Castle’s POVIt had been days since my awkward encounter with Nadia, but I constantly kept searching her out because I genuinely found her intriguing, and our last conversation was cut short. However, it seemed like Nadia didn't want to be found by me judging from how she’d suddenly go mute whenever I was in Layla’s room as opposed to how she’d scolded and observed me in the past.The once mighty Nadia had become a skilled dodger who managed to disappear whenever I was close by, but instead of finding it upsetting, I thought it was adorable and it only meant that I’d have to be one step ahead of her to catch her before she managed to disappear.Well, today was that day.I knew that Nadia always slipped into Layla’s room after she’d checked to see that I wasn't at my post outside the door, so I hid by a pillar and watched her sneak a peek before she practically ran into the room with Layla’s meal.Stealthily, I made my way back to my post and waited for her to re-emerge when she must’v
Layla’s POVMy head was whirling with thoughts of the last experience I had with Ethan even though it had been days since it happened. I felt as though it’d be impossible to get him out of my head no matter how hard I tried, and I’d slowly begun to feel helpless each time my mind assaulted me with memories of how he’d touched me and left me feeling shaken from the depths of my being.Countless times, I tried my hardest to push the thoughts out of my mind completely but to my utmost despair, they didn't budge and only kept torturing me day in and out. Like that wasn't horrible enough, there was also a dark part of me that absolutely enjoyed reliving those memories, so much that it made me desperate for a repeat of it sometimes.And god, did I hate that I had no control over those recurring dark urges.The worst part of it all was the guilt and shame that engulfed me whenever I thought of how I was betraying Alpha Arnold by nursing such unbecoming feelings for the man that was currently
Layla’s POVEthan’s confusion was taken a notch higher when he began to inch toward me dangerously, and of course all the alarms in my head went ringing wickedly because I knew what happened whenever he was unnecessarily close to me and I couldn't have another repeat of it.Cautiously, I move backward as he moved toward me but that didn't stop me and he didn't take his eyes off my head either as he moved with me.“Can you stop already? I don't like this one bit,” I warned him in the sternest tone I could manage but as usual it did nothing to faze him, and he refused to budge.My hands clutched my bedsheets and I kept moving backwards in a bid to protect myself as he advanced toward me with a look of sheer determination on his face. He was already hovering over me and I could barely breath from how close we were but I didn't stop moving away just as he didn't relent on approaching me.“Stop it right there, stop!” I flailed my hands at him but his eyes never left my head and it seemed l
Ethan’s POVFuck, she was beyond perfect.Her body was heaven, if one even existed that could surpass or be compared to her ravishing body. My lips sought to desperately taste every inch of her glorious body of it's own accord and I didn't see the need to hold back.Each time my lips made contact with her beautiful and supple skin, it felt like a chain of mind uttering explosions had been set off in my head. I was been driven wild with a desire that only her could ever trigger and I didn't mind it one bit, instead I wanted to drown in it for all of eternity.At first when I’d moved over to inquire about her odd white hair strands, I had no intentions of getting sexual with her, I didn't even want to touch anything other than the hair on her head. However, my body had a mind of its own and the second I realized how distracting and dangerous seducing her body was at such a close proximity, I couldn't stop myself from touching her.It was like my body and hers were drawn together by an a
Arnold looked as though his body had left his soul as he stared back at us with terror and disgust written all over his face. However, his look of utter shock didn't last long before it was gradually replaced with one of immense rage, one which meant nothing to me because he had no rightful claim over my mate.He now looked like he’d explode from anger with how red his face had gotten while he stared back at us.His hands balled into fists of fury at his sides and he bared his wolf’s sharp canines at me with a deathly gaze also directed at me. Slowly, his eyes were replaced with that of his wolf’s and he shot out his claws and took a pose that meant that he’d soon charge at me.All of which didn't bother me in the slightest, in fact I’d have loved to see him get even angrier.“Is that all you've got big boy?” I teased him as I moved away from my mate and faced him properly.The same second my sentence was completed, all hell broke loose and he fully shifted into his wolf’s form and lu
Layla’s POVShivers tormented my entire being as a new wave of shame took over me as I realized what I’d just done again.What my lack of resilience and my unruly hormones had caused.I couldn't believe that I’d allowed Ethan touch me in more intimate ways than Alpha Arnold ever did, I couldn't believe that I’d let him turn me into a moaning and whimpering mess mere minutes after I was trying my hardest to resist him, I felt like everything that’d just unfolded from the second he subdued me sexually to the moment he left my chambers was an out of body experience.There's no way I was the one who’d gone through all of that, it was terribly chaotic and I could swear that my head was splitting in two as I tried to make sense of it all.Wasn’t it horrible enough that I’d fallen into Ethan’s seductive web again? Did the moon goddess have to worsen matters by allowing Alpha Arnold walk in on us at the worst possible moment? Why couldn't it have been anyone else?Asides the overwhelming sham
Arnold’s POVEveryone had seen it.They’d seen how Ethan threw me out of the room like I weighed nothing compared to him, they’d seen how beaten up and scarred my wolf was, they’d heard all the commotion in Layla’s room and they must’ve known that I was on the receiving end of most of the blows that were thrown.I practically sprinted to my room without shifting because I couldn't bear to walk in my wounded human form after what they’d overheard, I couldn't be the reason why they’d believe that I was too weak to reclaim crescent valley from Ethan and they’d be stuck under his tyranny.So I ran until I slipped into my room and slammed the door shut behind me so loudly that the hinges shook violently from the effect. Immediately I was inside, I shifted and paced up and down with rage burning through my veins like never before.“Fucking Ethan, that vile son of a bitch!” I cleared everything off my dressing table in a fit of anger and watched them shatter all over the place yet it did not
Ethan’s POVAn actual day had gone by, yet it still mattered.I was never one to care about people's feelings or opinions of me no matter how truthful they were being, I was somehow one of the rare people who had an iron clad shield from emotions and I never gave a shit about anything.But for the first time in my life, It mattered to me what someone thought of me.It mattered so much that all I could see whenever I closed my eyes were my mate’s haunted and hateful stare when she ordered me to leave her chambers by threatening to hurt herself. She’d sincerely admitted that she’d rather hurt herself than by touched by me, she’d implied that I disgusted her so much that she’d rather choose death.For a person who’d lived a curse that came with an unquenchable hunger for blood, I was used to being stared at like a monster and being called one, or even treated like a beast. They’d say the most vile things to me and it would bounce off me without meaning anything.However, this time around
Layla’s POV“If you stare at that dress any longer, you’ll burn it to the ground with your gaze” Nadia nagged me as I took one last glance at my wedding dress while I stood at the bathroom door, I was obsessed with it.Beyond obsessed, It’s beauty had become an extra body part of mine.“At least we’d die watching its beautiful flames ascend to the heavens,” I smiled dreamily while still staring at it with lost eyes.“Be fucking for real?” She laughed before she grabbed a button off the dresser and threw it me, luckily I was able to dodge it and if I hadn't it’d have hit my eyes.“You’d explain to Ethan in detail why his bride is walking down the aisle with just one eye” I picked the button up and threw it at her, and it landed on her feet.“If you're not ready in the next hour, there’ll be no bride to scrutinize while she walks down the aisle, I promise you” She shot me a glare just before she took a seat on my bed, pulling her own dress in her lap to admire it.“What? An hour? Why hav
He moved away from me I’d just pushed a dagger through his heart again, there was disbelief, confusion, and pain in his eyes but he only had those emotions because he didn't understand why I’d declined his proposal.After almost spending my life with the wrong man because of guilt, I couldn't say Yes to Ethan while guilt kept eating me up for the great of our lives. I’d be as much of a monster as Arnold was if I take advantage of his feelings for me and jump into marriage when guilt had been plaguing me like it was my second shadow since the day I watched him fall to his death.He stared at me again, long and hard before he walked toward the bed and covered himself in the duvet, an air of uncertainty hovering over him as he delved into thoughts of his own. However, it was as he covered up tag I realized that I was still naked and I slowly walked toward the floor where he’d dropped my dress and picked up. I quietly pulled it over my head and held my arms around my body tightly as thou
Layla’s POVI’d known Joy several times in my life, but the joy I felt as I confirmed that Ethan was real and he’d returned to me was boundless, it felt like an unreal wave of happiness had been injected into my bloodstream and life finally felt worth living again.Like the war was over, and the battle line had been erased, it was surreal.“Are you going to keep staring at me like I'm a ghost?” Ethan laughed as he continued to massage my sore joints.“You might as well be” I reached out and cupped his cheek, yearning to remain in contact with him so he wouldn't disappear into thin air.“Well, I'm real and I'm here, forever this time around” He suddenly pulled me off the bed and onto his laps and I laughed as a yelp left my lips in surprise.“So you can stop staring at me with those alluring orbs of yours” He pulled my face toward him and kissed my forehead, not the quick kind that would pass as a peck, this one lingered like he was trying to touch my soul through physical touch.God,
Layla’s POVNo, no fucking way.It was him all along? Arnold killed my foster parents? He’d watched me mourn them knowing that he’d orchestrated everything because they rejected his advances toward me?“They were all I had, and you knew that! How dare you speak of their deaths so lightly, you monster!” I screamed my lungs out in anger not caring what he’d do to me.Much to my surprise, a smile covered his face showing that he was pleased that I was in so much pain because of what he’d done, my heart was being torn into countless shreds as I recalled that there was a time when I loved him and I considered marrying him not knowing what a sick and twisted bastard he was deep down.“You watched me grieve them, you watched me turn into a shell of myself, you watched me be bitter that I’d lost the last links to learning of my heritage,” My chest heaved like bomb was ticking within it as I spoke.“You watched me almost lose myself and you promised me that you’d find the beast that killed the
Arnold’s POVThe day had come.The night hour had just struck, and I was about to recover all I’d lost and much more.“Are you ready?” I asked Hera who’d been seated in front of her crystal spell casting bowl and brr spell book for the past hour.“Never been more ready” She smiled at me so brightly it could’ve illuminated the underground hideout if we switched off all the other lights, her motivation was endearing to say the least.“Go ahead and cast the spell then” I flashed her a smile as well but mine was subtle and filled with anticipation.She nodded eagerly before she crossed her legs before her and held her hands out over the bowl, from where I was I could see that a visual of crescent valley had appeared in the water that filled the bowl like a reflection and I watched her mouth move as she muttered words in an unknown ancient language.I wasn't very close to her and yet I could feel the enormous amount of power radiating from her as she rolled her head from side to side and t
Arnold’s POVHera looked like she was about to offload the heaviest weight that had ever been on her shoulders and I just stared at her wishing that I could look through her and draw it out of her myself, still Hera was the only person of worth I had on my side so I decided to be patient with her as opposed to the thought in my mind where I was half considering yelling at her and shaking it out of her forcefully.“How long before you actually use your words?” I finally asked impatiently after about six minutes of deafening and irritating silence had passed by.She looked as though my words had just jolted her out of her train of thoughts and she replaced the lost look on her face with her usual demeanor that oozed confidence, raw and undiluted confidence.“You’re a beast, Arnold” She said while her eyed bored into mine searching for a befitting reaction to her revelation.Unknown to her, her words would've hurt and surprised me a few months ago, but as I heard them it only felt like a
Hera’s POVWeeks had gone by and each day I felt crazier than the last being holed up in a disgusting dungeon that wasn't fit for royalty such as myself.Layla had replaced all the guards that were loyal to me during her reign with guards from Ethan’s rogue army and they all hated me so my seductive tricks didn't work on them. I was hoping that I’d be able to seduce one of them into setting me free but they looked at me with disdain each time they came to fling plates of food at me every morning and evening so I eventually gave up on that plan.Life seemed hopeless and it felt like the moon goddess had finally abandoned me and shut her ears to my prayers, nothing was working out and it seemed like I’d suffered so much to reach the peak of my dreams just to have it shattered by a teenage whore.Still, I tried to pull through.It was night now and I was trying to fall asleep by replaying my happiest memories in my mind, the beautiful and wholesome moments that I’d spent as Queen before
Layla’s POVThe entire palace was still buzzing with life in the early hours of the morning as preparations from my impromptu coronation were in full swing. I could hear the clustering and swooshing all around as I woke up in the master bedroom that I’d taken over seeing as I was about to be made the official queen of Crescent Valley.As I stretched out my arms, I heard a soft rap on the door.“Who’s there?” I called out in a sleepy voice.“It's me, Nadia” Her soothing voice responded from behind the door.“Come on in” I yawned in between the words and drew my silk pink robe tightly around my waist as she opened the doors.“Hello your highness! How does it feel to be mere hours away from a coronation at eighteen?” Nadia swayed from side to side with some dresses held tightly to her chest and I guessed that there were the selections for the event.“Uh, nervous?” I told her truthfully as I made my way toward the bathroom to freshen up.“You’ll do amazing while making waves in the ancien
Layla’s POVHera’s eyes were blazing with a deadly anger, a type of anger that the old me would've been terrified of if she saw how it radiated off of her, but it was a good thing that I’d buried the timid me in the wilderness before I returned for the throne.“You can either leave peacefully or meet a disgraceful end that whores like you should be accorded” Hera’s eyes held a venomous look that didn't scare me one bit as she threw her empty and ridiculous threats at me.“That crown, that throne, this kingdom…” I punched toward her as I spoke and I could see a hint of surprise flash through her eyes on seeing how much nerves I’d gathered.“All of it belongs to me and I’d love to watch you come at me so we’d see whose blood would end up tainting these floors” My orbs changed from golden brown to the piercing red shade I took when I transformed into a witch.“How dare you!? You! A worthless rat that should’ve been left in the gutters where you belonged! How fucking dare you address me t