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
I returned to the pack as quickly as I could, using the underground entry to avoid getting spotted by Daemon. It felt off-putting that I had to sneak around in my own pack. I really couldn’t wait for the moment I got to kill him.I stopped before the rectangular metal container; I thought a stench was coming from it. I should keep moving, but I got curious. I pulled open the heavy lid, and the stench of the decomposed body filled my nose; I gagged, looking inside; it was a body, a dead body floating in a greenish-looking liquid. The body was unrecognizable, but I thought the clothes looked slightly familiar. I had seen this on someone. I racked my mind to know who, but I came up empty.Who could have done this?Finally I remembered; the outfit looked familiar because I had seen it on someone only a few days ago. Regnux. This was… Regnux.I leaned to the side of the container, puking everything I had eaten. Tears streamed down my eyes.Daemon had said he didn’t trust Regnux anymore, an
ALIYA’S POVThe man standing before me was all I could think about. Sometimes he stares at me, as if trying to figure something out, then looks away. I thought about how it felt like being completely naked with Trian, alone, free.“May I ask a question?”“Of course!” I said a little too quickly. “Sorry. Yes, you may.”“Was it your first kiss?” Trian asked.I stared up at him and gave a nod. “You should have already guessed that; it’s no secret that I have never been with a man.”“Being with a man and kissing a man are two different things, Aliya.”“I liked it,” I said, shielding my face with my hair to hide the blush on my cheeks.“I can’t possibly imagine how you feel, with all your daily activities arranged out for you, so many fucking rules.”“I hate it. The more I think about it, the more I hate it, so I stopped thinking about it. I made myself believe this was home, and then it felt better, bearable even. But then I went out there, and I was reminded of all the things I’ve been m
“This is unacceptable!” Austin says. “Even though rogues are not familiar with customs and traditions, it is common sense not to attack on burial grounds.”“One of our commanders was killed.” Aric said. “It’s clear the rogues want a war.”We were all seated with the council of advisors; Alexander hadn’t said a word since the meeting began.The Dawn pack members would be devastated to hear about Gadiel’s death.“I say we give them what they want; I say we go to war.” Stark says, and some nodded in approval.“War? The rogues have the numbers, and we all know that many will die.” Seth, another of the advisors said.“They asked for it,” Austin says.“They hadn’t come into our lands, Alpha. The attack was at the Dawn’s Pack.” Seth said, he gave me a quick glance before looking away.“The Dawn Pack is now part of our pack, and the attack was aimed at my Luna, my Commander, and me. But I don’t think it’s wise to go to war. I doubt the rogue leaders are aware of this attack; perhaps those rog
I stared at my father’s lifeless body from the casket he had been placed in. He looked very much the same as he always had—the worry lines on his face were gone, and he seemed to be at peace. Alexander tightened his grip on my hands, comfortingly.All the members of the Dawn Pack were present, and even some from the Nightshade Pack.“We gather to mourn the loss of a great man—a father to us all, an Alpha. Death truly is vile; it renders even the greatest helpless. He was taken from us too soon; only the goddess knows the reason. Though he is dead, his legacy lives on. Dawn will never forget him; I will never forget him.” Gadiel finished. He was once Chief Commander of the Dawn Pack’s soldiers, I didn’t know the position he held in the Nightshade pack. It was my turn to speak before the pack; it was my turn to comfort them; I didn’t think I could do it. There was a moment of complete silence. I looked up at Alexander, and he nodded at me; somehow that was motivation enough.“My father
I managed to force down a few spoonfuls of food; I couldn’t take more than that. After a quick bath, I joined Alexander on the bed.Two hours passed, and I still couldn’t sleep. I lay there, staring at the ceiling.“I could get you a sleeping pill from the healers, it should help you sleep.” Alexander suggested.“I don’t think a pill would work this time,” I said. “Every time I close my eyes, I see this woman—the same one I saw in my nightmare, the one who killed my father.”“Your father died from an illness.”“Do you believe that? Don’t you find it all strange?”“I do. I find it very strange. I sent Aric to search the pack house for anything he could find, but the one person who might have a clue about this is your father.”“And he is dead.” I completed his sentence. “Maybe you are right; maybe it was just an illness, and I am overthinking.”“It’s never a bad thing to be suspicious,” Alexander said. “Now, try to get some sleep.”After a few minutes of trying, I finally fell into a dr
KAIDA POVAlexander had never once talked about his parents. I had always wanted to know, but seeing the pain in his eyes, I could understand why he kept it all to himself.“You don’t have to talk about it if you are not ready.”“You deserve to know.I’ve heard so many good stories about Luna Riley, my mother, and even more about the last Lycan, Alpha Thane. But I never saw it. My father loved my mother so dearly, even when she was turned. She would have died if not for a sorceress who brought her back—as a demon. I could still remember her cold skin; she always wanted me close to her; she always wanted to carry me around like a mother would her child, but she couldn’t.Demons get weakened by the sun, so she had to be locked away in her room, but that wasn’t the only reason she was being locked away. Demons have a strong thirst for blood; sometimes the pack members go missing. Every time she ‘mistakenly’ kills a person, she cries day and night. She knew that having her child with her
ALEXANDER’S POVKaida was never one to admit her feelings—especially not when they made her look weak. But back at the bar, she did. She admitted her jealousy; she admitted what she felt for me. And right then and there, I swore to myself to be loyal to her. I wanted her happy; I loved seeing her smile, but everything changed too soon when the news of her father's death reached us.She wouldn’t speak. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t even sleep. And for the first time, I saw her cry. She mourned for her father, and all I wanted to do was take away her pain.Aric sat with me in my office. “The healer who had been present when he died said he had fallen into a strange coma some days before he passed. The only sign of life had been his beating heart,” Aric said.“Alpha Trent knew he was going to die; that’s why he made all the necessary arrangements. Still, I believe his illness is indeed very strange; all illnesses have their cause, but Alpha Trent’s didn’t.”“Maybe it was more than just
Trian led me away from the old creepy woman. “I did tell you that fortune tellers are liars.”“But she seemed to know a lot about me.”"From your skin tone, anyone could tell you aren’t an Aureonna by birth. The majority of the population here comes from all over the world, bound by the 'Purifying Ritual.' She’s a good guesser, but there’s nothing special about that, and you don’t have to worry about anything she says. She is a hungry woman, looking for her daily bread."“She would be rich with all those gold coins—where did you get them?”“I was an orphan, but not a poor one. I found my way around things and also built myself some good fortune.”“Then why are you here?”“Money is not the answer to everything. I am here because I want to be, not because I need the money.”“Where are we going?” I asked, realizing they were fewer people the further we went."Wait and see," he said with a smile that made my stomach flutter. We stopped before a lake.“I never knew there was a Lake in this
I looked around, taking in the crowd—more people than I had ever seen. A smile spread across my lips, the incident with the soldiers at the exit already long forgotten.Trian took my hands again; his were huge and rough—just as I imagined a warrior's hands to be. He led me into the thick of Aureonna’s city; people stared—especially women, but the stares weren’t directed at me, but at Trian."What is that?" I asked, pointing to a group of people gathered nearby. They seemed to be laughing at something."It's a play, a drama.""I want to see it."“Of course.”We weaved through the crowd of excited people, until we reached the front row.A woman with a silver wig sat on a make-shift throne; her skin seemed to have been painted white. The other woman by her side had a blonde wig on. It took me a moment to realize this was a drama about me—the woman in the silver wig was meant to be me, while the one in the blonde wig was portraying Empress Julia."Soon, you will lead us to victory. The fa
About five minutes passed, and there was still no sign of her.“Empress!” I called out. “Empress…”Just then, she broke through the surface. Her face looked different—youthful. She had entered the pool looking to be in her forties, but when she emerged, she appeared to be in her late twenties.“Empress, you look…”“Beautiful, magnificent… I know.”“How?”“The water, many believe the god of light once bathed in these waters; it’s called the Lake of Youth—It was once bigger than this, but, well, this is all that remains of it.”She put on her clothes..“It was like time had reversed, and she was given her youth again.” I said to Trian when we were back in my room.“It seems to me that you would like to take a dip in the Lake of Youth one day.”“Of course, not… the Empress would never let me.”“You fear the Empress like she is a god.”“She is a powerful woman.”“I agree, not many men alive could build a community as big as this one. But have you ever thought about how exciting it would