"And then she fell face flat into the mud," Isa finished, and she and Pearl burst into laughter. I rolled my eyes at both of them, although a sliver of a smile formed at the corner of my lips. "It wasn't that bad," I whined."Oh, but it was," Isa said, and the two women laughed again. I sipped my punch, feeling lighter and happier than ever. The past few days have been amazing. With Isa here, getting to show her the kingdom and everyone who I've learned to call family, it all felt like a full circle moment. Also, with her being her, there was less time for me to get completely in my head and lose myself in thought, which was great. Chase has been traveling more often lately because there are a lot of things to do within Betnerd and its environs. So, Isa and Pearl have been keeping me company while making jokes at my expense. "It was very slippery, Isa," I countered, trying to save face. "And Ruby just didn't like me."Isa chuckled, nudging Pearl. "Ruby liked everyone. She was t
CHASE.I paced through the hallway of the royal section of the hospital, my heart pounding in my chest and my entire body on fire. I couldn't feel any other emotion but anger, and I had no idea who I was angry at. This was not a situation to be angry, yet I couldn't stop being angry at myself for not being able to protect Zara. It felt like deja vu, pacing this familiar hospital hallway, taking in the scent and waiting for the doctor's verdict. It was the same way I'd paced the hallway years ago, in hope that mum would miraculously be well and come back to the palace with me. I tried to shake the feeling of inadequacy that had heavily settled upon my shoulders, but I couldn't for the life of me. I was suddenly back to being just a boy who was praying that their loved one in that ward comes out unscathed by whatever illness had sent them there. I had nearly lost Zara today, and I couldn't stop blaming myself and thinking this was all my fault. I'd watched her faint in my arms, her
Somehow, I was even more scared of speaking to the doctor because all of this seemed like something very serious. I was scared of what he was going to tell me because I didn't want to lose Zara. Not now, not ever. He'd been in there for quite a while, and if it was something small, he would have popped out already to let me know I shouldn't worry. But he hasn't. Zara doesn't even know that I love her. That she has my heart in a firm grip in her hands. That I want to be with her for eternity. She doesn't even know we are mates yet. It would kill me if something happened to her without her knowing how much she meant to me.I am not sure I'd be able to function properly."Come," Aunt Margret pulled me away from the group who were mumbling to themselves silently, and we sat together in a corner.She was my comfort person. "I don't know what to do," my voice cracked, and I crumbled into a sobbing mess before she even started speaking. She rubbed my back in slow circles, the same way my
ZARA.When I woke up, the first thing that hit me was the very bright light threatening to blind me. Then the feeling of Chase's hand in mine which calmed me instantly.And finally, the sharp pain at the bottom of my abdomen. Everything was still pretty blurry to me, but I was slowly piecing back the memories one after the other. From the pain I felt in the early hours of the morning to sitting in my own pool of blood and then falling unconscious minutes later. I had no idea what was happening, but I also didn't want to believe that a simple stomach ache had led me here. What if I was dying?"Snookums," Chase's voice pulled me out from my thoughts. He was hovering above me, his eyes red and tired, his voice a groggy whisper. He looked... disheveled. "Hey," he brought our clasped hands to his mouth and brushed his dried lips to the back of my hand. "You're awake.""I...am," I crooked out. My throat was dry."Do you need water? Anything?" He asked, stroking my head. I shook my head,
We laid there in silence, our minds doing the talking and I'd never felt this comfortable in my life. Chase traced the outline of my face with his fingertips as I edged closer and closer to the brink of sleep. The thumping of his heart was soothing, his scent engulfing every pore within me, sucking me in and wrapping me in its talons. "I'm sorry you have to go through this," his voice was soft beside me. "You have nothing to be sorry for." He swallowed and responded, "I promised to protect you, but I'm not doing a very good job right now." "There's only so much you can do to cure a stomach bug." I teased. Again we both crumbled into fits of suppressed laughter which was even funnier. "You've been through so much, and yet, you're still fighting." I stirred slightly and his arms tightened around me, not letting me go at all which warmed my heart. "I have nothing else to do but fight." Except for wanting you, in a different way, of course. I wanted to add. "I don't want you t
He hesitated. "I was careless that night, and a little bit more tipsy than I had known. And the condom tore twice which I found out later. Although, that still doesn't make it easier." And then realisation hit me. That was the night of the bachelorette party and I had been so drunk that I didn't even remember if we used protection or not. I mean, we did use one, but I didn't even know some tore after going more than one round. Shit! 'Oh my Lumus,' Nia screamed within me. 'How did I not... know? How did we miss it?' Beats me. How? I mean, the baby's heartbeat should be the first thing I notice. The first thing Nia notices. That was how lycan pregnancy works, yet we both missed that. My heart pounded quickly in my chest as I tried to take in everything that was happening and it seemed like my brain was moving at snail speed, trying to process it all. "I'm pregnant," I mumbled in disbelief. "You are," Chase agreed. I searched his gorgeous green eyes, looking for any hint of h
It was the fourth day at the hospital and I was slowly feeling better and a bit happier because the people around me had held me down and had taken care of me throughout the time I was at the hospital. Even if my heart hurts. The days had passed by in a blur of silence and avoidance when it came to Chase and I. I spoke easily to Pearl, Isa, Shane and Ryan, but I barely acknowledged Chase's presence. I don't know how to face him. What to say. How to bring up the conversation of us being mates, so, instead I completely ignored him. Doing my best to avoid him. He stays with me most of the time, and we slept together each day, but I never said a word. Even when he talks, I can't bring myself to answer. The betrayal tore through me, tearing down whatever progress we've made so far. My hand always instinctively reached down and stroked my belly, the mere thought of growing a child within me was too much to even imagine. We haven't spoken about it in depth, and the excitement I had h
CHASE. My stomach rolled and turned as I made my way to the doctor's office, although not as bad as it had been since Zara began to ignore me three days ago. After our conversation on that day, I had no idea what was in store for us anymore. I felt so confused and disoriented. The question she asked me had caught me off guard because prior to that moment, I hadn't really thought about what it would be like to have a child with Zara. Sure, it was definitely the best thing in the world, but I'd chickened out and she had taken my lack of response to mean that I wasn't excited about the child. Plus, while I do want the child, I don't like the idea of tying her down to me with the pregnancy, when she probably doesn't want to be with me. There's still a month left, no, three weeks until three months have passed and that fateful day before she knows I am her mate. But what if she doesn't want to be mine? The conversation with Pearl urging me to tell her about the mate bond had put more
I gripped the leather of the car seat so tightly I was certain my nails would leave marks. The pain I felt was one I’d never felt before in all my life and I was trying… and failing terribly… to keep it together. I couldn’t catch my breath. My vision blurred with tears, and all I could do was gasp, clutching my belly as if I could somehow contain the ache that tore through me. Okay, I’d heard tales about childbirth and even Margaret had scared me with one a couple of days ago, but I didn’t think that it would be this painful. Beside me, Chase was handling the whole situation even worse than me. He was practically yelling at the frightened driver and I was just hoping that we don’t end up driving up a tree with how much tension filled this car. “Can’t you go any faster?” Chase said to the driver, his hand reaching for mine. I could feel his worry, but I couldn’t comfort him right now, not when I was clinging to what little composure I had left. He rubbed my hand. “It’s okay,
ZARA. My heart was pounding when Chase and I got into the car, making our way back to the airport. This entire day has come as a shock. I mean, I had no idea that Chase was planning this. I sat in the car, watching the gorgeous trees in the kingdom I'd call home all my life blur past. Tears were stinging my eyes, but they were not falling. I simply held my husband's hand and from time to time, felt him give me a reassuring squeeze. Still, in the midst of everything, I was still in disbelief and couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Asher and Lina had gone to those lengths to get rid of me. They had been having an affair since the beginning of our relationship and I had no idea because Asher had gone extra lengths to make sure I wouldn't know he was cheating. And I almost married him. Almost merged my life with his. And to rape me? Really? Had I never meant a thing to them? Had I always been a thorn in their sides? Was that it? Had they hated me that much? To be able to g
I took a step away so that everyone could focus on the bouncer as I walked behind Zara’s chair to keep her company for a while. My hands found her shoulders and began gently massaging. She seemed so stiff and in shock and I wanted to do anything to make her feel better. Maybe a kiss. Or a hug. Anything to take off the tortured look on her face. I leaned down to her ear as I whispered. “I’m sorry.” She squeezed my hand on her shoulders and blinked, the words she said shocking me a bit. “I love you, Chase. More than you’ll ever know.” “You’re not upset? I did this without you knowing?” She looked up to smile at me. “I love that you’re protecting me and that’s all that matters.” I squeezed her shoulders again and lifted my head to face everyone once more. “You can speak now!” I ordered the bouncer. “I was hired to make Zara…” I cut him off quickly. “That’s queen Zara of Betnerd to you.” He cleared his throat. “I was hired to make queen Zara look compromised,” he said, look
CHASE. Lina’s voice cut through the council again, shrill and annoying and I was seriously getting tired of her screaming. “So that’s it, isn’t it?” she spat. “You’ve always been the whore. You and Chase, together that night, carrying on like you had some claim to him.” The whore word again? When was she going to learn? Maybe never, because that was why she opened her mouth to Edward and told him about Zara cheating on the bond when they visited. It was why he had the guts to insult her moments before I killed him. And now, even after being caught in a lie with her vile husband, Lina was still going to war for him. I was very impressed by how loyal she was no matter what was thrown their way, but she’d called my wife a whore and I wasn’t going to let that slide, not even one bit. Before she could spit out another vile word, I was already moving. I held out my hand as I grabbed Asher by the collar, and before anyone could blink, my fist crashed on his jaw again. He gasped in pain,
Chase held the pendant, looking around as his eyes met mine. “This necklace held a spell that stopped Zara from feeling any pain when Asher was cheating on her. It was why she never knew.” I swallowed, the hurt and betrayal becoming more painful by the second. “All of these are lies,” Asher spat out, but Chase was not yet done. “Shut your mouth before I order the kingdom priest to step in,” Chase said. “You can do that then,” Asher mumbled, even though I could tell he was scared. “I will. But I also spoke to the priest's daughter who said that he’d made this spell for you, Asher. And how this spell was shattered on the night of Zara’s bachelorette party.” I sucked in breath without moving as the priest was ushered into the room. He’s old and had been the priest of the kingdom for as long as I could remember. The priest greeted the king by bowing his head as he sat on the table with us. Asher and Lina looked petrified. “So, what do you have to tell us about this?” Chase as
ZARA. Excuse me? It took me a moment to process what I had just heard. A whole moment to figure out the rate of my heartbeat. This whole thing looked like a badly written movie script and I had no idea how much I could take in before I began to scream. It started like a play, with Chase revealing Lina’s branded mark, and how everything was slowly making sense. I replayed the night of the bachelorette party in my head, pieces of the puzzle slowly clicking together. I hadn’t been black out drunk that night… at least, not in the way I made myself believe. The truth was, I wanted to fall into someone else’s arms, to escape, even if just for a moment. It was a farewell to my freedom, a desperate attempt to hold on to something I could control before I got into a marriage that felt like a trap. Even if at that moment, I hadn't thought of it that way. Months before that, maybe even a year, Asher became a completely different person. I slowly started noticing that he was not the man I’
Gasps filled the room as everyone took in the mark on her wrist, the shock most evident on Asher and Lina’s faces. But they didn’t gasp or flinched because they’d both known this all the while and had kept it a secret. I let go of her wrist as she tried to regain her composure. I looked at her and then Asher with satisfaction on my face. “Would you like to explain why you’re wearing a mark that only appears when someone’s slept with another wolf that isn’t their mate?” Lina’s eyes flashed with anger. She tried to hide her hand deeper into her coat, but everyone else had already seen it. The damage had already been done. “What are you playing at, Chase?” My brother yelled, clearly pissed. “What sick game is this?” “You!” Lina screamed at me, her index finger pointed shakily at my face. “You did something to me. You… you’re trying to set me up. That mark you just showed up now. It isn’t real.” “Then why are you desperately trying to make them believe you? Take out your hand and
CHASE. The meeting hadn’t begun officially, but I was already livid. I couldn’t wait to put Asher and Lina in their place and make them pay dearly for everything they’d put Zara through. In a way, I was grateful for them because they were the main reason I was able to find my mate, the love of my life. My queen and the mother of my child. Hopefully, children. But still, it doesn’t dismiss what they’ve done and how much they’ve made her a laughing stock in her own kingdom. ‘Make sure to put them in their damn places,’ Drew growled. I tightened my palms together until it turned into a fist and clenched my jaw. ‘I fucking intend to.’ I knew that organising this meeting meant digging up past trauma for Zara, but it had to be done. Especially given the fact that she had no idea what I was doing. Seeing their ashen faces was the highlight of my mood right now. Gripping the table more, I asked again. “I asked you both a damn question!” I snapped. “Would you like to do the honors or
I blinked at nothingness as the words kept repeating in my head. I was struggling so hard to come to terms with what I had just heard. It has been months since I've been back here, after I was thrown out like scum of the earth and then Chase had stood up for me. But now, I had no idea why I was here. I decided to leave Zakori behind and never look back, but for some reason, that didn't happen. For the longest time, this place had felt like home to me and I didn't know anywhere else. I barely traveled out of the kingdom and state because I didn't need to. I was content with the life I had here. Until the day of the wedding. The day my entire world came crashing down and I couldn't stop it. The place I'd grown up in, the place that used to feel like safety. Now felt like judgment. Like I was stepping into a trial. I wasn't ready for that again. I turned to Chase now, my eyes filled with questions. "Why are we here? I thought we were going to a tropical state or something?" My voi