Thane paused. For the first time, I saw a flicker of emotion on his face.“She was dead. And in her hands, she held this paper. It was a message for me. She had explained the true reason she turned me down earlier: she hadn’t wanted me close because she knew I would be hurt in the end. She had this sickness, an issue with her blood; she said it could never be cured. I did notice how thin she got, but every time I asked, she came up with a story, maybe factoring it all to stress, and I believed her. I felt like a fool for not looking deeper. This illness had been eating her out for a while, and that was the reason she settled out alone; she didn’t want to hurt anyone. She said she had been selfish for wanting me and selfish for having me, even if she knew it would leave me broken in the end.I had been so furious at everything. At myself for not realizing it soon, at fate for pairing me with her as a mate, and at her for keeping it away from me, maybe I could have helped her if only sh
I could do anything just to see that other part of Thane again; the softness in his eyes had done something to me – something I couldn’t explain. But whatever I had seen two days ago was gone; now he was back to his cold self.Maybe he did regret telling me about his past, because for the past two days he had barely exchanged words with me, or maybe it was just me being paranoid and he was simply busy and stressed. His injury healed fast too, and now the marks looked weeks old, even though it had been barely two days. Axel hadn’t visited either, and I worried if something was wrong. Either way, I was not planning on remaining in our room all alone today; I was going to pay a visit to the training grounds and maybe explore a little too.I got dressed, ready to leave, when a knock on the door interrupted me. Axel?I rushed to the door and pulled it open, and my face fell visibly when I noticed who stood there. Beatrix.What the hell was she doing here? So far, I had imagined that this r
TRIGGER WARNING: CHAPTER CONTAINS EXPLICT CONTENTS!!“How long do we have to walk?” I questioned; the walk down the tunnels was almost fifteen minutes already. Where exactly was she leading me to? But I was too far into this to back out.“It usually doesn’t take this long if I am alone, but I have to match pace with you,” she says. “We are close.”Finally, we stopped before a huge door.“What is this?”“Very curious, aren’t you? You will soon find out.”She pulled the door open with some effort. And then she walked in.The room was the biggest I had seen so far, its size rivalling a hall. But that hadn’t been what appalled me.They were so many cages, as far as my eyes could see, lined horizontally and inside the cages where.... girls.“What is this?” I questioned again. It could be the dungeons – every pack had this, but I doubted it; something about this place seemed off. The girls backed away from the cage the moment we walked in, their silent cries filling the room.“The Nightshad
I had wondered why they were both absent for the past two days, if only I knew what they had been busy with.I sobbed silently. I would never survive here. Now I doubted that Thane would keep to his words of letting me go; maybe I would end up there, just like those girls.I had never felt so afraid in my life.I rolled over Beatrix’s offer in my mind; she was willing to help me escape this place, but she couldn’t help my mother. I shouldn’t leave my mother behind, but I was so afraid, I didn’t want to be here for the next minute.I jumped to my feet when someone walked in; it was Thane. I quickly wiped off my tears.“Why are you crying?”“Is nothing?” I lied, my heart pounding. Now I knew what he could do; I would never be able to sleep on the same bed with this man. Everything about him frightened me, but what was more alarming was how indifferent he was, because this was his life. Even after what he had done – what he had been doing, he could still sleep without being hunted. He wa
“Thane... I’m sorry for last night; I don’t know what exactly got over me.” I said, the lie feels bitter against my tongue. Those intense eyes on me made me feel unsettled, like he knew.“That wouldn’t stop me from punishing you if you deny me of what is mine ever again” he says and I gave a stiff nod.“Where is Axel? I hadn’t seen him in a while.”“I’ll send him in, in a few hours,” Thane replied.“Thank you”..I waited patiently for the knock, and soon it came. I let Beatrix in. Hoping Axel wouldn’t walk in on us just yet.“I will be waiting for you just as we agreed,” she said silently to me. “You just have to do your part, and I trust you know what to do.”“Yes. Yes, I do.”“Good. I’ll be ready,” she says. She left just as silently as she came in.The second knock on the door was Axel. I had anticipated that too.“You look kind of pale, everything alright?” he asked“I am fine. Just really tired of staying here all alone,” I said, avoiding his eyes.Axel wasn’t innocent either, a
Beatrix must have created some serious distraction, because so far, no one had caught up with us, and it had been about thirty minutes of running. It felt strangely too... easy, they should have gotten to us by now.“You know what?, You’ll have to ride me, Luna; that’s the only way we could go fast enough,” she said, taking her clothes off. I looked away, giving her some privacy, but she didn’t seem to care; why would she? From the little I saw, she had a perfect body, clearing trained into flawlessness. She was perfection itself. She shifted into her wolf form. She was a grey wolf, and I noticed her wolf had a very strong resemblance to her being; the grey wolf, which was smaller than Thane, and Axels’ wolf was one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, and she seemed to carry this air around her.I didn’t want to think too much about it. I picked up her clothes. Getting myself seated on her back was considerably easier than it had been with Axel.Before I could settle, she zipped i
Thane nodded to Axel, and he walked forward, picking me up and placing me ‘roughly’ over his shoulders, but Thane remained with Ryker.I didn’t care what would happen to Ryker, but I feared this was the last time I would ever see him.The walk back to the pack house seemed shorter, and that was strange considering we hadn’t even run. Axel had said nothing all the way back.I couldn’t bear to look at anyone as Axel took me back into my room. I didn’t care what anyone thought; what I worried about was what was going to happen to me.Axel shut the door and dropped me on the bare floor.“Axel...”“Shut the fuck up,” he warns. Never had he spoken to me in this manner.Exactly fifteen minutes later, Thane walked in. I scurried away from him, but it was no use; no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t be able to escape this.“Riley stand,” he orders, and I do as he said, but my feet are too shaky. “Did you take us for fools?” he asks, and I shake my head vigorously.“No, no, it was a mistake.”
My tears didn’t faze him; he had said it once that it was rather a turn-on, and now more than anything, I believed him.Thane had not intended in making me cum this time; his intentions were clear in his eyes, and I knew this was not over. If I could speak then I would try begging him again, just maybe... but no, I knew nothing could deter him from what he wanted to do, and he was going to follow through with this.I felt those sharp canines on my skin again, and I struggled; the pain had been too much, but my struggle never did affect him. This time he sank those fangs at the side of my neck, just beside where he had marked me; the pain was far more intense than the one he had bitten on my breast. I cried out, but he hadn’t stopped; his fangs sank deeper; this was more brutal than any marking I had ever seen. The pain rolled through my whole body."Thane,” I heard Axel call, and Thane pulled away from me. When I was free from his grip, I crumbled to the floor. I was in so much pain.
RILEY.I couldn't turn back; if I did, he would see the tears I could no longer suppress; that would destroy everything and my little act would be over, so I didn't turn back when he called, I had my eyes pinned to the door. "When I get out here, I will kill your lover, Nick, and after that, I will kill you, bitch."Those words would forever haunt me. He sounded so cold. I wondered for the first time if I did the right thing; my fear was that my attempt to save would cause him to lose the little humanity he held onto."You did well back there." Nick says, "I almost believed that maybe you never really liked him. He seemed very angry; I would stay as far away from him as I could if I were you.""Stop talking.""Oh, come on, this was the deal; get over..."I punched him right in the face, cutting him off; blood dripped down his nose and his eyes flashed with anger. He slammed me against the wall, and my skull, still fragile from his previous attack, hit the wall hard. For a moment, all
I remembered Regnux's words; he had suspected Riley; he must have seen something, something I was too blind to see.I also recalled Riley's disappearance and how all of a sudden she wanted to tag along anywhere I went. She was the only one who knew where I had kept the keys to Bailey's cell, yet I believed there had been a spare key. I was ready to believe everything but the truth that had been right before my eyes.A fool. That was what I was.The evidence was clear, and yet... yet, I didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be true. Once I had been heartbroken, Bella's death had left me in so much pain I couldn't heal on my own. Axel had bonded with me to share my pain.But I hadn't loved my mate like I loved Riley, and that's why I refused to believe it; the truth was clear, and yet I wanted it to be a lie; I wanted there to be some kind of explanation to it."Riley, if you think you are doing this to help me in some way, then don't. This won't help me, tell me this is all lies."The
THANEI couldn't move. It must be these damned fluids being passed into my veins. I was forced to endure hours of pain and agony, the only comfort I got during that time was the minutes I spent thinking about Riley.My fear was that they got her too; I didn't mind them taking me; I was ready to bargain my life to save hers if it came down to that, she could go back to Axel, I was confident that he would take good care of her and she could live the rest of her life happy. The only problem was that in this position, my life wasn't really good enough to make the bargain. I hated to say this, but I was completely at their mercy, and that could only change if I managed to take these damned pipes out.The pain only worsened with time; maybe this would be my end. I had spent my life killing people—yes, the majority of them were those who challenged me and others who were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, so this could be karma catching up with me. My only wish was to have a few more
I always knew Bailey wasn't a good person; from the very first time I saw her, something about her was off-putting, but this was beyond evil.She was not only going to torture Thane but torture me too. He would hate me; even in my death, he would never discover the truth that she had been the one compelling me, and yet... it would be worth it if he stays alive in the end. Yes, he wouldn't have his wolf, but he would still have his life."And how do I know you won't stab me in the back after I am done with what you've asked?" I questioned. I couldn't trust Bailey; I knew that."You don't really have a choice here, do you?"That was equally correct; I didn't exactly have a choice. "Take me to him.""Give him a day; he is too weak to react now.".....A day.That's what Bailey asked for, but I would have preferred if I walked right into that space and said it all to him at that moment; at least it would be over, but now I sat here, alone, thinking about what I was about to do; I didn't
RILEY'S POV I was alone in the empty containment room, chained to the chair I had been placed on. The footsteps approaching got my attention. Bailey was back, again. "Your mate is here. Just as I had said, feelings make us weak, and that was his downfall." "Don't you dare harm him." I warned, struggling out of the chains. "I guess you would want to see him, right?" She questioned me, and I gave her no answer; I wouldn't let her see how desperately I wanted to go to him. She walked to me, taking off the chains, and I immediately bolted for the door. The moment I touched the handle, the silver burned my hand. "You may call it karma—you remember the silver dagger you used on me?" she asked. "Let me out." "I'll do that, but first, we need to make things clear. In whatever you do, you will not try to escape this place. Got it?" She ordered, and I nodded, compelled. "Good, now come with me." I followed her out of the room. The building seemed ancient, clearly an underground h
THANE'S POVEvery single commander and a few high ranked members had been interrogated, but none had been found wanting.I couldn't stop thinking about Riley. In the room, all alone, it was clear that she wanted to spend the night a different way, and I was going to make it up to her."None of them did this." Axel said to me when we were back in my office. "Yes, I could tell they weren't lying."Just then there was a knock on the door, and Regnux, one of the commanders, walked in."I wanted to speak with you," he said. I noticed how nervous he looked."Go on," I said."So from the investigations, it is clear that the murderer is not a Commander or a high ranked. What if we've been looking in the wrong place all these while?""Skip to the point, Reg."He nodded. "The point is, what if it's someone closer... maybe the Luna, I mean after what…"Axel walked to him. "Do you have proof?" He asked, cutting him off."No, not exactly...""So you come here and accuse the Luna with no proof?"
I spit out blood, my gaze returning back to Nick."I am not afraid of you, Nick; do your worst.""You were always a bold one, but the problem was your emotions; they are your greatest weakness.""Why not take your crappy insights and shove it right up your manhole."That earned me another slap, and I smirked knowing I was getting to him."Bailey would betray you; I mean, that's what she does best; you are nothing more than a tool to her.""Are you any different from her? You used me; I helped you heal from all the hurt the bastard inflicted on you; we made a deal, but of course, you broke it; you went back to him and returned my wedding ring like that solves it all. You aren't much different.""You lied to me; you hid the truth from me and left me suffering the consequences.""What did you think? That there would be no consequences? That the dark side would grant you power with nothing in return? If you thought that, then maybe you are the fool.""You want to know why I left you even
Bailey's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the dagger now prodding out of her chest. I didn't stop at that. I pulled the dagger out, only to strike over and over again, till I was sure she was dead. She fell to the floor in a puddle of her own blood, and finally I paused to stare at her. It was over; I couldn't believe it. I would be free.I didn't know I was crying till I felt the tears against my cheeks; this wasn't tears of pain or sadness but of relief. It worked. I couldn't believe it worked; I had been one step ahead of her.~~~I took Bailey's body deeper into the woods, a shovel in my hand, and when I was completely out of sight, I began digging as quickly as I could. I dumped her body into the hole I had dug. I had been about to cover her up when I heard the footsteps. I turned, but I had been a second too late. Something hard came into contact with my head, and I fell to the ground.The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Nick's figure standing over me..I awok
It was all supposed to be a dream. A very bad one. But it wasn't; it hadn't just been a dream. My hand shook as I held the bottle. "Add this to his drink." Bailey's voice reechoed in my head. I walked back into the room, staring at the glass of apple juice on the table. I hadn't asked the maid for it, and I doubted Thane did either. Sending the maid here must have been a part of Bailey's plan—I realized. Tears rolled down my eyes as my body acted on its own, pulling the bottle open. The harsh smell hurt my nose. "No, no, you can't." I said to myself, but still I found myself pouring the content into his cup. It had mixed so nicely, one couldn't even tell. ... Thane arrived home, and he paused to stare down at my choice of clothing, or rather, my choice of underwear. "I like being welcomed like this." "You can have all of this, but first, join me for a drink." I said with a smile on my face. "It's apple juice." He picked up his glass, and I stared at him as he lifted t