"What do you mean, Bailey had escaped? How is that even possible?" Axel questioned."She had help." Thane said, walking past us. I followed him into the dressing room. He brought forth the key to Bailey's room, the very same one he had kept there a while ago."There must have been a spare key, another way in. She had gotten help from someone in this pack." Thane said."She escaped; we would get her back." Axel said confidently."The problem is not just her escape, but over a dozen of our soldiers had been killed, their body parts torn limb by limb."Axel and I exchanged glances; that had been why Thane was mad. It wasn't just Bailey's escape but the soldiers she had killed."Oh gods." I whispered."I shouldn't have told you this," Thane says."No, I need to know about this, I need to know everything happening in the pack.""I only wish I had killed the bitch.""Why didn't you?" I questioned."She is an elder, the only one who would ever be willing to give me information; killing her w
"Thane. I need to ask you a very unusual question.” I said to him,"At this moment, I need such unusual questions to take my mind off everything that has been going on lately. So ask on.""Uhmm, so since my return... we've never... uhm, done it and it is okay if you aren't ready yet." I paused, turning red, because he had his full attention on me and he found this funny. "You know what? Forget it.""No, please go on.""No." I say, pulling away from him and heading to the couch."Don't be like that; I promise I won't laugh.""Well, I'll just go straight to the point, then... I want to know why you haven't had sex with me yet. There, that's what I wanted to know."He burst into fits of laughter."You said you wouldn't laugh!" I exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at him, but I did love watching him laugh this so heartily."I'm sorry." He says, but still wouldn't stop laughing."You don't get to be sorry, you little traitor." "There is nothing little about me, Riley, and you of all p
I was sore. But I had asked for it. "You have to go to work; I'm fine." I lied, but Thane saw right through that. "Maybe I did go a bit too far." "And I liked it." "You did, didn't you?" He asked with a smile. "Do you always have to be so cocky?" "No, just once in a while. I'll be back early." He promised. "I am a big girl; I can take care of myself." "Well, I could send in Axel." "No, not Axel." I pleaded; I knew exactly what he would do if he saw me like this. He would make fun of me; he already knew what I and Thane had been up to by now, and I wasn't ready for that just yet. "Have it your way then." Thane kissed my lips before he left for work. Thane going beast mode is the hottest thing one could ever see. He seems to lose it all to his animal instincts, and he is a sex freak. I needed that reminder so badly and even though I was sore, I still felt very turned on just by thinking about it. I needed a shower. I walked into the bathroom, taking a quick b
Thane and Axel believed that whoever had helped Bailey escape must be one of the high ranks in this pack, and they were right. The problem was that they trusted me completely, they hadn't suspected me at all, even if the location of the key was only known to Thane and I, yet they rather believed that there was a spare or some other way to get into the cell that they weren't aware of.It had been me. I had taken that key and I had freed Bailey.If I needed further proof, the injuries I had noticed on my body, those same ones I couldn't remember how they came to be, was all the proof I needed, and yet... yet I didn't want to believe it. I just couldn't."I didn't do this, Bailey." I insisted, but the tears streaming down my face contradicted my very own words."I'm sure you had a reason.""No, I would never do anything like that." She snorted at my words. "You've done something similar before, so don't give me that 'I am innocent' crap.""You made me do this...I don't know how you did
Bailey finally let me go. She gave me a very long look before she disappeared, leaving just as quickly as she came. I let out a breath of relief.Then the panic set in. She was going to use me to hurt Thane. I couldn't let that happen; I would have to tell him, but then, what had she been referring to when she said she wasn't the first to do something like this?I couldn't sit here and wait for Thane's arrival; I had to go meet him. I rinsed my mouth of the blood before heading to his office. Axel was the only one in there with him; they were going through some documents when I walked in. Two pairs of eyes met mine."I need to speak to you, Thane."Thane stared at the paperwork on his desk before pushing that aside. "What do you want to speak to me about?""Have you used your Alpha aura thingy one on me before?""Damn." Axel muttered. "I should go.""No, you will stay." I said to him, and he settled back on his chair. "Please, Thane, don't lie to me; just tell me the truth; I need to
I ran my hands through my hair over and again, frustrated. They needed to know, but due to Bailey's command, I couldn't tell them. What if I could… improvise?I took out a pen and paper, with shaky hands I wrote; 'Thane. I want you to know something: I killed them. Those soldiers who were dead, I did that; I had been the one who freed Bailey too; she has this control over me, she controls my mind, and I can't even explain it. I didn't want to kill those men, they've done nothing wrong to warrant me doing that, but I did anyway because she asked me to. You can't trust me, Thane; she would use me against you.’I paused writing, staring at the paper where I was almost sure that I had been writing on. There were no words on the papers, just lines; that's all I had been writing; the words had been in my mind, and I thought I was penning them down, but I was only writing down gibberish.I gasped. Taking steps backwards till I came in contact with the wall.I couldn't write it down because
THANE. "I won't say I didn't warn you,” Axel says. "I was only trying to help; I didn't know she would get so upset by it." "No one likes their mind messed with Thane." "The last thing I need now is your lectures, Axel." "Maybe you should go find Riley, you have a lot of pleading to do." "Do you think she would forgive me?" I questioned. "Yes, she would. I mean, she did forgive you for letting her go, what offense would be greater than that?" "I just keep messing things up when it comes to her." "And you will have to find a way to fix it, Alpha." Of course I had to fix it, but there was even the more worrisome question, and that was, how the hell did she find out? "I know what you are thinking." Axel says, "I'm wondering the very same thing too. I mean, it doesn't make sense that she discovered it all of a sudden." "Someone must have told her. No one else was here except you and me." "Bailey would be a suspect," Axel says. "If she was still in the pack, yes
RILEY.I thought beating up Nick would make all the anger I felt disappear, but I was wrong; all the pent-up anger still remained. I was somewhere in the middle of the woods; I should be more careful; I might be encroaching on another pack’s land, yet I couldn't bring myself to care, not even one bit. Dawn came upon me, but I remained here, in the woods. Thane would be worried; he must have discovered I was gone by now. Still, I couldn't bring myself to return just yet. Maybe it was because I knew there was another option, another way I would be of no harm to Thane. If I ran, if I hid well enough that Bailey would never be able to find me, then they would all be safe.But I only got Thane back; how could I lose him again?If I did make this decision, if I did choose to leave, then I would forever be on the run, unable to live my life. I knew Thane would find me, but I could try hard to be one step ahead of him; all I needed to do was to be constantly on the move; never staying in on
ALEXANDER'S POVKaida Dawn was different.She was different from any other woman I had ever had in my bed.I had discovered she was my mate four years ago, but unlike many other werewolves, the thought of having mates never did intrigue me. I didn’t want to be loyal to anyone; I didn’t want a family, and that’s why I stayed away.And then Alpha Trent Dawn had come to me with his proposal. He was one of the few people in my good books; I knew what he had done for this pack, and I was aware that we owed him a favor. But I did find it strange; He had a Beta, going by the name Aric. Since he had no male children, the Beta could've taken over, and Kaida could've mated him instead. But for some reason… he didn’t hand the pack to his Beta.I had spotted her the moment she walked into the feast. How couldn’t I? Her scent was all over the place. My wolf inside didn’t like the Beta being so close to her, or the fact that they had slept in the very same room, but I reined him in. What happened b
I’d heard other she-wolves talk about how it felt when they met their mates. The scent, the pull—I felt it all.“Do you feel it?” I asked him, and a small smirk spread on his face.“Feel what?” he asked. “The mate bond?”“You knew.” My tone was accusing.“I’ve known for a very long time now, Kaida. Even before I agreed to your father’s proposal.”“How long ago did you know?”“Your father and his beta made constant visits to this pack; your scent was all over them.”“And yet you made no move, why?”“I don’t say this to offend you, but you aren’t exactly my type.”“Oh, I know. I guess brunettes are your type, and maybe you'd have preferred a girl who would fall on her knees and worship the very ground you walk upon, a girl who would obey every single word you utter without questions.”“I would have liked that, but that wasn’t what I was referring to. You see only a few girls shut the doors to love and choose the parts of becoming ‘warriors’. Of course, most times there were reasons beh
It had taken every ounce of willpower in me to return here.But if I was going to be his Luna, then the rules would have to change; I didn’t care who the hell he was.The soldiers escorted me to his chambers. He wasn’t alone. There were about a dozen men seated there, many of whom were middle-aged; they should be the ones people refer to as the king's 'advisors.’Alpha Ethan’s eyes settled on me.The scent was even stronger now, but I was going to rein in my wolf; I was in control, not her, and it's time she knew that. I had expected to see a smirk on his face; after all, he won. I was here because I had no other options, but his face remained unreadable, and maybe that’s one of the many things I found unsettling about him. I couldn’t read his emotions, and I was very good at that. I didn’t like surprises, but the man seated before me had a bottle filled with surprises, waiting and ready for me.“Leave, every one of you.” He ordered, and all the men rose and walked away, leaving me a
My father had told me countless times the story of when I was just a child, and he thought he was going to lose me, he had done everything in his power but it all failed and then he discovered the ‘healer’s lilies’, it healed me. Words could never fully capture what it feels like to stand on the edge of losing a loved one.I didn’t miss my mother much—I never had the chance to know her. She died giving birth to me. All that was left of her were only her pictures. Alpha Trent was a strong man; not many Alphas carry on after the loss of their mates, and yet he did.Now, the very same man I once believed was invincible, laid on his deathbed. I held in the tears because they were of no use. Crying never changes anything.“Kaida, I want you to know that I love you so very much. I know you will take care of this pack, even in my absence.”“I will.” I promised.“You met with the Alpha… I know he might seem…”I cut him off. “He is my mate.”“That… is very convenient.” He said with a small smi
That was it.I was done.Aric had been waiting for me, and as soon as he saw me, he quickly took off his suit and wrapped it around me. I felt like a fool.The moment we were both in the room and alone, he finally spoke up.“What happened?”"There’s not much to explain; it’s all right here," I say, gesturing to my torn clothes.“If he laid a finger on you, I’ll—”“You will what? He is the Alpha King; he is also very strong, and so there isn’t much any of us could do to him.”“Where are you going?”“Packing my stuff and leaving.” “What are you going to say to your father?” he asked.“I wanted to do this—for him, for the pack, but I can’t. The man is a monster; I cannot imagine sharing the same bed with him and his many… whores.I stuffed my things into the bag. I hadn’t brought a lot of things, and so in a few minutes I was packed.“Kaida, I don’t think you should leave now.” Aric says.“Why shouldn’t I?”“At least wait till the feast is over.”“Well, to hell with the etiquette and mo
Despite all the warning bells ringing in my head, I walked in and took a seat, just as he had requested of me. I didn’t know many things about this man, but one thing I knew for sure was that he was used to having his command being obeyed.“A drink?” he offered. Pouring me a glass of whiskey.“From where I come from, a girl does not drink.”“This is your home now; soon the Dawn pack will be no more, so get used to it.” He says, passing me the glass, I took it, but I didn’t drink.“You know, it is wrong to refuse a drink from the King.”“I do not drink, and if I will, it won’t be because you told me to.” I said, placing the glass down on the table.Those ruthless eyes pinned me down once more; I felt for my dagger once more.“I’ve heard a thing or two about you. The girl who aspired for greatness, you fought your way into that; you’ve gone to battles and never failed a mission. I admire that, but in this pack, you are just another girl; all you’ve built, everything dies with your pack.
“My mate, he is here.”“What?” Aric questioned. “How is that even possible?” “I don’t know, but he is here, I can feel it.”Just then, complete silence fell; all chatter ceased as The Alpha King rose to his feet. He was huge, clearly above six feet; he had sea blue eyes and brown hair, which he cut short into a buzz cut. His features were sharp, and maybe my father was right about one thing—the man before me didn’t look twenty-two years of age; he was no child; he was an Alpha in every sense of the word. The scent I had been perceiving, the one that made my heart pound, it was him.Fear was not something I had felt in years; I always liked to think of myself as fearless, but for the first time in a very long while, I was afraid. I was afraid of a man, the very man standing right before me.“He is my mate.” I whispered.“Who?” Aric asked.“The Alpha King.” I whispered back.As if he heard me, the Alpha King's eyes met mine. I wonder if he was feeling the same thing I felt; that was h
The room was just as elegant as everything in the Nightshade pack; it was bigger than my room back in the Dawn Pack. I spotted the dress on the bed. A flimsy thing. If it had been any other day, I would've been attending the Grand Feast in my leather pants and jacket—I hated parties and public gatherings, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t invited to a few back at my pack. I was the Alpha’s daughter; it was required of me. My father tried to force me into dresses more than once, but of course, I never did wear them. It was different now; this was not my pack, and here I was a stranger. Wearing my ‘usual’ clothing would only make me stick out in the crowd.I didn’t want that, but that didn’t mean I would wear the dress he had picked out for me. “It will be amusing to see you in a dress.” Aric said, a smirk playing on his lips.“I’ll be in a dress alright, but just not this one.”“Rebellious as always, let’s hope the Alpha King doesn’t notice.” He said with a smile.“I really don’t give a d
It was time, I would have to pay a visit to the Nightshade pack. Beta Aric was nowhere to be found.I stopped in the courtroom to inform my father that I was leaving, but I noticed he wasn’t alone, Aric was there too. I stopped by the entrance, they hadn’t noticed me and so I hid away from view.“You are marrying her to the Alpha King?” Aric asked, this was indeed the first time I had heard him question the Alpha.“Yes, my daughter will marry the Alpha King.”“You know that’s not where she belongs.”“I will be having no discussion over this matter, it is already settled and done.”“You know who he is…”My father cut Aric off. “He is ruthless, every powerful Alpha is, fear is sometimes power.”“The Blackwood lineage is a powerful one, but it’s cursed – that’s what I think. How else would you explain the mysterious deaths? Slade had been killed by his own son, Thane who wanted the throne – there had been other rumours too, that Freya, his mate, had actually been the one behind his deat