RILEY POV"Hello, Riley." The woman said, "Don't mind my newly acquired body. Thane did get your message and managed to free me from Hades."Daemon turned to me; I had never seen such hate in his eyes before and this time it was directed at me."Where is Thane?" I asked Jade."He should be here in a few minutes, assuming Bruce got the shifting spell right.""How did you find me?" Daemon asked her."It was easy; we are linked in a way."In a flash, Daemon appeared right before me, gripping me tightly as the black mist swirled around us. He was escaping, and he was taking me with him, I had no right to fight him.But something was wrong; I could see it on Daemon's face. He finally let go of me.It didn't work. We were both still in his room.Daemon let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his ear; blood dripped down his nose. Jade seemed to be doing something to him; her eyes glowed, and her hands were outstretched. She didn't stop till the footsteps drew both our atte
"I once told you the difference between a sorcerer and a warlock: a sorcerer is born into magic while warlocks have to earn theirs. Our magic comes from a… dark source. All my life, I hungered for power. I believed I wasn't born to live an ordinary life and I wouldn't settle for less. I studied every supernatural creature, and that's how I knew about Vox.""Who is Vox?" I asked Bruce."He is the Demon Overlord, a powerful entity, and he saw me as useful. I went on missions for him—while I wasn’t skilled in the physical aspect, my knowledge and resourcefulness made up for it. I wanted to become his favorite, but with Vox, things don't work that way. You are only important to him when you are of use.I was able to complete all my tasks; I did really bad things, none of which I am proud of, and finally I was rewarded; he made me a warlock. Just as I had wanted.Still, I wanted more, and my greed got in the way.A warlock's magic never does die. If a warlock kills another, he gets a port
DEMONJade had brought me back to her little hermitage. I've been here before; the small rustic building in the middle of the wood was the closest she had to a home. I was bound to a chair—not that I could escape if I tried, and she knew that.“Daemon. She gave you the name, didn't she?” Jade questioned; I didn't give her a response; I knew exactly what she was getting at. “What was really going through your mind when you had me locked up? Did you think she would leave everything behind and fall in love with you, and you both would have a family?”“Stop talking about her.”“You still care? Even after everything.” She said and chuckled.“No, I don't. It took me time to understand that they are all the same, but now I do, and if I want to meet her again, it will be to end her.”“So you are finally back to your senses; glad to hear that.”“What do you want with me?”“The very same thing I've always wanted. I need you to free Vox.”I had suspected this, but it never made sense why a sorc
Jade placed the pot filled with burning coal beside the candle. She knelt in the middle of the circle. “Expergiscere, dominus inferorum,” she chanted over and again. Those were Latin words. Suddenly, the white, powdery substance ignited in a burst of flame, surrounding her with green fire. “It's working,” she gasped. She rose to her feet, chanting the Latin words louder; a gust of wind blew through the room, and I watched curiously, but then everything stopped. The lights went off and the wind ceased. There was complete silence. “I... I did everything right; why wouldn't it work!” She screamed, kicking over the pot of coal. I was used to this outburst; she was always like this anytime it didn't work, but I had to admit, this seemed to have gone to a different level unlike her other trials. “What am I doing wrong? Why wouldn't this stupid spell work?” She pushed over the bottle of potions, and it shattered, spilling on the floor. She ran her hands through her hair; it s
I wondered why Bruce had kept the truth to himself all these years. Now it did make sense why he left us and just maybe, he deserved my forgiveness. My mother never did know anything about the man she fell in love with; she didn't know he was a warlock several years older than he looked. She knew nothing, and he shouldn't have left her in the dark, but still I could understand why he did that; maybe he believed he was protecting her.The members of the Nightshade pack paid their respect to Daisy. Many wept over her death; of course, they didn't know the truth about her betrayal. Thane, on the other hand, didn't like this idea; he didn't think she deserved to be buried with honor after what she did."You don't have to watch all these." Thane said to me, he believed me being here at Daisy's burial was just an act, a simple cover up."You know, I don't blame her for anything she did; she was not in her right senses. Daemon messed with her, just as he always does, and so it's him I blam
"I feel so guilty... I didn't want any of it, but still it happened, and I can't help but think that I don't deserve you. I feel tainted...""Don't say that. He forced you; that was not your fault, so don't you blame yourself for anything. Maybe I do know a way to make you feel better and we will do this together. We are going to replace those memories of him with new ones. I will make you forget about him; you don't have to be afraid."...Thane kept to his promise; when he was done making love to me, he was all I could feel down there, all I could think about.He lay beside me. It was already night time but we were both very much awake."What is your biggest fear?" I asked him, in the mood for a conversation after being away from him for so long."Can you guess?""Easy, the Lycan's Curse.""That is one. When you were away with Daemon, I was afraid; I had an idea of what he would do, and I felt so restless, but my biggest fear is losing you.""I will always be here; I am not going a
Regnux walked into my office, escorted by one of my soldiers."Alpha, the woman named Isabella is back here, she says she has very important information for you.""I believe I made myself clear earlier. Do not let her in.”"There’s someone else with her. The man’s name is Logan, and he’s been here before."Since Logan's last visit, I hadn't heard anything from him; he might be my half brother, but that didn't mean I trusted him."Let the man in, alone” I said to the soldier. “Regnux, go get the Luna."This time I wanted Riley present; I wanted her to know she would always be a part of my decisions.Riley walked in; she was in a tight pink dress, looking all innocent. For a moment, I wondered how long it would take Logan to get here; the thought of throwing her against the table and claiming her once again clouded my mind."Thane?" she called, and I snapped out of it."Logan is here. I'm inviting him in, and I want you by my side."I didn't mention Isabella, things were getting better
RILEYMy day couldn't get any stranger.I saw Logan for the first time, and he did look a lot like Thane. It was clear that they were related; more to that, I could feel the power he emitted. Having two powerful people in the same room was never the best idea.I did notice Logan's eyes roaming down my body and how enraged that made Thane; for a moment I thought he would lunge at him for staring. Any other day, I would have been irritated at that, but I couldn't bring myself to care now. He had the cure, and that's all we needed from him.I couldn't deny that I was impressed by Thane's action, the fact that he kept Isabella out of the pack gave me some level of satisfaction, I would always be first in his heart.Isabella came in, and I noticed how sickly she looked. She had always been tiny, but now she was all bones, her skin even paler than it had ever been."I thought whatever sickness that had brought me to my 'first' death was over. I was wrong. After I left the pack, I began noti
"Is there anything else I should be aware of?" I questioned my advisors. Once again, they seemed to be holding something back—I could tell."We worry about what will happen when the news reaches the other packs," Austin says, giving me a look that suggests I read between the lines and figure out what he isn't saying. When he realizes I’m not catching on, he speaks up. "There has never been a female Alpha before. There will be a lot of opinions—especially with you being the… Alpha Queen. The others might not accept this change,"“We should be ready for anything. The other packs might see this change as a sign of weakness and think it’s the best time to attack. The Nightshade pack might have been enjoying peace for years, but it would be foolish to think that that would continue.”“When they attack, we will be ready, we will go to war and I will take the front lines and prove to them how wrong they are.”Phil nodded, and with that, I dismissed them.As I stepped out of the meeting room,
Austin helped me back to the pack house. I was filthy, covered in mud—but I didn’t care.“Gather the council of advisors.” I instructed him.“Now?” he asked, surprised. “You should rest, Luna. You are in no condition…”“I gave you an order.” I said and that seemed to surprise him too, he nodded before turning away.I stripped off my filthy clothes, took a quick bath, and stepped into another leather outfit—identical to the one before. My hair, still damp, was twisted into a bun before I headed to the meeting room.I had expected to be bombarded with questions from the advisors; I had expected some of them with frowns on their faces. I was ready to take all the disappointed looks casted at me, but what I wasn’t ready for was to find all the seats unoccupied—all except two.Austin and Phil.“Where are the others?” I questioned.“Erh… Luna, I really don’t think this is the right time…”I cut Austin off for the second time. “Where are the others?” I repeated.“They left.”“What do you mea
The bond was gone, leaving a void in my chest. But what I felt for him didn’t change. Despite the fact that we were no longer mates, I still loved him. I was right—what we had was beyond the mate bond.I had given up far too quickly, I realized. I wasn’t willing to let him go just yet.The crowd was gone by the time I returned to the healing room. I stood by the door of the room where Alexander had been kept, contemplating what to say. I could apologize again, but something told me it wouldn’t be enough. He believed I could ‘move on,’ but he needed to see that I never would—that I could never love another. My heart belonged to him, mate bond or not. Nothing had changed. And maybe, if he saw that, he would change his mind.Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. No response. I lifted my hand to try again when the door creaked open.I pushed it fully open—only to find the bed empty.His scent in the room was still strong, enough to tell me he hadn’t been gone for long. I walked int
The disappointment in his voice was even harder to bear than the betrayal I had suffered from people I once called friends."I should have told you, but I knew you would’ve kept assuring me you were fine—even when we both knew you were dying inside. She said you were going to die, whether you stopped or continued with the doses. I just… couldn’t lose you.""Who is this ‘she’ you are referring to?” he asked, and I immediately realized my slip."I… it doesn’t matter. You’re alive, and that’s what’s important."Slowly, he let go of me, and I instantly missed his warmth. “How does it feel?”“What?”“To be so close to achieving your dreams?” he asked. I wanted to tell him I didn’t care anymore about the goddamn title; all I wanted was to have him by my side. I wanted him, but before I could tell him just that, he spoke on. “I hope it was worth it.”Those final words had felt like some kind of goodbye.“I, Ethan Alexander Darkwood, reject you, Kaida Dawn, as my fated mate.” He said.Seeing
There was something different about the way he looked at me—the way he regarded me. I saw it in the way his body tensed the moment I stepped inside. He saw me as a threat, and it took a moment to understand why. Cynthia had taken my form when she approached him, making him believe it was me. The moment his guard dropped, she struck.But what he remembered was me stabbing him—my face, my hands, delivering the blow.“Alexander,” I whispered, unable to say anything more. He only stared at me, as if trying to read me. I had wanted to see him so badly, but I hadn’t stopped for even a moment to think about what I would say to him when we met.“The Cursed Weapon—how did you find it?” he asked.“I don’t understand.”“The dagger you used on me.”The cursed weapon, I’ve heard about that too. History says the Elders had been the original keepers of the steel; that had been before they were killed. The weapon had the ability to take away one’s wolf. It made more sense now, what Cynthia was saying
It felt surreal—the blood on the sheets, the body—Alexander. I couldn’t process any of it.“No!” I cried.Foolish, foolish girl.I held him. “You can’t die, please, you can’t die. I’m here, look at me, open your eyes, dammit!”I had never felt this afraid, not even when I received news that my father had passed.Soon, I heard footsteps approaching—the door was still open. They were coming to find the source of the noise. I hadn’t even realized how loudly I had been screaming.“I didn’t mean to… She said she wouldn’t kill him.”More people gathered, and soon, our room was crowded, every face frozen in shock.A hand pressed against my back—Phil. He was saying something, but I couldn’t understand him. Austin was there too, along with some of the other advisors.A woman stepped forward.“I have to take him, Luna.”I let out a snarl. “Don’t touch him… No one touches him!”There must have been something in my voice because she stepped back immediately—so did some of the other pack members.
“There must be another way to cure him.” I insisted."There is no other way. It’s either this or he dies. We don’t have much time. If you refuse my offer, I won’t be generous enough to grant it a second time. You will have to watch him die—knowing you had the power to save him, but you refused."I held back the sob, threatening to escape my lips. They would not see me cry, especially not the woman who killed my parents.“You want a puppet; someone you can control.”“I only have one request from you, the very same one I had already mentioned. Other than that, I won’t make your decisions for you. You will rule.”“When you take away his wolf. What would he become?”"He won’t change; he will be the very same man," she said, a small smile curving on her lips. "And since I’m so generous, I’ll leave your Beta Aric, and Sarah with you to do as you wish. Punish them as you see fit."“No!” Sarah cried out, falling to her knees before the Empress. “I did as you asked of me. I did everything you
"Let me help you, Kaida," Cynthia said, her voice only a little above a whisper."I told you, I don’t need your help. Alexander will find me, and none of you will get away with this."“You’ve only been here for a few hours; besides, Amanda would hardly be considered a threat, and all the camera captured was the little girl leading you in here. He wouldn’t think you are in any form of danger.”"So, you aren’t here for the missing girl. You’ve revealed all your secret plans to me… I can’t help but wonder—why are you here? If you wanted to make me pay for what I did to you, you would have done it a long time ago."“We are getting to that. But I believe there is something you need to know. Addiction to wolfsbane may be dangerous, but stopping is even more dangerous.”For some reason, I believed her. I had seen what the withdrawal symptoms did to Alexander; it was slowly killing him, but his response remained the same anytime I asked; ‘A little while and it would pass.’ The question was, w
Empress Cynthia had read the question in my eyes before I could even ask it."I know you're curious about what your Beta wanted in exchange for betraying your trust," she said. I refused to meet her gaze—I wouldn’t let her see that I wanted to know. “He loves you; that much is clear. There were times he was willing to turn his back on his own family just to keep you safe. You were the one person he would never hurt. But when it came to choosing between you and his little sister… the choice wasn’t easy. She was the leverage I held over him. I have her locked away, far from his reach, until he completes his assignment. Everything he did—he did to keep her alive.”That was a lie.“Aric never had a sister.”"You say you cared about him, but I don’t believe that. You were always caught up in your own little world, blind to what was happening in others’—even those you called ‘family.’ You know, I wanted to reward him for his service, I believed he deserved more, but he never cared for mater