NOVA I needed to process the facts... Asriel was a lycan, and not just any lycan—he was the Lycan King. He had Maren, and, as I assumed, many witches like her, by her side. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. I saw a glimpse of his warlock power at the club, and I knew that he could have killed that girl nearly effortlessly. Moreover, someone as egocentric as Maren called him Master... That fact alone forced me to wonder if Asriel wasn't capable of wiping out at least half of the Earth with a snap of his fingers. From what I knew, the leader of the lycans was the one responsible for the constant killings on the Crimson Mountain Pack's borders. That meant that he was merciless and brutal… I had seen how he fought against all those lycans—he ripped their bodies to shreds. Then he walked over to me and caused me pain as if it was nothing. Thinking about it filled me with all kinds of anxieties. He said he had a reason to cut me. What kind of sick reason could that be?! Furthermore, why did
FELIXMy team continued the search until sundown. I walked around the entire forest and scanned every inch of the cave, but found no signs or traces of Nova. The only thing my warriors discovered were a few extinguished furnaces filled with ashes and bone parts. I guess we now knew what happened to the bodies that left their blood all over the forest. I sensed the remains of different smells, but there was no magnolia scent among them. When I became certain that there I felt nothing indicating that Nova's body had been burned there, I collapsed to my knees, thanking the Goddess for leaving me the thin ounce of hope. But as time went on, keeping my grasp on that hope became harder and harder. Finally, we had to terminate the search and go back to Scarletville. It was the only rational decision I could make. Nonetheless, it didn't make my choice any less painful."You need to consider the possibility that Nova is already dead." Eric had become my cruelest voice of reason. "You said it y
NOVAI couldn't sleep. It wasn't only because I wasn't used to staying in a place where no rays of sun wandered throughout the day, and no moonlight brightened the rooms at night. Who could have slept well after hearing what I had heard from Asriel?I was lying with my eyes open, staring at the dark ceiling. My heart hammered painfully against my ribcage, causing my hands to rest on my chest as if I needed to keep them there to stop my poor blood pump from bursting out.My thoughts and emotions were one huge, hot mess. Everything I thought I knew before I found myself in this fortress now needed to be revisited and revised, using a healthy dose of common sense at that. The problem was, my rationality had always been in conflict with whatever my heart felt, and this situation wasn't any different…I could establish one thing with absolute confidence: the conflict between lycans and the Crimson Mountain Pack would soon turn into a bloody war. Asriel and Felix would stand on opposite sid
NOVAI stared numbly at the newspaper article with a header saying, "A just end for the wicked witch." I might have found it amusing if reading it hadn't filled me with raw bitterness. I saw the so-unflattering picture of me—a picture surely taken by one of my patients at the hospital—and a short statement below, telling that I had escaped from the prison after an attempted assassination of Alpha Heir's mate and that I died at the hands of lycans in the woods outside the Crimson Mountain Pack's territory.Then I flipped to the second page and saw a large picture of Felix and Lya. Felix's hand casually rested on Lya's back, and her hand delicately touched Felix's other forearm. They were smiling, resembling an ideal loving couple. More bitterness flooded me."They must have found your blood in the woods," Asriel speculated. "I wanted your scent to be found by the rebels…" He hesitated for a moment and then added, "I apologize."I peeled my eyes off the newspaper, my lips stretching int
FELIXThat was the right thing to do, or at least that was what I told myself. I took Lya's hand, and we came to Rainier and Alpha Val to settle the wedding. I still felt a strange affection when I looked into Lya's eyes, but it was different now that I knew she was not my mate. It still puzzled me if she was aware of it though. She kept looking at me with her bright eyes, and I could almost feel the warmth each time her plush lips curled up, blessing me with a smile. Something pricked my heart every time I saw that happen. Unfortunately, telling myself that whatever I felt had been induced by magic wasn't helping. Distance helped. That was why I insisted on planning the attack as soon as possible.Perhaps literary running away from my problems wasn't the noblest thing to do, but according to Cassandra, the faking-bond spell had a limited life span. If I could avoid Lya until the spell lost its power, the problem would miraculously disappear. I couldn't wait for that to happen. Once I
FELIXI was standing several feet away from my brother. I didn't think he noticed me since his stare was shifted toward the trees where the hooded man went. I knew that the person in the wheelchair half-hidden in the shadows of the back entrance was Eric, but at that moment, he appeared as a stranger to me.His mouth was slightly curled into a dark smirk, but not even a sliver of a smile reached his eyes. They were blazing brighter and fiercer than he had ever allowed me to see. A powerful aura surrounded him, a sign of a true Alpha, an Alpha much stronger than his father. Anger whitened the knuckles as he curled his fingers on the armrests of his chair. This wasn't the balanced and calm Eric I knew. The man in front of me was a dangerous predator, waiting for the right moment to attack. Now I began to wonder which one of those faces was his real one.As much as I wanted to know what was going on, I knew that confrontation would have been useless. I doubted that I would hear the truth
FELIX"Let's start from the basics," I said, straightening in my seat and watching Holden's mouth curl up. Holden was a ranked wolf, but from the first sniff of air around him, I knew that I could overpower him. He must have sensed it too. He must have also been aware that I could read the slightest change in the tone of his voice and the aura of his emotions, something I couldn't easily feel from Eric. That made Holden a perfect source of information since I would know if he tried to lie to me."What would you like me to tell you?" Holden asked, shifting in the chair to make himself more comfortable."It's a wealthy pack, but no one wants to tell me where the money comes from. I bet you know more than I do."He gave me a surprised stare, sitting still for a moment before he cleared his throat. "I was almost certain that Alpha Rainier told you at least about the pack's main source of income…"A dark smirk formed on my lips. "Well, he didn't... which I found quite odd, especially since
NOVAI heard a painful roar. It burst inside my head and pulled me out of a deep sleep. I rose to sit in my bed with my heart pounding, and my skin covered with cold sweat. What the hell had just happened? I could tell myself that it was just another nightmare I had, but I couldn't be certain. What I felt was intense, as if someone had transmitted raw emotions into my head. I felt pain, both physical and mental, and a lot of anger. It shuddered through me and lingered in my chest. It tensed my muscles and tightened my throat. For a few long seconds, I fought for breath. And then the sensation faded away, leaving my body weakened and limp.I had no idea why, but my thoughts drifted to Felix. As soon as that happened, I shook my head and scolded myself. Why should I care for that bastard? He was the one who chased me away from his life. I bet that he was relieved that he could announce my death. He could carefreely focus on his mate, sleep with her, mark her…The sudden pain in my chest
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.