The history books said nothing about the curse, and everything else was in there. She had brought up an explanation for that. I should have known she was lying, but I had no idea of what was happening; at that point, I would have believed anything."Flynn gave her a potion; she managed to slip it into your meals before they got delivered.""That doesn't sound very convincing; my meals are only handled by the cooks and maids; they know better than to try poison me.""Of course they do, but then again, there is… Pricilla." Realization dawned on me almost immediately. I had let her back into my pack for Axel's sake; she was his mother despite everything she had done, I wanted to give her a chance. That was my mistake. "You don't have to hate her; it wasn't exactly her fault. She was simply the easiest option. When she came to you, she never planned to betray you or the pack; she had pleaded a whole lot about how she wanted to be a changed person and how she didn't want to disappoint you
ISABELLA"He's out there in the cold; he's not being fed, and it has been a whole week; he is going to die!" I said to Logan, who only shrugged. He never did like Thane; he didn't really care. "You know what? I'm going to him." I headed for the door, but in a flash, he was already by the door, right in front of me."Should I remind you what this 'Thane' did to you? He wouldn't have cared if you drowned to death; he doesn't really give a fuck about anybody but himself and his little mate. Any other person becomes a nuisance—you became a nuisance. He rejected you, sent you away.""I betrayed him! I deserve everything I got and more.""He didn't know about your plan; he wouldn't have cared if you were innocent." I attempted walking past him, but he blocked my path once again. "After what had happened, all he would want to do is kill you; you don't need to worry about him anymore; focus on yourself and what makes you happy."Logan picked me up, his palm massaging my thigh, going higher; h
I could hear the disappointment in his voice, and for a moment I wondered if there was another way; what if he didn't have to die?"When you rejected me, I had felt so broken; I... attempted taking my own life just to end it all. Logan saved me.""Bella, once I did love you. I was willing to do anything for you. After you passed, a lot happened. I couldn't recover from your loss, and at a point, I lost myself. Years later, I met Riley, and she saved me from the monster I was becoming. I can't love two at the same time without hurting the other.""But you've always loved her more.""Yes. I do."Every time he said those words, they broke me, maybe because I knew it was true: Riley wasn't his fated mate, and still he loved her. I, on the other hand, have the benefit of the mate bond; his wolf would always be drawn to me, and yet, he didn't want me. What he felt for her was more than love; it was devotion, obsession, admiration, and so much more. Not even what we shared in the past could
He didn't give a response; that's exactly what I had expected. "I guess you would rather they die than for Riley to get hurt. We aren't much different after all.""No, I would never hurt her, and maybe you are right; we aren't much different after all, but let's not pretend like you can actually get me out of here, because I know you can't."He was right; I couldn't do a thing. I could not help him, and yet I wanted to hear his answer, maybe because I wanted to remind him that I wasn't the only selfish person here or because I wanted to feel less guilty about what I was doing. "You should eat something." "Bella?""Yes," I answered, hopeful. "Go to hell.""You jerk. Do you know what it took me to come here? I was worried about you; Logan didn't care if you died.""I'll die anyway, but I wouldn't wish your face to be the last I see before I die."I was completely speechless. I couldn't hold back the tears; I turned away from him and walked away..I returned to Logan's. He sat on his
Thane might notice my absence from the pack, but I couldn't bring myself to care about that now; I needed to find Isabella or Logan; they were the only ones who could give me an explanation of what happened to Thane. And I couldn't find them without help, so I was off to Jade, the sorceress.Lately, I've been having doubts. What if that wasn't Thane? What if Daemon had somehow gotten back his 'abilities?' But then if it was Daemon, he would have killed me a long time ago for what I did to him; he had no reason to keep me alive, and let's not forget that Jade had promised to keep him away. But she had lost him once, there is a possibility she could lose him again.I flew down to the familiar spot, glad to have my wings back in action; this had been Jade's court, where Nick had brought me to, but the place looked completely different; trees had sprouted out from the midst of the court, making it look like she was never here. I punched a tree hard, causing it to crack under the impact.
"Lately, He had been acting strange, and I was going to say something, but I had to be sure, and then the way he spoke to you back there, Thane would never do that.""What do you suggest?" I asked."I don't know what might be the cause, but a day ago I overheard his conversation; I believe he plans to attack a neighboring pack; the plan is to take their land and resources; their people would be forced into slavery.""A neighboring pack?""Yes, he said the 'Alpha' trusted him enough, and before he realized where the attack was coming from, it would be too late.""Trent.” I gasped, “He was referring to Alpha Trent. When are they going to attack?""Two days from today.""Arrange me a meeting with Trent; make sure no one finds out about it. I will meet him by the pack borders.""Yes, Luna." Again, Thane would never attack a pack who had done him no wrong; the man I had been living with, he wasn't Thane, and I was sure of it.Despite that knowledge, I would have to pretend; I wouldn't l
Riley’s POV I knew it; I knew this wasn’t Thane. There had been something different about him, and despite the fact that he bore no attributes of a demon, I still had my doubts. Right before my eyes, the man who had taken Thane’s form shifted; of course, it was Daemon. “How is this possible? Your skin — it was warm, you walked under sunlight, and you shapeshifted…” “Earlier you told me you visited Jade; did you find her?” It finally sunk in. If he was here, free, then Jade must be in danger or —worse. “What did you do to her?” I sneered at him. “Me? No, I didn’t do anything; this is not on me but on her. After you gave me over to her to be tortured for her little ritual, a lot did happen. Did you know that the ritual did work, Vox—the Demon Overlord, He is very much alive. More to that, he killed Jade after she resurrected him.” “I don’t believe you. What did you do to Jade?” “And why do you think I would lie? To make you see me as a ‘better person?’ I don’t really ca
Daemon stroded towards the door; he paused only to shift back into an imitation of Thane.“Daemon.” I called, and he turned to me. “The Dawn pack, why did you want to go to war against them?”“No reason; it was Vox orders.”“And you just… obeyed.”“Yes. I just obey.” With that he was gone.…..I walked through the underground chambers; I’ve heard about a secret exit somewhere in here. I spotted a large rectangular metal container; I was sure it hadn’t been here before, so I ignored it.There was indeed an exit, the space so small it could barely fit my body. I managed to go through the space, and I headed to the pack borders where Trent was waiting. He had done just as I had asked, and now he was back. I only hope there was no bad news.“Luna.” He called. “I owe you my sincere gratitude. Whoever had led those armies, they would have caught us unaware; we wouldn’t have survived it. The Dawn pack owes you big time.”“This is good news, and I am glad to hear it.” He didn’t know the att
**BETA PHIL’S POV**EARLIER… (MATE BALL)I wasn’t born into any of the ‘noble’ bloodlines. None of my ancestors had ever been part of the Alpha, Beta, or Gamma clans, so I never thought I could ascend to such a position. But if my mother were alive today, she would wear that same warm smile—the one that said, ‘I told you so.’ She had believed in me, even in times when I didn’t share that belief. Pack members stepped forward to congratulate me. I couldn’t recall the last time I had felt this happy.Then, I caught the scent.Many years ago, I would have been overjoyed; many years ago, the thought of finding my mate—my other half—consumed me. But those prime years were gone, and now I saw how people were overly obsessed with the ideology of having mates. We didn’t need mates to be complete; it was all a matter of the mind. I never needed one.So why now?Why now when everything was finally falling into place?Abandoning my half-drunk glass of champagne, I rose and followed the scent. Th
Phil and I joined the pack patrollers.“We’ve got it covered here.” Phil assured them, and they spread out, giving us some privacy. "You’re very observant," he says, and I assumed he was referring to my earlier suspicion."It’s actually written all over your face. You look stressed.""Well, you’re the only one who noticed.""Maybe I do have a knack for picking up on things."I knew he wasn’t the type to share his personal problems, so I couldn’t push him; he’d talk when he felt ready. At least he had admitted to my suspicion that something was indeed wrong.“It all started back at the mate ball. Right after the ‘big announcement.’I had gone to grab some champagne when I caught the scent. That’s when I finally understood what everyone had been going on about. The scent was heavenly. She must have arrived late, I’m sure I would’ve noticed if she’d been at the ball earlier.”I didn’t bother admitting that all this time, I had assumed he was mated. I realized I knew so little about thos
KADIA’S POVMy session with the soldiers had ended for the day. I needed a hot bath and enough food to feed a small village—preferably before I collapsed from starvation.I was heading to the pack house when I spotted Phil. I’d been meaning to see him. For the past few days, he’d been a bit… absent, and that was—well, weird.Ignoring my stomach’s protests, I walked up to him, but he was so lost in thought that he didn’t even notice me until I tapped him. He turned, looking a little startled before quickly masking it.“Luna, sorry, I was just… caught up in my thoughts,” he said.I nodded, offering a small smile.“That, I can understand.” I paused, studying him. There were faint bags underneath his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping well. His facial hair was a little overgrown. He looked exhausted—he’d been like this since the… announcement. Was it all too much for him?“Phil, are you alright?” I asked.“Yes, of course. Why?”“Nothing. It’s just—you’ve been distant these past few days.”
The knock on the door cut our moment short.Normally, when a door’s locked, it’s a clear sign that the person inside doesn’t want visitors. But I guess the heads outside couldn’t take the hint.Kaida got back in her dress, and I helped adjust her hair.“How do I look?”“Beautiful.”“Thanks, but not that. Do I look like someone who just had sex?” She asked, and I shook my head.“No, you look fine.”Well, sometimes a little lie was necessary. Her hair, smudged lipstick, and rumpled clothes would surely give her out, but she didn’t need to know that.I pulled the door open to find two teenage girls with wide smiles—smiles that dropped the moment they saw us.Their eyes quickly raked over both of us, immediately figuring out what we'd been up to, and their cheeks flushed deep red."Sorry, we didn’t mean to interrupt. We came to pick up our rented dresses, but we can — just come back… later," one of them stammered, and they both hurried off without waiting for a reply."Hey?" Kaida called,
I found her jealousy amusing.“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”“Why wouldn’t I be? Sure, she might be a good person, but let’s not forget that you two used to have sex. I have every right to feel insecure, especially with the way she kept looking at you…” Kaida trailed off.I watched her, feeling unworthy. She had been faithful to me, even when we had broken things up, but I was stupid enough to think being with other women could take my mind off her.“I was apologizing for what I did to her earlier, and then she found her mate—she hesitated to go to him at first, but changed her mind in the end. That’s about it.”Kaida ran her hands through her thick black hair. “I feel like an insecure fool. I’m really sorry.”“You have nothing to apologize for.”She was staring at something, and I followed her gaze to Lara, who was kissing a dark-skinned guy. I figured that had to be her mate.“Wow. This mate ball turned out to be far more fun than I anticipated.” She said, I lingered on her expressi
I couldn’t take my eyes off her."Care for a dance?” I asked her and she nodded. It didn't seem like she enjoyed parties much.I took her hand and led her to the dance floor, aware of how people kept their distance. Seriously, what did they think? That I’d take their heads off just for bumping into me on the dance floor?This was getting ridiculous. But I couldn’t dwell on that thought any longer—Kaida was staring.“We match,” she said, motioning to my black tuxedo with its dark blue vest and tie. Maybe that wasn’t entirely a coincidence. “And you look really hot in that tuxedo, but then again, when do you not?” Her cheeks reddened. Kaida could be a badass fighter, but she wasn’t always as confident when it came to... well, other things.I stepped closer, letting her feel the subtle shift of my arousal. “Giving me compliments like that in public is dangerous.”She let out a breathy laugh, her cheeks still flushed. I saw the need flash in her eyes. I had been contemplating leaving wit
The dark blue dress would look beautiful on Kaida. That was the first thought on my mind when I saw it in the store. I knew I had to get it for her..Kaida was on the training field, she’d taken up Aric’s position. I believed it was another way to honor his memory. She trained the soldiers just as he had done… before everything went downhill. I had to admit, she was very good at it. Even the soldiers seemed to be enjoying the session with her."Your weight on this leg," she instructed, adjusting the soldier’s stance. I didn’t miss the way his gaze flickered to her ass for a split second before he quickly looked away, likely fearing he’d be caught staring. The possessive part of me wanted to pry out his eyes for even looking, then drag her into our room and fuck her all day long for looking so damn sexy.The longer I watched, the more something dark stirred inside me. She was too damn close to that guy, and those leathers—hell, they were so tight, her ass was practically on display. I
The Rogue leaders had waited. When the two days were over, I invited them into the meeting room.A maid brought over bottles of beer, and Edna was the first to take a deep gulp, the others following soon after. The maid excused herself.“Edna, Skale, Kev, Gal, and of course, Timothy. Welcome to the Nightshade Pack.”“I didn’t remember keeping you waiting this long when you paid us a visit.” Edna said to me."I’d hoped you’d get impatient enough to leave."Edna chuckled; it was silent and humorless. “Unfortunately, we’ve come to speak on an important matter.”“I assumed as much.”"We allowed a peace treaty with you once, and now we’ve come to discuss the terms.""I made you a promise, Edna. I told you that if you couldn’t keep the rogues under control, there would be war. This time, something tells me you were the brains behind the earlier attack.""Yes. I was. Like the rest, we believed you were gone, and we did what anyone would do—we attacked.""But I guess you were wrong.""Sorely.
ALEXANDER’S POVIt was almost unnerving how similar she had looked to Kaida. Her voice sounded so much like hers—I had hesitated, and in that moment of weakness, Cynthia escaped.It all made sense now. I could recall that incident. When Kaida had walked into the room, looking all seductive, I had given in so easily. And then—she ‘d lifted the dagger to my chest. I hadn’t realized it wasn’t her. For a fleeting moment, I had even thought the weapon was just another tease.But then she’d stabbed me, and too late I realized something different about her—something I hadn’t picked up on earlier. Her eyes. They were different, not because they weren’t the same grey I knew, but because it felt like they belonged to a stranger, not the woman I had known and fallen for.Kaida had taken the blame, but of course, she could never have done such a thing. She’d never have gone through with it, and I couldn’t believe I was just realizing that now."It’s not your fault. Cynthia excels at those kinds o