AURELIA
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“Look at me.” He grunted out an order, sending shivers down my spine as he slammed into me like a beast.
“Look into my eyes, mate!” Another order came and this time, I obeyed him even though it was hard to fight against the need to let my eyes roll to the back of my skull while he tore me apart with every thrust.
I looked into the mesmerizing gray pair of eyes that I had come to love. I felt every part of him sinking into me roughly and pleasure and pain accompanied each thrust. For some minutes, the pleasure outweighed the pain but my body still recognized the pain my mate… the man I loved with every bone in my body was causing me while he chased after his pleasure.
Despite the dull discomfort between my legs, I still found myself moaning when my mate drove himself into me the minute our gazes locked, “Alpha.” I itched to cry out his name. I wished I could give in to my desire, let my fingers sink into his dirty blond hair, and guide his head downwards until our lips lock in sync as well.
Oh, how I wished.
Yet, I dare not.
In fact, I couldn’t, not when my hands were pinned above my head and definitely not when my mate jerked above me, releasing his seeds into me as he came down from his high.
“Mmh mm…” I winced not because of the rough sex that seemed to have ended but because once again, I had been denied the pleasure of experiencing an orgasm by the one man I would do anything to please.
He was my Alpha. My mate. My husband.
He was my everything. He was Raiden. My Raiden.
I kept my eyes on Alpha Raiden, hoping that he would return to me and push me over the edge of pleasure but he detached completely, left the bed, got dressed, and exited the room without sparing me another look.
He was done and gone.
Like a rag doll that had just been used, I lay in the one bed I was allowed to be in with Alpha Raiden. Like an emotionless sex toy, I stared at the white ceiling of the only room in the entire world that I was allowed to share with Alpha Raiden. It was a room I had named three years ago and I call it, “Sex Room”
“Always be in this room when I need you.” Alpha Raiden had gritted to me three years ago after our wedding ceremony. “I don’t need you anywhere else but here. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, Raiden. I won’t be–” I had begun to respond with excitement and desire.
But he snarled ferociously, “Never!”
I recalled staggering backward towards the bed as I watched the man I had loved for years stare down at me with nothing but disgust. The kind that I had never seen in his eyes before.
“Never say my name, mate! I’m Alpha to you and don’t go about acting like we are madly in love, woman!” He had said with a tone of finality.
Yes, my heart broke that day three years ago but Alpha Raiden wasn’t always like that. He was a good man and I couldn't give up on the beautiful mate bond that the moon goddess had blessed me with. Alpha Raiden was the only person that I could boldly call my person.
He was mine.
I had no one else so I thought he would one day understand that he was all I had.
I had hope and I’m still hoping that he would one day look at me with love in those gray eyes. I was hoping that I would be able to prove that I was worthy to be his Luna and goddess knew that I had tried. I was doing my best to support him and love him even though he still wouldn’t kiss me.
Huh!
Three years of answering to his sexual call whenever he needs me as his mate yet it’s been three years of no kiss and three years of little to no emotional connection between my mate and I.
“He hates you. He will always hate you.” A tiny voice inside my head chimed.
No.
Alpha Raiden didn't hate me. He was just angry about the fact that he had to mate with the lowest wolf in the pack. He was stuck with an orphan and to top it all, this orphan couldn’t shift or access her wolf yet he had to mate with me. Even if he wanted to form a stronger bond with me, I wouldn’t sense it because I was wolfless and weak.
I knew that much and I hated myself more than anyone in the pack… And there were so many who hated me. Countless to be honest.
After several minutes of self-pity, I pushed myself off the bed even though my body resisted. Sex with Alpha Raiden always leaves me tired and bruised and today wasn’t any different. I could see the red marks on my body as I made my way to the bathroom to clean up.
I soon made my way to the kitchen of the Alpha Mansion which has been my home for the past three years, to make breakfast for myself because no one would. I was the Luna of the Dark Moon Pack yet no one served me. It wasn’t new and I was used to doing everything myself.
After all, I used to be one of the Alpha servants before Alpha Riaden married me.
Just as I started whisking the eggs I had broken into a bowl, I heard the front door opening. Of course, that couldn't be Alpha Raiden. He is usually out of the mansion during the day so I suspected that whoever was in the house with me was a servant.
What I didn’t expect was to see two female servants and two armed warriors walk into the kitchen, approaching me.
My brows furrowed and I blurted, asking the familiar female servant a question, “What now, Nina? Are you here to speak down on me again?”
Nina was the head of every servant that worked for the Alpha. She used to be my mean boss and let’s just say she didn’t like the fact that I was now her superior.
I assumed Nina would say something mean to me but she stunned me as her frown deepened and she faced the warriors, hissing, “Drag the wanna-be Luna out!”
And to me, Nina smirked, “This is your end, Aurelia. I have waited three years to witness this.”
AURELIA~~I have always known no one in the pack respected me as their Luna but until now, no one except Nina had the guts to disrespect me to my face. They usually murmured and laughed at me behind my back but they wouldn't dare lay their hands on me.But that changed the minute Nina gave the warriors an order that I didn't know would change my life forever… “What are you doing? You can’t do this!” I yelled, struggling to free myself from the stronghold of the warriors whose hands were crushing my shoulder as they attempted to yank me out of the kitchen.My struggles were futile, of course. I was pulled out of the kitchen like a lightweight paper by the warriors despite my screams of protest. “What are you planning to do with me?” Are they kidnapping me, I asked myself but quickly blurted another question. “What gives you the right to touch me? I belong to the Alpha and he would have your head for ever laying your hands on me!” Nina laughed hysterically. She told the warriors
AURELIA~~It was her. I knew her. Although I was yet to see her face as she was cooped up in my mate's arms and her back was to me while her face was getting loved on by the man that was supposed to be mine– by the man who didn’t give me as little as a peck on the cheek despite being married and mated to him for the past three years. First time in my mate’s office and this was what I saw? Huh? The familiar shiny long blond hair was enough to let my crashing self know that the woman in my mate’s arms was no other than Princess Larisa Wellington, his ex-girlfriend. My lips trembled, my entire body shook as every part of my already shattered heart broke into tiny pieces and my puffy eyes were filled with hot tears once again. I wasn’t usually a crybaby even though everyone around thought so but how do I stop crying when I was witnessing the end of my life? Heck! He had never kissed me. I had never gotten the opportunity to be kissed by him… by anyone at that. Yet, he was kissi
ALPHA RAIDEN~~I could feel rage still boiling inside of me even though several hours had passed since the woman I was forced to marry and mate with tried to sever the same bond that I sacrificed my happiness to create. The nerve of her! Who does she think she is? Some goddess in charge? Tsk… My eyes caught the dark sky of the night as I emptied another shot of the strongest tequila in my bar, kinda hoping that it would kill my anger and stabilize my spiraling emotions but drinking didn’t help me. Within a few minutes, I was drunk yet I didn't stop drinking. “Why am I still sensing anger from you, Raid.” The soothing voice of the woman my heart beat for, echoed through the bar and my eyes eagerly searched for the beauty of her face. “Don’t tell me you are drunk because of her.” I couldn’t stop myself from smiling sheepishly when Larisa’s face popped before mine. She left to meet up with her old friends a few hours after the woman I was forced to marry vexed me. I might be dr
AURELIA~~“No”I let out that word despite knowing that it would only fuel Alpha Raiden’s anger. He could get angry but I had the right to say no to him. I was done with him. I was done giving him every part of me without asking for parts of him in return. I was done loving him with all of me even though my heart was kicking against the idea of that. “What was that, mate?” Alpha Raiden asked, his voice low and challenging. I inhaled sharply, finding it hard to repeat that single word. I averted my eyes and took steps away from him and the bed. He shouldn’t be able to keep me around while he wants another woman– but he could do that. He was the Alpha. He could have his cake and eat it. “Do you need me to repeat myself, woman!” Alpha Raiden growled impatiently and I nearly jumped out of my own skin as he pumped fear into my bloodstream. He started peeling his shirt off without caring about me and angrily, he hissed, his eyes burning holes into my face, “Strip this instance!”Th
AURELIA~~The next few days went in a blur. Much to my relief and dismay, Alpha Raiden stopped coming to the room. He hasn’t been here for the past two nights. He didn't let me leave the sex room and I also didn't know what was going on out there in the pack. I also didn’t have the energy to do anything more than shower in the adjoining bathroom and wrap myself in the sheets that still smell like Alpha Raiden and I. I was crazy for and about him. As stupid as that might sound. Usually, my meals were delivered to me by servants who would push my tray of almost disgusting food through the space that I woke up to find underneath the door. The space was just big enough to let the tray in and out of the room. Clearly, I had been living the life of a prisoner yet I dared not reject Alpha Raiden and free myself from the torment he was putting me through. The fear of what he was capable of doing to me if I tried to reject him again kept getting in the way… or maybe I was too scared of
AURELIA~~I lay in bed… in agony. My eyes were swollen and my body burning from the intense and unbearable pain that I had to endure all through the night. It was a new day – the day Larisa would be crowned Luna of the Dark Moon pack. The day I would be dethroned and publicly insulted. Perhaps I should be out there fighting for my title and my mate but I was still suffering from all she and Alpha Raiden spent the night doing. I felt it all this time. Maybe it was because Larisa already told me about their steamy moments, I couldn't tell but I felt the effect of every thrust, touch, and kiss that my mate pleased Larisa with over the night. For some reason, the bond carried Alpha Raiden’s betrayal to me.I lay in bed lifelessly. “Please take my soul now, Moon Goddess. Let me die now. I can’t take this anymore.” I thought to myself, hoping that the moon goddess would hear my internal cry as I couldn’t part my lips to speak. I just wanted to die. If I died, everyone would get t
AURELIA ~~ I couldn’t remember the last time I was this happy. No! No, I actually do. The last time I was exceedingly happy was the day I found out that the charming Alpha Prince who had saved me from bullies countless times was my destined mate. Gosh, I was so happy. I foolishly believed that he would be good to me and that we would have a great family. That was the last time I felt real happiness. And to be honest, even right now, I felt something more than happiness. I felt fear. Fear for the life of my child if anyone finds out that I am pregnant. Larisa would have me killed and from his past reactions to me, Alpha Raiden would definitely get rid of my child and me just so he could have a clear path back to his lover. I gasped, “I need to get out of here. I need to go far away from all of them.” In haste, I tried to push myself off the bed but I failed miserably, falling right back on the bed when the pain I had forgotten seized my body again. “Aahh…” I cried out
ALPHA RAIDEN ~~Without warning, my heart tightened, and my breath hitched, causing me to gasp in pain and shock as the wind carried those words of rejection to my ears. … Reject you, Alpha Raiden Flockhart of the Dark Moon Pack as my mate and Alpha.Her words of rejection. I heard them in my soul and I felt the impact in my bones instantly. Pain coursed through my body and god did I hate the way my soul cried out for losing its other half yet I was furious. “Are you alright?” Larisa questioned, her voice sounding so far away even though she had been beside me, clinging to me since the party began. “Raid!” She exclaimed out of what I assumed was genuine concern. However, I snapped ferociously, ignoring Larisa, “How dare she!” My outburst was triggered by the rage and pain that was rapidly taking over my body and even though it was all Aurelia’s fault, I ended up ruining Larisa’s party when I barked out orders to my warriors, “Bring her to me!”I didn't have to mention her name
DAVIEN~~Despite not witnessing or being a part of the argument that Katie told me about before we came down for breakfast, the tension in the dining hall as we ate in silence was enough to make me understand just how delicate this situation was.For me, I might never understand Kyle fully, but I knew I wouldn’t want to be with Katie if it wasn’t right and if I would be depriving her of a life she should experience. Camila was a very young girl, and if we were in the human world, Kyle would be tagged as a criminal if he dared to let anyone know that he was attracted to Camila.Even in our world, where bonds and ties were more intense, it still seemed very wrong, and my heart went out to Kyle because he was a good young man. He didn’t deserve to be hurting like I knew he was.“Being a possessive Alpha male makes it ten times more intense,” Dolf said, lamenting Kyle's situation as well.The Royal Beta chimed in before Dolf and I could get lost in our thoughts, “This is weird, guys. I
Princess Katie Anne~~“He can’t leave.”Davien exclaimed the second he understood the message I was trying to pass as we both got ready for breakfast after Elora left our room that morning.Although Davien and I had agreed to talk about our personal issues after eating with my family, I thought it was best to tell him about what was happening because I perceived the air in the dining hall would be thick with tension.Or should I say Davien forced it out of me when he noticed that I was still brooding, even after he assured me countless times that I had nothing to worry about when it came to us?So I told him about the argument and the effect it had on everyone last night, and that was his reaction.My mate’s eyes widened, and he shook his head. “This isn’t the time for him to leave, Katie.”I was quick to recognize the fear and doubt in Davien’s eyes, and even though I didn’t expect him to react like that because his relationship with Kyle was still as fragile as our mate bond, I c
Alpha Prince Kyle’s POV~~Last night was intense, which is perfect for explaining why I didn’t get a wink of sleep and why my heart kept racing all through the night.While the mate bond remained a constant issue, my primary concern at the moment was how my actions and words had affected my family. Though I was overwhelmed by my emotions last night, I took the time to reflect and realized that I had overreacted and acted impulsively.The Kyle that shouted at his Ma last night wasn’t me.The Kyle that made his baby sister cry wasn’t me either, and the mean-ass elder brother who condemned his younger brother was not me. Even Katie. Gosh, I hurt Katie too. My twin sister was close to tears last night, and she was no crybaby.Guilt and regret flooded my mind, body, and soul as I lay on my bed, intending to stay there until all arrangements had been made for me to leave the realm. I couldn’t bring myself to face my family or even apologize.“You don’t want to apologize because even thou
Princess Katie Anne~~I stood in the living room until my legs ached, and Elora fell asleep in my arms, missing dinner like the rest of the family.I waited for a very long time, and I lost track of time. But at some point, I finally decided to head to my bedroom, as Elora needed a comfortable place to sleep, and I needed rest too.It's been one hell of a day.“He will come back, Katie. I know he will.” Zuri’s voice was both a source of comfort and assurance.I held her words close to my heart, knowing that if Davien weren’t back by morning, I would go to him, no matter where he might be. I realized I wouldn’t be able to stop myself, even if he stayed mad at me.As I closed my eyes, I hoped I would be able to get some sleep, but my body wouldn't cooperate, and my mind also became a battleground as it began to replay everything that had happened in the living room a few hours ago.Once again, I lost track of time, simply lying in bed with my eyes closed and with Elora snoring softly
DAVIEN~~I have come to love the dark.The darkness that covers a room as soon as the light goes off, or the darkness that envelops my consciousness when I close my eyes and shut the world out.I have come to love the dark, unless I have to go through the pages of a newly acquired book, of course. Thankfully, I didn’t have a newly acquired book to read at the moment. If I had one, it would have been harder to just lie still and shut the rest of the world out.“You can’t lie here forever and ignore the fact that she is expecting you back home. You must be feeling her pain and regret through the bond, Davien.” Dolf’s voice cut through the layers of darkness that I had embraced.Sadly, my wolf was the only living being that I couldn’t completely shut out.Maybe Katie would have been in the same category as Dolf if we had completed the mating ritual. To be honest, in this very moment, I was glad the bond between Katie and me remained new and fragile.It would have been harder to lie st
Princess Katie Anne~~What has happened to us—the Seer King Flockhart family?Yes, we had troubles in the past, but none of those troubles had created this kind of mess because we always found our way back to each other.But right now, as my mom stared back at Kyle, whose privacy she had breached, I could tell that we might never find our way back to each other. Kyle was shaking with anger, and my mom, who had also realized that she had made the wrong move and broken Kyle’s trust, was frozen on the spot.I, on the other hand, didn’t know what emotion to settle on—anger, pain, worry, or the one that was eating me away but that I still couldn’t name.Although I didn’t take my eyes off Kyle, I could feel my dad’s confusion as he stood there, torn between his son and his mate. “Why would you read my memories, Ma?” Kyle hissed, his voice low and disrespectful.My mom put on a bold face and replied, “You left me no choice, Kyle. I had to know what we were dealing with—”“You didn’t have
Alpha Prince Kyle’s POV ~~“Kyle found his mate?”That question was expected, so I wasn’t surprised when my mom blurted it out with shock and curiosity. What I didn’t expect, walking into the living room, was to hear Katie telling our parents what I had told her in confidence.Katie went still and pale as realization flashed through her eyes. She stuttered into my mind, “You haven’t told them?”I failed to contain my rage as I retorted, “Of course, I haven’t! Why would you even think that I told them?”“I suspected you wouldn’t tell them without informing me, but I was cornered. I was under the impression that you told them last night. They made me believe—”Before Katie could finish speaking through our twin bond, my dad voiced, cutting her off, “Is that why you decided to leave the pack and study in the human realm? What went wrong?”“You can talk to us, Kyle. Are you going to the human realm because she is too young and you couldn’t make it work, or do you plan to go with her?”
Princess Katie Anne~~Walking around the pack didn’t help me clear my head; neither did it help me stop thinking about Davien. I desperately yearned to be with him, to apologize to him not just because I was in his mind but because of the hell he had to grow up in.“I feel so sad,” Zuri eventually broke the silent bubble she had popped around herself.Zoe, who had been pointing out how she was wrong since Davien ran out of the purifying hut, added, “Me too. I have been mean to him, and all of this happened because of me. I was pushy and unreasonable.”“You sure were, Zoe, but you had to. I believe this happened for a reason,” Zuri said to Zoe, comforting her even though that was the last thing I expected from her.Clearly, what happened with Davien had bridged the gap between my wolves and me, and I could only hope that this bridge wouldn’t collapse anytime soon. I mean, both Zuri and Zoe can be very unpredictable.“Still, I'm sorry,” Zoe apologized to Zuri and me.Her sincerity bro
Princess Katie Anne~~“Davien!” I called out as he ran out of the purifying hut with undiluted terror in his eyes. “Please wait, Davien.”I pushed myself out of the lake, ready to run after the man whose mind I had seen and now knew like the back of my own hands. I didn’t just have a small peek. I was in Davien’s mind long enough to have a glimpse of every memory he had stored.I still didn’t know how I did it, but I knew I saw him laugh a few times, and when I went deeper, I saw the real him. The young boy whose family failed him in all ways. I saw the real him, and my heart ached for him.My heart nearly ripped itself out of my chest when he screamed in the memory realm. Seeing him shake even in that space made me realize the kind of damage that had been done to his mind and soul.Fuck!Why was I in his mind?Before I could make it out of the lake, fatigue hit me like an enemy who was hell-bent on stopping me from going after my mate. Auntie Susanna caught me before I could lose