Chapter 23An endless sea of blackness was all that met her eyes. That darkness, broken only by the soft glow of the moon, only that the moon was split in two halves. She watched as the two equal halves, both with jagged edges facing each other, hung in the sky, both maintaining a great distance apart. The two halves drifted slowly towards each other, occasionally even moving together, Laurel imagined their intention was to come together and become whole. She nearly laughed at the irony of that in her own life, come together and become whole? She had come together with a man, yes. But had they become whole? Hell no. Instead she saw clearly now that they were going to be plagued by several things, several people and her new husband’s Earl’s psychic brother was now out to haunt her. And in Earl’s words, he would not rest until he had her. Long after he left, Laurel stood staring into space, she sat nervously on the edge of the bed, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Her sister stood
Chapter 24Seeing Earl enter the hall, Gregg looked quizzically at him. Earl saw his silly grin and frowned at his friend."And how is our new wife?" Gregg demanded. "Is she burning with impatience for her bonding night?"Earl turned to Gregg with a renewed frown. "She is probably burning with impatience to stick a sword in my heart.""I must admit she might consider it, though she does a good job at hiding it, she sure has the spirit." said Gregg "Spirit and beauty." Earl noted dreamily. "It will take some taming but you will bend her to your will in time, don't fear." Gregg poked him in the ribs, "And stop smiling like a lost sheep! Wait, don't tell me you kissed her!"With a swift move, Earl shrugged his friend's hands off his own shoulders and glanced across the hall to where most of their men stood, there were maids patrolling the hall going about their business too. He glared at Gregg and eyed him cautiously, "I don't appreciate you saying such things! I'm not that… loose, and
Chapter 25By sunrise the following morning, Laurel had been escorted out of Sacred Moon Pack and was already at New Knights Pack, having been escorted by a host of Earl's trusted guards. Last night's hunt had done her a great deal of good, and her last conversation with her sister greatly improved her mood. But somehow, she found herself disappointed that Earl had not come to escort her to her new home himself as was customary. But Laurel told herself not to think much of it, and she looked forward to not expecting too much from her new mate. The maids treated her well, and so did the several guards that followed her about the yard. Even Gregg managed a smile in her direction each time their eyes met. But Laurel found herself looking with longing about the place for any sign of Earl, but he was nowhere to be seen. When it was evening and she had still not seen nor heard anything about Earl, Laurel got tired of being idle and decided to take a stroll around the yard. But the guards
Chapter 26"Where is Earl?" Gregg dropped his cutlery and looked across the table at Laurel, whose eyes were trained on him and he could swear he saw fire in those eyes. What was he to tell her? He had no clue, and Earl had certainly left no explanation as to his whereabouts. How was he to tell her that Earl was simply on a solo trip to get away from his new wife? “Well, he had urgent business he had to attend to. But not to worry, he will be with you soon enough." "And how soon is soon enough?" Gregg shrugged, "I understand your concern and it's certainly not out of place. But trust me…" "Is he avoiding me?" Gregg frowned, he had not expected that she would care so much about his whereabouts considering the events surrounding their union, "I don't suppose he is. But I will surely let him know you worry about him if I… happen to see him?" Laurel's fists landed on the table so violently that the contents of the table went up in the air and came crashing back down with a force th
Chapter 27 Exactly two minutes after he left, Laurel still stood there, too stunned to move. It only took a knock on the door to made her draw her eyes away from the window where she still stood staring into space. When she opened the door, she found Astrid there, watching her with eyes that reflected something, something she could not quite place her hand on. It took her a moment before she stepped away from the door and nodded for Astrid to come in while Laurel continued staring at the window. Astrid said nothing, merely just watching Laurel. "I sent for you well over twenty minutes ago." She said and continued pacing. "Yes. But you had a guest." Laurel stopped and stared at the girl with questioning eyes, but Astrid's eyes held a knowing look, "You knew." She shrugged with a nod, "Yes, I know. What I don't know is what he told you." "Then why didn't you come in to see if I was in danger? Why didn't you alert the guards?" Astrid gave one of those unusually calm smiles, "Lambe
Chapter 28Lambert sank deeper into the pool and let the cold water soak his bare skin. He was thinking about things, a lot of things and almost all of those thoughts centered on Earl Malory. It was one of those thoughts that had shaped him since his childhood, the same thoughts that reminded him everyday why he had to live and to fight. "You are zoning out again." Denise whispered as she came up behind him in the pool, slowly running her hands up his bare back. Lambert drew his eyes from the glass he was holding and turned to meet Denise's gaze since he could feel her eyes on him. But she quickly pushed his head back and whispered lightly, "Relax your mind. You can tell me what you think of if it helps." He laughed lightly, "What I think of does not concern you, woman."Denise paused for a while and looked beyond his tan skin. Somehow, she had expected that answer, but it still hurt like hell each time she heard the indifference towards her in his tone, and it hurt even worse each
Chapter 29Three days later and Earl had still not returned and from his glory travels. The days slipped by slowly for Laurel and she found herself occupied with women's work to keep her from losing her mind. She would spend the days in the courtyard with the pack women, getting to know them and also giving advice over little quarrels as she was now their Luna. Gregg usually watched her from a distance, not wanting to bore her with his presence or to provoke her like he had done that night at dinner. Even though he knew that Earl's absence was unfair, he also knew there was no way of convincing his friend to come back until he was willing. But just maybe his absence was for the best, as he thought it was, it was to give him ample time to see his new bride's true intentions. Astrid had not said anything more about Lambert killing the silver wolf to Laurel, not even when they spent most of the day together. Even when Laurel asked her, she simply avoided the question and only told her
Chapter 30The Rogues had not rode on anything, neither did they carry any weapons like Laurel had imagined. Even Lambert was not with them, and there were only five of them. The spot they met was over forty minutes' ride away from New Knight gates, and it was a vast land with surrounding bushes and a path wide enough to contain a war ground. And yet there were no more than five Rogues here. She looked to Gregg, and she saw clearly that the confusion on his face was the same as hers, the Rogues did not look ready for a fight even, they simply stopped walking and regarded Laurel and the rest of their men until Gregg stepped forward."What do you want?" Gregg asked cautiously, making sure to keep Laurel securely behind him. The man scoffed,"Only to pass a message." "What message?" "We were instructed to give it to either the Alpha or his Luna." Sensing a possible threat, Gregg rode back and threw his word, "The Alpha is not here. I am his Beta and I speak for the lady. Give me your
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