VALEN’S POVThaines brushed the rubble off Theo’s body as the cloud of dust around them slowly cleared. Footsteps of the emancipated clergy pattered behind us. I held up a hand to stop them from drawing closer. Alarmed, they muttered some prayer and made the holy sign across their bodies, watching the scene.“Damn. How bad is it?” I growled, fixing my eyes on my roguishly lightheaded brother, on guard if he decided to attack anyone else.“Alpha,” Theo gaped and gasped. He struggled to swallow and stuttered his speech, “I appreciate all you’ve done.” His voice wavered. “We had some good times.”“What are you doing?” Devin asked angrily, jolting up to stand and looking down at the Gamma’s supine body.“I’m dying,” Theo choked out and sucked in a shuddering breath. “M-my soul—”Devin shrugged dismissively and growled, “It was a blank blast. Quit it, Theo!”Highly annoyed, the guys hissed their teeth and cleared the wall. I rolled my eyes at his inappropriate antics and rubbed my forehead
-RAINA'S POV- “You’ve been avoiding me,” an angry voice came from behind after I descended the glass-bifurcated stairs of the exquisite Saturn Striders Hotel. “Alpha Kain,” I acknowledged when I swung around to the six-foot man with hands crossed that made his biceps appear larger and ready to crush me for neglecting his messages. I said coolly, “I didn’t know that you were coming.” “You would if you had replied to my recent messages.” He dropped his hands to his side and his vexation toned down. The seventeen-year-old Alpha of an external pack licked his lips as his steps approached me with a cocky swagger. His nomad eyes lit up as he roamed them over my body and I took a deep breath. I was not afraid of him, but he has been one of those guys who constantly expressed an interest. “May I have the pleasure of enjoying your company or am I too late?” He stood too close to me with a taunting smirk as he gazed at my rose-mauve-coated lips. “I’ve been looking for you all evening.” He
One year and some months later……………… - -VALEN’S POV- "Enough, Vaheed!" We tumbled out of the back door of the bar into the drenched, cold, drab alley and landed in a pool of water. Rolling around in a tussle on the hard urban street, we aimed to score a blow once one of us took the top position in the struggle. Unbothered by the chilly night’s drubbing rain, our wrestling prolonged through the commotion of our wrath. Quickly, I flicked upwards to land on my two feet, while Vaheed was on his back. My soaked abalone button-front shirt clung to my sinewy body, missing a few buttons. My hands automatically cleared the curtain of dripping black strands from my face, tossing the long hair slick back. The steady shower that doused the two of us could not extinguish the enmity between us. “I don’t want to fight you!” I hated raising my fist against him and I watched him rise to his feet, glaring at me with contemptuous harlequin green pair of eyes. He wasn’t drunk, but he was not thinki
-VALEN’S POV-When Raina lifted her left hand from her shoulder, a deep red print of my palm blistered her honeyed skin. Her doleful blue eyes questioningly pierced into mine so deep that my heart prickled.Simmering with rage, I decided to draw the line here. I went closer to her and roughly nudged Vaheed out of the way with my shoulder. I took her hands into mine and she screamed again. It was a cry of pain.“Ahh!” Her shrill echoed high and wild through the noisy rain as she tore herself from my grasp as though I was acid or a contamination.Thermal heat from my hands burnt her wrist.Although I fumed with suppressed anger because of Vaheed, bewilderment superseded and I gazed at my palms and wondered what had happened. All I did was touch her. Why is she being bruised by my contact? This was not how it was supposed to be. We are mates and our touch created the most superb sensation. How is it that my hands burned her, instead? It baffled me. “What’s wrong with you? Stay away from
-RAINA’S POV-"No fucking way!" Vaheed argued with me all the way to Wolverson Hospital.He insisted on carrying me in his arms because of my injuries. I managed to convince him that I was physically fit to walk, not crippled. He parked his silver Porsche in front of the illuminated twelve-story hospital building.There was no rain here, just the moon shining bright in the natural black that hugged the glittering stars, splattered but never falling. It was around five in the morning that we arrived at the central area which is called Central City and I felt weak and burning up with my heart in tatters. The fire raced through me like an amplified jarring jolt when Valen touched me. The shock hadn't dispelled that my own mate inflicted wounds on me.My pained strides held balance and gave no indication of a limp. I was concealing from Vaheed the extent of agony that I truly experienced. Dauntingly, my entire skin was a picture of chili-red rashes that pinched. Giving the impression that
-RAINA'S POV- I was confused about Valen’s actions. Vaheed returned to the examination room with a beige t-shirt dress for me. As I took the clothes from him, a dizzy wave spilled from the headache. My legs went weak, my knees buckled and I fell into something hard. He swiftly appeared in front of me with hands wrapped around my waist to steady my balance. Resting my head on his pectoral for ten seconds allowed the dizziness to pass. When I gently pushed against his chest, his grip remained and he looked down on me with concern. He was also wearing a different top and blue jeans. “Raina, I can help you.” He uttered serenely, “I know that you are covering how deep in pain you are.” “The dizziness comes and goes.” Stubbornly, I brushed him off with my hands. Taking a few staggered steps back, I firmly demanded. “I’m fine, but you need to tell me why you ran away from your birthday party and why you were fighting him.” Obviously hiding the underlying factor of their grapple, he grim
-RAINA’S POV-"Valen, don't be mad at Raina….." Venus' voice trailed off when I placed my index finger over my lips to shush her. She raised a brow quizzically."Out!" Valen snarled in a way that made everyone jump in their skin as his aura tripled out. Wanting to hear no further objections. He percolated an energy that was so raw and animalistic that you would forget there was anyone else in the surroundings.In contrast, his deep irate tone sent a pleasurable shiver from the nape of my neck and down my spine. To others, he was fearsome and ruthless. To me, he was handsome, sexy, and pretty much a Greek god that was intricately designed to make women swoon. My vagina was shouting for my virginity to be stolen by him. He was dishy and the ideal man of my dreams. The man whose babies I wanted to have.Horrified, Mom clearly thought that Valen was angry and here to chastise me for sneaking out of Central City. Dad's mouth opened to beseech leniency but quickly closed it when his alpha wo
-RAINA’S POV – Unrequited love. Unfortunate souls. A myth. Heard of it throughout generations and thought that it did not exist. How could the deity of all werewolves take my mate from me? Valen was my crush. There was not a day that my heart did not climax with love for him. Howbeit our bond was ludicrous. A laughable tale. A deep clawing pain wedge in my chest. The bond had us on two distinct plateaus with a massive cleft between us in the middle. The second grievous truth was that on Valen's eighteenth birthday, everyone was anxious to know if he had sensed his mate. He told them "No." As a result, it made my sweet sixteenth birthday bittersweet. That was the day, through the early arrival of my wolf, I discovered that my childhood crush did not want me as his mate. The poignant memory affected my brain like poison. Just fucking great! I unfurled several reams of anger at my deity. Eye water trickled out. I did not conceal my wails. “How can this be?” “I wish I knew the answe
VALEN’S POVThaines brushed the rubble off Theo’s body as the cloud of dust around them slowly cleared. Footsteps of the emancipated clergy pattered behind us. I held up a hand to stop them from drawing closer. Alarmed, they muttered some prayer and made the holy sign across their bodies, watching the scene.“Damn. How bad is it?” I growled, fixing my eyes on my roguishly lightheaded brother, on guard if he decided to attack anyone else.“Alpha,” Theo gaped and gasped. He struggled to swallow and stuttered his speech, “I appreciate all you’ve done.” His voice wavered. “We had some good times.”“What are you doing?” Devin asked angrily, jolting up to stand and looking down at the Gamma’s supine body.“I’m dying,” Theo choked out and sucked in a shuddering breath. “M-my soul—”Devin shrugged dismissively and growled, “It was a blank blast. Quit it, Theo!”Highly annoyed, the guys hissed their teeth and cleared the wall. I rolled my eyes at his inappropriate antics and rubbed my forehead
RAINA’S POV“It was so easy for you to bail on us,” I muttered cynically, training my eyes on his emerald-eyed scrutiny. “You’ve broken your promises to me, remember?” I pointed at myself, getting worked up. “You refuse to help me with the sword, and you intentionally withhold information that could fix everything. So tell me, what went wrong? What was the problem? I have a right to know.”Mate bonds are hard to switch off and forget that they ever existed.Fated mates are next to impossible to elude.So, it was nerve-racking and upsetting that Future Valen’s muted, desaturated green eyes were soulless towards me. This heartless man had no problem crushing my fragile heart. I suppressed a sob, focusing on knowing that my Valen was back home and he loved me. I reminded myself to bounce back into some positivity.Future Valen bit his lip, staring hard into my desperate pleading eyes. He remonstrated gruff and tightly, “Whatever it was, I fixed it. I’ve kept Snow here while you were supp
RAINA’S POVTo dampen my fear, I swallowed tightly.“You should have listened to your witch,” Valen’s doppelgänger hissed, emeralds glittering with ire. “Did you think coming here would impress me?”From ground level, he resembled a mighty hunter with hands ready to draw…to snipe and shoot me when I was down.Well, I rose to my feet with striking resilience like a forest fire ready to scorch and burn. “I’m here for two things.” I squared my shoulders and lifted my chin defiantly. “To open this damn globe and to get Hera.” I eyed him steely and added bitterness to my tone. “Don’t stand in my way.”Since he’s not nice, I won’t be nice either.“Is that so?” He did not move, didn’t blink, only held my rigid gaze.“Yeah.” I stepped towards him, straightening my spine and hardening my expression. I stopped shy of his chest. “I couldn’t care less about who you’re shagging up here.”“Hmm.” He folded his lips and nodded his head repeatedly in a sarcastic manner.“Because this cozy little life
THIRD PERSON’S POVThunderstruck.Several aspects of what the Worgens saw were unexpected. The fighting scene between the Alpha Princes had them tight-lipped and uneasy.On a cauliflower-shaped cumulus cloud in the hot, blue sky, Seff, Jarvaldo, Rovell, Farrah, and Dymian watched keenly at the brawl on the concrete roof below. Rovell navigated his clouds with stealth in order to conceal their location from the irritating eagle guardian."What the fuck?" Rovell exclaimed, forgetting that they were covertly hanging around to evaluate their enemy's power and skills.Observing Valen would inform them of the level of power that protected the werewolf kingdom. A chain was as strong as its weakest link. Sadly for them, Valen appeared strong."OMG!" Jarvaldo muttered, half astounded and half pissed.Seff snapped his quizzical eyes at him. "OMG? Is that a new weapon? Show it to me!” He said, peering down at the brawl and earnestly searching them with his eyes for some shiny new weapon. “Show i
VALEN'S POVA dark, menacing harlequin flooded each iris. There he was, grunting, thick with scorn. “Well, if it isn’t the realm’s treasure.”Scanning over his appearance, the dirty pants that he wore were threadbare. The afternoon's cool breeze blew open his unbuttoned shirt, billowing at the sooty material to expose his bare torso. The hems of which were jagged. He expelled an offensive odor, which intensified by the minute and seemed to go up to the little hairs in my nose to stick to them.Vaheed’s putrid stench nauseated me from a distance and the sun's rays were evidently kicking his ass. He perspired like he'd been beaten in a marathon he had just run in the sun's barraging beams.Finding him at last, provided minor relief. The search was over. Now I had to ensure that he did not slip away from me.Cautiously, I assessed his aura. Zeus shifted within me. He brooded with impatience. We knew something was off because we felt a darkness within him."Zuzu, what do you read?" I aske
-RAINA'S POV“I can't stop. I won’t stop. Not until I get my wolf.” I replied with all seriousness, showing my determination. Then sadness overcame me when I thought of everything that crashed into my life. My voice dropped, softening. “I'm scared, Valen.”This doppelgänger was as impassive as the first time I met him. This was the Valen who was incandescently in love with Villainess Snow, also known as the nefarious Mercedes.Scanning his features, his edgy mohawk had gotten a lot whiter with a sleek shine. From this angle, the loose black strands were barely noticeable with the bulk of his long hair combed over to the right. This time a thicker, short beard covered his sharp jawline, and he pinned me with a hateful glare. Strapped and overpowered.“Then find your mate.” He simply said, annoyance still palpable in his demeanor.I shook my head stubbornly. “I need some answers, or I'm stepping through.”His eyes hardened at me. Anger, like stone, set in his features.“Why did you try
RAINA'S POV-“When your Grandma said she would keep my snow globe safe, she really wasn't kidding,” I muttered with sarcasm as I walked down the dark passageway. Our feet thudded on baked black mud with its walls decorated with brown-black, twining, trunky vines.Leading with a torch in her hand, Pennelope chuckled and then uttered with dramatic emphasis, “Grams never—and I mean never joke around.”“Your home is creepy as hell,” I swear the big vines moved sometimes.Witches' houses were truly a haunted horror for intruders. You could get in, but only the goddess could help you to get out. A modicum of dread weaved through me, but with Penn here, I thought I would be alright.Get it together Raina.It's amazing how the home could transition from a lovely spacious cottage on the upper floors and then descend from the basement into a whole murky forest with thin, white smoky ghosts popping up here and there, whooing around. Ancestors, Pennelope called them.Marlena told me the snow glob
VALEN'S POV-Zeus' volcanic rage was swarming me. It was hard to control him like this. I never expected Devin's revelation to propel my wolf into a hissy fit. Vaheed's attack on my best friend left a bitter taste of betrayal.Not to mention, his actions with Raina were incomprehensible because he was marked by his own mate. Once again, my brother was after my mate. Why? I thought we passed this stage, but no. He’s a damn dickhead who has gone off the rails.“Alpha, did you get the new location?” Jason’s voice came through the communication earpiece.“Yeah,” I replied in a not-so-nice tone. “We’ll move in five.”Nuuk, Bahia Blanca, and Isiro were fruitless. This was the last sanctuary that was on our agenda to investigate. However, Heidi had found that this one in Waipu had a branch in the United States. Pennelope also confirmed high amounts of camouflaging magic that were widespread across the town. All of its energy waves pulsed from that synagogue.I stood to the side with my rifle
VALEN’S POV-I caught Jason standing from his chair with his head down. He was scratching his forehead with his palm blocking most of his eyes, but I saw them sneaking upwards to watch out for my reaction.Guilty as sin. He had to be the culprit who provided the girls with everything they needed, including war gear, despite that he knew how we felt about our women on the battlefield.I growled at him.“We're coming on the mission.” Venus was always the boldest to speak first.With hands on my waist, I rebuffed, “No, that's a negative. You've been up all night, and it’s two a.m., plus the Howl De Lune cannot be planned by itself. The team and I will be gone for days.”“Cleo and Mom are here,” Raina argued, failing to see my point. She shrugged and emphasized, “I’m safest when I am with you.”“Mom left you in charge.” As I spoke, my feet crossed the space to draw closer to her. “Everyone else has to be here to assist you. Besides, the Bolivian and Ugandan wolves rely on your presence. Y