Berrilyl's POVBlood dripped from his hands, and he started running a fever. This made my heart twitch. With every drop of blood came beats of pain from my heart.It made it harder for me to just leave him like that, all alone even though I knew my life was on the line.Just then, Cage pressed his body intimately into mine, his warm breath whispering against my ear as he growled, "I don't know what I'll do to you if you don't leave right now." His voice was low and menacing, sending shivers down my spine. "Leave this room!" He ordered, "If you love yourself." Filling me with a sense of dread.I stood there, frozen in confusion, my mind racing to make sense of what was going on. I felt like I had been pushed in the gut; my breath caught in my throat as I struggled to comprehend between saving my life and leaving him in pain.He growled at me, his eyes blazing with a mix of pain and anger that seemed to be slowly consuming him. His emotions were a raging storm, and I could see desperati
Berrilyl's POVI woke up to an eerie silence, my mind was still shrouded in the remnants of my tumultuous dreams. As I sat up, my thoughts immediately drifted to Cage, and a wave of worry washed over me. I threw off the covers and did my morning routine before hastily dressing. My feet carried me to Jake's quarters with a sense of urgency."Jake, have you seen Cage?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.Jake looked up from his book and grinned at me. "Are you worried about him?" Jake asked."Answer my question. Where is he? If you don't want to tell me fine. I'd just ask another person" I let out a dismissive snort."So you are worried about him" he maliciously smiled. I glared at him, and he still didn't reply, so I decided to go away.Jake stopped me. "Wait, I didn't say I wouldn't tell you. He's still in the wilderness" "Wilderness?" I was shocked by what he said. What was he still doing there? Does that mean he's going to endure all that pain all alone, with nobody to help him
Authors POVThe kitchen itself was quiet beyond the constant rhythm of chopping vegetables and soft bubble of stew simmered on the heat. The aromas of spice hung in the air and the faint heat of the dim overhead bulb. Talia stood at the counter, sleeves rolled up over her elbows, her hair loose in a knot down the back of her neck as she worked intently on what she was preparing.She had always employed cooking as a way of escape. The chopping, stirring, and seasoning was one that drowned out the nagging thoughts that even now buzzed within her head. It was controlled, systematic—something which battled the storm of her mind. Tonight she would require that distraction above all else.After Berrilyl was in bed, Talia had been alone in the kitchen, and that was how she preferred it. She didn't want a crowd, didn't want someone to sit close enough to notice the true way she felt. The pressure that had rested upon her all day rested now upon her shoulders, but she set it aside, allowing h
Cage's POVI sat beside my bed, my fists clenched, staring down at the floor as the weight of my thoughts pressed upon my head. My thoughts replayed everything that went on last night repeatedly, refusing to leave them be.I had almost slept with Berrilyl.Realization hit me with a force that ran a chill down my spine. I had nearly lost myself, nearly descended to something that was not supposed to happen—not like that, not under those circumstances. My nature, my wants, my instincts had all turned against me.I could only blame the mating bond.But even so, something wasn't right. My Rut had been too short—only a day. That wasn't normal. I'd experienced it before, but it had always lasted longer, at least three to four days. More importantly, my Rut shouldn't have started at all. Not yet. Not now.Something was wrong.I let out a harsh breath, running my hand over my face. There was no point sitting here alone, suffocating in confusion. I needed answers.I called for Jake and Miliano
Cage's POVThe seriousness of what was happening settled dense around the room, weighing the air like a thick fog.Tension filled the room. I leaned back in my chair, hitting my fingers slowly on the armrest.I looked at Grace and Berrilyl. The accusations that had passed between them had made this a touchy situation, and it was getting trickier by the second, I didn’t know what to believe.Grace protested that she had not made the coffee, but Berrilyl continued to accuse her that she was the one who made the coffee."She is lying," Grace said confidently. "Berrilyl hates me, and she will do anything to make me look guilty." She will do anything to make me look bad in front of you, Alpha."Berrilyl's face was serious, her fists clenched at her sides. "That's not true. You are the person who made that coffee, Grace, and you know it’s the truth. I have got no reason to lie about this. You're the one who made that coffee, just say the truth and stop making it hard in everyone."Grace sno
Cage's POVThe air was still heavy with Grace's screaming fit just seconds ago, her screams still ringing in my head when I had asked the guards to take her away. I should have been satisfied, that justice had been served. She'd poisoned my drink. She'd lied to me. And yet something about the entire situation didn't sit right with me.I raked a hand through my hair, taking a bitter breath. I had questions.I wanted to ask her some questions regarding her actions.Miliano raised an eyebrow but did not budge.Her face was puffy and her eyes red from crying, the rebellious pose now that of a broken woman. She hardly even fought.She knelt down quickly as I stated approaching her. "Alpha, please! I didn't mean to do any harm!"I looked down at her, my expression filled with no emotions. "Explain. You drugged me. You disrupted my Rut. That's a serious violation, Grace. And you'd have me believe that you had no ill motives?"I askedShe nodded quickly. "Yes, Alpha! I did it only because I wa
Chapter 155Cage's POVIt was night already and I couldn't sleep, I kept thinking of how I would capture William. My mind was sharp, scheming my next move. I had to get it right because I couldn't afford to mess up. William was a dangerous man, and I had to outsmart him.Suddenly, I felt a change in the air, something out of the ordinary. The room became chilly, and I could hear a soft sound—like clothing moving across the floor. I leaped up immediately, my senses heightened. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a figure coalesce.A man in a black robe appeared in the room. The robe was dark enough that it blended with the shadows, and the man was almost invisible to the light. It appeared soundlessly as if it was an extension of the night.I couldn't make out the face of the figure, but I could see his eyes. They were sharp, focused, and glimmering faintly in the faint light. Those eyes were chilly, calculating as if they were watching every move I made.Then, without uttering a word,
Cage's POVThe letter came out of the blue, and its contents were completely unexpected. I'd expected it to be a minor update. But the second I opened the letter, things changed.It turned out that the letter had been written by William's first wife, Lucia, and its purpose was clear: it was meant to be sent back to her Pack so they could take revenge on William on her behalf. The realization hit me hard. Lucia, once seen as a quiet, obedient wife, was now taking a stand.The assassin who had brought me the letter seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation. He began to tell me about how Lucia had been treated for some days now, how William had become increasingly cold and callous. At first, their marriage had been a respectful one, but slowly, William had begun to neglect her, paying no heed to her feelings and requirements. He had been aloof and disinterested, busy with other things, other wives, and keeping her in the background.Lucia was not a woman to be discarded. She had been
Berrilyl's POVTo my surprise, I heard that my brother's pack was left with no alpha and it had been taken over by some group of greedy wolves. The best part of it was that his Luna wife and the others were taken as concubine under the current leader apart from his wife Lucia who had gone earlier with some people of the pack who believed of in her and some of the slaves in the palace that agreed to help her escape. All the slaves he captured had been set free by Lucia but the ones who stayed due to greedy reason were now all under their new leader.In my opinion, Lucia was very lucky she could escape with some of the people I knew were righteous. The rest of them that I even had as friends were all sleeping with Owens behind my back so I didn't care what happened to them since they didn't bother deceiving me or hurting my feelings. They enjoyed my brother and Owens so they could also enjoy the aftermath. I just felt bad a little since I had many memories there but soon I realized t
Berrilyl's POV"Are you still in love with that idiot after everything he put you through?" William asked but I ignored him. What I needed was a way that I could make Cage forgive me for everything that I did. For every single thing that happened between us that I ruined, the people that died and leaving his face like that. There were just too many when I thought of it, and I didn't know how exactly I was going to make him forgive me. I figured out that I'd continue to try no matter what. He was the only true love I ever had."You are thinking about him. Aren't you?" William said looking at me with anger and frustration."Of course I am. Why not?""Really Sis? He punished you. Killed Owens. Turned you into a public slave, allowed people to mistreat you like you were nothing!""Yes, I know. And Owens's death was caused by Cage, and to me, it's a good thing because you knew that bastard was cheating on me, and you encouraged me to get married to him, and with what I did, I kinda deser
Cage's POVI arrived on the scene to witness something that I had not expected: William, cold and firm, was denying Berrilyl. The words coming out of his mouth were so bitter, as if he had no second thought, no remorse about what he was telling her. His eyes, which were usually so cold, were colder, harder than ever. He gazed at her as a stranger, as a failure, as something that could be discarded. There was no sympathy on his face, only complete disinterest.Berrilyl was before him, her own face twisted and pale with feeling. I could observe the shame and remorse reflected in her eyes.I remained in the entrance, observing them, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. A part of me that continued to resent her. The lies, the hypocrisy, that she had been an accomplice to so much pain. But part of me felt sympathy for her. She was also used, duped by the man she loved more than anyone. I was torn at the time, between my anger at her for what she'd done, and the sense that she was a vict
Berrilyl's POVI remained silent at the doorway, concealed in the darkness, ensuring I didn't make any noise. Williams was completely unaware that I was present, hearing everything he said. I didn’t want him to realize I was concealed just behind the door, listening in on what he was saying. My heart pounded while I remained frozen, wishing he wouldn’t see me because I wanted to listen to what he had to say.My heart ached as I listened to the betrayal, the secrets I never could have dreamed of. William's calm, assured tone now trembled with something evil. He spoke of manipulation, and plots to destroy us, and I was only beginning to understand the depth of the lies he had convinced me with. My Alpha, my brother, whom I had thought I could trust and at one point in time even suspected would never desert me, was the architect of my agony.Cage's men were standing in front of me and turned to look at me with their blank faces. It was time. I had heard enough. They had come to drag me fr
Berrilyl's POVI stood there in shock, my eyes fixed on Cage's. My heart was pounding within me, my head spinning from what he'd told me. He'd been so serious, as if he knew so for certain, speaking of something from my past that I didn't remember myself.I didn't believe him, I just didn't want to do that.I couldn't get the words I'd heard him say out of my head.It was William, my brother whom he had raised up, who guarded me, and who had always cared for me. Cage, however, abducted me, he enslaved me, and now he expected me to embrace his reality?I clenched my fists tight, biting the nails of my palms as I spun around and ran towards my room.I needed to get my head together.The moment I closed the door behind me, I inhaled deeply and my chest tightened in rage. My emotions were all tangled up, but one thing was for sure, I just couldn't believe Cage.I jumped at the knock at the door. My body hardened. Had Cage returned?I hesitated and crept toward the door, slowly opening it
Berrilyl's POVWhen I regained my consciousness I looked around and found myself in a very dark place that I could at first hardly see a thing. I tried raising my hands and felt severe pain; I was wounded in different places; it was so painful, and some were deep.Despite that I knew I had to get out of where I was, so I mustered all the courage in me to crawl out of the damn dark room and started shouting for help. My voice wasn't as loud as usual but I did my best to sound loud."Hahaha, oh my! See who's on the floor behaving like a snail. Who's in charge now? You disgusting asshole" I heard a voice say but couldn't clearly identify it."Does your head still hurt? I mean, does your body hurt? I remember throwing you in here, and it made a very loud thud," the man said again, and I realized it was none other than Cain. He had come back to take revenge on me. It became clear to me that all my crawling and shouting was useless and trying to run away from him was hardly going to be im
Cage's POV If someone had helped William escape from the hidden dungeon and find a way out of here, it either meant that he had brought someone with him who we didn't capture and was sneaking around then saw the perfect opportunity to let him go or we had a spy among us.The thought of having a spy in our midst left me dumbfounded. The spy must have known our pack so we'll that the hidden dungeon wasn't only unhidden but could be operated by whoever the spy was.Was I this careless to have never figured it out? When the spies were killed all of a sudden, I should have known there was still more to it, but I blamed Berrilyl since she always had more than one way of communicating with her brother, and I was caught up in so many problems that I forgot to investigate such a dangerous attempt further.Even if he had a someone with him who we didn't capture, there was no way the person would have got through the guards, the security system was tight which meant the only way he could escape
Cage's POVI wasn't that intoxicated. I was just tipsy. I knew where I was and what I was doing, still. But even with the alcohol in my system, I could feel my mind slipping, becoming less clear, less sharp. The edges of my world blurred, and everything felt a little lighter and easier to deal with.With that said, I didn't attack Berrilyl. She had already left, and something made me know it was not yet time to follow her. She was angry and scared. I could see that from her eyes as she turned her back on me. But she needed space, and I knew that if I followed her, things would just get worse. It was not the first time Berrilyl had left me, and I knew it would not be the last. So I simply released her.I did what I always did whenever I had to focus on other things instead. I took a hold of the mask again. It was more about obscuring my mind, and my emotions rather than hiding my face. My feelings. My thoughts. The mask gave me a feeling of control and detachment. Wearing it, I felt so
Berrilyl's POVIt was a day to my engagement already, and I had decided to carry out my plan. I had prepared for days now on how to escape, but the only way out that I could think of was to get rid of Cage. It was the last thing I could think of to save myself from getting married to him, and tonight I was going to carry out my plan.The night was calm as I walked down the halls of the mansion. There was just the soft thud of my steps against the quiet. My heart was racing, and I felt this crazy mix of fear and resolve. Was I going to do it? I stood before Cage's door.My mind was telling me that this was what I needed to do, but my body was tense and unsure. I'd never been more nervous in my life. I'd practiced this moment so many times in my mind, but now that it was here, it wasn't quite the same. Still, I could not go back. I had to move forward.I pushed the door inward slowly, as quietly as possible. The room was black except for the feeble flickering of candle flames at the ed