-VALEN’S POV- Someone left a peculiar gift on my office desk at Alpha Camp. After teleporting from Dark Wolverson, I took a shower and was militantly dressed to lead the team. Then I headed over here after mind-linking the guys for a short meeting. They were currently loading up the Black Hawk chopper. Desperately, I wanted to channel my wrath into some action before I did another stupid thing. I scratched my forehead as I looked down at the item. Undoubtedly, the guys thought that this was funny. It was not amusing. Someone had a death wish and I was in a foul mood. But I’ll soon find out which one of the guys did this. No worries. They would be here soon to discuss the search for Vaheed. We were going to infiltrate a few zones today. We’ve been busy with preparations. Now it was time to discuss strategies and location. In anger, I took up the pocket pussy. I examined the object, not with interest, but with the utmost revulsion. So, was I to use this fake toy in the interim unt
-VALEN’S POV- Heartbeats picked up. Fear germinated and flight set in their disingenuous features. All eyes averted from mine. Carson's eyeballs rolled up to the ceiling, flitting left to right. Wentz blocked his whistling mouth, aimlessly staring through the window. Theo cleared his throat shifting uncomfortably in his seat and scratched his forehead. Thaines with his permanent scowl, observed the three uneasy men to his right and folded his arms. “Don’t make me ask again.” I narrowed my gaze with intent. Three shaky fingers threw cowardly Theo under the bus. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead as he slowly raised his bowed head to meet the fire in my emeralds. “Go in the fucking corner and use it. Thaines, take a picture and send it to Azara. Now!” I commanded in my alpha voice as I turned the joke on them. Theo and Thaines' cognac eyes gorged from their sockets. They exchanged horrified glances. Ridiculous. They gave me the ‘are-you-serious’ look. “What are you waiting fo
-VALEN’S POV- “But I ―” Mercedes pressed. This was ruining my day. When will she get the picture that I was sickened of her and cease her dastardly deeds? “May I speak with you in private?” Her once-wide smile disappeared behind pinched lips and desperation filled her gaze, almost looking constipated. Devin scoffed with disgust, rubbing the scruff of his jaw and his austere blue eyes landed on me. She was still trying to get on the team. Her attire was battle-ready to match ours. Dense as lead, she stood behind the tub chairs, waiting for me to hear her jillion of petition. Nothing worked with Mercedes. Her shame tree was chopped down long ago. I might need an advanced degree in female decryption with a minor in how to get my rejection across effectively. She did not know that I found out that she was the one who set up Alpha Chapman to harass Raina when she was last here. She would avoid me if she knew what I had in store for her. Fuming with aggravation, I glanced at the time
-RAINA'S POV- Our eyes locked. His ominous red shot like a pointed edge blade at my flitting blue. Goosebumps peppered my pale skin with my heart racing and anxiety high. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Hands trembling with the mobile phone at my ear, I opened my mouth to speak. "V……" Calloused hands went over my mouth as he teleported behind me. Cardamom and amber swirled high, enveloping me. A pulsing rage of electrifying energy surged through my body. From top to bottom, the feel of his muscular frame scorched my skin like blue fire. He grabbed the phone, disconnected the call, and tossed it in the middle of the untidy bed. Then he released me. Despite the riveting waves that thrilled me, I whipped around to face him. The bulk of my burgundy hair mussed in a swing to rest on my left shoulder. Before I could land a hit, he swiped a palm in front of me and my fist froze in the air. I gave him the cruelest look as I realized that my body had frozen for a second ti
RAINA’S POV- The starkly Valen-look-alike male hesitated with the dagger in a throwing position. The silver blade glinted in his hand and the wretched silence became ferociously sullen. He froze with blazing eyes burning at me in a chilling hush. In slow motion, his head slightly tilted as one of his brows raised. If Dad tried to enter the room, he was going to kill him and I could not do anything about it. A thick icy bubble of dread sat in my throat as my heart rate accelerated. I swallowed my nerves and my mouth released a soundless ‘please.’ Dad perused my bed and was about to enter the bedroom to check on me. One foot stepped forward. I whimpered from the invisible lock on my body, fearful that the bad guy was going to hurt him wickedly. Dad wouldn’t have seen the harm coming at him. “No.” I croaked, feeling ashamed and useless as the worst daughter in the world who was subjecting her Dad to death. My eyes swung from him to them. Like invisible fingers running down my spine
-RAINA’S POV- "I am only interested in the white-haired woman. I must find her.” Valen-look-alike slowly prowled down the side of the bed to come around to me. Shit! He was really in my head. My throat tightened with my eyes never leaving him. "Yet you came here to harass me." My hands dropped to my side and I panicked breathlessly. Sweat spread between my breasts. "Because she was last here." He grated from the foot of the bed in a flat, emotionless voice, but his piercing eyes were the opposite. "Well, she's not here anymore. Leave!" Rattling, I recoiled as he got menacingly closer. “I am of no help to you and you won’t share what you know about that hussy.” He snarled. “Don’t you fucking call her that!” His deep baritone rattled my entire being. “Grrr!” Defensive much! Angry vermillion eyes sized me up. The ill-laden air stilled for three seconds. I hoped, wished, and begged for this face-stealing troll to disappear. Growling, he took up a pillow and ripped it in two. Fluffy
-RAINA'S POV- Great puffs of air blasted from his nostrils as his vision tunneled with black rage. Fangs peeked through his sinful lips like a hellhound. Stalled in all movements, my chest felt like it was splitting in two as his palm pressed hard into me. Clinching my teeth, I grunted in agony. The weight of his hand served as a reminder to me of his indomitable masculinity and my impotence to stop him from physically abusing me. "Since everything is out of hand, I need to do something with you.” He raised his thick eyebrows and spoke so sinisterly slow that I quivered with dreaded anticipation. "W-what?" I sputtered while trying to bore my body through the wall. Damn this careless tongue. I digested the pain, bearing it silently. With his face lowered so close to my breathless one that I thought I might faint, I turned my head sideways to avoid my mouth being in his direction. With the hand that rested on the wall, he dragged his sharp claws in a descent, digging into the conc
-RAINA’S POV- "You have history books to learn about the Worgens." Hellhound Valen palmed his forehead. "I have already said too much. I shouldn't be here, Raina." "No," I argued. "You have all the knowledge inside of you. The least you can do to really help is to tell me what you know and how to defeat them." “You have the snow globe.” He removed his hand from his face, staring intently at me like a fire-breathing dragon. "Do you know about time manipulators?" "Like Snow. I know she has the ability." "Snow?" "Your mate, the white-haired woman." I deliberately asserted to see his reaction. It was an inkling that I wanted to confirm. He scoffed and was gruesomely silent for a few seconds. What? Did he dislike my nickname for her? He did not deny her being his mate. So that's who she was to him. I hated it. My stomach twisted. A cruel anguish burned my heart. "Is that all you can tell from interacting with her?" He sounded like a teacher in the classroom who was grilling me for
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