Chapter 11Xavier’s POV.I never knew my mother. The maids say she was the most beautiful human they had ever seen.I would beg Lady Rose to tell me about her as a child and she would, with obvious grumbling. She was never to refuse my requests, I assumed that was father’s doing. She was kind to me, her role in my life was more than that of just a servant. I would come to see her as the mother I never had.Her warm hugs and that sweet, lavender scent that accompanied the embrace, when my father neglected or disregarded me as he usually did became my safe haven, my refuge.She would speak highly of him, praise my father, speaking about the days of their youth and how ambitious he was. She would recount stories centred around his breathtaking aura, his unmoved resolve, eyes that pierced through even the darkest of nights and more tales about his awesomeness. She made me love him, the beast that terrified packs and haunted children’s nightmares, my father, the heartless alpha of the b
Chapter 12Alpha Damon’s POV.Everybody was useless. They all acted out of place and stupidly.My mind was plagued with Zara and her beauty as I sat, lost in thought, on the mahogany, sculpted chair seated comfortably at one side of my chambers. That skin that shone so pure and almost unblemished, her hourglass body, the tenderness of her very being, everything about her aroused my deepest, nastiest desires.Her soft, pale lips made me want to kiss them and rejuvenate them, made me wonder how much more beautiful she would be when she was well fed and better taken care of.I disregarded her all these years. The first time I saw her was at her pack. She was standing aside, dazing into the distance with eyes that carried sadness beyond her years, it was like she bore the burdens of the world all on her own but she was the only beautiful thing about the Red moon pack. Her sister too was a beauty, but Zara stood out.Her wretched father had treated her terribly since she was born, I heard
Chapter 13Zara's POV."Hurry up, Acer," another guard said from outside the dungeon where I was stuck with a man I had never seen before.His smile was sinister. His eyes plotted as he moved. He wanted something but there was nothing in the dungeon, nothing but me. Could it be? Another attempt? Was this my curse? Fated to be abused by countless men who only saw me as a tool for their selfish satisfaction. Curse or not, there was only so much a girl could take.Acer, the haggard long man approached me, inching closer to where I sat on the dungeon floor.I had no strength left to talk, I only stared as he drew closer, watching keenly every step he took and every move he made, trying to predict the next one.Acer looked like a man with kids and a wife. He looked like the kind that cheated on his wife with every opportunity that he got and felt no remorse afterwards. He seemed like the kind to beat his wife and children whenever he had too much to drink. I could tell from the stench of
Chapter 14Zara’s POV.What is fear? A crippling emotion that keeps animals alive? The instinctive feeling that has driven wolves and mankind alike to maintain a fairly mutual relationship over the years?What are love and hate but trivial, fleeting feelings when compared to real fear?I know that fear. It is the fear that keeps one alive, the driving force of survival, surpassing every other emotion there is and ever will be.We are but slaves to our fear, forced to secure a feeling of safety, with every means possible, including savagery and oppression.Our instinctive feeling to avoid fear is the reason wolves, since ancient times, have clung together, forming packs and attacking weaker packs, to achieve dominance and in essence, security in the presence of stronger packs, stronger predators.It is the cause of war, falling of civilisations, building of empires and betrayal amongst brothers. Atrocities and inhumane acts committed all in the name of fear.But to avoid fear is to ac
Chapter 15Xavier's POV.I did not think father would do something so underhanded. He had an angry look on his face since I barged into the room, angrier than usual. His anger seemed to worsen the more I spoke but I didn't care. I was here to make a point and get some answers.I was tired of being the son that rolled over at the very hint of an argument with his father. I was angry with the way I was welcomed.He transformed before my eyes, releasing that powerful, huge, alpha wolf that aunt Rose told countless tales about. As the alpha he was the biggest in the pack, bigger than most other alpha, as the rumours went. He was the reason the blood moon remained the most powerful pack in all the East.His thick, black hair was just as dark as the hair on his head, blacker than the feathers of a raven. He stood out every full moon as we- me, him and the other wolves, ran free through the woods.I envied that beautiful, rich fur. I wanted it, even now as he attacked me.I remember the n
Chapter 16Xavier’s POV.It was a cold, winter night. The winds blew hard and trees moved in accordance, dancing to the eerie tune with a rhythm every creature of the woods seemed to know and obey. Crickets sang and owls howled, I was starting to understand a little of what Beta Hugh said to me. It was as though all of nature was one that night, with one body- the woods and various mouthpieces- the birds, the insects, me.I was part of it, I was not just a witness of this beautiful masterpiece, I was here, contributing to the tune and I would soon become a proper mouthpiece of mother nature.“Are we close?” That must have been the fiftieth time I was asking Beta Hugh that same question.“We’re here, young alpha,” he said, before standing aside to reveal a pond, surrounded by tall men, standing, hooded, faces covered with dark, long cloaks. It was a small pond, the men were at least twenty, maybe thirty, standing well spaced out from each other.They were the ones who had been playing
Chapter 17Xavier's POV"Come on, let's go Xavier," Kraken called out to me, before transforming into a hairy, brown monster before my eyes.The rest of the pack shared a semblance with Kraken's mighty, four legged monster. They all transformed after the initiation was complete and the moon hung at its peak spot in the night's sky.Stars were nowhere to be seen that night, only the red glow of the blood moon enveloped the earth.I remembered Beta Hugh's advice to become one with nature, the moon goddess and her celestial touch. The chilly, winter air, the deafening sound of the wolves all around me, the quiet of the woods beneath the howling, I took it all in, synchronising with all of nature."Now go! Run Xavier. Run," the moon goddess spoke to me once more. She asked me to run and so I did, moving faster than I ever had. I let go of every fear and doubt, I became one with nature, leaping through the woods on four limbs. I was Xavier, the son of the night.They were right after all,
Chapter 18Alpha Damon's POV.I hate defiance more than anything. I had people executed for way less.As I sought to teach Xavier some manners for his insolent behaviour and talking out of turn, he showed a different kind of defiance. Unlike with everybody else, I could condone it that he defied me this time.I marvelled that he could avoid all my attacks, he was almost as fast as I was, almost as strong. No wolf had ever matched me like that, not since my father, the great white wolf of the east, also the cursed white wolf of the blood moon pack.I struck Xavier for the first time since our prolonged fight and he fell to the floor, his piercing blue gaze fixated on me, reminding me of a wolf that should be long gone, my father.That was it. I had won. I should pounce on him and teach him what happens when people step out of place and try defying me but I couldn't. I was mesmerised by the sudden resemblance to my father.The first time I saw Xavier's white wolf running through the dar
Chapter 99Xavier's POVI shed the false bravado as soon as she left. The truth is I was even more whimpering that she was. I hate to admit the truth, which is the fact that I cower before my father, the man who had been raised high and mighty by the exaggerated stories, endless tales that Lady Rose told of him, of their past together.She said, "our past," when she referred to her and my father's shared experiences, like there was something more to it.I felt pretentious. I asked Zara to put her faith in me. I asked for her trust when I was not even sure of my plan. How could I expect to help somebody else when I could not even help myself. All these years living under my father's wing, under his watchful eye, I had never defied him.I should blame aunt Rose for my compliant behaviour. I like to believe that she was the one that kept me in check."He has his reasons," she would say, making excuses for his unfatherly actions or, "give it time. He'll come around." Her words barricaded
Chapter 98Zara's POVA jab, loud shuffling through books, clothes, possessions, hasty movements. I immediately get disturbed by these. Unconsciously, my heartbeat quickens and my body is reminded of fear. My father is rushing towards me with his hands raised, it strikes me. I can never escape that fear.Alpha Damon is back in the room. He does not look happy. I did not expect him to be. I am just happy that I made it back to the room before he got back.More movement. He is searching for something, rummaging endlessly through his belongings. I dare not to ask, I dare not disturb his search so I sat quiet, frozen. My mind drifted to earlier in the day, with Xavier.He whispered his plan to me, as though we were not alone and someone could sneak up behind us as he spoke. I liked the feel of his breath against my ear."That's it?" I asked, unsatisfied by what he had told me. "What next? We can't possibly..."He raised his finger to my lips and stopped me from talking. "I'll tell you whe
Chapter 97Zara's POVTime existed no more. Seconds, maybe hours, had gone by since I came to Xavier's room. I did not care. Everything was perfect.Xavier lay next to me, quiet and motionless for a while. His fingers had been stroking the side of my cheek very softly and slowly."I love you," he whispered in my ear. Our bodies were mingled under his sheets, just like I had imagined him with Riana.His words sent shivers down my spine. I felt as every syllable travelled from my ear to the rest of my body. Love? Too soon? I barely knew Xavier Elord. There was an undeniable connection between us but that was it. It did not change the fact that I met him a few weeks ago. I did not say it back. Awkwardness and silence lingered in the air, until, like a rotten smell, it dissipated.I looked at him to notice that he was not waiting for a reply, he was not even looking at me. He appeared to be sleeping. His face is peaceful and begging to be left alone."I have a plan to get us out of all t
Chapter 96Zara's POVI don't know what I was thinking when I left Alpha Damon's chambers. Maybe I was not thinking at all. My feet moved on their own and like a girl possessed I walked past the guards at the door without a word.They did not say anything. They made no attempt to stop me. Alpha Damon had not instructed them to lock me up yet. He must have been too angry, too hurt to speak as he rushed out of the room. Screw him. After all he had done.I contemplated knocking as I stood in the empty passageway, right in front of Xavier's room. I wonder now if I should have taken a proper look around the mansion one last time.Alpha Damon's words made me wonder. "The next time you will get to stand under the sun will be the day that I marry you. You belong tome, only me!" I don't think I would be allowed out even after the wedding.A prisoner to Alpha Damon for life. Maybe I preferred the dungeons to this. Okay, I don't.I took in a deep breathe at the door. Nothing. There were two scen
Chapter 95Riana's POVI held them back as much as I could but the tears had broken past my barriers. Like water breaking past a dam, it all came at once. It hurt.My vision was blurred with all the salty liquid in it. The tears continually rolled down my cheeks but they did not stop forming in my eyes. How could they? I was betrayed by someone I loved.The feeling of emptiness is a painful one. It was not just emptiness I felt. Xavier promised me. We are supposed to be together. We are meant to be together.I found it hard to trace the path to my room while crying. I hate it here. I hate her. I hate Zara Smith.I flung the door open to find my father sitting on my bed. He immediately rose at the sight of my teary face. He was just the person that I needed to see."What's wrong dear?" He asked but I fell into his arms before I could answer. What was wrong? How do I start? As hard as it was to say, I did it eventually. I told him everything, starting with the first time I saw Zara Smit
Chapter 94Zara's POVA week has passed since Alpha Damon made love to me. That night with him was unlike any other experience. His gentleness incited a feeling within me. I liked it.The mansion has been calm since. I have not seen Xavier since nor have I seen Alpha Alken and his terrible daughter, Riana Park. There has been an unusual silence within the walls of the Blood Moon pack house.I like the silence but it also scares me. The moment before a storm is the quietest. Alpha Damon has been quiet. He is barely around but when he is, he seems different, kinder.The truth is, I have been happy. I almost like it here. In a very odd sense, I've felt, even if just a glimpse of it, what being loved could feel like. The oddity of everything is that the love I have received is from both father and son, mostly father in recent times.It was from the same man who locked me up in a dungeon and left me to die for two days, the one who hunted me down and dragged me back to my prison at a very
Chapter 93Xavier's POV"You have to break an egg to make an omelette," or however that saying went. I was the egg, being broken, but I felt anything but nobility for my sacrifice."You don't seem to want this enough," Riana said, interrupting our kissing. Her voice had a hint of a threat in it. She gave me no choice. The things that went on in my room that day stayed in my room and must never be allowed to get out.Guilt is a powerful emotion. I watched Riana go up and down on me. Her mouth must have gone over every inch of my body. She explored me like a treasure map, looking for a treasure that could never be found, not by her.My mind was locked away from her and so was my heart. I remained unflinching, unable to feel anything. I guess this is what self-sacrifice should feel like.Pleasure was far away from my mind; the only thing I wanted was an assurance that my slate would be wiped clean after I was done with this, that the end would justify the means.Riana moaned on top of me
Chapter 92Riana's POV"Zara Smith. She was brought to the mansion a few weeks ago. She is to be Alpha Damon's bride," the young omega spoke fast like her words were fire, burning her tongue the longer they stayed unreleased. It was almost like she had been waiting to tell me even before I asked."Thank you. That will be all," I responded, dismissing her before walking away myself. I knew her name now. Zara Smith of the Redmoon pack, the abandoned princess. I did not like her. It was more than just dislike.Why did Xavier defend her so? Why did they seem so close even though she had barely been around? I knew where the answers to my questions lay. The door to Alpha Damon's room was guarded, as expected. "'There is someone in there already," one of the guards pointed out, refusing to let me enter. "He is expecting me. You know who I am, don't you?" I said with raised eyebrows. Reputation is everything in the werewolf world.They let me in but I didn't go all the way in. I heard voi
Chapter 91Alpha Damon's POVI watched the two, Xavier and Riana exit my room with their hands clenched. Something was not right. To the best of my knowledge, Xavier did not want to marry Riana. He had his characteristic "angry but unable to speak out for himself" expression whenever I brought her up.He knew did not have a choice. As the future Alpha of the pack, he needed to learn to make sacrifices for the pack but his marriage to Riana Park of the Crescent moon pack was not merely a lesson on that. Riana is a beautiful young girl with excellent features, nothing like her father, Alpha Alken. There was no better bride for Xavier.As much as I wanted to believe him, I could not shake off the gut feeling that something was up with Xavier's sudden acceptance of his bride. Zara walked in while I was lost in thoughts. Memories of the previous night immediately flooded my mind. My actions were not my own that night. It was always like that. The moon had a hold on me, it made me feel di