FELIXMy senses went on high alert the second before the bullets came through the window. I lay down, shielding Nova with my body while the shots kept coming. Fortunately, as we stayed on the bed, we were below the line of fire. Five shots, seven, ten... how many more? There had to be a sniper outside, most likely hidden in the trees. I could bet there was wolfsbane in those bullets. Someone wanted to kill me, but this fucker had chosen the wrong wolf to mess with. Then the bullets stopped flying. Was the sniper out of bullets, or was he waiting for any of us to walk into the range of his shots?Nova lay underneath me, holding her breath until the bullets stopped whistling inches above us. Her heart was racing. She might have been scared, but her green eyes were focused, chasing away the panic."Move away, please, and let my magic work," she whispered, struggling to free her hands from beneath my weight.I was curious about what was she up to. I obeyed her demand and cautiously rolled
FELIXAn hour later, we were in Nova's old mansion, both too exhausted to do anything aside from sleep in one bed. It was an extremely long day, and I had a feeling that the days to come wouldn't be any easier than this one. Even so, I told Nova to keep the clothes Aria had prepared for her. I certainly couldn't wait to rip one of those sexy nightgowns off her. I'd do it... after we cleaned up this freaking mess.The next morning, I decided to visit my uncle dearest. I bet the news of my return to the land of the living had already reached his ears, yet he chose to ignore his only family. So typical of him. He had never liked me, or should I say despised me, for some inexplicable reason. He hated his sister for giving birth to me as well. That sole fact had always made me curious to know who my father was, but somehow it remained the family's taboo. I had always thought that he didn't like me because he didn’t have children of his own, anyone who would become his heir. His mate was in
NOVA Once Felix left, Aria sent a car over to take me to the palace. She and I spent the entire morning together, and I finally had a chance to meet the lovely twins. Cara and Caden were both adorable—they both had sparkling blue eyes like their mother and Tyrion's thick, dark chocolate hair. "They're so cheerful and smiling," I said, looking at the two widely-grinning babies lying in their cradles. Aria gave me the look. "Yeah, right. They are just showing off in front of you. They are two little devils in disguise. The first month was terrible. Fortunately, Tyrion turned out to be amazing at putting them to sleep. They gave ME a chance to sleep as well." She chuckled, her eyes glowing with happiness. I smiled at her and stroked her silver hair. "I wish I could be that happy one day." "You will," she assured me. "Just promise me one thing: go to the mating ball with Felix. The Blood Moon is next month. Promise me that you will not chicken out this time." A hesitant smile curved
FELIX One hour earlier I sat on the wooden porch and stared at the letter. It was supposed to be from my father—the one I had never met and the one who might have spent all those years living peacefully while knowing about my existence. Oh, sweet irony. I actually had to die to hear from him. A mix of extreme emotions flooded me. I wasn't sure if I wanted to treat this letter like something precious or tear it apart. I used to imagine the moment I met my father, but as the years went by, I realized that there were two possibilities: he could be either dead or turn out to be the piece of shit who abandoned his child. Of course, there was a slight chance that he wasn't aware of my existence, but I would say that the probability of that happening was rather low. From the letter, I learned that the one who claimed to be my father was the Crimson Mountain Pack's Alpha, and Alphas didn't just walk around, casually spreading their seed all over their territory and beyond. Well, OK, they d
NOVAI was in pain. I wanted to scream, but when I did, I screamed into a void that absorbed all sounds. I felt as if I was swallowed by the darkness because I couldn't escape it no matter how fast I ran. My magic didn't work, and after a while I could only bang on the walls surrounding me, hoping that one of them would break.‘Focus, Nova. Focus,’ I told myself in my thoughts. ‘Try to remember how you got here. Try to remember what happened…’ A scene of Laura stabbing me with a needle rushed through my mind. ‘A poison…’ With that one word surfacing in my mind, another wave of pain flooded me, but at least I acknowledged the source of it.I didn't know what kind of toxin Laura injected into my veins, but I could feel that it was slowly crushing every ounce of my consciousness. I wanted to live. I had to live. Then I began to wonder if, maybe, not all of my magic was blocked by this void. I took a deep breath—or at least I imagined taking one—and concentrated on my healing abilities. M
FELIXNova stood on the opposite side of the street from her house, watching it burn. She was covered in nothing but a blanket. I watched the tears fall down her cheeks, and guilt rose within me. No one would have attacked her home if it wasn't for me. She didn't deserve such treatment.People from a few blocks gathered to observe the flames. Some of them shook their heads in disbelief, and others snickered, enjoying the view. The firemen were doing everything they could, but the fire spread too quickly, consuming everything along the way. I wrapped my arm around Nova's waist and pulled her close."I'm sorry," I muttered, nuzzling her neck.She faced me with a sad smile, wiping the tears from her cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry about. It's the people of this damn town who should apologize."I knew she was hurt and angry, which made the blood boil in my veins. I looked around the crowd; the one who threw cans with burning gasoline inside Nova's house could be around them, and I co
NOVAThe next twenty-four hours were intense. This one decision could change my entire life, and it would definitely change Felix's life. In the morning, Felix met with Alpha Tyrion to announce his choice. I could tell that Alpha Tyrion wasn't pleased with it, but he chose to support his friend nonetheless. I tried to think rationally about this idea, but my instincts were telling me that it was more like a choice between a fire and a flood. Well, the fire here was quite literal..."I know that I'm selfish, but I don't want you to leave." Aria held my hands tightly in hers and stared into my eyes, looking for an ounce of hesitation.My lips stretched into a thin smile. "Tell me honestly: do you truly believe you can clean up this mess with Felix and me living in Grand Lunaville?"She gritted her teeth. "I'm so pissed at this situation... I'm their Queen, for Goddess's sake!"I laughed. "Aria, they respect you, but they still won't change the way they think for you.""Well, they should
NOVALife had taught me that the first impression wasn't always the right one, so I learned to wait before I judged someone's character, but seriously?! This woman made me hate her in less than five minutes! Her whisper to me wasn't exactly discreet. Felix must have heard it because I could feel his anger rising. He was on the verge of exploding, but I dug my nails into his hand, stopping him from ruining everything for himself."Of course," I said, smiling at Gisele and Alpha Rainier. "I would never interfere with Alpha Heir's duties. Could you show me to my room then?"Felix gave me a confused look. "Nova?"I reached out my hand and stroked his cheek. Then I stepped on my toes to kiss him and whispered, "Play by their rules… for now."I was light years from accepting the situation, but I told myself that it was only temporary. Felix and I needed to know this place better. Perhaps we should be grateful to Luna Gisele for revealing her true colors immediately. The pack's current Luna
NOVA One year later "You should have stayed in the packhouse, Luna Nova. You're pregnant. Alpha will kill me." Holden repeated those words for the fifth time while we were on our way to the Sky Town's construction site. I didn't break the promise I gave Felix—I wasn't driving, Holden was. "I'm fine. You're forgetting that I'm a witch with healing powers. I can feel when there's something wrong with the baby or me. And I go where I'm needed," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're going to get me killed," he grunted, and I chuckled. Felix had been overprotective since he learned that I was pregnant two weeks ago. He had been freaking out ever since. I wasn't gravely ill, for Goddess's sake! Furthermore, I felt stronger than ever, and it was a perfect day for my magic to work. With the help of Harriet and Sadako, we created a replacement for the ancient talisman used to fill the jades. Now the witches I hired were using it to enhance their own magic and strengthen the grou
FELIXMate. That one word rang in my head, building the sweetest, most enticing sensation I had ever felt in my life. There was something pure and raw about it. It was this certainly—this absolute certainty—that I was looking at the one destined for me, the one whom I would love and worship for the rest of my days. It felt nothing like that fake fascination I felt for Lya. If I had known what it should have felt like, I would've never even touched her. Goddess made me wait for too long, testing me. Now I prayed that even if I had failed miserably before, Nova would give me a chance to prove that I was worthy of having her as my mate.She inhaled sharply and smiled at me. Her emeralds sparkled in the light of the moon. She was perfection—strong, beautiful, and caring. I wanted her to become my Luna, even tonight."S-so... what now?" She laughed nervously, and I could feel her trembling in my arms.I leaned over and softly kissed her lips. "Well, we can wait for our dinner or skip the r
NOVAA week passed since Felix carried me out of the mine, and the cheering crowd of warriors announced that the battle had come to an end. I had spent that week in the hospital, as had many others. I should have been the one healing them, but currently, I wasn't even able to heal myself.The ritual had taken a greater toll on me than I initially expected. All the rocks that had fallen on my body didn't help either. For the first time in my life, I had to be taken care of, and there was one person who immediately applied for the job—Felix. He had been here, by my bed, from the moment he had carried me into the hospital. He had been severely injured himself, but he refused to lie down. He said that he would heal while sitting by my side, and I seriously didn't know how I felt about it.I knew that all those things that he did—everything that hurt me—weren't entirely his fault. But even before he was under the fake mate-bond spell, he pushed me away. Besides, the fact that he spent the
FELIXHalf an hour earlierThe opening of a large tunnel leading to the jade mine was right in front of Asriel and me. We were wearing only pants to quicken the shift when necessary. We had killed the ten warriors guarding the entrance, and now there was finally no one standing in our way. We knew that Eric and Nova were inside and that, most likely, Maren was there as well. We informed our warriors where we were going, but we couldn't wait. Nova's life was at stake.We stormed into the dimly lit tunnel and rushed forward until we reached the point where it split into two sides. Asriel cursed, looking at the two nearly identical tunnels. "Where now?"I stood in the middle, closed my eyes, and drew a deep breath through my nose. "Left," I said.Asriel raised one eyebrow. "How do you know that?""I sensed a faint smell of magnolias. It's coming from the left side," I explained.Asriel frowned. "I don't smell anything."I smirked. "It's understandable. You cannot possibly know Nova's sce
NOVAThe last thing I remembered was Eric raising his fist and the pain on the back of my head that followed. When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the uneven wall, spiked with purple stones. The jade mine. I was lying in the center of another magic circle. I guess Eric had no time to prepare another cage, pair of cuffs, or chain for me. I gritted my teeth as I tried to stand up. My head still hurt, and I needed a moment before I balanced my unstable body.I looked around. The place where I was appeared to be the dead end of a mining corridor. This area had been carefully hollowed out, and the massive beams, formed in a very solid construction, enhanced the walls. A long line of cables went through the top of the wooden structure, supplying the row of weakly glowing light bulbs with electricity. There was only one exit, leading to a dark tunnel in front of me... I cursed under my breath. Even with my magic unrestrained by the circle, my chances to escape this place were practically
FELIXNova. She filled every corner of my mind as we were getting closer to the Crimson Mountain Pack's territory. I prayed that she was alive and unharmed, and once the darkest what-ifs flooded my mind, the rage followed. I was going to kill every fucker that caused her pain.Our combined armies were a little over a hundred people. The enemy had numerical superiority, but I dare say that the best warriors in our Werewolf Kingdom were on our side. Now, we could only hope that they weren't able to create too many jades fueled by magic. Otherwise, their numbers could truly cause a huge problem…It was fortunate that Tyrion made significant changes to the royal council, filling it with wise and open-minded men. There were no votes against the Moon Blade Pack engaging in our conflict, and they were all more than willing to hear the entire story, starting from the deal with Hecate. They all agreed that this matter had to be solved urgently, and so the alliance had been made.I wish I had m
NOVAAt the cost of several more witches' lives, another stone was created. Eric consumed it just as he did with the one filled by Cassandra. Tears couldn't stop falling down my cheeks. There were tears of pain—the pain of those who died—and anger. Once the ashes covered more than half the floor in the audience hall, Eric finally ordered, "Let's end this for today. I'm bored."And just like that, the hall was emptied, and I was brought back to my cell. The real reason why the witch-killing had ended was anything but the fact that Eric got bored. Aside from Maren and me, he could no longer sense the true, powerful magic within the remaining witches. I also heard him tell Einer that they would have to hunt for witches outside of the Crimson Mountain Pack's territory. They were prepared to exterminate the entire witch race just to gain more power.Someone had to stop them, but even with my full magic restored, I was no all-mighty superhero. I needed an army to fight with me, and I knew o
NOVA Ten minutes later, my cage had been brought to the hall and put down at Eric's feet. He clearly loved looking down on me. Asshole. Lya, on the other hand, wasn't fond of the way Eric's eyes landed on me ninety percent of the time, even if she did everything she could to draw his attention to her. The room filled with witches and warriors. Maren strode through the hall, offering me a dark grin. She then stopped beside Eric and Einer. "Unfortunately, we don't have a talisman that would make filling the jades much easier. We will use the strongest witches as vessels. They will drink the essence and use their bodies to transform the core's magic and then place it in the stone," she explained, looking at the gathered witches. One of the witches stepped forward. "B-but the essence... wouldn't it be poisonous?" Maren chuckled. "That was why I said that only the strong witches could do this." The one who asked nodded and stepped back. Then Maren added with a cold smirk, "However, I ne
NOVAThe smell of blood was ever-present. It was all over me, and I wasn't even allowed to wash it off. It sickened me, but nearly everyone seemed unbothered by it. A few minutes later, just like that, I was transported back to my cell. My whole body ached, and I started to develop claustrophobia from being locked in this freaking cage. The only good thing about being in this prison was that I was left alone and unguarded. That gave me the time I needed to slowly free myself from all the restraints.It took me a while, but I finally shifted to a sitting-kneeling position and straightened my back and neck a little. The amount of struggle it took was ridiculous, but I needed to find a more comfortable way to meditate and gather my magic. With the single crack on my cuffs, my senses could reach beyond the part of the corridor I saw. That way, my instincts would warn me of danger long before I'd see or hear it. I took a deep breath and looked at the metal, unwanted bracelets on my wrists.