Adrian's POV The twelve original Alphas form a semi-circle around Pippa and me. My newly appointed Beta and Gamma take up their positions. Bryce to my right as is the custom and Terrance to Pippa's left. The other Alphas mutter softly and share surprised glances. “What is it?” I ask. “You trust regular wolves to be your hands?” someone asks. “Yes,” I reply. “Shall we get started?” The meeting lasts longer than I expected. There isn’t much to discuss, but one Alpha wants to debate every little thing. “I want the spies between two loyal packs,” I say. “King…shouldn’t we just kill them all and get it over with?” “No. I’m not slaughtering entire packs for the sins of their Alpha. I’m not Caspian Berger…I refuse to be that kind of king.” “I just think it will be safer,” he goes on as if he didn't hear me. “Quick and clean, no worries.” “Hm,” I growl softly. “Until I take the throne, and the survivors come back to take their revenge. It will be a worry then. My worry, not yours. This
**TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter is rough. Proceed with caution.** Caspian's POV I walk through the empty palace to the throne room where Julian and Gerald wait for me. They’re on either side of the throne, both of them with the same frozen grins on their faces. Fucking useless motherfuckers. Neither of them told me about the herbs that could kill my child, and Julian actually had the gall to beg for the midwives’ lives. The two of them really think I don’t know what they’ve been planning, but I am on to them. Just as soon as I’m done with Adrian, they’ll die too. Of course I have to hold up the illusion that I trust them, and when they least expect it…BAM! death. They deserve it. Once everyone knows their place again and order has been restored, I’ll appoint new, loyal Betas and Gammas “Good morning,” I say to the two grinning wolves. “Any word from our spies?” “No, Alpha,” Gerald says. “How about my mate?” I ask and look straight at Julian. “Heard anything from her?” The grinn
Pippa's POV Halfway to the cottage, Adrian shifts and I decide to follow suit just so I can keep up with him. He tries to wait for me, but I scream at him to run ahead. Maybe, just maybe, we’ll be in time to catch Caspian and we can avoid the entire war. Since it’s just the two of us, I already decided that I’ll destroy him in the same way I destroyed the mages in the forest, and if anyone asks, I’ll tell them that Adrian did it. Before I kill him though, I’ll make him suffer. I can’t get the image of sweet Penny reaching out for her brother and begging him to stay. The way Liana tried to hug them both, but just couldn't quite reach. What must have gone through little Penny's mind while she watched her father kill her mother and brothers? What did Liana think when her daddy, the man who is supposed to love and protect her, hurt her like that? How badly did Brendan's heart ache when he realised his father, his hero, wasn't there to rescue him but to kill him? Did Liana wonder why
Adrian's POVI find Pippa in our tent after the memorial service. She’s sitting on the deflating air mattress, staring out into nothingness. “Are you okay?”“No.”“No,” I echo her. “Neither am I.”Death doesn't usually bother me. I've sat next to many people, offering guidance and support as they watched loved ones depart from this world. I've conducted as many, if not more, funeral services, but today I could feel the wolves' grief as accutely as if it were my own, and I nearly fell to pieces. We've seen too much death too fast.I fall on the mattress next to Pippa, hitting the ground under us with a jarring thump. “Mattress is deflating,” she says. Her voice is monotone, almost dead. “What happened?”“These things deflate. I’ll ask Monty to-”“No,” she interrupts me. “To my life. How the hell did I end up here? In this place? Surrounded by death and blood and chaos.”Watching the cremations were the hardest on her. I felt her shock and pain when the wolves lit the funeral pyres. We
Adrian's POVFor once, no one bothers us, but I wish they would. It would make me feel better. I feel as if I failed these people. I should have done something sooner, instead of hiding in the church like a fucking coward.Tonight, the campfires are cold, the wolves are quiet, the children are softly sobbing in their tents. “Where are the Berger kids?” I ask Pippa.“Monty gave them their own tent. Brendan didn’t want to stay with us. He says he’s old enough to take care of his own sisters.”“He’ll be a good Alpha.”“Are you sure?” she asks. “Considering his…lineage.”“Do you think people are born cruel?” I ask as I unzip our tent flap and usher her inside. “Denise raised Brendan. He has his mother's kindness and his father's strenght. It's a good combination. With a little guidance, he'll make a great leader.”“A leader without a pack,” Pippa says, her voice reflecting all the sadness I feel.She’s not wrong. If everything the mage told us is to be believed, Caspian wiped out his own
Pippa's POVI didn’t think it was possible to feel this bad and live to talk about it.When I woke up, I thought I was just tired and not used to an all-night sex session, but I feel sicker and sicker as time moves on.At first, I try to ignore it so I can help the Omegas to break the camp, but after an hour, Tammy stops me. "Have you tried to shift? Maybe that will heal you."I haven't even thought of that. With Tammy by my side, we go back to tent where I attempt to shift, but I can't. I try to talk to River, but she doesn't answer me. I don't tell Tammy, but she's not stupid and I can see the concern on her face. "Maybe you just need some sleep," she says.“I can’t let you do everything by yourselves,” I disagree.“No offence, my queen,” Tammy replies, “but you are just in the way. We have enough hands. You are sick. You need to rest.”I don’t have it in me to keep fighting with her. I thought I had been sick before, but the monthly sniffles I used to get before my wolf woke are no
Pippa's POV “Who are you?” “I was a friend of your mother’s.” At that exact moment, Adrian decides that it’s a good time to stop blocking me. “Pippa? What’s wrong?” “Nothing,” I lie. There’s nothing he can do anyway. He’s too far away. I wish I knew how to block him so he wouldn't feel my emotions. There must be a way - if he can do it, so can I. “Tell him that you are fine,” Lucille says as if reading my mind. “I am not going to harm you.” “I already did,” I tell her, “but he won’t believe me.” Lucille gently squeezes my upper arm. “It’s true. You will be just fine.” “Pippa?” Adrian asks in my head. “You need to talk to me.” “I’m fine,” I reply. Even if I’m not, I get to talk to him one last time and just hearing his voice makes me a little less afraid of what's to come. “Where are you?” I decide to change the subject, and perhaps buy myself a little time so I can talk to my mate just a while longer. “On the border of Azuria. We invade tomorrow.” “Are you scared?” “Scared
Adrian's POVWhile I’m busy talking to Pippa, the scouts I sent out to get the lay of the land return. As quickly as I can, I end our conversation so I can pay attention to my wolves. “There are no guards,” the first scout says."Are you sure?"“Yes,” another agrees. “It's strange. No guards, no children laughing, people talking, not even the scent of food cooking. There's nothing…the place looks deserted.”I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. When everyone told me that Caspian was alone, I didn’t think they meant that he is completely alone, but that seems to be the case. “What about lights?” Bryce asks.“One, Beta,” the scout says. “At the topmost tower overlooking the land bridge.”I side-eye Bryce. I can already see which way his head is turning. “He won’t be there. It’s like a beacon.”“A trap?” he asks.“Perhaps.” I answer. “Or maybe someone forgot to switch off the light before they left.” I turn back to the scouts. “Anything else?”“No, King.”“Thank you. You may go.”I