Ember's POV:After the training session, I returned to my room, gulped down a glass of water, and jogged straight into the washroom.Slipping out of the tracksuit, I turned the tap and watched in dread as a cold stream of freezing water flowed out.My body started shivering just at the thought of another cold shower. It was only Darla's scowling face that made me jump under the shower.After taking a quick shower, I donned my uniform and made my way toward the castle kitchen to serve breakfast to the royalties, including my brooding mate with whom I had a really sexy encounter just last night.After yesternight, I wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment as I remembered how we were just seconds away from jumping over each other. My body heated up as I thought about how much I enjoyed every second of it, how badly I wanted his hands to roam all over my body.And then I remembered my crying session he must have very much enjoyed outside my ro
Ember’s POV:My head whipped to the side and I saw my mate standing in the doorway. His dark eyes were fixated on Abi who stammered, “Alpha, I…”Before she could say another word, Alpha Nicholus growled angrily, “Let go of her hand right now.”Abi released my hand abruptly as if the touch was electrocuting her. I noticed a red mark around my wrist where she was grabbing it a moment ago.“Now tell me why are you creating a fuss here?” he directed his anger toward Abi.She rushed out frighteningly, “She dropped your breakfast tray, Alpha. I was just calling her out for her clumsiness.”“No,” Alpha shot back, “you were insulting her.” I watched his hands coiling into tight fists at his sides.Abi squirmed under his heated glare and spoke in a shivering voice, “Alpha, I…”But he didn’t let her finish her sentence as he gaveled viciously, “I know Luna made you the Head of Omegas but I’m the King and mine are the rules that are followed here.”Abi took a trembling breath, “Yes, yes, Alpha.”
Ember's POV:That day, Alpha Nicholus didn't join others for lunch. I heard from someone in the kitchen that he had gone out for a business meeting and would have lunch there. I took a breath of relief and went out to serve the table with Ava.In the evening, I was working in the kitchen when, all of a sudden, all the chatter around me came to an abrupt halt.The pin-drop silence I'd never witnessed in the kitchen before made me lift my head.All the heads were turned toward the door. Frowning slightly, I followed their lines of vision and found Darius's tall and heavy frame filling up the doorframe.Unbothered by everyone's attention, he stepped inside and walked straight to where Ava was standing. His voice was polite as he said, "Luna is calling you to her chambers with her soup."Ava nodded and turned toward the counter, "Sure, Beta. The soup is ready."It only took her a few minutes to set up the tray and saunter out of the kitchen.Everyone else slowly turned back to their work.
Ember's POV:Jolting back to the present, my hand shot up and I dabbed at my mouth absent-mindedly. A deep chuckle erupted in the air and I halted. As understanding settled inside me, I narrowed my eyes at him but quickly averted them away as I remembered the way I had been eating him with my eyes just a few moments ago. Feeling embarrassed, I lifted the tray higher, “Darius asked me to bring this to you.” As a ridiculous way to defend myself, I said as an afterthought, “But I didn’t know that you would be in here, in the gym.” A moment later, it hit me. My gaze shot to his and the way he was staring at me made it clear that he too was thinking the same thing. Nodding his head slowly, he hummed, “But Darius knew…” I squinted my eyes, “That you would be here, in the gym, working out, shirtless…” His eyebrow twitched higher as he drawled amusingly, “And that you would be affected by that…” “That’s not true,” I almost screamed. A devilish smirk tugged at his lips, “Well, your eyes
Ember's POV:The next day, I woke up to a fit of cough that rattled me to my bones. It was so severe that I was panting heavily when I reached a glass of water. My chest constricted with pain with every breath I took.And headache too was more intense than yesterday and weakness was already wearing me down.I made a mental note to ask Dr. Alina for a dose of Xanadium as I dragged myself through the morning routine.I didn't have the energy to move a muscle at the training grounds, so I felt grateful that Omegas weren't expected to undergo some harsh training.After training hour, I returned to my room and stood under the coldest stream of shower and shivered all the time frigid cold water made contact with my skin.Immediately drying myself, I donned my uniform and made my way to the kitchen.Yesterday, I was about to ask Abi to change my duty to somewhere else but then I changed my plan as I realized that I could, at least, steal some warmth in the kitchen heat.When it was time to s
Ember's POV: The next day, after the lunch hour, Darla announced that it was the day to feed the maddening, starving wolves roaming on the backgrounds of dungeons. Heavy and thick silence prevailed in the kitchen. Even though commanders would be at the forefront of carrying out such a dangerous task they still needed a little bit of the kitchen staff to accompany them with food and everything. Of course, no one was willing to volunteer for such a deadly task. To tackle the situation, Darla decided to send everyone on rotation. She even printed a list and pasted it on the kitchen's notice board. When no one moved, Darla grumbled, "Group 14th was the one to perform the duty last time." There were a total of 15 groups. I didn't need to consult the notice board to know that I was in the 15th group because I was the last to join the kitchen as a staff member. But still, as a confirmation, I glanced at the list and saw my name written among the other members of Group 15. The fact that
Ember’s POV:Loading the meat on the trollies, warriors started pushing them toward the backside of the castle where the dungeon grounds were present. Darius stayed closer to me as I followed them.Before entering the grounds, Darius scanned our surroundings with careful eyes and mumbled under his breath, “Keep your eyes open. I don’t want to lose my sister-in-law right after finding her.”Rolling my eyes, I repeated for the hundredth time, “How many times do I need to tell you not to say that?”He frowned, feigning confusion, “Say what? To keep your eyes open?” and then screeched dramatically, “But I literally said that for the first time ever.”Right after crossing the threshold to the grounds, we all split into teams. Two warriors were accompanied by one Omega.Of course, Darius decided to go with me. Another warrior named Luke, who was dragging the trolley ahead of us, also accompanied us.Exhaling loudly, I asked, “So, how exactly is it done? How do we find the werewolves to feed
Ember’s POV:A shiver ran down my spine and my whole body shook with fear as the wolf dived his head. His canines were just about to dig into my flesh and shred me into pieces when, all of a sudden, something thudded into him so forcefully that his body flew in the opposite direction.Without waiting to process what just happened, my whole body jolted into action and I planted my elbows into the ground and shot up to my feet.A frightful sob escaped my throat and my hand flew to clutch my chest tightly. My heart was thundering in my ribcage maniacally as I panted heavily.I was out of my wits and was trying to process what had just happened when, suddenly, a painful screech pierced the air and my head whipped in its direction.There, a little distance away from me, I saw two wolves colliding with each other in a fierce fight.One of them was the one who had just nearly dragged me to my death while the other had dark gray fur and was slightly bigger than him. They roared and grunted wh
Ember's POV:After Nicholus left my room, I stayed rooted to my spot for a long minute. I was too stunned to process what he just said. He sounded so detached, so unbothered like killing his brother wasn't a big deal for him.After a few minutes, the door creaked open and Darius rushed inside. He came to a sudden halt as soon as he saw me pacing the floor."I've come to tell you about it but by the looks of your pale face, it seems like you already know," he stated.My hands flew in the air, "Tell me it's nothing but bullshit. I mean, there is no way he could be serious about killing Damon, right? He is his BROTHER. No matter how much hate, enmity, or misunderstandings they have between them, they are still brothers," I rushed out in one breath.He let out a tiring sigh, "You know how they are, Ember."I let out a loud groan, "How could either of them even think such a horrible thing is beyond my understanding."He remained silent for a few minutes to let my anger cool off before spea
Ember's POV:After Nicholus was gone, I slid down to the floor as the walls I had built around my heart cracked and the dam just broke apart. Uncontrollable tears rolled down my cheeks. My shoulders shook as my body rattled with ugly sobs.How could a mother be so cruel to her only child? What did I do so wrong to deserve that? All my life I craved for my parents' affection but what did I get in return? Their betrayal...?Father failed me miserably but I had my Mother's thoughts to keep me going. Even though I had no memories of her but I still thought that she must have loved me. I used to find comfort in the fact that the only reason she wasn't with me was because she just couldn't. It was better when I thought her to be dead. Because the thought that she had abandoned me was killing me bit by bit.Was I really that bad of a person? I've heard...heck, I've seen parents always loving their children no matter how bad of a monster their kids are. Was I even worse to be depraved of both
Nicholus’s POV:Watching her looking at me with nothing but hatred shattered my heart into so many pieces that I didn’t know how to pick them all and make it whole again.I don’t know how the hell Damon got his hands on the confidential inside information about military and state matters and I absolutely had no idea that he’d be twisting that information to sow a seed of doubt in Ember’s heart.But I couldn't really blame him. I should have been cautious. I should've foreseen it. I shouldn't have taken his long silence so lightly. I let my guard down and was witnessing the results now.But as far as the matter of the South was concerned, I had it under control. I had no bad intentions and I'd keep telling her even thousands of times if that would make her believe me.But the irreversible damage occurred when that fucker told Ember about her mother. He shouldn't have gone there. He had created a big mess which I had no idea how to come out of.I knew I’d lost all fight when Ember yelle
Ember’s POV:Despite the turmoil raging inside me, I waited patiently as Nicholus wiped his hands through his hair before starting, “First of all, I want you to know that the army has nothing to do with marrying you, okay?”My eyes widened horrifically, “So it means you ARE planning to take over the South…?”He shook his head, “What? No.” He walked closer to me but I lifted my palm, making him stay wherever he was. I need a little distance between us to think rationally.“Tell me about the army first,” I said in a sharp tone.Nodding slowly, he started speaking, “Do you remember when you were on bed rest, you heard Damon, Ethan, and I talking about the war looming over us?”I nodded curtly, thinking back to that night when they were all worried about Nicholus’s wolf weakening while the war was close.A slight frown appeared between my brows along with a relief. But I told myself not to grow any more hopes before going to the bottom of it.“So, the army is for that war?” I couldn’t kee
Ember’s POV:Grabbing my hand, Damon had just taken a step toward the door when an ear-piercing roar boomed in the air. “Enough!” Nicholus growled.My feet came to a sudden halt as I felt the sudden shift in the air. Damon pulled me forward, more urgently now. But before he could another step, the doors to my room flung open and dozens of warriors spilled into the room, blocking the exit.My head whipped around as I heard warriors jumping in through the balcony.In a few seconds, my room was brimming with warriors closing in on us, surrounding me and Damon. My gaze shifted from one to another as I blurted out in shock, “What’s happening?”Damon bared his teeth and pointed behind me, “It’s him, of course. He must have mindlinked his minions. That's why he was silent and still.”Damon shook his head and said amusingly, “Really, Nicholus? Are we really doing it?”Nicholus shrugged nonchalantly, unbothered by everything happening around us, “Warned you time and time again to shut that fuc
Ember’s POV:I stole a glance at his fingers brushing over my necklace and heard his shocking whisper, "The Celestial Stone."My head whipped up to him and saw his pupils dilating as he looked at me, “You are…what the…”I felt Nicholus going rigid behind me. His voice sounded menacing as he warned his brother, “Damon, no, not this…not now.”A deep frown appeared between my brows. Closing my fingers around the necklace, I stepped aside and watched the brothers exchanging heated glares.An eerie feeling of unrest settled in the pit of my stomach. My throat felt constricted as I sobbed, “What…what is it about my mother?”Nicholus was slowly shaking his head in a threatening manner. At that, a wicked gleam twinkled in Damon's eyes as if he had stepped closer to his victory.My heart lurched to my throat as a devilish smirk tugged over Damon's lips before he chuckled coldly, “Dark, dark secrets between the mates are crazy.”It felt like my heart just dropped all the way to the floor. Fear
Ember's POV:With my pulse a ticking bomb waiting to explode, I stood there, waiting for him to deny all accusations, assuring me that whatever Damon was spewing out of his mouth was nothing but bullshit.But all hopes trembled to death as Nicholus stepped backward. All of a sudden, he seemed so tired as he rubbed the nape of his neck and sighed, “Ember, I…listen…”More tears streamed out of my eyes. Angrily wiping them away, I screamed at his face, “Is that true or not, Nicholus?”I already knew it was. But still, I waited pathetically for him to deny it all so that we can go back to our fairytale wedding we'd been so excited about.His gaze flickered to Damon standing behind me before shifting back to me. Slouching his shoulders, he breathed out, “Just a half truth.”A gut-wrenching sob escaped me as I took another step away from him only to walk closer to Damon.Nicholus took a quick step forward and grabbed me by the shoulders. His voice sounded urgent as he spoke, “And you need
Ember’s POV:I could feel the anger oozing out of Nicholus but on the outside, he appeared calm and composed as if he were almost expecting his arrival. Twitching his eyebrow higher, he asked in a blank voice, “What are you doing here?”Straightening his shoulders, Damon tightened his hold on my hand before uttering, “I’m here to take Ember with me.”Hearing that, I again tried to twist my hand out of his, wincing as a sharp shot through my arm as his grip tightened defiantly.That’s when Nicholus’s eyes flickered down to our joined hands. His gaze narrowed viciously and his fists coiled tightly at his sides. Baring his teeth, he snarled menacingly, “Leave her hand right now, Damon.”Damon paid no heed to the warning ringing in Nicholus’s voice and took a step toward the door.Before he could take another, Nicholus lunged forward. His voice was a loud roar as he growled, “Touch her again and I’ll fucking rip you to pieces.”His body thudded into Damon’s and they both stumbled backward
“Damon…?” I whispered into the darkness, gawking at him with wide eyes.As soon as he heard me saying his name, his shoulders slouched and he took a breath of relief. He seemed like a traveler who had finally reached his destination after an eternity of traveling nowhere.Suddenly, he lunged forward. Sliding one of his hands around my waist and the other around the back of my head, he pulled me into a tight hug.Sticking his nose to my neck, he inhaled deeply and I could feel his body relaxing against mine. His hot breath washed over my ear as he whispered with a raw emotion I couldn't decipher, “God, I missed you. I missed you so much, Ember.”My mind was a jumbled mess of chaos and confusion as I tried to process what exactly was happening. Breaking the hug, I stared at him with frantic eyes, “Damon, what are you doing here?”Placing his hands on my shoulders, he squeezed lightly and said with a hint of excitement, “I am here to take you with me. Away from here.”My heart was thuddi