Nicholas’s POV:That night, we were all cooped up in my office. Me, my Beta, Gamma, and a few other commanders were all gathered around the map sprawled over my desk.Darius pointed at the map, “According to my sources, the South-North border is heavily guarded by the rogues.”Ethan quirked his eyebrow, “Damon must have stationed them there since they would be expecting us to retaliate after the attack.”Liam, a military commander, chimed in, “Well, we can unleash our army on them. We weren't expecting it last time when they attacked us, but now we are prepared.”Ethan nodded confidently, “Yes, we can easily take them down.”I shook my head once as a smirk formed on my face, “But that would alert Alexander’s forces in the castle and just ruin my surprise, no?”At that, Darius flipped his head in my direction, “What are you planning, Nicholus?”I planted my elbows on the desk and leaned forward, “I’m planning to kill two birds with one stone. First, I’m going to retrieve my mate but…” I
Nicholus’s POV:The night before the wedding ceremony, we received the news that Damon had reached the North-South border with more of his bloody rogues but by that time, I, along with my forces, had already reached the West-South border.After hearing the news, Xoro just wanted to leave everything behind and cross the border to wrap his hands around Damon's neck and strangle him until his face turned red. And then, I’d look into his horror-filled eyes and right before snapping his neck, I’d ask him how dared he lay hands on my mate.I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself and my raging wolf. There was a possibility that Damon had no idea that she was my mate but then, maybe she had confided him in. Fuck, even if he knew, it wouldn’t have stopped him from doing what he did.At that, a deep and dark chuckle escaped out of me. The two people who should have been standing by me as my strength are playing behind my back. I was being betrayed by those I was supposed to trust
Ember’s POV:I was pushed into the car by my mate. A moment later, the car shifted as his huge and bulky frame settled inside. He was so big that even the spacious car felt much smaller in his presence.I squirmed toward the door but there wasn’t enough space to put between us. I saw the flare of my dress touching his leg and I quickly collected it to move it away from him.He saw me doing that vainly and shifted his leg away from my dress.A moment later, the engine rumbled. I sucked in a sharp breath as I glanced out the window and took in the castle I’d spent my whole life in.Even after spending all my life there, I couldn’t come to call it a home. Maybe that’s why while going away from it, I just wanted to take one thing with me. Sophie, my best friend.But it didn’t mean that it hurt me any less to part ways with it. It felt like someone had stabbed a sharp knife deep within my heart and was continuously moving it sideways to rip it open. Yes, it was my mate. He was doing that t
Ember's POV: I had no idea how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity, flying through the night sky in utter silence. I spent every second of that rolling in my misery, missing the life I had left behind, and dreading what fate had in store for me. Since the start of the journey, my mate had his head glued toward the window, without sparing so much as a glance in my direction. Darius, on the other hand, seemed bored and tried to make small talk with me frequently, to which I paid no heed and totally ignored him. He also brought me food more than once and even though my stomach was grumbling with hunger, I made no move to eat anything offered by him. It felt like anything down my throat would only nauseate me and the last thing I wanted was to humiliate myself by emptying my guts in front of these men. A new wave of panic coursed through me as the pilot announced our entrance into the North territory. I closed my eyes and my gut coiled as the flashbacks of my first night in
Ember’s POV:The last time I was in the dungeons, I had a mission to free the prisoners but this time, I was going to be one of them. Ignoring the panic swirling in the pit of my stomach, I focused all my attention on my surroundings.Darius walked deeper into the dark dungeons and I followed him briskly. My eyes were all over the place, remembering every nook and corner. Anything, any minute detail could prove to be very helpful while running away, that’s what my years of training had taught me.While passing through the cells, I took in the space within them. It was dark and gloomy. Other than sunrays and moonlight, there was no other source of illumination and besides a tiny window at the top corner, there was no other source of ventilation.Behind the thick and heavy silver bars, there were prisoners. In the utter darkness, I could only make out their silhouettes. By their heavy and ragged breathing and moaning, I knew how badly they were being tortured.All of a sudden, a fearsom
Ember's POV:"Anyhow, I'd love to chitter chatter with you and bond over the dark tales of the North but I just received a mindlink from Alpha, so gotta go," he turned around, "See you soon, sister-in-law."I listened to the last of his retreating footsteps and a minute later, I heard ancient, rusty doors creaking and locked.What followed was an utter and horrifying silence. Wherever my gaze traveled, I only saw pitch-black darkness, so very similar to the eyes of my mate. The dark, demonic, devilish eyes of my mate.Turning away from the bars, I tilted my head toward the window in the upper corner of the wall. It was large enough for me to squeeze through but the silver bars won’t let me.Sighing in disappointment, I dragged my feet to the corner of the cell. Pressing my back against the cold wall, I slid down to the hard-stoned floor, collected my bridal dress, and wrapped my arms around my knees, huddling myself together.All of a sudden, emotions, that I’d been tightly holding in
Ember's POV:I tried my best to brace myself against the darkness of my mate but at one point, the painful wails, agony, and cries for help became so much that I started to correlate it with my own people when he massacred them.I couldn't help placing my hands on my ears to drown out the cries of tortured ones and hid my head in my knees. My vision blurred with my tears and I quickly wiped them away before anyone could spot them streaking down my face.After what seemed like an eternity, the cries finally died down.I lifted my head just in time to see my mate passing through my cell. This time, he neither stopped nor spared a glance at me.Suddenly, my breath stuck in my lungs and my eyes widened in fear and disbelief. What followed the ruthless alpha was the evidence of his brutality.Bile rose up my throat as I took in two guards holding a prisoner whose wails I'd been hearing all morning. They were literally dragging him like a sack of potatoes.Shiver ran down my spine and blood
Ember’s POV:The night was worse than the previous one. I was cold deep down to my bones and could literally feel the blood freezing in my veins.I was wearing both T-shirts Darius had given me and wrapped my wedding gown around myself.My teeth were clattering as I huddled myself closer in a fetal position on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest. I frequently rubbed my arms and hands to keep myself warm but nothing worked against the frigid cold of the North.By the time it was dusk outside, my muscles were aching from the continuous shivering. My eyes were stuck to the tiny window and I finally took a breath of relief when sunrays started peeking inside.The days were normally bearable but nights were the worst. Even though the window was small it allowed sunlight inside the otherwise dark and gloomy cell. As soon as sunlight entered the cell, I heaved a ragged breath and crawled to the other corner where sunrays were directed.I closed my eyes as ice started melting within me.
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