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 to pause for a minute, showing her twisted face before mine. “You really think you mean anything to him? He despises you, Aurelia and we all do–”
That was old news.
“Tell me something you haven’t told me before, Nina.” I tried to be the strong Luna. I really tried. “What gives you the right to come into my matrimonial home, give orders, and treat me like a mere slave?”
I wasn’t so sure I could handle the answer that Nina would give but what the heck was going on?
“You mean who gave me the right, huh?” Nina corrected me, emphasizing the ‘Who’ like she was trying to prove a point.
Actually, she was.
My heart constricted sharply as it drew on me that there was only one person who could give such right to Nina and the warriors. But he wouldn’t–
“The Alpha wants you out of the Alpha Mansion. He ordered your removal, Luna.” Nina broke to me, her voice carrying mockery. “And to clarify, you are just a mere slave, Luna.”
My world tumbled and crashed instantly. At least that was what I thought was happening to me as the warriors resumed pulling me out of the mansion. While Nina’s words resonated in my head over and over again, it became difficult to fight against the warriors.
Alpha Raiden wanted me out of our home?
Why? Why would he do that?
I knew he didn’t love me but still, he needed me. He needed our bond to remain the strongest Alpha and one of the promising ones in our world.
Although I asked myself questions just so I’d understand the situation, I couldn’t. So I asked Nina another question just as I was dragged through the entrance of the mansion, “Where are you taking me?”
Nina glanced at me briefly, muttering, “Where you belong. Where you actually belong.”
Her response was meant to taunt and break me further but unfortunately for Nina, even I didn’t know where I belonged without Alpha Raiden.
The fear and curiosity that zapped through my body intensified when Nina gave out orders to some of the servants that were outside the mansion, waiting to witness my fall from grace to grass, “Why are you standing around? Get in there and remove every bit of trash she owned.”
A bile rose in my throat but I pushed it down. It was hard not to cry. My eyes were stinging and the fact that I was being watched by some of the pack members wasn’t helping. I was embarrassed. Getting dragged out of my matrimonial home like this was nothing short of disgraceful.
“Why would you let them do this to me?”
That question was for my mate but I asked myself, tears swelling in my eyes. I let my gaze shift to the floor and didn’t struggle with the warriors anymore. I lost the will to fight, sadness creeping into my body like it was created to be a part of me.
The Raiden I fell in love with wouldn’t let anyone treat me like this. He used to be a sweetheart. A kind-hearted person.
Five years ago, when I was just sixteen years old, Alpha Raiden had barked at some of my bullies, “You will treat her with respect unless you have a death wish.”
Back then, he was the Alpha Prince and he always stood up for me even though I was the rootless and wolfless servant in the pack. I fell in love with that eighteen years old boy but clearly, Alpha Raiden wasn’t that boy anymore.
Sniffing back tears, I could only wonder what changed.
Like a bag of spoiled grain, I was tossed into an unfamiliar room. “Where am I?” I asked.
I would have known If I paid attention to the paths I was dragged through but I had been lost in thoughts. I didn’t even notice that Nina was no longer with us until now.
One of the warriors, the taller one of the two, answered gruffly, “Somewhere far away from the Alpha’s mansion just like we were commanded.” His eyes sparkled with mischief as they raked down my body. “You and I could have some fun, you know? Since the Alpha is done with you. You know I have always wanted to feel those cheeks of yours–”
The warrior rattled on. I didn’t even know him… How would I have known that he had such thoughts about me? His supposed Luna?
The second warrior chuckled, “I should give you both some privacy then.”
“No! Don’t leave!” I cried out, scared for myself as my eyes shifted from one corner of what I supposed was a room in the servant residence.
The second warrior whose name I didn’t know as well, retorted amusingly, “Oh! You want me to stay? She wants me to join in the fun, Leo. Who knew the Luna was a kinky one.”
The taller warrior who must be Leo, laughed loudly, “It’s a good thing the Alpha doesn’t want her anymore, Mateo, because I want her so bad–”
Fearfully and with tears trickling down my face, I yelled, “I want to see the Alpha. Now!”
However, Leo and Mateo began to take steps towards me, their tongues rolling over their lips and eyes darkening with what I knew was desire. With every step they took forward, I took three backward but I knew I had nowhere to run to.
Mateo eventually uttered, “But the Alpha doesn’t want to see you. That’s a shame.”
My heart swelled with pain and anger. Those two emotions colluded with each other as I roughly cleaned my face, getting rid of the betraying tears that had been rolling down my face. “Stay back! Stay away from me!” I screamed, hating how weak I was and how pathetic I sounded.
The warriors closed in on me and while I was trapped between their stinky bodies and the plain wall of the room, they chuckled, reaching out for me. I closed my eyes, expecting the worst that could happen, tears pouring out of my eyes.
Look at what you have subjected me to, Raiden… How could you? What did I ever do to deserve–
“What do you think you are doing?”A familiar voice barked at the warriors as the door opened, in time to save me just as I felt Mateo and Leo’s callous fingers on me.
Unfortunately, the voice that saved me wasn’t Alpha Raiden’s. When I opened my eyes again, I didn’t see my mate seething at the warriors. Instead, I saw Nina, standing akimbo with her eyes shooting daggers at the warriors. Nina barked angrily, “Have you lost your minds! Do you want me to drag you through hell with your uncontrollable balls?”
One would have thought she cared about me as she gritted at the two men who were close to assaulting and molesting me sexually.
Without another word or look, Mateo and Leo scurried out of the room. If only I could be as strong and threatening as Nina. Although she didn’t like me, Nina could stand for herself and I lacked that ability. Sadly.
“Crying again? When will you stop acting like the entire world is meant to run to your rescue? No wonder the Alpha doesn’t want you.” Nina growled at me, reminding me that we were not buddies.
I wiped my face again and prepared my mind for more of Nina’s tongue-lashing session but to my surprise, Nina simply shook her head before stretching her right hand forward, revealing a stack of papers, “This is for you. Do the needful and give it back.”
Along with the papers, she gave me a pen as well.
My face furrowed, curiosity setting into my mind as I took the papers. “What is this-” I started asking with a low tone.
But the rest of my words died in my throat when I saw the heading on the front page – Dark Moon Pack’s Court Issued Divorce Papers.
My eyes widened, my jaw hit the floor hard and my heart shattered just as my hands began to tremble. I thought I wouldn’t cry anymore, at least for the day but my eyes stung with tears and there was no stopping them.
“D-divorce.” I blurted, my blurry eyes shifting to Nina’s emotionless face. “H-ow can t-this be f-for m-me? W-what am I–”
“Can you please do the needful and stop wasting my time with your stupid questions!” Nina cut me off without batting an eye.
I shook my head vigorously. This shouldn't be happening.
Alpha Raiden needed me. Right?
He can’t– I can’t lose him. He is my everything. The only person that was mine. He was my consolation gift from the goddess for crying out loud! My legs gave out as I sobbed like the devastated woman that I was.
“Sign the damn papers, Aurelia!” Nina hissed at me.
“No!” I hissed right back, surprising both Nina and me. “I won’t sign this. I want to see my mate. I demand an audience with Alpha Raiden.”
Nina stared at me like I had grown two heads for a minute before she burst out laughing. She voiced, clearly amused, “Who are you to demand an audience? Who do you think you are to not sign the papers that the Alpha already signed? He ordered you to sign them immediately–”
I cut in, my pain turning into anger, “I’m his mate!” Nina frowned but I didn't let that stop me. I had nothing to lose. “That’s who I’m, Nina. His mate and I demand to see him this instant because I sure as hell won’t be signing these damned papers!” Even though he had signed them.
Whether it was awe or anger in Nina’s eyes, I couldn’t tell but I soon sensed that she was talking to Alpha Raiden through the mental connection that everyone with wolves in the pack shared. I wasn’t a part of that connection for obvious reasons.
I wasn’t surprised when Nina announced, “The Alpha will see you in his office.”
However, the biggest shock of my life hit me right in the chest the second I stepped into my mate’s office for the first time in my life.
She was right there in his office, on his lap, in his arms and he was kissing her passionately.
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
ALPHA RAIDEN~~She was nowhere to be found. It's been three months of searching for my destined mate who chose to reject me and somehow escaped the room, my mansion, and my pack without notice. My soul was still hurting and my heart still bled on a daily basis even though it's been three months. “It’s high time you give up on finding her, Raiden. She is gone.” Andrew, My Beta and closest friend said to me as he walked up to me in his overflowing dark brown robe. I frowned, glaring at him, “Why would I give up, Drew? You know what’s at stake if I don't find her.” “No, I don’t. Perhaps you should tell me.” Andrew retorted with a shrug. Although this will be the umpteenth time I will be telling him this since the search for Aurelia began three months ago, I still voiced, “No one rejects me, escapes my pack, and goes Scott-free. I have to find her to make an example out of her and make it known that I am not to be disrespected.” Andrew chuckled, stopping dead in his tracks and ve
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
DAVIEN~~At first, I thought nothing was happening because, despite how much the white wolves Gamma, Susanna, and a famous mind reader tried to instruct Katie, I felt nothing.Katie felt nothing as well.Until it happened.An electrifying sensation crackled between Katie and me, and before I knew it, my mind transitioned into a space that was completely out of the ordinary.It felt strange. I was both confused and curious, looking around for answers that seemed to be slipping out of my grasp. In fact, nothing felt familiar until my voice sliced through the thick, foggy air, invading my ears.“Mom, please,” I cried.I cried, but at the same time, the cry wasn't mine. I mean, I don't sound like that anymore. Over the years, my voice had thickened, but the voice that I heard at that point was soft.Soft yet recognizable because it was the younger version of me.“Please let me attend the party with you and Damien. I won't try to make friends. I won't disgrace you and Dad,” my younger se
Princess Katie Anne~~"Open your damn eyes, Katie Anne." Zoe’s vicious voice snapped through my mind in a way that made me groan even though I was trying to pretend to be asleep.Even though I have been awake for the past ten minutes.I just didn't want to open my eyes—“That's because you can feel our mate waiting for you, Katie. He even went downstairs to get breakfast for you,” Zuri muttered so softly.She was such a lover girl, the opposite of Zoe, of course.“Whatever. Just get your ass up and get it to the purifying, but where we have to be to channel enough to go into Dolf’s memory,” Zoe chimed emotionlessly.Although she didn't say it, I knew she believed that Davien went to get breakfast for me because he was hoping I would change my mind about taking the trip down memory lane with him. She didn't have to say it. I have come to know that she would read meaning into every action, including the meaningless and harmless.“You should get up, Katie. I agree with Zoe on this one,
ALPHA PRINCE KYLE~~As soon as dinner ended that day, my Ma and Pa chose to walk me to my bedroom even though they had a nighttime ritual they performed with Elora, Ronald, and Kennedy. My younger siblings weren't pleased they wouldn't have the attention tonight, but I wasn't delighted to be getting it either. I wanted to be left alone, but in this house, it seemed like I was asking for too much. “You can leave now, Ma, and you too, Pa,” I said to my parents as soon as I got to the front of my bedroom door. The walk from the dining hall was silent, and I knew they had many questions to ask me, but I wasn't in the mood to entertain them tonight. “You know I am not leaving, young man.” My Ma chimed, countering and walking past me to enter my bedroom.I looked towards my Pa for help, but he raised his hand and shrugged, saying, “I can't leave now, can I?” With that said, he also stepped into my room. I began to panic because I knew my Ma would make me break down before her in a
DAVIEN~~After Katie decided to read Dolf’s memory the next day because she was tired and also had to join the family for dinner, I also decided to tell her about my father’s text tomorrow. It would be if she could read my memories too and find out that I wasn’t involved in whatever conspiracy my family was cooking.I would do that tomorrow. I promised myself, walking side by side with Katie into the dining hall, where I was welcomed with warmth and smiles.Elora asked me to sit by her side, and to my surprise, Ronald and Kennedy began to talk about having a date with me, individually and also together.It was a wholesome time until Luna Queen Aurelia exhaled, her eyes on Katie, who seemed to be focusing on her meal. “Your brother isn’t here again tonight, Katie. What is it you aren't telling us?”Katie tensed for a minute before she looked back at her mom and stated, “You worry too much, Mom. Kyle is fine, and I already told you I have nothing to share with you. You can ask Kyle y