I didn’t like the fact that Vox chose the garden for our meeting. This was Riley’s spot. “Vox. Welcome back.” I said to him, I didn’t need to place a fake smile on my lips. Demons weren’t like humans; they couldn’t be easily deceived with falsities. I didn’t like Vox being in this pack either; I couldn’t control him—actually, it was the other way around; he controlled me, and I hated being under another’s control. Of course it always feels exciting at the beginning, but then all of a sudden… it’s just not.“I can see you have not done as I asked. Perhaps you still need more time?”“I have been a bit occupied.” I answered.“With what, if I may ask? Could it have been your little trip?”“What trip?”“You visited the Lycan, didn’t you?” he asked, and I gave no response. “She made you do it.” He added, it wasn’t a question; he was simply stating facts.“It was a mistake that won’t repeat itself.”“I do not believe you. The queen seems to have you wrapped around her finger. You will have
RILEYI waited until Daemon left before taking the crumpled paper out of the drawer.If he had given even a single glance at the piece of paper he had set on fire, he would have known it wasn’t the right one. It was pure luck that he had searched the wrong pocket. I too had believed it was all over. It wasn't until I had unconsciously dipped my hand into my pocket did I realized it was still there—the portion of the map Pricilla had given me was still there, and that meant there was still a chance. I could find Thane.I was well aware of what Daemon could do if he discovered I had escaped but if I did find Thane, then it would be worth it...Two days. That’s how long it took for me to get to the first location. I had only managed to spot a small scrawny building but other than that, there was nothing else on the wide expanse of land. I had been about to continue on with the journey when I noticed the dim light coming from one of the windows in the building. Someone was in there.I wa
Logan seemed to be considering what Bella said as an option.“It would be easier to do that, but we have a lot on our table; we wouldn’t want a lovesick demon against us too.” He said, but Bella didn’t seem to agree to that. “I believe you can watch over her while I’m gone; she poses no threat — not with the toxin still in her system.”“I will be happy to watch over her.” Bella replied with a smile. She had changed— I noticed. All that had gone on between Thane and me had changed her, and now she was someone entirely different.The moment Logan left, Bella brought out a small dagger.“Killing me won’t be a wise option.” I reminded her.“Who said I am killing you?” she asked. She pointed the dagger at my throat. “It wouldn't hurt to leave a mark or two.” She brought the dagger closer to my collar and then she made a small cut, enough to draw blood. She smiled at the sight before going ahead to make an even deeper cut. “You know this is no fun when you aren’t in tears.”She stabbed the
Trent soldiers split into two groups; five accompanied us, while the rest continued with the cars. It was only a matter of time before Logan discovered what had happened and sought revenge. The other soldiers would lead him on the wrong trail."I had worried about their lives, but Trent assured me they would survive.The poison in my system was slowly wearing off. Trent had tended to my injuries, and by the time we were at the familiar-looking building that belonged to Bruce, I could walk on my own without any form of assistance.Trent had been about to knock, but the door creaked open on its own.“I will leave you here; I think my work is done.”“Trent, wait.” I called, and he paused. “Why did you help me?” I asked. I knew he was trustworthy and always ready to help, but it was indeed strange that he had left his own pack for this; that was no typical Alpha behavior.“I have my reasons. You will find out in the years to come.” He said, and with that, he was gone. I didn’t understand
DAEMON.“Where the hell is she?” I asked. Logan had Isabella in his arms; there was a lot of blood, the female seemed to have been shot, but that was their problem. She was still alive though, and she was going to survive, but that didn’t stop Logan from acting like a wimp. He kept on whispering apologies to her as though she were dying.I walked to them, ripping him off her, and I held him against the wall. “Where is she?” I questioned again.He finally seemed to notice my presence. “She is gone!” he said, shrugging off my hold and returning back to the bleeding girl.“Gone? What do you mean, gone? You told me you have her, and she was drugged. How the hell did she escape?”“I have no fucking idea!”I was not going to get anything from him.I had to check up on Thane; if she had come this close, then maybe…I didn’t want to think about it.I shifted, appearing in front of the cave. A spell had been casted to secure the place, it refrained anyone from spotting the entry until they got
RILEY’S POVI had thought Vox would kill me before I had a chance to speak. For a moment, I doubted Bruce's words. But the instant I mentioned the amulet, I saw something flicker in Vox’s eyes—it seemed to pique his interest.“Do you have the Nexus Amulet?” he asked.“I know how you can get it.”“I need proof.”“I don’t have any; you will have to believe me.”Those black orbs found me once again. “What are your conditions?”“Thane will be set free. My father, Bruce, must be released from the spell you cast on him. And finally, you will end this madness of turning the other packs against us."The last part hadn’t been part of the conversation I had with Bruce.“The warlock.” Vox whispered, seemingly deep in thought. “It will be interesting to meet him again after so many years; I didn’t think he would survive it, but just like you, he is a survivor.”“I’m glad you still remember just whom I am referring to.”A cold, humorless smile formed on his lips.“And what if I don’t agree to you
“Did you for one moment think about what would happen if things had gone the other way? – I mean, Vox could have killed you even before you had the chance to place a bargain.” Daemon said to me, and his worry for me still caught me by surprise.“Believe me, that did cross my mind more than once.”“And yet you were willing to risk it all for… him.”"Yes, I was," I answered, making myself comfortable in one of the office chairs. “Things are going to change, Daemon, and it will happen really, really fast.”“You seem so confident now; it looks like you’ve forgotten what I can do to you.”“No, I haven’t, but you see, Vox would want me alive now more than ever, so you can’t really kill me.”“I don’t have to kill you to have my fun.” He reminded me, a smile curved on his lips, exposing his fangs. I held back a shiver as the memory of how it felt when he bit me flashed past my mind. I had hated it because my body loved it; I hated it because I had no control, and he... Daemon was in full cont
“So… Do you have the amulet?” Daemon asked me as I got dressed.“Not exactly.”He was right in front of me in the next second, forcing me to take a step back. “You know you have to stop doing that.”“Riley, you don’t play games with Vox. He will have you killed, and for leading him on, he might exact a punishment worse than death on you.”“I know that.” I admitted, running my hands through my hair — something I had seen Thane do when he is agitated. “He says he has it.”“Who?”“Bruce.”“And you believe him?”“I don’t have an option.”“Stop saying that; you do—or at least you ‘did.’. You didn’t have to play hero; if you remained at the pack, Vox wouldn’t have any wish to kill you; you would have been safe.”“You are right; I did have an option.” I agreed. “Just not one I was willing to take.”He took a step back. “Have it your way then. You’ve always been stubborn.”I took a deep inhale. “I need your help.”“You need my help?” he asked, surprised by my statement.“Yes. Vox only gave
The disappointment in his voice was even harder to bear than the betrayal I had suffered from people I once called friends."I should have told you, but I knew you would’ve kept assuring me you were fine—even when we both knew you were dying inside. She said you were going to die, whether you stopped or continued with the doses. I just… couldn’t lose you.""Who is this ‘she’ you are referring to?” he asked, and I immediately realized my slip."I… it doesn’t matter. You’re alive, and that’s what’s important."Slowly, he let go of me, and I instantly missed his warmth. “How does it feel?”“What?”“To be so close to achieving your dreams?” he asked. I wanted to tell him I didn’t care anymore about the goddamn title; all I wanted was to have him by my side. I wanted him, but before I could tell him just that, he spoke on. “I hope it was worth it.”Those final words had felt like some kind of goodbye.“I, Ethan Alexander Darkwood, reject you, Kaida Dawn, as my fated mate.” He said.Seeing
There was something different about the way he looked at me—the way he regarded me. I saw it in the way his body tensed the moment I stepped inside. He saw me as a threat, and it took a moment to understand why. Cynthia had taken my form when she approached him, making him believe it was me. The moment his guard dropped, she struck.But what he remembered was me stabbing him—my face, my hands, delivering the blow.“Alexander,” I whispered, unable to say anything more. He only stared at me, as if trying to read me. I had wanted to see him so badly, but I hadn’t stopped for even a moment to think about what I would say to him when we met.“The Cursed Weapon—how did you find it?” he asked.“I don’t understand.”“The dagger you used on me.”The cursed weapon, I’ve heard about that too. History says the Elders had been the original keepers of the steel; that had been before they were killed. The weapon had the ability to take away one’s wolf. It made more sense now, what Cynthia was saying
It felt surreal—the blood on the sheets, the body—Alexander. I couldn’t process any of it.“No!” I cried.Foolish, foolish girl.I held him. “You can’t die, please, you can’t die. I’m here, look at me, open your eyes, dammit!”I had never felt this afraid, not even when I received news that my father had passed.Soon, I heard footsteps approaching—the door was still open. They were coming to find the source of the noise. I hadn’t even realized how loudly I had been screaming.“I didn’t mean to… She said she wouldn’t kill him.”More people gathered, and soon, our room was crowded, every face frozen in shock.A hand pressed against my back—Phil. He was saying something, but I couldn’t understand him. Austin was there too, along with some of the other advisors.A woman stepped forward.“I have to take him, Luna.”I let out a snarl. “Don’t touch him… No one touches him!”There must have been something in my voice because she stepped back immediately—so did some of the other pack members.
“There must be another way to cure him.” I insisted."There is no other way. It’s either this or he dies. We don’t have much time. If you refuse my offer, I won’t be generous enough to grant it a second time. You will have to watch him die—knowing you had the power to save him, but you refused."I held back the sob, threatening to escape my lips. They would not see me cry, especially not the woman who killed my parents.“You want a puppet; someone you can control.”“I only have one request from you, the very same one I had already mentioned. Other than that, I won’t make your decisions for you. You will rule.”“When you take away his wolf. What would he become?”"He won’t change; he will be the very same man," she said, a small smile curving on her lips. "And since I’m so generous, I’ll leave your Beta Aric, and Sarah with you to do as you wish. Punish them as you see fit."“No!” Sarah cried out, falling to her knees before the Empress. “I did as you asked of me. I did everything you
"Let me help you, Kaida," Cynthia said, her voice only a little above a whisper."I told you, I don’t need your help. Alexander will find me, and none of you will get away with this."“You’ve only been here for a few hours; besides, Amanda would hardly be considered a threat, and all the camera captured was the little girl leading you in here. He wouldn’t think you are in any form of danger.”"So, you aren’t here for the missing girl. You’ve revealed all your secret plans to me… I can’t help but wonder—why are you here? If you wanted to make me pay for what I did to you, you would have done it a long time ago."“We are getting to that. But I believe there is something you need to know. Addiction to wolfsbane may be dangerous, but stopping is even more dangerous.”For some reason, I believed her. I had seen what the withdrawal symptoms did to Alexander; it was slowly killing him, but his response remained the same anytime I asked; ‘A little while and it would pass.’ The question was, w
Empress Cynthia had read the question in my eyes before I could even ask it."I know you're curious about what your Beta wanted in exchange for betraying your trust," she said. I refused to meet her gaze—I wouldn’t let her see that I wanted to know. “He loves you; that much is clear. There were times he was willing to turn his back on his own family just to keep you safe. You were the one person he would never hurt. But when it came to choosing between you and his little sister… the choice wasn’t easy. She was the leverage I held over him. I have her locked away, far from his reach, until he completes his assignment. Everything he did—he did to keep her alive.”That was a lie.“Aric never had a sister.”"You say you cared about him, but I don’t believe that. You were always caught up in your own little world, blind to what was happening in others’—even those you called ‘family.’ You know, I wanted to reward him for his service, I believed he deserved more, but he never cared for mater
Aric had been the Beta, second in command—it only made sense for my father to leave him in charge of the pack, but he never did. He had seen something I hadn’t. Instead, he wanted me mated to Alexander, believing it was the best way to keep me safe. I had thought it was just to protect me from Cynthia, but that wasn’t the only reason. He knew there were others who posed a threat.Cynthia waited for me to piece everything together and slowly, I did.My father never informed Aric of his plans to marry me off. I had found that strange but never thought much of it. Now, thinking back to their conversation—when Aric had tried to convince him to end the agreement—my father had firmly refused.“The letter… it was false.” I finally spoke up.“Your father would never have sent you against her. He wanted you far away from her. But it wasn’t entirely false—there was some truth to it,” he said, his eyes never meeting mine.“You advised me against telling Alexander about my plans to face the Empre
I woke up with a pounding headache. It took only seconds to realize this had been a setup—and Amanda, the girl we rescued, was part of it.I wasn’t chained or restrained—just placed in a corner of the hall. Sitting right in front of me was Empress Cynthia, with Amanda by her side and…“Sarah?”It came out as more of a question. My gaze shifted between Amanda and Sarah, and the pieces finally fell into place. Amanda had been ‘adopted’ by Sarah—this had all been a carefully planned setup.“I am doing this for you.” She said, there was no hint of regret on her face.Sarah was one of the few I had allowed close to me. I saw her as a friend—the last person I would ever expect to betray me. But I couldn’t let them see how much it hurt. These were people I cared about.Alexander had wanted me to stay out of the Gray Moon Pack’s business, but I didn’t. I wanted justice for the little girl being sent against her will to marry a barbaric man like Grayson. And now, that very same girl had turned
KAIDA’S POVFor the next week, Alexander went to work as usual and returned home on time. Except for the slight tremor in his hands, he seemed to be getting better—or at least, that’s what he wanted me to believe. But I saw right through the act. He wasn’t getting better.The light footsteps caught my attention—someone was in my apartment.I grabbed a handgun from the drawer and silently followed the sound, only to stop abruptly. It was Amanda—the girl Alex had brought back to our pack from the Gray Pack after her parents attempted forcibly marrying her off to Alpha Grayson.“Hey,” I said, shoving the handgun into the back of my waistband.“Luna, I’m so sorry—I shouldn’t have come,” she said, about to leave.“No… it’s alright, Amanda,” I said to her, and her eyes brightened at the fact that I still remembered her name. She stared at me with a strange kind of adoration.“I’ve heard a lot about you since I got here. Do you know the soldiers are practically terrified of you?”“I don’t th