ALISHA’S POV“Focus Alisha! Keep your guard up and anticipate your opponent’s next move! That’s the only way you’ll be at an advantage and you know you need to always be at an advantage if you want to mirror my father’s move. One thing we’ll never not do, is not see a move coming.”“Got it.”I nodded in acknowledgment, my concentration steady as I listened to Lucien. He was a good teacher, urging me to try my best to become even better every day.The atmosphere in the secret training room was charged with energy as we continued to train. Understanding his father’s techniques rather quickly, our movements were fluid and precise as we exchanged blows and practiced every day.“Time out!”With light laughter, he freed me from his grip and I immediately collapsed to the floor, finally catching my breath. In seconds, our laughter grew, the two of us taking as an opportunity to reminisce of how the past couple of days had gone by.With Kane and Camila temporarily out of our sight, we took th
ALISHA’S POVA sigh of relief escaped my lips as I watched the sun slowly set, the day finally coming to an end. With a satisfied nod, I stashed the last paperwork I was working on away and rose to my feet, yawning immediately to give my body a good stretch.I was done with the office work I had planned for the day and I automatically knew what was coming next- the date with Lucien I had planned for the evening.A shy smile appeared on my face as I recalled how my day started. How I’d headed over to the office with the plan of doing nothing but work but much to my surprise, Lucien had showed up to ask me out a date later in the evening.The invitation had caught me by surprise I couldn’t deny, my blinking eyes and automatically sweaty palms making it extremely obvious. But at the same time, I found myself unable to resist saying no to him, a positive response quickly escaping my lips. Quickly, I rushed towards the mirror in my office to give myself a quick glance. Retouching my appea
ALISHA’S POVI wanted blood. And not just any blood. But, the blood of my fated mate, Lucien. I wanted to kill him in the most cruel of ways. To slice his throat clean with a knife or with my sharp claws, even. To watch him bleed until the light in his eyes faded. Until there was nothing left in him. Nothing left to hurt me.Yet, I stalled. For good reason. But, also because of something else. Something deep that connected us both. This damn mate bond I suffered from every day of my existence.My name is Alisha Stone. I'm the Luna of my pack and the fated mate of Lucien Ragnarok, the most unworthy alpha my pack has ever known and the most abominable man I have ever known.Maybe this was my fate. To be cursed to this lifetime stuck with him. But, I would not end in this misery. I was determined to end this. This constant fight within myself and with him. Between the love I hated to admit I had for him and the hate I wanted to have for him couldn't tell which was more than the other.
ALISHA’S POVCalum was burning with rage. I could feel it erupt from him like a volcano, but he managed to turn it into a series of waves coming off of him as he stood, facing my cheating husband.Lucien stared back at him, unashamed that he had just been caught in the act of cheating.I stood straight, holding my chest. Trying to dumb down the pain. It was hard. But, I proved stronger. In a minute, I was standing straight, chin up, facing Lucien too."What's wrong?" Lucien drawled out. He even had the audacity to look puzzled. Like he didn't know why we were staring at him with both a mixture of rage and pain.Calum swallowed hard. I watched his Adam apple bob as he did. Then he answered coolly, the opposite of how he was feeling, I could tell. "We're here to discuss some important matters with you." He looked at Camilla with irritation. "In private."Camilla stood quietly beside Lucien, pretending to be oblivious to what was happening and trying to smoothen her rumpled dress."I wan
LUCIEN’S POVBeing Alpha's got to be the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. And, I've done an insane amount of things.I could still feel the anger pulsing through my veins even after Alisha and her silly, annoying brother I'd been coerced to make my Beta left.Camilla came forward to try to comfort me. But, as she rubbed my chest, there was a certain irritation that grew even more. I should've been comfortable, but I suddenly wasn't.Alisha's eyes. They were hunting.The hurt. The determination mixed in with it.How did she manage to give a killer stare like that? It was like the more I tried to break her, the stronger she stood back up again.I knew Alisha. She was the typical perfect girl. Strong. With a good family. She had most of what she needed. Maybe she thought that I was less than important. Maybe that was why she could endure what I threw her way every damn time.It irked me. The way she constantly looked at me with a combination of both disappointment, but what sligh
ALISHA’S POVLucien released his grip on my neck as suddenly as he'd grabbed me. As I gasped for breath, the overwhelming urge to leave consumed me. I needed to escape this toxic web I was entangled in. My resolve was slowly beginning to strengthen, forming a wall of succor as I tried to be strong a while long.Camilla walked into the room. I could sense her nasty presence before I laid eyes on her. As soon as she walked in, she examined all the scattered food and broken glass lying around, and it didn't take long for her to deduce that we'd just fought."What's going on?" she asked, her voice dripping with a fake amount of concern, pretending to care like she was a good person would.I didn't reply. Rather, I remained silent, refusing to dignify her questions with a response.Lucien sneered, his dark eyes gleaming with malice as he watched me stay bowed down, fighting the pain.Camilla, undeterred by my silence, grabbed Lucien's hand and asked again, "What's going on?""I only want a
ALISHA’S POVAs Lucien and I locked eyes, the tension between us reached its breaking point. His question cut through the air like a blade, filled with challenge and defiance. "Do you also want to resist me and my rule, Alisha?"I sneered in response, my voice dripping with disdain. "I despise you, Lucien, but there's nothing left for me to resist. I have never truly obeyed you."His fury ignited like a wildfire, consuming him in its flames. He called for someone to detain me, his Alpha authority ringing through the room. "Guards! Come and get her out of here! Take her away now!"As the guards entered in and pulled me all the way to the prison, I held my head high, refusing to let the weight of his dominance break my spirit.When I stepped into the dimly lit confines of the prison, my heart sank as I caught sight of my brother, Calum. Guilt washed over me, and I rushed to his side, a torrent of apologies tumbling from my lips. "I'm sorry, Calum. I haven't been a good Luna neither have
ALISHA’S POVI wiped the final drops of tears from my cheeks, coming face to face with my new reality.I had rejected my mate officially and severed all ties I had with him. So there was no need to feel even the tiniest ounce of emotions towards him anymore.Reminding myself of that fact, I nodded and turned to face my brother and Arthur, a feeling of relief and nervousness immediately washing towards me.“It’s done,” I said to them both. “Let’s leave this god forsaken pack forever.”“What?” Calum immediately said, his expression changing. I mirrored his actions, suddenly confused on why he didn’t seem as excited as I expected him to be. “No, Alisha. I can’t leave the pack just like that. I am the Beta and that means I have a responsibility here so I can’t just leave.”His voice had the same warm and comforting tone it always did but for the first time, it couldn’t comfort me.Instead, I felt my heart shattering, plunging me into another pool of sadness. I didn’t want to leave alone b
ALISHA’S POVA sigh of relief escaped my lips as I watched the sun slowly set, the day finally coming to an end. With a satisfied nod, I stashed the last paperwork I was working on away and rose to my feet, yawning immediately to give my body a good stretch.I was done with the office work I had planned for the day and I automatically knew what was coming next- the date with Lucien I had planned for the evening.A shy smile appeared on my face as I recalled how my day started. How I’d headed over to the office with the plan of doing nothing but work but much to my surprise, Lucien had showed up to ask me out a date later in the evening.The invitation had caught me by surprise I couldn’t deny, my blinking eyes and automatically sweaty palms making it extremely obvious. But at the same time, I found myself unable to resist saying no to him, a positive response quickly escaping my lips. Quickly, I rushed towards the mirror in my office to give myself a quick glance. Retouching my appea
ALISHA’S POV“Focus Alisha! Keep your guard up and anticipate your opponent’s next move! That’s the only way you’ll be at an advantage and you know you need to always be at an advantage if you want to mirror my father’s move. One thing we’ll never not do, is not see a move coming.”“Got it.”I nodded in acknowledgment, my concentration steady as I listened to Lucien. He was a good teacher, urging me to try my best to become even better every day.The atmosphere in the secret training room was charged with energy as we continued to train. Understanding his father’s techniques rather quickly, our movements were fluid and precise as we exchanged blows and practiced every day.“Time out!”With light laughter, he freed me from his grip and I immediately collapsed to the floor, finally catching my breath. In seconds, our laughter grew, the two of us taking as an opportunity to reminisce of how the past couple of days had gone by.With Kane and Camila temporarily out of our sight, we took th
LUCIEN’S POVCamila and Kane had escaped. My eyebrows were furrowed, a frown on my face mirroring the expressions of Alisha and Calum. We were all equally pissed, at a sudden loss for words at the turn things had suddenly taken.Regardless of how much I tried to think things through, it made no sense. Camila and Kane’s behavior was nothing but an attempt to prove their point to us all. To remind us of the fact that they were ready to betray us and the pack at large. “How did it happen?” I demanded from Calum. “What happened to the guards? How could such a thing happen?”“Unknown to us a whole lot of the guards were already on Kane’s side,” he explained, a grunt escaping my lips. “And the ones that weren’t were injured. Severely injured. It was a clean attack from Kane’s side. Well planned at that.”“Well I’m not surprised,” Alisha rolled her eyes as she commented. “That’s what happens when a criminal like Kane is allowed to roam freely for long.”Ignoring her comments, I let out a d
ALISHA’S POV“I-I’m fine, Alisha.”I didn’t want to hear a single word of defiance from Lucien and since he was refused to listen to me, I simply regarded him with nothing but silence. How could he say he was fine? He had played hero, jumped in just as Kane was about to attack me and gotten stabbed right in his stomach.“Not a single word from you Lucien.”He was clearly bleeding yet he dared lie to my face to say he was fine.“Alisha-““Stop talking,” I hissed at him when we finally got to the infirmary. “Just stop.”He must have finally sensed the firmness in my tone as he immediately pressed his lips together, allowing me lay him down carefully on the bed. With him finally cooperating, I was able to get the first aid kit to tend to his wounds. My hands moved with precision, gently cleaning and bandaging the injuries on his side.My touch was gentle, every touch reminding me of the guilt within me. He had gotten injured because of me. All because of me.It was only a graze wound
LUCIEN’S POVFor the years I’ve known Camila, drama was never far from her.She loved the attention, loved the chaos- every bit of it and just particularly loved went things went haywire as to her, they were simply doing “her way.”So it didn’t surprise me much when I heard she was outside at the pack festival, creating a huge commotion.Despite her actions of the past few months doing nothing but disappoint me, I was still disappointed by how far she was willing to go. How unreasonable she was willing to be just to express her displeasure. And of all the places to express such foolishness, she chose the grand Moon Pack Festival.I exchanged quick glances with Alisha, reading worry all over her face. I could only imagine what was running through her mind considering the fact that this was not how our day was supposed to go. But she remained on her feet, eyes fixed on the maid as she tried to get more information from her.“What’s this about?” I took a protective step forward, having A
ALISHA’S POVI stared at my image in the mirror, simply fascinated with what I saw in return.Had Lucien always been that handsome?I held back a giggle, staring at my face more closely until I could take in every single feature. I was particularly dressed up with my hair carefully styled, my outfit delicately chosen. After all, it was finally the pack’s moon festival.The pack’s moon festival had always been a big deal since forever. It was an opportunity for every member of the pack to put on their finest dresses and mingle. It was the day to show off and for some, the day they even found their mates.I wasn’t one of the lucky ones to find my mate on such an auspicious day but I was one of the ones that dreamt of spending the day with my mate. For years, I never got to live that dream but finally, it was becoming a reality.Color spilled on my cheeks as the thought crossed my mind, my eyes traveling towards the mirror to give Lucien’s image another quick glance. He looked absolutel
LUCIEN’S POV“What is going here?”It wasn’t a question directed towards either of them. But a question to myself as I tried to figure out what in the world was happening right in front of me.Alisha might have kissed Camila a couple of times to prove her point to her but she had never gone as far as trying to actually sleep with her. And I trusted Alisha to never go that far. But what was suddenly going on?She barely had any clothes on as she sprawled across the bed. Her legs were spread, her arms parted and her eyes, closed.Her eyes were closed!“Would you leave?” Camila hissed, uselessly trying to cover up the exposed parts of her body. “Don’t you realize what you’re interrupting?”Ignoring her, I gave Alisha a closer look. Her eyes were still closed and by the bed side, was an empty glass of water. And right next to it, was a sachet I immediately recognized.It was the same sachet Camila had in her hands few moments ago. The only difference being the fact that it was now empty.
LUCIEN’S POV A couple of days had passed and I had to admit, it had been nothing but bittersweet.Just like Alisha said, we were able to locate the secret training center she had in mind, leading to us immediately beginning our training. It was a hidden location, free from prying eyes and as a result, we had been able to spend days and days training.It was productive and for the first time in a long while, I felt useful. I felt productive and it was really nice to feel in charge of something important again. Though the weight of our packs future was still partly on my shoulders, training Alisha and seeing visible effects of my training on her gave me the strength and determination to hold on.However, as nice as it felt, the feeling was short lived, lasting only when we were together. Though my plan was good, it wasn’t enough to help completely deflect the rumors, especially since the duel wasn’t to happen until about a month. As a result, she still had to keep contact with Camila,
ALISHA’S POVI stared at the envelope in my hand, my hands almost trembling. I had a dozen thoughts running through my head and twice the amount of emotions flooding my veins.How could Kane send me a letter? How dare he? After illegally breaking from the prison, he dared send me a letter? He wasn’t hiding?I exchanged quick glances with Calum and Lucien, equal bits of confusion on their faces. His confidence was baffling. The thought of whatever the letter could contain even more worrisome.“I knew he wasn’t going to stay still,” Lucien commented, shaking his head. “I just knew it. And now what? A letter. The audacity. It better be a letter of apology alongside him announcing his withdrawal from the pack. He’d better be banishing himself from this pack and promising to never show his face again.”“As if. He’ll never do that.”I agreed with Calum but felt too weak to utter any word in agreement. Instead, I let out an exhale, my curiousity growing and without wasting another second, I