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
The dark blue dress would look beautiful on Kaida. That was the first thought on my mind when I saw it in the store. I knew I had to get it for her..Kaida was on the training field, she’d taken up Aric’s position. I believed it was another way to honor his memory. She trained the soldiers just as he had done… before everything went downhill. I had to admit, she was very good at it. Even the soldiers seemed to be enjoying the session with her."Your weight on this leg," she instructed, adjusting the soldier’s stance. I didn’t miss the way his gaze flickered to her ass for a split second before he quickly looked away, likely fearing he’d be caught staring. The possessive part of me wanted to pry out his eyes for even looking, then drag her into our room and fuck her all day long for looking so damn sexy.The longer I watched, the more something dark stirred inside me. She was too damn close to that guy, and those leathers—hell, they were so tight, her ass was practically on display. I
The Rogue leaders had waited. When the two days were over, I invited them into the meeting room.A maid brought over bottles of beer, and Edna was the first to take a deep gulp, the others following soon after. The maid excused herself.“Edna, Skale, Kev, Gal, and of course, Timothy. Welcome to the Nightshade Pack.”“I didn’t remember keeping you waiting this long when you paid us a visit.” Edna said to me."I’d hoped you’d get impatient enough to leave."Edna chuckled; it was silent and humorless. “Unfortunately, we’ve come to speak on an important matter.”“I assumed as much.”"We allowed a peace treaty with you once, and now we’ve come to discuss the terms.""I made you a promise, Edna. I told you that if you couldn’t keep the rogues under control, there would be war. This time, something tells me you were the brains behind the earlier attack.""Yes. I was. Like the rest, we believed you were gone, and we did what anyone would do—we attacked.""But I guess you were wrong.""Sorely.
ALEXANDER’S POVIt was almost unnerving how similar she had looked to Kaida. Her voice sounded so much like hers—I had hesitated, and in that moment of weakness, Cynthia escaped.It all made sense now. I could recall that incident. When Kaida had walked into the room, looking all seductive, I had given in so easily. And then—she ‘d lifted the dagger to my chest. I hadn’t realized it wasn’t her. For a fleeting moment, I had even thought the weapon was just another tease.But then she’d stabbed me, and too late I realized something different about her—something I hadn’t picked up on earlier. Her eyes. They were different, not because they weren’t the same grey I knew, but because it felt like they belonged to a stranger, not the woman I had known and fallen for.Kaida had taken the blame, but of course, she could never have done such a thing. She’d never have gone through with it, and I couldn’t believe I was just realizing that now."It’s not your fault. Cynthia excels at those kinds o
"I know the truth," I said to Julia, finally speaking up.“What truth? Don’t tell me you still fall for his falsehoods—you should have learned your lessons by now.”"He tried to protect me. He kept me safe. That’s more than you’ve ever done?"“Protect you—you really think you are safe here with him?”“Safer than I ever was back in the castle.”“I taught you better than this, Aliya. I taught you about bad people who would want to taint you, but you were always the curious type; I should have known.” She said, I didn’t miss the fact that she addressed me by my name."I remember everything you taught me, Julia. Thanks to you, I know more languages than I’ll ever have the chance to use in my lifetime. You spoke endlessly about good and evil—you painted yourselves as saints, but you all are far from that. I know the truth now. Your plan was to sacrifice me. That encounter—all of it—was a lie. I was nothing but a vessel to you.""And do you think you mean anything to him?" she asked, her g
My thoughts drifted to Ash. Could he have been stupid enough to come back here with Daemon present?Something told me Daemon wouldn’t be pleased about me seeing him behind his back.A small sense of relief washed over me when I realized the footsteps approaching weren’t from a man. There was something feminine, something familiar about them.It was Empress Julia.Of course, I would recognize the sound of her footsteps; I had spent over a decade of my life listening to them.Daemon seemed genuinely surprised. “How did you find this place?” he asked."I can't say. You see, it's a small secret, Trian—I guess that's the name you stole."Daemon’s eyes drifted from her face to the object she held in her hand: the Nexus Amulet. She had somehow gotten it out of the transparent glass container—perhaps that explained the noise that had alerted us we weren’t alone."Give it to me," Daemon all but growled."Tsk, tsk. Not so fast."Daemon looked like he was about to lunge for her."You won’t get t
I shouldn’t be thinking about Ash’s words, but I was. No matter how many times I tried to shove them out of my mind, they always found their way back."Dinner is served. Come eat," Daemon announced. Staring at him, I could almost forget that he was a demon; he just seemed so… human. But when you looked deeper into those dark blue eyes, that’s when you noticed something off—something that screamed predator.“I’m not hungry.”“That’s a lie. Come with me,” he said. I might be hungry, but I was in no mood to eat, yet I followed him. He had already dished out the food for me and, as usual, none for himself.“Thank you.” I muttered, taking a seat. The smoky scent of spiced grilled meat filled the air. On any other day, it would be enough to make my mouth water and my stomach rumble, but this time, I could barely force myself to eat more than a few small pieces.“Aliyah,” Daemon called, and I looked up at him. “I can make something else if you don’t like this.”“It’s not that. I’m just not h
ALIYAH’S POVI stared at the empty room, once occupied by the human girls. Now, the chains that had been used to bind them were the only sign that they had ever been here.After the incident with Tasha, Daemon wasn’t willing to take any chances. He had let the two cousins return to their homes.When Daemon wasn’t home, I had the whole house to myself.I returned to my room to take a quick shower before his return. I peeled off my clothes and walked into the shower. I was done in less than twenty minutes. I was about to step out of the bathroom when my reflection caught my eye. I paused, staring at the figure in the mirror that was mine.My eyes were the only thing alive; every other part of my body seemed to be fading away. My silver hair didn’t look as healthy, and my pale skin was even paler. I spotted the bite marks marring my skin. I didn’t mind them at all; maybe I was getting just as crazy as Tasha, but I liked seeing those marks on my skin; they reminded me of him, and so I ha
I watched as Aric’s casket was lowered into the ground.All the memories were buried along with him. Guilt ate at me, knowing he shouldn’t be down there.Many who knew Aric were also present. He had once been a beta to the Dawn pack, then a commander to the Nightshade Pack. He was loved by many, but the strangest thing about life was how fast people tend to move on.Two hours later, everyone was gone, back to their lives. A few months from now, some would forget him. In a few years, others wouldn’t even remember that a man named Aric had once lived among us. He’d be just another tombstone like the rest. No one was ever truly too important—life always moved on.I stood before Aric's grave, eyes puffy and red, tears rolling down my cheeks, and Alexander stood beside me. His eyes were on me.“You know, he had a sister. I had no clue about her; she was the reason he betrayed me; he wanted to save her.” I paused when I realized who I was talking to. “Sorry, I know you’d always hated him.”
Derek had been taken away from the pack after our fight. A small part of me felt bad for him. In his pack, he had been worshipped, but now… everything was about to change—especially the fact that he would have to rule as an Alpha with only one arm.If his story taught me anything, it was that we often fail to appreciate what we have. He had a pack, people who loved him, but like every other Alpha, he wanted more. He was an honorable man, and for that reason, I had let him go his way—even after his demeaning words about making me his ‘whore’ when he took over the pack.“I have to admit. You did very well with the pack.” Alexander praised, and I couldn’t help the swell of pride I had felt in that instant.We were currently in the bed, none of us wanting to leave the room or each other’s company.“Most of the time, I didn’t even know what I was doing.”“Well, that makes the two of us. You were born a leader, Kaida.”"No, I wasn’t. I might be the daughter of an Alpha, and I might have ha