He was mad now, and no matter how bold I felt, I knew not to say anymore on that matter. I didn’t mean what I said; of course I should have expected this, and maybe I did.“Get dressed”“Why?”“There’s a ball taking place in a few minutes, and since you missed the feast, I thought you could make it up.”“Are you serious, Thane? You locked me in for a whole week and expect me to come with you, dressed and ready for this ball.”“Yes”“I won’t. You could go alone, or better yet, go with Beatrix; you seem to have some chemistry with her.”I didn’t think Beatrix suffered any consequences for helping me escape; I, on the other hand, paid dearly for it.“You either dress up, or I do just that for you.”“And how are you intending to dress me up?”“Want to find out?”I didn’t. After all that had happened, I didn’t think being naked before Thane would help, so I walked away, heading to the bathroom. I took an unnecessary long bath, and when I returned, I noticed a deep gold-coloured gown hanged
Trent had been about to say something when a figure behind me stopped him.“I’ll like to have a dance with my Luna if you may.” Thane’s voice called from behind me, and Trent nodded, giving me a small smile before walking away. Thane took his position.“I don’t know; I’m not very interested in dancing anymore." I say to Thane, and his dark eyes pierced into me.“Are you intentionally trying to annoy me, princess? You might not like how that goes,” he says, his hands circling my waist and going lower. I felt them on my ass.I had no underwear on.Thane swirled me around; he was indeed a good dancer, I dare say, better than my previous partner; his movements were graceful, and in his hands anyone would think I was a good dancer too, but what was alarming was how close his hands trailed to the slit. For the next turn, he dipped me, lifting me up, only to guide my legs around his side; the slit fell apart slightly, revealing skin; his hands trailed up the skin; right in the open, my whole
“She seems to be growing on you,” I heard Thane’s voice say in my semi-conscious state. “Now I’m left to wonder which side are you on, Axel.”“Why would you ask such a question, Alpha? You know exactly which side I am on.”“You’ve disrespected me, Axel, over and again, and it’s all because of her." He spit out the pronoun ‘Her’ with disgust. “I apologize; I just didn’t see it fit...”“She is my mate Axel; I’ll do as I please with my mate, and you will not interfere in that,” Thane says, his voice silent but laced with furry.“Yes, Alpha,” Axel said after a moment.“Don’t think I’ll let this slide,” Thane said to Axel.I heard the sounds of footsteps approaching, and stopping right next to me."Riley, I know you are awake, so quit the pretence." Thane said, and whatever haziness I felt cleared of. I got up from the bed.I was in the Axel room and not our room.“I didn’t hear a thing,” I lied."Oh, don’t worry, princess; I wanted you to hear all of that, so you don’t need to lie or pre
I walked into the cell, Thane remained outside but the cell door was left open.The room was dark, and the only source of light was the one coming from the entrance. My eyes settled to the dim light, and there Ryker was, but I could barely recognize him. He was a bloodied heap; the only sign that he was still alive was the steady rise and fall of his chest.“Riley?”I didn’t know how he could tell it was me; he surely wouldn’t be able to see me with those swollen eyes that were mostly shut.The slight fear threatened to rise when I recalled all he had done to me and the pain he had caused me, I pushed the fear away, reminding myself that here he wouldn’t be able to hurt me, not now, not ever. I walked closer to him, close enough that the cold metal gun came into contact with his head. But to my surprise, he pulls forward, as if accepting his fate, the chains around his arm and legs rattled.“I know what I have done to you Riley; I know I have caused you so much pain, and it is a despe
“It doesn’t make any sense that you found me outside the pack borders and you wanted to hurt me... again, if you really felt sorry, then I would have expected you to begin making amends.”“I know, and you have every reason to doubt, but if you want the truth, then this is it. What we had... it wasn’t a lie, and you too could see it.”“I never thought it was a lie either, till another woman sat beside you, taking my position before my very eyes.”Ryker inhaled, and I remember the man he used to be—the man I fell in love with. I still hate him now.“After you left, everything felt empty,” he says, and I remembered how unorganized he had looked; that was very unlike Ryker. “I had to send her away; the pack members are yet to discover why, but I would only hurt her, or maybe she would poison me and make it easier. She hates me; I hadn’t been treating her right either. Since you left, things got worse... and when I saw you in the woods, I was a fool to think force could do it again; I just
I wanted to hurt him so bad. And I knew I would regret my words, but I said it out anyway."Maybe that's why Bella never wanted you; this was why you were never blessed by the moon goddess to have a mate that actually 'stays alive'; if you were more selfless, then you would have noticed that something was very wrong with her, but you loved the idea of your happiness so bad, you didn't care." I spit at him, immediately regretting it. It was a low jab, but I had been so angry at everything, and I wanted to hurt him so bad.His eyes on me were cold as steel. I stared at the door, wondering how long it would take me to get there, but again, there were those scary-looking guards out there; they were not going to let me through if not permitted by ‘him’. Thane pulls me flush to him—that I didn't expect. He leaned, so his lips were against my ears."You are right, I didn't want to look too deep, afraid I wouldn't like what I saw, but aren't you the same? There must be a reason your mother ha
"I was only fifteen when our pack was attacked by the Night Shade pack. Slade had been the Alpha; I would never forget watching my parents die before my eyes, but that wasn't the worst part. Alpha Slade wanted to do a clean sweep; he didn't want any of the pack members left alive, and so he went along with his soldiers, house by house, making sure everyone was dead. I don't know if any survived, but they might have escaped into the woods, yet it would only be a few who’d managed to escape.When Alpha Slade walked into our house, my mother had hidden me beneath the bed, but when I heard the screams—my mother's screams—I went for her rescue. I couldn't let her die, but maybe that was the biggest mistake I made; she was killed but I wasn't.Alpha Slade had wanted to kill me, but for some reasons he didn't; he brought me back to his pack.That night..." my mother closed her eyes as if the memory was too much to bear and I didn't need to hear more, but she spoke on, "He was the first—my fi
"I don't need his money, Riley," my mother says."I know, but we need to start up afresh, and so we need this; after it is all over, I promise you we will leave and never return.""Why you?" she questions."I don't know....""There are so many females; he is an Alpha, the most known; any she-wolf would want him; why did he pick you, and what is he going to gain from this? Because I don't think your companion for six months is all he wants," my mother says, hatred in her eyes."I've asked, but I don't know what he gains from this either, but we shouldn't care about that; we would be gone soon.""I know why he picked you," mother says."You do?""Yes. It's some kind of payback. I ran away from this pack many years ago as a... sex slave, and my daughter is taken for the same purpose.""I am not a sex slave!," I say, lying through my teeth."Tell me he hadn't bedded you more than once? This is what he wants; they want to ruin us, and it started with me," she says.I stood silent, because
ALIYA’S POVThe man standing before me was all I could think about. Sometimes he stares at me, as if trying to figure something out, then looks away. I thought about how it felt like being completely naked with Trian, alone, free.“May I ask a question?”“Of course!” I said a little too quickly. “Sorry. Yes, you may.”“Was it your first kiss?” Trian asked.I stared up at him and gave a nod. “You should have already guessed that; it’s no secret that I have never been with a man.”“Being with a man and kissing a man are two different things, Aliya.”“I liked it,” I said, shielding my face with my hair to hide the blush on my cheeks.“I can’t possibly imagine how you feel, with all your daily activities arranged out for you, so many fucking rules.”“I hate it. The more I think about it, the more I hate it, so I stopped thinking about it. I made myself believe this was home, and then it felt better, bearable even. But then I went out there, and I was reminded of all the things I’ve been m
“This is unacceptable!” Austin says. “Even though rogues are not familiar with customs and traditions, it is common sense not to attack on burial grounds.”“One of our commanders was killed.” Aric said. “It’s clear the rogues want a war.”We were all seated with the council of advisors; Alexander hadn’t said a word since the meeting began.The Dawn pack members would be devastated to hear about Gadiel’s death.“I say we give them what they want; I say we go to war.” Stark says, and some nodded in approval.“War? The rogues have the numbers, and we all know that many will die.” Seth, another of the advisors said.“They asked for it,” Austin says.“They hadn’t come into our lands, Alpha. The attack was at the Dawn’s Pack.” Seth said, he gave me a quick glance before looking away.“The Dawn Pack is now part of our pack, and the attack was aimed at my Luna, my Commander, and me. But I don’t think it’s wise to go to war. I doubt the rogue leaders are aware of this attack; perhaps those rog
I stared at my father’s lifeless body from the casket he had been placed in. He looked very much the same as he always had—the worry lines on his face were gone, and he seemed to be at peace. Alexander tightened his grip on my hands, comfortingly.All the members of the Dawn Pack were present, and even some from the Nightshade Pack.“We gather to mourn the loss of a great man—a father to us all, an Alpha. Death truly is vile; it renders even the greatest helpless. He was taken from us too soon; only the goddess knows the reason. Though he is dead, his legacy lives on. Dawn will never forget him; I will never forget him.” Gadiel finished. He was once Chief Commander of the Dawn Pack’s soldiers, I didn’t know the position he held in the Nightshade pack. It was my turn to speak before the pack; it was my turn to comfort them; I didn’t think I could do it. There was a moment of complete silence. I looked up at Alexander, and he nodded at me; somehow that was motivation enough.“My father
I managed to force down a few spoonfuls of food; I couldn’t take more than that. After a quick bath, I joined Alexander on the bed.Two hours passed, and I still couldn’t sleep. I lay there, staring at the ceiling.“I could get you a sleeping pill from the healers, it should help you sleep.” Alexander suggested.“I don’t think a pill would work this time,” I said. “Every time I close my eyes, I see this woman—the same one I saw in my nightmare, the one who killed my father.”“Your father died from an illness.”“Do you believe that? Don’t you find it all strange?”“I do. I find it very strange. I sent Aric to search the pack house for anything he could find, but the one person who might have a clue about this is your father.”“And he is dead.” I completed his sentence. “Maybe you are right; maybe it was just an illness, and I am overthinking.”“It’s never a bad thing to be suspicious,” Alexander said. “Now, try to get some sleep.”After a few minutes of trying, I finally fell into a dr
KAIDA POVAlexander had never once talked about his parents. I had always wanted to know, but seeing the pain in his eyes, I could understand why he kept it all to himself.“You don’t have to talk about it if you are not ready.”“You deserve to know.I’ve heard so many good stories about Luna Riley, my mother, and even more about the last Lycan, Alpha Thane. But I never saw it. My father loved my mother so dearly, even when she was turned. She would have died if not for a sorceress who brought her back—as a demon. I could still remember her cold skin; she always wanted me close to her; she always wanted to carry me around like a mother would her child, but she couldn’t.Demons get weakened by the sun, so she had to be locked away in her room, but that wasn’t the only reason she was being locked away. Demons have a strong thirst for blood; sometimes the pack members go missing. Every time she ‘mistakenly’ kills a person, she cries day and night. She knew that having her child with her
ALEXANDER’S POVKaida was never one to admit her feelings—especially not when they made her look weak. But back at the bar, she did. She admitted her jealousy; she admitted what she felt for me. And right then and there, I swore to myself to be loyal to her. I wanted her happy; I loved seeing her smile, but everything changed too soon when the news of her father's death reached us.She wouldn’t speak. She wouldn’t eat. She wouldn’t even sleep. And for the first time, I saw her cry. She mourned for her father, and all I wanted to do was take away her pain.Aric sat with me in my office. “The healer who had been present when he died said he had fallen into a strange coma some days before he passed. The only sign of life had been his beating heart,” Aric said.“Alpha Trent knew he was going to die; that’s why he made all the necessary arrangements. Still, I believe his illness is indeed very strange; all illnesses have their cause, but Alpha Trent’s didn’t.”“Maybe it was more than just
Trian led me away from the old creepy woman. “I did tell you that fortune tellers are liars.”“But she seemed to know a lot about me.”"From your skin tone, anyone could tell you aren’t an Aureonna by birth. The majority of the population here comes from all over the world, bound by the 'Purifying Ritual.' She’s a good guesser, but there’s nothing special about that, and you don’t have to worry about anything she says. She is a hungry woman, looking for her daily bread."“She would be rich with all those gold coins—where did you get them?”“I was an orphan, but not a poor one. I found my way around things and also built myself some good fortune.”“Then why are you here?”“Money is not the answer to everything. I am here because I want to be, not because I need the money.”“Where are we going?” I asked, realizing they were fewer people the further we went."Wait and see," he said with a smile that made my stomach flutter. We stopped before a lake.“I never knew there was a Lake in this
I looked around, taking in the crowd—more people than I had ever seen. A smile spread across my lips, the incident with the soldiers at the exit already long forgotten.Trian took my hands again; his were huge and rough—just as I imagined a warrior's hands to be. He led me into the thick of Aureonna’s city; people stared—especially women, but the stares weren’t directed at me, but at Trian."What is that?" I asked, pointing to a group of people gathered nearby. They seemed to be laughing at something."It's a play, a drama.""I want to see it."“Of course.”We weaved through the crowd of excited people, until we reached the front row.A woman with a silver wig sat on a make-shift throne; her skin seemed to have been painted white. The other woman by her side had a blonde wig on. It took me a moment to realize this was a drama about me—the woman in the silver wig was meant to be me, while the one in the blonde wig was portraying Empress Julia."Soon, you will lead us to victory. The fa
About five minutes passed, and there was still no sign of her.“Empress!” I called out. “Empress…”Just then, she broke through the surface. Her face looked different—youthful. She had entered the pool looking to be in her forties, but when she emerged, she appeared to be in her late twenties.“Empress, you look…”“Beautiful, magnificent… I know.”“How?”“The water, many believe the god of light once bathed in these waters; it’s called the Lake of Youth—It was once bigger than this, but, well, this is all that remains of it.”She put on her clothes..“It was like time had reversed, and she was given her youth again.” I said to Trian when we were back in my room.“It seems to me that you would like to take a dip in the Lake of Youth one day.”“Of course, not… the Empress would never let me.”“You fear the Empress like she is a god.”“She is a powerful woman.”“I agree, not many men alive could build a community as big as this one. But have you ever thought about how exciting it would