Daisy walked into the healing room; I could see the instant alarm in her eyes the moment she spotted Gloria's corpse."Daisy." I called silently, but her eyes wouldn't leave the corpse."Let me take care of this." Daemon said to me. I feared for a moment that he would kill her, but he doesn't; instead he... kisses her. To my surprise, she kisses him back. "You won't tell anyone about this, would you, Daisy?" "I won't, if you don't want me to.""Good girl. Now go get the Alpha, make no mention of this to anyone."She nodded before walking away and shutting the door behind her. "What did you do to her?""Nothing, at all.""She… likes you?""Obsessed is a better word.""You shouldn't use her that way.""Riley, she wants to be used.".Just like Daisy, Thane paused the moment he saw Gloria, dead; of course, he knew how exactly this happened, the puncture marks marring her skin was all the explanation he needed."I'm sorry." I said to him, and those amber eyes trailed down on me."Did yo
**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 found her jealousy amusing.“You’re jealous, aren’t you?”“Why wouldn’t I be? Sure, she might be a good person, but let’s not forget that you two used to have sex. I have every right to feel insecure, especially with the way she kept looking at you…” Kaida trailed off.I watched her, feeling unworthy. She had been faithful to me, even when we had broken things up, but I was stupid enough to think being with other women could take my mind off her.“I was apologizing for what I did to her earlier, and then she found her mate—she hesitated to go to him at first, but changed her mind in the end. That’s about it.”Kaida ran her hands through her thick black hair. “I feel like an insecure fool. I’m really sorry.”“You have nothing to apologize for.”She was staring at something, and I followed her gaze to Lara, who was kissing a dark-skinned guy. I figured that had to be her mate.“Wow. This mate ball turned out to be far more fun than I anticipated.” She said, I lingered on her expressi
I couldn’t take my eyes off her."Care for a dance?” I asked her and she nodded. It didn't seem like she enjoyed parties much.I took her hand and led her to the dance floor, aware of how people kept their distance. Seriously, what did they think? That I’d take their heads off just for bumping into me on the dance floor?This was getting ridiculous. But I couldn’t dwell on that thought any longer—Kaida was staring.“We match,” she said, motioning to my black tuxedo with its dark blue vest and tie. Maybe that wasn’t entirely a coincidence. “And you look really hot in that tuxedo, but then again, when do you not?” Her cheeks reddened. Kaida could be a badass fighter, but she wasn’t always as confident when it came to... well, other things.I stepped closer, letting her feel the subtle shift of my arousal. “Giving me compliments like that in public is dangerous.”She let out a breathy laugh, her cheeks still flushed. I saw the need flash in her eyes. I had been contemplating leaving wit
The dark blue dress would look beautiful on Kaida. That was the first thought on my mind when I saw it in the store. I knew I had to get it for her..Kaida was on the training field, she’d taken up Aric’s position. I believed it was another way to honor his memory. She trained the soldiers just as he had done… before everything went downhill. I had to admit, she was very good at it. Even the soldiers seemed to be enjoying the session with her."Your weight on this leg," she instructed, adjusting the soldier’s stance. I didn’t miss the way his gaze flickered to her ass for a split second before he quickly looked away, likely fearing he’d be caught staring. The possessive part of me wanted to pry out his eyes for even looking, then drag her into our room and fuck her all day long for looking so damn sexy.The longer I watched, the more something dark stirred inside me. She was too damn close to that guy, and those leathers—hell, they were so tight, her ass was practically on display. I
The Rogue leaders had waited. When the two days were over, I invited them into the meeting room.A maid brought over bottles of beer, and Edna was the first to take a deep gulp, the others following soon after. The maid excused herself.“Edna, Skale, Kev, Gal, and of course, Timothy. Welcome to the Nightshade Pack.”“I didn’t remember keeping you waiting this long when you paid us a visit.” Edna said to me."I’d hoped you’d get impatient enough to leave."Edna chuckled; it was silent and humorless. “Unfortunately, we’ve come to speak on an important matter.”“I assumed as much.”"We allowed a peace treaty with you once, and now we’ve come to discuss the terms.""I made you a promise, Edna. I told you that if you couldn’t keep the rogues under control, there would be war. This time, something tells me you were the brains behind the earlier attack.""Yes. I was. Like the rest, we believed you were gone, and we did what anyone would do—we attacked.""But I guess you were wrong.""Sorely.
ALEXANDER’S POVIt was almost unnerving how similar she had looked to Kaida. Her voice sounded so much like hers—I had hesitated, and in that moment of weakness, Cynthia escaped.It all made sense now. I could recall that incident. When Kaida had walked into the room, looking all seductive, I had given in so easily. And then—she ‘d lifted the dagger to my chest. I hadn’t realized it wasn’t her. For a fleeting moment, I had even thought the weapon was just another tease.But then she’d stabbed me, and too late I realized something different about her—something I hadn’t picked up on earlier. Her eyes. They were different, not because they weren’t the same grey I knew, but because it felt like they belonged to a stranger, not the woman I had known and fallen for.Kaida had taken the blame, but of course, she could never have done such a thing. She’d never have gone through with it, and I couldn’t believe I was just realizing that now."It’s not your fault. Cynthia excels at those kinds o
"I know the truth," I said to Julia, finally speaking up.“What truth? Don’t tell me you still fall for his falsehoods—you should have learned your lessons by now.”"He tried to protect me. He kept me safe. That’s more than you’ve ever done?"“Protect you—you really think you are safe here with him?”“Safer than I ever was back in the castle.”“I taught you better than this, Aliya. I taught you about bad people who would want to taint you, but you were always the curious type; I should have known.” She said, I didn’t miss the fact that she addressed me by my name."I remember everything you taught me, Julia. Thanks to you, I know more languages than I’ll ever have the chance to use in my lifetime. You spoke endlessly about good and evil—you painted yourselves as saints, but you all are far from that. I know the truth now. Your plan was to sacrifice me. That encounter—all of it—was a lie. I was nothing but a vessel to you.""And do you think you mean anything to him?" she asked, her g
My thoughts drifted to Ash. Could he have been stupid enough to come back here with Daemon present?Something told me Daemon wouldn’t be pleased about me seeing him behind his back.A small sense of relief washed over me when I realized the footsteps approaching weren’t from a man. There was something feminine, something familiar about them.It was Empress Julia.Of course, I would recognize the sound of her footsteps; I had spent over a decade of my life listening to them.Daemon seemed genuinely surprised. “How did you find this place?” he asked."I can't say. You see, it's a small secret, Trian—I guess that's the name you stole."Daemon’s eyes drifted from her face to the object she held in her hand: the Nexus Amulet. She had somehow gotten it out of the transparent glass container—perhaps that explained the noise that had alerted us we weren’t alone."Give it to me," Daemon all but growled."Tsk, tsk. Not so fast."Daemon looked like he was about to lunge for her."You won’t get t
I shouldn’t be thinking about Ash’s words, but I was. No matter how many times I tried to shove them out of my mind, they always found their way back."Dinner is served. Come eat," Daemon announced. Staring at him, I could almost forget that he was a demon; he just seemed so… human. But when you looked deeper into those dark blue eyes, that’s when you noticed something off—something that screamed predator.“I’m not hungry.”“That’s a lie. Come with me,” he said. I might be hungry, but I was in no mood to eat, yet I followed him. He had already dished out the food for me and, as usual, none for himself.“Thank you.” I muttered, taking a seat. The smoky scent of spiced grilled meat filled the air. On any other day, it would be enough to make my mouth water and my stomach rumble, but this time, I could barely force myself to eat more than a few small pieces.“Aliyah,” Daemon called, and I looked up at him. “I can make something else if you don’t like this.”“It’s not that. I’m just not h
ALIYAH’S POVI stared at the empty room, once occupied by the human girls. Now, the chains that had been used to bind them were the only sign that they had ever been here.After the incident with Tasha, Daemon wasn’t willing to take any chances. He had let the two cousins return to their homes.When Daemon wasn’t home, I had the whole house to myself.I returned to my room to take a quick shower before his return. I peeled off my clothes and walked into the shower. I was done in less than twenty minutes. I was about to step out of the bathroom when my reflection caught my eye. I paused, staring at the figure in the mirror that was mine.My eyes were the only thing alive; every other part of my body seemed to be fading away. My silver hair didn’t look as healthy, and my pale skin was even paler. I spotted the bite marks marring my skin. I didn’t mind them at all; maybe I was getting just as crazy as Tasha, but I liked seeing those marks on my skin; they reminded me of him, and so I ha