For the next few days, Nick guided me on how to control my wings, and soon using them felt like second nature to me, they felt like an extension of myself.Now we had to plot on how to stop Thane, and it was easier said than done. "You can't possibly think I can return back to the Nightshade pack," I argued.We were seated in a small meeting room. Nick and Gabriel were present. Gabriel was regarded as the commander and next in command after Nick."Hear me out, okay?" Gabriel pleaded. "You alone know the ins and outs of the Nightshade pack more than any other person, and with those... wings, getting in wouldn't be as hard."Gabriel knew about my wings. He had discovered them one of the days I trained with Nick. Turns out he also had an idea that Nick wasn't just a werewolf. That day, Gabriel had walked away like he saw nothing and never brought it up until now.Nick didn't seem to like the idea of me returning back to the Nightshade Pack one bit. "Is there not any other way?" he quest
"I would have preferred going with you," Nick says. "You have to stay here," I reminded him. Nick helped me with the hood mask; I was fully clothed; only my eyes and the little portion for my wings were left unclothed. A sword had been secured to my side, two daggers in my boot, and a single gun at the other side of my hip. I was armed. The scenturia potion emitted a sharp smell but I could live through that. I stared at the mirror. I wouldn't recognize 'me'. Green contact lenses had been used to cover the blue of my eyes. "Ready?" he asked me, and I nodded. But the truth was that I wasn't ready; I wasn't ready to see Thane again. Neither was I ready to return back to the Nightshade pack. "We would see soon," he says as if hoping for any reassurance from me, but I didn't trust my voice to speak, so I only nodded again. "Remember, the paths are all on the map," he added, patting my back. We stared at each other; this was the moment we were supposed to kiss, but I couldn't bring m
The instruction was that I remained here to make sure the soldiers had a safe passage, but I couldn't wait here; some might have heard the sound, while my gun had a silencer, theirs didn't.I walked into the pack. Everything seemed familiar; I hated being back here; I hated how this felt so much like home.Soldiers paraded nearby, their footsteps and loud chatter drowning out the sound of my own. I moved swiftly, darting between trees until I reached a more secluded spot, where I finally stopped.Now all I had to do was wait for the soldiers to return.Zed did trust his soldiers, and so I had to have some faith in them too.Gabriel should be arriving anytime soon with the vehicles to pick us up, this way we wouldn't be easily traced. I pulled open the map. He would wait some distance away, so as not to be spotted by the Nightshade pack patrollers. But the problem was that he may have to trespass on another pack's land.One hour turned to two.I didn't know how long I would have to wa
"Get up" I ordered "I can't," the man says, I could see it in his eyes, he had already given up."Help me lift him," I said. We managed to lift him, he groaned in pain as his injured leg scraped against the bare ground. Together, we carried the man away, heading for the pack borders. I doubted we'd be as lucky walking past undetected, or escape as easily as we had entered.Damn he was heavy, we managed to travel only a short distance before the gun shot stopped us. The man I had been carrying slumped. The bullet had gotten him in the side.It was one of the Nightshade soldiers, he fired another shot and it got the other man in the arm, he cried out. I let go of the man, but before I could reach for my gun, there was yet another shot. This one had been fired from another direction. Not at me, but at the Nightshade soldiers. Gabriel was back.He rushed to us, quickly checking on the man who laid on the floor."He would survive," he said to me and I nodded."I need to get you out of here
I had taken every precaution: fully clothed, hood mask in place, scent completely neutralized, and lenses worn. Yet, he still called me by my name. I stood there, silent, unwilling to give a response; maybe he had only made a wild guess. Thane walked forward; he was so close to me I could perceive his scent; this was a wicked reminder of what we had once, but now, now it was all over. "Would you take the hood off or do you prefer I do that?" he questioned. That intense look he gave me forced me into taking a step back. "Don't come any closer," I warned. My voice shook, and I hated it. I wouldn't cry, not in front of him, but the pain I felt was so unbearable. "Is that a threat? , didn't sound much like it." I took off the mask, dumping the material to the ground. Then I met his gaze. We shared a long look, and there was something different in the way he stared at me. I could swear I saw the longing in his eyes, but I didn't forget how good an actor he was. "Riley, y
"The last time I was here, you seemed to be in such a hurry to do just that.""I thought I was keeping you safe; if only I knew you were like a problem magnet.""So let me guess, you would give me a whole crap talk about how you were willing to hurt me, humiliate me, just to ‘protect’ me."That silenced him, and then his gaze found something I had left on, my engagement ring. For some reason, I felt the need to hide it.He grasped my hand, staring at it."What is this?""What does it look like?""You're engaged?" He said the words like it didn't make sense."Yes, and keeping me here isn't really helping me in any way."His eyes were once again those cold orbs that sent chills down my spine."I guess I deserve this," he says more to himself than to me. "I should be happy you've moved on, but I can't be happy for you, Riley," he says, looking away from me as if it hurts to stare.Bullshit. I pulled my hands away from his hold, taking some steps backwards."I never wanted this Thane. I l
**THANE**I had no right to hold her captive, not after everything I had done to her and yet I couldn't bring myself to let her go. Maybe it was because I knew that this was my last chance and if I did screw it then that was it.Still her words pierced deep.I knew she didn't mean it. I knew a part of her still loved me even if she resented that part, but hearing her say those words straight to my face… hearing her compare me with my father who I thought was the monster made me realized how bad I had screwed up.More than once I had given up on staying away from her, but Axel was always there to stop me. He never really forgave me for what I did, even though he knew I had every reason to. He thought I deserved the punishment I got. "You cannot go to her" he would always say, "If she had managed to move on, seeing you would only cause her more pain and she don't need that".Finally I had gotten a grip of the beast I had become, If only Riley knew that she had fueled up the need in me
A healer tended to my wounds in the dungeons; Thane had offered that I stay in the available guests room since we both knew I wouldn't be agreeing on returning back to the room we once shared, but I didn’t need his generosity; if he thought I couldn’t handle the cold floors of the dungeons, then he was indeed mistaken.I didn’t like how the healer kept staring at me. I am sure Thane had informed her not to tell anyone about this, but still her gaze was unnerving.“I think that would be all,” she said after the last stitch. “Is there anything else you need?”“No, you may leave,” I said to her, and she rose to her feet and offered a bow before walking away.A few hours passed, and Thane entered with a tray of food. He set it before me, but my gaze remained fixed on the wall, ignoring him entirely.“You’ve lost a lot of blood; you need to eat Riley, please,” he says softly.My eyes never left the wall, and finally he left, giving me some space to think about my escape. Yes, I needed stre
“Kaida, I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, but I’ll ask that you stay close to me at all times.” Alexander said to me.The Gray Moon Pack was smaller than both the Nightshade and the Dawn Pack, but it was built a bit differently. There were no sub-houses around the pack to accommodate other members; instead, there were three huge buildings, and I guess that’s where all the pack members stayed. The soldier led us into the one on the left, the biggest of the three buildings, I believed, where the Alpha and other top-ranked members were housed.“Welcome, our King!” The man I assumed to be Alpha Grayson said with a bow. “It had been so long since you last visited.”“Not so much has changed.” Alexander said with his usual smirk, but I noticed the ‘mask’ was back on.“You are right; I don’t plan on making any new notable changes to the pack anytime soon.”“Thank you for having us, Alpha Grayson.”“The pleasure is all mine.” Grayson replied. There was something about this man
I wore a gown—an elegant, mid-length, midnight blue dress. The neckline dipping just enough to reveal a hint of cleavage.“You should wear dresses more often,” Alexander said.“I wouldn’t have worn one if not for the fear of sticking out.”“You are the Luna of the Nightshade pack; you will always stick out.”We took the black Range Rovers, and the three cars following us carried five of our soldiers. Alexander took the lead, and I sat beside him in the passenger seat while he drove.“I didn’t know you were such a good driver.”“Is that a compliment?” he asked, looking away from the road ahead and at me.“No. I’m just surprised. Most ‘Alphas’ prefer seating behind while their drivers do the driving.”“Well, I’m not like most Alphas.” He said, his eyes still on me instead of on the road.“You will get us killed if you don’t focus on the road, you know.”He laughed. “Have more faith in me, Kaida.”“I would, if you were staring ahead instead of at me.”“You know what I think? I think I ma
KAIDA’S POVThere were so many things I didn’t know about Alexander. But now I could understand why he hid them. I was aware that his late mother was part demon; could she have lost control– could that have been what resulted in the marks she inflicted on her own son? I couldn’t imagine Luna Riley doing that in her right mind. Alex would say no more than what he had told me earlier; I wish he trusted me enough to tell me the truth.I knocked on the door to Lara’s room; it was partly opened.“Come in!” her voice called from inside the room, and I walked in, shutting the door behind me. I walked into the inner room. There Lara was, on her knees, before a man. A naked man. She had his cock in her mouth, his hand fisted into her hair, fucking her mouth. His eyes remained closed as if lost in his own world, and then he moved faster, thrusting deeper into her mouth.“Oh, gods.” The man moaned.I considered turning back and walking away. I shouldn’t be seeing this, but of course Lara never m
ALEXANDER’S POVI should have guessed what my little mate was up to when I saw her in nothing but the sexy lingerie. The image lived rent-free in my mind even as I worked.I had seen another part of Kaida, one that drove me insane. I closed my eyes, remembering how she rode me, gods those hips... I was willing to do anything, just so she wouldn’t stop. She’d discovered my weakness and she exploited it to her advantage. I shouldn’t be turned on by that, but damn was I hard.“The rogue is dead.” Keith—one of the council members—said to me.“Well, toss his body into the sea.” I said to him dismissively.“The rogues had already turned against the Gray Pack; the least we could do is return the body to the rogues.”I chuckled. “Did you get a glimpse of the body?”“No. A guard informed me that he was starting to rot.”“If you did get a glimpse, you would know that sending the mauled corpse to the rogues would be considered more an act of war than throwing it into the sea.”His eyes widened.
**Anonymous Narrator POV**Trent Dawn had always believed he would live a long, fulfilling life—one where he’d watch his daughter grow, fall in love, and have children of her own. But life rarely goes as planned. Now, here he was, lying on his deathbed, awaiting the inevitable.His pack was gone, so was his daughter. Everything he had spent his years building was no more, he had given it all away, but he had no other option, he only wished his daughter could understand one day that he did all these for her.A female healer was the only one left to tend to him for the little time he had left.He heard footsteps approaching. It wasn’t yet time for the healer’s daily medications. He looked up, staring at the blurry figure. His eyes were weak, but he knew exactly who it was. It was the very person he was trying to save his daughter from. His ex-mate, Cynthia.“You are a very strong man, Alpha Trent –or perhaps I’ll call you Trent, since you are no longer an Alpha.” She said mockingly, but
How had he found me?I had never felt so afraid before; if he told the Empress about this… I rushed to him, falling on my knees. “Please, she can’t know…”“Are you referring to me?” the familiar voice belonging to Julia called from behind him. I rose to my feet quickly. “How did you find this place?” she asked, staring around.“I—I…”“Don’t lie to me, child.”“I found it a few years ago, Empress.”Her eyes landed on the wolf.“What is this?” she asked. I could see the pure disappointment on her face.“Please, he’s my friend…”The slap came so fast and hard that, for a moment, everything went black, and my ear rang. When my vision cleared, I realized I was on the floor.Ash snarled and lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. Its claws swiped at her face, narrowly missing.“Ash, no!”Trian walked to the Empress and picked the wolf up like it weighed nothing. Ash immediately went silent.The Empress rose to her feet, a cut on her neck—I hadn’t even noticed when that had happened. Tr
“I’m sorry for not inviting you to join me.” I apologize.“I am not hungry, but you are.”I wiped my mouth with the paper towel before placing it back on the tray.“You must be disgusted…”“No. I’m not.” He said, walking to me and taking the tray, I gripped his sleeve. “She cannot know, please… She would punish me for this.”He nods, but the slight confusion is clearly written across his face.He took the tray away and returned to his position; he didn’t say another word. I waited and waited for Julia to walk in and tell me how she had tried testing me and I failed, but she never did come in.Even as the night came.In the ninth hour, I turned off my lamp, shut my book, and headed to the bathroom. I took a quick wash before changing into my nightgown.I returned to the room.“You are not from here, are you?” I asked.“No. He answered. I’m from the North.”“I don’t hear much about the North.”“It’s far from here and surrounded by humans.”“Are you a werewolf?”“No. I’m not.”“Why did y
Aliya’s POVTrian stood dutifully at his post by the door. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, careful not to let him know I was looking. The man was indeed handsome. I wanted to say something to him—anything—but I didn’t know what to say. Since the incident, we hadn’t exchanged a single word. He went on breaks and returned as quickly as he could; he was always present, and suddenly my room didn’t feel like a cage anymore.If only I could talk to him. What would I say?Ask him about the weather?... maybe complement his… clothes. His uniform was different from the soldiers here. He wore a thick, black, high-collared jacket paired with fitted pants. From the texture, it looked like it was either made of crocodile skin or something that closely resembled it.I found my eyes trailing lower.“Aren’t you hungry?” He asked, and I quickly looked away from him, my gaze returning to the book in my hands, the one I held up-side-down.I was indeed hungry, but I was used to being starved.
We were both naked. My eyes never left him; he stalked towards me, and picked me up, he placed me on the bed.“You don’t have the slightest idea what you’ve just awoken.”I leaned closer so my lips were against his ears.“Oh, I know.” I whispered.Like a starved man, he ripped off my lingerie, tossing it to the floor.Heat pooled between my legs; I had never been so ready.“Wait.”“I have no patience, Kaida… I’m one second away from taking you like the animal I am.”“You will have that and more if you let me.”He stared at me, the look of amusement in his eyes as he rolled over so I was on top.“I’m not a very curious man, but today I am curious… what are you up to?”“I can’t tell you, Alpha, but I can show you.”I took my position; he was hard, firm, and very huge. Slowly I took him in, and then I began moving. I rode him, just as Lara had done. He let out a guttural sound. My hands trailed down his chest.“Alex.” I moaned, increasing my pace.I could see it in his eyes; he was losin