Zane’s POV
(One week later…)
The moment I came back to my pack, I started missing the golden-haired temptress who was my other half. I just wanted to turn and run back to her pack, forgetting everything else just so that I could be with her. It didn’t matter that she didn’t feel the same. I mean, it would have been awesome if she missed me too, but since she didn’t, only seeing her mattered to me. Even if it was only to just bicker with her and tease her, it was enough to cool the fire in my heart. Not to forget the occasional kisses that I stole when she was expecting it the least. If only I had a few more days, maybe I could have worn her stubbornness down and saved us both from this torture…
Though I wanted to go to her again, I knew it wasn’t possible. At least, not yet. I had responsibility towards my own pack. Also, I would require her permission if I wanted to visit aga
Kayla’s POVAfter Sara left, days passed by slowly with the thoughts of Zane and the impending meeting with the Seelie Queen warring for my attention. Sometimes, I just wanted to forget everything and rush into the arms of my mate where I could stay safe and loved. Whenever that thought occurred in my mind, I admonished myself for my stupidity and snapped out of that daydream. Because it was only just a dream that will never happen. And I never needed a man to keep me safe, anyway.I tried to immerse myself in training the warriors and the next batch of weapons for the fae, but I was too wound up to be of much use. I couldn’t help but wonder if Sara would have even brought the issue to the Queen even though she was bound by her promise. Even if she did, it was just her who was indebted to me; the Queen didn’t have any obligation to fulfil my demand. I could only hope that she would be intrigued by the prospec
Kayla’s POVI frowned at my image in the mirror. I was dressed in a long, sleeveless red gown with a plunging V-neck. The gown fit my body like a glove and there wasn’t even any breathing space. How did women wear this shit all the time?!My golden hair was tamed into an updo, and my lips were painted a bold red. What the hell was Stella thinking while selecting this dress and doing my makeup?I turned to Stella, who was admiring her masterpiece, aka me.“Why am I looking like a street-walker?” I snarled.She rolled her eyes at me in response. Really? I swear this getup was making her treat me without respect! The clothes I wear don’t change who I am, she better remember it!“You look elegant and gorgeous, not like a street-walker, Alpha.”“Just tell me why I can’t go as myself. What is wrong with wearing T-shirts and jeans? Why do I have
Kayla’s POVI landed in a crouch as the darkness around me faded. The sudden brightness after being in the dark hurt my eyes, and I closed them for a moment. But then I heard a shout and opened my eyes, getting into a fighting stance.I spotted Sara and realising it was she who called; I relaxed my stance. I noticed that she was wearing a flowing blue gown with a high slit, and I mentally thanked Stella for dressing me up like this. I was doubtful that my red dress was flashy and I will stand out like a sore thumb. But seeing Sara, I realised that I would have been the odd one if I hadn’t followed Stella’s instructions…Then I slowly looked around, and my eyes widened when I noticed how everything was vivid. The grass was so green that it looked unreal. Even the sky looked bluer. The place looked as if straight out of a scenery... It was as if there had been a blindfold around my eyes all
Kayla’s POVAs I walked through the Crystal Palace, I tried to keep my jaw from dropping. But it was really hard to act unimpressed when I saw the gleaming white marble floor, crystal chandeliers that glowed with magical light, and the walls that were covered with gemstones. I did a double-take when I saw the animated waterfall scenery on the wall from which the water was falling into the ground before vanishing into nothingness. The fae sure loved to show off, didn’t they?I followed Sara as she walked with purpose towards what I assumed was the throne room. Gone was the girl who was fumbling around and joking nervously. With her graceful steps and calm demeanour, now I saw how she could be a court member.As we walked, the palace workers kept glancing at me with expressions ranging from curiosity and wonder to downright hostility. I paid them no heed and continued walking confidently. Finally, we stopped i
Kayla’s POVI gave a nod to Aleria, acknowledging her demand. Now that the Queen was no longer trying to get a rise out of me, I needed to handle the situation carefully. I didn’t want to alienate the Queen and have her decide she didn’t want to help me. So, I pasted a polite smile on my face and walked closer to her.I noticed the fae court members who were all leaning forward in their seats with blatant interest to see what I was going to do. I hesitated and looked at the Queen, hoping she would get my message. I couldn’t just demand her to throw her court members out of her throne room; it would be too rude even for me…The Queen raised her brows at me before smirking. Then she rose from her seat and addressed the room in a soft voice that somehow still resonated in the huge hall.“I would like to talk to the female Alpha privately. Let’s disperse the court for now.&r
Kayla’s POV“Great! So now let’s talk!” Aleria said, snapping me out of my thoughts.I nodded at her in response.“So, what exactly do you want to know?”Well, now that I was close to those answers, I started getting doubts. What exactly shall I ask now? Should I ask about who was behind the attacks on my pack? Or should I ask about the rogue who has escaped that night? And if I ask about that man, how would the Queen know who I was talking about? Would she know the answer to my question? If she did, then it would mean that she would know everything, including my biggest secret. Did she know already?I stared at the queen doubtfully as questions ran wild in my mind. What should I do if the Queen knew it? I can’t let anyone know about it!Aleria rolled her eyes at me.“I am not all-knowing. You simply staring at me wouldn’t gain you the answers y
Kayla’s POVI fell on the palace floor on all fours, and I had no shame in admitting that it wasn’t graceful. I must be a sight with sweat soaking my dress as if I had run a marathon. I was gasping for breath as I looked up at the queen with tears brimming in my eyes. Frankly, I didn’t even know if it was tears of pain or relief...“Well, I hope I don’t have to go through that shit ever again in my life,” I snarled as I stood up from the floor on shaky legs.I blinked my eyes furiously to keep the tears from falling. I had promised Martin that I would never cry and I would never break that promise...“You are your own worst enemy, Kayla. If you get over your fears, no one can defeat you. Even if you have to go through such things repeatedly, if you stay strong, you will be fine.”“I don’t have any fears!”“Really?”
Kayla’s POV“I guess that means I have to go to the Dark enchanted forest,” I said.“If you want to catch him, you most certainly need to. But it is very dangerous. The forest is filled with dark faes, Night shadows, and even scarier creatures that would make the Watchers seem like kittens,” Aleria replied.I remembered the creepy feeling I had when the Watcher had been observing me and thought of how it would be when I would enter the territory of beasts that were only supposed to exist in nightmares and not reality.I shook my head at the thought. I wouldn’t let anything hold me from finding that guy. He was the key to avenge the death of my family and I will find him, even if I have to face death itself. I wouldn’t back off like a scared puppy just because he chose to hide with monsters!“I don’t care about the dangers. I will find him and make him a
Three weeks later…Kayla’s POVAfter I killed Stephen, we searched the mansion and found the papers of his research. We destroyed everything to make sure that no one would ever get the idea to create a race of wolves with magic ever again. Once that was done, we covered our tracks and ensured we left nothing that led to us. Done with our work, we left the place since the spell that blocked us from escaping had already gone down by then.The next day, I announced our relationship to my pack since I had no more reservations about it. The man had literally faced death for me several times, and I loved him as much as I could ever do anyone. There was nothing that stopped me from accepting our relationship wholeheartedly. The pack received the news with far more enthusiasm than I had expected. Even Ethan appeared to be genuinely happy at the way I accepted Zane, and I decided that it was time to let g
Kaylaâs POV I stalked towards Stephen, and he stood there looking at me with wide eyes. He was no longer sporting the smug expression from before, and he didnât look interested in my wolf anymore either. âKayla darlingâŚâ he called out in a coaxing tone that one would use to soothe an aggressive dog. I let out a loud growl at him and he flinched and took a few steps back. âI am your uncle, remember? I am the only one left in the world for you. You donât want to harm me, right? You donât want to be alone in this world, right?â The red in my vision darkened at his stupid words, and I snarled in response. âAnd whose fault is it that I have no one else left? Werenât you the one who killed my entire family, you bastard!â I mind linked him and his eyes widened in response. Thatâs right. He never left the pack officially, and hence he was still a member of my pack. And I am still his AlphaâŚ
Kayla’s POVI looked horrified as the men laughed and approached Zane. I tried to hit my hand against the golden cage I was imprisoned in. But just like the last time, I was thrown off by the electric sparks from it. My hand sizzled for a moment before the burn healed. Well, it means the burns would heal at least. If I could just tolerate the pain, maybe I could break the cage?With renewed vigor, I took a few steps backwards, stopping right before my back hit the edge of the magical cage. Then I gritted my teeth, ready to endure the pain, and leaped towards the cage and kicked it. But all my efforts were for nothing. Even though I forced myself to endure the pain, it didn’t help like I had hoped. Instead of passing through the cage with some burns, it just repelled and threw me from it. I fell on the floor and panted hard, not even feeling the burns in my feet. My heart was suffering more pain than my body. If I couldn&
Kayla’s POVStephen looked startled at my sudden confidence, but then he smiled at me condescendingly.“My dear niece, I hope you have no illusions that you could fight against all of us? Being a girl and a measly wolf at that, you wouldn’t have stood a chance even if they were ordinary wolves. But with their magic, you have lost before you even start.”I didn’t bother to respond to him before looking over at the men next to him. With narrow eyes, I speculated about their strengths and anticipated their moves. I couldn’t ignore any details without knowing what would help me in dealing with them.“Aww, the little girl really is thinking of fighting us!” one man teased me.I walked backwards, and their eyes twinkled merrily, thinking I was going to run away. But they frowned in confusion when they saw that I just stood behind Zane.“Oh, the p
Kayla's POV I looked at Zane with wide eyes and slowly turned to see Stephen standing there with a wide smile. He looked just as I remembered. As if he hadn't aged a day since the time I saw him five years ago. Come to think of it, he looked even younger than how he looked then. Either the life was really good for him or he had a few tricks up his sleeves to keep aging at bay. Given the crazy hunger for power he possessed, he couldn't have had a peaceful life that prevented him from sporting grey hair. And from the magic raging around us, he was definitely dabbling with wizardry and I had a feeling that it was also responsible for his youthful looks. I looked at him with a blank expression pasted on my face and even though his face looked exactly the same as when I had seen him when he was younger, he felt different somehow. Then I realiz
Kayla’s POVAs Raymond got busy with shouting instructions to his loyal followers, I slowly slipped away from him and walked over to Zane, who was standing there with a sour look.“Relax. You know I don’t care for his attention, right?” I whispered.“As if you cared about that when you saw Maggie flirting with me.”I flinched at the reminder of the witch and bit my lips when I realised that he wasn’t clueless about her pining like I thought he was. I had to give Kudos to his act, though. Even I was fooled into thinking that he didn’t notice her efforts.I looked up to see Zane’s nostrils flaring, and then he narrowed his eyes.“Just as I thought.”Huh?Zane looked at me with a smirk.“Guess who is reeking of Stephen’s scent?”My eyes widened in the realisation that Zane got Stephen’s
Kayla’s POVI stared at the skinny guy who stood staring at the unconscious man with a proud expression. He dusted his hands off before looking around the hall as if waiting for anyone else to challenge him. People looked at him and then the brawny guy on the ground before scampering off while a few lingered around, praising his strength.I watched as the bigger man who was still unconscious was dragged away from the hall by his peers. For a werewolf to become unconscious and to stay so for this long, how much force should have been used on him? That too by a guy who looked as if he couldn’t even stand straight on his own.It smelled really fishy, and I just knew it in my heart that this was all linked to Stephen. I didn’t have any evidence that said so, but my instincts were screaming at me that this has Stephen written all over it and my instincts had never let me astray so far.As the g
Kayla’s POVWhen I thought of going to hunt Stephen, what I pictured in my mind was both of us getting dressed in badass spy costumes and searching for him stealthily until Zane gets his scent trail. And I thought it wouldn’t be much of a hassle since we were fairly certain that he was still somewhere in the state and we only needed to stop by in each of the towns before he could come across the vile man’s scent. We wolves could sniff out our prey for miles, and with Zane’s superior tracking skills, he could track the scents even farther than regular wolves.I had mapped it all in my head, and that’s why I was surprised when Zane declared his brand new plan that had nothing to do with what I had in mind.Zane had vetoed my grand plans by telling that it would look suspicious if we go to every town and sniff around for Stephen. He may get wind that we were searching for him, and we would nev
Kayla’s POVOnce Zane informed me that he got Stephen’s scent, I thought that we would start hunting him right away. But he insisted he needed to get some things done before commencing the tracking. My excitement took a nosedive at his declaration, but I decided I could use the time to check the snake’s diary.We locked the cottage, and I ignored Zane’s ill concealed laughter as I buried the key back in the plant pot. What is wrong with having a hiding place for a key?!When we reached the hotel room, I made a beeline for the couch and sat with the diary in my arms. I wanted to know what all nasty secrets it carried.Zane looked at me with amusement shining in his eyes, but seeing my determined expression, he left me to it before going to the balcony with his mobile.I opened the diary and noted that it was from the year of the rogue attack. For him to lock it in a hidden compartmen