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:I dreading the later hours of night couldn’t stop it from coming and crashing my world.Until the evening, I kept crawling along the wall of the cell as sunlight moved from one corner to the other, to soak every last bit of the warm sunray.Unfortunately, as soon as dawn appeared, the air started getting chilly until it turned frigid and bitterly cold. My breathing became ragged and fog blew out of my mouth with each breath.Shivering started again and I coiled myself in the fetal position. My hands and feet felt like they had immersed into the ice blocks before they turned itchy and finally became numb.I was dying to ask Darius to bring me a small comforter or anything to keep me warm during the night but I also didn’t want him to get suspicious that I was wolfless. I was not yet ready to reveal my weaknesses to the enemies.So, bearing the harsh climate night after night was the only way to survive in the foreign territory.The next morning when I woke up, I saw my fin
Ember's POV: After what felt like an eternity, I finally slept peacefully. When I woke up, I found myself sprawled like a starfish with my arms and legs spreading widely apart. I was warm and cozy, not caring about the hardness of the floor and not at all affected by the harshness of the climate. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips as my fingers brushed over the necklace, still warm against my neck. I wondered why it didn't work the last two nights but then I thought that maybe when I remembered my mother and focused on the necklace, it triggered something and activated it. I seriously had no idea how it all worked because I never had much knowledge about witches and their ways. I still had so much to learn before my mate decided to kidnap me and throw me in the dungeons. I winced as I tried to sit up. My muscles were sore and my body felt weak. It had been so long without Xanadium and I needed to take it soon if I still wanted to hang on to my rapidly dying wolf.
Ember’s POV: I was full of zeal and zest until making it my life’s decision to get the hell out of these dungeons but the storm of raging enthusiasm died within me as it hit me how exactly I was going to do that. Because as far as I could see, there were numerous guards beyond those silver bars and starving, maniac, wolf-flesh-addictive wolves outside the tiny window. The fact that I didn’t have my wolf’s wisdom and strength to accompany me in the times of darkness ached my heart but not that it could help me much. Of course, my mate had made all the arrangements keeping in mind that I was indeed a werewolf. And then, all of a sudden, it hit me with full force. For a moment, I stopped breathing as wheels started churning in my head. Shotting up from the floor, I started pacing the length of the confined cell. My mate was well prepared to kidnap and imprison a werewolf, and without any doubt, he did a pretty good job at that. Lifting my hand, I grazed my fingers over the mystical
Ember’s POV:For the rest of the evening, I continued pacing the floor. My heart was heavy with dread. Panic clawed at my insides, eating me away.Darius’s words kept whirling in my head over and over again. My heart was pounding so rapidly that I felt that it would just rip out of my chest at any moment.My mind had stopped working but I still thought of all the ways I could get out of this hell but all was in vain. All the dwindling hope I had been holding onto all along slowly died away as I realized there was no way out of my ruthless mate’s clutches.My breathing became ragged and my muscles tightened with anxiety. Padding to the darkest corner of the cell, I pressed my back against the wall and slid down to the floor.Hugging my knees to my chest, I placed my cheek against my knees. Tears prickled at the back of my mind as the defeat flashed before my eyes. It was laughing at me, mocking me, insulting me.As my gaze shifted to the window and I saw the moon shining brightly in th
Ember’s POV:That night, an idea hit my mind. I was lying in a fetal position, rolling in my misery, waiting for the worst to come and consume me when all of a sudden, out of nowhere, an idea struck my mind.My heart started pounding with anticipation as once again, a tiny ray of hope fluttered inside me. I jolted up in a sitting position and reprimanded myself for not thinking about it earlier. How could such a thing skip my mind?Nearing the bars, I made sure no one was prying on me. Returning, I sat cross-legged, facing the wall, and closed my eyes.Slowly, one by one, I detached all of my reflexes from my surroundings until I felt myself floating in oblivion, and focused all of my energy to peek into myself just like I've been doing every other night. But tonight, I was trying something new. Something I should've tried a long ago.Exhaling an exasperated breath, I lifted my hand and closed my fingers around my mother's necklace. It was my last shot at freedom and I prayed with eve
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
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: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