ZADIK'S POVVenn lowered herself on the chair, her gaze not for once wavering away from my face, alongside that victorious smirk she had on her hers."You know, I used to think you were another variation of Rylan seeing as wolves of the same pack spend their time howling together." I stared back at her weakly, wincing as the joint in my left shoulder popped again. Whenever it did, the pain would go on for several seconds.The durations lasted longer than the last because of my inability to heal fast enough. With each second that went by, my wolf and I grew weaker than we had ever been.It made me feel hopeless. I hated the feeling of being hopeless because it made me vulnerable.The pain in my shoulder finally subsided and I refocused my attention onVenn to find her waiting for me."What is the point you have been trying to make, Venn?" I ground out bitterly."Impatient to see me leave already? I think the feeling is mutual." Then she laughed.For the first time since she walked in,
ZADIK'S POV"I was going to let you off the hook easily and perhaps make you one of my blood bags instead, turns out you're too smart for your own good."I stared at her again, the feeling of hate starting to bubble at the sight of the smug smile she had on her face.How can one creature be the habitat of such cruel callousness? Harbouring extreme hate for a specie she was undeniably a part of."You won't get away with this, Venn. I promise you." I swore solemnly.Another of her vile cackle filled the air for the second time. She made a mock show of wiping tears out of her eyes. "Even close to your grave, you never cease to tell jokes. I already got away with it, sweetie.""Let's see what Neilla and her mate have to say about it." I could be unsure about what would happen to me in the nearest future, I couldn't care any less. This, however, I could bet my life on.Her fingers reached to twirl her dark hair. "That silly old mutt has grown weaker than a blind helpless pup. His fighting
NEILLA'S POV "And Lady Justina came just in time to rescue me. If it weren't for her timely intervention, I would have been long dead." Zadik finished recounting his experience in the hands of Venn."Your memories were wiped?" Sapphira asked after the initial shock of beholding her mate had worn off. Her eyes now flashed with murderous anger.Zadik's attention riveted straight to her, the harshness on his features softening by several degrees. "A few minutes after Lady Justina arrived, I remembered nothing of what took place down in the cell. It was only after she restored me that they returned."Before anyone else could say one more word, Sapphira had catapulted herself at Venn with a howl ripping out of her throat.It took the intervention of Marcello and Axel to pry them apart even as Sapphira held on to Venn tightly."Get a grip on yourself, Sapphira!" I reached out to her but my voice was lost to the rancour that had began. Her eyes glowed with every second that passed, burning
NEILLA'S POV In the midst of the chaos, Lykos had managed to find my fingers. As we stood side by side, he intertwined them with his, squeezing in gentle pulses. I pulled my fingers out of his grip as I battled against the despair that only ate further deep into me. "Back to you, Neilla." Venn spat in disgust as her head turned to my direction. She was holding back I could tell. But why? "You know you can save those triplets from the danger they're about to slip into." I almost walked into her as I hastily replied, "Take me instead if that's the solution to keeping them alive, please." My voice broke at the end despite my attempt in maintaining an air of calmness. My babies were all I live for. I got out of the Moonstone pack just so I could give them a chance at life. I would not let a single scratch come upon them. Venn stepped closer to me, too close for comfort. The tiny veins that sprouted from her face waved about as though each had a mind of their own and wanted to
NEILLA'S POVAs I took a step into the portal, I stepped into a different dimension that made time become useless. I was welcomed by a certain iciness that made my teeth chatter lightly.Surrounded by darkness, I fumbled blindly with my inability to feel for something... anything solid to keep my balance.A motion in the portal began but I couldn't tell in what direction it went in. Trying to be calm seemed a herculean task as i couldn't stop my thoughts from running riot."You must love your kids too much to be this dumb." Venn's voice broke the barely manageable serenity in the portal. Worse that I couldn't even make out her figure in the dark.I grunted in reply, refusing to start a conversation with the enemy. If she saw no wrong in using kids as bait, then she was far from being sensible. Whatever happened to drugging me instead of taking those younglings?"I hope you remember that their existence depends on you. Don't go acting bitchy else..." She left the rest of her words uns
LYKOS'S POVI watched Neilla step into the portal right after Venn. Not once did she stop to spare me a departing glance. Was she not starting to regret her decision? The hole started to close up. That was my cue to do exactly what my monster yearned to do; rip these guards into shreds and follow through if time permitted. Else, some other plan would have to suffice.Someone's stepped up beside me. It was Axel. On his face was a conspiratorial look which revealed he was already toying with the same train of thought that I was."Your orders and I give myself the thrill of a lifetime." He mindlinked. "It's been an awfully long time." I smirked at one of the guards who cocked his head, giving away his confusion. I smelled his perspiration tinged with anxiety as he gripped his gun tighter.That was all I need. The weak link. I looked over my shoulder for my Aunt to ask a favour. My action was the first movement I'd made since Neilla waltzed into the shadow of death alone. Startled, A
NEILLA'S POVThe long walk from the portal brought us to a yard whose environment brought back a feeling of nostalgia to me. The stranger whose name was Lonnie, walked behind me as Venn went up front. She had reverted to her normal self on the way which I had to admit to myself, was more unnerving. The werewolf façade was a misleading representation of the true nature of her being. There was so much innocence in her pretence than in the form she presented to us.I decided instead that I could deal with the veiny, bloodthirsty vampire that she really was. At least, dealing with people in their true elements made all the work easy.We came to what resembled a throne room with vault ceilings, flower ornaments in each corner, an entire floor of polished marble against which the soles of my boots thudded.There were several paintings of one man whom I guessed was probably the Alpha. With a strong and chiseled jawline, a aqualine nose over a mouth that looked like it said little but promi
NEILLA'S POV.Nia recovered from the shock of seeing me. She turned to the siblings with an angry glare. "What is she doing here? I thought you said you were not going to bring her until you have made a bargain? Why didn't you give me a heads-up first?"Venn leaned back in her seat to regard Nia properly. She plucked one seed of grape and bit into it slowly, taking her time. She dropped the other half of it."I see you have forgotten your place. That is not a problem. Might I remind you that you work for me and not with me and you know what that means, right?" Nia rolled her eyes, nodded all the same. "Still, you should have said something."I didn't even let their conversation come to an end before I started to vent. "Nia, how could you?" We might not have been on cordial terms, but this was an outright betrayal of trust. "We trusted you.""Oh, please." She replied with scorn. "That was you being gullible and that's on you, not me."Everything started to make sense to me. Her sudden
NEILLA'S POV "You were saying, sweet uncle?" I smiled sweetly at him, enjoying the look on his face. For the first time ever, he bore an expression other than arrogance and it thrilled me to no end. Setting the book down without taking my hands off it nor my eyes off him, I ripped each page disregarding how it scalded my palms. I would heal eventually so it bothered me less. "No! Anything but that, please." He crumbled to his knees, as he begged. "Anything but that. That is all I have of my mate." "Wrong! She did not ask you to avenge her or go taking packs forcefully." I debated in an anger that led me yanking off more pages in quick succession. "If you have lost a mate, you would understand." That touched a sore spot in me and I paused in the middle of my actions. "Lies!" Nia spat out for the first time since I came back to life. "In that book is all the secrets of his existence as a hybrid alongside all the monsters that do his bidding. Do not fall for his wi
NEILLA'S POV I broke down, in shameful admittance of my failure to her. Everyone spoke of my mother in reverence in awe and when they knew I was her blood, they had exalted expectations of me. Even I had expectations of myself only to be slapped with the wicked truth. I was nothing compared to who my mother was before her death. "That's where you got it wrong, my daughter." My mother cooed, as she framed her face again with her soft hands. "You don't compare to me, I don't compare to you. I let sentiments get me into a trap that cost me my family, that cost me you." "If I had killed Vincent a long time ago, when I should have, you won't be in this mess. But I didn't, because he was family to me. He was my only sibling." She revealed, avoiding my face but laying strict attention to my hair. Was it something about my hair or something about the words she was saying? I wondered, pulling out of her hold. "Vincent was your brother and he killed you?" What kind of blood relation was h
NEILLA'S POV"That's not true!" Nia pulled my arm, trying her best to dissuade me from confronting Vincent by myself. "You can't be the Alpha's daughter, you don't know what you're saying!" We turned to her, a buzz of energy humming around us as we replied her. "It is true. If you hadn't said that lie, we wouldn't have been brought to our fate."We turned our focus back to Vincent who slowly descended the short flight of stairs, hands behind his back and that cynical smile on his face.The model definition of a psychopath. "No, Neilla. Let me handle him. Save the kids." Lykos ordered as he appeared by us in the blink of an instant. "I said this is my fight!" We roared suddenly. Frightened, the triplets scampered to Lenora quickly. "Stay out of my business and go be with them!" We warned with our voice ringing out clear.The vein in his neck ticked, his jaw did the same. He was angry with us but who cared? We wanted to get things done with once and for all. "Now, now." Venn's faux
NEILLA'S POV"I can't." Nia said, stopping us in our tracks. Before we started to raise our claws, impatient to strike her down and let ourselves out of the cell, she quickly filled in her reasons."If we do so together, Vincent might discover a little too early of my betrayal to him.""Like you haven't betrayed your own people already."Nia all but snapped at us. "We have already established that, Neilla. You don't have to bring it up everytime." She sighed, "As I was saying, you have to be in here for a few minutes while I go up alone. If the coast is clear, I'll send one of my trusted persons to come get you.""Let's hope they don't betray you too." My wolf spat out cynically before retreating back into the backseat of my head as I took rein now.I felt no remorse for my wolf's words. It was the truth anyway.She said nothing else in reply, went out of the room. Lenora proceeded to secure the locks from within and together we sat in the dim light of the lamp, waiting for her arriv
NEILLA'S POV My ears picked up on the sounds of commotion from way above us. Nia must have as well because she paused briefly so she could tilt her head to the side and listen. "What is that?" I asked in alarm. She shook her head, rose from her seat. "I cannot say for sure." She ventured close to the heavy doors. "If my guess is right, then Vincent, or should I say Lonnie, has lost his mind yet again." "Tell me, does this happen frequently?" I quizzed, my eyes following her every move even as I paid attention to the distant commotion. "You don't want to know how many times he loses his mind in a day. Whatever character he might have been displaying to you was a faux." She added, finally coming back to sit. The noise had all but stopped. However, it was reduced. I found that the kids were no longer playing with their toys. They probably heard the commotion too. I thought back to the short time Vincent add I spent in each other's presence. I found it almost impossible to
NEILLA'S POVNia arose from her position to give I and the triplets a moment to ourselves while she stepped to the darker room with the human girl, Lenora. The kids made sure to talk my ear off with half baked stories of their adventures, the friends they made who were just the fake servants that abducted them that day "I told them about our birthday." Jade was saying. She found a spot in the curve of my arm and settled there. "How aunt Nia told us to follow some people so she could have time with us."Her story drew my interest, same time repelled me. Did I really want to know how they were abducted? The truth of how it really happened?I decided against it. "That's enough, Jade. I'm glad you're here with me, alright?" She nodded and as she did so, the tendrils that were peeking from her crown, bounced."When mean uncle said you wouldn't come back to us, it hurt my feelings so much. I yelled at him and told him he was wrong. He was laughing at me." Juno said, his face reflecting t
NEILLA'S POVI hastened my steps, pushing to meet up with Nia who had become interestingly faster than she was some seconds ago. The servants who saw us coming only took a second to observe me, perhaps out of curiosity, before they immediately lowered their heads.I had seen more than ten of them do the same.What were they scared of?Who was Lonnie?"He's not going to do anything to his sister, is he?" I voiced out my thoughts as we hurried along the hallway that didn't seem to have an end.Nia's grip on my wrist tightened further and she inhaled sharply. "Trust me, you do not want to know."We took the very first turn before getting to the end of the endless hallway. It led us down several stairwells. A few servants met us on their way up. I heard their little whispers as soon as they thought we were out of earshot. "She's going to be in trouble." I managed to catch.I was already in trouble, that was a no-brainer. I was just yet to figure out a way to extricate myself and my tri
NEILLA'S POV.Nia recovered from the shock of seeing me. She turned to the siblings with an angry glare. "What is she doing here? I thought you said you were not going to bring her until you have made a bargain? Why didn't you give me a heads-up first?"Venn leaned back in her seat to regard Nia properly. She plucked one seed of grape and bit into it slowly, taking her time. She dropped the other half of it."I see you have forgotten your place. That is not a problem. Might I remind you that you work for me and not with me and you know what that means, right?" Nia rolled her eyes, nodded all the same. "Still, you should have said something."I didn't even let their conversation come to an end before I started to vent. "Nia, how could you?" We might not have been on cordial terms, but this was an outright betrayal of trust. "We trusted you.""Oh, please." She replied with scorn. "That was you being gullible and that's on you, not me."Everything started to make sense to me. Her sudden
NEILLA'S POVThe long walk from the portal brought us to a yard whose environment brought back a feeling of nostalgia to me. The stranger whose name was Lonnie, walked behind me as Venn went up front. She had reverted to her normal self on the way which I had to admit to myself, was more unnerving. The werewolf façade was a misleading representation of the true nature of her being. There was so much innocence in her pretence than in the form she presented to us.I decided instead that I could deal with the veiny, bloodthirsty vampire that she really was. At least, dealing with people in their true elements made all the work easy.We came to what resembled a throne room with vault ceilings, flower ornaments in each corner, an entire floor of polished marble against which the soles of my boots thudded.There were several paintings of one man whom I guessed was probably the Alpha. With a strong and chiseled jawline, a aqualine nose over a mouth that looked like it said little but promi