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.
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