“You look younger,” I remarked.“I get that a lot.” She responded.I glanced around the house, taking in the pictures. It seemed Selene was an only child—just like I was. In one of the photos, her mother had her arms around a man with curly blonde hair. I assumed he was Selene’s father.Older photographs crowded the walls. Her voice drew my attention away from my inspection.“I’m sorry about… last time.”“What?”“The rings and all black must have scared you off.”While I thought she looked better without all those, that hadn’t been the reason I walked away.“No, it’s not that. I just hadn’t expected you to be so … young.”“Oh.” She said, and at that moment, Rebecca Ashford walked in.“If you need anything else, all you have to do is say,” she said with a smile.“Actually, I’d like to speak to you. Alone,” I replied. I didn’t miss the brief flicker of disappointment that crossed Selene’s face. “It’ll just be a few minutes,” I added.“Of course.” Rebecca said and nodded to Selene, who r
KAIDA’S POVI walked into Alexander’s office.“On a scale of one to ten, how busy are you?” I asked.“I’ll always have time for you, Kaida,” he said, shutting the file and setting it aside, giving me his full attention. I couldn’t help but smile at that.“I wanted to ask about Austin.”“Seriously, Kaida? Here I was thinking this was your way of inviting me to sex.”I stared at him. “We just did that a few minutes ago!”He shrugged. “That was in the bedroom. Heard office sex hits different.”I stared at his table. It would be sexy to watch him clear off that table and place me right…Austin. I was here to talk about Austin.“So. What about Austin?” “I want to know more about him.”Alexander cocked his brow at me, surprise flickering in his gaze. “You want to know more about him?” he repeated.I realized I hadn’t exactly phrased that the best way. “I just feel like I don’t know enough about the people around me. Like I never knew Phil didn’t have a mate until he told me he found his
ALIYAH’S POVWith each passing day, I began to doubt everything I had once believed. I knew what the Empresses wanted—at least that was clear—but Daemon? I wasn’t sure about anything anymore. Had everything he’d done for me been part of some manipulation scheme? Had he been trying to deceive me all over again?If he’d really loved me, he should have taken me away from this place by now. But he was nowhere to be found. And as the days dragged on, I felt myself breaking apart—losing faith in him. Had he ever truly loved me?And then there was the urge. I think about it every second that passes—the feeling of being bitten. I had been warned; I knew the consequences. I’d seen what happened to Tasha, how she’d gone mad, willing to do anything for a single bite. And yet, I let it happen. Now, I might have to face the consequences.The door to my room creaks open, snapping me out of my thoughts. Julia walks in—and of course, still no food."You stink," she said, nose scrunched up in what I a
Still in shock, I didn’t realize there was another person in the hut until he spoke.“Aliyah,” Ash called as he walked toward me, his eyes scanning me as if checking for injuries. I was in a robe, my hair still wet, but the only visible scars were the healing bite marks on my neck. I quickly hid them with my hair, but of course, he had already seen them.“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” he said genuinely.“There’s nothing to be sorry about; at least you came,” I said, relieved to be away from the castle. My gaze returned to the old woman, who stood there watching us. I couldn’t help but find her a little creepy. Today, she had black tribal markings painted on her face, “She’s a witch,” Ash said.“I thought she was just a fortune teller.”“Thankfully, she’s not.”“How do you know her?” I questioned.“Well, it’s a long story, but I’ve known Agatha for a while.”He knew her name?“Just keep in mind, I won’t be doing you any more favors, wolf boy.”Wolf boy?“Understood and thank you.
“It’s not much, but it should do,” Ash said, referring to the worn-out dark red car. I didn’t care what vehicle we used, as long as it got us out of the city. I opened the door and slid into the shotgun seat. Ash walked around the car and took the driver’s seat. The car was big enough to comfortably fit five people. Ash reversed and then drove through the busy city streets. I couldn’t help but worry—what if the spell had worn off? By the time we reached the city gates, I was beside myself with anxiety.“Aliyah, the only reason we’d get caught is if you make it look too suspicious,” he warned, and I tried to calm him.We stopped in front of the soldiers. There hadn’t been this many the last time Daemon and I left this place. Perhaps security had been tightened since then—it made sense, but as of now, it wasn’t exactly working in our favor.A single soldier stepped forward and peered into the car. I kept my hair down, hoping it helped with the disguise.“I’m on an errand for the Empr
We drove in complete silence. I didn’t know where he was taking me to, but I didn’t care to ask.“Aliyah, I’m sorry,” Ash says, sparing a glance at me. “It was dangerous of me to tell the Empress your location. They could have killed you, and it would’ve been entirely my fault. But I couldn’t bear to do nothing—not when I knew what he does to you.”I couldn’t look at him.“I’m really sorry, okay? I know I had no right to force all this on you.” He tried again, but when I remained silent, he gave up.A few minutes passed in silence before I finally said, “You were right.”His eyes snapped to mine.“I shouldn’t have let him… feed from me. It was stupid. But after being locked in a castle and controlled for most of my life, I guess I craved something reckless—something fun. And maybe that’s what draws me to him.” I looked away. “I know he’s dangerous, but I’ve spent my whole life being kept away from danger. I want to know what it feels like to abandon caution. I miss him… And I miss him
I couldn’t leave him behind, so I stood beside him. “I’m not leaving you here.”He seemed about to argue but thought better of it. From the woods emerged five figures. Not people—I'd seen them before. The undead. Hellish, blind creatures, dead but somehow still alive.Without hesitation, Ash drew a gun I hadn’t realized he was carrying and fired. I pressed my hands to my ears in an attempt to block out the deafening sound, but it did no good. Soon, the five creatures were on the ground. They weren’t dead—the bullet in their heads didn’t kill them, but it was enough to buy us some time to escape.Ash was fast, but he had to slow down for my sake. I could hear the creatures pursuing us, closing in with each passing second. Of course, this was the moment I had to trip over a rock. I fell to the ground. One of the creatures grabbed hold of my leg, and I let out a scream. Ash pried it off me and somehow managed to toss the creature—roughly the size of a full-grown man—away.Soon, I spotted
Right before we reached the front yard, a man who looked to be in his late forties stepped outside, a hunter’s rifle in his hand, aimed directly at us.Ash instinctively placed his body right in front of mine to shield me.“Bruce. It’s me.”The man didn’t lower the weapon for a long while, and I worried he might shoot. Just then, another woman stepped out. She seemed a few years older."Bruce, put the gun down," she said, her tone affectionate. It was clear that they shared some kind of bond—either siblings or a couple.The man whose name I just realized was Bruce finally put down his weapon. He walked towards us.“What are you doing here?” he asked, fury laced with his words.“I knew you told me not to return here, but I had to. This is the only place she can be safe.”Ash stepped aside to reveal me, and the man’s eyes met mine. But unlike the many lustful stares that usually fixated on my cleavage, he simply looked away. I wondered if the spell Agatha had put on me was still lingeri
“The others are very angry,” Kyiv said to me. “They think I’m on your side, and that’s why I killed Skale. It’s no secret they don’t like me very much, so they’ve requested something from me—to make clear where my loyalty lies.”“And I’m guessing this thing they requested of you somehow involves me.”“That’s right. Let’s look at the pros of this operation. You’d get to leave the cell for a short while—after days of being locked up, that has to mean something. But then the cons: you’d be paraded naked in front of thousands of rogues, bound, and many would want to… touch.”“I have nothing to be ashamed of, but I’m more worried about your little plan with the plane crash. Aren’t you worried the news that I’m alive will leak out?”“I too believe this is a bad idea. Even if I stand to benefit in many ways — I’d finally prove myself a capable leader to the rogues, and the other rogue leaders would have nothing on me. But I still don’t trust their promises to keep the rogues silent, so the n
I stared at the water in the wooden bowl. I was so thirsty.Could anything be worse than this?At least I would have one less thing to worry about—thirst.I reached for it. It was far enough to cause some strain on my already bruised wrist as I stretched for it, and then I took hold of it.Just before I could lift it up, the bowl slipped from my bloody grasp and fell to the floor, the contents splashing across the ground.Fuck.Well,I guess I really have no option now.Something captured my attention — a blackish smoke swirling in the air, growing thicker with every second.Then, through the smoke, Daemon stepped out.“There you are, about damn time. I was starting to wonder if I was at the wrong place,” he muttered.“How did you find me?”“I made a very wild guess.” “Kaida — how is she?”He tapped on the transparent glass, as if testing its strength.“She’s perfectly fine, and she knows you’re not dead. But she might not be too happy about the fact that I didn’t let her come with m
“There’s a slight chance we aren’t dealing with a pack,” Daemon said. “Thank you for this information.”“Wait, you’re leaving me here? I just proved how important I could be.”“Yes, indeed. If you get any other information, just reach out,” he said, then turned around. He was really leaving.“Fuck you.” I muttered beneath my breath.“I heard that,” he called out. “I intended for you to hear that!” I said, but of course he was already gone.My gaze fell on Sebastian, still standing on the other side of the wall. He raised both hands in surrender before backing away. Frustrated, I stomped off..Kate arrived at the pack a few hours later. This time, she brought along her luggage.“You won’t really need all those for a few days.”“No, I won’t. But I’m not planning to stay for just a few days,” she said, walking into her room. I followed with two more of her luggage. “I’m moving into this pack,” she said finally, and I couldn’t deny how surprised I was at that.“Really?”“Yes,” she said,
I walked past the patrolling soldier and Phil, who followed after me.“I thought you said you were leaving? I was worried you’d do something rash, so I came after you.”Good thing he and the other patrollers hadn’t witnessed what happened earlier.“Plans changed. Guess I was about to make a rash decision — but I changed my mind.”“Are you okay?” Phil asked, inspecting me.I knew I didn’t exactly look my best — I’d spent god-knows-how-long in the healing room, then ran straight to pack my bags, dressed in nothing but the white gown the healing wardens had supplied. My eyes must have been red from crying. But every other person in the pack looked the same, if not worse.They were all mourning Alexander—I realized.Many cast pitiful glances at me.“Why did he have to go?”, “He was too young to die,” “He ‘was’ the best Alpha the pack had ever had.”Everyone had something to say about Alexander.I could hardly believe I’d run past all these people without noticing a single thing. On the wa
KADIA’S POVI woke up in the healing room.A pair of blue eyes watched me — Daemon. He looked… different, and it wasn’t just the new haircut. There was something about him that made him seem more human."Daemon," I called; my throat felt so dry.He seemed to have already prepared for that. He passed me a glass of water, which I quickly emptied.Everything came flooding back — the news about the plane crash. It became harder to breathe.“Kaida. Calm down.”"He's gone — he was in the plane when it crashed."I yanked out the tubes attached to my arm and rose to my feet. The movement had been too abrupt; the room seemed to spin.I felt hands guiding me back to the bed. I couldn’t hold in the tears.“He shouldn’t have been there. I made him go, and now…”“Stop.” Daemon said, cutting me off. “He is not dead. I visited the site; I didn’t find anything that indicated he was among the ones that died.”“You were at the site?” I asked, my heart speeding up with renewed hope.“Yes. The moment I h
ALEXANDER’S POVMy blurred vision slowly cleared, and I realized I was in what looked like a small, empty room.The wall facing me was made of thick, transparent glass.I couldn’t tell how they managed to get me in here—there was no window or door, only a narrow slot likely meant for passing food and letting in just enough air to keep the ‘prisoner’ alive.I could only assume there was some kind of hidden entrance.My hands and ankles were bound with thick silver chains.The chains felt excessive—I could barely move a muscle.More wolfsbane than I’d ever consumed in my entire life had been pumped into my system, completely immobilizing me and filling me with this nauseating, sickly feeling. I hadn’t realized I was shivering until I noticed the tremble in my fingers.The room was chillingly cold, and with the wolfsbane suppressing my werewolf abilities, I was no exception to the cold. I tried to summon flames. Nothing.Maybe I was just too weak to summon the flames. The crushing feeli
1KADIA’S POVWhen I discovered the news of my pregnancy, I had been so happy. But I knew a lot would have to change.I had to be more cautious—for the baby. That meant I wouldn’t be able to keep training the pack soldiers for much longer. Of course, I’d have to give up that duty eventually and it had become a part of my life. I would have to watch my diet, too. And then there were other things. Like the fact that I would grow big, and I might not look the same. My toned stomach which I had spent years working on would be no more.This had been the type of life I once abhorred, but everything was different now—I wanted this. I could see a future with Alexander, filled with laughter and little kids running around, and the thought made me smile.Lara was the first person to find out I was pregnant.After I discovered the pregnancy test was unmistakably positive, I was as scared as I was excited.Lara happened to be visiting the pack, and we kind of bumped into each other. She was all s
KAIDA’S POVThe flesh-eaters were all gone. Packs that had been destroyed were slowly rebuilding; the chaos had finally settled. But there were still many things to attend to—like the few humans who now knew that dangerous supernatural beings lived among them.The human president had reached out to us; He was ready to pay whatever sum was needed to keep creatures like the ‘flesh-eaters’ away, as they could cause civil unrest among the people. He was willing to pay even more so things could return to the way they were when humans and supernatural beings lived separately.Alexander sent a letter back, assuring him that the ‘creatures’ were gone and that things would continue as usual. What they didn’t realize was that many werewolves and supernatural beings already lived among humans. They owned major companies and enterprises worldwide. From popular clothing brands to tech products, much of it was secretly controlled by the werewolf community.One constant worry lingered on my mind —
JADE POVEarlierI had chosen to spend my final hours in the little underground lair just beneath the small house I owned.At the other side of the room, trapped behind a magical wall, was a flesh-eater. I had captured it and brought it back here. If Aliyah does go through with her words, then the creature wouldn’t last until the next day.Hours passed, and the beast remained caged—still alive, still stupidly trying to push through the magical barrier I had created to contain it, no matter how many times it got scarred from trying.I wouldn’t blame the girl if she backed out; she had every right to make that decision. She was young and in love—it wasn’t easy to let go of everything for people who were mostly strangers.Beside me was a picture of Ralph. The only one I had, and the only thing that had accompanied me through the years. Many would say I lived a lonely life, but that was the only way I knew how to live—though it hadn’t always been that way.I thought back to when Ralph wa