ALEXANDER’S POVHow could I have missed it?I always knew Kaida was different; she was not like other girls, and yet I doubted her. I had been the one wrong. She never did betray me.For the past few days, I had avoided looking at her—her eyes had this power over me, and I wasn’t ready to let her in again. But now, I noticed her—every part of her. I noticed she had lost weight. This was all my fault; I had jumped into conclusions too quickly.“Don’t hurt him.” She pleaded, and once again, that surprised me; after what he had done to her, he deserved to pay. Why was she protecting him?Because he would always remain family to her. Even after everything he had done, she was going to forgive him. “If he doesn’t suffer for what he’s done, he may never understand the severity of his offense.”"I know he deserves to be punished; I mean, he’s not exactly in the best state right now," she said. I couldn’t help the small smile that formed on my lips—of course, she must have thrown in a few pu
Prologue(Riley's POV) I woke up to a sharp pain in my abdomen. I knew what was happening; Ryker was doing it again. He was cheating on me with another woman. I rolled off the bed, my hands circling around my stomach. The wave of pain passed through me again, and I screamed out, my hands remaining on my stomach as if to shield my unborn child. I groaned, crawling for the door. "Help!" I screamed, but my voice came out hoarse. The pain came again, worse than ever before, and I cried out. "Please... please stop Ryker; you are hurting me," I begged, even if I knew he wasn't here or listening. A strange kind of fear filled me, one I always felt before things went completely wrong, and I was afraid it would now. My child was only one month old, and he 'knew' I was pregnant for him. I crawled for the door, my breaths coming out in pants, my whole body drenched in sweat. The pain wouldn't stop; it only got worse, and I couldn't go any further. In here, no one heard my cries
Growing up, there are so many stories I hear about rejections, the pain that comes with it, and then the sense of loss, like something was missing. I knew what was coming, and I was prepared, even as I said the words."I, Riley Kaidon, accept your rejection," I respond, and that gave him a pause. Of course, he doesn't expect me to accept his rejection so easily; every female is dying to be the Alpha's mate, and I had been one of them till I discovered that he wasn't as charming as my thoughts had painted him to be.I felt the pain, just as I had anticipated. It's a different kind of pain, one that is deep within, but what I do not feel is the loss.How could you lose what you never had?It was over. All my dreams of finding a mate had all come to nothing. I was given the monster as a mate, and he had used me, taken from me, only to dump me like trash. I couldn't stay in this pack any longer; I had to leave."Banish me from this pack; I no longer see the use of remaining.""Oh no, Rile
The Mating Ball. (Riley's POV) Ryker sat with his mate, and I was to sit besides him, close enough to hear him whisper the same words he had told me to her, close enough to see him kiss her, close enough to hear her soft moans as his hands disappeared beneath her dress, but that wasn't the worst part of this all; the worst part was having to see my mother, refilling his cup like the servant he wanted everyone to know she was. All I felt was anger, burning fury. I turned away from them, focusing on keeping my breath steady. "You work slugglishly, old woman," Ryker said to my mother, she had pretended not to hear that as she refilled his glass for what seemed as the hundredth time. My mother glanced at me, her eyes a warning, begging me to stay still and not do anything crazy, and it took everything in me to seat still. "You forgot to refill mine," Zara said to my mother, and of course, my mother did refill hers, muttering a silent appology which wasn't even due. Zara
(Riley's POV) There was a lot running through my mind, but I couldn't stop myself as I let my lips move against his, his hands raked through my hair, and I let him touch me in more intimate ways. His kiss was unlike anything I had ever felt; it was like a breath of fresh air and, at the same time suffocating. I felt everything and nothing; the electricity rolling down my frame had nothing to do with a mate bond; it did have everything to do with the fallen angel standing before me. No, he was no angel, maybe quite the opposite, but he did have the looks of a Greek god. Finally he pulled away, and I was left panting, wanting more, my lips all swollen. What the hell just happened, and why is Alpha Thane calling me his mate when I was sure I wasn't his? From the look he gave me, he knew that too. "Pretend," he whispered in my ear, low enough for only me to hear. Pretend?. He meant I should go along with this. Why would I do that? , why... My trail of thoughts was cut off.
(Riley's POV) Everything about Alpha Thane screamed sexuality: the way he walked, his height, his look, his lips- oh, those very beautiful lips, and the way those lips had formed out my name. Never had I thought my name could sound that sexy and enticing... Also the last thing I should be thinking about right now was how sexy he was. . He was right though; if he wanted me dead, he wouldn't need to go through all that stress to get it done; he only needed to do it right there in the mating ball. After all, they were known for just that, so it wouldn't exactly be a surprise, and not many would care about the fact that I was killed; my mother would, though. "Then what do you want?" "I want you to come with me, as my mate," he answered, as if that were the simplest and most obvious thing. "What?" "I guess you heard me clearly, and you need a while to process it." "No, I do not need a while; I am not your mate; I know that; you know that; and I cannot leave my pack a
(Riley's POV) It didn't make sense. That Alpha Thain of the Nightshade pack had chosen me; I had so much to gain—my mother's freedom, 'my freedom', and wealth—lots of it. It felt almost too good to be true. He had told me that he never made any deals in which he had nothing to gain, but I can't imagine what he had to gain from being mated to me. Yet, his promises had been mouth-watering, every single word, and I knew he was right. I knew I would agree to his terms, whatever they might be, as long as my mother was free. He was not a gentleman; he had told me just that, and that was the one thing I believed. After the little conversation, he had left me here all alone, to think about his proposal. No, he didn't bother escorting me back to the ball where he had taken me; he was letting me know, even from the little gestures, what kind of a man he was. When he meant he wanted me as a mate for a period of time, did that involve intimacy? Maybe it didn't; maybe I just had to play
(Riley's POV) I didn't know what my mother had against Alpha Thane and his father, but she had agreed to come with me after I had persuaded her. I had to tell her what Ryker had wanted me to be—a little pet for him—and that was all she needed to finally change her mind. Though she didn't like this idea and I knew it, we both knew we had no other choices, and I would rather die than leave my mother here. She helped me pack up. I had only a few things; I picked out only the important things, and a single bag was enough to contain my stuff. . Alpha Ryker walked into my room, not bothering to knock. "You know it is very unappropriate to walk into a lady's room without knocking, right?" I questioned, and my mother gave me a questioning look, but this time I didn't listen. "Now the true Riley shows herself; I knew you had all that pent-up anger in you for a long time; I actually expected you to slip in the mating ball last night, and I am totally surprised you didn't." "That's
ALEXANDER’S POVHow could I have missed it?I always knew Kaida was different; she was not like other girls, and yet I doubted her. I had been the one wrong. She never did betray me.For the past few days, I had avoided looking at her—her eyes had this power over me, and I wasn’t ready to let her in again. But now, I noticed her—every part of her. I noticed she had lost weight. This was all my fault; I had jumped into conclusions too quickly.“Don’t hurt him.” She pleaded, and once again, that surprised me; after what he had done to her, he deserved to pay. Why was she protecting him?Because he would always remain family to her. Even after everything he had done, she was going to forgive him. “If he doesn’t suffer for what he’s done, he may never understand the severity of his offense.”"I know he deserves to be punished; I mean, he’s not exactly in the best state right now," she said. I couldn’t help the small smile that formed on my lips—of course, she must have thrown in a few pu
I didn’t know how to feel. While I had been venting about not being ready, a small part of me had already accepted the pregnancy—the challenges that came with it. For those few hours when I thought I was pregnant, I couldn’t deny a strange fascination with the idea of a life growing inside of me. Her news should have brought relief, but strangely, it didn’t.It was midnight. I didn’t know exactly how I had ended up at the door of our apartment. Letting out a sigh of resignation, I stepped inside. Maybe I did need to talk to Alexander.I found him seated in the exact same position I had left him, but this time, a bottle of liquor was in his hand. Even from here, I could smell the harsh smell of wolfsbane. My eyes widened, and I rushed to him."What are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself?""Well, that would just mean one less person for anyone to worry about."“Are you crazy? You are the Alpha king!”He smirked; it was humorless. I had never seen him look so scary and at the sam
I had known Aric all my life. I grew up with him—he was family to me. But never had I seen Aric look so scared, never had he let himself appear this vulnerable before me. In that instant, my own fears and worries were cast aside.“I betrayed your trust, Kaida. After everything you have done for me, I betrayed you, and I am so sorry. I was selfish and stupid; I let my feelings and desires get the best of me.”“I don’t understand. What are you trying to say?”"When I convinced you to leave Alpha Alexander out of the mission, it wasn’t because I thought it was the best decision—it was because I wanted to have you alone with me. I thought that if you were far enough away from him, you would be able to—I don’t know—think clearly. Finally, we were alone and far from him, just as I had always wanted, and then… I told you how I felt. I told you everything…"He didn’t need to say more; bit by bit, the memories flooded in. The dream I had earlier was more than just a dream. I remembered that d
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