ADAN STONE. Lucy was still asleep even after breakfast. Maybe I worked her really hard overnight, but I couldn’t stop myself. Six days without her felt like fucking years. But as much as I wanted to just cuddle with her today, I let her sleep and continued with my day as usual. I was on the other side of the territory, checking the trees being cut by big tractors that would supply the woods for this part of my territory. I actually had no business here. I had men who managed the wood-cutting section to make sure the whole territory had enough for the whole winter, but I never slacked off when it came to my pack. I checked everything I could with my own eyes and let them know that I expected the utmost service for every task assigned to them. So far, there have been no problems here. This part of the territory had abundant trees, unlike the rest, where I had to make sure we continued to plant and cultivate young ones so the future generation would have something left for them. 'A
LUCY. My eyes snapped open at the same time my stomach growled as if something would come out of it. I shoved the blanket off my body as I glanced at the clock - it would be lunchtime soon, and I was still in bed. The Alpha did really let me rest, which was very thoughtful of him. I sniffed myself - I reeked of the Alpha and all the fluids that were mixed in and out of me, but I was not repulsed by them. But of course, I needed to wash it off me. With hurried movement, I rushed to the bathroom only to stop in my tracks when I caught sight of the bathtub. Someone had prepared a bubble bath, but the cold water and the almost-gone bubbles were a sign that it had been left standing for quite a while now. The Alpha might have done this, and I was sure they were for me because he told me he seldom used the bathtub. But because he had an unpredictable mood, he stormed off before we could enjoy this. I rinsed off my body from the cold shower and jumped into the almost-gone bubble bath wi
ADAN STONE."Now!" I slammed my palm on the table, and Lucy’s body jolted at the impact created. Her eyes widened as she stared at me with shock, but I could see defiance in her eyes.I was expecting her to lash out at me, but instead, she stood up and excused herself from the table before walking away.The age and the color of her hair — I could let it go. She might have thought it was unnecessary, but hiding everything about knowing her father was the one that set me off.I asked her about it not just once but all the time, and she would deny it. What the fuck was so hard about telling me who her father was? Did she commit a crime against him? The moment she left the dining room, I threw the table napkin on the table, pushed my chair, and stood up. Aeon and Alexa stood up as well, and in seconds, Alexa was already in front of me, her hand holding my chest, stopping me from following Lucy."Can you calm down, Adan?"I held her wrist and gently pulled it away from my body. "This is
ADAN STONE. "Do you think, after you lied straight to my face, I have enough reason to trust you…" I didn’t want to tell her that, but it came out of frustration. Then Aeon’s words earlier suddenly came back. 'Some people are not comfortable sharing things that hurt them.' My gaze fell to her face. She had her head down and was biting her bottom lip so hard that I was sure she would be tasting blood soon, while her arms were hugging her body as if she was cold. I cupped her face and tilted it up, so I could meet her gaze. Frustration was flitting across her eyes. "Lucy… I want you to be honest with me." Her hands moved away from her body as she cupped my cheeks, and I let go of my hands on hers. "Alpha Stone…" "Adan…" I told her. A weak smile curled on her lips before she opened them to speak again. "Adan… Just give me time. It might just be a name for you, but… for me…" 'Some people are not comfortable sharing things that hurt them.' "It’s okay if you need more time." Her
LUCY.Adan helped me out of the car, and my hands automatically tugged my coat closer to my body, as if the chilly night was making me feel cold, but the truth was, I was nervous to meet the Alpha’s family.I knew all of this was pretend play, but I wanted them to like me. I had no idea why — maybe because I wanted the Alpha to have no reason not to like me, or simply because I wanted a family too.We walked side by side up the steps after Adan gave his keys to the man who met us in the driveway and the one who drove his car somewhere. My hand moved, and I clasped it around the Alpha’s hand, and he tilted his head to look at me with a face void of any emotions."I just want to have some support, or I might fall from the way my heart was racing fast from nervousness." I reasoned myself out.A smile curled on his lips as he squeezed my hand before raising a brow at me. "You’re nervous to be around nice people, but you can defy, lie, and argue with the Alpha, who loves cutting off people
LUCY. "Ready for dinner?" Adan asked as a warm smile tugged on his mouth. "Ready!" I smiled at him after I blinked back the tears pooling in my eyes. "Good, I’m starving. I missed lunch because some little bunny riled me up…" He teased me as we walked toward the dining hall with our hands still clasped together, and I just couldn’t help but giggle softly because he was right. We didn't come out of his suite after the incident at lunch with Alexa and Alpha Aeon, and we were just informed about this dinner when Beta Collin mindlinked him. We entered the dining hall in silence, and Adan helped me onto my chair before he sat beside me. Soon another older female with blonde hair came in, carrying a bowl of vegetable salad. She was so beautiful, and she looked like Alexa. Her eyes fell on me, and she gave me a warm, motherly smile as she placed the bowl on the table. She then walked to where I was seated, and I immediately stood up and faced her. "Oh, Lucy! You’re as beautiful as Adan
GRAND ALPHA AURELIUS. Of all my grandpups, only Adan grew up under my watchful eyes. The rest were brought up in the South, and I would just occasionally see them. But Adan, I have held him since the very first day and have seen him through his first step, his first tooth, and the first time he shifted into his wolf at fourteen. I loved all my grandpups, but Adan would always be special. He was like me. I knew him inside out, and I knew the struggle within him. Despite the tough facade he showed everyone, inside him was an insecure boy who thought he was not worthy to be an Alpha. He would always say that Suzanne’s bloodline, my eldest daughter, should have been the rightful Alpha. But despite that, he worked hard to prove it every day so as not to disappoint me and his people. He was a perfect Alpha. But he was missing one thing. A Luna. Two weeks ago, we talked over the phone, and I told him not to feel pressured about getting a Luna or an heir. Because if it came to the p
LUCY. The next four days went without a problem. Although Alpha Aurelius had not yet warmed up to me, he was at least civil and had not dropped any more questions or statements about my stepfather, which I was grateful for. As for Alpha Stone or Adan, he was just perfect as he was. He would throw tantrums once in a while and punish me for defying him. I had no idea if he was aware I was defying him on purpose so I could get punished. But at the end of each night, we would still end up in each other's arms, and it felt like there was a bond pulling us closer — something I always wanted from my mate, and somehow it made me happy that he was giving it to me. Alexa asked me about the secrets that I needed to tell her before my father took me away. And as much as I wanted to tell her about my demon side, I wanted to keep my promise to Adan that he would be the first to know. So I told Alexa I would tell her everything once I was able to tell Adan about it. She didn’t make a fuss about
Lovelies, the long wait is over. BEYOND THE DARKNESS: The Alpha's Little Witch - the third installment of the INTO THE DARKNESS SAGA is finally live on this app! Synopsis: Five years after the death of his fated mate, Alpha Blade found himself lost in the abyss of life. He had abandoned his pack and chose to lead a mercenary life to avenge the death of Soledad. But even after justice was served, he felt empty, and the need to take more lives had become his way of life.With too much blood in his hands, he became ruthless and cold-hearted, with no direction, no goal, and no will to survive—until destiny decided to play a cruel joke on him and gave him a light witch for a second-chance mate. Confused and not wanting to betray the memory of his first mate, Blade fought against the new bond the Goddess gave him, only to find himself being drawn more to the young witch who was slowly lighting up the darkness surrounding him. But when lies, betrayals, and secrets come to light, will
3 MONTHS AFTER PART 1 Epilogue PATREA. “Don’t you fucking dare to cut my skin!” I screamed as another contraction hit my body. I could only count the number of times I swore, but today had been exceptional. I couldn’t stop myself from throwing curses and bad words at my king. I was in labor, and the baby was ready to come out. Lucius was the only one with me since demon childbirth was never a problem. Demons could even give birth on their own. Maybe we were so relaxed that we forgot that I was still part human and witch. “I have to take it out. I’ll cut and heal it back!” Lucius explained in a loud voice. “I don’t fucking like seeing you whimper like that!” “NO! No! No! I want to feel my child coming out of my pussy!” “Patrea!” He hissed, his forehead was sweaty, and I could feel the whole chamber getting too warm. “Get out!! I glared at him. But I didn’t mean it. I was just in too much pain, and his worried expression was not helping at all. “No fucking way that I will l
Five years after.LUCIUS. Patrea was sitting on the low boulder while watching Luther, and I do our training for today. Lucija and Stone would take Luther here in the underworld from time to time so we could spend time with him and let him familiarize himself with the demons.For the longest time, they were taking Luther here and would sometimes leave him with us for a few hours just because they wanted to have time alone.But I knew there was more to it than that. They wanted us to experience having a child.After five years, Patrea and I were still not given any. I was slowly coming to terms with it, but that didn’t mean I was losing hope. I never stopped wishing for a child every time I fucked my queen, but I had stopped telling her I was doing it.Patrea and I never talked about it anymore. I could still feel sadness in her from time to time, but it didn’t make me feel less loved by her, and I was returning the love she was giving me tenfold more.We would always be great kings a
PATREA. Five nights ago, I told Lucius I was ready to take our relationship to the next level. I was ready to have a baby with him. A demon pregnancy could be detected a few hours after mating. But five days later, there was still nothing. I stared blankly at the mirror inside the bathroom that Lucius had custom-made for me. I felt empty. I felt useless. I knew Guinevere wasn’t lying when she reversed the spell I did on my body, and I was sure Lucius could get any female pregnant if he didn’t stop himself from producing one. So it must be me. Maybe my actual human age has something to do with this. I was not getting older in physical form, but perhaps I was past the stage of childbearing. And it hurts. It hurt more now than it did the first time when I thought I could not give him an heir because, this time, I expected it to be possible. Lucius seemed to not mind, but he might just be good at hiding it. Because it was the same thing I was showing him, but deep inside, I was
PATREA. “Follow me.” His voice came out so deep and hoarsely that I didn’t even have second thoughts and just followed him. “Is this the right area?” He asked as he stopped in the archive section at row number 35. “Yes.” “Now, what do we need to do with all these books?” “Place them back. The books are in alphabetical order, so they should be placed in their right spot.” I was not done talking yet when seven books rose in the air and went to their exact place. My eyebrows rose as I stepped back until I was out of the aisle. I checked if anyone was nearby, but then the archive section was at the far end of the entrance, and usually, only scholars or those doing special studies go to this spot, so it was safe to say no one saw that. I walked back and stopped a few feet away from him, watching as he laid the rest of the books on the wooden stool ladder. “You need to put them back as well,” I told him. “We will put the rest aside once we’re done with the reason we came here.” H
PATREA. After my coronation as Queen of two Underworld kingdoms, our lives returned to normal. So far, it had been so peaceful and perfect that I felt something terrible would happen. But Lucius eased my worry by telling me that the underworld was only chaotic if the kingdoms were not on good terms. As far as he knew, everyone was minding their own business, and the regular souls would just come and plunge themselves into hell. So I tried not to mind it and just lived the best days of my life with him. Today we decided to cross into the human realm and visit an old friend, or, should I say, an annoying neighbor. I missed normality, so here we were, driving the car into the house I used to share with Althea. I would take personal items and return the key to the house owner. And after that, we would go to the library so I could file my irrevocable resignation letter. As much as I could forget all about it, I made friends in the library, and I didn’t want them to keep thinking abo
LUCIUS. “Hades…” Luther just said his first word. It was a bit gurgled, but I could fully understand it. ‘The fuck! I spent fucking days teaching him to say ‘dad,’ and I kept bribing him with sweets and fire, just for him to end up saying Hades’ name first?’ Stone cursed in my head. His jaw tightened, and I knew he was stopping himself from growling. ‘Be thankful it’s Hades. You’ll be more pissed off if his first word is Lucius.’ I chuckled. ‘Just accept that your son is more of a demon than a wolf.’ He didn’t say anything, but he knew I was telling the truth. Hades walked toward us and handed Luther to Lucija before he faced Patrea and me. “King Hades, it is an honor to have you at our banquet today,” Patrea stated as she tipped her down before looking at him again. “It would be a disappointment if I missed it. I never had a queen for my kings for many centuries now, so it is rightful that I appeared here.” He replied before he extended his hand to Patrea. “Come here, Que
LUCIUS. My eyes roamed around the vast banquet that was prepared for the formal rise of the King and Queen of Kalmerus and Athwart. I was glad that I didn’t hold a feast for me so that I was able to share this coronation with Patrea. The big hall was already filled with guests from the other two kingdoms of the Underworld: the Kings and their offspring. Some of my siblings and my own spawn had arrived. They had yet to meet Patrea. Celebrations like this were usually done in demon forms, but since Patrea was only half demon, I requested everyone to present themselves in their human form, and it seemed that no one was objecting as everyone came in presentable clothes. Also, from what I heard, even the kings were eager to see my queen, probably because the Underworld had never had a queen in a long time, even centuries before me. A smug smirk tugged on my mouth at the sight of Lucija and Stone. They took Luther with them, and even though he was just a few months old, his aura was st
PATREA. Weeks passed, and I was still reeling from the feeling of being Lucius’ queen and the queen of two kingdoms. Today is one of those days where I had to fulfill a duty for our demons. “Open your palms and let your hand feed on their souls,” Lucius instructed me as we stared at the pit of fire, where I could hear souls full of anguish and pain. I swallowed hard, but I couldn’t raise my hand. I was slowly accepting the ways of the underworld, but my heart was shattering at the cries I could hear at the moment. “In time, your heart will harden. The souls you hear are undeserving of your pity, whether they are judged or not in the realms they belong to. If their souls went straight to the pits of hell, it only means that they were meant to be here. They were irredeemable and had never regretted their actions. We do not throw away souls that were sincerely regretful of their misdeeds before they died. That’s why the veils of realms exist. In there, they were given time to redeem