“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
THANE POVMy system slowly got accustomed to the pain the Lycan’s bane brought, or maybe I was just getting numb.I barely heard the footsteps approaching. It was Flynn; Slade followed next.“This is almost too sad to watch.” Slade began. “Watching a powerful man fall from grace is indeed sad; it reminds me of what I had to suffer.”I gave no response.“The time has come.” Flynn said, “He is weak enough; the ritual can be completed.”He placed down the brown bag he had brought along with him. He took out some bottles from the bag; I could only recognize one, the smaller bottle in the middle filled with a blackish liquid. I recognized it because that was the very same thing which had been continually administered to me from time to time. Lycan's Bane.“For Slade to take over your body, you will have to be killed. I will give you a minute. Do you have any last words?” He asked, eyebrows cocked at me.What was he expecting me to say? Perhaps I could make promises that I will get back at
I picked up the sword and staggered to my feet. “I have dreamt of this day.” He began. “You were the brother who got everything he wanted; even the moon goddess was on your side, but I… I never got those things. Don’t you think I wanted them to? Don’t you think I wanted to stay away from the shadows and rule? Don’t you think I wanted my name spread abroad?” “It is not my fault you chose to be a coward; no one forced you into hiding, but you were afraid of your own shadow. I will always be willing to take the risk—because that’s what living means.” I was right; he knew it, and that maddened him. I watch the frown curve on his lips. His sword came at me, but I blocked it. He didn’t stop with the attack; he came at me again and again. I hated the feeling of weakness; I hated the fact that we were unmatched and I was lacking. I wasn’t as fast as I used to be, nor was I as strong, but I wasn’t giving up either. I managed to give him a nick in the shoulder. He growled, coming at me har
I finally snapped back to my senses and joined him, placing my feet over Logan's chest to keep him from moving. Axel thrust the sword into his heart and twisted. “Now look who won’t be seeing the light of day.” I said to him as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I turned to Axel, still astonished. “The warlock had opened the portal. I don’t know how I managed to get here, but I don’t have much time. I can feel it—the portal is about to shut.” Axel said. “Thank you.” I said to him, accepting the sword from his hands. “I can’t believe even in death, I’m still saving your ass; you need to give me a raise or something.” He demanded. The smile faded from his face almost instantly. “Riley—what about Riley? Did she survive?” “Yes, she did, and we have a child… His name is Ethan.” “Let me guess, you came up with the name?” “It was a joint contribution, but… yeah, I did.” “Make sense; Ethan is clearly a rewrite of your name, Thane.” “I didn’t have that in mind.” “Yeah, yeah
RILEY’S POVBruce had pleaded with me to trust him. I wish I could; I wish his words were enough. But Seeing was believing. Still, I had no other choice; there was no way around it. It was either I play along, or I let Vox know that the amulet wasn’t in my keep—that would lead to my death or a punishment ‘much worse than death.’We had only a few hours left.A few hours, and Vox would be here, right outside Bruce's house. This decision was going to determine ‘everything.’. I tried to keep calm; I had to put on my big girl’s panties. Fear was no good in times like this; it didn’t let people think straight. I was a queen; it was time I showed it.Too soon, the time was up. Three days was spent.Vox was right on time, with Daemon by his side.I and Bruce stood by the doorway of his building.“We meet again, young warlock.” Vox says to Bruce.“Has the Demon Overlord decided that I have suffered enough for my crimes?”“No punishment would ever be adequate for the atrocities you committed.
“You must have thought me stupid. Do you for one moment think I didn’t have a backup?I might have had high hopes that you didn’t kill Ralph, but I was no fool; I know who you are and what you are good at. You don’t keep to your words, and so I made sure I was protected. There is a reason I have lived for so many years.” Jade says, the smile remained on her face, “I know how to stay alive.”Her eyes glowed.“I will send you to the otherworld, where you belong.”“No! Daemon, kill them all!” he commanded, but Daemon didn’t move an inch.“I did warn you; you are setting yourself up for destruction. You didn’t listen; you brought it upon yourself.”“I will return, I promise you… and when I do, every one of you will pay!” His words held a promise.“And how long will that take?” Daemon asked. “A century? Two? Three?” “The tendrils… They stop him from using any of his powers.” Jade explains, “Even Nexus herself has her favorites, and it turns out… you aren't one of her favorites.”Jade’s ey
Bruce watched Jade; her eyes trailed to the amulet in his hands.“So what will it be now, Jade?”“I’ll have the Jewel back.”“I can’t give it to you; I have made a bargain with Vox. The life of my daughter, the queen, will be at risk if I do not have this at the time of Vox's return.” “There has to be another way.”“There is no other way.”“Then I’m sorry.” Jade says. It wasn’t wise to make an enemy of the sorceress, but he had made a promise to Riley; she would be disappointed if he failed her.He closed his eyes and muttered a spell. He didn’t want to hurt the sorceress, but he wanted her out of the way. The spell would only make her fall into a deep slumber; the moment this was over, she would awaken.He opened his eyes, only to see Jade unfazed. “I came prepared; I knew you wouldn’t be willing to give it up so easily.”The warlock didn’t expect the kick Jade had sent at him; she was never a physical person. She got him hard in the kneecap, and he had let go of the amulet, she us
Despite making it clear that I wanted him gone, he easily pushed past me and walked into my room. I slammed the door a bit too hard.“What! What is it you want to talk about?”“Would you listen?”“Well, you didn’t give me an option now, did you?”“Once you spoke about the both of us, leaving the pack behind and going far away… I couldn’t do that because of Vox, but with him gone…”“No.”“What do you mean, ‘no’?”“It is exactly what you think. I will not go anywhere with you.”“So you had said that only to… fool me?” he asked, the hurt clear in his eyes.“That had been why you didn’t aid Vox, hadn’t it? Because you believed that if he was dead, then there would be nothing in the way.” I asked, and his silence confirmed it.“I should have known. As long as Thane lives, there will be no space for another.” He said, and his eyes… They held a promise. He turned, heading for the door, but I blocked him.“You will not harm Thane.”“Of course.” He said, a smirk on his face. “I won’t.”I slamm
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