I felt Freya’s grip on my arm the moment we were out of sight.“Come with me,” she says, her voice was raspy and barely audible, almost like she spent so much of her days in silence; she had forgotten how to speak right. I let her lead me into an empty room, and she locked the door.My heart pounded. Should I be afraid of her? There was something about her that was indeed different.“Why are we here?” I questioned“I want to talk to you,” she said, her voice a little bolder now. “There are a few things you need to know about being the Alpha’s mate." She said, and I nodded, ready to do anything to be in her good books. Her mate didn’t seem to like me, maybe things could change if I gave her the right impression.She lifted her veil and let it fall over her hair. I held in a gasp. Her face was scarred; that was why she was in a veil, why she had left no skin exposed; she was hiding the scars. I should have suspected this when I saw her standing behind Alpha Slade, her head down, but of c
I followed after him, a sense of dread settling in the pit of my stomach. He led me back into our room and shut the door. I inhaled. “Things went rough with your mother, right?” He asked, this question I did not expect. “She doesn’t like you very much.” “That’s understandable,” he says. “You know, you did well today—with my father, I mean.” “I did?” “Yes. Though I didn’t miss the fact that you had again disobeyed me, You took off the clothes—was it because of your mother?” “Yes... No. I couldn’t walk around looking like a whore.” He walked closer, and it took everything in me to stand still. His fingers traced the fabric of the brown gown I had chosen—without asking for permission, of course. “You liked being well covered?” He asked “Yes” “Just like my mother, Freya?” I think my heart skipped a bit right there. I remembered the scars all over her body, they had been the reason she left no skin uncovered. "How could you allow that to happen to her?"
"There had been a reason I wanted you in that dress, Riley; let's say I wanted my father 'infuriated'." "That wouldn't be a good thing since I was hoping to leave a good impression" "You don't understand; my father has this strange way of thinking, one I don't share with him; he believes fear is another means of power." "And you don't think so?" I asked, knowing full well that Alpha Thane was feared amongst all regions. Though he had other enviable and equally intimidating achievements capable of giving him same influence, many still ‘feared’ him. "Is different when you enforce such methods on family too. That's what he made my mother understand, he wanted her to fear him, tremble in his presence and now she had lost her own voice, he keeps her wrapped up like some mummy, I don't like that, so letting you wear something so provocative was challenging him in some way" "I thought... I.. I'm sorry" "Yet, Riley, I am glad you fought me for what you wanted." "I thought that wa
"What books did you pick?" Axel asked as we headed back to my room."Just some history books," I lied."You are into those?""There wasn't much to select from," I lied again."True," he agreed. I was glad we moved on from that topic quickly. "A maid would be here soon with some healthy food. When had been the last time you ate?""A few days ago.""Days?""I am used to it." I paused, deciding if I should tell him. "I was born an omega; I am used to staying days without food.""Omegas are to be fed too, just like every other.""Not in the Windborne Pack""It would be different here," Axel promised..A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on the door. It was 'the' maid, and she came in with a tray in her hands.She gave a deep bow, placing the tray on the table before quickly exiting the room."Whatever is in there smells really nice.""It's meat balls and mashed potatoes," he said."That seems a bit much, don't you think?""You've not eaten in days; you need as much as you can tak
The day went by in a flash, and soon it was already evening. "You should get dressed now; do you need help with that?" Axel asked. "No. I know my way around those," I said, picking out a green gown from my wardrobe. Surprisingly, all the clothes here were my size, and that was very... creepy. "The red one" "What?" "The red one would be better," Axel said, and I picked out the red gown. It was a beautiful piece, and I wondered how much it cost. I imagine it cost a lot. "You are right."I didn't do much with my hair; I was too nervous to even try, but I left it down, brushing through it a couple of times. "Thane is here," Axel announced, even before I heard the footsteps. Just then, Thane walked in, and my eyes traveled to him. "Why didn't you tell me?" I sneered at him. "Tell you what?" he asked, his gaze trailing right back to Axel, who shrugged innocently. "You told me I was to attend some party; you never told me it was some joining ritual." "You would have found out in th
Thane rose, and by his signal, I rose too. He took my hands. I knew it was all an act; I should be trying harder; we had the whole pack to convince now, but I couldn't help but think about 'the marking'. The fact that everyone here would watch us. How was this normal? Thane drew me closer to him. "Don't fight me," he whispers, low enough that only I could hear him, and then his lips met mine. The kiss was gentle at first and then demanding; he consumed me, and all I had to do was play along, even if my eyes teared at the knowledge that he would be doing this here, right now. Maybe I could just close my eyes and pretend it was just the both of us. That wouldn't be hard, right? His lips finally left mine, and I was sure my lips were swollen and my cheeks flushed. "My mate would be marked and claimed tonight," he announced, and the whole crowd erupted. I watched the faces of the people waiting to see me naked. "But it would be done in private," he says, and the applause died down. I
Axel was there almost immediately. "Thane" he called out, but the Alpha was far gone and I was a complete wreck, one thing was sure, I wouldn't have stopped him."Listen to me Thane, you don't want her hurt, remember?"Slowly Thane's eyes returned back to their normal colour, he stared at the mark he gave me, it still stung, but my mind was too clouded."I'm sorry" he says and with that he walks away, leaving the room. It took only a few minutes to gather myself and realise that Axel had seen ‘everything’. I couldn’t look him in the eyes, even as he brought a robe for me helping me into it.“Thank you” I said to him, avoiding eye contact.“You didn’t seem to want him to stop though” Axel said and it was of course very much true, I hadn’t wanted him to stop, damn I would have let him fuck me right in front of Axel. I had no response to that.“Thane’s father seemed rather unpleased at the fact that he was breaking the tradition” I said, trying my best to act like ‘this’ was nothing,
I had spent the whole night reading through the pages of the very lengthy diary belonging to the lady named Barbara.Thane hadn’t returned to our room that night. The morning came too soon.I was happy to see Axel though."How was your night?, you don't seem well rested""I... I had been occupied."He gave me a questioning look. "Are you still worrying about Thane's whereabouts? I told you not to.""I wasn't," I said, but that was partly a lie; I had been worried over where he was right before I pulled out the book ‘Barbara's fantasies’-- that had kept me very much awake."Let's go somewhere.""Where?""Anywhere, or maybe a run in the woods," he suggested.I still felt very self-conscious when being stared at like I was a piece on display, but he was right; I had to leave this place."Okay, I'll go change," I said..I splashed some cold water on my face. I put on some black leggings and a matching tank top, knowing full well that Thane wouldn't approve of this. I felt too lazy to do
"I heard sounds coming from this room. Who's in there?" I asked him.“Come.” He said, avoiding my question.“No. I want to know who is in there.”A flicker of annoyance crossed his face before he walked toward me. Maybe he knew his sudden disappearances and reappearances were already unsettling me—but I doubted he cared. Maybe he just didn’t feel like doing it this time.He took out a key from the pocket of his jeans and unlocked the door; his eyes remained on me. It took all my strength to tear my gaze away and look into the room. There, locked up in the room, were three girls— they were around my age, though the one in the middle seemed a few years older. They looked afraid, but no tears ran down their faces, even though they were chained up like animals. Maybe I had imagined the sounds after all."You kidnapped them," I said, totally mortified. I shouldn’t be surprised by his actions, and yet, I was. I was surprised because I didn’t want to believe that the Trian I knew was gone; d
I wanted to fight. I wanted to defend myself, but I was weak—helpless. All I could do was watch as they drove their silver daggers into me, one after the other. Five stabs, yet none aimed at my heart. They wanted me to bleed out—slowly, painfully.When they were done, they left me lying on the floor in a puddle of my own blood.At that moment, I didn’t feel like an Alpha. I didn’t feel powerful. I felt like a child—a weak, defenseless child. But as the pieces fell into place, I realized the girl had given her life to ensure my death. And yet, I couldn’t help but wonder—what price had they offered her to make such a sacrifice worth it? Or had she done this willingly? Perhaps she truly believed she was saving the pack by killing me—because in her eyes, I wasn’t fit to rule. I had never been so afraid and alone; I could literally feel the life slip out of me. “Mom.” I called out, choking on my own blood, but there was no response. This was it; they both left me to face the monsters al
Kaida had been given medication to help her recover faster. I watched her sleep, my mind drifted back to the moment she told me she was pregnant. Very few things took me by surprise, but the news did. The first emotion I felt was… hope. For a split second, I wondered if the healers had been wrong—if the wolfsbane hadn’t rendered me infertile after all. But then came the internal conflict—there was a big possibility that the child could belong to her former beta, Aric.I should have told Kaida about my inability. I couldn't believe I had never stopped to consider how she would feel about not having children. I mean, there was a chance, but only if I stopped consuming wolfsbane and allowed my body to heal from years of damage.For years, I had taken daily doses of wolfsbane—a habit born from the day it nearly killed me. I had sworn then that I would never let that happen again. I was fully aware of the fact that I was risking my life every day by taking the doses, but I couldn’t stop.
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