Chapter 33They rode silenty through the trees, avoiding any contact with each other as much as they could. Earl sat behind while Laurel was huddled in front of him, but he made sure to follow very closely behind her, which was something he knew that she did not like. He had suggested that they do not to take any horses, but she insisted on not taking so he in turn insisted that they would only take one, his horse. Now, riding beside with her felt so warm and charming, and somehow, he liked it. This was like going hunting with her, only that she would never agree. But he tried his best to hide his enthusiasm, he kept his hands to himself and his thoughts focused. The woman riding with him now was so much different from the grieving woman he had met a few months ago. Maybe being his Luna came with it's own changes, because he noticed she was more commanding now, more authoritative. And again, he found himself liking it. Could he read his mind? He was still unsure, while her own thou
Chapter 34"Your sister is here, My Lady." The maid told Laurel as soon as she opened the door."Kristen?" "Yes, My Lady."Laurel hurried back inside and grabbed a shawl before she stepped out again and followed the maid. Earl was not in sight and she was grateful for that, she had not seen him since they returned from bringing the leaves and that was five days ago. Wherever he was, she only hoped he had not run off again like he did the other time. Why she wanted him around, she still could not tell. But she did want him around, perhaps because she felt safer with him there. Laurel passed by Asher's chambers and peaked in to find Gregg, who was sleeping peacefully on the bed. He was doing much better now, his wolf reawakening. Asher still gave her the look whenever she came to visit, so she had made it a point to avoid going in there whenever Asher was around. The good thing though was that Gregg would love, she couldn't bear the thought of him dying on her account. They entered
Chapter 35They found him in the courtyard where he was training with his men, Laurel was the first to spot him among the various men he was effortlessly throwing to the ground without even trying."He is surely swinging the sword with a vengeance." Kristen noted with admiration. Laurel knit her brows in deep thoughts, "He is skilled. But I fear he has this hidden anger brewing inside him, it is that vengeance that drives him." "Did he tell you anything else about his brother?""We haven't had a chance to get that personal, not when he avoids me like that."Kristen's mouth tightened in disappointment, "You are safe with him, but you will be safer if you get to know him well enough. He has to let you in, Laurel. He has to trust you." Laurel spared her sister a careful glance, "Careful now. He might just be listening.""Nay, he hasn't sensed us yet." "You don't know that. The man is still as confusing as ever, I struggle to understand him, but he pushed me away so hard that…" she tr
Chapter 36Kristen marched down the hall, her mood a foul mix of tempers and her eyes cloudy. She had left Laurel in the hall after their little conversation, and since she had no desire to spend the night here, she had to finish her business and get on her way. She would have been long gone by now though, except Laurel wanted her to see Gregg on his sick bay. The thought of him lying down there, struggling for his life was actually funny, she would have given anything to see him miserable. But if indeed it was really true that Lambert had the monkshood leaf at his disposal, then she needed no telling that they had to be careful. It literally meant their lives were in the barbarian's hands. Kristen stopped in front of the door to Asher's chambers and drew in a deep breath. She wasn't exactly one to do this, but Laurel would kill her if she didn't. And all things considered, Gregg had actually taken the fall for her sister and he had saved her once, so wishing him dead was not exact
Chapter 37Laurel saw her sister to the gate when she came out from Asher's chambers. Her mood was much better, though her thoughts on the peace talk did not change, Laurel was only glad she did not try to talk her out of it. Any offer for her to have some guards escort her proved abortive, so she gave up. "Extend my greetings to Rick, and stay out of trouble. Avoid Lambert even if he comes at you." "I'll definitely not let him hurt my people.""Kris…"Come on, Sis. Unlike you, I'm not the silver wolf, it's not like he's looking for my blood!"Laurel shook her head and placed one hand on her sister's shoulders, "I won't have anything happening to you simply because you can't stand Lambert. Sacred Moon needs you. Obviously, my place is here now. Lambert is the only trouble we have, and we have to calculate our risks if we are going to take him down. Don't think for a second that you can do that on your own.""I never said I could." She laughed, but only to ease her own stress. "Tell
Chapter 38 Lambert paced wildly in his parlor, his mood foul and his eyes darting dangerously across the room. He was tense and he didn't like it, he hated to be tense, hated to be double crossed, hated to think that someone else had thought ahead of him and made plans before him. Why was it so difficult to catch and kill Earl Malory? He scoffed silently and sat down. Then he stood up again as the memory of Earl's father, the previous Alpha of New Knight, his step father had nearly had him killed when he discovered his true identity. Even to date, the humiliation he had to face with his mother was still ringing in the back of his mind. The thought made his mind boil each time he thought of it. The man had nearly had him killed, and his mother? They had the pack members torture the woman right before his eyes. Alpha Killian Malory had been too heartless in his verdict and for that heartlessness towards his mother and even him? Lambert had promised his late father that he was going
Chapter 39That morning when he woke up, Earl was feeling very refreshed, he felt like he had had enough drinks last night and had simply slept off while still drowning in the euphoria of his intoxication. As he lay wide awake grinning sheepishly, he tried to pinpoint the exact reason for his mood, but all he knew was that he had slept off with Laurel brooding next to him. He chuckled as the now familiar scent of her hair coming from the pillow beside him had his head turning in that direction. That scent, it was the sweet scent that was calming his nerves, and for the first time in weeks, he had slept without a nightmare. Laurel was not in bed, but the pillow and the part of the bed where she had slept in was still warm. Stunned at how much he enjoyed the scent, Earl grabbed the pillow and inhaled deeply, he could go back to sleep like this, he thought. And then it dawned on him, the memories of what happened last night came rushing back to him. Lambert had come here, he knew it,
Chapter 40 Gregg was in the field when Earl saw him, his relief was so overwhelming that he found himself smiling sheepishly. The way the man was swinging his sword, it was difficult to tell that he had just woken up from a deathbed. Not wanting to ruin his moment and knowing how much his friend loved his victory, Earl watched from a distance, not allowing Gregg to sight him. When the last one of the men he was training with threw down his sword in surrender after Gregg's sword went under his arm, Earl came forward and clapped his hand to cheer his friend."I was afraid your bones would have turned to jelly by now seeing how long you lay almost half dead on Asher's bed." He teased me. Seeing Earl, a broad smile contorted Gregg's features and threw down his sword and engulfed his friend in a tight hug. Stunned by the sudden wave of emotions, both men laughed at their own silliness, but they didn't break the hug immediately. "Man, I was as afraid I might never see your ugly face aga
Chapter 70 “Going somewhere?” Lambert’s voice cut through the air like a blade as soon as Earl and Gregg stepped outside.He was there— and not alone. Earl’s heart lurched at the sight before him. Lambert stood with a smug grin, holding Laurel tightly by the arm. Her eyes were wide with fear, her beautiful face pale and drawn. A group of Lambert’s rogues surrounded them, forming a protective circle around Lmabert to keep Earl or his men from attacking. .“Laurel!” Earl shouted, taking a step forward, but Lambert tightened his grip on her, making her wince.“Ah, ah, ah,” Lambert said, wagging a finger. “One more step, and she gets hurt.” We don’t want that, do we?” Gregg moved to stand beside Earl, his eyes darkening with anger. “Lambert, what do you want?”Lambert chuckled, his eyes gleaming with malice. “Isn’t it obvious? I want what is rightfully mine, I also want to live. And it turns out that to do that, I have to kill. And your precious Luna here,” he gestured to Laurel, “is
Chapter 69The clash of swords and the roar of wolves filled the air as Kristen and Gregg fought fiercely against Charles and his band of rogues. The forest clearing was littered with bodies, but the fucking rogues won’t stop coming. Some of Kristen’s men had returned in time to join the fight though, which was an added advantage. Kristen’s blade met Charles’s with a resounding clash, their faces inches apart as they strained against each other, “You stupid idiot,” Kristen hissed, “I knew you were up to no good!” “You think you can win this?” Charles sneered, pushing against her sword. “You’re just like your father—weak.”Kristen’s eyes blazed with fury. “Don’t you dare speak of him, you bastard!”Charles grinned maliciously, his eyes glinting with a cruel satisfaction. “You know, it was my father who planted the flu that killed your dear old dad.”Kristen’s eyes widened in disbelief, “You didn’t—“Charles smirked, “It was supposed to make Laurel marry me so I could become Alpha. Bu
Chapter 68 Earl was well away from New Knight by the time his wolf started whining and he became restless. He didn’t know what else to do, so he simply dismissed it, thinking it was merely happening because his mate was unconscious. He tried talking to Gregg through the mindlink but nothing was working, it was either his Beta had disappeared from the face of this earth or he simply didn’t want to be found. Not knowing where else to find Gregg since he had combed through almost every nook and cranny of the pack and even sent a few guards to look for him, he simply dismissed Astrid’s words as mere lies to get him to leave Laurel alone with her. Panic. Simultaneously, a sharp pain tore through his heart and he doubled over on the floor, clutching his chest tightly as the pain increased. It felt like someone was twisting his insides with a trident and something was being torn from him, something very essential. Just then, he felt the metallic taste of blood in his mouth and a shrill
Chapter 67"I was really hoping we could hunt together tonight." Gregg told Kristen as she fastened the button on her pants and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. "And I just told you I'm not hunting today." She replied with a livid tone. "Then can I stay here with you?" He asked again with an hopeful glint in his voice."No."She said it vehemently, shattering the heart he didn't know he had to tiny pieces. His wolf whined inside him and for some reason, he felt like he had just been rejected by the very person who was supposed to accept and cherish him. "But Kris–" She turned cold eyes on him and he frowned, "Get up and leave, Gregg. I have a lot to do and I can't do that with you here." "But it’s full moon today, we can just leave the world behind and let our wolves have fun. Besides," he nodded towards the spot where he had just taken a considerable amount of her blood from her neck, "You'll need to replenish that." Subconsciously, her hand flew to the spot on her
Chapter 66All through the run back home, Earl was mentally beating himself for his own foolishness. How could he have lost himself like that? He looked down at Laurel only to find her eyes still shut and her lips quivering slightly. He thanked his stars at least that she was moving now, few minutes ago she had been totally unresponsive. This was the first time she was fainting after a bout of sex, and he knew then that he must have been too rough. What was he saying? His wolf was too greedy with her blood. Even right now, he had to try really hard to avoid looking at her neck. The spot where he had marked her was not healing, and the mark, which was still trailing with blood looked like it was almost calling out to him. When he reached the house that night, almost everywhere was silent. He ran inside, looking frantically about for any sign of life, just anyone to take care of her in her condition. But it seemed like everyone had gone hunting for the full moon. "Fuck!" He muttered
Chapter 65 The pack run was all that it should be, thousands of wolves gathered in packs, howling and growling their praises to the Moon Goddess. Earl was expected to address the pack regardless of his anger, and he did. Laurel was there to encourage him even though they were both mad at each other. After the short speech to the pack members warning them to avoid any contact with rogues or hunting near rogue territory, he led Laurel to his secret spot. She followed him silently, without asking any questions, perhaps it was due to the itching in her gum or the heat she was feeling at his nearness.The ache in his heart was still there, only subsiding a bit because of the full moon and the fact that his wolf was slowly taking over his human side.As Alphas, they could control when and how they shifted into their wolf form, except of course when the male was in too much heat and the female was around or when the mate bond was too strong like right now. "Where are you?" Earl mindlinked
Chapter 64"What the hell do you mean by that nonsense you just said?" Astrid did not flinch, she merely watched Earl with cloudy eyes,as if daring him to strangle her. Channeling his wolf, Earl let his eyes watch her fiercely, more like he was searching for something, some sort of recognition or rejection perhaps. But instead of the ferocious urge to tear her apart, limb by limb, he felt a strange warmth in his heart, a need to comfort and be comforted. The desire was so strong that he threw Astrid down with a force that startled even him. Laurel ran to his side and he grabbed her and shoved her forcefully to himself, eliciting a loud gasp from Laurel. "What is wrong with you?" She asked with genuine concern. But even before she could complete the sentence, Earl crashed his lips forcefully on hers and kissed her. Even as she whimpered and her wolf whined in his hand, he didn't stop. Whatever it was that touching Astrid had stirred in his wolf, he hoped to hell that kissing his mat
Chapter 63Two weeks slipped by pretty fast, they were the most peaceful days for Laurel since her marriage with Earl. She and Earl spent most of the evenings in their room, because well, for some reasons, they couldn't seem to keep their hands off each other. Astrid told her once that she was in heat, which usually happens when a wolf finds his mate and accepts the mate bond, their desire for each other during this period is usually almost insatiable.Laurel particularly could not seem to get enough of Earl, and he in turn could smell her heat from as far as he possible. Those two weeks were blissful, almost like it was their honeymoon but there was also this nagging feeling that something terrible would happen soon enough. Which was why Earl and Gregg were working on reinforcing the pack gates and the soldiers in preparation for any possible surprise attacks from Lambert. Hayley was sleeping that evening when Astrid came running into the room. Earl had left a while earlier, so it
Chapter 62She couldn't lose him, Asher thought idly as she ran the rest of the way through the familiar paths. He was the only ticket she had to get out of her misery, the only guaranteed way she could get her brother back. How could he do this to her? She had waited this long to have him, waited this long only to be rejected and treated in a sick manner! He would have killed her if she hadn't come when she did. And the way his eyes softened when he saw her, the way his wolf calmed. Fuck! The sexually provocative way she had talked to him and the way he carried her back to the room. How could he? She clutched her chest as she reached the gate and tried to wipe the tears she didn't know had started dropping with the back of her hand. "Let me in." She told the first guard she met there. "He didn't tell us you were coming." The guard said stubbornly."That is because he didn't know I was coming.""Then why are you here?" "Because I have news, urgent news that cannot wait for the us