Chapter 36Xavier's POVGuilt enveloped me as I held on to the sobbing girl. The first lesson you learn as a visitor in the Bloodmoon pack house is that the walls had ears and eyes that pried where they did not belong. If it wasn't any different here, within Crescent moon borders, then I was in for a lot of trouble with the princess of the palace sobbing incessantly into my arms. "Hey. Let's go somewhere when we're older. We could go anywhere then," I said finally and watched as her eyes went from sad to hopeful."Yes. I'll go anywhere with you." My cheeks must have turned red in that moment. Hearing those words was like a confirmation to my faulted emotions. It was not one sided after all. The awkward smiles building between us after her bold comment made me even more nervous than I already was. "Good. I start high school next month." I blurted, an attempt to distract her from the fidgeting motion of my nervous hands.I soon realised how much of a terrible mistake that was as
Chapter 37Zara’s POVWhat use is it to keep on living? Am I nothing but a tool to everybody? A sight too painful to behold by my father, an object of satisfaction for Alpha Damon. I was all sorts of things but happy. If karma exists, why do I remain unlucky? Why do I continue to be the prey for the ruthless predators? Why do these predators continue to flourish?This must have been a kind of punishment. Was this price for surviving while my mother died? It would have been karma then. "You'll be moving into my room today," Alpha Damon announced shortly before he left the room, after he was done having his way with me. I felt powerless, useless, confused. Life never made sense to me but in that instant I was sure that life was one thing alone- cruel. My wolf growled in rebellion to the dictatorship she was made to endure.We were never this powerless, never treated so badly, never abused this way, not even in my pack. The pain I felt, although it was nothing like it, reminded me o
Chapter 38Zara’s POV.“Please go away,” I managed to say amidst the stream of tears running down my eyes. The immense shame I felt would not let me look at the woman standing a few feet away.My body was covered only by the blanket that I was hiding underneath. I was not in the state to see anybody, especially not her.She took more steps forward, towards the bed, towards me and she sat beside me, disregarding my plea to leave. Her next statement, “I’m sorry,” was unexpected.What was happening? I felt more ashamed by her sudden pity. It was the last thing I wanted, to be pitied. For some reason, it felt like a form of gloating, like she was saying, “I warned you and now you learnt your lesson the hard way.”What was she sorry for? How much did she know? Her presence did the opposite of what she may have intended, if she meant any good will. I was not calmed by the pity party she was throwing me.“Please just leave.” It was the second time I was warning her and I hoped she would re
Chapter 39Xavier's POVBeta Hugh had already set out for the Crescent moon pack. He took the carriage, customary of highly esteemed guests but I thought it was pointless. Werewolf city was huge. Huge may have been an understatement because it took at least a day to get to the Crescent moon village if you were traveling by car. I wondered how long it would take by carriage. Traditions were just a lot of stress. Whatever the means of transportation, it was only a matter of time before Riana arrived. I would have to face her after years of avoiding contact.I contemplated running away but my options were limited. The human world was a long way from here and even I wanted to leave, the gateway was locked to everybody but my father and whoever he chose to let through.The enchantment binding the gateway I was told was strong and could not be broken by brute force. It was no ordinary gateway after all. It was magical, nothing like a gate but more of a path, a mystical road connecting tw
Chapter 40Alpha Damon's POV."It’s your company. The audit just came in. We are going bankrupt.”Her words felt unreal but Susie, my assistant was never one to lie or make expensive jokes, she knew how easily irritable I could get.The line went quiet for a while with her shocking news of my company's bankruptcy.D.E group was established by my father, it was a privately owned business, our family business, that managed a chain of hotels and suites in the human world."I'm on my way Susie. Just stay where you are." I said before hanging up the phone. I did not doubt Susie but I could not believe those words.D.E group was one of way I could remain relevant in human society, it was the reason I could come and go as I pleased. I needed an alias to blend in with the humans, that alias was- Damon Elord, billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist. A wise man said that a good name beats money. Why not have both? I give to those poor, wretched humans in exchange for a good standing in the
Chapter 41Xavier's POVFear is a crippling emotion but it was not the cause of my inability to shift. After the first five gunshots, me and the rest of the men that could move took cover. The guns didn't scare me as much as the fact that I could not shift did. None of us could. The shooter was not a sniper, I knew that before my eyes caught a glimpse of the masked men standing behind the short fence with rifles and firing incessantly at people and into the air. My father made me learn about weapons since childhood so I could tell from the sound of it, any kind of gun. I counted about four men excluding me, crouched behind the concrete elevation for the huge, sculpted wolf right in front of the entrance to the house. "I'll cover you. Run towards the door on my mark," said one of the men to me. I hated that he thought his life expendable relative to mine"You go. I'll cover you." The four of them seemed taken back, with their expressions turning confused at my words. "We can't le
Chapter 42Zara’s POV.Darkness is terrifying. I struggled with the firm grip keeping me strapped and hung over his shoulder while he ran very fast through what seemed like a large expanse of land. His shoulder was uncomfortable, I could hardly breathe as his bone dug into my stomach. The last thing I remember before this hazy situation was lying on my bed, naked, with only a piece of clothe draped over my body, as I bawled my eyes out into the pillow next to me.The sound! The gunshots. My memories slowly returned to me, like a movie playing in slow motion."We have to get out of here," a shaky voice announced through the flurry of twigs snapping under the weight of feet moving quickly over them and fast air wheezing past our ears. There were three others, excluding the man holding on to me."You don't think I know that, genius?" A different voice, more agitated than the first voice, more out of breath, replied sarcastically."Our exit got made. There's no way we're getting out o
Chapter 43Zara’s POVAnother ten minutes of being upside down. I was getting a headache from the way my head was swung from side to side as my captors ran tirelessly through the dark woods. I watched from my terrible view as light began to penetrate the tall trees. The moon finally decided to grace us with her presence, bathing the earth beneath in her silver glory.It felt good to see a little. I kept wondering how the men navigated through the dense woods with nothing but their senses. Well, Blair could do that. The reality of living without the inner consciousness that was my wolf was starting to get worried. Blair is an irreplaceable part of me. Five years was more than enough time for someone to get stuck on you, especially when they were living rent free in your head. It was weird at first. Sharing my mind with another consciousness felt like I was losing my mind.With her perspectives that differed from mine on most things, Blair felt like an intruder in my head space. My
Chapter 65Zara's POVThe two carriages that came into the mansion caught my attention. The scene decorated with the horns blown and formalities, caught Xavier's eyes too. I hated having to leave him, the only seemingly reasonable person in my life.Xavier was a delight to look at. I had found a way to look at him without thinking of his father, the man I hated."Come here," Alpha Damon commanded immediately I walked into his room. I expected that he would be gone by his time, after overhearing his calls from earlier but he was still around, painfully so. "Where have you been?" His voice still carried a bit of anger, although much less than earlier when he hit me."The... the garden. I went to...I, I had to pick some mushrooms," my voice shook and so did I. It was not on purpose, my stuttering. It was merely a malfunction caused by the fear I felt, a fear of being abused by the man standing before me. My father would have scolded at my stutter. He would have said something like, "no
Chapter 64Xavier's POVJust as I turned to leave the moulded chair where I sat with my mate, the gates of the compound opened, its two metal arms swung apart and a familiar golden carriage appeared from the other side of it. The customary horn was blown, alerting all inside that we were graced by royalty. My heart sank at the sound of those horns. I immediately felt under the weather as a sudden cold gripped me. The inevitable had come. The time was now. Zara paused at the scene too. One carriage left the house but two returned. The second, from it's majestic look, belonged to none other than the affluent Alpha of the Crescent moon pack, Alpha Alken, Riana's father. "You should go in," I said to Zara, eager that she leave. For some reason I did not want her to see me with Riana. We just had a connection, I could not compromise that.After Zara left, I slipped away too. I was not too hasty to meet the princess or her father. The time would come, I kept telling myself but procrastin
Chapter 63Xavier's POVReturning to my father's house was sure to be dreadful. Kraken, my best friend, was still away on his mission to another pack but he would be back soon, I heard and I could only hope. I wandered outside, an unusual behaviour for me, to meet the most beautiful girl I had ever set my eyes on. I felt different from the moment I saw her. I wanted to talk to her, wanted to know more about the reason for this burning desire that overtook me. It felt a lot like it did in the pool with the moon goddess on the night of my initiation into the pack. My need for her felt natural, like it had always been there and it never did not exist. Her touch over me was powerful, the way her green emerald eyes sparkled in the sun, the way her voice was unlike any other, enchanting and captivating. Zara possessed a quiet, calm yet strong resolve. I could see it from beneath those gem-like eyes."How do I know that you're any different," she asked, clearly in doubt of my character.
Chapter 62Zara's POV"I'm his son," took so long to register in my head. I'm his son. For the longest time since we met, silence brewed between us. The sound of the morning wind, calm and occasionally strong, overtook the silence. I looked away from him now, unable to imagine how someone so perfect could come from someone so flawed but then again, on closer inspection, the resemblance was uncanny. They had the same blue eyes that drew me in. The same facial structure that made you doubt God's fairness to other people. They stood at about the same height. The few differences between them were his long, blonde hair and the visible fact that he was younger. "How?" I tried not to sound betrayed by this shocking revelation but I think my voice failed me. "How are you his son?"Despite the imposing resemblance, Xavier was at least twenty and Alpha Damon looked too young to have a child that age. I guess I was just looking for a reason not to believe that they were related. I was look
Chapter 61 Zara's POVOutside Alpha Damon's room, I could finally get a personal view of that magnificent garden sitting in the compound. There was a path separating the two sides of the garden. It was almost a little too big for a garden, as it covered almost an entire plot.The garden had rows of roses, tulips and lilies and so many exotic breeds I could not recognise. It was a perfect combination of so many different colours- red, white, blue, yellow, splattered all over the place. It brought peace to me, this place. It was the only place I felt a little at peace in the mansion. With the basket I found lying around in the kitchen, I headed straight for the mushrooms I spotted from inside Alpha Damon's room.I loved mushrooms, partly because of how they tasted and partly because I knew how to identify the poisonous kind. It felt good to possess uncommon knowledge. I walked through the garden, my eyes sifting through the numerous mushrooms just sitting there.Anything with a shade
Chapter 60 Zara's POVI used to love the mornings. I loved the way the rays of the sun seemed to blind out every problem that I had. I don't know when I stopped loving the mornings. I don't know when the sun was no longer enough to block out those problems. These problems keep growing, bigger and bigger every second. I woke up to the sound of Alpha Damon on a call with a person I assumed was his secretary from the way he spoke. He barked orders at the person on the other end, but then again, he barked orders at everybody.I once tried to understand him. Why he acted the way he did? Nurture or nature? As a child, I read anything and everything I could find in the grand library at my pack house, from fictional story books to history books. There was nothing about the Blood moon pack's previous Alpha. It was like he never existed. "Make yourself at home," he said. "This is your new home. I've said this before but you still ran away. It does not matter. You can't run from me," he said
Chapter 59Somewhere in the Crescent moon pack,A black lambo with the flag of the Blood moon pack raised at its side pulled up by the high gates of the Crescent moon pack smeared in purple and gold paint. Inside the car is none other than Alpha Damon's right hand man, and the only person he could trust to fetch the princess, Beta Hugh.It took the whole day to get to the village, an exhausting journey, even for a trained and seasoned enforcer like Beta Hugh.Past the gates and into the magnificent village where he, Beta Hugh, would find the princess, stood the imposing pack house.He walked into the building, formal and straightforward as always. His mission was one and he would fulfill it, he always did. He would take princess Riana Park to the Blood moon village in preparation for her wedding with his prince and liege."Your majesty," he prostrated for the lightly but richly dressed man sitting before him. A message had been sent to the Alpha before Hugh's arrival so everything wo
Chapter 58Zara's POVMy heart sank as Alpha Damon uttered the words, "it can't be." My attempt at deceiving him was futile after all. It was foolish of me to think I could lie to him with his ability to hear my heartbeat and possibly even know what I was thinking through our mind links. Although mind links were meant exclusively for members of the same pack.I tried as much as possible to conceal my thoughts, hoping for the best but expecting the worst to happen. "Wait in the bedroom," Alpha Damon commanded after his interrogation, torture session. He seemed to have bought the story I made up about the moonlight pack. It was known throughout werewolf city of the feud between the Blood Moon pack and the Moonlight pack so it was easy to put the blame on the Blood Moon pack's rival but I expected more hesitation from Alpha Damon.I summoned the last of my strength to walk away from the suspicious werewolf as fast as I could, before he noticed that I had been lying. His bedroom, a huge
Chapter 57Xavier's POVWaking up to the sound of young, horny adults is a nightmare. My nightmare was on repeat. "Harder baby, harder!" Became my alarm in the crappy apartment I stayed in. I never imagined Nick to be the nymphomaniac kind of guy. The worst part was that I could not think about complaining, I had nowhere else to go. I was grateful for his offer too.It had been three days since I moved in with Nick and every night since has been filled with awkward, high pitched and disturbing sounds at night.Nick's one bedroom apartment was small and anything but cozy. He had clothes littered over every furniture in his sparsely furnished space. His apartment defined "low budget" with his.small, flat screen TV, a rickety, brown and ugly sofa and his bed at the one end of the room, all squeezed in a tiny space."Make yourself at home," he said, the afternoon I arrived, his emerald green eyes gleaming as he spoke. Nick was always like that, always the first person to offer a helping