I stepped back on her request, my body once again acting against my mind. Inside I was raging; I wanted to hurt her so badly, but I felt like I had been caged in the inner parts of my mind; I could only watch what was happening, but I had no control over my own actions.Nothing was as torturous and infuriating as that."Bad bad, Luna. Look what you made me do." She drew out each word as she walked deeper into our room, she pulled open a drawer, taking out Thane's cuff. "Kinky," she said, tossing it to me; it fell at my feet. "Put the cuff on.""You have control over me; you don't have to make me wear that to control me." I said to her,"Oh, I know that. Still I just needed to show you how much in control I am, now be snappy about it." I put the cuff on, just as she had ordered. "Good. Now ask me what I had to do to get you."I inhaled deeply; I hated this feeling of powerlessness."What did you have to do to get to me?" I questioned; those words had come out against my very own will.
"Riley, what is going on?" Thane questioned."Nothing...""No, just don't tell me that; don't lie to me, Riley; something is wrong and you are keeping it from me. What is it?"I remained silent because I had no response to his question."You think I don't notice? The sudden desperation to tag along everywhere I go makes it seem like you are afraid to be left alone, like you are scared of something, and I want to help you, Riley, but I have to know what is wrong to help you; you have to open up to me, Riley.""Just let me be, okay. I am fine.""No, you are not." He said he wasn't going to let this go. "Are you sick?" he questioned, clearly concerned."I am not sick; it's just..." I couldn't say the words. Thane waited, eyes hopeful; he was willing to help, and I wish I could tell him everything, but I couldn't. "I still think about Jake," I lied. "I'm willing to do anything to take my mind off him, but... there is something else I didn't tell you. When I left this pack, I had paid a vi
I didn't know exactly how I got here, but I had been in the pack safehouse when a figure approached me.Bailey. I realized."Why am I here?" I asked, keeping my face bare of emotions."You are here because I wanted you to be." "What do you want from me?" "I did tell you I would be back, didn't I? Well, here I am, and I have a mission for you." She said, passing me a small glass bottle filled with a greenish-yellow substance. "Go on, take it," she urged, and I took the bottle from her hand."What is this?""That, my dear, is wolfsbane extract.""Why are you giving me this?""Don't worry, it isn't for you but for the Alpha King, Thane. You will put this in his drink. The Wolf's bane when in his system would weaken him, and so we could proceed to the next step, but for now, this is all you have to do.""He could die." "That would be a pity, a death too quick, not at all worth all the time I spent plotting. You are right though, with the quantity in that bottle, it can kill regular wol
It was all supposed to be a dream. A very bad one. But it wasn't; it hadn't just been a dream. My hand shook as I held the bottle. "Add this to his drink." Bailey's voice reechoed in my head. I walked back into the room, staring at the glass of apple juice on the table. I hadn't asked the maid for it, and I doubted Thane did either. Sending the maid here must have been a part of Bailey's plan—I realized. Tears rolled down my eyes as my body acted on its own, pulling the bottle open. The harsh smell hurt my nose. "No, no, you can't." I said to myself, but still I found myself pouring the content into his cup. It had mixed so nicely, one couldn't even tell. ... Thane arrived home, and he paused to stare down at my choice of clothing, or rather, my choice of underwear. "I like being welcomed like this." "You can have all of this, but first, join me for a drink." I said with a smile on my face. "It's apple juice." He picked up his glass, and I stared at him as he lifted t
Bailey's eyes widened in shock as she stared at the dagger now prodding out of her chest. I didn't stop at that. I pulled the dagger out, only to strike over and over again, till I was sure she was dead. She fell to the floor in a puddle of her own blood, and finally I paused to stare at her. It was over; I couldn't believe it. I would be free.I didn't know I was crying till I felt the tears against my cheeks; this wasn't tears of pain or sadness but of relief. It worked. I couldn't believe it worked; I had been one step ahead of her.~~~I took Bailey's body deeper into the woods, a shovel in my hand, and when I was completely out of sight, I began digging as quickly as I could. I dumped her body into the hole I had dug. I had been about to cover her up when I heard the footsteps. I turned, but I had been a second too late. Something hard came into contact with my head, and I fell to the ground.The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Nick's figure standing over me..I awok
I spit out blood, my gaze returning back to Nick."I am not afraid of you, Nick; do your worst.""You were always a bold one, but the problem was your emotions; they are your greatest weakness.""Why not take your crappy insights and shove it right up your manhole."That earned me another slap, and I smirked knowing I was getting to him."Bailey would betray you; I mean, that's what she does best; you are nothing more than a tool to her.""Are you any different from her? You used me; I helped you heal from all the hurt the bastard inflicted on you; we made a deal, but of course, you broke it; you went back to him and returned my wedding ring like that solves it all. You aren't much different.""You lied to me; you hid the truth from me and left me suffering the consequences.""What did you think? That there would be no consequences? That the dark side would grant you power with nothing in return? If you thought that, then maybe you are the fool.""You want to know why I left you even
THANE'S POVEvery single commander and a few high ranked members had been interrogated, but none had been found wanting.I couldn't stop thinking about Riley. In the room, all alone, it was clear that she wanted to spend the night a different way, and I was going to make it up to her."None of them did this." Axel said to me when we were back in my office. "Yes, I could tell they weren't lying."Just then there was a knock on the door, and Regnux, one of the commanders, walked in."I wanted to speak with you," he said. I noticed how nervous he looked."Go on," I said."So from the investigations, it is clear that the murderer is not a Commander or a high ranked. What if we've been looking in the wrong place all these while?""Skip to the point, Reg."He nodded. "The point is, what if it's someone closer... maybe the Luna, I mean after what…"Axel walked to him. "Do you have proof?" He asked, cutting him off."No, not exactly...""So you come here and accuse the Luna with no proof?"
RILEY'S POV I was alone in the empty containment room, chained to the chair I had been placed on. The footsteps approaching got my attention. Bailey was back, again. "Your mate is here. Just as I had said, feelings make us weak, and that was his downfall." "Don't you dare harm him." I warned, struggling out of the chains. "I guess you would want to see him, right?" She questioned me, and I gave her no answer; I wouldn't let her see how desperately I wanted to go to him. She walked to me, taking off the chains, and I immediately bolted for the door. The moment I touched the handle, the silver burned my hand. "You may call it karma—you remember the silver dagger you used on me?" she asked. "Let me out." "I'll do that, but first, we need to make things clear. In whatever you do, you will not try to escape this place. Got it?" She ordered, and I nodded, compelled. "Good, now come with me." I followed her out of the room. The building seemed ancient, clearly an underground h
“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
DAEMONAliya was in the same silk white nightgown she’d slept in. A soft breeze blew through her silver hair. She looked surreal, like an angel. “I have to do this.” She said, and I could see the determination in her eyes.“No, you don’t have to do this. I told you I would find a way…”“There is no other way.” she said, cutting me off. “This is the only way. I can end the war, and this is what I have to do to end it.”I’d remember those words in the dream I had. She’d told me how she could “end the war.”Those eyes stared at me like she could read exactly what I was thinking.“Do you love me enough to let me go?” she whispered—and that’s when it hit me: it was never a dream. “The undead would be gone if Solene died. The war would end if I took my life—with this dagger.”“Tell me one thing, Aliyah. If you were in my place, would you let me go?” I asked. Tears spilled down her cheeks. She didn’t answer, maybe because we both knew what that answer was. “Why in the hell do you think
ALIYAHI stood watching the lake.The memory of what had happened here resurfaced, and I smiled. There were still so many things I had yet to do, so many adventures waiting out there.I looked down at the dazzling diamond on the engagement ring Daemon had given me. It must have cost a fortune, but that wasn’t why I thought it was beautiful. It would always be my most prized possession because of what it signified.Now I could see the truth—Daemon would have given up his title to be with me.I didn’t deserve his love. I didn’t deserve him. And yet, I wanted him.The best days of my life were the ones I spent with Daemon. Truly, he was the greatest gift life had given me, and I would always be grateful for that.But I had to make a decision.**FLASHBACK**“I need to speak to the girl alone,” Jade said, and I watched the others walk away, leaving me alone with the sorceress.“I remember it all,” I confessed. “I remember how many people died because of me… how many others I killed.”“That