. “And how exactly are we going to achieve that?”“Munchkin’s godfather works at the military base just outside the border. It’s where her dad used to work. You need to find him, get him to delete the footage of your arrival, and then tell him that you need to get the weapons back here,” Thane explained.“And do we just expect Edgar to hand the weapons over? What will he say to the higher ups?” General Montgomery asked.Thane stood up, walking over to a compartment in the corner. “King Aragon made replicas that don’t actually have minerals in them. They just look like they do.”I picked one up, inspecting it. “I’m assuming we have to come up with a plan together with Professor Pitt to swap them out?”“He’ll definitely be on board with helping,” General Montgo
CLAYTON’S POVWe didn’t want to draw any attention to the royal house by having everyone come over, so we took the footage with us back to the pack house. I carried Azalea all the way to the car without her waking up.I wasn’t even sure if it was fatigue anymore.It was late morning by the time we arrived back at the pack house, with General Montgomery having alerted us of the plan to retrieve the weapons from the Nomad World. It had become clear to everyone that while the man is a nomad, he had no intentions of being treated like a weakling.And given how scary he is, I don’t think anyone intended to challenge him on that.I carried Azalea up to our room before heading back down to join everyone. “Clayton, have you even slept in the last two days?”The question came from my grandmother. “Nope, and before you say it, I know. Azalea’s already going to be mad at me when she wakes up and finds out that she’s slept twice in the time I’ve been awake.”“The world won’t end just because you’
CLAYTON'S POVWhen I woke up, it was bright outside. I wasn’t quite sure of the time, or how long I’d been asleep for, but I felt energized. I could remember how I got to our room, and that my mate had pretty much tricked me into sleeping.I wasn’t sure yet if I was mad at her or not.I got up and headed to the bathroom to get ready. I’d checked the time on my watch to find that it was early morning, and when I was done, I headed to the kitchen. As usual, Ariel was making breakfast.“Good morning Alpha. Didn’t think we’d ever see you again,” she teased.Her question had me groaning. “How long was I out for?”“Three days,” she responded.My eyes widened. “Three days?”She nodded. “Three days.”I narrowed my eyes at her. “And you’re not kidding?”“It was actually almost four. You would’ve made it to four had you woken up later in the day,” Bentley stated as she walked into the kitchen.“What the hell did she drug me with?” I grumbled.“She wouldn’t say. She just mentioned that she got t
AZALEA’S POV“I can’t believe two years into your marriage and you’re still pulling these stunts!”“How else am I supposed to keep the romance alive?”“He’s going to kill you, you know that much, right?”“He wouldn’t kill me while my dad still lives.”“At this point, Hugh would welcome your death. You truly are a menace.”My mouth dropped as she giggled. “You don’t mean that!”“Oh, I believe it too. When they told me you’re a menace, I didn’t know just how right they are,” my aunt teased.“You all just hate me,” I argued.“No one hates you because you won’t even allow us to do that much,” my mother commented.I gasped, and the evil women just laughed at me. “I can’t believe you’re in on this too!”“You and I are connected, and while the reason why is still a myth to all of us, at no point in my life did I swear to stand by your foolishness, especially when it involves tormenting that poor sweet boy,” Simoa stated.“There’s nothing sweet about him. You guys just don’t get to see how he
CLAYTON'S POV“I underestimated Eligor’s memory spell. I was desperate to explain myself and my actions, and to ask for forgiveness. I wasn’t sure if going to Aragon would help, so I went to the only other two people who knew me better than he did. Avril and Val were my best friends, so I thought if I could get them to understand, then they’d help me make sense of everything and help me deal with my new reality. I was lost, and in pain, and I just needed someone to understand me, except it was in that moment that I realized it would never happen. If the people closest to me couldn’t remember me, then I had no one. I was officially all alone,” Alyx explained.“What happened? Where have you been all this time?” her brother asked her.“After what happened with Avril, I knew I had to find a way to control what I’d become. I got some of Eligor’s powers through our mating, and they helped me to an extent. I found out he was abusing the Xeglan, and they asked for my help in keeping them from
CLAYTON’S POVOnce King Brennus lifted the spell from them, it was decided that we should head back while their memories started to trickle in. With everything over, the packs had been instructed to stack the dead hybrids and burn them.We suffered a couple of casualties and injuries on our side, and it was decided that the bodies of the dead would be put aside and we’d have a funeral for them the following day. We needed to let everything settle down first.With Eligor out of the picture, King Brennus ordered the Xeglan to return to Advalur, and they happily complied, while the Xeglan hybrids were imprisoned. At the end of the day, they were traitors, and it would be decided later what we’d be doing with them.Azalea led her aunt to our room, refusing to leave her side, while Pixie was quickly at mine. “You’re coming with us.”I followed after her, and she led me to a room with our friends in it, including Brantley and Bentley. “When did you guys get here?”“That’s not important! Wha
AZALEA'S POVThe turned Lycan looked my way. “I’m the source of a lot of your problems. With me out of the way, you stand a better chance of taking over this kingdom, but you’re going to have to catch me first.”I closed my link to my family and friends as I turned and made a run for it. I could hear him following after me, as well as my family following after him. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, or what the plan was, but this distraction was giving me some time to think.And before I knew it, I was running past the border and into the Forgotten Lands.Being here, I knew that only Eligor, Clayton, King Brennus, Greier, and my aunt could follow after me. My father and Clayton’s father didn’t have the bracelets on them, so they’d be affected if they came through.I finally let my mate through our link as he ran in after me, shifted back and changed into shorts. “Now what?”“I have no idea, but I know this is where everything has to end,” I told him just as Eligor’s beast grow
AZALEA’S POVShe looked more badass than she had in the vision. Confusion surrounded us as we watched everyone wondering why the Xeglan hybrids weren’t fighting, and who the woman was. Much like in the vision, she was preceded by smoke, and when it cleared, I could see recognition from our inner circle.“It’s her. It’s the woman from the painting,” Pixie was the one to state.“It’s Alyx, isn’t it?” Cleo asked, but no one responded.Instead, we watched as Eligor took in his mate, surprised to see her in her true form. “You can control the faces?”“I can do a lot more than that, but I’m not here to tell you all about that,” she told him.“Well, it’s about time we joined hands and finally took over the kingdom as planned,” he smiled, walking over to her.She put her hand out. “You either didn’t hear me, or you’re choosing to ignore what I said. I’m here to stop you.”It was a slight opening in his emotions as the vulnerability showed on his face. “Tell me that these people aren’t right.
CLAYTON’S POV“Avril and Valencia were my closest friends. Lost as I was, I thought if I went to explain myself to them, they’d understand, but I underestimated Eligor’s spell. They really had no idea who I was, and the changing faces and my changed form weren’t helpful. That’s when I realized that I needed to learn how to control the faces and my body.”Azalea was crying beside me, and I put my arm around her. “Where was Eligor during all this?”“I didn’t want anything to do with him, and he agreed to give me my space. However, in that time apart, I realized that my love for him was turning to hatred. Every time he checked in on me, he would let me know about his efforts to undo what he’d done, but I’d already lost too much. Being with him didn’t feel like something I wanted to do anymore, so I kept to myself. One thing I got through our mating is some of his powers, and I used them to travel the dimensions, learning as much as I could about what they knew about shapeshifters. I also
AZALEA’S POVThere she was.She was dressed in a dark emerald dress, and there was smoke around her, but I knew it was her. The same eyes I’d seen in the painting were looking straight at me. She was unmoving, showing no emotion on her face.“It’s her.”I didn’t know if I could even bring him with me, but I was relieved to look to my side and find Clayton there. “Do we go to her?”He shook his head. “We wait for her.”I agreed, and we waited. Before getting pulled in, we moved off the battlefield, hiding, and I could only hope that we’d stay hidden given the fact that we had no idea what was going on outside this vision.After a while, she finally moved towards us. I unintentionally squeezed Clayton’s hand a little harder, and he put his other hand on top of mine. I looked up at him, and I knew what he was telling me through his eyes.He was with me, and he had my back.She walked until she stood before us. Much like I’d felt back in the castle, it felt like I was looking at an older
CLAYTON’S POV“Report?” my father asked.“They’re coming from the direction of the castle, so we can confirm that it’s Eligor and his army. There hasn’t been any movement from the Forgotten Lands,” his man reported.My father nodded. “Take to the skies and stay there waiting for my command.”“And Isaiah?” the man asked.“Tell him to stay where he is,” my father replied.The man nodded before leaving. “What’s going on Hunter?”“Like Theo just said, Eligor is headed this way with his army. There’s no word from Alyx’s side,” my father replied.I was about to ask a question when my mind link was prodded. “CLAYTON!”“Simoa?” I asked.“Yes, it’s me. Where is your mate?” she asked.“She’s here with me. Why?” I countered.“Eligor is on his way. I have been trying to let her know, but I haven’t been able to reach her,” she huffed.I turned to my mate. “Love, is there anything going on with your link to Simoa?”I heard the murmuring, but I didn’t care for it as my mate scowled. “I can’t feel he
AZALEA'S POV“Are you sorted?” I asked him.He nodded. “Ariel and Cleo are directing everyone here. Greier and the Lyca will join us shortly. Your uncle linked to say there’s a bit of a delay with the archives, but that he’ll be here as soon as he has the information with him.”“Should we maybe not talk to our people before they get here?” Clayton suggested.“He’s got a point Aragon. While we may be understanding of how you reached the decisions that you did, your people may not be,” Clayton’s dad joined us.“I’ll address them once they’ve all assembled,” my father agreed.As expected, our pack members were the first to assemble, and I could see the pride on my mate’s face at seeing his people still as efficient as ever. The pack members of The Rebelution were officially the pack members of the royal pack.I had read up on the royal pack, with my father answering any more questions that I had. Apparently, the royal pack that he was Alpha of was either taken over by Eligor, or those wh