THANE'S POVI didn't like the idea of the Raven Clan Leader in there with her. But Riley had been willing to let go of her pride and make a bargain—the very same bargain I had practically begged her for for days.Let's say it hurt my ego that she had so quickly accepted my terms just to have a few minutes with the man. Was he worth that much to her? If I did kill him, how long would she mourn him?That had been the question on my mind."That's it, Axel; I'm going in."He smirked, "It had only been minutes, but I don't like him in there with her either.""We've given her enough time, right?""Not quite enough; if they were 'getting at it' in there, then they would need a few more minutes." Axel taunted.That's the line.I walked to the door and pulled it open.The metallic smell of blood hit my nose triggering an instant alarm, my eyes scanned Riley frantically to make sure she wasn't hurt.She was fine.Oh. If she was hurt, at least that would be my little excuse for killing the man,
RILEY "How do you like this place?" Axel asked, "I mean, if it's not good enough for you, we could arrange something else." "It is fine" I muttered. "Do you need..." "No," I snapped before he could complete his sentence. What the hell was wrong with me? "Okay then, I'll leave you to get settled," he says, before walking away and leaving me all alone. I walked straight to the bathroom. This would be a very long bath. I set the hot bath. Gosh, I missed this. I sat in the tube; the warmth was so welcoming; I leaned against the marble and easily fell asleep. The footsteps woke me up. There Thane stood, always the pervert, watching me bathe. The bubbles had died down, revealing a little too much cleavage. My first instinct was to wrap my hands around my bare parts, but then that would make him know how his gaze still affected me. Instead, I remained in the bathtub, making no move to cover up. "Why are you here?" "I brought some food; you must be famished, just as
"Have you considered the possibility that Bailey masterminded all this?" The moment I said it, everything seemed to click; it does make sense. Bailey had brought the plan up, and when they wouldn't go with it, she decided to take the lead. "Bailey hasn't left the pack since the incident; I don't think she is behind this," Thane disagreed. "Hear me out. Bailey has every reason to hate you. Do you remember the deal you never kept your part to?, or the fact that after I left she might have hoped you would finally make a move, but you didn't." "She seems to have moved on Riley." "That might be what she wants you to think. Do you really think she could move on after 'everything'? She did sacrifice a lot, but of course that's just a speculation." I noticed how close I've drawn to him, and I immediately pulled back, instantly missing his warmth. "I'll keep a close eye on her," he promised. "We can't keep you hidden here forever, I wonder if you are ready to officially meet the p
I lay nude on the bed. I wasn't alone; Thane and Axel were both present. I had been cuffed to the bed post. A rush of excitement filled me when I spotted the silver Kengel balls; Axel rolled one slowly around his fingers. He walked to my naked form, and Thane took his position, watching. I stared at him, even as I felt the cold silver ball against my already wet entry. I moaned out Thane's name as Axel touched me. He went in and out with the balls, and just when I thought I couldn't take more, he pulled the balls out, going down on me and devouring me. I moaned again as his finger dove into me next, pumping in and out. I could feel my muscles grow tight as I reached my climate, and I shattered into a million pieces, crying out his name. I awoke with a start. I could feel the moisture between my leg and I wasn't alone now either. Axel paused at the door, his amused gaze on me. I knew he could smell my arousal even from there, I turned red. I've heard similar dreams before, but ne
I wasn't fine. I knew that. It never did stop. The nausea and puking became an everyday routine. I leaned over the sink, spraying more water on my face. I thought I looked pale. I stared down at my stomach. Was it just me, or did it look a little bigger? Maybe it was just me. I walked out of the bathroom; the knock on the door gave me a pause. Before I could give a response, the door was pulled open. "I didn't remember asking you to come in, Bailey," I say to the Elder. I might have to put it in mind to keep those doors locked at all times, but locks can’t restrict werewolves, so it gets a bit useless. "So, the rumors are true; you are back." "Much to your disappointment, I see." "I should feel hurt that you didn't come visit me; I thought we were such good friends and all." "Is that what you thought? I'm so sorry, I have been busy doing nothing. I couldn't make out the time, but you are here now, and I guess I don't have to worry about that anymore," I say to her wi
"You want to practice, then do it with me," Axel insisted."It's fine, Axel"He didn't seem to like the idea of Bailey ‘practicing’ with me one bit, he stood, close enough to end it if things went too far. Bailey picked out two swords, tossing one to me. I caught it mid air."I'll try not to hurt you," she said to me, and with the speed of a bullet, she came at me. I blocked at the last minute.Her sword sliced through the air in a semi arc, and this time I dodged. I switched from defensive to offensive, and I went at her. Our swords clashed, and the force of her strikes caused my arm to ache, but I wasn't giving up anytime soon. We went faster and harder; it didn't feel like practice anymore. I kicked at her abdomen, and she took a few steps back. She retaliated with a kick to my knee, almost causing me to lose balance, but not quite yet. I switched to her position, giving her only time to defend my hits. She growled.Now she was angry.She managed to knock the sword off my hands. I
I suddenly felt very hot."I need to take some air," I say, heading for the door, but Axel was right in front of me before. "No, you need to go to the healers; things would only get worse if you left this unattended to and it's severe as it is." Axel says, trying to make me see reasons, but I couldn't go to the healers; they might discover what I was."I can't... I just need some air; get out of my way." I growled at me, feeling restless inside; he wouldn't move, and my patience was getting thinner."I'm sorry I can't do that.".I lost it.I slammed him against the wall. "You don't choose where I go and when," I snarled at him. No, he didn't look alarmed; his calculative gaze simply watched me, noting down that there was something off with me.My eyes found his neck."I'm sorry," I say to him, but he says nothing; my eyes never did leave his neck. "You scent really nice, Axel... really really nice, and your neck... it's beautiful.""Is she drunk?" Axel asks Thane."No, she's not."T
THANE'S POVRiley had not always been this strong. The duel with Bailey, the incident with Axel, and her impressive defense against my soldiers all hinted to the secret she kept hidden and we both knew it."That was the last thing on my mind right now.I was furious.When the healers had confirmed she was pregnant, I made the decision that that wouldn't change a thing between us; I was going to take full responsibility over the child, but then, if she never did have sex with Nick, how could she be pregnant?I struggled to seize control over my inner beast; he was raging. Riley, my mate, had been taken advantage of by the bastard.I was going to kill him; I wouldn't spare his life this time.My trip to the Raven Clan had all happened in a haze, and finally I was there.Getting into the pack was easy; their security wasn't that ideal, with only a few soldiers left to guide every entry there's only little they could do. Of course the pack house was the biggest of all the other buildings
My mind flashed back to the woman I had met in the woods all those years ago. If I could turn back time, I would have asked her exactly how her mate had broken her heart. Had he cheated on her? Had he beaten her? Or had he said the very same words Alexander Blackwoods had just said to me?“How dare you.” I growled at him. He was my first, the only man I had ever been with. “How dare you ask such a question, Alexander?” My voice sounded so cold; I couldn’t even recognize it.Alexander sat beside me as I shook with fury. “The healer had warned me when I began taking the doses of wolf’s bane. I didn’t listen; I was so obsessed with the idea of growing some kind of immunity to it. She was right in the end; it rendered me infertile—at least until I stopped my daily doses. And even then, we aren’t sure things will return to normal. With the amount of wolfsbane in my system, I am incapable of impregnating you, Kaida.”“I’ve only been with you.”“No. Just stop the act. I felt it… I felt it th
Nothing in the world could have prepared me for that news. Sarah's eyes held nothing but sympathy. I should have taken the pills. Now it was too late. I wasn’t ready; I wasn’t ready to train a child. Damn, I couldn’t even control myself; how am I expected to raise a child?I began panicking. “I can’t—it can’t be; there’s too much on the line; I can’t be pregnant.” The words came out in a panicked whisper."We haven't run any tests yet; I'm only speaking based on the visible signs; we are not yet sure of anything till we run a test.” She explained to me, and I nodded, but I could barely understand any word she was saying..I paced around my room, waiting for Sarah to bring the results. She had asked me to pee in a cup for the test; I didn’t even mind how awkward it was—I didn’t care. Please let her be wrong. If she is wrong, I would ask her for those pills and stay regular with them. Anytime I closed my eyes, I imagined myself getting big and round. I couldn’t fight with a child in
I lay on the bed, wide awake.I couldn’t sleep, even with Alexander so close to me. This time, his presence offered no comfort; we were on the same bed but might as well have been worlds apart, the gap between us growing wider and wider with each passing day.After he had fucked me against the table, I managed to make my way back to the bed and attempt to sleep. Clearly, it wasn’t working. I hadn’t said another word to him, and he seemed to prefer the silence.My memories pulled me back to an incident from a few years ago, back in the Dawn Pack. I remembered finding a woman in the woods—she was in so much pain. I tried to calm her down, but without being able to speak, she couldn't tell me what was wrong. I finally convinced her to shift back, and the moment she did, she broke down in tears. I had thought something terrible had happened to her, but I was… disappointed to realize that all that agony was simply because she was having issues with her mate.I had tried consoling her the b
KAIDA’S POVA whole week, and he barely spoke to me.I knew he was mad at me for leaving without informing him—he had every right to be—but I never thought it would drag on this long. I had believed that after my explanation, things would return to how they used to be. I was very wrongNothing was the same.I had just been informed that Aric had returned. I had been worried about him, but maybe it was smart of him to stay away for a few more days. Now he was back, he too kept his distance, and I didn’t think I was ready to see him either—maybe because a part of me blamed him. He had advised me to keep it all a secret from Alexander, and now I wasn’t sure if I had done the right thing.The Empress still lived, but everything I had built with Aric crumbled to pieces right before my very eyes.I spent my day exercising; that was the only way to let out stress, but this time it wasn’t enough. I missed him—I missed Alexander; I miss his touch… it was all driving me crazy.Most times, I had
The sun had begun to set as I approached Aric in the field; thankfully, the place was completely empty of people.“I knew I would be seeing you soon.” Aric said with a smile.“I had been waiting for you; I almost thought you chickened out.”“I had sex with her,” he said abruptly, and despite the fact that I already knew that, hearing it from the man who she had fucked only made it all worse."I should have known you'd take your chance the moment you were left alone with her.""For all you know, she might have been the one begging for it. Maybe you weren’t enough to satisfy her, or perhaps… she was craving something different."I’ve always excelled at keeping my emotions in check, but this time it took everything in me to keep calm. I was one step away from cracking his skull.“You know you can’t kill me.” He says, “She wouldn’t like that one bit, and you don’t want to make her mad.”“On the contrary, I do.”He hadn’t expected it; I grabbed his arm, snapping it. He let out a growl. “Yo
ALEXANDER’S POVI couldn’t bear to look at her. I came home late and left early—we hadn’t had a real conversation since we returned a week ago. She had tried starting one a few times, but after noticing my lack of interest, she stopped trying.I should get over this and move on. After all, I had been with other women too—but that was before Kaida and I became more than just unwilling companions. What hurt me the most wasn’t the act itself, but the fact that she hadn’t said a word about it. I had waited for her to finally gather the courage to speak up, only to realize she was going to pretend nothing had happened—like she hadn’t broken my trust. And that was what annoyed me the most.I would have forgiven her, damn, I still would— if she spoke about it.I drowned myself with work, and of course it paid off; the pack earnings had increased significantly this past week. When I wasn’t working, I was drinking myself to death. Usually, women, liquor, and violence were my only ways to let o
I felt so stupid—foolish enough to believe I was the queen in this game, with everyone else as mere pawns in my scheme. Little did I know there was a master plan, one far greater than my petty game. And in His plan, I was nothing more than a pawn.“You released those flesh eaters that attacked me; I could have died!” “That wasn’t exactly part of my plan, but again, I didn’t think you would go running off.”“You want me to believe that everything you said to me was a lie, but I don’t believe that. I know there was some truth to it all; you took the blame for me, risking your life. More than once you’ve risked your very position to make sure I am fed; you saved me from them. The kiss we shared in the lake, the memories we’ve made—they aren’t fake; they are all real.”I sounded so sure of myself, but in reality, I wasn’t. Perhaps it was all real to me, but never real to him.Trian—no, Daemon—gripped my chin, his eyes flashing from their usual blue to pure black before returning to their
A smirk curved on his lips; his eyes, once full of emotion, were empty, cold, and… distant.Suddenly he looked like a stranger.In a blink, he was no longer in front of me. I felt his presence right behind me; my heart pounded as I slowly turned around, and there he stood only a few inches away from me.“You wanted to know how I got out of The Pit? Well now you do.”“What are you?” I asked, backing away once again.“Fortune tellers might be liars, but she didn’t lie. I do have darkness living and breeding inside of me. Your empresses, they were all fools; they couldn’t see that the very thing they fought against was living with them, under their very noses.”“You are scaring me, Trian.”“No, not Trian. Daemon.”That name was also familiar; it took only a few seconds for my brain to place it. Julia had told me about the demon that had been born into the world by the Luna Queen. The demon that was supposed to be dead, he went by the very same name Daemon.“No!” I gasped.“Now you're sca
I woke up to Trian by my side.After the bath last night, he brought me back to bed; I didn’t miss the fact that he had replaced the sheets with fresh ones. Despite the throbbing pain between my legs, I couldn’t help but feel satisfied.It was better than I had ever expected, and I was glad Trian had been my first.Now I lay there, staring at him like some creep while he slept, noticing how tense he seemed—even in sleep. Maybe that was something all soldiers had in common. The thought of tracing my fingers down his perfectly sculpted face was enticing, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, afraid I might wake him—and then things would get very… awkward.I managed to rise to my feet, certain I’d be feeling him down there for days. I limped out of the room, planning to take a small tour of the house, and made my way to the kitchen. That was when I realized something I had completely overlooked—I didn’t know how to cook. For most of my life, the maids brought me food, and I ate whatever