-RAINA’S POV- Not everything that contains sugar is sweet. Not everything that comes from above is a blessing. “It would put you in a better position if your mating was done immediately,” Alpha Vance stated in a calm tone. He was deflecting things to make it look like it was in my best interest. “I agree,” Mom consented, looking down at Dad, who nodded. I can’t believe that my parents were in on it too. I listened, thinking that it was unfair that they all kept deciding what was good for me. After our wolves had sex for four months, I should have been impregnated. I wasn’t sure if I was. The thought of carrying Valen’s pup would complicate the situation between us. What was the rush anyway? Valen knew that I needed space, but obviously, they didn’t take my breakup with him seriously. Valen was the deceptive wrapping of an artificially sweet bond. Devoured and bleeding. The barriers crumbled whenever I was around him as the walls kept caving in. My feelings were a smoky illusion
-VALEN’S POV-It’s over?Yesterday, Raina said it was over.What the fuck?Why should I accept that?My heaving chest was loaded with the uncontrollable rage my wolf discharged in me. It accompanied a persistent desire to take Raina, hold her close, and carry her far away from everyone. She'd be available just for me."Get your ass up, Theo!" I roared. My eyes swept the training ground at all the shirtless alphas at Wolkrane, I needed more of them to challenge me. "Carson, Delroy, Wentz, Lawrence, Santiago, Chen, and Pierre, join the ring."Red was the color of the day.Five naked and bloodied Alphas laid unconscious on the dirty ground and were being pulled away. I stood in the center of the sparring field to unleash every ounce of fury inside of me. I woke these suckers at three this morning since I couldn't sleep.Heaven’s fireball was high in the sky. Hafts of its rays drowned the island in heat. Everyone wore only shorts. Well, they've been training and now it was time to test th
-RAINA'S POV-It was 6 a.m. The grey and white panel pair curtains were drawn at my windows to let the awakening magic of the sunrise fill the bedroom with light.Here I stood in my room scrutinizing what was supposed to be a disguise. The image that the mirror reflected might work to get past the lot of Omegas at the packhouse and the medical staff.I pressed a hand to my tummy, wondering if there was a bun in the oven. Four months of mating between our wolves were sure to get me pregnant. I heaved up breakfast yesterday. Therefore, today, I decided to skip the meal.It was also possible that the frequent queasy feeling was caused by my lack of eating. Or perhaps I was trying to make an excuse rather than to believe that I was pregnant.A baby.It would be nice. I would love my child.But, I don't know. Am I ready? Can I do this when Valen and I are not stable?On the other hand, if I hadn't conceived, then why not? Was there an issue?It was frustrating.I figured that I could sneak
-RAINA’S POV- There was a group of girls sitting on the couch in the living room area. Valen dragged me over to them. With his free hand, he grasped the wrist of the blond-haired one with gray eyes and hauled her to her feet. “Alpha, please don’t hurt me!” The poor girl shrieked in terror. “I didn’t do anything.” “Leave her alone. She’s not a part of our beef.” I appealed for the innocent girl. My brows dipped. She whimpered in a complete state of panic. With that deranged expression in his eyes, I wondered what he was going to do to her. Inquisitiveness and concern for the unpredictable propelled me to fight the hand that bound me to his side in hopes of saving the petrified girl. An awry intuition hinted that something terrible was about to go wrong. “This is between you and me,” I touted. Valen gave me an ugly sneer. "Is this the monster that you want?" He crashed his mouth on the she-wolf who was fucking enjoying it. My mouth opened in a silent scream. My eyes watered. My h
-RAINA’S POV- Shivering in fear, anger, and humiliation, I went past him to the open doorway. “Get out!” The sight of him made my lips tremble and my eyes rankled. Being near him was unbearable. My breathing labored and my hand shook as I pointed in the direction for him to leave. I had to hide the excruciating heartache that wafted into me. In his presence, I would crumble and the pile of leaves I had raked up from the dismal corners of my life was sure to be blown away, scattering my emotions and returning the scene to a cluttered landscape once more. Fur began to sprout from his pores. The dynamic shift coated his muscled thighs, calves, and hands in short black fur. He turned and strutted over to me with intense growling. Then he slammed a powerful fist on the threshold. I flinched at the loud bang. Angst brewed inside of me as his black eyes penetrated mine. His wolf was out and he was still naked. Although Valen had not fully shifted, Zeus was the one that I was facing. The
-RAINA’S POV- Time froze. Earth stopped rotating. Zeus’ dark and red eyes gave me a long, puppy-like, heartbreaking expression. They dug into my soul. Closing my eyes, I shattered the hourglass with the courage I convoked. My heartbeat rushed when I opened them. The back of his finger caressed my cheek. “Don’t mark me,” I remarked, because I was still nursing a deep-seated anguish that would return once the pleasure he wanted had dissipated. Also, my infertility was a whopping issue that could not be swept under the carpet. The truth of my barrenness was utterly unbearable. Being infertile was an obstacle on the path of despair. Zeus would be devastated to know that I couldn't produce his pups. I couldn’t tell him to stop loving me. The affection, pleading, and even desperation in his gaze made my stomach wrench painfully. Guilt soaked into every part of my body for saying no to him when he wasn't the culprit that hurt me. His face fell with disappointment and he lowly growle
-RAINA’S POV- “Fucking look at me, Raina!” Valen ordered in a fear-instilling tone, feral and gravelly. The gall of him! Things can never be the same for us. His previous words made my heart bleed. This wasn’t the man I thought I knew. It turned out that I did not know him at all. This was all about the power in me. That’s what he truly wanted. It must be, for all those years he ignored me. “You think that you can let Zeus sweet talk me and it’ll make things better……and all the hurt and pain would go away. It doesn’t work that way!” I yelled at him and my voice cracked at the end. Sobs racked my body, draining down my cheeks, and were absorbed by the sheet around my body. My hands covered my face and he remained silent. I shouldn’t break down with him in the room. Fighting the pain, I stopped my breath to digest my tears. To summon calmness, I inhaled sharply and let out a harsh exhalation, wiping my face with my hands. “Then don’t make it hard for either of us.” My tears evoked a
-RAINA’S POV- The stinking villainess placed her palm at the side of her mouth and leaned forward in the mirror to whisper, “I heard a rumor.” Snow spoke clearly despite that black mask that she always wore. There was a hint of a smile underneath, judging by the way the corners of her blue eyes crinkled. “What?” I blinked several times, thinking I had gone absolutely mad. Was there really a woman in my mirror? For a wolf, how can she do these things? Was my mind playing tricks on me? “You and Valen called it quits.” She taunted with emphasis. “Girl, what were you thinking? That man is fine as hell! Wrrrao!" She purred like a Catwoman, clawing coquettishly in the air. "He's stacked like a deli sandwich. Yummy!" A possessive growl escaped me and I clutched the two ends of the mirror on my dresser. Hera and I wished to rip her tongue out and feed it to a pride of lions. The yellow polyester sheet around my waist fell to my feet in a bundle. "Cover yourself." Snow pointed a rotatin
VALEN’S POV-I side-eyed Gamma Blayne furiously. He immediately bowed his head and averted his gaze.The stench of blood got stronger, permeating my senses, causing my legs to speed up. I can't stand the thought of any more of our members getting hurt or killed."What the hell..." I trailed off as I inched closer, crouching down and examining the line of dead bodies. It was just downright sick and twisted to use them for a ransom note effect.A chill entered the air that made everyone shiver. Raina’s eyes widened at the gruesome sight.Venus gasped, going pale with a hand flying over her mouth. “This is barbaric.”All their necks were slashed by claws and two of the deceased were used for the punctuation marks. Reading from left to right, it stated: ‘We have not forgotten, and we are coming for her.’Gamma Blayne crouched at the lifeless body next to me. He touched the wound on the man’s chest, inspecting it. “The gashes aren’t as deep as you’d expect, but this one got a double tap en
VALEN’S POV-Together, Theo, Thaines, Jason, and I pushed forward in our wolf form. Leaves and twigs crunched under our pounding paws. The sight of the full moon took its turn in the sky and the faint wind skimmed my fur.The grim sound of battle reached my ears long before we reached the outskirts of the station. We arrived united, skidding to a halt as we met the bloody scene with hard eyes and fangs bared. The air was thickened with the stench of sweat, blood, and death. Gruel residues of combat.Looking around the field for a target, the sounds of gnashing teeth, angry snarls, and painful shouts that had previously filled the air vanished with the rogues that swiftly fled through the tree line, leaving an eerie silence.“Cowards!” I roared internally, anger filling my veins.“Go now! Don’t let them get away!” Gamma Blayne shouted orders to a specialized team of elite wolves to pursue the escapees. He stood naked, heaving and curling his hands into fists, and his head whipped to spo
VALEN’S POV-“What’s my Alpha doing in a place like this?” Albert the old bartender had the nerve to joke as he wiped down the triple-fronted bar counter with a chuckle.“It’s a bar. What crime have I committed?” Although he was jesting, I was in a foul mood.Arbitration Day with those bumptious Alphas has finally ended. Things at Alpha Camp were going well with Valiant. Devin’s still in his coma and Raina seems to be in a bad mood. She was madder than a fucking hornet and shanghaiing my mental space.Yesterday, everything went downhill. Devin’s condition showed no change and I did not find the damn Worgen. I came here to clear my mind from the weight of failure that settled over me.All I wanted to do was head to Raina’s room and hug her. But knowing that she’d probably bring up Mercedes again, I detoured here. The thought of her name made the beer in my hand so damn distasteful. Out of panicked desperation, I’ve been spinning my wheels all day to come up with a way to get through to
RAINA’S POV-Theo bent and picked up the folder. He placed it on the desk and fell back into position.The file contained four candidates. Me being one of them. It depicted the Alpha cabal, who represented seventy percent of the werewolf kingdom, voting on whom they advocated to be Queen. Mercedes gained the highest votes, while I had a meager one percent. I saw Tallulah Rumer’s photo, an Alpha-Female from the Rym Greyback Pack in New Zealand. Next was Kristen, the Alpha-Female Valen pitted me against in the sparring competition for the world to see.Then there were pages of signatures and pack seals to officiate the petition in demonstrating which candidate held their favor. This was the beginning of an uprising. It could plunge the kingdom into chaos if Valen’s choice upset them.My heart chipped away at the daunting situation. Mercedes bowed her head to hide the gloating smile that curled on her lips.Okay, I see you Mercedes.“Your Royal Elders marshaled me for the task. Their old
RAINA’S POV-"Oh, goddess!" Venus squealed at us, after entering the loft with Mercedes, dragging her by the ear. She dramatically threw one hand over her harlequin eyes while maintaining her hold on the girl."Damnit Venus! Can't you knock?" Valen snapped, clearly still riled up from the hormones stirring between us. He quickly yanked up his sweatpants, though the bulge was quite prominent."How was I to know that this would be going on in here!" Venus yelled back, keeping her hand over her eyes. “Who would ever bang in their kitchen?”“People with mates, little sis,” Valen replied low and gruff, and I sensed the shift in him.My face blushed bright red in embarrassment. I reached over and grabbed my shorts, clumsily slipping them on while sitting on the counter. Once I was mostly covered, I was ready to jump down. Valen's large hands gently grasped my waist and quickly helped me down to my feet."Of all the people in the world, why would you bring Mercedes here, Vee?" Valen asked, t
RAINA’S POV-"Morning, my beautiful Bluebella," he whispered, wrapping his arms around me while I cooked at the stove. "Smells delicious.""Good. I hope you’re hungry," I trailed off as he nuzzled my neck.My breath hitched in my throat as I stared back into his eyes. My stomach flip-flopped."Valen," I moaned. "Don’t make me burn our breakfast. Get the plates."He grumbled, and without moving his body away, the front of his body bumped against the back of mine as he reached his hands up to the black metal shelf to take down two square plates and put them on the left counter.Then he hugged me around the waist, resting his jaw on my shoulder, and angled his head sideways to look at me. My heart fluttered wildly."Baby, you didn't have to do all of this," he said softly. “That’s what the kitchen staff is for.”"Nonsense, I will feed you when I feel like it," I replied with a smile.He just beamed at me. “You’re amazing. I know it’ll be as good as it looks,” he remarked while his hands
RAINA’S POV-I scoffed. "Save me your speeches. I'm tired, and I'm going to bed."Crawling into my side of the bed, I laid down and was about to pull the cream blanket when Valen yanked them away from me. I glared at him."Give me the blanket," I bit out, sitting up with my eyes narrowing at him."Stop being jealous," he insisted in a sharp tone, with the blanket in his hand.I scoffed again, "Who said I was?” I shrugged, swallowing the thick lump of emotion in my throat. “I don't care.""I know you are because, if I were in your shoes, I would be too.” He confessed in an ominous undertone, “To be honest, the guy wouldn't live.”My gaze drifted down his impressive form. Mountainous muscles covered his chest, dipping into cut ridges on his abdomen. Despite the anger, heartache, and humiliation churning inside of me, I wanted to rip those pants off him and throw him on the bed while I had my way with him.Redirecting my thoughts, I simply muttered, "Whatever. Keep the damn blanket."I f
RAINA’S POV-"She attacked me." Mercedes lied, curling into a fetal position with her hand on her stomach, pretending to be in serious pain.“That’s not true.” Again, the rage pulsed through me and I struggled against Valen, wanting to get back to hitting her. "Let me go, Valen. Let me go, and I’ll give her another good black eye.""Raina!" Valen shouted in my ear.I huffed and stopped when I felt him tighten his arms around me. When I relaxed, he let me go and turned me around to face him. His eyes scanned my face and when it landed on my bruised arms, his emeralds darkened.His jaw ticked when he turned to look at the she-wolf on the ground. "Mercedes, mind telling me how your Luna got bruised?""I don't know." Mercedes wheezed, sitting up and clutching her abdomen. "She almost choked me to death.” She gasped, dramatically. “I can’t breathe.""You'll live," Valen responded indifferently. He turned back to me. "Go back upstairs, Raina. I'll deal with you later.""But it wasn't even my
RAINA’S POV-“You must be bored out of your mind.” For a brief moment, Mercedes' brows furrowed deeply as she tried to analyze me. Then she sighed loudly and shooed me with her hand. “You are excused, Raina. I seem to have misplaced my interest in anything that you have to say.”"My words are for her, not you." It sounded pathetic to me as well, but it was the truth.She eyed me skeptically and rejected with disdain in her voice, “No. Your chatter is not on my to-do list.”Thankfully, I spotted a ring of keys on the wall and grabbed it. I fought with the faulty lock until I found the right one and swung the door open.Her expression quickly changed to down-right mistrust. "What do you want with my wolf?" she snapped."She’s mine." I stepped inside the cell, pulling closed the metal grill door behind me.Unafraid, she stayed seated, and her eyes lit up in anger. "Not yours,” she protested bitterly. "I pity you. Fucking pathetic.""Your habit of wanting everything that's mine is infuriat