Something had changed since I marked her, and I knew she was right; I was bound to have feelings for her."I guess that's what you've wanted, and now you have it." I said to Isabella."No, I didn't take advantage of your situation, and if I ever wanted you to love me as you once did, I would prefer it happened the right way.""The right way?""Yes, the right way, but I know by now that with Riley in place, you will never admit what you feel for me. I don't want to hurt her either, Thane.""You don't?" I questioned, I didn't exactly believe that."No. Riley and I are actually on the verge of becoming friends; and I don't want this to come between you both, so I will stay away. That doesn't mean I don't still love you; I'm only doing this for her." She said."Here I was thinking you hated her?""No, I don't think she has done me any wrong has she?; the fact that we love the same man doesn't mean we should hate each other."She was talking about me like I wasn't seated right in front of
RILEY'S POVI felt Thane's absence; that must have been what awoke me. He sat on the edge of the bed."Thane?" I called, and he turned to me. He seemed... different."Riley, hope I didn't disturb your sleep?""Why aren't you sleeping?""Do you want me to join you?" he asked, and I couldn't help but see that as a bizarre question. "Of course."He lay by my side, a bit too stiff."Are you okay, Thane?""Yes, I am."I moved over him, kissing his lips. "Aren't you cold? You are freezing.""I'm not." He rolled over so we were close enough and placed a light kiss on my lips. I kissed him back, and then it got more heated; his hands trailed down my cleavages. It was a little past midnight, but I didn't feel like sleeping anymore. He helped me out of my clothes, and I was surprised he didn't rip them off; he cupped my breast, and I let out a small moan; his cool lips took my nipples into his mouth, gently sucking on them."It tastes like... milk.""Oh shit. I'm sorry." That was meant for the
"You enjoyed your time; I did too; that's all that matters.""No, it had been Thane in your place.""It was a new trick I learnt. It turns out I can switch forms; I didn't think you would buy it, but I might be better at this than I gave myself credit for.""You raped me?""Rape? Should I remind you of how many times you moaned for me, Riley?Tears streamed down my eyes as I climbed off the bed; I could still feel him between my legs. I could still remember how many times I moaned, begged even."I trusted you.""I don't feel guilt or whatsoever. I want you; I've always wanted you, and I still do. When I want something, I have it."But I am your...""Don't, don't say the word.""Or what?""Trust me, you don't want to know," he said."You deceived me.""That was the plan. He walked closer to me, and I backed away till I was against the wall. "You are all I think about, and this was better than my imagination."I slapped him hard in the face, and he pinned my hands against the wall. I co
THANEThe first thing I noticed was the sheets on the floor, slightly stained with blood. Riley sat on the floor, her back against the wall; she held a gun in her shaky hand, and tears streamed down her eyes."Riley." I called, and she pointed the gun at me. "Don't come any closer," she warned."Riley, lower the gun and tell me what the hell is going on." I said to her, and she finally let go of the gun, slowly rising to her feet."It's really you?""Yes, it is.""Where were you?""I'll tell you everything, but first I want to know what happened here.""All these?" she threw her hands in the air. "It wouldn't have happened if you were here; it wouldn't have happened if you could stay away from Isabella."How did she know that? I didn't plan on her figuring this out before I told her the truth."I'm sorry, but I can explain; hear me out." "No, you hear me out. Why you were there doing goddess knows what with Isabella, Daemon was here..." she paused, letting out a sob. "What did he d
RILEY "I will fix this, Riley, but I need more time." "No, do you know what you are going to do? You will send Isabella away; things would go on just as they used to." "I can't do that. I still need her. Next full moon, there is every possibility that I would lose control. I don't want anyone hurt, so until I figure out a way to get through this without her, she has to stay." "You love her, don't you?" "Riley, I..." "Don't lie to me; you've always loved her. Earlier you were absent from the pack; where had you been Thane?" I asked him; his silence told me all I needed to know. "I was back at Bella's cottage; I had visited her grave just to be sure." "Just to be sure Isabella was really ‘bella’, right?" "Yes." "And she is the very same one, isn't she?" "You want to know the truth? Yes, I care about Isabella; the fact that she had been dead for years doesn't stop me from caring because she had been my mate, the first woman I ever loved, but that doesn't mean I've
For the next few days, Daemon didn't visited. I assumed he was severely injured, though a part of me wondered if he had actually... died.I was heading to Daisy's; she might be the pack's healer, but she was the only one I could talk to, and I needed a distraction now more than ever. "Riley," the melodious voice called, and I stopped.Anger, That was all I felt at that moment; I turned around slowly. Isabella had a smile on her face which disappeared the moment her gaze met mine; I guess I wasn't doing a very good job hiding what I was feeling at the moment."How do you feel, Isabella, knowing you've won?""What are you trying to say?" she asked; she was going to play the fool.I moved towards her, pulling her dress slightly to the side. "The mark.""He told you; I told him not to.""And why did you think Thane would keep secrets from me?""It's not what it seems.""It is exactly that, and see, this little talk about friendship and all, it really wouldn't work.""I know that. I had m
I took out my gun. This would only buy me time; I hid it properly at the back of my pants. I sprayed some water on my face as it seemed pale. He was here; I could feel it. I returned to the living space, but there was no one here. Maybe I was wrong; but then I felt the presence right behind me. I let out a scream, but his hands around my mouth muffled my cries. "Act stupid, and dear Daisy would pay for it." He warned, and I gave a nod. He finally let me go, but not before slipping out the weapon from where I hid it. "I'll hold onto this.” "Stay away from Daisy," I warned him. "Why? Could it be because you are jealous?" "You disgust me." "I don't think I do. I can read you, and I know you wanted to be in Daisy's place; you wanted to abandon caution, norms and surrender to me, but you will never admit that." "What do you want?" "Simple. You." "You cannot have me, I am not a toy." "If I can't, then he shouldn't either; perhaps I will kill you, just as you attempted to do to m
RILEY…"Daisy!" I called; the smile on my face felt a bit forced."Is something wrong?" she asked, a look of concern in her eyes."Not really. I'm not here to talk to you as the ‘pack healer’ but as a friend.""Oh. Come in then, Luna." She invited me, and I followed her into her apartment. "If this is about your child, then know that this evening would be the perfect time for the visit we previously discussed.""Thank you, that is good news, and I can't wait to see him, but that's not the reason I am here. I wanted to apologize for walking in on you the last time."I knew she must have seen me."No worries, it's fine."“It is not. I shouldn't have come in without your consent.""I forgive you. Daemon said it was no big deal."Again with Daemon, it was like Daisy had been hypnotized; this reminded me how I felt when I had been under Bailey's control, but the only difference was Daisy was a willing participant."That's exactly what I want to talk about; I wanted to talk about you and D
"What?" I exclaimed. "No, you can't stop—I don't mind...""You will," he repeated, seemingly sure of himself."You told me you’ve formed a kind of... addiction to wolfsbane," I said, "You would suffer without it.""Yes. I would face withdrawal symptoms, but not until this incident did I realize how reckless and selfish I had been. Wolfsbane is dangerous—I risked my life taking it, but I did it because I didn’t care about living a long life. I lived for the moment, and at that moment, it had been what I needed to do. But then you came into my life, and I realized I can’t be reckless anymore. I can’t keep living for the moment, not when I have a future with you. I know the pain you would be in if..." He paused, unable to finish. "I don’t want to leave you alone. Ever. And so I have to stop and let my body heal. It might take months, even years, but I will learn. And when I do... maybe then, we’ll have a chance to have a baby."I only realized I was crying when he wiped away a tear with
Alexander led me back to our room, and of course I missed the warm, elegant space.“Are you sure you are alright?” Alexander questioned for the second time, as he studied me.“Of course, I had told you before. I am completely fine.”“You look very pale, and your skin is cold—” He took off his coat and helped me into it, his scent enveloping me. “And you’re a bit… jumpy,” he added. How had he managed to notice all that in just a few minutes?“I’m fine, just… curious.”“Curious about what?”“Back in the healing room, I had a lot of time to think… and I was wondering—do you know anyone with the ability to compel others?”The question sounded even more stupid than I thought it would, and from the amused smile on Alexander’s lips, he thought the same. I expected him to laugh at my curiosity and brush it off, but he didn’t."That ability is completely unnatural. A few sorceresses and witches possess it, but even for them, it's difficult and wears off after some time. The only ones who could
KAIDA’S POV“Luna, are you alright?” Sarah asked.I had zoned out again. Cynthia’s visit had only been a few hours ago; I still recalled how it felt like being ‘drowned.’ My throat felt sore, but it wasn’t the pain that bothered me. Until now, I had no idea how powerful she was; I couldn’t believe that I thought I could take her. If I had waited even a little longer and gathered more information about her—if I hadn’t rushed into this—things would have been much better. I mean, I know she’d never really let me off, not after what my parents did to her, but I wouldn’t be at the top of her list of priorities.Another surprise was the news that someone had taken the girl. I think her name was... Aliya. I still remembered Alexander telling me about her—how ‘important’ she was to the empresses, and their entire city. Could it really be pure coincidence that she was taken on the same day I attacked the Empress? Or had someone known about my plan, waiting for me to make my move so they could
"I doubt there's anyone worse than the Demon Overlord himself."“Maybe there aren’t. I am not a good person; I am the villain of the story, and yet… I would kill for you. Strange that all it takes is one woman to knock me off course, history repeating itself.”I didn’t know what exactly he meant by that, and I didn’t really care.“You had no right to drug me.”“You are right, I didn’t, nor did I have any right to tie you up, but it had to be done.”For a moment I could close my eyes and pretend that he was still Trian Valtor, the man I fell in love with, but he wasn’t.“I want to be alone.”“You don’t want that.”“So you’ll tell me what I want now?”“I’m trying to keep you safe, but you aren’t making things easy for me, Aliya.”“That’s the plan; I don’t intend to make things easy for you. I hate you, Daemon. I hate you for deceiving me, and I wish you died.”A dark look crossed his eyes. “I am still the same man you fell for.”“No, you’re not.”“You say that, yet I can see the relief
ALIYA’S POVWhat the hell was I thinking?After years of studying and reading through half the books in the library, you’d think I would know that common weapons can’t harm demons—let alone the Demon Overlord himself. Even the human girl Daemon had locked away knew that. Yet somehow, I thought I had killed him.What surprised me more than my own foolishness was the fact that I actually cried for him when I thought he was dead—when I thought I had killed him. I didn’t feel accomplished; instead, a part of me regretted it. That very part of me was glad that Daemon still lived. The other reasonable part knew that I was in big trouble; I had angered him, and I would pay for that.The last thing I remember was a cloth being placed over my nose, and then I awoke in his room, on his bed, but this time, my hands had been cuffed to the bedpost, and my legs had been tied with a thick and itchy brown rope. For the past two hours since waking, I had tried to free myself—but I couldn’t. The Empres
I pulled away when I realized choking her wasn’t really affecting her.I was raging, tears streamed down my eyes. My father might have made mistakes, but he was a good man; God knows he dodged a bullet when he went for Lydia instead of the crazy bitch. I kicked her hard in the stomach, and she only chuckled, rising to her feet. I kicked her again, and she lost balance; this time she only looked annoyed. I sent a punch to her face, but my wrist met with thin air; she was no longer there but at the other corner of the room.“I didn’t come here to kill anyone, but make one more move, Kaida, and I will make you watch as I kill another innocent from your pack.” She said, Despite my anger, I had to calm down. She was an Empress; it was clear brute force didn’t work on her. As if reading my thoughts, she spoke.“You can’t kill me. Many tried; they all failed.” She said, wiping the blood from her nose. “This is not the reason I am here. You came into our city uninvited; you shot me thrice; cl
Lydia went with him, and the whole village celebrated— even those who knew of her wickedness, the ones who were aware that the Alpha was never her mate. They were all happy for her, and no one cared about how that made me feel; no one cared about me, and when I ran away from the village, no one bothered to check, but it was alright. I went to the one person who wanted me, the god of light. She was willing to give me a chance and also grant me the vengeance my soul desperately seeks; she was the only one who truly loved me, the love that never leaves.She granted me the power to wield flames, but that wasn’t the only gift she bestowed upon me. She gave me something far greater—an ability unlike any other, the power to push into a person’s mind and take full control, the Gift of Compulsion. The rarest of all gifts—she granted it to me; she made me powerful; she made me into a weapon for her own use, but her gifts came with a price. When my walk with her was over, every gift she gave wou
KAIDA’S POVI woke up in the healing room. It took me a moment to remember why I was here."Alexander," I called softly, but there was no response. Turning over, I spotted a woman standing a few steps away, her back turned to me.“Sarah—?”The woman finally turned to me, her light brown eyes filled with irritation—the very same eyes I had once sworn to close forever. Cynthia.Why was she here?I already knew the answer—she had seen me. Of course, she had seen me shoot at her three times. I was in my most vulnerable state; I didn’t think I could even stand on my own without feeling dizzy; I had to take her on wisely.“How did you get in here?” I asked her.“It wasn’t very hard; my only problem was the Blackwood wolf; he wouldn’t leave your side. Well, at least now he’s gone.”I pushed up the bed, doing my very best to hide my panic; I couldn’t afford to show any sign of fear. “What did you do to Alexander?”“I did nothing; he’s stronger than most, a complication, but he got called for
I never believed I could do it, but as I stared at him with my dagger buried in his heart, I couldn’t stop the tears that slipped from my eyes, they weren’t tears of relief."You should never have lied to me, Daemon," I said. His eyes never left mine, even as he collapsed to the ground, his hands clutching the dagger protruding from his chest as if to pull it out. Black blood seeped into his gray shirt. I didn’t wait to watch. I ran straight to the room where the girls were kept, but as expected, it was locked.I rushed to the weapons room, grabbed a gun, and returned. I had never used a firearm before, but I had a rough idea of how it worked. I fired at the lock three times—missed twice, but on the third shot, I hit my mark. It was purely accidental.I could hear my own heart hammering, each beat a painful attempt to break free from my chest.The door swung open, revealing the three girls huddled together, trembling in fear. But that wasn’t the first thing I noticed—the first thing I