~JADE~ “What the fuck is this about?” Hunter all but growled as he shoved me into what I presume must be a small office in the council hall, and the sound of the door slamming shut behind us enclosed the threat in his growl in this tiny space. I couldn’t even bear to harbour shame with the way he had dragged me from where I stood before the elders and all the way across the hall into this tiny room. It still remains quite unfathomable to me how easy it was for him to change from a loving and doting mate to this man who cannot even seem to stand the sight of me. Not one iota of respect did he think to grant me, almost as if I was never worth a thing to him. “I have a few questions.” "If this is another plot of yours to gaslight me with your words or to beg, save your breath.” Hunter snapped. “It is neither of the two; I just want you to answer my questions with honesty. All I need to know is the truth, and once I hear the truth from your mouth, I’ll accept your rejection like y
~JADE~I don't even think I remember when the trial started. No. I shook my head mentally; this wasn’t a trial because there wasn’t even anything to try here. This was some twisted judgment-day shit going on. This ceased to be a trial from the moment my own mate didn’t even believe me or try to fight for me. After accepting Hunter’s rejection, I walked out of that tiny office space with my heart in the pit of my stomach. Was it naivety because he was the first man I ever loved and I didn’t see things I probably should’ve noticed? Looking back at everything that has happened throughout the two years of our relationship, I guess I was just too naive to see things for what they really were. Hunter was always territorial and possessive, and one time when I complained about it to my mother because he was being too restrictive, she told me that was normal for Alpha wolves and their mates. She said wolves were territorial, so it made sense. I used to get all happy when Hunter would beco
~JADE~ Did I make the right choice when I answered that Hunter wasn’t the father of the child I was carrying? It may not have been the right thing to do given the kind of mess I am in already, but their shocked expressions were more than enough satisfaction for me in that moment. Hunter and Alpha Orion were the ones who looked the most shocked by my response. I guess Hunter probably expected me to insist the child was his and use that as an excuse to hold onto him and beg for mercy, but I was done with begging him to see me and to hear me after I accepted his rejection. He didn’t even believe me these past few days that I have been trying to tell him that I was carrying his child, and suddenly he’s shocked that I am not clinging onto him. What was there to cling onto in the first place? The shocked expression on their faces didn’t last long and had quickly turned into disgust as soon as the meaning of my words had settled in. Hunter had snarled to show his disgust, and his pa
~JADE~ The whip whistled through the air as it came down on me, cutting through my skin effortlessly with a bitter sting that only became harsher with each lash. I had to stop counting somewhere along the way, unable to focus on anything else aside from the fire hot pain that seared through my body with every merciless stroke of the whip. My vision blurred with welled up tears; despite the tears raining down my cheeks, more waterworks welled up in my eyes, and it wouldn’t stop pouring. All my attempts to simply dissociate from this very moment seemed futile. All I could think of and feel was the pain on my back, my arm, and every part of my skin that the whip lashed onto. Despite my tears, the only satisfaction I didn’t give Hunter or the audience that gathered around was the sound of my cries. I bit back every moan, swallowing around every choked sound of anguish that threatened to spill out of me. My body flamed in agony, and each blow from the whip propelled my frame forward
~JADE~ The dance of shame was just as they called it. I’m not sure what I expected given the name, but this truly was the dance of shame. I wasn’t given the liberty of a minute of rest, nor was I accorded the courtesy to either get cleaned or even have my wounds treated. The open cuts on my back from the whip that hadn’t healed yet trickled blood down my back, and the wound stung continuously as my sweat dripped into it. They could’ve at least given me a few minutes with the pack doctor; a few healing herbs to cover my wounds would’ve helped, but none of that happened. I was dragged away from the platform where I was publicly flogged, branded, and jostled through the streets of the pack, half-naked. A few of the mated she-wolves in the pack rallied behind me, clapping as they sang the words of my shameful deeds and dishonour. The elders followed behind; Hunter and his family and my family were also in the crowd behind me. I could still faintly smell Hunter and the familiar scent of
~JADE~Levena whined softly as my thoughts reached her: ‘We don’t need them. We’ll be fine.’ My wolf grumbled, attempting to reassure me. ‘They’re casting us out, like we never mattered. They’re treating us like we were never a part of this pack, like we weren’t family. How can we be fine, Lev? I am pregnant; we’ll be alone in the woods with no one.’ I reminded her; perhaps she’s forgotten all about the pregnancy that I lied about. ‘We will find help; we will find a new pack; the goddess knows we are innocent, and she’ll never leave us stranded. She’ll send help.’ She replied with conviction, and I shook my head. The goddess watched me all these years while I suffered under my aunt’s brute force and did nothing. Shouldn't the goddess have predicted that I'd be discarded by my mate? Yet she still went ahead and made Hunter my mate. ‘I have no faith in the goddess Levana. I doubt if she even exists, because all she’s done is watch me suffer; she never came to my aid, and I don’t see
~JADE~ *3 months later*Twigs snapped under my barefoot as I walked, pushing aside the oddly shaped tree branches and shrubs in my pathway. A few days after I was banished, I was self-conscious about so many things; being naked was one of them. I had wandered along the pack border for two days, looking for the perfect time to sneak back in without getting caught.I couldn’t just roam the forest with only my underwear, but also because it was bloodied and had already started smelling on the second day. So late at night, when I knew the guards weren’t as vigilant, I snuck in and went to the tree where I usually kept a change of clothes whenever Hunter and I went on our weekly run in the woods.Being naked wasn’t a big deal among our kind, so I didn’t need to keep garments in the trees for when we went for a run, but Hunter had always been so territorial and had mentioned that he didn’t want anyone seeing what belonged to him. How ironic that was, because he was the same person who took
*4 MONTHS LATER*~HUNTER~“You cannot know better than your parents. Hunter, come back here right this instance!” My mother’s voice carried a resounding boom along the walls of my childhood home as I stormed down the stairs. “Hunter!” she yelled, “your father isn’t done talking to you. If you take another foot off those stairs.” The threat in her voice hung thick and unwavering, and I knew better than to test the theory of what would happen if I chose to ignore her. I turned on my heel, facing back the way I came, and Mom stood at the top of the staircase. I might be an Alpha, but my mom has always been scary, despite being an Omega. That woman will always give me a run for my money, and she can be pretty scary when she wants to be. “Go back to your father,” she muttered, hands on her hips.“Mom…” I began to say, but she waved her hand, cutting me off.“I have no interest in what you have to say, Hunter. You’ll climb back up these stairs and make your way to your father’s office li
~REIGN~A seething rage pulsed through my veins in waves as I listened to Emerald tell me about what had happened to her in her pack and got her banished.At some point, we had moved from standing in the middle of the bedroom and were now sitting on the bed while I held her against my body. I had been curious about who Hunter was ever since she mentioned him. I knew he had to be why my mate was so guarded and untrusting. Obviously, he did something to her, and whatever that was had broken her beyond measure.I wanted to know what he did to her, yet despite my curiosity, I didn’t want to bring up the topic knowing how emotional the day had been for her. But Jade had started talking, and I didn’t stop her as she opened up about her past, the last few minutes, and the ordeal she went through. I realised she was choosing to trust me with her pain and perhaps her heart. So I listened attentively, which was hard because it was a struggle within me having to fight against my control with Tari
~REIGN~“Jade.” A growl rumbled through my chest as I relished the way her name rolled off my tongue. Jade? Her name was Jade. That had been her name all this while and I didn’t even know it, yet I called her Emerald because her eyes reminded me of precious gemstones. I didn’t realise how close I was to her real name—only a smidge close.All this while, she heard me call her Emerald. She probably thought about how close I was to her real name but she held off that information until now. I looked down at her, my heart filling with emotions I couldn’t explain as I realised why she finally chose to tell me her name. She was handing me her trust. She held off that piece of herself all this time. Despite how little it might seem to others. It was a piece of her, an important part of her, that gave her an identity and she held that back because she couldn’t trust me. I was but a stranger to her, claiming to care about her. She didn’t trust me until now. And even if she wasn’t saying those e
~JADE~Is this?Was that a love declaration?Was he?!Did he just declare...But why would he?My mind warred as I tried computing everything I just heard.He wants to be my balm. To be the Alpha who eases my pain and protects me fiercely. He wanted me to stay, but most of all, he wanted me to choose him—to choose to stay, to choose him to be my comfort and home.Wasn’t that what Hunter also wanted? He never said those exact words but he claimed he wanted to be my home and safety, and look where that got me? He became the person who ended up breaking me the most.’We never had a choice with Hunter,’ Lev mumbled and that got me frowning.‘How do you mean?’‘With Hunter, we didn’t expect him to be our mate. Even after that, we were never given a choice. Did you really have the choice to sit and ponder if Hunter was who you wanted? Think about it, Jade. We had just escaped Manila, and it was nice to be back home. You just wanted to finally live and breathe like every normal person. You d
~REIGN~I don’t know how long we stood in the middle of my bedroom, with me just cradling her to my chest while she sobbed. Despite how difficult it was to listen to the sound of her anguish cries. I held her close, doing my best to assure her that I was okay with it.As long as it was what she needed. Then I had nowhere else to be. And it’s funny because I’ve always hated the sound or sight of someone crying. The sound was something that aggravated me beyond measure, yet listening to her cries didn’t stir that family irritation except it made my heart ache for her.I closed my eyes, inhaling as I ran my wrist along the scent gland on her neck. The action was subtle, but I hoped scenting her would help her calm down and make her feel more safe. Eventually, her sobs evened out. “I’m sorry,” she murmured, pulling back slightly as she sniffed.Shaking my head, I reached forward to gently wipe the tear streaks on her cheeks. “You don’t have to apologize for this. If it helps you feel bett
~REIGN~I tried making sense of what Emerald had just said, and my mind kept drawing a blank. I was confused; my eyes raked over her trembling body, the potent smell of her fear in the air and I couldn’t make sense of anything.This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting from her when she woke up. I knew there would still be jitters from what happened, but I didn’t expect to hear her tell me she was leaving again.I opened my mouth to speak but I had nothing to say. What exactly was I supposed to say to her? ’Too broken to be worth anything to me?’ How the hell do I respond to that without sounding like a complete arsehole that would be dismissing whatever she was feeling?I clenched my fist hand, hating myself at this moment. Feelings and emotions—putting them into actual words wasn’t my forte, but I couldn’t let her walk out of this room believing whatever thoughts were going through her hand.I reached out to touch her as she tried to walk past me and she flinched, jumping back. “I—I
~JADE~I woke up startled from a nightmare that seemed intent on cutting off my ability to breathe. My eyes blew wide in panic, and my heart thumped at an inhumane speed as I tried to take in lungfuls of air.It didn’t help that the light in the bedroom was dim. It took me several minutes of blinking before my eyes adjusted to the slight darkness in the room and for my brain to catch up with the fact that I was awake and safe, away from the horrors of my nightmares.The last time I had nightmares of Hunter, I was running through woods day and night, heavy with my pregnancy, trying to live a day without a rogue wolf attack. Ever since Reign found me, I hadn’t had one of those nightmares; perhaps it was because the majority of the time I had been unconscious, or was it the safety that came with falling asleep surrounded by his pheromones?Despite how heady and overwhelming his scent was, it was also calming in a sense, which promised safety and protection. However, this time, I couldn’t
~REIGN~Father eyed me up and down, a mockery in his eyes as he spoke. “What makes you think you’ll survive out here without the protection of my name?” He growled. “I am the reason you are still alive, boy; without me, you are nothing; without the protection my name provides you, without this pack, you are nothing. You’ll only ever be known as the Alpha with tainted blood.”I cocked my head to the side at his words, my left brow slanted and my lip curled. “You really believe that?” I asked, feeling the need to humor him. To see if he believes the nonsense that’s coming out of his mouth. I might be the Alpha whose blood is tainted but we both know I am not nothing.He glared at me, refusing to answer. I turn fully to face him now. Now I need to remind him of the truth he seemed to have forgotten because I’ve been pliant and quiet for too long. I did his bidding, bowing my head in submission, making him feel like he really had any right to my respect. “Who do you really think all these
~REIGN~I awoke to a loud pounding on the door that had me jostling worriedly for a second before opening my eyes to my dimly lit bedroom.I took a moment to blink the fog out of my brain as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I made to push up on the bed when I became aware of the body plastered against mine, and my brain replayed the incident from before and how I ended up in bed with my mate.She had wanted me to stay, to hold her as she slept, and I had held her like the most precious gem, content with watching her sleep and then I had fallen asleep.Wait . . .When did I fall asleep?Hold on a minute—my mind became alert as I looked down at the sleeping beauty in my arms. Did I sleep?My eyes traveled to the clock on the wall with a puzzled gaze. I fell asleep.Holy shit!I slept for nine fucking hours. No nightmares? No breaking out in cold sweat or waking up in terror without the slightest possible idea why? No shadows were trying to creep into my head and keep me awake while I st
~REIGN~I had taken off my shirt and managed to cover her up while she sobbed against my chest. The torn cloth on her was barely covering her chest and I needed to cover her up.Emerald’s silent sobs didn’t stop even as I picked her up and cradled her against my chest as I stood up. Caleb’s painful cries reached my ears as I straightened up and prepared to exit the room. As much as I’d love to finish what I started and just kill him, my mate was my priority and I knew I had to get her out of here.With one final glance at Caleb, a promise in my gaze to him that I wasn’t yet done with him, I turned and made my way out of the room, only to stop as I came face to face with Father in the doorway.“What the fuck did you do to your brother?” He asked with a snarl on his lips as he blocked the way.I looked him up and down, cradling Emerald closer to my chest. My gaze flickered to the few pack members who must’ve heard Caleb’s screams and gathered in the hallway. My attention returned to Fat