**THANE'S POV**I had never viewed myself as a good person. Never. Right and wrong were just two words to me. Riley brought out a part of me even I hadn't realized existed. She was the best thing that happened to me, but I never did deserve her. I knew that, yet I wanted her.I should have done the right thing a long time ago; I should have let her go the very first time I lost control, but selfishly, I didn't. It only got worse. I hurt her once again; we had been alone in the woods; gods, I could have killed her. I had never hated myself more; I had spent two days in the woods because I couldn't bear to see her in the pain I'd inflicted, but there I made a decision: I had to let her go. I had promised myself that this time I wouldn't let myself be weak; I was going to do what was right, but then I saw her.It felt like I was seeing her all over for the very first time; she had been so happy to see me. I didn't deserve her love, and yet I wanted it so desperately. I tried to say those
"What the fuck do you think you are doing?" Axel asked, and he was mad. I felt it in the bond we shared; I saw it in his eyes too."I am doing the right thing."He inhaled sharply; he knew I was right, yet he didn't like this, not one bit. "You had to do that before all those people?" he questioned, even though he already knew why I had done that too."She would be safer this way.""You can't let her go; we can't—you would go in there and tell her it was all some kind of expensive joke, and you've changed your mind."When Axel was mad, he seemed to forget who the Alpha was and where his place was, but I let it slide; he had the right to be angry."Axel, listen to me. She is no longer safe here; there are many who want to hurt her to get to me — some of them are in this pack; You know that if there was any other way, I would have chosen that.""And do you think there wouldn't be others out there who want her dead too? She can't be on her own," he says, and he might be right."She manag
It all felt like some kind of sick dream."Ma'am, please, where would you like to go?" The driver asked; he had already taken us far past the pack borders. I had nowhere to go.I turned to my mother. "A few more meters to your left," she said to the driver, who nodded, following her command. I didn't know much about places, but wasn't that part inhabited by... humans?I didn't ask any questions; I let her decide. I felt completely numb.After what felt like hours, the car came to a stop, and my mother helped me out. We took out the luggages."Goodbye, Luna," the driver said, and I nodded, unable to form any words.He drove off.This was real; this was happening; I might never see Thane ever again."Where are we?" I asked my mother"Just come with me," she said.The streets had been empty of people, but after a few minutes of walking, I spotted some humans; many of them watched us.The thing is that we could look very much like humans but still stand out; there was something about we
One month later. It is strange how time flies. The hours turned into days, days into weeks, and a month had gone by. Not a single day did I stop thinking about Thane and Axel; not a single day had I stopped crying. I was a mess. I thought I could heal from this pain, but I couldn't. Once, I dreamt they came for me; oh, how real the dream felt, and then I awoke, and here I was, in the Raven Clan. They say time should heal all wounds, but even time couldn't heal this. I woke up with a start. It had been another dream about Thane. Another dream that felt too real. I sobbed silently. I had been here for a whole month and I had never left the room. I was a shell of the person I one was. I should fight this. Thane might be out there, with another woman standing in my place, and I would remain here, a total mess. I deserved better, yet I couldn't find the strength to walk out of that door and meet new people. My mother walked in, a tray in her hands; she didn't bother looking
Dinner was nothing like I expected.Back in the Nightshade pack, meals were a subdued affair — there could be a few occasional chatters but nothing as loud and carefree as this. It was the complete opposite here.Nick joked and laughed with everyone; the table was so loud and strangely comforting, but what was even more comforting was the fact that there weren't people staring creepingly at me. Sure, a few glanced, but not with the curiosity members at the Nightshade Pack did."Does she speak?" one of the men asked, referring to me."Yes, I speak," I answered, and many paused their chattering."She does speak," another said out loud, seemingly surprised."You thought I was... mute?"Many nodded, and for some reason that was funny. My mother had a smile on her face too; that's the most I had said the whole month. I did feel comfortable here, these people... there was something about them; maybe it was how welcoming they were or how very carefree and relaxed everyone was. Damn, even th
I spent more time with Nick, not only because it made my mother happy, but because I discovered that I could easily distract myself from thinking about Thane when I was with him.Nick was interested in agriculture, and I did admire him, but today we sat on a three-branch together."What did it feel like?" he asked. "Being with the Alpha King."I was silent for a long while; I hadn't talked about him since I came to this pack, but maybe sharing what I felt would make things better. Nick was close; he had become more of a family friend, and my mother loved him; she loved the fact that he was 'bringing me to life', but she hoped too much. I didn't love Nick, not in the way she thought, and I didn't think Nick felt that way either; he was just a free person."It was beautiful at times, painful at other times, scary sometimes, exciting at other times," I answered."I can't understand why exactly he made such a decision," Nick says genuinely."I don't know either; maybe he is trying to ‘pro
"What?" I demanded, my eyes narrowing at him."That didn't quite come out how I planned, I'm sorry. It is not a demand; you are free to refuse.""I can't marry you; I don't even like you," I said blandly."Love is never a big part of many marriages," he says."So then why would you want me as a wife?""Your influence; you don't seem to notice it, but you are the werewolf queen.""Not anymore""Many would always see you as that.""And so you plan to do what?; Use me to increase your pack status?”"If you want the truth, then yes."He didn't hesitate; I should be irritated by his request, but strangely, I wasn't. At least he was making his intentions clear from the very start; he would only let me attain power capable of making me his equal if I agreed to be his wife, and this way benefiting the pack. Thane never did this.Still, his request had caught me by surprise. "You can take as long as you need to think about this," he said."There won't be any need for that; my answer is no.""I
I couldn't explain it all to my mother. She wouldn't understand; no one but Nick would; he understood what it felt like.The thought of hurting her saddened me."Riley, are you alright?" she asked. This was the third time she had asked that question."Yes, mom, I am alright," I answered, trying to put on a smile, but I couldn't fake that, not with her."Okay, tell me what's going on." she asked, taking a seat on the cushion opposite me.I inhaled deeply. "We all have to take risks to get what we want, you know that, right?""I do, but not all risks are worth taking," she said; it was almost like she could read me. "Something is wrong, I can tell. Does this have to do with... Nick, did he say something to you?""Yes...No""What did he do?" she asked, her expression turning grave."Nothing""Don't lie to me; what is the risk you speak about?""I and Nick are getting married.", This was only a part of the truth, but I knew I wasn't going to get past my mother's curiosity so I had to tell
I walked past the patrolling soldier and Phil, who followed after me.“I thought you said you were leaving? I was worried you’d do something rash, so I came after you.”Good thing he and the other patrollers hadn’t witnessed what happened earlier.“Plans changed. Guess I was about to make a rash decision — but I changed my mind.”“Are you okay?” Phil asked, inspecting me.I knew I didn’t exactly look my best — I’d spent god-knows-how-long in the healing room, then ran straight to pack my bags, dressed in nothing but the white gown the healing wardens had supplied. My eyes must have been red from crying. But every other person in the pack looked the same, if not worse.They were all mourning Alexander—I realized.Many cast pitiful glances at me.“Why did he have to go?”, “He was too young to die,” “He ‘was’ the best Alpha the pack had ever had.”Everyone had something to say about Alexander.I could hardly believe I’d run past all these people without noticing a single thing. On the wa
KADIA’S POVI woke up in the healing room.A pair of blue eyes watched me — Daemon. He looked… different, and it wasn’t just the new haircut. There was something about him that made him seem more human."Daemon," I called; my throat felt so dry.He seemed to have already prepared for that. He passed me a glass of water, which I quickly emptied.Everything came flooding back — the news about the plane crash. It became harder to breathe.“Kaida. Calm down.”"He's gone — he was in the plane when it crashed."I yanked out the tubes attached to my arm and rose to my feet. The movement had been too abrupt; the room seemed to spin.I felt hands guiding me back to the bed. I couldn’t hold in the tears.“He shouldn’t have been there. I made him go, and now…”“Stop.” Daemon said, cutting me off. “He is not dead. I visited the site; I didn’t find anything that indicated he was among the ones that died.”“You were at the site?” I asked, my heart speeding up with renewed hope.“Yes. The moment I h
ALEXANDER’S POVMy blurred vision slowly cleared, and I realized I was in what looked like a small, empty room.The wall facing me was made of thick, transparent glass.I couldn’t tell how they managed to get me in here—there was no window or door, only a narrow slot likely meant for passing food and letting in just enough air to keep the ‘prisoner’ alive.I could only assume there was some kind of hidden entrance.My hands and ankles were bound with thick silver chains.The chains felt excessive—I could barely move a muscle.More wolfsbane than I’d ever consumed in my entire life had been pumped into my system, completely immobilizing me and filling me with this nauseating, sickly feeling. I hadn’t realized I was shivering until I noticed the tremble in my fingers.The room was chillingly cold, and with the wolfsbane suppressing my werewolf abilities, I was no exception to the cold. I tried to summon flames. Nothing.Maybe I was just too weak to summon the flames. The crushing feeli
1KADIA’S POVWhen I discovered the news of my pregnancy, I had been so happy. But I knew a lot would have to change.I had to be more cautious—for the baby. That meant I wouldn’t be able to keep training the pack soldiers for much longer. Of course, I’d have to give up that duty eventually and it had become a part of my life. I would have to watch my diet, too. And then there were other things. Like the fact that I would grow big, and I might not look the same. My toned stomach which I had spent years working on would be no more.This had been the type of life I once abhorred, but everything was different now—I wanted this. I could see a future with Alexander, filled with laughter and little kids running around, and the thought made me smile.Lara was the first person to find out I was pregnant.After I discovered the pregnancy test was unmistakably positive, I was as scared as I was excited.Lara happened to be visiting the pack, and we kind of bumped into each other. She was all s
KAIDA’S POVThe flesh-eaters were all gone. Packs that had been destroyed were slowly rebuilding; the chaos had finally settled. But there were still many things to attend to—like the few humans who now knew that dangerous supernatural beings lived among them.The human president had reached out to us; He was ready to pay whatever sum was needed to keep creatures like the ‘flesh-eaters’ away, as they could cause civil unrest among the people. He was willing to pay even more so things could return to the way they were when humans and supernatural beings lived separately.Alexander sent a letter back, assuring him that the ‘creatures’ were gone and that things would continue as usual. What they didn’t realize was that many werewolves and supernatural beings already lived among humans. They owned major companies and enterprises worldwide. From popular clothing brands to tech products, much of it was secretly controlled by the werewolf community.One constant worry lingered on my mind —
JADE POVEarlierI had chosen to spend my final hours in the little underground lair just beneath the small house I owned.At the other side of the room, trapped behind a magical wall, was a flesh-eater. I had captured it and brought it back here. If Aliyah does go through with her words, then the creature wouldn’t last until the next day.Hours passed, and the beast remained caged—still alive, still stupidly trying to push through the magical barrier I had created to contain it, no matter how many times it got scarred from trying.I wouldn’t blame the girl if she backed out; she had every right to make that decision. She was young and in love—it wasn’t easy to let go of everything for people who were mostly strangers.Beside me was a picture of Ralph. The only one I had, and the only thing that had accompanied me through the years. Many would say I lived a lonely life, but that was the only way I knew how to live—though it hadn’t always been that way.I thought back to when Ralph wa
DAEMONAliya was in the same silk white nightgown she’d slept in. A soft breeze blew through her silver hair. She looked surreal, like an angel. “I have to do this.” She said, and I could see the determination in her eyes.“No, you don’t have to do this. I told you I would find a way…”“There is no other way.” she said, cutting me off. “This is the only way. I can end the war, and this is what I have to do to end it.”I’d remember those words in the dream I had. She’d told me how she could “end the war.”Those eyes stared at me like she could read exactly what I was thinking.“Do you love me enough to let me go?” she whispered—and that’s when it hit me: it was never a dream. “The undead would be gone if Solene died. The war would end if I took my life—with this dagger.”“Tell me one thing, Aliyah. If you were in my place, would you let me go?” I asked. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She didn’t answer, maybe because we both knew what that answer was. “Why in the hell do you think
ALIYAHI stood watching the lake.The memory of what had happened here resurfaced, and I smiled. There were still so many things I had yet to do, so many adventures waiting out there.I looked down at the dazzling diamond on the engagement ring Daemon had given me. It must have cost a fortune, but that wasn’t why I thought it was beautiful. It would always be my most prized possession because of what it signified.Now I could see the truth—Daemon would have given up his title to be with me.I didn’t deserve his love. I didn’t deserve him. And yet, I wanted him.The best days of my life were the ones I spent with Daemon. Truly, he was the greatest gift life had given me, and I would always be grateful for that.But I had to make a decision.**FLASHBACK**“I need to speak to the girl alone,” Jade said, and I watched the others walk away, leaving me alone with the sorceress.“I remember it all,” I confessed. “I remember how many people died because of me… how many others I killed.”“That
“What did I taste like?” Aliyah asked.“Different… better.” If that was even possible.“That’s because I still have her powers. Even if she’s locked away, she’s still in there.”“You feel her?” I asked.“I hear her. She never stops reminding me that my time is ticking.” Aliyah said.“I will make her pay for what she did to you,” I promised.“She will pay.”…In moments like this, we truly see the vanities of life. Wealth, power, titles—none of them hold any true value. What truly matters are the small, fleeting moments shared with the people you love. Those are the things that endure.Time, too, is a precious thing. It belongs to no one, and no one can stop it. Aliyah walked out of the bathroom.“This is the best bath I’ve had in a really, really long time.”“Would have been better with me in there.”“Maybe, but I’m sore, and we both know you can’t keep your hands to yourself.”“You’re right about that. Now take a seat.”“Why?”"Or stand, if you prefer," I said, watching her raise an