Ember’s POV: We were swift and silent while leaving the castle. After hypnotizing the guards at the main entrance, Sohpie led the way deeper into the forest and I silently followed her.We kept strolling into the forest and it was only when we reached far away from the castle that I dared to speak up, “Would you now like to confide me in about what’s going on in your head?” Her footsteps slowed and she asked me, “Remember when you first started having these weird sensations a few years ago?” I huffed out, “Like I can ever forget that time.” She nodded curtly, “Something was wrong with you. I mean, that wasn’t normal, right? Gladly, we discovered your hypnotizing powers on our own and didn’t need any external help but…” She halted and I glanced at her worriedly and urged her to carry on, “But…?” Her eyebrows pinched together, “Did you really think that it would be the end of it?” I shrugged my shoulder, “Umm…I had hoped so.” She looked at me sternly and said curtly, “Well, in th
Ember’s POV:Filling my lungs with the fresh air, I forced myself to release some tension and lightly rapped my knuckles on the ancient wooden door. I held my breath, making myself mentally prepared for whatever was about to be thrown my way.After a long stretch, I finally heard a husky voice from the other side, “Come in.”Blowing out a puff of air, I straightened my shoulders and slid the door. It creaked as it opened and revealed the cozy, ancient interior of the hut.My eyes swept around and I took in the small but spacious area. The floorboards creaked under my feet as I stepped inside. Even the walls were made of wood. They were bare except for the preserved heads of dead animals nailed to them.Other than a small light bulb hanging from the ceiling, the fireplace was the only other source of illumination. An oak table was place on the other end with the herbs, vials, and different bottles of coloured liquid scattered over it. A large wooden bookshelf was placed near the small
Ember's POV: With rage filling me, I exited the hut like a firebolt and didn't exhale until I had covered some distance between us. Suddenly, Sophia appeared in front of me, "Hey, you okay?" she inquired after witnessing me out of my wits. I halted and screeched, "Coming here was a mistake!" Her eyes shifted to the hut, then zeroed in on me again, "What happened? What did Deborah say?" My fists balled up tightly at my sides as I gritted through clenched teeth, "Deborah is fucking insane, Sophie."She was looking at me with confusion. "I...She..." I opened my mouth again to say something else but I was literally short on words about how to explain my inner turmoil to her. I shook my head whether in denial or disappointment...I don't know. As I started walking in the opposite direction, Sophie followed me silently. I knew she must have her own million questions but right now she was actually doing me the biggest favor by holding her tongue.I needed all the time left in the universe
Ember’s POV:She nodded her head, "I don't know how is that even possible since no one knows about it but yes, that seems to be true."She gripped my arm and looked into my eyes, "Listen, Ember, I think we can't tackle this whole situation unless we figure out the second part of the puzzle."I swallowed the lump in my throat, "But how?"She looked me dead in the eye before sharing her idea, "Maybe we should really try to look into your mother and find out who she really was...?"------------After dinner, both I and Sophie resigned to my private chambers to discuss things in private. We made our way to the den and settled on the couch in front of the fireplace.Sophie stared out the window, “It’s getting chilly day by day."I nodded in agreement, “The winters are on their way.”A soft knock on the door interrupted our conversation. Getting up from the couch, Sophie walked over to the door and opened it. A maid was standing on the other side with a tray laden with two mugs of hot choco
Ember's POV:She waited for me to go ahead and open it but I stayed rooted at my spot and sighed, “I am not feeling good about any of it.”Her head jerked in my direction, “Don’t be ridiculous. You can’t back off after finally coming all the way here.”When I stayed silent, she groaned in frustration, “Just open the damn door and get done with all the answers, Ember. Once and for all.”My arms jutted out as I yelled in annoyance, “And what if I don’t like the answers? Am I even mentally prepared to face all of that? I don’t even know.”Sophie remained quiet. Rubbing her temple, she finally turned toward me, “Alright. It’s true that I want you to find and acknowledge your identity and reality because I think that only then you’ll be able to find some peace.”She rested her hand on my shoulder and said softly, “But I also don’t want you to do any of that under some pressure.”Pressing her lips, she nodded, “Yes. I think we should head back for now.” Turning away, she started moving the
Ember's POV:Eyes back on the journal, I continued reading, “After years of mourning at the loss of his true mate, King Alexander was lucky enough to meet his second love. Mabel Frostwood, a young and beautiful lady who belonged to the West region. Alpha Alexander met her when he was there to attend the annual conference of alphas. Even though it is the deepest and darkest secret of Alpha Alexander's life but it must be mentioned in this biography that Mabel Frostwood was not one of our kind. She was not a werewolf."I jerked my head toward Sophie who was already gawking at me. My heart was thudding loudly in my ribcage. I thought that she might be of some low rank and that's why I was not a purebred but her being of another kind? I never thought about it.I let out a whooshing breath. It was simply the most brutal thing fate could have done to me. Even more brutal than to choose the King of North as my fated mate. I pinched my eyes and sighed tiredly, "This revelation alone has the
Nicholus's POV: I was staring hard at the navy blue liquid in the glass that I was clutching in a tight grip. I was never like this. Never before had I depended on the alcohol to keep my mind away from something but ever since the night of the party, one particular pair of brown eyes was continuously messing with my head. For that, I would like to blame my childish wolf. Right then, Xoro snapped at me, "Yeah yeah, put all the blame on the innocent Xoro." I rolled my eyes, “It’s true. You can’t stop sulking around like your world has ended.” As if tired of arguing on the same topic again and again, Xoro sighed, “Whatever, Nicholus. I’ve tried my best to make you understand the things. So don’t blame me when I won’t be able to take it anymore.” “You up?” came Darius’s voice through the mindlink. I took a long sip, “Yep.” I could imagine his smirk as he said mockingly, “Another night of lover boy not being able to find sleep, huh?” I groaned, “Shut up.” He chuckled before asking
Ember’s POV:“Do you want to wear anything particular to the Royal Ball, Your Highness?” Ms. Stacy asked me with a big, bright smile which annoyed me even more.“I’m sure you have it all planned, Ms. Stacy. So I’d rather go with whatever you have already decided.” I shot back a reply.She bowed her head when the door to my bedroom flung open and in came a storm a.k.a Sophie Wilson, “After what we got to know a few days ago, I can’t believe that you are still going on with the Royal Ball.”I jerked around and glared at her. She clamped her mouth shut and took in the lady standing beside me. I turned toward Ms. Stacy and stretched my lips, “Kindly leave me and Sophie alone for a while.”She stayed rooted to her place and said hesitantly, “But…Your Highness…you have to get ready for the Royal Ball.”Not having the patience to play all polite and kind at the moment, I just stared into her eyes and channeled my hypnotizing power, “Just go.”Her shoulders slouched and her eyes dimmed as she
Ember's POV:Ethan, however, still seemed reluctant to comply with my plan but instead of outrightly denying it, he turned to his Alpha who was rooted to his spot with his intense eyes fixated on me.Clearing his throat, Ethan said, "Umm, what's your take on this, Nicholus? Do you think this is a good idea to go ahead with?"Without averting his gaze, Nicholus ordered his Beta and Gamma, "Leave me alone with my mate."The way he said that in his deep, rough voice coupled with the way he was staring at me, a chill ran down my spine along with a flame of desire igniting deep within me.Ethan shot up from the chair and nodded once before making his way to the door. Darius, who assessed the look in Nicholus's eyes and assumed God knew what, stood and winked at Nicholus before smirking, "Don't go so rough on her."At that, Nicholus finally shifted his gaze to glare at him before grumbling, "Close the door on your way out, Beta."Snickering under his breath, Darius sauntered out of the offi
Ember's POV:After breakfast, Nicholus and the boys made their way to the office, and having nothing else to do, I resigned to my room to escape reality.But I had just read one chapter when a sudden knock jerked me out of the world of faes I was wandering in.Flipping the book close, I hollered, "Come in."As the door creaked open, I saw a maid slipping inside. Bowing her head, she started speaking politely, "Good Morning Queen. King Nicholas has sent me to give you a message."Even though she didn't ask I could see the question lingering in her eyes. Why did King have to send a message through a maid instead of mindlinking?Well, the answer was that I'd been blocking him out of my mind ever since he played his pillow trick. Petty and childish, I know, but I had no idea how else to make a point that I was really upset with whatever he was doing lately.I nodded slowly, "What's the message?""He is calling you to his office," she was staring at me and I don't know what she saw in my e
Nicholus's POV: As Ember retreated to our room, I jerked around and slammed my palms on the stone railing while staring at the vast empire sprawled in front of me. Things weren't going the way I'd imagined. Ember and I...we were the most unexceptional thing to ever happen in this universe. But still, even after all the generational enmity and hatred, we found our way to each other. In our earnest attempts to hate each other, we somehow fell in love. But is loving her enough? Since the last few days, I'd been constantly feeling miserable. I couldn't fathom what she felt at being the target of so much hate. And the fact that I couldn't hide her from all that only enraged me even more. My shoulders slouched as I turned around and walked back to the bedroom. It was dimly lit and eerily quiet in there. Ember was lying on the bed. I took in the wall of pillows in the center of the bed she had set up to show how upset she was with me. But for some reason, everything this 5'8" woman did
Ember's POV: It was past midnight and I lay wide awake on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as hundreds of thoughts swirled in my mind. Nicholus was soundly asleep on his stomach beside me with his arm over my belly. My body was tired and my mind was fully exhausted. I needed sleep but it was nowhere to be found. Feeling suffocated and restless, I wrapped my fingers around Nicholus's wrist and gently nudged it away from my abdomen. Quietly getting out of bed, I grabbed the silk nighty off the couch and slipped it over my shoulders. Knotting the ribbon at the front, I padded toward the balcony. Stepping out, I inhaled a rush of fresh air and let it do its work to calm my jittery nerves. Reaching to the back of my mind, I called tiredly, "Aria?" Her voice was soft as she responded, "I'm right here. And I know what you're feeling." Exhaling loudly, I sighed, "At least now I have someone who can understand me on a deeper level." She paused for a minute before saying in a low voice
Ember’s POV:As Nicholus and I entered the dining hall, everyone was already seated around the table for breakfast. Luna, who used to sit right next to Alpha’s head chair, was now sitting on the chair next to that.I had always disliked the change in ranks and positions just because of a change brought by one person. I was now the King’s wife. Rightfully, that place was mine now, but how could I feel good about lowering the rank of Luna who had been sitting there for decades? Soon, she'd have to pass down the title of Luna to me. Was that even fair?Stepping forward, Nicholus pulled out the chair for me to sit. Mumbling good morning to everyone, I settled down. Nicholus followed the suit and sat down on his chair.Moving his head toward the maid beside him, Nicholus nodded lightly. All the maids started moving quickly around the table, carrying the trays, and serving us breakfast.There was an awkward silence in the hall, just like it had been for the last two days since the reception
Ember's POV: With wide smiles and twinkling eyes, everyone was staring at the door, waiting for the bride and groom to make their first appearance. But as soon as the doors opened, all the chitter chat turned into loud gasps followed by a pin drop silence. Tightening my fingers around Nicholus's arm, I stepped inside and noticed how every pair of eyes widened with shock as they spotted the Princess of the South beside the King of the North...a very unexpected match indeed. No one in their wildest dreams would have thought that they would ever witness such a day. A heavy lump formed in my throat as I scanned the crowd. So many faces were familiar. The people who had always known me as the daughter of Alexander Valdez and the future queen of the South were now witnessing me as the bride of Nicholus Dicaprio and the shock was clearly evident on their faces. But among the shocked faces, there were some red with anger and betrayal. Those were the unfamiliar ones. The daggers they were t
Ember's POV: Once we climbed down the ladder of ecstasy after cumming so hard, both of us stared at each other and burst out laughing like two maniacs. Rushing to the washroom, we did a quick job to clean ourselves and returned to the room. I giggled at the cute naked ass of Nicholus as he sprinted to the balcony to fetch our clothes. Our movements were quick as we slid into our wedding outfits. While zipping my back, Nicholus informed me, "We need to hurry. I'm continuously receiving mindlinks from Mom and Darius." Grabbing the skirt of my dress, I rushed toward the vanity and redo a bit of the makeup before brushing my hair straight. Nicholus was leaning against the doorframe, staring at me in amusement as I tied the straps of heels around my ankle. Raising my eyebrow, I inquired curiously, "Why are you smiling?" His smile only widened as he blurted out, "I think I'm feeling butterflies." A chuckle spewed out of me at his choice of words, "And why is that?" He took
Ember's POV: Resting my body against Nicholus, I sighed tiredly, "What a hectic day it had been." I couldn't see his face but still heard the mischievous smirk in his voice, "I'll make sure to end it with a nice and relaxing body massage." "And then...?" I trailed off flirtatiously. Planting his hands on my ass cheeks he pulled me forward until his hard dick was poking into my sensitive flesh, "And then I'd make you cum so many times that you'd lose the count of it." He let out an amusing chuckle, "You sleep best when your body is completely drained after a series of multiple orgasms." Shaking my head amusingly, I tilted my head backward and stared up at the night sky. "The moon is at its highest point," I uttered with temptation. Hooking his finger under my chin, Nicholus made me look into his eyes. His eyes searched mine for honesty as he asked me, "Do you still wanna do it after all that happened? Or do you want to take some more time to process everything?" I glanced at t
Ember's POV: After placing one final kiss on his lips, I slid off his lap and earned a disapproving grunt from him. But I stayed rooted to my spot and uttered, "I think we should talk about my mother now." At her mention, he straightened up and contorted his face in a serious expression. Lifting his face, he met my gaze, "I'm ready when you are." I nodded firmly, "Tell me everything about her. I wanna know all that you've been hiding from me." A slight frown appeared between his brows, "First, I wanna make sure that you know I didn't hide anything because of any ill intention. And that I wasn't intending to hide the truth forever. I was merely waiting for the right moment." I stared at him hard and long before relaying the truth, "I still think that you shouldn't have hidden such an important truth about my life. You are my mate, I don't deserve to be betrayed by you." Standing to his full height, he looked at me with worried eyes, "Hey, don't say that." Closing the distance b