ROSANNEWhatever Irene did, it worked, because the next day after that dinner, the whole pack began to spite me. As I walked across the hallway towards the training field, a particular maid eyed me like I was some piece of shit, irritation tugging at her brows. “She's the breeder trying to take the Luna's space. I can't believe the Alpha lashed out on her for his breeder when their wedding was in a day.“ “She enjoys wrecking marriages, can't you see?“ “Only sluts become breeders, you should know that. She's starting to show us who she truly is, a pathetic bitch desperately clinging to Alpha Mikhail for attention. A whore.“ I sank my nails into my flesh, ignoring their whispers which were clearly loud enough for me to hear. It was intentional, but I was in no mood to interfere. Irene caused this, it'd be her pleasure to get a reaction from me, but I wasn't going to give her that. Mikhail had stopped locking me in. Maybe he was changing, but I couldn't really trust him, not when my
MIKHAIL“Do you understand the gravity of what you're doing, Irene?“ “If you think I'm lying to your breeder, I have a witness, and she's right here.“ Irene spat, opening the door to allow a maid in. Irene pointed at her. “She said she saw Rosanne sneaking into my room to steal the jewellery. Your breeder deserves to be punished.“ I pinched the bridge of my nose. The wedding—our wedding—was tomorrow, and all Irene could think about was making Rosanne a thief? Why on earth would Rosanne steal some gem when I already gave her the whole world? I leaned my back against a large chair, tapping my fingers on the desk before me. “Rosanne has no reason to steal.“ An elder cleared his throat. He bowed slowly, pinning me with his gaze. “I'm afraid you can't judge your breeder based on the time you've spent with her, My king.“ My brows shot up. “Are you trying to say I'm incapable of understanding someone?“ I sat upright, my lips curling into a small smirk, “you must think you have the right
ROSANNE I knew Mikhail cared about me in a way, I just didn't expect him to completely humiliate Irene because of me. He was pushing me into the light, couldn't he see that? Irene would find a way around this, blame me in the end, and the maids would only whisper on how I'd manipulated the Lycan king. I was grateful to him for saving my life, yes, but doing this in a grand way was like putting me at gun point. Right now, Irene couldn't answer Mikhail's last question. She was completely embarrassed, her cheeks red as her hands grazed the sides of her dress. She finally raised her head, her lips curling into a faint smile. “Are you accusing your soon to be Luna for her? You think I'd frame something so worthless?“ “The…the Luna is right.“ An elder pointed out, his voice laced with a hint of fear—perhaps from speaking against Mikhail. “The video might have been tampered with. Your breeder must have edited the footage or something.“ Irene smirked. They weren't ready to listen if I
MIKHAILIn my whole life, I'd never felt so helpless and incapable. I wasn't one to easily feel pity, or take back my actions in a moment of desperation, but right after passing my judgement, I badly felt the urge to. Rosanne kept shaking her head as tears streamed down her cheeks. She tried to charge towards me, but some of my guards held her down. The scene was too hurtful for me to watch. Rosanne nearly went insane as Anita was dragged away. Trust me, passing that judgement on Anita wasn't easy, but I had to—to save Rosanne. The elders weren't going to rest until someone took the blame for Irene's missing gem. It was probably a ploy to get her out of the way, but Anita had to give her life down for Rosanne. Anita saved Rosanne's life with hers. After the whole meeting in the courtroom, I made my way towards Rosanne's room to check on her. Pushing the door open, I found her clutching a white pillow to her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks as she kept shaking her head. As
ROSANNEAnita's death sucked the life out of me. It made me realize a shocking truth: Mikhail just wanted to own me, to make me his property, to have me at his beck and call. He wasn't ready to show love the way I wanted it, wasn't ready to accept my flaws, wasn't ready to protect the people I loved. He was only obsessed with enforcing his laws on everyone, hoping that we would follow his lead since he was the Lycan King. But today, I'd stand up to him. Today was the day I'd make a life threatening decision—the day I'd make my escape. Peeping from the window, my eyes trailed over the expensive and luxurious cars stacked right in front of Mikhail's mansion. The pack house was metres away, but I could see the large building from afar. I could tell people were trooping in and out. No one would want to miss the Lycan King's wedding. They wouldn't want to miss it for everything in the world. I inhaled a deep breath, clutching the small dagger in my hands, but a knock on the door mad
MIKHAIL “Lycan King Mikhail.”Staring at my reflection in the mirror, my Beta’s voice echoed behind me as he stepped into the room. His tone was calm, steady, but my head wasn’t. My chest ached in a way I couldn’t explain. I looked perfect in this black tuxedo, the silky material hugging my body like it was made for me. The handkerchief was neatly folded in the side pocket. My hair was pushed back, not a single strand out of place. But I didn’t feel perfect. I didn’t even feel human.“It's time,” he added softly.I didn’t turn. I didn’t blink. I just stared at my face like it didn’t belong to me. “Where's Rosanne?” I asked, trying to sound unaffected. Trying to sound like she didn’t matter. Like I wasn’t thinking about her more than the woman I was about to marry. Pathetic, right?My Beta walked up beside me, adjusting his own bow tie. “Lycan King Mikhail, you shouldn’t be thinking about your breeder right now.”He called her that again—breeder. I hate the word now. Hated how empty
ROSANNEI felt freedom. No, I tasted it. Seeing Anita with her signature smile plastered on her lips, my heart almost exploded from joy. I embraced her, letting my tears spill down my cheeks as I inhaled her scent. She is alive, breathing, and free. With my palm on both sides of her cheeks, I ran my fingers over the small scratch on her face, “Anita, I'm so sorry this happened to you.” I choked, my shoulders trembling as a sense of relief washed over me. Nothing could explain how happy and excited I felt at this moment. It felt like a large rock had been lifted from my chest, giving me the opportunity to breathe after an extremely long time. Then someone cleared his throat, a male, stepping out of the woods with a hood over his head. “You guys arrived on time.” It was Axel, the same pack warrior who always sparred with Landon. I wriggled my brows, trying to understand what was going on, and Axel's smile widened. “Rosanne.” His eyes trailed towards Anita, love swirling in his eyes
MIKHAILOver the last few days, my entire pack was a mess. Rosanne, my breeder, was gone—with my child in her womb. Apart from the fact that it was an abomination, it was driving me nuts, driving me insane. Each day, I'd step into her room to bathe in her scent, to inhale it, to pray to the moon goddess she'd return back to me, but each time my guards walk into my study to tell me they didn't find her, I'd crumble again. I wrecked my wedding. Irene became the saddest bride, and worse? I didn't give a damn about her tears, about her sadness. All I could think about was her—Rosanne. I made Irene sign the divorce papers because she made me lose something important—an heir to the throne. And the damn elders that tried to stop me, I made sure their lives were a living hell. I should have done that a long time ago, I should have stood against the elders, fought with them over the goddamned wedding. Now I regret ever taking those vows. My biggest mistakes ever. Heading towards the cou
MIKHAIL“Take your finest men, search every territory on the east, kill the maid,”“No!” Yvonne screamed, her hands wrapped around my leg, begging for mercy. It was cute that she thought her sister would be spared. Since the Alpha of the Goldenrise pack hadn't given her exactly what she wanted, she ran to me instead, telling me exactly where they were. Big mistake. “My patience is wearing thin, take your hands off me,”The room had gone cold, and my eyes darkened as I waited for her to flunk my order. A twisted thought filled my mind, I had set up the bounty, but yet I couldn’t stop the anger I felt watching as she happily sold them out.“You promised,” she cried, disbelief in her eyes as the guards dragged her out of the building.“What do you want to be done to her?” Hudson asked.I shrugged, she had given me everything that I needed to know. But something still irked me, the clear disdain in her voice when she spat out Rosanne’s name.“Throw her to the wolves,”“Has someone ever
ROSANNEYvonne was gone. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the morning had come and she was nowhere to be found.“Shit!” Axel hissed, his fist hitting the tree trunk next to him. “I should have broken her bones,” he growled his eyes flashing red.Anita was quiet, tears brimming the sides of her eyes, I could see the struggle in her eyes, as much as we were all hurt by her betrayal, I did not doubt that we would have fought to work it out.Yvonne was her only relative, and after hearing their story, I understood Yvonne’s actions perfectly.“We have to move now,” Axel growled, packing up the things we had used for the night. “We don’t know what and how far she has gone,” he said in urgency.I was gutted, even with all that we had been through, I had hoped that she would stay with us and maybe try to make us sort things out.“Anita?” I called out, my feet aching as I moved closer to where she was. She was quiet, too quiet like she was trying to reel through everything that had happe
MIKHAILFailures. That was all that rang through my mind. My eyes darkened as I stared at the last hunter, blood dripping from his shoulders, his pathetic attempt to show me that he had fought and failed. He'd told me he found Axel, Anita, Yvonne and Rosanne in a wrecked building. But stepping in was a bloodbath. Men from the Alpha of the Goldenrise pack were there to capture Axel as well. “Forgive me,” he stuttered, his heartbeat echoing through the room. “He was something we hadn’t seen before, dark, sinister, evil,” he whispered the last part, like if he had said it any louder he would have summoned an ancient god.“A few men, couldn’t fight against one man and two women?” I asked, rising from my throne as I approached him. “I thought you were the best of them all?” I mocked, my claws drawing out from my fingers.“Believe me, he was no man,” he whispered, fear radiating from his body, filling the room with its stench.“Was he scarier than me?” I growled, lunging my fist in his c
ROSANNEThe room had gone quiet. If I had thought that Axel looked scary when I first noticed his burning red eyes. I was wrong.Gone were his warm blue eyes. Now, it felt like I was staring into death’s eyes. He was primal. Gone was his humanity.“Leave,” he growled, his hand tightening around the man’s neck.My feet stood frozen in fear.“Leave!” he hissed in a darker tone.Anita’s shaky hands grabbed mine as she tried to pull me behind the counter, “We have to hide,” she whispered, her face decorated with tears.The sound of choking and bones cracking brought me back to reality. The man who once stood before Axel had dropped to the floor with a loud thud, his neck twisted at an odd angle.Blood mage. I would never have believed it, had I not witnessed it with my eyes. They were perceived to be a myth—some bogeyman our parents told us about as kids just to keep us in line.The sound of claws and pain echoed through the room. No matter how hard I squeezed my eyes shut, the sounds I h
ROSANNEI stifled a scream, my eyes wide as I watched Axel’s hand crush the man’s throat in a loud crunch.The man tried to fight back, but it was too late, nothing could stop Axel, not in this form that he was in. I watched with bated breath as he ripped the man’s larynx out of his throat, his fangs elongating just as the spilt blood touched his lips.Yvonne screamed, falling to the ground as she tried to put a much-needed distance between her and Axel, who had turned his attention to her.A scream erupted, and the sound of metal being drawn filled the air.I was shoved to the ground, my hand, wrapped around my stomach, trying to protect it from any harm.“No harm must come to her,” a man yelled, rushing into the room with more men.We were werewolves but hated fighting like one. They had circled Axel, weapons in hand as they watched his move. I could see it, the fear in their eyes, no matter how hard they tried to hide it, they were afraid of him.“We just want the girl, and the res
ROSANNELeaning against the cracked walls, I watched as the rain tapped lightly against the windows. Sometimes, it felt like nature could feel my pain, feel the agony threatening to drive me insane. I'd woken up quite early because I had been unable to sleep. Mikhail ruined my life. My whole life. I'd thought he loved me, but this wasn't love anymore. It was pure obsession. He wouldn't stop until he dragged me back to hell, which meant Axel, Yvonne and Anita were in danger too. “Yo, Rosanne.” Axel's voice followed a knock on the wooden door. He peeked, eyes fliting across the room. “Ready for breakfast?” Meeting his gaze, I shook my head. “You guys should eat, don't worry about me.” I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't continue acting like I wasn't bothered when it was gradually eating me up. Just like Mikhail ruined mine, I'd ruined their lives as well. I was the reason Anita had to fake her death, the reason Axel had to leave the pack. The longer I stayed with them, the
MIKHAIL I'd always loved the sound of war. I'd always loved watching Lycans shift, rogues squirling in pain, their blood splattered around everywhere like a masterpiece on a canvas. Hearing their groans was like awakening a beast that'd been locked up for far too long. It's like giving the beast in me the opportunity to go feral, to kill as long as he could, and that was how I felt by giving into Lex. We stood at the battle field, listening to the lost souls find their way to damn fucking hell. Lex was large, larger than any Lycan here, and as a rogue stood before me, in his wolf form, I could literally see the fear spread across his face. He took a step backwards, and I a step forward. My pack had been peaceful for way too long. We'd stayed out of every dispute for the sake of peace. As the Lycan king, I'd tried to solve things the right way—not all times—but these rouges still had the guts to drag a war to my pack? I wasn't just going to let it slide. I would take them, t
ROSANNE “I'm glad you're much stronger now.” Reaching for Anita's hands, I gave it a light squeeze. Her lips bloomed into a small smile. Anita's face was still a little pale. She looked frail, unhealthy, but she'd stepped down from the stairs alone. She'd eaten breakfast and lunch without puking her guts out. “I heard you saved my life.” “I just got the herbs you needed.” “You risked your life and your baby's.”“That's what friends do for each other, isn't it?” “Sisters.” Anita's smile widened. “Friends might not go to that extent, but sisters would do it a thousand times for each other.” No argument, she was right. It'd just been a few days since I last stepped out of this abandoned, shaky house. Axel had told me the patrols became even more strict, and people were more eager to find me. Soon, they'd be knocking on that damned door to get me out. Yvonne stepped out of the kitchen, wiping a sheen of sweat from her forehead. Wearing a brown apron we'd found in this house, s
MIKHAILThe hall was filled with Alpha after Alpha. Some stood with arms crossed, waiting to hear what I had to say. Others shifted uncomfortably, their eyes flickering with fear. None of them dared speak first.I stood before them, hands clenched at my sides, rage boiling just beneath the surface."She is a traitor," I said, my voice sharp like broken glass. "Rosanne. My mate. My wife."Murmurs stirred among them."She ran from me," I continued. "She took my child with her. And any of you who dare to shelter her will suffer the wrath of the crown."I threw the bounty file down on the long table, the signature of me, the Lycan King pressed scrambled boldly. "Find her, bring her back. Alive."The words tasted like poison.Somewhere inside, I hoped she would be dragged in, bloodied and breathing, just so I could see her again. I wanted to shake her. I wanted to hold her. I wanted to demand why she left me—and maybe, if she cried enough, I'd even forgive her.But none of that mattered he