ARIAEarly morning, the same dayI couldn't sleep. Whenever I closed my eyes, I could hear my heart pounding; pumping blood kept assaulting my eardrums, and every muscle within me tensed up in anticipation. This was THE day—the bloody full moon and the mating ball—where I was going to test my resilience to the mate bond. This was also the day I stopped hiding and said goodbye to Red.My transformation was over. As I stood in front of the mirror, I no longer saw any traces of red on my silver hair. I was back to being Aria, but I was light years from the girl I was before. The current Aria was eager to get her revenge and had the means to do it. Of course, that didn't change the fact that I was scared as hell. I was more than aware that all my enemies were going to be there. I could bet that Damara would sit next to my mate, acting like a Queen all mighty, but she wasn't the one I was wary of. I was nearly certain that Kestrel was going to show up in the palace during the ball, looking
TYRIONI was overwhelmed by the jasmine-strawberry scent, but I still wanted more. My mate, the one whom I thought was dead, appeared before my eyes as the Alpha of the Bright Haven Pack. Aria and Red were the same person! But how was she alive?! And how could I possibly be such a fucking idiot?! Why couldn't I feel that she was my mate?! I figured out that she had to cover her true scent somehow, but her eyes… Their amazing glow captivated me from the moment I saw her, and I should have somehow recognized her. I had wasted all the time I had her near me when she should have been mine completely...My eyes devoured her slender figure, covered by thin layers of silver silk, with a necklace with a sparkling star-shaped crystal embellishing her neck. Her long, silver hair rested calmly on her shoulders and back, shining like a miraculous aura around her. She was my very own Moon Goddess, and I was ready to worship her for the rest of my life.Once our eyes locked, I lost my breath. The i
ARIA I had to admit that Harriet was correct: the mate bond pull should not be underestimated. As soon as Tyrion's lips touched mine, my emotions erupted, but there was more… I could sense whatever he felt toward me. It was that raw honesty that made me unable to break our bond. Despite the overwhelming power of the mate bond, I wasn't going to simply let him leave his mark on me; I was going to make him earn the right to claim me. Everything this night was happening so quickly. One moment I saw my mate standing next to the woman I hated; less than half an hour later, Damara was on her knees before me. I tasted revenge and found its sweetness addicting. I couldn't wait to taste it once more once Kestrel was arrested. Ulisses was staring at me with his sneaky, hatred-filled eyes. Did he think that I was going to apologize for not letting Damara stay as Tyrion's fiancée? Or perhaps I should apologize for wanting her to be punished for what she did to me? Well, this old man had clearly
ARIAI was kneeling on the floor, numbly staring at my hands covered in the thick redness of Tyrion's blood. I only managed to cry out for help before the despair made me paralyzed. I watched two medics take off Tyrion's jacket and shirt, trying to examine his back."Four bullets," I heard, and my breathing came to a halt.Tyrion was turning paler by the second, and I could feel the shade of my complexion mimicking his. A strong wolf could have easily survived most of the bullet shots, sometimes even shots in the head and heart, but Tyrion had just told me that those bullets carried a lethal poison, and he had been shot four times..."Don't cry, Red… I mean, Aria." Felix's soft voice pulled me out of bewilderment."I'm not crying…" I trailed off as I realized that I'd been shedding wide streams of tears, long enough for them to wet my cheeks, my cleavage, and the neckline of my dress.Felix helped me get up from the floor and walked me out of the ballroom while medics put Tyrion's bod
TYRION"Can we stay like this forever?" I murmured, lazily opening my eyes and watching my beautiful mate lying in my arms."I thought you wanted to leave the hospital already, but I can always tell the doctor that you want to stay here," Aria teased, her fingers wandering across my naked chest. Then she lifted her head and smirked at me. "You know that it is indecent what we are doing here, don't you?I frowned. "I disagree. There's nothing wrong with hugging my mate, even when it happens on the hospital bed."It'd been two days since the mating ball. From the moment I woke up in the hospital, I spent every second with Aria, and I couldn't get enough of her. Aria felt obligated to become my personal nurse. After being briefly taught by the doctor, she changed the bandages on my back; she also helped me get up whenever I needed to and fed me by herself. Of course, I was absolutely capable of doing most of those things myself, but I enjoyed them too much to tell her. The one thing she
ARIAThe next few days were hectic. The news of the attack and the murder of over eighty newly-found mates at the mating ball spread quickly, and all the Alphas came to Tyrion one by one, demanding an explanation. They accused their King of having security problems in his own pack, and others straightaway accused him of murdering the members of their packs. I was standing by his side, watching him deal with all that shit they had been throwing at him. I couldn't help but admire the way the mighty King was willing to apologize to his subjects while keeping his proud and powerful demeanor. But even though he appeared to be strong, I could see the exhaustion creeping into his expression. He hadn't healed yet, and it seemed like the poison in his blood was sucking the energy out of him. It was painful to watch. I wished I could take some of this struggle away from him, but that could only be possible after I became his Luna…After everything that happened and after everything he told me,
ARIA I was conflicted. Damara was right about one thing: I would rather keep her alive in the filthy cell for years than kill her. I wanted to punish her, but I also thought that she didn't deserve a quick death. Now she could even be freed… I couldn't imagine Damara getting away with everything she had ever done just because she saw something! Anger tensed up my every muscle as I was walking back to Tyrion's chamber. I knew that I needed to pass Damara's message to him; it was too important. I wish I could just pretend I didn't hear anything from her... Once I walked into Tyrion's room, I found him discussing something with Felix. Tyrion was still lying down, and Felix was standing by Tyrion's bed. As I walked inside, he smiled at me and gave me a flirtatious wink. Goddess, this guy would never change his boyish behavior... He and Tyrion were discussing transporting bodies back to the packs, and I sat in the armchair opposite Tyrion's bed, delaying delivering the message from Damara
TYRIONI kept running my fingers through my hair while looking down at Damara's decapitated body. Aria walked back to our room to calm down, and I stayed with a bunch of inexperienced Omegas to secure the place. Paranoia started to hit me hard. I couldn't fucking trust anyone in this pack. It killed me that, when I started to think about who could have done it, Felix was on my shortlist. I couldn't even imagine that my best friend could work with the witch and with my uncle; the latter was even more impossible than the first one. Nonetheless, common sense dictated that I exclude all ranked wolves and warriors from the investigation. I was going to find that mole no matter what."Can I help?" I saw Aziz walking toward me with a hesitant smile. "Aria mind-linked me and told me what happened. I thought you could use my help. I have a lot of experience in investigating; I worked on quite a few cases in my old pack."I knew that I didn't like that guy for all the wrong reasons. I knew that
TYRION Four months later I loved waking up while feeling the warmth of Aria's magnificent naked body. I could never restrain my fingers from tracing her curves while we were lying like this. I always looked forward to the soft gasps that broke through her plush lips each time my touch pleased her. This time was no different. A low growl left my throat as she shifted in her sleep, instinctively pushing her curvy butt toward my erection. I grabbed her hips and rubbed my hard cock against the sensitive skin between her thighs. She moaned. Her heart started to race, and the delicious scent of her arousal filled the air of our bedroom. My hands wandered to her breasts, feeling her nipples harden underneath the feather-like touch of my fingertips. Another moan left her lips when one of my hands slipped between her legs to tease her clit. "You're so bad for waking your Queen like this…" she breathed. "You love me when I'm bad," I purred before biting her neck. She turned around and pushe
ARIA Once the Moon Blade pierced my mate's chest, Gadreel looked at me in shock. Pain and fury twisted his expression. He curled his fingers on the silver blade and used the remains of his strength to pull it out. Too late. I might have been crying my eyes out, but my grip stayed as strong as it was at the moment I thrust the sword, ripping the flesh of my loved one. Suddenly, his body began convulsing as if he had been electrocuted. He roared viciously as his blazing eyes turned into black smoke. The overwhelming stink of sulfur hit my nostrils, making me lean back as more smoke evaporated through Tyrion's skin. I felt as if I was being led by the Moon Blade itself. It told me to withdraw the blade, and I obeyed. Once I did, Tyrion's body fell to the ground, and the sword began to shine brighter than before. Then the blade started sucking in the smoke. I could hear the shrieks of the dying demon as his essence sank in the glow of the Moon Blade until everything turned silent. I coll
ARIAMy eyes widened in terror as I saw the dark smoke surrounding Tyrion surge into his body. The demonic essence filled him in seconds, and I could only scream while watching it happen. Hespera was slowly regaining her strength. She got up to her knees, pulled out the remaining red crystal from the pocket of her robe, and squeezed it in her hand. Then her eyes shifted to Tyrion, and she welcomed the sight of him becoming possessed by the demon with a dark grin spreading her mouth.I yanked the silver rings, trying to loosen their anchorage in the rocks. My wrists were bleeding, but I couldn't care less about the physical pain. The only ache that became unbearable was my heart breaking at the sight of Felix's bloodied corpse and my mate, who was about to become someone else...Tyrion proudly straightened up his naked body, his blood-dirtied chest heaved and fell, emphasizing his defined muscles. When his eyes opened, I knew that he wasn't the one in control of this body. Tears floode
TYRIONEight hours earlierI almost lost it when I heard that Harriet was Hespera's sister and could have located her. We could have used that spell months ago and traced that bitch before she had begun her killing spree! Harriet tried to explain that she only found out recently, but that didn't lessen my fury."Alpha Tyrion, I beg you. Try to understand that for many years I was convinced that my sister died in a fire. Not until I saw her in the coven's castle did I know for certain—""Harriet, you suspected who the dark witch might be, but you haven't told anyone about it, not even Aria. Now Aria is in grave danger, and we could have avoided it if we had caught Hespera sooner. If anything happens to Aria, I will forever blame you for it." My tone was as sharp as the finest sword, but she should still be grateful that I used words instead of my claws.She stepped back cautiously and frowned. "You know that I would never do anything to hurt Aria."I slowly exhaled my anger. "Let's hop
ARIAI felt as if my body had been run over by a truck at least five times. At the same time, someone had installed hammer drills inside my head, and I could feel them piercing through my skull. I think I hated wolfsbane more than silver poisoning. And now the pain caused by the poison, mixed with the heartache caused by the betrayal of someone whom I trusted...A painful groan left my throat as I opened my eyes, and I was strangely grateful for not being blinded by light once I did. The place where I was looked like a cave filled with lit candles. I was lying on the hard, stone ground. I was cuffed in silver, and each of my hands was chained by a separate chain to a wall. The length of those chains allowed me to either lay on the ground or sit against the wall. I kept wondering why I was brought here. Should I be grateful for being still alive?"I can see that you're awake, she-wolf." Hespera's voice echoed in the cave's empty space.I turned my aching head toward the sound and saw h
TYRIONI was waiting in the side room attached to the auditorium, waiting for the ceremony to begin. It was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago. The audience had already filled their seats, and everyone was waiting for my mate to walk in and dazzle them with her beauty. Nova and Nessa stood next to me, and I could see they were more nervous by the second, just like I was.‘Alpha Tyrion, come to your office. This is deadly urgent!’ Aziz's sharp-edged voice sounded through the mind link.‘Aziz, you were supposed to be here. My wedding is about to start,’ I said, irritated.‘Where is Felix? Is he somewhere near you?’ Now I could sense panic in his voice.I leaned outside to check if he or Aria showed up, but there was no sign of either of them. ‘No. Felix is with Aria now,’ I replied.‘We need to find him and arrest him!’ he shouted frantically.‘What the fuck are you talking about?!’ I roared.‘Alpha, I've just received the remastered footage with a clear picture. The one who killed t
ARIA I had an odd and disturbing dream. It was nothing like my terrifying vision of Tyrion and me, but it still left my heart wildly pounding and my body tense. In my dream, I was merely an observer. I saw two little, smiling girls, and somehow I knew that it was Harriet and her sister. Harriet had her brown hair tied in a cute ponytail while her red-haired sister's hair was braided. They both wore similar dark-gray dresses with long sleeves, resembling the long robes the coven witches had. They were running through a flowery meadow. Then, they stopped to spin around among the flowers. At one moment, a butterfly sat on Harriet's finger. Harmony tried to touch it, but the butterfly flew away. Harriet picked up a red poppy flower and handed it to Harmony. "Harmony, look! Isn't it pretty?" she said. Harmony narrowed her deep-green eyes, and the flower dried in her hands. Then she gave Harriet a cold stare. "Don't call me Harmony. There is nothing harmonious about me," she hissed. Harr
ARIA My whole body hurt, but the dumb smile didn't leave my face. Was it what people call happiness? If so, then the hot embodiment of my happiness was lying next to me. His upper arm served as my pillow while his forearm uncontrollably caressed my back. Tyrion's other hand was lazily lying on my waist, giving him easy access to my naked buttocks. From the second I opened my eyes, I could enjoy his amazing features in a deep, peaceful sleep. I could never get enough of him. He had the amazing ability to disarm my fears, build my confidence and strength, fire up my senses, and overfill me with pleasure. Still, I knew that each day I would wake up in his arms, I would only ask for more. He was the cause of my insatiable thirst. "You're doing it again, angel." His deep purr sent a direct signal between my thighs. "I'm not doing anything… yet," I said hoarsely. He chuckled and pulled me close so I could feel every rigid inch of him. "You're aroused," he whispered as his hand stroked th
TYRIONI didn't want to leave Aria. Seeing her cowering, crying, and reluctant to accept my touch was unbearable. She said that she was going to be fine, but it sounded more like she didn't want to talk about it. I respected her choice, yet the image of my shivering mate stayed in my mind for the rest of the day, filling me with anxiety.It was hard to focus on my duties, but I had to. I called the royal council meeting. It was time they stopped demanding and started helping like they were supposed to. After I got rid of the pests, Aldo Lefebre was appointed a natural council's leader. I couldn't be more glad of that choice. The mood in the council seemed to change as well. I could sense no stink of hostility or fear as I entered the audience hall to sit with the council."I came to inform you of the current situation, and I demand your assistance and guidance," I started. "A few days ago, my Luna fought against the dark witch. We now know that her name is Hespera. Hespera attacked he