Thane nodded to Axel, and he walked forward, picking me up and placing me ‘roughly’ over his shoulders, but Thane remained with Ryker.I didn’t care what would happen to Ryker, but I feared this was the last time I would ever see him.The walk back to the pack house seemed shorter, and that was strange considering we hadn’t even run. Axel had said nothing all the way back.I couldn’t bear to look at anyone as Axel took me back into my room. I didn’t care what anyone thought; what I worried about was what was going to happen to me.Axel shut the door and dropped me on the bare floor.“Axel...”“Shut the fuck up,” he warns. Never had he spoken to me in this manner.Exactly fifteen minutes later, Thane walked in. I scurried away from him, but it was no use; no matter how hard I tried, I wouldn’t be able to escape this.“Riley stand,” he orders, and I do as he said, but my feet are too shaky. “Did you take us for fools?” he asks, and I shake my head vigorously.“No, no, it was a mistake.”
My tears didn’t faze him; he had said it once that it was rather a turn-on, and now more than anything, I believed him.Thane had not intended in making me cum this time; his intentions were clear in his eyes, and I knew this was not over. If I could speak then I would try begging him again, just maybe... but no, I knew nothing could deter him from what he wanted to do, and he was going to follow through with this.I felt those sharp canines on my skin again, and I struggled; the pain had been too much, but my struggle never did affect him. This time he sank those fangs at the side of my neck, just beside where he had marked me; the pain was far more intense than the one he had bitten on my breast. I cried out, but he hadn’t stopped; his fangs sank deeper; this was more brutal than any marking I had ever seen. The pain rolled through my whole body."Thane,” I heard Axel call, and Thane pulled away from me. When I was free from his grip, I crumbled to the floor. I was in so much pain.
“You were never going to leave me all on my own in the woods, were you?”"No,” Axel answered.“You knew that I wanted to leave,” I stated. Of course they weren’t fools. It had been too easy, and I should have suspected it. I could tell them the truth; tell them Beatrix had helped me; after all, she had only sent me off to be captured by Ryker; I didn’t need to protect her.“It had been a test, Riley; one Thane didn’t think you would fall for; those girls are captives. Once in a while, some very foolish packs still decide to go on an all-out war with our pack, and when we conquer them, their members are being taken as captives. The females are given options. They could buy their freedom,” Axel explained, and I did know what he meant by ‘buying their freedom’. “The rest are released after a few years to roam about as rogues or serve the pack if seen fit.”“So Beatrix bringing me down to the Chambers was part of the test?”“No, she hadn’t intended for us to find out, but did you really t
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
THANEI never did tell Riley about Axel. He wouldn’t have wanted me to; he would have wanted her to move on. She was dealing with a lot, but I was going to stand by her through it all.She didn’t like me watching her drinking blood; if only she knew I found it… sexy..I stood before over twenty Alphas, many of whom had frowns on their faces. I had to tell them the truth and try to make peace with them.“Thank you all for coming. I am glad to see you all well.I had gathered you here to address an issue, in which some of you had no clue about.”I went ahead to inform them that there had indeed been a demon ruling in my place; I didn’t go deep into that. Despite everything, I still owed Daemon big time. I explained our plight with the Demon Overlord and how he is being held down now. By the time I was done, I noticed the change, the way they stared at Riley with an eye of respect. I guess they were finally adding the dots.“All of the previous rules made will be canceled.” I informed
RILEYI remembered it all. The feeling of the dagger tearing through me, the pain so unbearable I became numb. Thane's pleads. I had died… but I was awoken a demon.Nothing was the same.I stood in front of the mirror staring at myself. My hair, my eyes, my skin—nothing was the same. A maid came in with a tray of food. “Luna.” She called, giving a low bow. I settled on the couch, taking a plate and filling it up with food. Even this smelled different. I put a spoon filled with rice into my mouth; I spit it out immediately.“What is this?”“Rice and soup, Luna.” She said, panic written on her face.It didn’t taste right, and that wasn’t because it was wrongly cooked but because I had a different food preference now that I was a full demon. I didn’t want to live on only blood like Daemon; I wanted to be normal, or at least try to be.“I feel a bit sick; that should be the reason the food tasted different.”“Would you like anything else? Perhaps another meal?”“No, I have no appetite
..Many believe the Azure Grounds hold some kind of magical energy; perhaps that’s why warlocks, witches, and the likes come here.I spotted Jade, and I headed straight to her.She took Riley from me and placed her on the ground. She checked her pulse.“She is dead.” Jade says to me.“I know that. But there must be something you can do.”“To wake the dead? There is nothing I can do.”“Riley cannot die... You have to do something.”“There is no life force in her; I could have done something, but it is too late. Nothing can be done. Take her back to the pack and give her a befitting burial; that’s all you can do.”I grasp her by the throat, her eyes widened, panicked.“You told me to bring her here; why?”“I—I thought—she still had a chance. Look at her—she is paler than snow.”“Alpha.” Daemon called from behind me. “Killing her wouldn’t do you any good.” He says, and I let Jade go. “But there is a way to bring her back to life, turn her into a demon.” Daemon says to Jade.“I could have
THANEMy eyes locked on Riley, and I sprinted toward her with every ounce of strength I had left. Then I spotted Bella—her hand raised, a dagger in her grip. No one had noticed her until the blade was in the air.Everything seemed to slow as I watched in horror. The dagger struck its mark before I could get to her, embedding itself deep in Riley's chest. It pierced through her heart, the blade tip jutting out. Riley staggered, her eyes wide with shock, and my breath caught in my throat.Daemon snarled, picking Bella up like she weighed nothing; he bit into her neck. But a smile remained on her face.“I accept your rejection.” Her mouth formed the words right before Daemon tore her head off her shoulders.Blood dribbled from her mouth“Thane…”“I’m here.” I said to her.“Ethan… he is… find him...” she coughed. “Am I dying?” she asked, and I shook my head.“No, no, you aren’t…”“You—you are finally free.” She muttered before her eyes shut and she stopped moving.“No, please, Riley, don
Despite making it clear that I wanted him gone, he easily pushed past me and walked into my room. I slammed the door a bit too hard.“What! What is it you want to talk about?”“Would you listen?”“Well, you didn’t give me an option now, did you?”“Once you spoke about the both of us, leaving the pack behind and going far away… I couldn’t do that because of Vox, but with him gone…”“No.”“What do you mean, ‘no’?”“It is exactly what you think. I will not go anywhere with you.”“So you had said that only to… fool me?” he asked, the hurt clear in his eyes.“That had been why you didn’t aid Vox, hadn’t it? Because you believed that if he was dead, then there would be nothing in the way.” I asked, and his silence confirmed it.“I should have known. As long as Thane lives, there will be no space for another.” He said, and his eyes… They held a promise. He turned, heading for the door, but I blocked him.“You will not harm Thane.”“Of course.” He said, a smirk on his face. “I won’t.”I slamm
Bruce watched Jade; her eyes trailed to the amulet in his hands.“So what will it be now, Jade?”“I’ll have the Jewel back.”“I can’t give it to you; I have made a bargain with Vox. The life of my daughter, the queen, will be at risk if I do not have this at the time of Vox's return.” “There has to be another way.”“There is no other way.”“Then I’m sorry.” Jade says. It wasn’t wise to make an enemy of the sorceress, but he had made a promise to Riley; she would be disappointed if he failed her.He closed his eyes and muttered a spell. He didn’t want to hurt the sorceress, but he wanted her out of the way. The spell would only make her fall into a deep slumber; the moment this was over, she would awaken.He opened his eyes, only to see Jade unfazed. “I came prepared; I knew you wouldn’t be willing to give it up so easily.”The warlock didn’t expect the kick Jade had sent at him; she was never a physical person. She got him hard in the kneecap, and he had let go of the amulet, she us
“You must have thought me stupid. Do you for one moment think I didn’t have a backup?I might have had high hopes that you didn’t kill Ralph, but I was no fool; I know who you are and what you are good at. You don’t keep to your words, and so I made sure I was protected. There is a reason I have lived for so many years.” Jade says, the smile remained on her face, “I know how to stay alive.”Her eyes glowed.“I will send you to the otherworld, where you belong.”“No! Daemon, kill them all!” he commanded, but Daemon didn’t move an inch.“I did warn you; you are setting yourself up for destruction. You didn’t listen; you brought it upon yourself.”“I will return, I promise you… and when I do, every one of you will pay!” His words held a promise.“And how long will that take?” Daemon asked. “A century? Two? Three?” “The tendrils… They stop him from using any of his powers.” Jade explains, “Even Nexus herself has her favorites, and it turns out… you aren't one of her favorites.”Jade’s ey
RILEY’S POVBruce had pleaded with me to trust him. I wish I could; I wish his words were enough. But Seeing was believing. Still, I had no other choice; there was no way around it. It was either I play along, or I let Vox know that the amulet wasn’t in my keep—that would lead to my death or a punishment ‘much worse than death.’We had only a few hours left.A few hours, and Vox would be here, right outside Bruce's house. This decision was going to determine ‘everything.’. I tried to keep calm; I had to put on my big girl’s panties. Fear was no good in times like this; it didn’t let people think straight. I was a queen; it was time I showed it.Too soon, the time was up. Three days was spent.Vox was right on time, with Daemon by his side.I and Bruce stood by the doorway of his building.“We meet again, young warlock.” Vox says to Bruce.“Has the Demon Overlord decided that I have suffered enough for my crimes?”“No punishment would ever be adequate for the atrocities you committed.
I finally snapped back to my senses and joined him, placing my feet over Logan's chest to keep him from moving. Axel thrust the sword into his heart and twisted. “Now look who won’t be seeing the light of day.” I said to him as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I turned to Axel, still astonished. “The warlock had opened the portal. I don’t know how I managed to get here, but I don’t have much time. I can feel it—the portal is about to shut.” Axel said. “Thank you.” I said to him, accepting the sword from his hands. “I can’t believe even in death, I’m still saving your ass; you need to give me a raise or something.” He demanded. The smile faded from his face almost instantly. “Riley—what about Riley? Did she survive?” “Yes, she did, and we have a child… His name is Ethan.” “Let me guess, you came up with the name?” “It was a joint contribution, but… yeah, I did.” “Make sense; Ethan is clearly a rewrite of your name, Thane.” “I didn’t have that in mind.” “Yeah, yeah