AURELIA~~With every second that passed, my mind came up with my questions but it all turned into a satisfying groan as my back came in contact with a cold yet warm body of water. It was the perfect temperature yet it couldn’t be described as lukewarm. “Where is this place?” I asked, relaxing into the perfect, comforting embrace of the water while staring at the roof of this bigger hut. The foggy layer over my sight was beginning to slip away with every second I spent in the water. My senses which I couldn’t access before also came to life. I sensed Katie and Kyle in the room with me while other unfamiliar scents tickled my nostrils. Mia Lu’s voice came again, “It’s called the purifying lake, Aurelia.”“You know my name?” I asked. She chuckled, sitting on a stool beside the body of water, “I know more than enough about you, Aurelia. We all do.” My eyes shifted around the room and I noticed the figure of five other people. They all had something in common with Mia Lu– Their gre
AURELIA~~I saw myself on the hospital bed and Tristan sitting beside me. At first, I was confused because while I was seeing myself on the bed, I was also standing in the corner of the room, hand in hand with Susanna. The room was familiar. It was the same room where I saw and met Tristan properly for the first time… The room where he told me that I had two babies instead of the one I was expecting. Susanna muttered to me as if she could read my mind, “This is the past, Aurelia. I brought you here so you can see for yourself. To be honest, you led us to this present moment.” “But how? We were in the hut seconds ago and now I’m here?” I asked her, my voice barely a whisper as I feared that I would be heard by Tristan who stared at me with curiosity while I remained unconscious… well, the past version of me.“You don’t have to whisper. They can’t hear us. This is just a replay of your past.” Susanna said to me, smiling brightly before she answered my question, glancing at our lo
AURELIA~~As I watched my past self interact with Tristan, anger rose like a bile in my throat. I hated myself for crying and I swore to myself that I’d bring Dolf’s fear to life… Tristan’s plan will backfire because not only has he trained me in combat, but he has also helped me find myself.I was a blunt knife but with his help, I had become sharp. Also, with the help of the white wolves I have somehow reconnected with, I’ll break free from whatever he did to me and–Speaking of that, how did he manage to feed me the concoction every month without my knowledge? I didn’t recall taking any such thing from him willingly. I have also been in Dark Moon Pack for almost two months without Tristan. Why have the effects not worn off? I asked Susanna and she muttered to me, “Hold on tight. I’ll be taking you through the memory lane and you will get to see how he achieved his goals. It would be fast. Try not to get overwhelmed.” I didn’t take her warning seriously until the hospital room
AURELIA~~Of all the people in the world, he chose her. Of all the ladies in the world to get married to and mate with, Tristan, the same man who went on his knees and proposed to me, chose Larisa, the same woman who snatched my destined mate, manipulated our bond with dark magic, made my life a living hell, kidnapped my son and almost killed my kids and myself. Anger overlapped within me.Gosh, I had never felt this angry in my entire life. I didn’t even know I was capable of carrying this much anger in my body without exploding. Thank goddess I didn’t fall in love with this man. I did feel grateful for the gift of him but now I realized he was more of a curse than a gift. How could life be so cruel to me? How could I escape the manipulative version of Raiden only to fall into the trap of a narcissistic man? A twisted Alpha who couldn’t think straight? So the only reason he wanted me was for my power and perhaps he assumed I would help him take over the realm. But now that I
AURELIA~~I was living my best life in the hut assigned to my kids and me in the hidden pack while the rest of the realm assumed we were dead. Unfortunately, my best life came with constant anger and sadness at times. I was sad because I realized that no one was looking for us. No one cared enough to try to find us. It’s been two weeks since we got here according to Mia Lu–“Even if anyone is looking for us, we can’t be found. The pack is hidden from other wolves and we would have had trouble finding it if we weren’t brought in by the trackers that sensed our spiritual energy when we tried to create the shield.” Inara explained again. I groaned, “Not like I care but it would be nice to know someone out there is looking for us still.”My wolf hummed in agreement while my eyes scanned the area. The huts were built in rows, leaving a big enough bath between each row. Some huts were big while others were smaller, depending on the number of people that make up the family it belongs to
AURELIA~~I’d be a fool to not have noticed how the few people in this pack stare at me when they think I’m not watching. They stared at me with something close to awe in their eyes and before Mia Lu revealed some facts to me, I thought they were just trying to wrap their heads around how I survived among enemies all my life. I thought they were looking at me because my kids and I were different. My hair was still black as the dye hadn’t washed out and my kids still had their dirty blond hair, unlike other kids with white hair. But I began to doubt that after Mia Lu said to me, “She did that because she blamed herself for not seeing the evil the Black Fur members brought with them when she welcomed them into the pack with open hands and she believed protecting the last of us was her duty as–” “But she was pregnant. She should have considered the life of her child.” I lamented. “I told her the same but she said it’s her child’s responsibility to protect the survivors. Not just h
AURELIA~~The six elders of the hidden Pack; Mia Lu, Jeremy Dunns of the Beta family, Susanna Rios of the Gamma Family, Ross Hart of the Tracker family, Lori Hale of the Mender family, and Otis Bay of the Elemental family; allowed Raiden to be brought into the hidden pack. Although Jeremy, a headstrong man in his forties, and Otis whose personal ability has something to do with green life didn't stop grumbling about Raiden’s presence in the pack. “Lori can mend him. She can heal him faster than all of us combined.” Otis seethed as Raiden was placed into the purifying lake. The Menders were superior to regular Healers. While Healers and medical doctors in other packs work hand in hand to repair, sometimes leaving scars, Menders heal in a way that leaves no scar. For instance, if a wolf loses an eye, healers can just stop the bleeding and heal the wound but Menders can give the eye back. Of course, their ability is limited and takes a lot of energy as they weren’t the goddess.Lor
LARISA’S POV~~Despite getting crowned as Black Fur’s Luna, I still wasn’t a mate to Alpha Tristan. Heck! He wouldn’t even look at me nor has he tried to touch me after the last time he tortured me. Why do men have to make me beg them to make me their woman? It was easy with Jake and the mate I sacrificed to get initiated into the witches' coven when I was in the human realm.But it had never been easy to get Raiden to fuck me. The few times he took me to bed after I separated him and Aurelia, I had to charm him heavily as seducing him wasn’t enough to make him want me.It would have been easier to do the same with Alpha Tristan who thinks I’m just his puppet if my power hasn’t hit the bottom. I was low on power and I needed a charge. A boost. In fact, I yearned to have a permanent source of power and that could only happen if I killed someone and used their blood or got marked by a strong Alpha Male. And Alpha Tristan was the next available option. “How do I make him sleep with
ALPHA TRISTAN~~“You should take your leave.” The he-wolf who smelled like a strong gamma seethed at me. “She doesn’t want to see you.”Although I had been standing by the border of Dark Moon Pack for hours, I intended to remain there until I got to see Aurelia. “C’mon, Gamma Seth. You know we mean no harm.” Louis, who had officially resumed his duties as my Beta after I was reinstalled as Alpha, said to the strong Gamma. “This is a peaceful visit.”I simply listened as my Beta negotiated with the Gamma, feeling more like Louis was the Alpha. I would be lying if I said I haven’t felt useless these past few days. After regaining consciousness, I found out that Louis had become more influential, not only in my pack. Obviously. “Your ego is bruised?” Dolf mocked me. But his assumptions weren’t exactly the case. I just couldn’t wait to get back my strength and become myself again. “This isn’t about your intention, Beta Louis. It’s about my Alpha and Luna's wishes.” The Gamma answer
AURELIA~~Perhaps it was anger or hate, I couldn’t tell. Or maybe it was both. I was angry that Tristan was back to his feet even though I permitted Lori to send some Mender to Black Fur Pack to help him after Beta Louis took the oath, signed the peace treaty, and pleaded for help. I was so angry that my mate had to fall and Tristan got to rise again even though he didn’t deserve it.And for the hate, it was simple– I hated Tristan.Although my hate for Larisa was greater, Tristan wasn’t far from being another Larisa to me–“Talking about that bitch. She has had enough peace, don’t you think? It’s time we pay her another visit.” Inara snarled into my mind, fueling the hatred in my heart. My wolf had taken a hobby in tearing Larisa apart since she had become our prisoner– one that I wasn’t ready to kill just yet. Each time we pay her a visit in her cell, we torture her until death flashes before her eyes, leave her to healers to heal her, and return to start the process all over
AURELIA~~Life was different now. Before the war, I simply trained to get better and increase our chances of winning, but now, I am the leader of two packs and have more duties than I could have imagined. Life was different but one thing remained constant– my life was difficult.“Are you with me, Luna?” Andrew’s voice called me out of my self-pitying thoughts. I blinked rapidly, composing myself despite my desire to just go home, be with my kids, and–“Do you want to take the day off? I can handle the pack affairs while you recuperate.” Andrew offered and Seth who was sitting on the chair beside him nodded in agreement.But to be honest, I have rested enough. It’s been two months after the war and while a lot still needed to be fixed, the pack was recovering better than I thought it would, thanks to the help I have gotten from both sides– White Shade and Dark Moon.Andrew and Seth have been helping with Dark Moon’s affair and the elders of the White Wolves have been very helpful
ALPHA TRISTAN’S POV~~As my eyes fluttered open, I could have sworn that my body had forgotten what it meant to be alive. Opening my eyes was harder than it should ever be for anyone but adjusting my eyes to the brightness around me was way harder than opening them. I let out a groan when I tried to lift a finger and pain consumed me. My entire body ached. I felt so heavy.“Alpha. You are awake.” Louis. That was his voice but it sounded more like noise to me as his voice sent a sharp ring through my aching head, making me groan again. At the moment, I didn’t feel like an Alpha. It took forever before I could see clearly and Louis's face was the first thing I saw. He was hovering above me, looking at me like he was scanning me for damages. “Thank the Goddess. I was beginning to worry that you might never wake up–” Louis stated, smiling. But seeing him so close to me sent flashes of what I knew was the past through my mind. I recalled everything. How he joined forces with Laris
aryAURELIA~~“We can’t give up like this, Relia. You shouldn’t give up like this. Mend him. Do something.” Inara uttered, urging me even though Raiden was gone. Do something… I couldn’t count the number of times I had heard those two words today and I hated the sound of it, mostly because I couldn’t do anything. “Yes you can, Alpha.” Tamia’s voice echoed in my mind. I didn’t know how she managed to reach me despite the turmoil my mind had become but she did and her voice would have given me some sort of peace if I wasn’t mourning my mate… My teary eyes found Tamia and Lori beside me, making me wonder how long I had sat in the dirt with Raiden’s body. For how long has his heart been crushed right there in my presence? For how much longer can I keep this devastating news from my kids–“Oh, my kids.” I cried out, undiluted misery settling within my being, making itself at home. They just got their father. How do I tell them it would be just us from now on? How do I manage this
AURELIA~~I knew I screamed. I felt my lips parting and my lungs pushing out air as my mouth widened. I knew I screamed but I heard nothing. The world went still while Raiden kept falling. Faster than my brain could register. Faster than my body could react. Although I was still standing, I fell with him. Although my eyes were still open, they closed the second his eyes did. I saw the same darkness he saw when he closed his eyes. I felt the same pain he felt when his heart was engulfed by a strong force and maybe I screamed because I knew there would be no going back as that force crushed his heart before I could even blink. “No!” Inara’s cry burst through my crushed soul as she exclaimed, “Do something, Relia.” But what could I have done? After draining Larisa as my wolf suggested, I didn’t expect any sudden movement from her. Heck, she was as good as dead and when Louis screamed those warning words, I was too tired to react quickly. Converting Larisa’s dark energy to pure
ALPHA RAIDEN~~It took seeing Larisa and Aurelia in a fight for me to realize that I was wrong to assume that I could take down Larisa just because I was the most powerful Alpha in the realm… Physical strength was no use against Larisa because she had soaked my soul in dark energy. She wasn’t even touching me and I was feeling pain despite floating in the air like gravity had decided to take a break.Sadly I realized that I was of no use in this war. In fact, I was merely a weak link that Larisa wanted to use to defeat Aurelia and have her way in the realm. I was trying so hard not to scream and came off as a powerless puny before my exhausted mate and my warriors but this pain was eating me alive. It was everywhere. Digging deep into me. I have been trying to block the pain from getting to Aurelia as I could tell that she didn’t need that right now. If I couldn’t contribute power, I shouldn’t add pain either.But of course, that wasn’t easy to achieve. I could feel the pain slip
AURELIA~~Raiden’s scream was heard by every warrior. I could feel every one of our friends and pack members freezing for a moment as we all understood that for an Alpha; in fact, the strongest Alpha in the realm; to scream like that, hell was coursing through him. We all understood. I, as his mate and Luna, knew even better because the second the hell burst out within him, I felt it burning me from within and it was only a matter of time before I let out a scream of my own. “You dare not, Relia.” Inara’s voice echoed, breaking through whatever Larisa was doing to Raiden which was affecting me greatly as I tried to keep the spiritual link between me and the warriors open. If those links should close, they would all die as they would be no match for Larisa’s fortified warriors. “It hurt. I’m burning from within and–” I cried to my wolf even though Phoebe was still right behind me, healing me and Otis keeping me out of sight.“Do you know why she is coming at you hard?” Inara as
ALPHA RAIDEN~~My feet couldn’t carry my body weight fast enough as I ran through the forest, noticing how deserted my pack was. Those pack members who were not in the hall with Mia Lu were with Aurelia on the battlefront where my body was literally yanking me toward.I was on high alert and if I was being honest with myself, I would admit that I wasn’t in my right senses but how do I even think when all I felt was the urgent and dying need to be with Aurelia? It was like a pull.The kind of pull a mate should feel only when his mate is in grave danger. The kind that makes a man’s heart bleed and every nerve in his body go out of control.Yes, I was losing it. I had lost it from the second I regained consciousness and felt the strange burn on Aurelia’s mark which was sitting on my neck.I woke up with the need to get out. To break free and get to Aurelia even though my kids were in the hall and beside me. The second I saw Mia Lu stagger due to exhaustion, I ran and hadn't stopped