I had doubts... I hadn't believed my mother was capable; this had been the same woman I lived with all my life, but here I was in her apartment... And now I think maybe I was very wrong; maybe I just never knew who my mother truly was; she might have hidden that part so well from me.“You were away for a few days. Where did you go?” I asked, my gaze burning into her.“I do not have to report to you; I am your mother, and I have the right to be wherever I want to be.”“A messenger was sent from the New Blood Pack, Thane had assembled soldiers to search for the offender. I can only help you if you talk to me,” I said to her.I could see the fight in her eyes die away.“I had been so close,” she says, and I shouldn't be surprised, yet I was because I hoped she wasn't involved; I hope it was just a mere coincidence, and maybe that had always been my problem... I hoped a lot.“I don't believe you; how did you do all that?” I asked staring at her, she was strong for a woman in her late thir
Thane was already there by the time I returned back to our room.That could only mean one thing.“Where did you go?” He asked“I needed to take some air... why?”He turned to me. He was only in a black bottom-down shirt; the sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up, and he had a glass of whiskey in his hands.“You are back early.” I noted aloud.“Yes” was his only response, his gaze on the glass in his hands.“Any luck tracking down the rebel?” I asked“Let's not talk about that right now,” he says, and I let out a sigh of relief.I walked towards him, and he took my hands.“You are very special to me,” he says, and my heart fluttered. This was the second time he had told me that. “I want you to tell me now, is there anything I need to know, Riley?”There it was. He knew something; I was almost sure about it, but never would I give my mother up.“I am not hiding anything from you, Thane,” I lied, and he nodded. He brought my hands to his lips, placing a kiss on it.“I'll miss this a lo
Thane had never gone back on his words; I knew that, yet I could only hope; I had no other option.“Thane, please don't do this; I can't live without her. Don't take her away from me; please do something,” I begged, going on my knees before him.I was willing to degrade myself—anything it took—just for her life to be spared.“I will do anything; I will be anything you want me to be, and I will not complain once, if only you will spare her life,” I said. I was practically begging to become his toy, begging him to take me as whatever he sees fit, just to save my mother.“Get up. There is no such thing as mercy, not in this pack. She did wrong, and she had already accepted her fate; you should too,” he says, his tone cold and unyielding.“No, you can’t do this... please for me.”Thane eyes were on me, no smirk on his lips this time. “I have to do this for the pack; no one goes against me or the Alpha King and stay alive.”“Alpha Slade deserved what he got.”“And I am not the one to judge
I lay at the very edge of the bed, and if Thane noticed that I had still been awake, he said nothing. I didn't know how I was going to help my mother, and it was killing me; my brain was completely blank and it was frustrating. I rolled over, feeling very restless; it didn't even help that I shared the same bed with Thane. I rose from the bed, taking my pillow along. As silently as I could, I tiptoed to the cushion and laid on it. I needed space; I needed to be away from ‘him’ even for a while.“Riley, please don’t punish yourself; return back to the bed.” Thane’s voice startled me.“No, I am fine here.”“You are not; I’ll sleep elsewhere if that is what you want.”“My mother is being held captive; the place I’m going to sleep is the least of my worries right now,” I snapped before settling on the couch.I wouldn’t let myself have even a glimpse of sleep; I didn’t deserve it..Morning came too fast, and I had come up with nothing but more desperate ideas. I was going to do every si
The woman standing before me had the same colour of hair my mother did, but slightly different eye color. She did look very much like my mother, but slightly younger; she was sobbing silently, and I noticed her swollen eye and her mouth... her tongue was missing, preventing her from speaking.Slade walked forward. He stared the woman up and down and scowled in irritation—this wasn’t what he was expecting, and it was a wound to his ego. He kicked the woman hard, and she fell to the ground. I am sure he broke a bone. Thane stared down at the woman, and I saw something flash in his eyes as he picked her up; she could hardly stand.“She is from my pack, and I had promised you she would be dead,” Thane said to his father.Slade didn’t seem satisfied by that; leaving it up to him, he would have lengthened the woman’s torture. Thane whispered something in the woman’s ears before slitting her throat. She choked on her own blood, clutching on to her throat as she dropped to the ground.He had
I had visited Nelly’s parents, Thane, by my side; his face was blank of emotions, but I knew it was all a facade.What exactly did he feel? Did he regret his actions?. I couldn’t tell, yet this had been the same man who killed many with a single care.Axel had sat beside Nelly’s mother, who sobbed silently, her mate trying her best to comfort her.I wiped off the tears trailing down my cheeks.Thane had told me he was going to make sure they never lacked; he did feel guilty for this. Nelly was only twenty-seven, living with her brother, who was one of the pack soldiers, and her mate, who had been sick for years now; that was all I knew about her. I killed her; I caused this.Lost in thoughts I hadn’t realized Nelly’s mother was walking towards me; I noticed she avoided Thane. I had expected her accusing eyes directed at me, but her eyes were warm, though filled with pain and anger but not directed at me.“I’ll like to talk to Luna,” she informed the room.What did she want to talk abo
Thane was right; I didn’t need any external help to connect with my wolf’s side.I got accustomized to running on all fours; my senses weren’t as overwhelming as they had been the first time I transformed.I felt... free and finally complete..My clothes waited for me, just where I had left them before I transformed and I put them back on.I heard the footsteps approaching, even before I saw him."Hey,” the stranger called. Maybe not exactly a stranger; I had seen him before, but I couldn’t quite place where I had seen him.“You startled me." I lied“I’m sorry, Luna. I didn’t know it was you.”“What are you doing here?”I face-palmed myself ‘internally’ the moment I asked that question. This was no private space; anyone could come here at their free will.“I just needed to clear my head,” he said, a small sad smile on his face. He was good-looking—the type you really wouldn’t notice till you looked closer. I should walk away, but then I remembered my duty as the Luna, and he did look
I woke up feeling dizzy. My head hurt, and my throat felt so sore.And there stood Jake.“She’s awake,” he says to himself; the sadness I had once seen in his eyes was gone, and all that was left was rage.“Yeah, I am awake." I manage to say, “What next?, kill me?. He would find me and then kill you.” I threatened.“Just like he killed my sister?” Jake questioned, the single tear slipping down his eyes; he wiped it away, angry at himself for letting me see that. The guilt I’d carried along since Nelly’s death felt more oppressive than ever.Coming to think of it this must have been what he had been referring to earlier when he spoke about taking the ‘little things’ for granted, he was referring to the times he had spent with his sister.“You know why she was killed” I tried explaining, “I wish it never happened, and it still haunts me... but she...” I trailed off, I couldn’t lie to his face, so I remained silent.“What is it you wanted to say?” Jake inquired, those sorrowful eyes on