PROLOGUE.Kaida’s POVI was not like the other girls; I knew that even as a little child. My father had found it strange that a girl of my age was more interested in watching the pack warriors train rather than playing with toys like the other kids her age did at the pack.I had one dream, and though it may sound impossible, I held onto it. I believed that I could one day become an… Alpha. The first Female Alpha.My father had no male child to inherit his title and take his place, and so each day, I trained to be the best at everything. I was twenty and five years of age and yet to find my mate. To be honest, I hadn’t even been searching for him—whoever he was; on the contrary, I dreaded finding my mate, because that would only bring an end to my dream of becoming an Alpha. I believed it was all fate pointing me in the right direction; this was my destiny.That had been what I thought until everything changed right before my eyes..My father, Alpha Trent, of the Dawn pack, summoned
Kaida’s POVWith each passing day, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd made a mistake, if I'd doomed myself with my own words—but it was too late to turn back now. I had never met Alpha Ethan before. Though we were neighboring packs, my father and the beta had always been the one going for the meetings, I didn’t do well with meetings and parties and maybe my father was right. Being an Alpha was about more than just being a warrior.I got dressed in my usual clothing, leather pants matched with a black leather jacket and a glove to cover my missing pinkie finger. Had I forgotten to mention that some little 'accident' had cost me a finger? As if that flaw wasn't enough, my body was also marked with a number of scars, so while I had always despised wearing fancy gowns and pretty little dresses, it did make sense why I had to cover up.The men carried their scars with pride, like it was some kind of proof of how fierce they were; scars on a woman had a completely different representation;
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
Prologue(Riley's POV) I woke up to a sharp pain in my abdomen. I knew what was happening; Ryker was doing it again. He was cheating on me with another woman. I rolled off the bed, my hands circling around my stomach. The wave of pain passed through me again, and I screamed out, my hands remaining on my stomach as if to shield my unborn child. I groaned, crawling for the door. "Help!" I screamed, but my voice came out hoarse. The pain came again, worse than ever before, and I cried out. "Please... please stop Ryker; you are hurting me," I begged, even if I knew he wasn't here or listening. A strange kind of fear filled me, one I always felt before things went completely wrong, and I was afraid it would now. My child was only one month old, and he 'knew' I was pregnant for him. I crawled for the door, my breaths coming out in pants, my whole body drenched in sweat. The pain wouldn't stop; it only got worse, and I couldn't go any further. In here, no one heard my cries
Growing up, there are so many stories I hear about rejections, the pain that comes with it, and then the sense of loss, like something was missing. I knew what was coming, and I was prepared, even as I said the words."I, Riley Kaidon, accept your rejection," I respond, and that gave him a pause. Of course, he doesn't expect me to accept his rejection so easily; every female is dying to be the Alpha's mate, and I had been one of them till I discovered that he wasn't as charming as my thoughts had painted him to be.I felt the pain, just as I had anticipated. It's a different kind of pain, one that is deep within, but what I do not feel is the loss.How could you lose what you never had?It was over. All my dreams of finding a mate had all come to nothing. I was given the monster as a mate, and he had used me, taken from me, only to dump me like trash. I couldn't stay in this pack any longer; I had to leave."Banish me from this pack; I no longer see the use of remaining.""Oh no, Rile
The Mating Ball. (Riley's POV) Ryker sat with his mate, and I was to sit besides him, close enough to hear him whisper the same words he had told me to her, close enough to see him kiss her, close enough to hear her soft moans as his hands disappeared beneath her dress, but that wasn't the worst part of this all; the worst part was having to see my mother, refilling his cup like the servant he wanted everyone to know she was. All I felt was anger, burning fury. I turned away from them, focusing on keeping my breath steady. "You work slugglishly, old woman," Ryker said to my mother, she had pretended not to hear that as she refilled his glass for what seemed as the hundredth time. My mother glanced at me, her eyes a warning, begging me to stay still and not do anything crazy, and it took everything in me to seat still. "You forgot to refill mine," Zara said to my mother, and of course, my mother did refill hers, muttering a silent appology which wasn't even due. Zara
(Riley's POV) There was a lot running through my mind, but I couldn't stop myself as I let my lips move against his, his hands raked through my hair, and I let him touch me in more intimate ways. His kiss was unlike anything I had ever felt; it was like a breath of fresh air and, at the same time suffocating. I felt everything and nothing; the electricity rolling down my frame had nothing to do with a mate bond; it did have everything to do with the fallen angel standing before me. No, he was no angel, maybe quite the opposite, but he did have the looks of a Greek god. Finally he pulled away, and I was left panting, wanting more, my lips all swollen. What the hell just happened, and why is Alpha Thane calling me his mate when I was sure I wasn't his? From the look he gave me, he knew that too. "Pretend," he whispered in my ear, low enough for only me to hear. Pretend?. He meant I should go along with this. Why would I do that? , why... My trail of thoughts was cut off.
(Riley's POV) Everything about Alpha Thane screamed sexuality: the way he walked, his height, his look, his lips- oh, those very beautiful lips, and the way those lips had formed out my name. Never had I thought my name could sound that sexy and enticing... Also the last thing I should be thinking about right now was how sexy he was. . He was right though; if he wanted me dead, he wouldn't need to go through all that stress to get it done; he only needed to do it right there in the mating ball. After all, they were known for just that, so it wouldn't exactly be a surprise, and not many would care about the fact that I was killed; my mother would, though. "Then what do you want?" "I want you to come with me, as my mate," he answered, as if that were the simplest and most obvious thing. "What?" "I guess you heard me clearly, and you need a while to process it." "No, I do not need a while; I am not your mate; I know that; you know that; and I cannot leave my pack a
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
Kaida’s POVWith each passing day, I couldn't help but wonder if I'd made a mistake, if I'd doomed myself with my own words—but it was too late to turn back now. I had never met Alpha Ethan before. Though we were neighboring packs, my father and the beta had always been the one going for the meetings, I didn’t do well with meetings and parties and maybe my father was right. Being an Alpha was about more than just being a warrior.I got dressed in my usual clothing, leather pants matched with a black leather jacket and a glove to cover my missing pinkie finger. Had I forgotten to mention that some little 'accident' had cost me a finger? As if that flaw wasn't enough, my body was also marked with a number of scars, so while I had always despised wearing fancy gowns and pretty little dresses, it did make sense why I had to cover up.The men carried their scars with pride, like it was some kind of proof of how fierce they were; scars on a woman had a completely different representation;
PROLOGUE.Kaida’s POVI was not like the other girls; I knew that even as a little child. My father had found it strange that a girl of my age was more interested in watching the pack warriors train rather than playing with toys like the other kids her age did at the pack.I had one dream, and though it may sound impossible, I held onto it. I believed that I could one day become an… Alpha. The first Female Alpha.My father had no male child to inherit his title and take his place, and so each day, I trained to be the best at everything. I was twenty and five years of age and yet to find my mate. To be honest, I hadn’t even been searching for him—whoever he was; on the contrary, I dreaded finding my mate, because that would only bring an end to my dream of becoming an Alpha. I believed it was all fate pointing me in the right direction; this was my destiny.That had been what I thought until everything changed right before my eyes..My father, Alpha Trent, of the Dawn pack, summoned
Thane and I returned back to the Nightshade pack. I couldn’t stay at the Raven Clan pack even a bit longer. I couldn’t look into Gabriel's face and see how shattered he was. Mother had broken his heart, not just his’ but the whole pack's, and all she left was a letter. No one deserved that treatment, and yet, there was nothing I could do about it.“So she ran away with the warlock?” Thane asked.“Seem so. I had checked his place; he burnt the whole building to the ground, possibly because he hated the house or maybe…”“He wanted to start afresh.” Thane completed.“Yes, I can’t trace him; he is gone and maybe… I don’t want to find him. My mother says she would visit to see Ethan, but that could be in months or even years.”There was a knock on the door. It was Meredith; she had Ethan in her arms.“Your son is well and healthy.” She said before passing him to me. I held him in my hands; he had grown considerably, and he stared at me with big blue eyes, and in that moment I fell in love
I had found my mother an hour later at the farm; she was dressed in a regular gown.“What are you doing? The ceremony had begun, and people were getting very worried.” I said to her, but she gave no response; she had her back to me. “Mom!” I walked to her, and only when I saw her face did I notice something was wrong. Tears streamed down her eyes.“I can’t do it,” she says. “What do you mean you can’t do it? Gabriel is the love of your life; you wanted this. What changed?”“Everything. Everything changed.”“I don’t understand you—what is wrong? Why are you crying?”“You never told me. You knew, and you never told me.” She says, and that silenced me. “You knew that your father, Sebastian Bruce, was alive. You always hide things from me, and I had to go on with it because you are the queen, and you can’t always share things with me like you once would do, but this wasn’t about you—this was my life, and you never uttered a word. You were going to leave me in the dark.”“Bruce had left
I had to make sure I was fully covered at all times; we couldn’t risk people discovering what I was, and my cold skin would give the clue.“How is Ethan, your son?” Mom asked the moment we were alone in the room.“I had entrusted him to one of the healers; he wasn’t safe in the pack, and so I had to let her take him away. He stayed amongst the humans, but I had sent for him. Things are better now, and it’s time I gave him my full attention.“Why didn’t you tell me anything about what was going on? I would have helped.”“You would have been in danger; I didn’t want that.”“Oh Riley, always thinking about others before yourself.”“Gabriel seems to be treating you very well.”“He is, more than that, I love this pack too; this place feels like home.” She said,“So when are you going to show me the dress?” I asked, and she chuckled like a teenager; for a moment we both laughed over nothing..“You look beautiful in that dress.” I complimented. My mother had gone for a white wedding dress;
THANEI never did tell Riley about Axel. He wouldn’t have wanted me to; he would have wanted her to move on. She was dealing with a lot, but I was going to stand by her through it all.She didn’t like me watching her drinking blood; if only she knew I found it… sexy..I stood before over twenty Alphas, many of whom had frowns on their faces. I had to tell them the truth and try to make peace with them.“Thank you all for coming. I am glad to see you all well.I had gathered you here to address an issue, in which some of you had no clue about.”I went ahead to inform them that there had indeed been a demon ruling in my place; I didn’t go deep into that. Despite everything, I still owed Daemon big time. I explained our plight with the Demon Overlord and how he is being held down now. By the time I was done, I noticed the change, the way they stared at Riley with an eye of respect. I guess they were finally adding the dots.“All of the previous rules made will be canceled.” I informed
RILEYI remembered it all. The feeling of the dagger tearing through me, the pain so unbearable I became numb. Thane's pleads. I had died… but I was awoken a demon.Nothing was the same.I stood in front of the mirror staring at myself. My hair, my eyes, my skin—nothing was the same. A maid came in with a tray of food. “Luna.” She called, giving a low bow. I settled on the couch, taking a plate and filling it up with food. Even this smelled different. I put a spoon filled with rice into my mouth; I spit it out immediately.“What is this?”“Rice and soup, Luna.” She said, panic written on her face.It didn’t taste right, and that wasn’t because it was wrongly cooked but because I had a different food preference now that I was a full demon. I didn’t want to live on only blood like Daemon; I wanted to be normal, or at least try to be.“I feel a bit sick; that should be the reason the food tasted different.”“Would you like anything else? Perhaps another meal?”“No, I have no appetite
..Many believe the Azure Grounds hold some kind of magical energy; perhaps that’s why warlocks, witches, and the likes come here.I spotted Jade, and I headed straight to her.She took Riley from me and placed her on the ground. She checked her pulse.“She is dead.” Jade says to me.“I know that. But there must be something you can do.”“To wake the dead? There is nothing I can do.”“Riley cannot die... You have to do something.”“There is no life force in her; I could have done something, but it is too late. Nothing can be done. Take her back to the pack and give her a befitting burial; that’s all you can do.”I grasp her by the throat, her eyes widened, panicked.“You told me to bring her here; why?”“I—I thought—she still had a chance. Look at her—she is paler than snow.”“Alpha.” Daemon called from behind me. “Killing her wouldn’t do you any good.” He says, and I let Jade go. “But there is a way to bring her back to life, turn her into a demon.” Daemon says to Jade.“I could have