Adelia’s Point of ViewThe stalls were packed again. People of all shapes and sizes darted in and out. Yelled and bartered with no heed for anyone else around them.As I made my way to the café, I could feel Michael’s eyes on me. Felt it drifting down my spine and all the way back. Knew that he was scanning the crowd feverishly to see who else might appear out of the blue at any given moment.My own heart seemed to stall every time I thought I saw Siya in the crowd. Lurched when I realized it was someone else and I was just being paranoid.By the time I sat down, I was already drenched in sweat. Knew that stains were forming on the thin material beneath my armpits.I looked horrid and I was on my way to see my mate.What would he think-No. This wasn’t some romantic date in the middle of a market. This was my mission to find out what was wrong with my mother.Settling into the closest table to the entrance, I watched as the crowd moved like one hive-mind. It was baffling to think that
Adelia’s Point of View It was like seeing a ghost appear out of thin air. One minute I was watching the crowd, the next she was there and she was familiar and my heart nearly gave out. My mom was as beautiful as always. Had her hair down and cascading around her in waves. Her beautiful face framed by long black lashes and a pert upturned nose. Even by wolf standards, she was beyond gorgeous. Always had been. Sometimes I wondered if I looked like her, even in the slightest, considering how stunning she was. But looking at her now, I could see something was wrong. Off. But I couldn’t put my finger on it. Her normally plump lips were drawn into a tight line. Her eyes narrowed into slits. And they remained that way, even when she finally noticed me. What I noticed next was a shock to my system. Phaedra had her arm looped into my mother’s like old friends. Beamed at me and Siya as they approached with a shark smile that sent the hairs on my arm standing on end. I wanted nothing more
Adelia’s Point of View I had to give it to her, her hands were immensely soft. Cold like ice but I expected nothing less from the ice queen herself. As one, the guards who had fallen into the crowd came bursting forward at the first sign of their heir’s distress. Like one, they plucked their guns from their holsters and pointed them solidly at my face. Slowly, Phaedra forced me to my knees and I could see from the corner of my eyes Siya’s stricken face. My mother, on the other hand, looked like it was just another Tuesday. Then I let my eyes slide back to Phaedra. Took in the crazed look in her eyes. Her smile was one sent straight out of hell. Warped her once beautiful face into something I wanted to wipe off of the face of the earth. “You think I’m crazy? Well, darling,” She held out her hand to one of the guards and a knife was firmly placed in her grip. “Let me show you exactly how deranged I am.” She finished, eyes blazing with fury. I swallowed and felt her press the blade t
Michael’s Point of View Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I downed a few but missed the main bitch. So fucking close and I fucking missed. But that damned brute had jumped her. Hopefully he could get the job done that I had started. Hopefully he could fucking eviscerate her. But from the amount of guards still left… Fuck. Fuck. Adelia. She was now firmly in their grasp again and from the way everyone reacted, they knew she was his mate. Which meant they were both up shit creek without a paddle. Seeing her being cut like that, it stole the breath from my lungs. Forced fire into my blood. And then I was screaming into the comms and no one spoke back. A damned jammer. Fucking nasty things. Next thing I knew, I was firing and cursing and firing some more. Each shot landed with pinpoint accuracy. Blood sprayed, coating the beautiful woman I had sworn to protect. Then she was thrust out of my line of sight and I felt helpless. Because seeing her bleed, seeing her so helpless… It broke somethi
Adelia’s Point of View We weren’t sleeping in the same wing as I had previously. Got tossed into the busiest part of the compound, no doubt to try and keep me more at bay. Too many eyes for me to do anything reckless. Or so they assumed, at least. Because I was in the middle of a shit storm and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to get out of it. Kick and scream and maim. At least from here the entrance to the cells below our feet was a bit closer- “What have you gotten yourself into, Adelia? These people? Honestly! I thought I raised you with a bit more common sense,” My mother sneered the moment the guards who had escorted us parted ways. Phaedra had also taken off in her own direction, even after my mother had offered to heal her brutalized face. The whore was too busy scheming for her to notice how utterly horrible she looked. Maybe she just didn’t care, rage riding her hard and fast like a damned broodmare. Standing in the middle of the living room, I looked at my mother
Adelia’s Point of ViewFinding the guard who was in love with Nessa was easy enough. The first and last time I had spotted him had been in the walled off garden keeping watch.The hard part came when it was time to leave.My mother had always been a light sleeper. Never used her own healing magic on herself, despite having trouble staying asleep. Hell, she even had trouble getting to sleep.But now I wondered was her lack of sleep due to a shit ton of bullshit coursing through her mind? Was it because she had a horrible side to her and never wanted to let it show until now?I couldn’t answer for that. All I could answer for was putting her out of Eiecrunt in the first place. The rest wasn’t something I had done wrong. It was all her in the end. Despite how much she wanted me to believe it was all on my head.I understood now why she and my father clashed so much. It was because they were cut from the same cloth.Slipping down the corridors I had tried my best to memorize, I clung to t
Adelia's Point of ViewHis face was a bloody mess. Coated in blood and what looked like his own vomit, I could smell more now than before. Had been hindered by the door until he pressed his face into the small opening at the top.My stomach roiled inside of me. Dread, slick and thick sluiced around my mind. Settled in the lower regions of my body until my legs felt like lead.Numbly, I reached for the small bars. Wrapped my fingers around them and hoisted myself up just enough that I had the best vantage point to see him.Behind me, Aiden stood guard. "What happened to you?" I breathed, feeling sick to my stomach.Because it had barely been two hours since I last saw him. Two hours stuck with my mother debating the morality of her cause. Or lack thereof. Someone surely couldn't have come down and-"Killian is the one who told Phaedra about us." He rasped out.The light inside the dim dungeon was slowly being consumed by more shadows and neither Aiden nor I had thought of bringing a
Adelia's Point of ViewMy mind was still a blurry mess by the time breakfast rolled around. Maybe it was due to the fact that I had gotten little sleep for the night. Or because my brain constantly went back to Siya. Back to the horror show that was now his life.The blood running down his face was something I wanted to forget but couldn't seem to. By the time my mother's tutoring lessons rolled around, I was already wreaked by panic for him all over again. Kept seeing Killian standing over him with a gun pointed at his head.We were at their mercy and I had been a fool to think otherwise."Sit up straight, Adelia!" My mother chided for the hundredth time in the last hour. Her wooden block ruler slammed down on my makeshift workbench sending my sparse pencils scattering to the wind.I truly felt like a child back in school. Like some fucking idiot who couldn't fully grasp the tasks at hand.Two plus two didn't equal four. It equaled pain and sorrow.Not for a lack of trying, my mind
Adelia's Point of ViewThey both cleaned up well. Looked dashing in their suits. But the scene in front of me was obscenely strange. Two fully grown men hiding behind a bush. One with an empty glass of some type of alcohol in hand. The other laughing maniacally into the dark If it hadn't been for me noticing their scents nearby, we wouldn't have found them at all.With their vantage, they could see the entire party perfectly. Still, they chose to hide away. Watched from the outside.And the moment they turned around to look at us, both of their jaws dropped to the floor.I knew Nessa had done a good job of styling me. Knew I looked better than I had ever done before. But their reactions were priceless. Worth every single burn Nessa had given me when she tried to curl my hair for the updo."Close your mouths, boys, it's fly season." Nessa joked from beside me. Chortled when all Michael could do was curse again, eyes digging up my flesh inch by inch. Siya wasn't far behind. Let his ey
Siya's Point of ViewI was a mated male.For one, I couldn't believe I wasn't dead yet. At the end of my twenties and I was still alive and well. Or as well as I could be, given that my body was a royal fuck up at the moment.But not dead. Not yet. And not anytime soon. Second, I was mated and in a new pack. Watched now as my old pack members streamed into a lush and vibrant garden made up for them and only them. To welcome them into a new and more stable home.If only the rest of my pack could have followed as well. Could have escaped the hell that was now Noha Khoeli.My mother would have been proud to see me now. Would have loved to know that her son was not only living but thriving. Saddened by the fact that her daughter had turned into such a cruel monster, yes, but glad to know her son had escaped that reality."Well, don't you clean up well," Michael crooned as he approached me from behind.I was standing in the shadows. Avoided anyone looking at me yet. Speaking to me. Mainly
Adelia's Point of View"Stop fussing! Everything has been sorted outside. It is two hours before the ceremony starts, we need to get ready!" I screeched at Nessa, hand clamped around her wrist and pulling her furiously into my walk-in closet.She was finding every reason in the book not to go inside and look at all of her options. From the decor to the food and everything in between. "Shit needs to be perfect and that fucking florist put one too many fucking roses in the centerpieces," She argued back whilst pulling away from me.A child with a new toy, that's what she was acting like right now."One too many roses isn't going to kill anyone, Nessa! But we can't be late for our own party," I hissed again and finally dragged her the rest of the way into the closet.The overhead lights flickered on the second they detected us. Flooded the small but packed space with light. And shimmers and sparkles from the clothes around us. This was where I kept most of my fancy clothes. The kind t
Adelia's Point of ViewI left Michael at the pack house with Aiden.Both men were walking around the place, making sure that every security measure under the sun was well in place. Nukes weren't the only threat we had to face. If Phaedra wanted to she could send an entire army to come and eviscerate us for what we had done to her pack. A tit for tat kind of thing. So the men peacocked around, trying to figure out every single weak point within the pack house grounds."I'm back," I called into the house and closed the door behind me.Groans sounded throughout the house, coming from upstairs. Groans. Moans. A few curses every once in a while. This was followed by a shrill voice that I couldn't make out the words from.Making my way up the stairs, I felt my teeth grind together as the groans intensified. Nessa was doing a number on her brother and showed zero remorse.When I walked in, she was straddling his ass, working her hands up and down the length of his spine. Siya's face was tw
Adelia's Point of ViewHis lips were as soft as I had remembered them. As intoxicating as well. But this time, his hands roamed my body freely. Hungrily. Claiming every inch as if he would never have the chance again. As if he needed to feel me to believe that we were doing this.Settling my own hands in his hair, I pulled his face away and smiled at him softly. Felt my heart still beating a mile a minute as he stared down at me. Blue eyes were half-lidded and twinkling when he looked down at me. Smiling like a damned fool.Ever so slowly he brushed a hand down the side of my face. Swept some of my baby hair back behind my ear. "You are so utterly beautiful that I might just die from looking at you too long." He whispered, breathing fanning my face in a minty puff. I rolled my eyes and shook his head for him. "That was maybe the cheesiest thing you have ever said to me," I bemoaned, unable to look even a tad bit disgusted by it.Because he could say those things to me my entire lif
Adelia's Point of ViewFor the first night where both of my mates were with me, we all collectively decided to sleep on our own. Not because I wouldn't have loved it to be the filling between both men but rather because neither of them felt very comfortable with that yet.Which was to be understood.I wouldn't know how to feel sleeping with my mate and his other mate.But Nessa's couches slept like utter shit! The girl had really said 'fashion and fuck the rest'. They were lovely to look at. Wonderful to curl up on. Horrendous for the back. So, when I finally woke up, I felt like an old woman climbing out of her coffin. My spine was shot to hell. Knees creaked from having had to curl them to my chest for the entire night.And if I felt this way, I didn't even want to know how Michael must have felt."We really should have brought another mattress," I groaned and stretched. Some of my limbs popped in their sockets, making me wince.Siya grumbled something into his pillow on the mattre
Adelia's Point of View"And you made sure to ask him that everything was disabled? Thrown away? Burned?" Nessa screeched, hands on her hips as she paced the length of the living room.Every time she passed Aiden, he reached for her but she was having none of it. Dodged his efforts every single time with a dip of her shoulder. Or a sneer when he got too close to calming her down."Ozias asked Dargan to check everything. He even sent over a plan of the house and where Ciaran placed everything," Michael explained and let his eyes dance over to mine. "He also apologized profusely for what his Alpha has done." "In what regard? Because everything he has done has been more than fucked up from what I hear." Nessa seethed again.Aiden made a last lunge towards her and when she dodged out of his way, he threw his hands up in exasperation. Looked done with trying. Hell, with living at this point.It was funny to witness them together.Him, the pragmatic planner who thought shit through. Her, wh
Michael's Point of ViewShe was fine. More than fine, actually, from the looks of things. Adelia was joking and laughing. Kidding around with Siya and his lack of cooking skills. Made fun of the fact that a carrot nearly took him out. And her with him, if she hadn't stopped healing him when she had. But she was bubbly and happy. Looked relaxed, even when I tried to tickle her feet. Or got her to snort coffee through her nose by accident.This felt comfortable. Easy. Like this was the place I had always been destined to find. A home I always needed to occupy.Logically she had tried several times to get back to planning. Or tried to sneak away with her phone, just to make a few calls, she had assured us. Neither of us let her, on orders of the Beta of the pack.Your first healing was as taxing on the body as your first shift. Something I had to keep in mind once I won her over and got her to turn me. The process and changes of it all were grueling enough that even Alpha pups were
Adelia's Point of ViewI was helped down the stairs. Helped, like a damned invalid. All because my body had decided healing a gash on an arm was one too much.Sure, give it a kidnapping. Nearly being killed. Being held captive by your deranged mother. Escaping said Mother. Organizing one large ass ceremony. And everything in between. But goddess forbid I tried healing someone. That was just fucking unacceptable.At first, both had offered to help me down. Neither wanted the other to help. A few glares had been exchanfged. Maybe a profanity or two, said through their eyes and luckily not their mouths.By the time they were done with their pissing contest, I was already at the door, tired of their bullshit. Scolded them for handling me like I was broken and not just tired. That had been the final straw for them to back off. Michael had been the winner in the end, to my utter dismay.His hand around my waist and my arm around his shoulders caused us to touch all up my side. Forced so m