|| ELINDA's POV ||
It was insane how easily people could judge you. Matteo's indirect insult at me only made me angrier. Fiona stretched her hands out to drag me outside. One sharp glare from my eyes, her wolf shuddered, taking a step back to show submission.
Matteo shot me another glare but he couldn't meet my eyes anymore. When a Royal took charge, average wolves couldn't stand the dominant power in front of her. I spat firmly, taking a step forward to the boy,
" Stay back. I can fix him. If I fail, you are allowed to insult me."
Matteo retorted weakly, staying a few steps away since he couldn't enter inside my dominance wave,
" You... don't.. you will kill him."
I ignored his words and opened up my mouth to bite on my wrist. Blood leaked out of it, sliding it down to my skin. I held it down on the lips of the dying boy. Fiona grumbled impatiently,
" What are you doing, witch? You will kill him."
I ignored her unnecessary banter. Moments afterward, the boy started coughing violently, turning paler than before. Matteo cursed with anger, shooting me his death glare,
" Fuck!! This woman..."
" What is happening here?", the sound of Alexis's voice stiffened me at my place. Each time he was near me, I felt the obvious discomfort in my heart.
Fiona didn't waste a second to run over to him. She whined, pretending to be crying,
" Don, look at your guest. She has killed little Morphi. She gave him her blood. Now the boy has turned worse and is dying."
Alexis's eyes snapped at me with rage then fell to the little guy who was vomiting uncontrollably. He came at me, grabbing me by my forearms to spit on my face,
" You have every damn right to hate me, Princess but don't include my people in your hatred."
My mouth fell open speechlessly. Did he think that I was trying to kill this little guy?
I tried to explain, but pain and anger were clogging my throat,
" Listen to me...I didn't..."
Matteo cut in, his eyes were wide in disbelief as he looked back at the little guy behind me,
" He is well now."
We both looked over the boy. He returned to its usual color, breathing heavily. My shoulders slumped down in relief. For a second, I was scared too of his condition. Alexis went over to check the pulse of the boy. When he felt it, he looked over at me regretting it. I swallowed the lump in my throat and explained it with a scoff,
" In case, some have forgotten. I happened to grow up with my doctor's parents. Royal blood can heal werewolves. Not everyone is a monster like you, Mr.Alexis."
Matteo wanted to say something but I had already walked out of the room. Fiona's expression gave me the best satisfaction. She looked like she just ate some shit.
___________
|| ALEXIS's POV ||
Fuck!!
I had never felt so irritated with myself!
How did I forget that she was the light? It was me who was the darkness in her life.
Regret grappled my soul as soon as she was gone from the soon. The pack member miraculously healed faster than normal. It was the stupidity of mine to believe everyone except her.
I sipped my wine absentmindedly as I watched over the trading list. Luke, my cousin walked over to me, a dead deer hanging over his shoulders. He had a habit of hunting like a human. He didn't stay in our pack house as the distant packs were assigned under his care.
Luke asked with the cigarette between his lips, dropping the deer aside like a piece of trash,
" You seem angry. Any reason?"
I glared at him murderously. It was his idea to date Elinda at the beginning. Before I could say anything, Luke let out a whistle, staring at some corner,
" Wow! Who is that hottie? Is she your new item after Fiona?"
My eyes traveled to follow his direction. The sight that I saw made my blood boil in anger, my cock twitching in desire. Elinda came down from the second floor in a very short fork. Her ass was almost exposed as she wandered in front of the trainee warriors. I swore that I wanted to dig their eyes out. I let out a growl, grasping the paper,
"Don't..LOOK..."
Luke gave me a strange look. After stealing another look at Elinda, he swallowed hard before muttering,
" Isn't she Elinda.. from our college? How could she..."
I cut him off with a roar, grabbing the wine glass and finishing it off,
" You are dismissed, Luke. Go back!"
Luke didn't dare to say anymore. On his leave, I watched Elinda again. This time, she was laughing with some young boys in her hot dress. Gosh! I wanted to spank her ass for showing off.
It became unbearable when her laughter with the boys reached my ears. I stood up in a shot, already heading on their way. The boys ran in different directions on my arrival. Elinda gave me a black look, unhappy at my presence,
" What?? Why did you send them away?"
I eyed down at her purple dress. It was provoking and could turn on any man. I commanded it with a growl, holding her forearms,
" TAKE IT OFF, PRINCESS!"
Elinda sneered at me, jerking my hands off her body,
" YOU CAN'T ORDER ME! I am not your pack member, Don. Whatever I wear, it has nothing to do with you. Just stay the fuck out of my business."
Please.. Did she think that I couldn't control her because I fucking rejected her?
I pulled her over my shoulders, her scream echoing in the field. Everyone stared our way, but I ignored them. I carried her upstairs over my shoulders, her beatings falling on my back. She cried hysterically,
" LEAVE ME ALONE! I hate you, Leo."
I dropped her on her butt over the bed. She wanted to run away but I held her down, ordering in my Alpha voice,
" TAKE IT OFF or...I will take it off for you, Princess."
Elinda stared at me, her lips trembling in anger. After a while, she blurted out with a hiss,
" Do it then! I would like to see how far you control. Do it for me, Alex. Take it off since you hate it so much."
I clenched my jaw at her words. She was provoking my anger but I never found it easy. How could I resist my urge when I looked at her body?
At the same time, I hated it when men eyed her body, dreaming about her hips and curves. It turned me mad unreasonably. I let out a scoff and followed her wish. Grabbing the hem of her dress, I tore it apart swiftly, her surprised gasp hitting straight to my groin.
How could a woman be so damn perfect?
Her black bra popped out under my eyes. She became stiff but she forced herself to act bold. My mouth watered at the sight of her breasts. It had grown fully and I wouldn't mind tasting the buds. I stared down at her body for a while, then leaned over to her until our faces were inches apart. I muttered my words through harsh breathing,
" I will resist you even if you are standing naked in front of me, Princess. Do you know why? Because I am fucking loyal to my best friend."
Chapter 160|| CLARA'S POV ||I wanted answers. I needed to know the truth that Mikhail had concealed behind his well-rehearsed smiles and open hugs.It was not bravery that brought me here. It was desperation.After what Elinda had shown me—after watching Alexis almost broken by the same game—I knew that this was my turn. Whatever affection Mikhail ever had, it was not real. I was caught in the middle, strategically placed and used as soon as I was no longer useful. But if I could understand the game that he was playing, perhaps I might survive. Perhaps, just maybe, I could finish it out.I slid into the library like a specter. The high doors groaned softly as I opened them, and for an awful instant, I thought someone might have heard. But there was nothing. Silence. The library was gigantic—row after row of towering bookshelves, wheeled ladders, and dusty tomes propped on pedestals like they were artifacts of gods long forgotten.I stopped in the doorway, taking in the scents of scu
Chapter 159 || Elinda's POV ||By the time I woke up, the world beyond me was distant. I was not in pain. I was not angry. I was not anything. I simply lay there on the bed, staring blankly at the canopy overhead, not blinking, not moving. I did not know how long I had been there—hours, maybe longer. Time had dissolved into silence.Everything inside me felt hollow.Alberto sat beside me, his body tense, his fingers tapping nervously against the edge of the bed. He had been waiting. He hadn't stirred, not for a moment. I could feel the weight of his concern, the unspoken blame that hung on him like a second layer of skin."Elinda," he whispered, his voice barely audible and full of caution, as though he feared I would break. "Are you… are you all right?"I didn't answer. I blinked but had no words to summon. What could be said? That my soul was scorched? That my chest had been sliced open and packed with ashes?He inclined forward slightly. "Talk to me. You haven't said a word since
Chapter 158|| ALEXIS’S POV ||My wedding morning began in silence—an unnatural, eerie silence that seemed to wrap itself around my chest like a shroud. I stood before the tall, arched window of my chamber.I should have felt something joy.But I felt nothing. Nothing but hollow emptiness, as if my heart had lost.I went to wed Lysa today.Not because I cared for her.Not because I had selected her.But because I had no other choice.The entire manor buzzed with anticipation. I heard the activity of servants rushing to and fro, decorating the courtyard with gold ribbons and white roses—Lysa's favorites. My pack of warriors stood outside in their shining armor, ready to serve their Alpha's wedding. Guests had begun arriving early morning, councilmen and nobles alike, all dressed elaborately in ceremonial robes, their faces aglow with wonder and forced smiles. They were here to witness the union, not the love.But all I could do… was think of her.Elinda.Even if the world forgot her, I c
Chapter-157|| Elinda's POV ||The evening lay heavy as I stood before the healer's hut, the burden of my decision settling deep into my own bones. The wind whipped.I had been living with this for years—the wolf that lay within me, the constant summons of the moon that left me alive for an instant and completely beyond control the next. The pain of the change, the hunger for blood, the rage—it had never been so easy to handle.The connections I had made, the people I had loved, all of them had been tainted by my curse. By this curse. And now I too far gone, in misery myself, too shattered even to attempt anymore.I had attempted, I promise. I had attempted to live for them—Alberto, my family, my friends—but the more I gave, the more I lost. I had nothing. No strength to fight the monster inside me, no hope to cling to. My loyal friend had been the wolf, but now I was learning to regard it as an enemy. And I knew that I should never be free unless I severed the tie between us for all t
Chapter 156|| Clara's POV ||After the experience with the old woman, my mind was a tangled mess, each strand pulling in a different direction. I had learned so much in such a brief period, but it had only served to confuse me more about the world of my being. I had always known that I was different, something that I could not ever understand, but now it appeared that the truth was a great deal more involved than I could have ever imagined.I needed answers, and there was only one individual who could offer them to me. The ex-beta. Elias. He was a person who had been around me as far back as my childhood, a person that I trusted with my life. Because my dad had passed away, he had been the rock of our pack, until my stepdad had become the one in charge. Then Elias had disappeared, preferring to live a life long-distance from the pack, on his own. But I had always understood that Elias was not anybody. He had remained loyal to my dad, and I understood that he must have some informatio
Chapter-155|| Clara's POV ||Never had I felt so small in life. Stepping out of the pack house gates, the weight of every look was like an invisible force.The path ahead weighed ever so slightly more with each step taken, and the affectionate welcome I used to get was now a memory far behind. The cold shoulder from pack members was palpable. Their faces, once full of familiarity and warmth, now looked at me with cold disdain. They spoke to me as if they didn't even know who I was anymore.I tried to ignore the judgmental looks and the silent stares as I made my way towards the door of the house. It had been ages since I'd been here, and yet the entire place felt so different now. The house towered above me like a giant monument of my past, filled with memories of better times. But now, it was a place where I had no right to be. The trek to the door was a gauntlet to run through, my teammates' eyes boring holes into my back.When I finally reached the door, I stood there for a momen