CLAYTON'S POVI was mesmerized as I watched her chasing after the butterfly. She was giggling and I’d never seen a more beautiful sight. I could remember her telling me about the last two years she lived in the Nomad World, and how lonely she’d felt.Right now, I was seeing my mate at what I was sure was her happiest state, and nothing could ever beat this. She captured the butterfly, and when she opened her hands, it didn’t fly away. It stayed in her hand and she grinned before turning to me.“It’s so beautiful,” she whispered.“You are,” I smiled.“You’re so cheesy,” she blushed, turning back to the butterfly.I shrugged. “Nothing beats your beauty in my eyes, so that butterfly is pretty average.”She didn’t say anything, but her blush deepened. She set the butterfly free before taking my hand in hers again. We continued making our way to the waterfall, and I could see the apprehension in her eyes as we neared the water. I was confused about why she would react that way, until I rem
CLAYTON’S POV“Can someone please tell me where my mate is?” I asked. Beast and I were equally agitated by now.It’s been a month.My mate honestly has a talent for disappearing, and Claude alerted me that it’s a power that she’s probably figured out how to use. She isn’t at the cave, and I’m confused about why she left. The last time we were together, everything was more than ok. Now I couldn’t even reach her via our mind link.“No one knows,” Brantley responded.“Did you ask your father in mating?” Titus asked me.“That man scares me,” I admitted.“He’s not here anyway. He left yesterday morning,” Thane informed.I scowled. “He left? Why wasn’t I made aware of this?”“He’s the King Clay. We all thought you knew,” Cyrus replied.“Did he leave alone?” I asked.“No! He left with Pixie and Ariel, and before you ask, Ariel has been Alpha ordered into not saying anything, so I can’t ask her,” Thane said, walking over to the monitor.“Something tells me that the King knows where his daught
CLAYTON'S POVHe stopped growling and instead went behind a tree to shift. He came out dressed in some pants with no shirt. There was a look of pride in his eyes as he came towards me. Beast growled a little, only making him laugh as he stood before us. He reached out his hand and touched our muzzle.I felt something within me change. I don’t think I can describe the change, but I felt it. It was like I had become stronger and wiser just from his touch. I could feel the power coursing through my veins.“Your Highness,” he said lowly enough for me to be the only one to hear him.Your Highness?“Somebody get him some pants,” he instructed. A pack member of mine came running out with the pants and handed them to me before I shifted and put them on.“What just happened?” I asked.“Go and get properly dressed and then meet me at your car in five minutes,” he instructed before going into the house.I knew that arguing with him was one thing that wasn’t going to be happening, so I headed up
CLAYTON'S POV“No, I don’t. Your mother was spelled long ago into not saying anything, so I’m guessing that it took a lot of guesswork on my mate’s part. The last time I saw her in the Nomad world, she was about to tell me. She wanted me to find your father and together with him, defeat Simoa and Carlton. I got a call to go outside at that moment, and that’s when I was captured by the Nomad government. Before I was taken in, I watched the General in charge shape shift into a woman. I still don’t know who she is, but I am almost certain that she has something to do with my wife’s abduction. There are forces at play here that a lot of the Lycan World have been shielded from for their own safety,” he responded.“And that’s why you’re letting me in right now?” I asked.“That, and because you need to protect my daughter,” he said.“Why do I get the feeling that there’s more to what you’re saying to me?” I asked.“That’s probably because you’re smart. You and your pack members have welcomed
CLAYTON'S POV“Alright fine! We can create our plan around letting them in as far as we can. They don’t have to know everything, but we do need their help. Besides, they know not to ask questions, so it’s a case of telling them to do whatever needs to be done without any questioning,” I reminded.“Do you really trust them? Do you believe they can help?” he asked.I nodded. “I wouldn’t have made it this far without them.”“Alright! This will be your first test as King. If your trust in them backfires, then it will be on you,” he warned.“I’ll accept the responsibility,” I said confidently.“Good! Now, I need to teach you how to fight,” he said.“No offence your Highness, but I’m not about to fight with my King and father in mating,” I refused.“At this very moment, I count as neither of those two. At this moment, I am a father teaching a son how to be King,” he replied.I scowled. “I don’t understand.”“You have never had a true father figure Clayton, and if you haven’t noticed, my hei
AZALEA’S POV“You hid this from him and you’re practically halfway with your pregnancy,” Ariel argued.“Well, what did you expect exactly?” Bentley asked me.“I didn’t expect him to up and leave altogether!” I snapped.“Don’t snap at the girls because you know they’re right princess,” my father chuckled.He finds this funny?“This is all your fault!” I told him.He was visibly tickled. “This should be interesting. Please do share how this is my fault.”“I was fine not knowing the truth and you just had to go and reveal it to me. Now look what you’ve done. My mate is mad at me,” I replied.“Princess, when exactly are you going to own up to this and just apologize to him? It’s been a week and I’m beginning to think that you have a talent for not wanting to be with him,” he teased.This man is so infuriating.“I’m glad you think so, except that doesn’t answer my question,” he said.“Stop reading my thoughts,” I growled angrily.“He didn’t,” the girls said, only making my father laugh.“B
AZALEA'S POVInstead of getting a response, he grabbed the shampoo behind me and started getting clean. I figured he wasn’t about to answer my question then, so I joined him in actually showering. When we were done, he helped me to get dry and we walked out to find our sleepwear on my bed. It may have been afternoon outside, but the both of us didn’t care as we got into the bed.“I spent the past week working on our security systems. I’m not going to lie and say that I’ve been the easiest person to deal with, especially since everyone couldn’t understand why I was being so rough all of a sudden. I caused some panic when someone caught wind of the fact that I was the way I was because of you,” he finally said.“How so?” I asked.“People got the wrong end of the stick and assumed that my behaviour was caused by their Luna’s death. I had to assure them that you were very much alive. I dismissed them and went to go and personally find out what the hell Simoa wants with us. The reason why
AZALEA'S POV“Love, you can’t come with us. We don’t even know what to expect,” Clayton argued.“And that’s exactly why I’m coming along. I’m pregnant Clayton. Do you really think that I’m going to sit here and be ok with you both being away to a place I know nothing about? Stress levels aren’t good for me or the baby, so you’re both mad if you think I’m staying,” I told them.“Did you have to inherit your mother’s stubbornness?” my father mumbled.“Speaking of, what’s the latest on her?” I asked.“I can still sense her presence in the Forgotten Lands, so she’s still alive. My allies however have come up short in finding her. As you know, the Forgotten Lands are overcome by dark magic, and I can’t afford to lose any more people searching for her. I will have to go myself, but only once I know that our daughter is safe,” he informed.“Yeah, that’s not happening. We’re going to find Clay’s dad, and then we’re coming back to look for mom,” I responded.“I don’t even think this is only Va
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