AQUAWhen I vowed to myself that Hannah was going to pay for what she did, I truly meant it. That was why she was currently repeating a section of the rules, explaining it for the fourth time. I could tell she was about to lose her temper, but that was exactly what I wanted.I needed an excuse to make her pay for her actions. "That's enough," I interrupted her before she could repeat it for the seventh time. My ears were already aching, and the person I was waiting for had yet to arrive. "Why don't you go and fetch me some juice?"Hannah’s eyes blazed with indignation. "But you have maids waiting on you! Why the hell are you sending me?" She protested, her voice sharp and rising."Because serving the Luna Queen is an honor," I replied coolly. On a normal day, I took pleasure in reminding her that soon, I would become the most prestigious woman in the Wysteria continent. Today felt especially fitting for this reminder, as she appeared ready to explode.When she stubbornly refused to m
AQUAWhen I opened my eyes again, I found myself in my room. The curtains were already closed, and the lights above my head were dim. I leaned against the headboard, trying to gather the scattered fragments of my memory. My lessons...the orange juice...me falling unconscious. My heart hammered in my chest when I remembered that I was poisoned. Now it all made sense why my throat felt dry and itchy; also, it must be the reason why my body ached all over. Just when I was about to reach for my phone to call someone in, the door suddenly swung open with a loud thud. Ella stood at the door, holding a tray in her hand. “Your Highness!” She gasped, clearly surprised to see me awake. “I'm so glad that you have finally regained consciousness. You have no idea how worried we all were about you.”I watched her place the tray on the bedside drawer, revealing a bowl of soup. “Have the guards caught Hannah like I instructed?” I asked. Ella nodded. “Yes, they did. They managed to apprehend her
AQUAA week later. I was lying on the couch discussing bridal gowns with my maids when I heard a strange noise. The air felt different as we all turned to look toward the sound. I exchanged an alarmed glance with them before getting up from the couch and walking down the hallway. I figured it wasn’t anything serious. Maybe it was just Fawn taking out her frustrations on some poor toy. However, as I made my way down the hallway, I realized the noise wasn’t coming from the upper floor as I had initially thought. I continued toward the back door, following the source of the sounds. What I saw almost made my heart stop. A mob was gathered outside, throwing stones at our house.Afraid, I rushed upstairs to check on Fawn who I'd sworn to protect with my life. My heart pounded loudly in my ears with each step I took, praying that she hadn't left the house or wandered somewhere in the forest. Fawn was her father's life, and I knew he would have no future without her.I kicked open the door
AQUAMy heart dropped when I heard her words. It felt like I was torn between disbelief and the panic that had risen in my chest. But of course, it all made sense now. If that old woman were alive and healthy, she would have never let this angry mob assemble to harm her only great-granddaughter. “She's dead?” I repeated dumbly. The pack priestess was supposed to be my reserve plan to suppress these people, but her unexpected death was something that I also intended to take advantage of. “Why haven't we held a funeral yet? Why hasn't an announcement been made?”At that moment, someone from the crowd suddenly spoke. “Who the hell would mourn that old witch?! She deserves what she got!”A flash of red passed my eyes when I heard his words. I wasn't her biggest fan, but she was still Fawn's family. I couldn't imagine how devastated she would be when she found out she was gone. I closed my eyes to control my emotions before facing the crowd again."According to the laws of the pack, there
AQUANow it was 8 pm.The angry mob and the elders were still outside the house, looking for a way to get in. They tried everything they could, but the house's defenses were top-notch, designed with the latest technology, so I knew we were going to be safe.For now."Has anyone heard from Bodhi? Anything?" I asked, my desperate eyes scanning the staff in the house. Due to the chaos happening outside, no one had gone home yet, so they were forced to stay with us.Ella, who had been quiet since she entered the house, finally spoke when she heard me. "I just received a message that he was deployed to fight the rogue wolves trying to evade our borders. He left with most of the sentinels, so there were no reinforcements when our guards were attacked," she explained.My head started pounding as I tried to think of a solution to solve the situation. I knew it was only a matter of time before these people came up with a plan to infiltrate the house that actually worked this time, and then we
AQUAHogan froze midstep when he heard my words. The six-foot, muscular blonde man who had been cooking for Gunnar for over ten years gave me the most sinister look I have ever received. I couldn't help but retreat when I saw him take a menacing step towards me."You're not supposed to be here, Your Highness," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Does anyone know you're here?""I don't need to report to anyone about whereabouts because this is my house," I asserted, my voice sharp and clear. I noticed he had already retracted his claws so I did the same. "What were you doing in the kitchen storage room?"It was the only place we hadn't checked in the house, mostly because Hogan had always been sensitive about letting people in. He would spend the entire day talking about food contamination so I guess all of us were just subconsciously afraid of getting on his bad side.But now, it turned out that he was the traitor we had been looking for."Move aside, Hogan," I ordered. The air in the ro
AQUAOnce I heard the noise from the living room, I pushed Fawn into the kitchen and locked the door. The air was thick with tension, and our ragged breaths broke the eerie silence that enveloped the room. My heart raced as we waited, straining to hear the sounds from the other side of the door. But then, a sharp scream pierced through the air, followed by a series of female cries that sent a fresh wave of panic through me."Shut the fuck up!" Nathaniel barked. When the women's cries were finally reduced to frightened sobs, he muttered some words to the guards before turning to them. "I have no intention to hurt you, but if you don't tell me where Aqua and that little devil spawn are right now, then all of you are going to pay dearly for your silence."Ella remained unfazed by his threat. "But we are telling the truth! No one saw where Her Highness went after she gave us orders to search for her daughter."Nathaniel ignored her and continued to speak to the other ladies, but none of t
AQUAThe first time I heard about hunter wolves was when I was in the Wind Ridge Pack. They were used to hunt a notorious thief who had broken into Julie's house one summer. The news spread across the pack in less than four hours, mostly because they didn't give us a choice to accept it or not. But if there was one thing I learned back then, it was that those people were ruthless. The kind of people capable of doing anything as long as they captured their prey. Some said they did it because they didn't have any other choice, considering the tight competition in the business. But others said they were psychos, people who enjoyed seeing the pain they inflicted on others. That's why I knew we were in deep shit now. The hunter wolf inhaled, breathing in the cool night air that was faint with our scents. It's the very reason why I had chosen to stay up in the trees, holding that the harsh wind current would mask our scents. But he still catches it nonetheless. “Their scents are still
AQUA I woke up to the sound of water running somewhere. My vision blurred for a second, and then I was able to recognize my surroundings. This seemed to be River’s bedroom, a place that I had visited so many times. The room was well-lit but extremely messy, like he hadn't visited the place for a long time. There were clothes spilling out of his closet and some books scattered across the floor, the kind of mess that River would have never tolerated in the past. I tried to flex my aching limbs to adjust my position only to discover they were bound. The biting grip of the rough ropes digging into my flesh hurt enough to bring tears into my eyes. Panic instantly gripped my heart before my mind could even catch up to the situation. How the hell did I even get here? Where was River? Instinct immediately took over as I tried to retract my claws, hoping to free myself from the tight ropes. But these things were sturdier than I had anticipated, almost as if they were made from another
GUNNAR The sun was high in the sky when we finally reached the boundary of the Storm Fire pack. My men were exhausted from the heat, their bodies glistening with sweat after fighting off a pack of hyenas lingering near the territory. I could sense their fatigue through the pack link but chose not to acknowledge it. I wasn't trying to be ruthless; I knew their job wasn't unfinished. As soon as I stepped into the forest that marked our pack territory, I sensed something was wrong. The weapons the patrols were carrying were not the standard gear I had approved for pack security, which likely meant my family was in danger.I held up my hand to warn my men, who were trudging right behind me. The noise instantly faded into silence as tension seeped into the air. We watched the patrols head towards our location as we concealed ourselves behind the trees.Even their uniforms were different, I noticed when my eyes landed on a badge on one of the men's shirts. At this point, I was starting to
AQUAWhen we returned to the pack, Wilder took us straight to the Kincaid mansion, where the elders were already waiting. My stomach twisted as I climbed the stairs, flanked by guards, every step heavier than the last.Their eyes followed me like a shadow, and the fact that I sensed it made me even more nauseous. These were the same familiar faces that had stood in my living room just two weeks ago, offering smiles, congratulations on my engagement, and pledging undying loyalty to the Alpha King. Now, they sat cold and silent, the weight of their betrayal hanging in the air like a storm about to break.They’d all chosen Nathaniel.And that meant Gunnar’s throne…was no longer safe."What, are you surprised that we got the elders on our side?" Wilder released a low chuckle after he noticed my glare. "Don't be, darling. You'd be surprised at how dissatisfied they have been with your mate's way of doing things."At that moment, I was barely restraining myself from punching him in the fac
AQUA After Saint's death, Odin led Fawn and me to the pack boundary, the weight of our grief hanging heavily in the air. We journeyed for an entire day under a dense canopy of trees without taking a single break. Sunlight filtered through the tree, casting a path over me and my stepdaughter.I nearly stumbled over a root but managed to catch myself before I hit the ground. However, the sudden impact jolted Fawn awake, so I mumbled a soft apology before adjusting her to my body. Despite everything, the wolf didn't stop and continued to walk ahead of us. With each step, I could sense the exhaustion radiating from the wolf beside us, his powerful frame still trembling from the ferocity of that intense fight. He must have been devastated about the loss of his brother, yet he continued to push himself to complete the mission given to him. As we moved deeper into the woods, the air grew thick and rich with the scent of damp earth and pine, grounding yet unsettling. The guards had stopped
GUNNARI was several miles away from the Storm Fire pack when I felt it.The pain. The sorrow. The fury.All these feelings struck my heart like a tempest, consuming my senses until I couldn't think anymore. My heart felt so constricted that I couldn't stand anymore, causing me to fall on one knee. When my men saw this, they immediately rushed towards me in concern, but I stopped them with my raised hand. They must have been so shocked they couldn't control their emotions because I felt all their fears crash into my heart.Was it possible they were almost scared to death because of my sudden fall?No, that wasn't it. The general sense of unease spread among the soldiers, making them jittery. I pushed myself to stand, my legs trembling as they bore my weight against the unseen burden pressing down on my heart. Then, a piercing howl sliced through the heavy air, sharp and haunting, reverberating off the trees and sending a chill down my spine. Others might not know where it came from, b
AQUAThe first time I heard about hunter wolves was when I was in the Wind Ridge Pack. They were used to hunt a notorious thief who had broken into Julie's house one summer. The news spread across the pack in less than four hours, mostly because they didn't give us a choice to accept it or not. But if there was one thing I learned back then, it was that those people were ruthless. The kind of people capable of doing anything as long as they captured their prey. Some said they did it because they didn't have any other choice, considering the tight competition in the business. But others said they were psychos, people who enjoyed seeing the pain they inflicted on others. That's why I knew we were in deep shit now. The hunter wolf inhaled, breathing in the cool night air that was faint with our scents. It's the very reason why I had chosen to stay up in the trees, holding that the harsh wind current would mask our scents. But he still catches it nonetheless. “Their scents are still
AQUAOnce I heard the noise from the living room, I pushed Fawn into the kitchen and locked the door. The air was thick with tension, and our ragged breaths broke the eerie silence that enveloped the room. My heart raced as we waited, straining to hear the sounds from the other side of the door. But then, a sharp scream pierced through the air, followed by a series of female cries that sent a fresh wave of panic through me."Shut the fuck up!" Nathaniel barked. When the women's cries were finally reduced to frightened sobs, he muttered some words to the guards before turning to them. "I have no intention to hurt you, but if you don't tell me where Aqua and that little devil spawn are right now, then all of you are going to pay dearly for your silence."Ella remained unfazed by his threat. "But we are telling the truth! No one saw where Her Highness went after she gave us orders to search for her daughter."Nathaniel ignored her and continued to speak to the other ladies, but none of t
AQUAHogan froze midstep when he heard my words. The six-foot, muscular blonde man who had been cooking for Gunnar for over ten years gave me the most sinister look I have ever received. I couldn't help but retreat when I saw him take a menacing step towards me."You're not supposed to be here, Your Highness," he said, cracking his knuckles. "Does anyone know you're here?""I don't need to report to anyone about whereabouts because this is my house," I asserted, my voice sharp and clear. I noticed he had already retracted his claws so I did the same. "What were you doing in the kitchen storage room?"It was the only place we hadn't checked in the house, mostly because Hogan had always been sensitive about letting people in. He would spend the entire day talking about food contamination so I guess all of us were just subconsciously afraid of getting on his bad side.But now, it turned out that he was the traitor we had been looking for."Move aside, Hogan," I ordered. The air in the ro
AQUANow it was 8 pm.The angry mob and the elders were still outside the house, looking for a way to get in. They tried everything they could, but the house's defenses were top-notch, designed with the latest technology, so I knew we were going to be safe.For now."Has anyone heard from Bodhi? Anything?" I asked, my desperate eyes scanning the staff in the house. Due to the chaos happening outside, no one had gone home yet, so they were forced to stay with us.Ella, who had been quiet since she entered the house, finally spoke when she heard me. "I just received a message that he was deployed to fight the rogue wolves trying to evade our borders. He left with most of the sentinels, so there were no reinforcements when our guards were attacked," she explained.My head started pounding as I tried to think of a solution to solve the situation. I knew it was only a matter of time before these people came up with a plan to infiltrate the house that actually worked this time, and then we