“I didn’t tell my mother about... you.” I said to him, “I didn’t do it for you though, but for her. She has moved on, Bruce; she’s in love now, and she is happy, it will remain that way.” “You did the right thing. It has been so many years; she deserves to be happy.”“She does.”“I don’t expect your forgiveness...”“I don’t plan on giving you that. What I am interested in knowing is what exactly you are. I know you aren’t a werewolf.”“You are right; I am not. I am a warlock.“A warlock?” I repeated.“Yes, similar to a sorcerer but also... different in some way. A sorcerer is born with magic flowing through their veins, but a warlock isn’t born with magic; we earn it, and for this reason, we operate on a different level.”“That’s how you were able to make Mom forget about you.”“Yes. It was a simple spell.”“When you made her forget about you, why did you compel her to believe Slade was my father?”“Because I knew it would make her hate him even more, and hate is one strong emotion;
THANEI remained in the garden. Maybe this hadn't been the right time to tell her about Bella.She was right.While I didn't love Bella anymore, I still cared, and it felt wrong.At that moment, I felt like something was wrong. It had been pure instincts but I felt the need to check up on Riley so I hurried back to the room we shared.She might need her space, but she was pregnant, and she needed company, just in case anything happened...She wasn't in the room.I moved to the bathroom, and there I saw the blood on the tile.Damn.I had been heading to the healers when I met Daisy halfway there. "What's wrong?""The Luna is in labor."That's all it took, and I was sprinting to the healing room.Riley had been placed on the bed; sweat coated her face — maybe it was tears. I walked to her holding her hands in mine."You are going to be fine." I assured her."It's not yet time; I don't know why this is happening to me.""We will get through this together, okay." I said to her, and she n
RILEYThane never left; not once in the next three days. He used the bathroom in the healing room instead.I felt so weak and tired; Daisy said I should be getting better, but I most definitely wasn't. At least the child survived, even if it would take a few more months for me to see him again. I tried lifting my hand, and it did take some effort for such a petty task."Thane, you know you could go to work...""No, nothing is more important than you and right now you need me here.""But I am fine Thane, the pack needs you too." I said to him, I did notice Regnux visits; there was work to be done, but Thane didn't want to leave me alone, I could handle myself for a few hours — maybe I'll try not to trip on my own foot while I lay on the bed."I'll only be gone for a few hours, and I'll be right back," he promised."It's alright."..Exactly an hour after Thane was gone, the door was pulled open. I had thought it was Daisy, and so I didn't bother, but then the figure got close enough.
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
"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
I woke up feeling disoriented. His words kept replaying in my mind: “I am supposed to kill you; that was the plan, yet you still live.”I should have known that was the plan. Without me, the Encounter would never take place, and the Empresses would never fulfill their ‘life’s purpose’—to kill the Demon Overlord: him.Yet, somehow, I still hoped; I still believed that the man I knew was in there somewhere. I was wrong. I couldn’t waste any more time; each minute—each second—spent doing nothing counted. I couldn’t let this happen; I had to do something and fast.He was not in the living room or kitchen by the time I came down; I was pretty sure he wasn’t in the house, but he would be close by; running away now would be a stupid decision. I needed a weapon, and kitchen knives wouldn’t do.I went up the stairs to his weapons room and was surprised to find it open; the Nexus Amulet was still there. The only difference was that the windows were shut—perhaps to keep me from tossing the jewel
Daemon didn’t bother restraining the girls with chains again after they had finished eating.My heart ached for them—innocent girls who had no idea what kind of monster he truly was. They gazed up at him, captivated by his good looks, just as I had once been. I had thought he had the beauty of a fallen angel, and I wasn’t wrong. In every sense of the word, he was—after all—the Demon Overlord. His looks weren’t the only reason I fell for him. With Trian, I had felt free, he was the only one who regarded me like I was more than just a sacred vessel. He made me feel like a woman, made me want things I never imagined I could, and showed me the world through an entirely new lens. But Trian was gone, and Daemon had taken over his body.“Who’ll be first?” He questioned the girls with a small smile on his lips and just as they had rushed for the food, they now flocked to him. I wanted to scream at them, didn't they know what he was about to do?Daemon’s words hit me: ‘I don’t do anything they
"I heard sounds coming from this room. Who's in there?" I asked him.“Come.” He said, avoiding my question.“No. I want to know who is in there.”A flicker of annoyance crossed his face before he walked toward me. Maybe he knew his sudden disappearances and reappearances were already unsettling me—but I doubted he cared. Maybe he just didn’t feel like doing it this time.He took out a key from the pocket of his jeans and unlocked the door; his eyes remained on me. It took all my strength to tear my gaze away and look into the room. There, locked up in the room, were three girls— they were around my age, though the one in the middle seemed a few years older. They looked afraid, but no tears ran down their faces, even though they were chained up like animals. Maybe I had imagined the sounds after all."You kidnapped them," I said, totally mortified. I shouldn’t be surprised by his actions, and yet, I was. I was surprised because I didn’t want to believe that the Trian I knew was gone; d