Cynthia’s POVBefore I can protest, the maids leave me alone in the kitchen, and I’m stuck with an impossible task ahead of me.The doors slam shut behind them, and the sound echoes throughout the vast room. My heart starts to race. I walk over to the pantry frantically, gaze raking over the ingredients and praying my memory will come back just enough to save me.It doesn’t work, though. Nothing is familiar about this. Cooking must be new to me–I have no clue where to start.Maybe it’s because I’ve never cooked before.But if I’m really as lowly as the Omega maids claim I am, shouldn’t I be quite used to cooking by now?“You know I can’t do this!” I shout into the empty kitchen, but it’s no use. I sigh, grab a few ingredients off the shelves at random, and get to work. Two hours later, the maids sweep back into the kitchen, muttering and giggling to themselves wickedly. I step back from my handiwork so they can appraise it. My hair is thrown back in a messy ponytail. My back hurts
Cynthia’s POVI’m not entirely sure how long they’ve been torturing me, but I’m fairly certain I’m going to die here.“Please, please, please don’t–” I protest weakly, voice barely above a rasp.It’s useless, of course. As Beth raises the whip and sends it arcing down across the sunken flesh of my arms.I don’t even have the energy to scream any more. I just let out a weak whimper as Beth prepares for her next strike. As I’ve endured my torture, only one thought has been floating around my head:Where are you, Vikrov? Vikrov, save me…“Not so special now, are you?” Annette snarls as the next attack hits my skin.I just groan in response, slumped against the wooden chair.Maybe the maids were right about who I am to Vikrov. Beth lowers the whip for a second to cross the room and adjust the restraints around my wrists until they’re almost completely cutting off my circulation.“See?” She whispers mockingly in my ear just before she pulls away. “Just like we thought. You’re weak.” “I
Vikrov’s POV The moment I break down the door to the cabin, I know something is deeply wrong. I’d wanted to stay with Cynthia after she fainted. I hate to admit it, but I missed her desperately while I was off fighting rogues. I wanted to be there when she woke up, but I do have duties. I had to leave. “What have you done to her?” I roar at the maids.An unholy anger floods me as I look at Cynthia’s nearly-unconscious body in the chair, sprawled out pathetically. I recognize the shape of the empty bottle in one of the maid’s hands, the curve of its rim. The bottle is filled with an evil-looking shimmery purple liquid. Only wolfsbane potions are stored in bottles like those. Wolfsbane. They were going to make Cynthia drink wolfsbane. “We were just–we were just…” one of the maids murmurs weakly. They both look dazed, completely overwhelmed by the Alpha aura I’ve unleashed. I haven’t fully released my Alpha aura yet, but even the smallest fragment of it is enough to terrify Omegas l
Cynthia’s POV After the days of torture I’ve endured, being saved just feels like another part of the hallucination. I’ve been hallucinating quite a bit, after all. My heart has burned with desperation. That familiar figure from my memory seems to be growing closer and closer, and then all at once, he vanishes. And Vikrov is in front of me. Could he be the man I’ve been seeing? Maybe those beautiful scenes are the happy times in the past.I think I’m remembering what it felt like to fall in love with him. “Vikrov!” I try to cry out, but the words die in my parched throat, and I only cough instead. The burning taste of blood lingers on my tongue. Through the delusions and haze, I can feel him tearing the restraints from my wrists, then barking commands to the maids. He sweeps me up into his arms and carries me reassuringly. I feel safe there. Every time his hands brush against my forehead soothingly, my heart beats a little faster. I hope he chalks my blushing up to the fever, b
Cynthia’s POV“I can’t do that!” I blurt out, tensing up and curling away from Vikrov. I blush and cover my chest with a nearby blanket. “I need to–I need to–” Oh, Moon Goddess, I’m panicking. I want him, I really do, but I’m not ready to be naked in front of him. I mean, it’s all too fast. I swallow hard and exclaim, “I need to finish eating first!”Vikrov raises an eyebrow, then smiles slightly. His gentle gaze bores into me as if he can see right through to my heart. I grow even more flustered and pull the blanket tighter around myself, but forget about the many wounds on my body. The blanket rubs against my sensitive skin, making me wince in pain. “Alright.” Vikrov's relaxed playfulness vanishes. His expression turns serious as he notices my discomfort, but his voice remains gentle as ever. “Let's eat first. Will that be okay?”“That would be nice,” I reply, flushing bright red.“Shall I move you to the couch?” He asks, but his domineering tone makes it sound less like a question
No she-wolf has ever refused me before.Even though I’m not interested in them, I know every girl I’ve ever come across has hoped to have a chance with me. I’m used to them throwing themselves at me–being completely, unabashedly shameless in their attempts to catch my eye. Cynthia is the first to refuse me.And she’s refused me more times than I can count at this point.So when her response to my offer to join her in the shower is, “No, thank you, I should probably shower alone,” it gives me pause.I stay neutral-faced, though, nodding curtly. “Of course. Enjoy your shower.”“Thank you,” Cynthia says with a sweet smile.I watch as she steps into the bathroom and closes the door behind her. What am I doing wrong? She trusts me, I know that much, but has she fallen for me yet? Am I not good enough? Has she begun to doubt me?I need her to love me, or my plan will never work. ‘You’ve never met a girl like her before,’ my wolf Tempest says. I chuckle under my breath. ‘True enough.’ Moo
Stop refusing me, love.The words echo through my mind. Stop refusing me. And why am I refusing him? The warmth of the quilt wrapped around me is overwhelming. He is my mate, isn’t he? There’s no reason for me to be so nervous around him. He loves me deeply, I can feel that much. It’s not his fault that I’ve lost my memories, so I shouldn’t keep distancing him because of it.Slowly, tentatively, I reach my hand out from underneath the blanket and tuck it into his. The moment his skin touches mine, my breath quickens to shallow gasps. My heart starts to thud. I’m grateful for the blanket–it means that Vikrov can’t see how fiercely red my face is. He saw me. Naked.And I want him to see me like that again.I want it so bad it scares me. I gasp ever so slightly as Vikrov starts to rub something into a wound slicing across the palm of my hand. As he tends to my wounds, I wriggle out of the blankets so I’m no longer burrowed under the sheets. Instead, my torso is wrapped in the blanket,
Cynthia’s POV The warmth of Vikrov’s breath against my spine is intoxicating. I shudder as his deft fingers pull the quilt away from my back, leaving the skin there pathetically exposed. I hold the blanket to the front of my torso, protecting my modesty there. I’m mesmerized as he applies some of the ointment to his own fingers, then pauses a moment before he touches me. “May I?” Vikrov asks. I can barely breathe. It takes everything in me not to whimper as I nod once. I feel absolutely wretched, completely vulnerable, but I’m doing everything I can to hide it from him. Vikrov applies just a dab of ointment to the first wound. “Oh,” I gasp out before I can stop myself, immediately turning bright red. Vikrov chuckles. My blush deepens. “Feel good?” “Yeah,” I breathe out helplessly, voice ragged. “Thank you. Could you–could you use more?” “Of course,” he whispers. His voice is low, wicked, and dead sexy as he rubs more ointment into the wound, and my shuddering breaths only