Freya's POV I had an old power. An old power that even Gertrude, the killer of mothers and the layer of curses, or anyone else in the whole of Adivaine could only dream of having. The prophecy was the only way for me to access that power. Gertrude said this to me on the first day I fought against having the prophecy fulfilled by my own hands. "I can't identify what power it is that you have but I know that you know this, feel this." She said this with so much conviction I briefly wondered if we switched bodies sometime in the past without my knowledge. I sure did feel a lot of power. To sleep. Take that moment for example, I had yawned no less than a hundred times since I began trying to reach Adalia again. And by "since" I mean thirty minutes ago. Darius scoffed and watched me with narrowed eyes, his expression a battleground of annoyance and amusement. "You really do feel sleepy, don't you?" He asked. It seemed like a trick question so I didn't deign to answer it. I was much
Freya's POV "It was me. I was the one who cursed your mate, Zane." Adalia cursed Zane. Adalia cursed Zane. Adalia cursed Zane. Those three words kept singing a discordant tune in my brain but they couldn't make sense no matter how hard I tried to process it. If my brain was a meat grinder, this information would be stone. Adalia cursed…her mate. Adalia cursed. How? I tried to listen as Gertrude whistled softly in my head to remind me of the real world and to come back to reality. "What did you just say, Adalia?" I was on the verge of a panic attack, and I needed an explanation to save me. With utmost urgency. "I cursed him, Freya. That is why you are the only one who can unlock this curse." "This...it doesn't make any sense. Start from the very beginning." She smiled sadly and shook her head. "No, I can't do that. You will have to find that out by yourself. You will eventually, I assure you." "Why can't you do so?" Her usually serene demeanor abruptly shattered, her eyes
Freya's POVThere was something I found very annoying about people who talked too much. And it wasn't that they talked too much. It was that they were greedy. They weren't content in using their own time to drone on and on about something as trivial as the pair of shoes they picked that morning. No, they were much comfortable using others' time. The time they had was not as precious as others deemed theirs, so they made it a point to waste yours. Your time.What's worse death by hanging from a rope or death by being forced to sit and listen to the most ancient healer I had ever encountered in my life who only cared about the scary warts that were growing on her nose?
The answer wouldn't be as obvious as you think, trust me. If what the healer–whose name sounded like it was inspired by a toddler's gibberish–was talking about screamed how thoroughly unenjoyable this process was, her voice did way worse than scream: it grated my ears so badly it was painful.For the life of me, she was more like a witch than Gertrude.What process was this, you ask?They labeled it "The Extraction Ritual." And by "they" I mean both the archaic healer and the white-haired witch who held me prisoner.First, it was Gertrude who announced that I must do "The Extraction Ritual" while I was poring over the scroll which contained the prophecy –the only progress I was making was me feeling like I was brushing by, just merely scenting a breakthrough in my efforts, but not quite reaching the source of that scent.However, as soon as she blurted out that I needed to do the ritual, I promptly delivered a well-aimed, supernatural blast of wind that sent her flying face first into
Freya's POVRun.Run now.Run. Now.Seneca sounded like she would take over my body and run in my stead since I wasn't listening to her.That is a good idea, I told Seneca in my head. But running won't solve anything, I added."If you used all your might and speed. It really could." Seneca was pleading this time.It really could.As if I could run anywhere fast enough to escape the reality of what had just happened. What I had just done. As if I could be strong enough to face my fears. As if through sheer force of will I could block who was right in front of me from my sight. From my mind."We're carrying our child, Seneca. I can't shift." I bit back a little harshly. This was my own rather cowardly way of explaining for my lack of any progressive mobility.Run. It's not so hard. Just put one foot in front of the other and go.But I didn't run. I moved, at least. I hit my ankle on the edge of the bed railing as I feebly attempted to curl back into myself to hide.But run?I couldn't.
Zane's POVOne who hesitates is lost."As we speak right now, Freya has been captured."One who hesitates is lost."As we speak right now, Freya has been captured."Odella was saying something. "My king." One who hesitates is lost."As we speak right now, Freya has been captured.""Your highness," Odella flat out shouted.It wasn't like I didn't hear her all this while. I did. Very clearly in fact. But so as two other voices.Adalia and Darius's voices in my head were more insistent, demanding to be heard as they repeated the same thing. I never welcomed them but I also never fought them because I deemed them useful.They served a sacred purpose: to torment me. I needed that to remind me of the million ways that night Freya was kidnapped could have gone differently. This was the only way I could keep sane so I allowed them to go on making noise in my head. It wasn't a problem for me as I was already used to it. The fact that I had gotten used to it didn't take the sting out of their
Zane's POV*Still Within 2 Hours Before*We got home. Or more precisely, we were reaching home. And yes by home, I mean the castle. At that moment we were only just nearing the gates. Of course no one could see us, I made sure. Perks of being a hundred and twenty something year old Alpha Lycanthrope who happened to be extremely experienced with dark magic.I had sent my little convoy of fifty trained foot soldiers ahead of me so right now, they were safely back and at their duty posts in the castle. Nylf, I was sure had gotten the healer in Freya's bedchambers for an immediate customary check up as soon as she got in, and was rounding up the maids to make sure that the queen Luna of Adivaine was attended to and that they devote their full mental and physical faculties to this endeavor, ensuring that it was done with the utmost severity and precision.The point I was trying to make is, it was just me and her. Not a single other living thing within sight…. maybe except the birds scatter
Freya's POVThe latest revelations I had been encountering for the past weeks were each heavy doses of prickly, sour truth, but the biggest one yet was this. The confession my mate had just delivered…So, according to Zane, he had a son. Nylf.Nylf was Zane's son.As I mulled this over, a steely tang seeped into the flavor of my thoughts, leaving a bitter aftertaste.Nylf was Zane's son. My throat felt tight. As tight--or even tighter--as my fingers that were clenching his rich crimson cloak in….I wasn't sure what it was. I didn't even care about that right now. From the swirling slew of emotions in my mind coupled with the almost glaring fact that I was pregnant, my emotions were everywhere but only one feeling was definite.To kill. I felt like killing someone on the spot.A throat would be nice right now between these clenched fists.Unfortunately, that "someone" happened to be my mate and also the Alpha Lycan King of Adivaine.Though, with me draped so comfortably around my killin
Faster! My wolf kept urging me.The young, fair headed female beside me kept her head bowed as she escorted me out of the courtyard to my escape. We walked awkwardly in silence. Or maybe I was just the one feeling awkward. Whatever.The guards nodded their heads dutifully as I passed them. I noted this with some unease that I knew would never fade away.I was still much unused to this…"publicness". After living in the shadows all my life, even the smallest glimmer of spotlight could blind me."My lady!" The child next to me gasped and I whipped around, my senses immediately on high alert."What is it?" I saw no danger, just the blue azaleas that lined the porch and the wide stretch of trimmed green leading up to my destination. The only living things around were the guards standing so perfectly still under the burning sun."Tell me, what is it?" I inquired harshly.The child looked scared for a second. "I'm just—I wanted to ask you to slow down your pace, my muscles felt ready to tear
Zane's POVI shifted back to my human form. Fully naked, I stretched out my wrist. Using the sharp edge of my claw, I sliced it open and let the dark red blood pour to the ground. Then I crouched low and pushed my wrist over Nylf's mouth. The poor thing was barely alive in Freya's trembling arms.A taste of my potent, Lycan blood was so powerful it could bring him to life. But then, it could also be too powerful.Lycans and vampires were similar this way. We gave blood to give life. Only in this case, I could really kill my own pup, or bring him back to life safely. Let's see what happened.Like I said. I had been alive long enough to know when a werewolf was dead.Nylf wasn't.The wound I created was healing up fast. "Force his mouth open, Freya." She did. No doubt with some supernatural strength. The pup's jaws were locked tight.My blood dripped into his mouth as the wound closed up. Nothing happened. His mouth was still hanging open. Then he gulped weakly.That was enough for me.
Freya's POVMy eyes reluctantly fluttered awake.I don't know if it was the silence or the insistent prick in my neck that woke me up.Judging from how my hand swatted away the paper that was crumpled and formed a pointed edge against my neck, the latter option was more probable. I fiddled with it a bit and traced the lettering on it.B U N W E L T A R U S O O DWhat was this?I knew one thing for sure. It was Zane's handwriting.A few questions sprung up in my mind. Like why had he decided to wedge this small parchment near my neck? And more importantly, why had Zane written gibberish?I crumpled it back and threw it off the bed, settling on the easy explanation that I was experiencing a momentary brain glitch as I had just woken up.The soft rustling sound of the paper hitting the carpeting was loud in my ears. This made me aware of how…noiseless the room was.The silence was strange. Too strange.At any slightest movement from me, Zane would have called out and said something by no
Gertrude's POVWe were on the run.Fugitives, rogues, we were labeled by anyone within a thousand miles.A grand bounty had been placed on our heads. One hundred bars of pure gold and an honorable seat among the members of the royal court.This was fantastic news for deltas, omegas and gammas who never got a chance to enjoy the benefits normally accrued to only Alphas, Betas and Lycans. They were avidly on the lookout the most. And these particular sets of werewolves were everywhere.The search was hot against us.So, fueled by zero to two scattered hours of sleep and the top diet of acrid-tasting mango nectar with live squirrels or wild mice since two weeks ago, we ran and hid and ran again.We never stayed anywhere for longer than two nights. Three at most if the packs were filled with mostly geriatric werewolves whose teeth had already fallen off due to age and were too old and useless to do anything that the rest of them were tiny child helpers.The latter option worked. For a whi
Freya's POVA stream of curses poured out from his mouth as he pumped into me with slick, deranged slaps, the front of his thighs hitting the backs of mine in a pounding rhythm.His one hand fisting my hair viciously, the other gripping my right hip, claws digging into my flesh and drawing blood, his cock thrashing my insides while he released depraved sounds that only threatened to topple me over the edge of my climax. No, I wasn't going to scream. I needed to be fucking obedient to his rules.I bit my lip until I tasted copper spreading over my tongue. I was struggling not to scream and bellow and cry and howl my lungs out in acute pleasure.It was fucking hard. I was fighting everything in me to hold on enough to keep grappling at that control even if it meant losing something as inconsequential as blood.I had to do this. I needed to do this. To keep myself from exploding around him. To obey him. But I was in a losing battle, and I was a fucking liar. I was not going to obey him a
Freya's POV Unlike before, now we were both in the bathtub. And not really getting any bathing done. I was the main culprit. I couldn't keep my hands off Zane, and he let me. Though, that was proving quite difficult now that he had positioned himself at my feet. I needed him closer. "Zane." I called him. "You're way too far from me. Just come back to me, I want to feel you some more. Please?" I asked solicitously. "Shhh, Freya. Feel the night. Enjoy the silence." Feel the night. I let out a brief laugh. Sometimes I forgot that Zane was over a century old. "Why feel the night", I asked, "when I can feel you, Zane. Allow you to feel me." I slowly spread my legs apart for him to see where I really needed him to feel me. He was quiet as he stared at my pussy. It was slight but I saw his impassive gaze slip for a fleeting moment before he pulled it back on. I didn't miss how his eyes darkened before he bowed his head and swiped my inner thigh with the cloth in his hand. After that
Freya's POVMy legs were water. I couldn't use them anymore than I could use my vocal cords. My voice had left me due to all the screaming from about thirty minutes ago.I was in the bathtub of his study soaking up the warmth of his familiar musk-scented bath that he had drawn for me before he left the room. He left to do his cursory check of the palace and keep appearances as the mate who was tortured because he wasn't able to see his Luna.What was taking him so long anyway? Quite a good chunk of time had already passed.I closed my eyes and sunk into the bath and sighed as I let my muscles relax. Needless to say, I was so deliciously sore. I played back the events of the night in my head again and I felt my face spreading with a smile. I was so perfectly wrapped up in bliss I almost forgot my fears. Almost.I saw them again. Krayne's eyes. My eyelids flew open that very instant. Doing that was useless, I didn't need to open my eyes to escape seeing his eyes. They were still there.
Zane's POVMoans, cries, grunts, skin hitting skin, Freya's wet white hair sticking to her skin that was slick with sweat.Her claws had scratched me every part of my skin she could find. The resulting pain only served to sharpen the raw pleasure that bloomed thick in me….and if I wasn't careful, would burst prematurely.She was too intensely aroused. And this is me putting it mildly. Very very mildly.Her pussy juices were leaking out of her in gushes and dripping down onto my study desk. This was making her slide up and down the desk, her perfect tits bouncing in my face.I watched her go. Her glossy blue eyes were rolled backwards so properly only the whites remained while I railed her without mercy. Gods, she was incredibly beautiful.I pinched her swollen, hard nipple just a little but it was hard enough to send her eyes flying open and her gasping. This soft action contrasted sharply with how hard I was fucking her. "You're forgetting something, sweetheart. Do you remember what
Freya's POVHe didn't move to kiss me at first. His whiskey orbs ping-ponged both of my eyes like he was searching for something. I always wondered what he wanted to find whenever he looked at me this way. My mind flashed back to our first intimate moments that happened in his brooding nest after meeting in the woods that fateful night I tried to escape this castle. I wasn't his mate then. Just Darius's sex slave.He looked at me the same way he was looking at me now. Hopeful? Maybe. I wasn't sure. It was almost as if he was convincing himself to face the reality–which was no longer brutal or haunting but….me, his mate– and let down his defenses. That it was okay. That I was here. That he didn't have anything to worry about. That he didn't need to hide from me. That he was never going to go rabid as long as I was by his side.I watched him for a moment then I let out a little sigh. I figured I needed to make a bolder move to initiate sex. So, I unlaced my fingers from his neck and ste