Iris:Ezio stared at me for a second, waiting for me to explain what I meant by my response.I sighed pinching the bridge of my nose before taking his hand in mine, squeezing it gently “Ezio, I may hate the Alpha and whoever was there that night, but I’m neither cold hearted or cruel”“What are you planning, Iris?” He asked, his voice defeated. I knew that he’s had a long day, both with being around Miley, being questioned by her, and training the younger wolves. I wrapped my arm around him, pulling him to lay his head on my lap as I ran my fingers through his hair.“For now, nothing. The Alpha needs to earn our trust and for that to happen, the two of us have to be both careful and patient. Then we need to make sure to keep an eye on the beta. Her suspecting something, coming over here when she likes, and even trying to converse with you isn’t something that I like, and no, I am not jealous. I genuinely do not like the woman” I said before Ezio could ask. He chuckled and took my hand
Ezio:I wrapped my arm around Iris as the two of us walked toward Ariana who was waiting for us in the living room. One of her maids was standing behind her, chaperoning the child as she waited for Iris. Ariana ran toward Iris, wrapping her arms around her legs, hugging her tightly.“Hello to you too, princess” Iris laughed, looking down at the child. I smiled, tightening my arm around her. “I swear if I knew sooner, I would have let you be in charge of her” Alpha Ryker said walking toward us. Iris tensed, turning around to face the Alpha. Ariana ran toward her father who leaned down to lift her up. She giggled wrapping her arms and legs around her father, hugging him tightly “good morning to you too, baby”“Good morning, Alpha” I said politely. He nodded in respect at me. Iris stayed quiet as I turned around, cupping her cheeks and kissing her lips “have a beautiful day, baby”“You too, love” Iris said shyly. I turned to face the Alpha whose eyes were fixed on me. He put his daught
Iris:“Come on, Ariana, you have to go inside so as not to get cold” I told her gently. Ariana kept her eyes on the training lads and girls, watching as they prepared the training grounds for the night’s shift today. “Ariana…”“I don’t want to go inside!” She said stubbornly. I sighed and got down on my knees in front of her, looking her in the eye as I cupped her cheeks.“And what do you plan on doing all day here, little princess?” I asked gently. I was never one who was patient when being around kids. However, I was never one to hurt a child. Therefore, taking care of this child would be a first time experience to me.“I want to watch and train with them” she said, crossing her small arms over her chest.“They’re all big and strong, you can’t train with them, little love”“I can! I am big and strong too!” She said, showing me her small arms. I laughed and kissed her cheek “please let me stay”“But we have to go inside for you to eat something, and we need to start with your homewo
Ezio:I couldn’t help the frown that formed on my face when I saw Iris taking the Alpha’s hand in hers. I watched as she turned around her previous smile turning into a frown as she spoke to herself. Her heartbeat calm as she clenched and unclenched her fists. I cleared my throat when she walked past me, clearly not noticing my presence. She stopped and her eyes widened when she looked at me.“I take it that you haven’t noticed that I have been here for a while”“You have been watching me” she stated and I rolled my eyes.“Sorry, I’m sure you didn’t want me to see you taking the Alpha’s hand, trying to flirt with him” I said sarcastically.“Ezio…”“Go inside, Iris, we will talk about this later. Ariana would be waiting” I said stopping her. My heart ached with each step I took further away from her, but I couldn’t bring myself to stand by her side after what I just saw without bursting out. I didn’t want to end up having an argument with her, and I didn’t want to say something that e
Iris:I paced around the bedroom as my mind went wild.The vision that I saw in that garden played again and again in my head, reminding me of past events that I fought hard not to remember. I could feel Ezio’s wolf tensing, going wild, as he felt my worry. But I couldn’t calm down no matter how hard I tried.I sat on the edge of the bed, running my fingers through my hair as my leg shook in anticipation. The Alpha who killed an innocent woman for defending her son, sat in the dining room beside his daughter, feeding her while he waited for her maid to come.I shook my head as I pulled on the roots of my hair, reminding myself of the cold man who once killed a whole pack for simply taking charge of being Alpha. The man proved to his pack that he was worth being Alpha because he killed my pack, my family. I stood up from the bed and looked at myself in the mirror, my hands shaking as I stared at my reflection. I suddenly no longer saw myself, the adult who has trained for years to av
Ezio:I woke up with my arm wrapped around Iris as the two of us slept in the garden where we lay the night before.Almost everyone in the pack was currently laying nude as they shifted back to humans. Their bodies gave out on them when the sun came out. “Good morning, princess” I smiled, raising myself to kiss her. Iris opened her eyes, looking up at me as she smiled. Her cheeks reddened when she realized that she was asleep naked out in the garden. I chuckled and tightened my arms around her as a slave approached us with two blankets. The slaves have distributed blankets all over the garden beside the naked sleeping pack members. It would take them a while before they woke up. Therefore, it would be best for us to head inside before they did.I nodded in thanks at the woman before she walked away, leaving me and my beauty to cover ourselves before we went inside. Both Iris and I stood up, I wrapped the blanket around my waist and she wrapped hers around her chest. The blanket reach
Iris:“Hello, little one” I smiled at Ariana when I entered her bedroom.The child had nothing to do with her father’s dirty deeds, and unfortunately, if I was going to earn her father’s trust; I had to go on with taking care of her.Katherine looked up at me and nodded in respect, and returning the favor, I nodded back. Ariana got up from the ground where she was playing with her dolls and ran up to me, hugging my legs tightly “they won’t let me out of the room!” “That is because the wolves shifted yesterday, princess, you know that you can’t be out during that time” I said gently. This child knew nothing about following rules or discipline, but I blamed it on her never getting the chance of being around anyone who would have taught her without fearing for his life. Her father himself didn’t bother educating her, and her aunt chose to lock her up around a bunch of slaves who couldn’t say a word to her.“But I am going to become an Alpha, I have to see them shift!” I smiled and kneel
Ezio:I watched as the Alpha walked back from his daughter’s room.Miley and I stood side by side as we waited for him, but the woman avoided looking at me at all costs. “Let’s go get the two out of the cell. They would be needing to eat” Alpha Ryker said, heading toward the cells where he kept the kids who had ‘disobeyed’ him yesterday. Miley and I nodded, following the man in silence, and I couldn’t help but frown in confusion at the sight of the cell.The place seemed to be rotten, and had I not been here myself, I would have said that people were lying about having a cell in a pack to begin with. Rats roamed around in the shadows, and despite the eerie silence, I could hear both the kids’ heartbeats in the place. Alpha Ryker cleared his throat, snapping them both out of whatever daze they were in. The kid who has lost his mother didn’t stand or approach the door as he sat against the wall. His legs were curled up against his chest, and despite him looking up at the Alpha for a
Ezio:I smiled, wrapping my arm around my beauty as we looked at our pack members. Our pack’s features finally started showing as each day passed when a Lycan showed up, or one found his or her mate, increasing our number.It has been six months since everything happened, and to say that the two of us were finally happy being together would not be a lie. The drama, and our revenge was finally over. Now, we had ourselves to see and pay attention to, rather than focus on a man we wanted nothing more than to kill. “Good morning, baby girl” I smiled, kissing her cheek from behind. Iris smiled, leaning into my touch, putting a hand on my cheek.“Good morning to you too” she said, raising her head to look at me.I smiled despite her racing heartbeat and the fatigue that I could see in her eyes. She has been in this state for the past two days, and regardless of how many times I told her to go to the hospital, Iris refused to have a doctor touch her. “Baby girl, can you at least promise me
Iris:I watched as the guests who were going to attend the funeral arrived. Their eyes scanned the surroundings as they searched for the Alpha, his death not being announced yet. Cassandra wanted to be there to see the eyes of those who have allowed her discrimination when she begged for help years back. It seemed like the woman had lived through a lot more than she let out, but Ezio and I made sure not to pressure her into speaking about what she didn’t want to.“Ezio, Iris?” Marissa, the Raven Claw’s pack Luna asked her mate, Daniel, standing by her side as the pair looked at us “what is going on here? I’m sure that you didn’t come here to attend the funeral”I looked down at my feet, not wanting to be questioned about the subject anymore than necessary. Ezio extended his hand at Daniel who shook his hand in return “how are you two? We didn’t expect you to be here to begin with”“We have to say the same about you two, especially judging by…” Daniel didn’t need to complete his sente
Ezio:I watched as the pack members assembled upon seeing me, wanting to submit to me as an Alpha instead of Cassandra.“Why is she the Alpha?” A girl asked, looking down at her feet “the rules say that whoever kills the Alpha is in charge, why did you give up your position?”“I never came here to be an Alpha” I said, looking down at the child “Cassandra was Ryker’s mate, and believe it or not, I know that she would be better at this position than I ever would be”“Plus, we won’t be leaving completely, if anything, we would be your pack’s new allies” Iris said, smiling at the girl. She looked up at us before hugging Iris, burying her head on her chest as she took a deep breath.“You are the only two who have helped us overcome our fears in this pack” she said, looking up at Iris. I smiled, remembering the day where she told the pack members that she wouldn’t hurt any of them before Ryker came out, reminding them that she SHOULD be fearing him if they wished to live within the pack’s g
Iris:I watched as Cassandra spoke to Ariana, trying to explain to her that she was her mother.The child was quiet as she listened, and Katerina stood, looking at both Ezio and I for a second.“You two did a good job” she said, breaking my train of thoughts. I frowned in confusion, looking at the woman who motioned for us to walk toward the veranda, giving the mother and her daughter their privacy. “What are you talking about, Katerina?” Ezio asked, crossing his arms over his chest. His muscles flexed as he looked at her, and despite the wound on his shoulder, I knew that he would be attacking her if needed. “You united a mother with her daughter, and killed the one poison that was not only ruining the pack, but the child too” she said, looking at the two of us.“You knew about her?” I asked, voicing out my confusion. Katerina simply smiled as a response, turning around to look at the bloodied field. The pack members and the Lycans were cleaning everything up, clearing out the spac
Ezio:I watched as the pack members started their training, preparing for the day’s shift before Iris walked out of the house.Alpha Ryker stood in the middle of the field, watching the pack members as they trained, his eyes lost as he stared into space, clearly trying to process the death of his sister. “Alpha” Iris said, approaching him. She handed him a glass of water to which he nodded and took a sip of “do you mind if I sit?”He looked up at her before nodding, watching as she sat down, her eyes meeting mine for a second before she turned her attention to the Alpha “how was Ariana today? Did she accept that she’s being homeschooled?” “No, but she would eventually. She just needs time to either process that it is the better option for her, or she would end up trying to convince you to send her back to school with her friends” Iris said, looking down at her lap. “I’m guessing that she has every right to want to go back to school, her balance has been stirred, but then again, for
Iris:“Morning” Cassandra told Ezio and I when she saw us walking out of the bedroom she told us to stay in, entering the sitting room where we saw her yesterday. The whole floor was designed as an apartment for her, and I was surprised to see that Alpha Ryker, regardless of the anger he had toward her, made sure that she was as comfortable as she possibly could be.“Good morning” Ezio said, answering her. He kept his arm wrapped around me as we walked out of the room, mostly assuring me that things were going to be okay. The two of us could barely talk about anything last night, not wanting to risk her hearing us, or getting on her bad side. “I take it that you two are ready?” She asked, getting up from her chair just as we heard the room’s door open. Ezio and I hid by the door, waiting for the maid to come before I grabbed her from the back, snapping her neck before she could make a sound. The maid dropped the tray that she had with her, falling limp on the ground as she took her
Ezio:“So, you want to be the one to kill him?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Iris sat beside me, looking at the woman with wide eyes as the two of us processed what she was talking about.“Yes, he has hurt me and my daughter, and I believe that it is my right to be able to kill him. You two have watched him suffer for months, but I want to be the one to look him in the eye while I’m killing him, breaking the last bit of strength that he believes he has on me” Cassandra said, looking at Iris who bit her bottom lip “you shouldn’t be too surprised, Iris. I don’t think that you would be too impressed by your mate sleeping with other women, or by him living his life after he has locked you up like some prisoner. I haven’t spoken to my daughter in years, and I am well aware that he keeps her locked in her room for days without going out, seeing or speaking to anyone. I owe it to her and myself to be able to end his life myself”“I never spoke or said anything”“Your expression s
Iris:“Are you sure that the place is here?” I asked, staring at the wall in front of us. Ezio nodded, seeming sure about it, making me frown in confusion as I looked at the empty wall.Ezio put his hand on the wall, running his finger over the tiles, gently pressing on them before one of them moved. The two of us looked at one another for a second before Ezio pressed on the tile completely, watching as a door opened behind it.My beloved wrapped his arm around me, pulling me inside the room where stairs appeared in front of us “the fifth floor” My voice was above a whisper as I spoke, and the two of us took slow, careful steps up the stairs as we feared any traps being hidden within the walls of this secret room. The door slowly closed behind us, and I couldn’t help but catch my breath as we walked up, not knowing what to expect behind the walls of the concealed room. Why it was concealed and how long has it been this way, I had no idea, but it seemed like there was a lot for us to
Ezio:“You do realize that we can’t keep killing this Alpha’s men, right? He would just notice that they have gone missing” Iris said, entering the fourth dungeon in the house. The two of us have been going around in a maze, searching for the woman who didn’t seem to be in any of the empty dungeons we entered. “It’s not like I have another option” I said, shrugging my shoulders “they would end up killing us otherwise”“Ha, ha, I am starting to believe that you are enjoying this way too much” Iris teased. I winked at my beauty, watching as she went to check the right side of the cell while I checked the left. I sighed when we found that it was also empty, and knowing that it was already a while past two, I knew that we needed to get some rest if Iris was to be able to wake up early with Ariana. “Next dungeon?”“No, baby girl, bedroom. You need to rest. Ariana doesn’t have school tomorrow and she would be very active, not to mention that the whole house would be busy with the funeral