Ember’s POV:The food was brought and served by the Head Chef himself. Seeing the mouth-watering food made my stomach growl, which fetched a chuckle out of Damon.I squinted my eyes at him, “Let the girl devour the finger-licking food, you demonic soul.”A burst of laughter escaped him as he filled me a glass of wine.Rolling the pasta around my fork, I slid it into my mouth. Closing my eyes, I relished the feel of my taste buds exploding with a rich creamy taste.I opened my eyes to find Damon staring at me with a small smile and amusement in his eyes. I raised my eyebrow at him to which he slightly shook his head and grinned widely, “Who could have thought that the Princess of the South has a severe food fetish.”I winked at him playfully, "At least, better than a foot fetish." Taking another bite, I pointed at the untouched plate of food in front of him.Sliding the plate of sizzling hot steak closer to him, he picked up a fork and knife and took his time to slash the piece of meat
Nicholus’s POV: “So yeah, I have tightened the security around the borders and made all the arrangements in case we’re attacked again,” Ethan informed me of the military situation. I nodded my head curtly and said tightly, "Very well. I want us to be fully prepared for any future attack." Ethan assured me that he had taken matters into his own hands and I needed not to worry. Nodding at him, I reached over the piled-up files on my desk and plucked out the blue one. It was a full-fledged plan and proposal by Alpha Maddox, King of the East, about to convince me to hand over the rights to manufacture BloodMoon Merlot to them. As I read the contents of the file, Ethan leaned back in his chair and assessed me with careful eyes. I was fully aware of his stare at me and even knew what was going on in his head. I waited for a few more minutes before grunting, "Say it, Ethan." He straightened up, "Nothing to say, Alpha. I just have a question I'm really curious about." "Ask away," I mum
Ember's POV:I woke up to someone shaking my body vigorously. As soon as I peeked open an eye, a severe wave of headache split my skull into two.I winced in pain as I forced my eyes open and blinked several times to focus. Sophie was hovering over me with a deep frown on her face, "Oh, thank God you opened your damn eyes," her hand flew to her chest, "I thought that you went into a comma."I groaned while rubbing my forehead, "What happened?"She widened her eyes, "12 pm happened, Your Highness."All the grogginess vanished from my body as I abruptly sat up on the bed and screeched, "What? 12 pm? And I slept in?""Again," Sophie groaned.And then her eyes roamed all over my face and her frown deepened, "Are you okay, Ember?"She sat on the mattress beside me and said with worry, "You don't seem fine to me. You have gone so week in just a matter of few days. You sleep in every other day, don't have the energy to train, and I've noticed that you've even lost your appetite."I pinched m
Ember's POV:Sophie and I stayed on the lawn for the next few hours and gossiped about all random things until she received a text from her mom, who asked her to run some errands.Sophie wanted me to tag along but I was feeling too tired to do anything productive. So I stayed behind and sprawled on the grass for a little longer.An hour later, I finally forced my legs to stand up and return to the castle.Walking through the corridors, I was about to take a turn toward the stairs when my eyes caught Damon playing chess in the hall. Something about him made me stop in my tracks and I couldn't help staring at him.He was playing alone, all by himself. He seemed so lonely at that moment that I got flashbacks of my own childhood before Sophie came into the picture. I used to be alone just like him.I remember vividly how I used to play all by myself. Being a princess, I was never short of toys but what fun do toys bring when you don't even have a friend to play with? Yup, that's why Sophi
Ember's POV: "When did you come back?" I asked Sophie after seeing her sprawled on my bed. "Just a while ago. Where were you?" she inquired lazily. I made a beeline to the bed and flopped beside her, "Downstairs. I was playing chess with Damon." At that, she turned over and faced me, "Should I ask why?" She seemed confused. "Why do you sound so surprised?" I blurted out. Her eyebrow twitched higher, "Because the last I checked he was still a demonic soul traveled down from the deepest pit of Hell." Remembering our last encounter, I muttered tightly, "He still is." "And yet you seem to spend so much time with him lately," she stated while eyeing me. "First, you are overly exaggerating. Second, what point are you exactly trying to make here?" I jumped straight to the point. She heaved up on her elbow and asked abruptly, "Are you attracted to him? Do you like him?" I screeched out in shock, "What?!?! Like seriously, Sophie? How can you even think such a thing?" She shrugged no
Ember’s POV:After breakfast, I met Sophie on the castle lawn and we took a stroll while talking about random things. And when she started telling me about the wedding preparations, I zoned out.My thoughts were all over the place. I still hadn’t allowed myself to ponder and analyze my decision to get married to Arnold Pierce. As far as I was concerned, he was the perfect candidate. And the fact that Father chose him and I agreed to it kind of gave me an upper hand in the situation.So, whenever a pair of pitch-black eyes full of darkness and demons haunted me in the dreams, I told myself that I was only doing what was necessary to do.I was getting married in about 3 days and the castle was brimming with preparations. Royal invites had already been sent to the invited families and prominent figures of the South.While Sophie was babbling about the bridesmaid dress, Anna sauntered over to us and bowed, “Your Highness, Ms. Tacy is looking for you.”I dipped my eyebrows, “What happened?
Ember's POV:Two days before the wedding, Father invited Alpha Arnold Pierce for dinner. It was a formal meeting between Father, me, and Arnold where we disclosed to him how things would be after this marriage.Father relayed to him the plans for my coronation right after the wedding. Furthermore, he informed Arnold that his pack would be resolved and join with our pack. Arnold himself would lose the title and rank of Alpha.As he didn't belong to the Royal Family, he wouldn't be given the title and rank of King even after our marriage. He would only be bestowed with the title of Baron, the least one in the monarchy. It was necessary to make sure that he wouldn't have any significant power to cause any ruckus in my reign.Father made it clear to him that he wouldn't have any direct connection to the throne and wouldn't have any direct say in the political as well as social matters of the Empire. After Father, I would be the sole authority to make the decisions I deemed fit.To say in
Ember’s POV:Rooting his feet on the ground, Damon leaned forward until he reached my eye level. Refusing to look him in the eyes, I jerked my head in the other direction because I still remembered how he insulted me and somehow forgot to apologize.Of course, the man didn't care about any of that.Tilting his head to the side, Damon said in a mocking tone, “Had a nice chitchat with your Prince Charming?”Tilting my head, I took in the gray clouds covering the sky, and huffed a loud sigh, “As usual, none of your business but of course, you never get that, right?”Damon clicked his tongue, “As your POTENTIAL friend, lemme tell you just for the record. He can promise you his sheer respect, loyalty, and affection but when it comes to ardent love and passionate devotion, he isn’t capable of that.”At that, my head flung toward him and I glared into his eyes, “You were eavesdropping,” I squinted my eyes, "You really have no concept of boundaries, right?"Straightening up, he simply shrugge
Nicholus’s POV:Exiting the dungeons, I started walking toward my private chambers. The night was so fucking mind-exhausting that I wanted to spend the rest of it alone before I caused any more destruction.Passing through the Luna’s quarter, I spotted her guards standing outside. Coming to a halt, I inquired, “What are you two doing here? Didn't Luna order you to take Darius to the castle clinic?”One of them nodded before answering, “We were on our way, Alpha. But then Beta asked us to take him to his chamber instead.”Turning on my heels. I started walking in the opposite direction. The castle had various chambers, quarters, and wings. The biggest of them was known as the Great Chamber which had always been reserved for the King. It was located above all the other chambers. It was so huge that I could see half of my empire from its terrace. After that was the Luna’s Quarters. Then, there were smaller chambers for Beta and Gamma.With quick strides, I crossed the hallways until I re
Ember’s POV:Turning her blazing gaze toward his son, Luna said curtly, “Capturing women in the name of war trophies?”Disgust was written all over her face as she scoffed, “Couldn’t resist walking in your father’s footsteps for long, huh?”His death-like grip around my arm loosened instantly before he blurted out, “No, it’s not…”Luna cut him off mid-sentence, “I’ve never seen you do that before.” She shook her head in disappointment, “The son I’ve raised would never do such a hideous thing to any woman," she said in distress.Alpha’s body went rigid behind me at his mother’s words. He released an exasperated breath and said agitatedly, “You challenged my authority when it came to Darius, mom. But as the Luna of this pack, I let that go and gave in to your demand because I respect you.”His voice turned harsher as he bit out, “But she…she is not a member of our pack. So, you do not need to protect her.”He looked straight into Luna's eyes and uttered with finality, “Let me handle thi
Ember’s POV:I watched in astonishment as a tall lady stormed into the dungeon hall with two guards behind her. They were nothing like the dungeon guards. Both had heavy build with intimidating looks permanently etched into their features. They were more like warriors.But all of my attention was focused on the lady who was lethal but equally charismatic. Immense power radiated off her.Her eyes were fearless which quickly turned ferocious as soon as they landed on Darius hanging from the ceiling.“For God’s sake, Nicholus. He is your Beta and you cannot do this to him,” her cold gaze slashed to my mate who was still gripping my cheeks.The lady’s eyes widened as she screeched in disbelief, “And who is she? And why are you clutching her like that?”“Mom…” my mate said tightly and that was enough to draw a complete picture for me.The charismatic lady who had just appeared out of nowhere was no one but the Luna of this pack. Well, that justified the way she dared to interrupt Alpha’s b
Ember’s POV:Turning toward Darius, Nicholus assessed him with a vengeful gaze, “Really, Beta? Were my orders about her not clear enough to you?”Darius’s shoulders slouched as he exhaled, “They were, Alpha.”“And you still decided to go against me and defy my orders?” growled my mate angrily.Darius stared at the ground, “I thought…”Alpha cut him off mid-sentence, “I wonder why you have a soft corner for her, Darius. She is the one who betrayed your Alpha and still your loyalty lies with her.”At that, Darius lifted his head and looked at his Alpha, “That’s not true, Nicholus. I…”Once again, my mate didn’t let him finish as he spat bitterly, “I feel betrayed, Darius.” He shook his head slowly and grumbled in a low voice, “And you were never supposed to betray me.”Before poor Darius could explain his point, Alpha Nicholus turned his attention to the guards standing on either side of Darius and ordered them, “Hang him to the chains.”My eyes widened at his words, “What?”I saw in ho
Ember’s POV:I dug my nails into his hand wrapping around my wrist while rasping, “Where the hell are you taking me?”Initially, I had expected him to put me back in the cell but soon, I realized that the devil had some other plans for his prey.Fear crept under my skin as he dashed deeper into the dungeons, leaving all the cells behind. As we walked through the dark corridor, I felt the air becoming thick and stagnant.I winced at the foul smell of rotting flesh whirling in the air. I tried desperately to wriggle myself out of his tight hold and croaked through the clogged throat, “Just leave me. Let me go.”At the end of the corridor, he took a sharp turn to the right and started bolting down the staircase. My free hand flew out in a failed attempt to hold anything, to fight him but all was in vain as he sped down.A shiver ran down my spine as the temperature here felt even colder than it was in the cells. Only a few dim lights were illuminating the otherwise dark hallway.There wer
Ember’s POV:Once again, silence prevailed all around us as we both stared at each other with intensity. None of us averted our gazes as millions of thoughts whirled around in our minds.I waited for him to thrash out in anger, mock me for not being a purebred, alpha-born, and insult me for having mixed blood in my veins.More than anything, I desperately waited for him to reject me right then and there. A new hope fluttered inside me. I was a hybrid, everything opposite to what he was expecting in his fated mate.The wisest thing for him to do as a King was to reject me and find a Chosen Mate with strong connections and pure, alpha blood coursing through her veins.But a long time passed and he kept standing there, gawking at me, thinking God knew what.His blank stare had started to affect me more than I liked to admit. I wondered what was going on in his mind.I squirmed under his hard stare and finally sputtered, “Say something.”I regretted that instantly. Why did I sound so vulne
Ember's POV:I was thrashing on his shoulder, screaming maniacally, punching him anywhere my fists could reach but he remained unscathed and seemed unbothered as he effortlessly carried me back to the dungeons.As soon as he stepped inside, guards rushed to close the gates, and only then did he unhauled me from his fucking shoulder.As my feet landed on the ground, I coiled my hands into tight fists and started yelling, "You caveman, freaking Neanderthal, how dare you..."Ignoring me like I was invisible, he turned around to face the guards, "Explain to me how she managed to leave even after such tight security?"Blood left their faces as they gawked at me with wide eyes and stammered in fear, "Alpha, we've been on high alert just as you've ordered us. We don't know how she..."Before the poor, frightened guard even finished his sentence, my very uncivilized and cruel mate lunged forward and wrapped his hands around the necks of both guards.Moving with the speed of light, he took the
Ember's POV: Death played in front of my eyes in slow motion. I saw bulky wolves prancing in the air with their mouths gaped open, ready to bite their meal and tear me apart. I was still as a rock, not daring to move a muscle in my body, welcoming death with open arms when, all of a sudden, the world seemed to stop around me. My eyebrows deepened in utter confusion as I saw wolves suddenly falling to the ground mid-jump. Their bodies thudded down and they all touched their heads to the ground in complete surrender. A million questions whirled in my mind and I jolted around in a full circle to make sense of the things happening in front of my eyes. Who were they surrendering to? There was no one around us for as far as my eyes could behold. I would have loved to get answers to satisfy my curiosity but what I would have loved even more was to survive. As I took in all the wolves bowed down in surrender, it suddenly felt like fate had given me a second chance at life, at freedom.
Ember’s POV:It had been ages since I’d trained or practiced with my packmates due to the weakness I felt after Aria’s disappearance but I didn't let that excuse bring me down when I was this close to freedom now.Closing my eyes, I called forward the athlete inside me and took a deep breath to release the tension in my body.I walked closer to the wall that was now separating me from my freedom and took a moment to assess it with evaluating eyes.My gaze roamed over the stony wall and I touched the protruding stones where I could hook my hands and feet while climbing. There was no doubt that the wall was strong enough to hold my weight but the only problem was the silver that was now streaking down the wall at multiple places.I couldn’t do anything about that other than tolerating the burns because no matter how careful I could be, the touch with silver was inevitable.I rolled my shoulders several times as a warm-up. With a heavy breath, I lifted my arms and grabbed the highest pro