Arianna turned and opened her eyes, her vision blurring at first with her drowsiness. She yawned and tried to blink away her sleepiness when she felt someone by her side.She wondered who it could be and when she took a look, she got the biggest shock of her life.She saw Cassuis lying by her side and she reflexively got up at once, shifting away from him.The stir woke him up and she looked at her with a smile. "Good morning." He greeted and she threw him a look of confusion."What's good about the morning? Care to explain this?" Arianna seethed."Explain what?" He questioned with an innocent face. "Don't play dumb with me, what is the meaning of this? Why am I waking up on your bed when I have no memory of coming here?" Arianna questioned."Calm down sunshine, you were drunk last night so I brought you here to have some rest." He said and Arianna glared at him."Don't be so angry. Nothing happened between us if that's what you're worried about." He assured but the fear still permeat
Two weeks passed and Arianna gradually forgot about the guilt and fear she had formally experienced by waking up beside Cassius but what she couldn't forget was the feeling of angst she now felt for him.Something just kept telling her that it would be better for her to keep her distance so such would never occur again. She also didn't tell anyone and never planned to, there was no harm done so nobody had to know.Arianna had just finished eating a delicious plate of pasta about an hour ago and she couldn't express how refreshed she felt.She was feeling very excited because today marked the first month of her stay in the pack and it would only be two more months before she would be able to reunite with her family and Valentin.It surprised her that she felt absolutely nothing when she thought about the prospect of going back to her fiancé, it just felt like everything about him had suddenly lost its magic and she began to wonder why.Could it be that she had just suddenly stopped lo
"What?!" Loki and Arianna questioned together. "Yes Alpha, our future Luna is pregnant and going to give you an heir soon." The doctor repeated joyously.Loki felt like his heart had been ripped, his mate is currently pregnant with someone else's child. Was that the reason she had refused to let him come close to her? Was that the reason she didn't want to see the doctor? Had she been lying or even cheating behind his back? His inner wolf growled in anger and he felt the rage go throw him. He balled his hands into fists and Lew his claws spring out and cut through his skin, making it bleed. The pain served as a form of escape from the bitter truth."No, that can't be possible. It just can't!" Arianna nearly screamed, tears gathering at the edge of her eyes."Why can't it be? Stop acting so virtuous!" Loki yelled at her and she flinched. This was the first time he had ever raised his voice to her and it felt hurtful and scary."Please excuse us, I want to talk to the doctor alone. Plea
Arianna ran with tears in her eyes, not minding that they blurred her vision. She searched around the castle and when she could not find Loki she went outside the castle, to the direction of the packhouse.She saw him going towards the packhouse and she ran after him, overtaking him and standing in front of him with her hands stretched out so she could block him."Arianna, get out of my way now." He ordered, trying his best to maintain control. "No. I won't get out of your way until you listen to me." She pleaded."I said get out of my way before I make you, you're currently carrying a child so I don't want to be rough with you so kindly get out of my way before I make you." He barked."I won't. You can do whatever you want to me, push me, hit me, scream at me or even call me all sorts of names but I won't leave you alone until you find out the truth." Arianna said, her tears nearly choking her."What truth? If you're talking about your whole affair with Cassuis then I'm not intereste
Arianna walked out of the examination room with a thousand thoughts in her mind. She was worried sick about what the test results would reveal. She joined Loki in the waiting room and he told her to sit down but she couldn't because she was far from calm.All her confidence from before seemed to have vanished into thin air. She had been so sure that she was not pregnant but now she had doubts, not in herself but in Cassuis.The thought of that morning still bothered her to no end and she wished she had at least told Loki then maybe none of this would have happened.The doctor had said that it would take about two to three hours for the results to arrive but for Arianna, it felt like forever.She paced up and down and Loki saw just how worried she was, though he wanted to believe with all of his heart that Arianna was telling the truth, there was still a lingering doubt in his mind that just had to be cleared up. Connor, his wolf, reminded him that before Arianna was his mate, she wa
Arianna and Loki both thanked the doctor before leaving her office. As soon as they were out oxf the doctor's office, Loki grabbed Arianna in a hug. "I'm really so sorry Arianna, I should have trusted you but I went ahead and said all those mean things to you because I was angry." He apologized and she smiled, snuggling into the embrace."It wasn't your fault, I too would have fallen for it if I didn't have faith in myself. It was a well concocted plan and no one certainly saw it coming." Arianna assured."Who could have been lacing your food with banana leaves? Who would want to break us apart so badly and why does it seem like Cassuis is part of their plan?" Loki asked."I really don't have an answer to any of your questions but there's one thing I'm sure of, whoever laced my food is the same person that tried to kill me. But let's not waste time thinking about it now that we've found the truth, we have to get to the bottom of this and fish out all the unfriendly friends." Arianna s
Arianna and Loki walked into the palace together and Loki took a seat as soon as he arrived in the throne room. He called a guard. "Go get Cassuis, the cook and the doctor and bring them here immediately." He ordered and the guard left immediately to do as he had been commanded."What are you going to do?" Arianna questioned. "I'm going to do what any Alpha would do to protect his Luna from harm. Take a seat beside me." He said and took Arianna's hand, directing her to sit on a smaller throne just beside his."I don't know but this feels too fancy for me." Arianna said with a small smile. "Then you'd better start getting used to it because I'll never let you leave my side no matter what, deal or no deal." He said and Arianna wanted to say something but paused when she saw the guard enter the room with the three people he had been asked to summon."Cousin, please calm down. None of it was Arianna's fault, it was all mine and I'm ready to take responsibility." Cassuis began, unaware tha
Loki sighed at finding out the truth, he almost couldn't believe that the people he trusted most had decided to betray him so badly."If you really love me as you claim then why didn't you let her tamper with my food, what if she had poisoned, what if something bad had happened to me?" Arianna questioned Cassius."I'm sorry, I didn't really know what she was going to do. She just told me she would make sure to give you something that would make it seem that you were pregnant and that everything would work out in the end if #I just played my part out well." Cassius revealed and Loki didn't want to hear anymore."Enough, I've heard enough. Why would you work together with Lilith to betray me? How can you even claim to be in love with my mate, is that even logical?" He questioned, completely infuriated."I'm not going to apologize for anything, she's not your mate, she's mine. She's just like my Sabrina so she's my mate." Caasius argued."For the last time, I'm Arianna, not Sabrina and I
Sage was back in his room, trying to get the thought of what had just happened out of his mind when he suddenly remembered the reason why he had gone to Arianna's room in the first place.He decided not to go back immediately as there would still be some level of awkwardness, but what he left in her room was far more important. So he took a deep breath and left his room, heading for hers.He got to her room and saw Mabel standing outside the door."Alpha!" She called, startled, but he just ignored her—he always did.He wanted to push the door open and go into the room, but what had happened previously instantly changed his mind, so he knocked instead."Come in." He heard Arianna's voice say from within the room, so he went in and closed the door behind him."You again? What are you doing here this time?" She questioned and then bit her tongue for speaking on impulse. She mentally face-palmed herself for not being able to control what she said. She was so used to speaking freely that h
Though with great difficulty, Arianna was able to take a bath and even brush her teeth. After wrapping a towel around her body and her wet hair, Mabel helped her back onto the wheelchair and rolled her back to the bed, onto which she equally helped her as well.The real problem came when Arianna realized that she didn't have any clothes to wear because, once again, she'd been kidnapped. It was starting to seem like she was kidnapping material, and it would have been funny if not for the fact that she was the one involved."I don't have any clothes to wear," Arianna notified Mabel."Oh, right. I didn't think of that. I guess I'll just get you some of mine," Mabel said and left to get some of her clothes.Meanwhile, Arianna commenced towel-drying her body, not realizing that Mabel had not fully closed the door, leaving it only slightly open.Sage strolled into the room, pushing open the door effortlessly, definitely not prepared for what he was about to see. And since it was already hal
Loki's green eyes fluttered open when he felt something on his face. He blinked repeatedly before his vision cleared, and then he saw Freya's hand on his face as she stared at him lovingly.He got up quickly, nearly falling from his chair as he grabbed her hand in his. "Freya, you're awake. Thanks to Goddess Diana." He said and kissed her hand, but she shushed him."Lie back down and please don't say a word. It's been such a long time since I last saw you sleep; I didn’t want to wake you because you looked so peaceful.I can see how tired and weary you really are. First because of Arianna's disappearance and now mostly because of me. I wouldn't mind dying this minute, just as long as you're alright." Freya said, and it was soon Loki's turn to shush."Please don't say that, you're not gonna die. No one is going to die. I'm just glad to see that you're OK, nothing else matters now." He assured her with a smile and hugged her gently.Just then, Lilith walked in with a tray in her hands.
Arianna's eyes flew open when she felt a sudden pang of pain shoot through her. She flinched and tried to sit up so she could get a glimpse of what was going on.The sound of Sage's sharp voice stopped her midway. "Stop. Stay still, or you'll hurt yourself," she heard him say, and she instantly snapped her head in the direction of the voice.He avoided her eyes for some reason as he examined the extent of the damage on her leg. Now that his anger wasn't present, just looking at what he had done to the innocent girl, he felt like a monster, and guilt finally started to wash over him. He knew he ought to apologize, but his pride wouldn't let him, so he would try to make it up to her instead."Doctor," he called, and the doctor came forward to take a look at the damage done so she'd know the correct treatment to administer."Thank the goddess, she's only suffered second-degree burns. There's only redness, swelling, and blistering, so she doesn't need serious treatment," the doctor said,
Sage couldn't sleep properly; he turned continuously on his bed as the same nightmare that had haunted his dreams for eight years surfaced once more. But this time, it was so much more different that it was totally unexpected.In his dream, he didn't see Nathalie being dragged away like he always did. Instead, he saw someone else.On a closer look, he saw it was Loki's human mate. He tried hard to recall her name but couldn't. She was being dragged away, and she had a pained look in her eyes. He didn't attempt to do anything to save her, just stood there and watched as she disappeared from sight.Suddenly, he saw Nathalie in front of him, and she seemed to be very angry. "Nathalie, my love," he called and rushed to grab her in a hug, but she put her hand forward, stopping him in the process."Don't call me that. You've failed me," she said, and he looked down, feeling guilty once more."I'm really sorry, Nathalie. I'm sorry for being so weak at that time. I'm sorry that I couldn't sav
Doctor Rose had arrived quickly and managed to stabilize Freya's condition, but she was still yet to wake up despite the doctor's promise that she would soon. Loki’s head was a mess, and he couldn't even think properly.It was well into the night, but Loki had not even closed his eyes once. Lilith had been with him for a while, but she had eventually retired to her room to get some sleep, and he could understand. She advised that he do the same, but he couldn't bring himself to even think of sleeping while his mother was in such a condition.He hadn't been fully able to grasp the thought of Arianna's betrayal, and now he had to deal with Freya's deteriorating health.As he sat beside Freya's bed and held her hand, he was filled with so many emotions, not knowing how to react. The events of the past few hours had been such a hard blow that they had managed to break him down so suddenly. He had been through so much in his life, but he didn't know if he would ever be able to recover from
Loki returned back with a heavy heart. He walked into the palace silently, and Freya tried to ask him of Arianna's whereabouts, but he said nothing because he couldn't comprehend what was going on as well. She wanted to follow him but decided against it, knowing that he needed some time to himself. Even in the midst of confusion and hurt, the best antidote was usually some alone time, so as to be able to think things through.He walked to his room and sat heavily on his bed, a lot of things going through his mind. The fact that he could no longer connect with her telepathically for some reason was more worrisome than it should have been.Where could she have gone? Why had he been feeling so restless? Was that letter authentic? Why did he trace her scent to the Black Solstice pack, but he still couldn't find her in the end? None of it made any sense.Loki instantly felt a terrible ache in his head and brought his hand to his temple, rubbing it tiredly.Just then, Lilith walked into the
Arianna blinked repeatedly, trying to see through the wet liquid on her face. She wiped the water away from her face and her gaze fell on Sage who had on his signature steel gaze."I see that you're very stubborn, human. I specifically warned you not to try to escape but you blatantly disobeyed me." He started and Adlrianna fought the urge to glare."I have a name, and it's Adrianna." She corrected, she was definitely sick and tired of all of this. What right did he have to treat her like this?"You're also a loud mouth as well andseems you don't know your place. I'll be very glad to teach you then." He said and before she could process his words, he grabbed both of her hands and raised them up, bringing them above her head.He called to one of the maids and ordered her to bring him some rope and that's when the fear slowly began to creep into Arianna. She shook her head vigorously."No. What are you going to do?" She asked, alarmed but he didn't bother replying to her. The maid quic
Arianna fought hard, trying her best to escape from the tight grip around her body and remove the hand preventing her from calling out to her beloved.Sage saw Arianna's relentless behavior and knew that it would not be too long before she would be able to break free, so he sent an instruction to his guard secretly, with just a nod of the head.The guard quickly understood his Alpha's instructions and nodded back.Mason, the guard, released his hand from her body but kept the other hand firmly on her mouth. Arianna saw this as an opportunity and struggled some more, but little did she know that her efforts would come to naught soon.Mason interlocked the fingers of his free hand, making it into a cup shape. He brought it to her neck and after feeling for the wind pool point, which was a powerful pressure point, he hit it with light precision, knocking her out instantly.Arianna didn't have time to think as she instantly lost consciousness in barely a second. Mason caught her body quic