AryaLong after Levi and his parents left, I still don't know what to say or do. I find myself sitting on my throne, trying hard not to think about what they said.Perhaps it's true that bad situations really bring out the worst in people, and I would be lying if I said that the events surrounding Arthur didn't bring out the worst in me.But Levi's parents are still right. What I did to their son is inexcusable, and the thing they decided on is no surprise to me.Perhaps it's only right that they don't want anything to do with me or my kingdom.I sigh, trying not to let my emotions come through. The doors suddenly open and I immediately thought it's Levi coming back, but then it's my parents who come in."Arya," Mom instantly says, and her voice is so full of raw emotion and heartbreak that my own tears start to drum behind my eyes. She comes over to me and hugs me, and I get up to meet her and hug her back. "Oh, my baby. We got you, don't worry. . . ."I sob, trying really hard not t
Arya“Arthur, no!” I yell, but it’s too late.Arthur barrels towards me with his hands outstretched, his face contorted with anger and confusion. I try to back away close enough to the door to escape, but he blocks me with his body.I want to scream for help and alert the people who are waiting outside, but my throat is all closed up now. All I can do is raise my arms to try to stop Arthur, but he grabs my wrists and yanks me forward.“Who are you?” he spits out. “Who the hell are you and what have you done to me?”I open my mouth to say something but my heart breaks at his questions. “What . . . what do you mean who am I?”He scowls and looks away as though he can’t bear how stupid I’m being. “How on earth are you going to interpret that question in a different way? I don’t know who the hell you are and those people outside.”My hands are shaking in his grip. But more than that, my whole body is getting weak.Arthur doesn’t remember me. At all.He doesn’t know all the people outside,
AryaMy whole world stops at those words. It seems like they're traveling at super low speed, whirling around my head and lingering in the air, refusing to have a touch down and land right where they belong.But when the words finally start making sense to me, I just stand there silently."Do you mean to say that. . . ." I falter. There's a lump in my throat that no swallowing can hold back. Still, I take a couple of deep breaths and look at Gammie. "Do you mean to say that there's someone or something else inside his body right now? Someone who is taking control?"Gammie shakes her head. "I don't think so, no. Or at least not yet. But we have to act quick because we don't know what can happen.""What do we do now?" Duke Basset asks in horror. "I can't let my son become some empty vessel for something that is possibly dangerous. We can't have that!""I know," Gammie says with a sigh. "Nancy put him in a sleeping spell, but that is only temporary. I know it's not advisable and it would
LeviI look up at Lauren, drinking in her beautiful face and her shining eyes. She leans in closer and closer to me and I find myself sighing, relaxing against the bed, waiting for her lips to touch mine.“Levi. . . .” she whispers, her hands gently cupping my face.I don’t know if that is her way of asking permission, but I can definitely see the hint of uncertainty on her face. And to answer her, I reach up and touch her cheek, running my thumb gently across her lips.She gasps softly, her eyes glazing over with an expression that looks like desire. It melts everything inside me. All the worry, all the pain, all the resentment.And before I know it, I’m already putting my hand on the back of her neck to pull her into a kiss.But that’s when we hear footsteps coming up the stairs and a familiar voice calling out, “Lauren, Levi? Where are you?”It’s Connor, and it wouldn’t take him long to come up the stairs and find me and Lauren doing this.Okay. I know that he basically set me up w
LeviThe words that came out of Connor's mouth brings my world to a standstill. My thoughts about coming there, making sure everyone is alright, and maybe fixing everything that went on between the kingdom and my pack . . . they all just screech into a halt.Connor looks at me sternly. "You have to be careful out there, Levi. They already blamed you once and threatened to end your life. And it won't be just Arya who's going to take you on, it would be her parents. They have more power than her and less sympathy for you."I don't say anything, but Connor is right all the way. Arya took pity on me and let me go because we had history, as bloody and bad as that may have been. But her parents don't know me. They don't know who I am and what I'm not capable of doing.Arthur's dad is also a Duke. If he wants to be done with me, that's what he would do. It's a big kingdom and I know we're a powerful pack, but I refuse to drag my pack members into this."I know all of that," I say. "I know th
AryaA small yelp escapes my lips and I quickly take a step back, landing on the floor of my bedroom with a thud.I stumble because of my weak legs and my beating heart, and I end up collapsing on the floor, shaking and scared.Memories of my dream are still running through my mind like a bunch of little ants scurrying around, and every time I blink I see that weird young face that looked like the hybrid of Arthur and Levi, growing bigger and bigger than me. My skin is covered in goosebumps and I'm still shaking all over, and no amount of deep breaths seem to be calming me down.Why the hell did I end up there on my window ledge, seemingly ready to jump? What about my dream suggests that?Most importantly, how on earth did I get there?I close my eyes and I try to think back on how it all happened, but I can't remember anything. It just feels like that happened on its own.But that's impossible, right?And what could have happened if I did slip and fall down? It's more or less a twent
AryaInstantly, my head starts to spew out all the possible bad scenarios it can come up with. The first thing in my mind, for some reason, is the thing I saw from my window last night.The human figure running along the forest lines with its clothes covered in what looked like bloodstains.And I know that’s stupid and way too grim to think about. Maybe the world is just dissolving me into a big nutcase who always thinks the worst in every possible scenario.“You’re becoming paranoid,” Ivory tells me too, just to rub the whole thing in my face.“I know,” I tell her hastily. “But I might be onto something here. So just bear with me okay?”She doesn’t say anything more, and so I turn to Kate and Maria. “Do you know what happened to Daphne and why she’s not here in school?”“Well,” Maria begins to say, looking at Kate. “The truth is we don’t know, because we’ve known her since we were kids and she never missed school, not even when she was totally sick or when she had a family emergency.
LeviThe moment that Lauren’s lips touch mine, my whole mind goes blank. As in every thought goes through the window seemingly with no chance of going back.All I know is that my hands are automatically flying to her waist, pulling her closer to me as she pressed her lips more tightly against mine. Heat is crawling under my skin like lava, and I feel all my senses stirring.I kiss her back with all the urgency I can muster, thinking about all the times when she’s been nice to me, when she treated me well. I think of all the times when I looked at her and thought that she was beautiful. . . .But even as I do so, even with the heat in my body, I don’t feel the same kind of exhilaration that I feel whenever I see Arya.I just don’t feel the same sort of longing and desire.Instantly, I start to feel bad because of these thoughts. I feel like I’m betraying her somehow. Maybe it’s all just in my head, right? Maybe I’m just overthinking this. Maybe I just need to feel myself dissolving int
LeviI tighten my hands around Lauren’s throat, feeling it pulse under my touch. There’s the level of satisfaction to that that I can’t explain.It's dark and it's something that I don't even want to acknowledge, but I would be lying if I say that it doesn't feel good.As I watch her eyes grow bigger with alarm, I feel more and more determined to end it this way. With her right under my hands, trying to fight off the force of my strength around her neck.I hate her, I realize as I try my best to finish her off and get this over with forever. She might just be an accomplice to her shitty brother, but she knows what she's doing.And if tonight is proof, I would say that she's not as innocent as she pretends to be. She's perfectly capable of making choices that would fuck other people up even more. She knows what she's doing.I still want to know so many things, like how she got to copy the scent of Arya and why she needed it anyway, when I can just tell completely that she's not my mate
LeviMy heart nearly gets stuck inside my throat. I want to scream, but I find that I can’t. The pain in my chest is still much too great for that, and I hate that I’m not even sure I’m seeing the right thing.Is Lauren really here, or am I just manifesting the stupid dreams and thinking that I am seeing her?I blink rapidly to see if she is indeed there, and to my horror, the image of her smiling in the corner doesn’t vanish. She’s walking close to the bed I’m lying on, but Gammie doesn’t even move. She doesn’t even flinch. I know for a fact that she’s a very sensible old woman who can practically feel everything, so this worries me.I look at Lauren again and see that she's getting closer and closer, and as though to confuse me further, she touches the side of Gammie's shoulder.And the woman doesn't flinch.Is Lauren real right now? Because I can hear her footsteps. I can smell her scent. I can tell that she's getting closer to me and she feels very much solid right now.Could this
LeviI was locked in a constant state of dreams and uncomfortable thoughts when they were operating on me.Part of me was conscious, but a bigger part of me just wasn’t. It was constantly floating in a state of blankness and anxiety, just a mish mash of things that shouldn’t go together. Sometimes I find myself dreaming of my parents and my childhood. Sometimes I find myself dreaming of my teenage years and my short days as an Alpha.But most of the time, I was dreaming of Arya.However, when I was about to wake up, I was dreaming of something else entirely. Something that resonated with my fear, the reason why I thought about bringing down the whole arena instead of participating in the fight that Connor and Lauren wanted to see.* * *In my dream, it was nighttime, and the lights in the arena are almost blinding me. My heart is pounding so fast that I feel like it's going to give out any moment. There are so many people around us. Too many, in my opinion. And they're all looking at
Arya“Arthur,” I mutter, his name leaving my lips like a plea as I shift around in his bed. I know perfectly well that I’m sleeping, but I also know that even in this state, Arthur is still the one in my mind. My Lycan, my mate, my love. Even though I know consciously that our relationship is in jeopardy because of his choices, I still want him, and he’s still the face I long to see in my dreams.And in my dream, I see him getting dragged away by the Rogues.“No!” I yell, but in this dream world, I’m voiceless. I’m powerless. All I can do is stand there while my mate gets clawed at by the dirty outcasts. All I can do is watch while he screams for me.“Help me, Arya!” His voice rings out in the darkness of our background. “Don’t let them take me!”He holds out his hand to reach for me. I extend my arm to get him. However, he’s already too far. He’s already too close to the mouth of the dark tunnel they’re taking him to. One of the Rogues, seeing that he has his hand outstretched, kick
AryaMy mouth goes dry at the sight of Arthur.He closes the distance between us, getting on top of me and taking both of my hands before putting them over my head.His lips are urgent on mine, intent on devouring. I can feel his hardness against my thighs. His hungry mouth travels down to my neck and on my collar bones, lower down to my breasts. When his warm mouth closes over my nipple, I almost explode. He sucks it, his tongue sweeping over it until I feel feverish. I close my eyes, not even aware that he let go of my hands until he starts to squeeze my other breast.He pulls his head away from my nipple and begins to suck the other. My hips are moving on their own. I'm so wet I can feel myself dripping on the sheets.I bury my hand in his hair, moaning loudly. But he's not done with me, cause before I knew it, his lips are traveling lower again. Until his face is between my legs. Lucien grabs my thighs and pries them apart. Then he leans forward, sweeping his tongue on my wet core
AryaLike an idiot, I turn to Arthur and ask, “About what?”He laughs softly, but the humor doesn’t reach his eyes. There’s a certain hint of sadness there, combined with another emotion that I can’t really place. Either way, seeing it in his eyes is throwing me a little off balance. I want to come with him and get to the bottom of it, but at the same time, I feel like he’s so serious that I don’t want to find out what he wants to say.“Just come with me,” he says gently. “Please?”“Well, of course,” I say, glancing back at Levi who is now sleeping soundly. “Who will be watching him? He can’t stay here alone, can he?”"I'm right here," Nancy says all of a sudden, appearing seemingly out of thin air. She wedges herself into the room and immediately comes to look at Levi, adjusting something on the IV that he's connected to. "I will be watching over him for the night. You two go talk, okay?""Thank you, Nancy," Arthur says, then he turns to me with that very same smile that doesn't reac
AryaMy heart leaps with joy. It’s something that I haven’t felt in what seems like forever, and I can feel it spreading all over me like a warm ray of sunshine. A smile appears on my face, and I look at Arthur.“He’s awake,” I whisper, and even I have to notice the sheer relief in my voice. “He’s alright. He made it. . . .”Arthur smiles at me and leans over to kiss my forehead. “I know, and I’m happy. Now go talk to him okay?”I nod, and with that I go with Nancy, who suits me up with a protective layer of clothing before we go inside.They have converted the infirmary room into a real hospital room. There are machines beeping everywhere, and there are also potions emitting sweet smelling steam somewhere in the room. There are some tools laying around, but the only thing that catches my attention is Levi lying down on the bed, his pillows fluffed up to prop him up into a sitting position.His face is pale, and his hair is slicked back over his handsome face with sweat. I can tell th
Arya“What is it?” I ask Nancy with my voice shaking immensely. I get up from my seat but I feel like the ground is lurching under my feet and I feel like I’m going to fall over if I don’t have something to cling onto. Thankfully, Arthur gets up and offers his arm to me. “What’s the problem?”Nancy hesitates, and I honestly hate how angry I became just in that moment. I want to scream at her and tell her that I am not playing games around here, that if something is up, then I must know immediately because I’ve been waiting for a long time to hear about him. Besides, the only person he has right now is me. His parents are not here and the others are back at the pack. I am the only one he has. . . .“Please,” I just say in a strained voice, looking at her and wanting to get on my knees and beg and corner her at the same time. Emotions are just running high inside my chest and I want nothing more but to know. “Please, what is happening? Is Levi okay? Will he make it?”“The truth is, I do
Arthur My blood goes cold. I swallow hard, thinking of what to say, but my mouth is completely dry and my throat is closing up. I want to assure Levi that I won’t leave him here, but he’s looking at me like he’s daring me to say those words just so he could reject them completely. So instead of talking it through with him and risking any rejection, I lift him up to his knees and very carefully start to chip away at the piece of rock lodged inside his body. Thankfully, the rock is easy to chip off, as it seems to be made of hardened mud instead of actual stone. I manage to clip it down close to his body so it won’t move or damage anything inside him. He kept groaning and screaming the entire time, and I just had to close my hearing so that I wouldn’t hear it and experience the pain of seeing him go through it. When I’m done, I take him into my arms, not caring about how weird it could look or what he has to say, and it seems that he still has a lot to say. As though to prove my poi