Chapter 58Danielle’s POV:“You’re late,” he snarled. I quirked my brows, puzzled by his sudden change in attitude. Still, I felt an urge to apologize because of how angry he looks. “I’m sorry,” I slump my shoulders. I hear him sigh as he walks over to me. He takes my hand in his, making me look up. “It’s fine,” he grumbled, but his the expression on his face told me he was really unhappy. I peeked at his face but he suddenly turned away. Strange. Every time I see him, a smile is always plastered on his face. I wonder if there’s something that got him so riled up today. Nonetheless, I let him drag me to some café. He went ahead and ordered two strong-ass coffee drinks without asking me. I shrugged, thinking he’s probably in too much of a bad mood to ask. I let my gaze linger to the glass beside the counter, and my mouth watered at the sight. They displayed cheesecake tarts and other varieties of pastries such as croissants, which is ultimately my favorite. I know Tatum wa
Dahlia’s POV:I held my breath when he leaned in and sniffed me. Please don’t recognize his scent, I pray over and over in my head as my heart thumped.But to my surprise, he pulled away as if it was nothing. He revved the engine before punching on the gas.I secretly let out a sigh of relief. Thank goddess he didn’t pick up his scent. I have no idea why I was so scared of him finding out, when I should be upfront and just tell him already. My wolf howled in my head, preparing for what was to come. I told her my plans. I was going to reject him. I was going to reject my mate.I couldn’t find the perfect time to do it because he was sort of in a beast mode since this morning, making me wonder what has gotten into him that got him so riled up.Looking over at him driving, his eyes straight and focused on the road, I felt the urge to ask. Then I looked away, deciding against it. However, each second that passed my conscious was surely eating me up.There’s clearly something going on wi
Dahlia’s POV:Tatum held me gently and softly as he led me into the woods. He said he wanted to show me something. So I shrugged and let him take me there. Where we are going I had no idea, but I trusted him. He’s my mate, after all. My wolf purred feeling his body close, his scent, his fingers intertwined with mine. My wolf especially loved his scent. The more he got close, the more she purred and my body burned with desire, a need. Glancing over at him, I felt my heart thump and throbbed at the same time, knowing soon I would have to reject him. Then, guilt washes over me. Immediately, I looked away. I internally sigh, pondering over what I should do next.I have to reject him. I cannot and will not live through a year keeping Tatum around with no real intention of accepting him as my mate. I made up my mind after I left the house and got off Hades’ lap. Yet, I felt guilty.Is this the bond flowing through my veins making me feel these things or is it something else?My wolf huffe
Hades’ POV:I keep looking at the clock as I sat on this stool in the island, waiting for her to return. It has been over five hours, yet still, no sign of her. Swigging my beer, I bring it to my mouth before chugging it all in one go. The bottle clinks on the island’s surface when the door crashes open. The sound had me whipping my eyes to it, already feeling my excitement rush through me, only for it to quickly die down at the sight of Atlas’ drama queen for a luna. She’s never around, and when she is, she sees to it that she picks a fight with me, my brother, or Atlas before she makes her usual, dramatic exit, storming off towards the door.Lisa swayed her hips as she walked inside, mumbling words in slurs before she stumbles forward. I wait for her to fall flat on her face, desperate for cheap entertainment after hours of chilling around by myself. My hopes had vanished when her hands flailed around before grabbing onto the couch, preventing what could have been my spontaneous c
Dahlia’s POV:I spent the entire day with Tatum showing me around the rogue commune. It was kind of sad, how they are forced to live in hiding in fear of pack members who’d kill them at first sight. No mercy is shown to them, no support from the council, no one else to rely on but themselves. It made me think, with everything Tatum told me about his life before the Alpha King saved him, he still didn’t turn his back on them. Something to think about, before the thought of rejecting him eventually slipped my mind.“Everything ok?” Tatum asks from the driver’s seat, making me glance at him.“Uh, yeah.” I let out a breath. “Thank you so much for today,” I say.He smiles genuinely. “I wanted to show my mate who I was. Be awkward if you didn’t know anything about your mate,” he chuckles, and I force a smile.“Yeah,” I say, feeling awkward. We both faded into silence while I stared up at my brother’s house, wondering what I will do when I see Hades waiting for me inside.How do I tell h
Dahlia’s POV:I get up the next day, limping to the kitchen. Valerian had been weirdly rougher than normal, and Hades hadn’t stopped him from getting his way. My brother eyes me from the staircase, making me straighten up. I would rather endure the pain than give him any clues on what I had been doing behind his back. “Rough night?” He raises a brow.With a gulp, I nod. He squints his eyes but remains silent, which I was grateful for. “Heard you went on a date,” he says, wiggling his brows.I roll my eyes at him.“So, did you and Tatum make it official yet?” he asks, taking my mug from the cupboard. “He thought we should be first be friends,” I shrug, taking it from him, watching his reaction from the mirror situated on the kitchen wall.My brother’s brows crease, and he appears to think. “That’s odd.”In my circumstances, I’d say it’s great. Perfect, actually. I won’t have to deal with the burden of having to reject him before I tell him the truth.“Sooner or later, you’d have t
Dahlia’s POV:“This was carved on the body,” Atlas informs.“Poor kid,” I hear Lola mumble before everyone’s voices fade all around me, replaced by the sound of continuous ringing in my ears.My heartrate picks up, I could hear it buzzing through me while I tried to catch my breath. Suddenly, a hand curls around my waist. My eyes dart to Hades, holding me close to him. His brows furrowed.“Are you ok?” Breathing harshly, I swallow the lump stuck in my throat and shake my head, moving away from him. All their attention goes to me as I stumble backward, feeling my lips tremble as I reeked of fear.“I… I think I’m going to rest in my room.”Atlas nods in understanding, while the guys narrowed their eyes at me. I do my best to hide it by zipping my mouth shut and staying quiet as I approach my room.The door closes with a bang behind me as I slam my back down against it. My knees shake beneath me and I feel like jelly sliding down to sit on the floor.My heart thumped loudly in my ears
Valerian’s POV:“Good morning,” The sound of her voice soothes my ears. She hums a tune, the more she hums it the more I want to fall asleep.I move my head around something soft and squishy, and so so big. Hmm. So soft. So squishy. I say again and again in my head before a small giggle sounds in my ear, and I smile. “Hades, wake up,” I jolt myself awake. That name.Shit, I curse myself as I groan, sitting up and forcing my eyes open. I feel movement behind me, before two hands curl around my chest.Her sweet, caramel scent milks the air, before I glance over at her smiling with her chin propped on my shoulder.“Catherine,” Her name rolls off my tongue in a rasp.She smiles. “Have a good sleep?”I swallow and nod. What am I doing here?I groan, my brows furrowing as I try to remember where the hell I was last night.As far as I remember, I was in a bar, drowning myself in alcohol to forget about this feeling bubbling in my chest. I drank myself to oblivion, wanting to forget how t
Chapter 119Dahlia’s POVIt took me a few seconds to realize how many boxes were stacked in this one room. Sixteen. The only thing that gave me a little comfort was that I only recognized one of the scents. Thalia’s, which means recently, he’d only killed one of the women though I have yet to see proof of Scar’s. That woman is tough as gold. I’ve been holding on to small hope that maybe, she escaped. I also noticed how Tatum disclosed so little information about her, that strengthens my resolve to believe he is lying.As long as I have hope, I can hold out a little longer. I have to.It’s taking longer than expected for me to reject the effects of wolfsbane, leaving me still in a paralytic state though my mind is conscious. Tatum turned his back for a second, when I felt the mind-link open up.‘Dahlia!’ A deep voice boomed in my head, and there was no mistaking it.‘Hades,’ Relief would have flooded me right in this instant, if only Tatum haven’t somewhat sensed it as he strode towa
Chapter 118Dahlia’s POV:I wake up groggily and groan, a loud ringing in my head as I try to gather my bearings. My head is pounding, and I try to lift my hand to massage my temple only to find it is useless; I can’t move, not just my hand, but my whole body seems paralyzed. Although I can feel my lips and tongue, meaning I can only speak but not move for the next couple of hours, or more.As I come to, I hear my wolf groaning subtly in the back of my mind. That’s when I remembered, Tatum. I stepped outside my room for a while to check on the shouting when I bumped on him out of nowhere. Then, he pulled out a syringe and injected me with wolfsbane.Wolfsbane! I gasp to myself.Relief floods me to know that the wolfsbane hasn’t gotten to Diana, at least not yet. Wolfsbane, when injected directly to werewolves, could damage us in unimaginable ways, damage our wolf. “You’re awake,” a loud voice rips me out of my thoughts as I try to look in the direction it came from. My blood runs co
Hades' POV:The moment I heard the commotion, felt the shift in the air, I knew something was wrong. My heart thunders in my chest, a nagging instinct I can’t ignore.The warriors are scrambling, trying to form ranks, but I’m beyond reasoning, beyond commands. My blood burns with the need to protect her. The faint rustle of movement catches my ear, and I turn just in time to see one of my warriors running toward me, breathless. His eyes are wide, panic creeping into his voice.“Alpha, there’s been a breach,” he says, his voice shaking. “It’s Tatum. He’s taken her.”A jolt of ice shoots down my spine. The world around me slows, as if time is stretching, elongating, mocking me.Tatum.I don’t know how he managed it, how he could have gotten this far without my knowledge. We were prepared for attacks, for skirmishes, but this... this is different. This feels personal. He’s always been a threat, but now, it’s a war I didn’t anticipate.I don’t think. I just move.The ground beneath my fe
Dahlia’s POVThe room is quiet, save for the soft hum of the heater and the distant murmur of the pack house settling for the night. Hades hasn’t left my side since the confrontation at the border, his presence grounding and reassuring. Still, the weight of Tatum’s rage lingers in the air, heavy and suffocating.Hades stands by the window, his silhouette framed by the silver moonlight. He’s tense, his shoulders stiff and his arms crossed over his chest. I can feel his emotions like a pulse in the air.“Stop blaming yourself,” I say softly, my voice breaking the silence.He turns, his dark eyes meeting mine. For a moment, he doesn’t say anything, and I see the war waging within him. Then he exhales, a sound heavy with frustration.“I should have never let you go with him,” he says, his voice low but sharp. “Tatum shouldn’t even have the chance to get near you.”I push myself up from the bed, my limbs still weak but my resolve strong. “He doesn’t have me, Hades. I’m here with you.”His
Chapter 115Tatum’s POVHades' smugness sends rage spiraling through me. I stand at the border of his precious pack, my fists clenched so tightly I can feel my claws biting into my palms. He thinks he’s won. He thinks he’s the better Alpha.But he doesn’t know what I’ve been through. What Dahlia and I have been through.She’s my mate. My wolf howls in agreement, pacing relentlessly in the cage I’ve forced him into. He wants to tear through Hades’ chest, rip him apart limb by limb for daring to claim what isn’t his.“She’s not his,” I growl, my voice low but laced with venom.Behind me, my warriors shuffle uneasily, their loyalty unwavering but their nerves visible. They know the risk of challenging Hades on his own land, but they also know I won’t back down.“What’s the plan?” asks my wolf, my other half. He’s infiltrated my mind with filthy thoughts these days, and no matter how much I want to shut him up, the thing is forever connected to me. The same way Dahlia is connected with me
Chapter 114Hades’ POV:Watching Dahlia in her sleep, it’s as if the whole world fades all around me. In this very moment, nothing else matters. Nothing but the woman sleeping soundly on my bed. She looks so beautiful, and the sweat that glistened on her forehead and her disheveled hair did nothing to compromise her natural beauty.I lift my fingers and slide my index and middle finger gently up her cheek, admiring her and her soft features as she sleeps.My eyes move from her dark eyebrows, long, thick eyelashes and freckles scattered on her face.“So f*cking beautiful,” I purr, “And so f*cking mine,” I murmur under my breath, when my wolf huffs.“Not yet, she isn’t,” he says, and my brows furrow.“What do you mean?” I ask.“Look at her neck,” I move my gaze down her snow-white neck, and found a small bite mark, right where her mark sits on her neck. The mark on her neck mocks me, a bitter reminder that she belonged to that bastard.“Not for long,” my wolf growls, and I suppress a
Dahlia’s POV:Slowly, brutally, he pounds into me, letting instinct take over as our arousal lace in the air. It’s purely maddening, addicting even as he drives his cock in and out of me, when he suddenly lifts my other leg and places it on his shoulder before thrusting back in, going as deep as he possibly can in this angle and hitting my g-spot perfectly.“Oh… Hades…” I moan as he continues with his pounding. I can feel his balls slapping against me and goddess, I want more. At this rate, he’s going to make me self-combust with the aching need to feel him deeper…Just when I thought he can’t get any deeper than he is now, he lifts my hips, my back suddenly in the air as he thrusts quicker, harder than I thought was possible. “Hades!” I scream, my hands ripping into the air as I tug on his hair. My hips buck, eyes roll to the back of my head when I feel it.He groans. And I feel his thrusts slow briefly just as my hips buck against him. He growls before picking up his speed, and a m
Dahlia’s POV:I woke up feeling hot. Literally. My body feels like it’s been under the scorching sun for too long that when I woke up, I feel like I had just come fresh out of the oven when instincts finally kick in. My entire body is flush, feeling like it’s about to burst any second if I don’t satisfy my need, my pulsing, aching desire to touch and feel something moving inside of me. And when I open my eyes, I see him, and the ache grows ten times even stronger. Hades sits in front of me with a curious look in his eyes, amused even. His eyes follow my every move, and I feel every bit of need to feel him close to me, so close there should be no space left between our bodies…So when I try to move closer and feel him on my fingertips, a new sense of anger and irritation builds up inside me when he refuses my every touch.Yet, the sounds I make to express such anger comes out as a loud moan, all while feeling the need to have him closer burns on my skin. “Hades…” His name tastes deli
Hades’ POV:My eyes widen, and once again I am slammed with her mouthwatering scent, which seemed to strengthen my senses and awaken my innermost desire. Lust swirls in her eyes as she crawls onto my lap, the slightest graze of her hand against my crotch has my cock twitching. I lift my eyes to see her watching me hungrily, her eyes completely black in her haze. She moves closer, sliding her claws down my sides before she leans forward, breathing heavily when I feel her lick my face. She purrs, and I clench my jaw. Her hands fall on my abs, and I groan when she moves lower.I grab her wrist and her hip with my other hand on the small of her back and press her against the wall. She lets out a small moan that makes my wolf growl with the need to fuck her senseless. I growl. She has no idea how much I want to fuck her until she screams but right now, here isn’t the safest place to satiate her needs.As much as I wanted to claim her right here and now, I can’t do so without risking us bo