**DAISY'S POVI had never been in love before; no, it didn't bother me when my fellow friends found their mates and I didn't; I never believed I needed a man to make me feel complete.That changed the moment I met Daemon.He wasn't like the other men; he was different. That was the best way to describe him: 'Different.' It had taken a single glance at him, one look at him, and I fell; this was more than love, I knew that; it was admiration, it was want, it was desire, it was so much more.He read me; just with a single look, he knew every single thought on my mind, and he came to me that night. He visited two more times after that, but every time I awoke, I was alone; he didn't leave notes, messages, or anything. I was jealous that Riley got to see him almost every day; he said they were family friends. That's all he was willing to tell; he said nothing more. He rarely spoke to me; it was sex, and that's it, but to me it meant... everything, and even when he was gone, I couldn't stop
RILEY’S POV I was finally discharged and free to go home, Daisy recommended that I get some quality rest—as usual. “You know, you would heal completely if you took some more blood.” Damon advised. “No! I don’t want any other person dead.” “You don’t have to kill to feed, and as for the pain, you can make it pleasurable if you wish—no harm done.” “I don’t need to drink from others; we could do without it.” Daemon didn’t seem to believe that, but he said no more. “Back there... with Daisy, what really is going on between the both of you? – I mean, it's okay if you don’t want to tell me.” He turned to me. “I don't feel anything for her, but she does for me; there’s nothing between us but sex.” “Oh.” I muttered; I felt like he told too much, but he didn’t seem to mind. “I think she was a bit jealous when I told her you visited me regularly; she wanted that.” “She shouldn’t be jealous.” Was his only response. “Who knows, maybe you'll grow to feel something for her.” “I love some
I told Thane everything my father had said to me that night, and all the while he listened, completely silent.“Do you think I should drink this? I mean, I don’t think he had any ulterior motives, but...”“If you think it’s safe, then try it.” Thane encouraged me. He pulled open the bottle before returning it back to me. I stared at the liquid, a bit hesitant, I lifted the bottle to my lips and I drank it all. It had a bitter-sweat taste.“How do you feel?” he asked, and I shrugged.“I don’t really feel anything.” I say, placing the bottle back on the table. “I expected… something.”“Try taking out your wings.”For the past few months, summoning my wings had become extremely painful; but I was willing to give it a shot. I rose to my feet, getting ready for the pain that accompanied it, but the wings sprouted out of my back just as easily as they once did.That was fast.“I guess it worked.” I said to Thane, and he nodded with a smile.***The pack had gathered in the hall, where the c
"Have you ever met someone that looks so familiar, but you can't quite grasp where you know that person from?" my mother asked."No, it hadn't really happened to me. Why?"She placed down her spoon, clearly done eating."I don't want to sound all paranoid, but I saw this man; he was standing outside the pack house and just staring at me. It was strange, but then he was… gone. For some reason, I feel like I know him from somewhere, but I can't quite place where."I paused eating. "Wait, how does this man look?" I asked her."Blonde hair, average height... I didn't get much of him, but I felt like I had seen him before."I had every reason to believe that was Bruce; it just had to be.He had promised he would stay away from her; why was he at the Raven Clan?"Mom, listen to me: if you ever see that man again, run.""Run? Why?""Nothing, just run.""There has to be a reason; is he evil?" she asked."I can't be sure if it's the same person," I lied, I was very sure. "But if it is, then th
ISABELLA...I always knew I wouldn't live a long life; I knew all I had was months, and at some point, I stopped caring; I stopped fearing death, I accepted it.That had changed since Thane came into my life. He made me see that there was more to life, things I was missing out on and all of a sudden, my fear for death returned. I didn't want to die.I watched him through the tiny window as he chopped down a tree for wood. He was going to be brokenhearted when he discovered the truth. I should tell him; I owed him that, and yet I couldn't. I couldn't because I feared he would leave me.Thane caught me staring and abandoned the axe; he walked into the house, easily finding me."Checking me out as always?""Yes." I answered truthfully, there was no need to deny it."You look a bit... frail. Have you been eating well?" He asked, and I nodded. I tried to keep calm; if Thane detected any signs of unease, he would investigate further. It was hard trying to hide things from a man as smart a
RILEY“I can’t believe he still visited my mother; he promised me he would let her live her life.” I said to Thane, exasperated.“She knows nothing about him; that’s all that matters.”“What if he makes her remember? I don’t want him to come between what she has with Gabriel.”“Think about it this way. For almost two decades he left her; maybe he thought he was trying to protect her, but that revelation is bound to leave her heartbroken. Do you think she would simply fall back in love with him like it had been all those years ago?”“I think not. At least I wouldn’t.”“Exactly.”A maid walked in with a tray of food.“Wait.” I called, and she paused. “Pricilla?”She turned to me, and it was indeed Pricilla.“Why are you here?” I asked.“To deliver the food.” She said like that wasn’t obvious.“You may leave, Pricilla,” Thane says to her, and she gives a bow before dismissing herself.“She’s one of the maids now?”“Yes.”“How did that happen?”“I think she genuinely wants to be a better
“We can both have him.” Isabella says, her eyes pinned to the ground.“So you want us to...” I couldn’t even say the word.“Yes.” She answered simply.“That won’t work.”“It will; it did before. I’ve been busy these past few days. I know about you and Axel. Your relationship with him never came between what you had with Thane, did it?” I couldn’t give an answer to that. “Riley, if Thane felt nothing for me, I would be gone by now, but I was his mate, and so there’s a part of him that would always have those feelings for me. I’ve been gone for long, so the mate bond between us has weakened, but it’s only a matter of time. When that time comes — we don’t have to make him choose.”“I don’t want that Isabella.” I said to her, even if I knew that she spoke the truth, or at least partially the truth. Thane might have feelings for her, and why he would never admit it to me, I knew that letting go of one’s first love and mate couldn’t be that so easy. “But then that would only be you being s
"I enjoy it, Riley; I enjoy punishing them. I am a demon; it's a part of me.""Just stop, stop saying that; it makes me scared of you, and I don't want to be scared of my own son.""Son." He calls the word like it disgusted him. "I don't like when you call me that."Those words cut deep; what on earth was wrong with him?"I told you once that my heart can only belong to one person, Riley, and you want to know who that person is?" he asked. I gave no response. "It's you, Riley. I love you, and I've said that to you over and again, but I don't love you like a son loves his mother; I love you like a man would another woman."The revelation stunned me into silence.Wait... what?"Daemon, you can't...""I can, because that's all I feel. Every single time I think of you, I think of what it would feel like kissing you; I think of fucking you and making love to you..."I slapped him hard. He seized both my hands. He leaned down and kissed me. I struggled against his firm grip, but damn, was h
"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