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3RD POV.
Kade points out his hand above his head, signaling for everyone to stop, and they did follow his command. Kade, Kyle, and Chester halt their horses, peeling their eyes at the woods.
“What is it?” Kade asks as he moves closer to Kieran, stopping next to him.
“There’s a sudden change in the weather. Did you not notice the sudden rumble in the sky followed by the rain?” He is focused on scanning the woods, his eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary; he didn’t even share Kade a gaze.
“Well, then, perhaps we should get off these horses.” Kade’s tone sounds more like a suggestion than an order, to which Kieran agrees. Kyle, on the other hand, groans. He’s actually still hurt, so they understand why he doesn’t want to walk.
The effect of the crumbling of the tunnel twisted his leg
76Kaya’s POV.One moment ago, I was thinking about my life, confused at the very core of all the decisions that I’d made. I am wondering if this is actually what I want for myself or what someone wants for me. It’s so complicated, and at the same time, I feel stuck.I feel like there’s no way that I can get out of this bondage, because just when I could have escaped one, I went deep into another.I followed the path Olivia saw she could make for me.Inside the woods, while the rain falls with heavy drops, beating at my skin, I have hidden myself under a large tree with quite deep roots and a heavy canopy from its many branches.Now that I’m within nature, I feel nothing. I remember when I was at the cottage; the instant I walked into the woods, I had a full knowledge of every plant. I know what damage or repair they could do, and it always makes me happy. I would stay inside, speaking out my feelings like they were some books wherein I was writing a diary of my life.It used to be fu
77Kaya’s POV.I wake up in a familiar room and scratch the back of my head at a heavy ache.“What in the heavens...?” My voice trails off as I tighten my eyes shut. They crinkle at the sides as I groan when I roll out of bed.What happened? The last thing I remember was being inside the woods, but I’m here now. I look around and suddenly understand why this room looks so familiar. It’s because I’ve been here for a long time once, and then my eyes snap to the balcony, where I confirm better.“Fuck,” my heart feels like it would bleed blood at the way it jumps to the edge of my throat, blocking me from being able to breathe well.I’m hyperventilating out of the blue while my lenses dilate as I watch around, being careful of my situation.I hurry to the door and try to open the knob, only to see that it isn’t locked. I’m almost opening the door to try to escape, but then I stop myself. Should I just cast a spell that would stop anyone from being able to enter while I try to reach Olivia
78Kaya’s POV.“Percipe essentiae meae existentiae. Olivia me reperi per aerem. Veni ad me. Praesent tristique in mi nec iaculis. Auxilium tuum peto.” I call into my palms where I have allowed the pendant to relax upon before I cast the spell.Right after the glow in my eyes, the bracelet resonate with a low hum, inaudible to anyone without magic. I’m still sitting on a footstool, in front of the kitchen counter except finished with the pancakes already.There’s no space for me to run away, so I hope that Olivia can hear my message and come for me. I’ve never thought I actually needed her this much until now.I can hear the whispers of those ass whip, while wondering exactly what it could be they are discussing about me. I’m not very interested anyway or I would have casted a spell for that.Finally done with the chit chats, they come back to join me at the counter and I stand up. “I demand to leave.”“Kaya, please.”“You can’t stop me.” My voice is thick and stoic and that’s a very g
79Kaya’s POV.I read out loud, “Rose Miles. Alan Miles. Williams Miles. And...” I see no name at the last one and it brings up a wrinkle to the skin of my forehead.“That’s a grave we made for our babies. We lost them before we even decided on a name.”“Kyle thinks we allow you bring up a name and maybe we will sculpt it on the stone.”The brothers keep on talking, mentioning things that I hadn’t required of them to do.They are completely wrong to have thought they could bury them and it would be the end of all my anger. This is only a reminder, that these families of mine who are six feet into the ground aren’t supposed to be the one in there, but these darned evil men.It only brings back the memory of how I want to make them suffer for what they’ve done. This only brings back that memory. Once again, I am hurt by them without their realization. They want to change, don’t they? They want to grovel, don’t they?They are doing it wrong, and I shall be their end frankly.I turn to fa
803RD POV.The dungeon is dark, a replica that they know of regarding all the times they’ve locked their own mate there based on selfish reasons.They are having a taste of their medicine and it plunges at that heart so much. It feels heavy, like there’s a dagger continuously piercing through their chest, reaching out to take away their lives.Now, things have changed. Kaya is their reason for being here, when they used to be the reason she suffers. The emotions spiralling through their minds makes them understand the pain Kaya has once felt when they betrayed her again and again and again.They blame themselves how they’ve misused her, how they have slept with her like she was some dog when in actuality, they loved every moment but just won’t admit it. They regret every decision that has brought them to this stage. But most importantly, they regret that they have completely changed Kaya into someone else entirely.In the fight of good and evil, they have turned good into evil, now h
Kaya’s POV.My eyes open to the sound of wood crackling as it burns. As I stand up, adjusting my weight so I can sit up and rest on one arm, I watch as the fire burns the woods.It’s a beauty that lights up the space and leaves it cozy and warm for me, but what damage does it do to the woods? I think of its beauty and see that, but what happens to the woods? They burn and turn into ashes and are finally blown away, and the coldness is back except more wood is burned.It’s a theory that rings in my head in relation to all that’s happening around me. My anger justifies my actions for me. It makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing or what anyone would expect of me after all that I’ve faced, but at what cost? What more damage have I done and not realized?It’s all sweet until it hits back at me, and thankfully, I know better than to think that darkness is the path to healing me.Anyway, thinking of where I am, I look around to see a grumpy shape, and then my eyes pop out of their soc
Kaya’s POV.“My beautiful daughter, how far apart yet closer than never before time has brought us. I never meant for you to be placed in such a situation, but these are delicate times and you must do what you really want to do. Remember the daughter of whom you are.” My mother speaks with such grace and the tears in my eyes flow with ease.“I should have taught you better. I should have helped you know that in every pain, you must find absolution for yourself but look at you. You grew to learn that yourself. I am so proud of you, Kaya, and forever and ever, your mother and I love you.” My father whispers into my ears within a tight hug, which my mother joins in with.Williams won’t waste his chance as he tightens the embrace more. “I won’t say I miss you, sister, as you’re very annoying, but I love you so much I’d have moved heaven and earth just to protect you had it been I was every minute there with you. However, I wish you can know that in your mind, we all reside there and come
83Kaya’s POV.The sun rises with me locked inside this room, and now it has set. I am pacing from one end of the bed frame to the other, my brows arched downward as I remain lost within my thoughts.I really do hope that Chester hasn’t forgotten me here or his Lords. And most importantly, if he doesn’t, he comes to save them.I don’t want to use force until I know that I’ll be getting some help as well, as I’d need someone—someone who would always remind me not to go back into that trail of darkness. It’s why I didn’t try to use my magic against anyone yet, even when the maids came to bring me food.I can’t rest, so I have been standing ever since, my thoughts wider than the large space of this room. I’ve walked over the balcony many times with the thought that maybe if I could turn myself into a bird or maybe an insect, I could find my way to where the triplets are being kept.While I could have tried working on that spell since morning, because I have the book that Olivia gave me w
EPILOGUE ~A Few Years Later~ Following the sound of Kaya’s footsteps up the stairs, Yara and Nala snap their eyes open. Their sense of hearing is super heightened for seven-year-old pups, and knowing that their mother is coming for them, they jump out of bed. For Yara, she focuses on making the bed. Hurriedly, as she hurls the bedsheets into the air with such precision that the sheets fly in mid-air in their square shape, she hurries about gathering the pillows. Gravity makes the sheet fall, letting it settle back on the bed. Hastily, she has tucked it into the sides neatly with no roughness to be seen, then she places the pillows back on the bed. On Nala’s side, after she has run to lock the door, she’s using her legs to kick up their dirty clothes from the floor and her hands to pick up other dirt as well. Within a few seconds, she had finished cleaning the floor. The both of them smile at each other, two young wolves yet very powerful. Close to the room, Kaya senses the door
97Kaya’s POV.“Kaya,” my ears pick up on eerie voices, sinking into my head. A furrow wrestles on my face as I awaken to reality, and suddenly, I gasp when I feel the intensity of the voices when they call again. “Kaya.”My head snaps to the front, and there are three women at the end of the bed. They are in robes with the hood covering their faces, so I have no way of knowing if I recognize them or not.That aside, the aura they release sends chills down my spine, shaking me to my very core.“Who are you?” I ask with the nerves around my neck poking out.The women speak with raspy voices, an intent of darkness lurking behind each word. “You have seen our presence, great witch, because you made yourself come to our attention. Await your doom, for we shall come for you. And we do; the curse shall be back. You haven’t paid the right price, and we shall come for what is ours.”“Who are you? What do you want?” Although they dress entirely black, at the left chest area of their robes, I s
96Kaya’s POV.“Has anyone never been mated to three werewolves before?” I ask Luna Olivia, and she tsks in disagreement right before she glances at my reflection through the mirror.Olivia begins with a laugh, which results in a fixation of cease on the skin of my forehead. “Truth be told, a fidelity of love you are. I may be a Luna, but I learn a lot from you. I, for one, would have rejected three mates. It’d be a fucking confusion for me.”She isn’t being offensive, though. For the past few hours, we have been having a conversation about how I manage to accept the triplets, but for me, I just can’t say. I think it all has to do with love. Well, they say love is blind, so perhaps that is what I am.Perhaps unlike her, I do not see them as three beings but rather as one, and so far, each time I see the triplets, my inside runs with my heart beating fast. They make my hormones anxious, and my stomach erupts with blue butterflies.It is an intoxicating feeling.“But today is a big day,
95Kaya’s POV.The cold air fans onto my skin, seeping chills that would have my body shaking any other day, but lost deep into my thoughts, my senses aren’t very caring about my body.Disregarding the harsh weather, I remain on the balcony, staring ahead into the forest. Because of the absence of the moon in the sky and no light to reflect any radiating rays, it looks like a block of wall.Ever since I heard about the triplets dying on their thirtieth birthday, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy today. There’s something about the feeling that has arisen since that time. It’s now deep into the night, and I just had to distance myself so I could attempt to cleanse my thoughts.I’m troubled. Honestly, a few months ago, I would have been happy. Hell, I even recall some times when I wished that the triplets never came back; that was the darkest time in my life when I wished them death. Now that I feel like that prayer is being answered, I’m worried why nature keeps punishing me, or better y
94Kaya’s POV.It’s a big night.The triplets are throwing a feast in celebration of their pack and the neighboring ones, working together to attain more peace and harmony. Every day, we walk closer to a blissful moment.The kingdom is thrown into disturbance, with maids running about to get things rightly done. I can feel the heat in the atmosphere, as something like this has not happened before, and the triplets must have given orders to have their plans executed without any flaw.Presently, I am standing in front of the mirror, staring at my own reflection, and something seems missing from my dress.“Elegant and glamorous.” I state the theme of the night according to the instructions given to me by Chester. That guy always finds a way to inconvenience me one way or another.My dress is eye-catching, and I have no doubt I’d capture all attention in the space. However, I can’t exactly place where there is a fault as I stare at my chest, narrowing my eyes from my forehead to my nostri
93Two months later.Kaya’s POV.Shuffling on the bed as my consciousness awakens back to life, my hands touch the side of the bed and feel nothing there. Then, I shift to the other side, still feeling no presence on the bed with me.My eyebrows furrow deeply as I rub my eyes and sit with my back against the headboard.“Kade?” I call into the muteness of the room, only to be replied to with silence. Pouting just before I yawn, I blink rapidly and want to roll down the bed, calling once again, “Kieran?” There’s still no answer, “Kyle?” And that’s when I realized that I was naked.“Oops,” I laugh at myself and quickly take off the robe next to the bed on a bedside table. The weather is chilling this morning, so darting my eyes to the end of the walls, I cast a whispering spell whose effect lit up the candles.My eyes are still wandering around the room, looking for the triplets. It’s been two months now, and almost every night, I find myself back in their bed after many times of having
92Kaya’s POV.One month later.The rays of the sun shine into the room, blessing me with an aura that is needed for the day. Each day is like one that I have never seen before.Each day that passes, I find more peace inside me, and my mental health has never been finer. I smile and open my eyes on the bed, having woken up for the past few minutes or so, but I’m too tired to get out of bed.And then, I suddenly remember that there’s a meeting today, and the triplets have asked me to be present. Although, they didn’t tell me what it was about, they did agree that I’d be surprised, and I shall like to be surprised today.“Who doesn’t like surprises?” I howl as I roll out of bed, replying to my own thoughtful question.Giggling as I walk into the bathroom, I head to take my bath and finish with the morning routine. There’s much to do to get myself ready for the day.Soon, in a few minutes, I am ready to go outside, but I take one last look in the mirror to see my reflection. Squinting my
913rd POV.They don’t know what to do or how to receive the truth. When people say that the truth hurts, it’s never been something that the triplets experienced because they were never weak.But these last few weeks?It hurts so much ever since they gave their hearts out for love. “Love is indeed a punishment that we accept because we are defaulted to,” but the triplets have never been the ones to retire to that.“Love is a weakness. Love is a curse, portrayed as a gift. Love is a pain that disguises itself as pleasure, just so we don’t realize how hurtful it has wounded us until it has broken our hearts. Love hurts us continuously, yet we embrace it. Love is a pain. And most of all, love is so powerful it locks you in continuous pain of betrayal and dependence, and you still crave for it.”“Why?” Kieran whispers as they all stop in front of their dying uncle.Jared’s body is still wilting, becoming more and more dead over time. He can’t move any part of his body anymore, and he’s ju
90Kaya’s POV.“You bitch. What the fuck are you doing here?” Jared curses at me, his teeth gritting, and I raise one of my brows.Wow. I’m surprised. I know he’s got a big mouth naturally, but after what he has just done to his nephews, he has acquired a very big mouth at that.He doesn’t seem to have any remorse or something of the sort. He looks perfectly okay, and if I hadn’t appeared here, he might still be flashing his teeth as the triplets walk one step closer to their deaths.“You don’t seem bitter at the fact that your nephews are dying?” I say as I shift my eyes to them. Kade’s body has weakened like the other time when Chester and I saved him from the hands of Olivia and the other alphas. His eyes are reddened from being strained by the poison.It must have been a strong one, and I wonder why Jared would be keeping such poison all this time just to get rid of the last ones he could call family. I don’t expect less since he was even the one who killed their mother, and I sha