After dinner, he asked her if she wanted to take a walk near the lake. The moon is out and illuminates the territory.“Uh, sure.”“You sound like you didn’t want to.” He was amused that she didn’t simply say no.“I just thought we’ll be returning home immediately and get more rest. The weather’s nice, though. Going to the lake should be relaxing.” She wasn’t lying. The moonlight was one of the things that fascinated werewolves over the years. Being able to see their surroundings at night under such a glow was mesmerizing.He took her hand as they walked and she tried hard to get over the awkwardness. It’s always awkward in the beginning. Eventually, their arms were touching and they stood close to each other as they reached the lake. It was a beautiful sight as the ripples in the water reflected the moonlight from above. There were a few other people around and they just stood there. Polly inhaled the fresh air gently blowing in their direction. She shivered a little. Next thing she k
Shit! Her eyes widened as she almost face-planted on the ground. Almost, because he pulled her back at the last second. It annoyed her and she groaned in frustration. He was toying with her again!She found her footing, swiftly turning around and launching numerous punches on him in a fit of anger. He looked helpless as he didn’t mean to trip her. He allowed her to release her anger before restricting her movements, essentially ending the match. He caught her wrists and placed them behind her. She got annoyed that he caged her again.“Why are you so angry?” His tone surprised her. She didn’t think he was capable of sounding like a whiny child. It made her speechless and she looked at him with wonder.“You’ve done well today. There’s no need to be so mad. Are you still angry because you weren’t allowed to join your team?”Polly panted, catching her breath. Fuck. His gaze was drawn to the movement of her
“I’ll sleep outside. Good night, Polly.” He figured it would be better for them to be apart for the rest of the night. Fuck, he’s already hard. He might need a cold shower and deal with it with his own hand. He grimaced at the thought.Polly grabbed the blanket and covered herself with it. She felt exposed, as if she was naked despite being properly clothed. She was thankful that he stopped and left. She’s not sure how to face him. She actually enjoyed his kisses. Ugh. Goddess, no! She didn’t want to give in this soon.Her head was a mess and she couldn’t sleep. He has only been here for a couple of weeks, how is it that they have already progressed to this stage? She wanted to rationalize it.She hugged a pillow and stared at the wall across the room. After her incident, he had treated her with care and respect. He kept his promise. He didn’t make a fuss when he brought her back. She’d been thinking of him f
She was fuming! He went on to a few more matches. Thankfully, she wasn’t called for a third match. It could happen the next day or on the last day of evaluations.They went home and she went to shower. Jared made a quick run to the pack house to get their dinner. Since the evaluations began in the morning, he had no time to cook. Though Polly was curious, she didn’t pursue the subject at the moment. She’ll look into it when the evaluations are over.She was happy with her win. It was more meaningful than her loss. She kept looking back at both matches, analyzing how she managed to win the second.She grimaced. Sure, she kept training to become stronger, but it’s not as if her opponents weren’t doing the same. They all do. They all aim to become better. Her wins can’t be guaranteed by the amount of time she spent in training. It’s not that simple. She groaned, still feeling unaccomplished.She went out of their roo
He faced an array of opponents, only few of which she would consider highly skilled. The rest were roughly at her level.She left for a moment to get them food from the pack house. She didn’t want to be there during the actual lunch time. Jared was slightly distracted when he saw her leaving. It’s not really a big deal, he tried to convince himself. He became slightly pissed and finished his opponent quickly. He glared at Ren who was puzzled by his look. What did he do?“I think Polly’s getting lunch from the pack house.” He figured the man was looking for his mate.Jared paused and squinted. Hmm. He began to feel something odd within himself. How come this guy can guess where she went? And how come he didn’t think where she might have gone? The disparity in their level of understanding Polly annoyed him.He was itching to punch the guy, so he decided to leave and search for her instead. He was relieved when he saw her
“You asked my mom?”“Yes.” He seriously didn’t want to talk about it, but she seemed interested.“Really? What did she teach you?” She recalled the dishes he has made and felt as embarrassed as him when she realized. Damn. He made her favorite dishes! It was her turn to cough and blush.Jared scratched the back of his head as he tried to indifferently answer her questions.She wasn’t sure how to proceed. What he did was endearing. She’s not too dumb to think he didn’t do it for her. But it was really unexpected! She would never have thought he would do something like it. She could only imagine how her mom taught him.“Why didn’t you tell me?” He seemed to be doing it for a while already and she only noticed in the last week or so.He’s not sure what to say, so he shrugged.“You were quite good.” She felt the need to compliment him. Besides,
When Polly found him there, she became really annoyed. So, he’s avoiding her now? Pursing her lips, she went to prepare their breakfast. She did it grudgingly and made enough noise to bother his sleep. He was indeed awakened by her unnecessarily loud movements. He went to wash up first before standing close to her in the kitchen.She raised an eyebrow at him. “It’s my turn to cook.”“Is there anything you need help with?”“Oh, you want to help?” Her sarcastic tone made him frown. The man was confused by her slight aggression.“Can’t I?”Polly shrugged and took a moment before deciding to speak up. Nothing’s going to happen unless she confronts him.“Did I upset you yesterday?” That’s as direct as she could get.He was surprised by her inquiry and immediately replied with “No.”Her lip twitched and she eyed him for a few seconds
“I swear if you say one more word . . .” She warned him and he hated to see her red-rimmed eyes, like she’s about to cry.He nodded and really didn’t dare to say anything. They resumed her training and he only dared to speak to advise her and give her some pointers.When they were done, she immediately returned to the house without a backward glance. Jared couldn’t help but feel like a failure. They were already getting somewhere but he just had to mess it up.They were quite civil for several days. Polly’s birthday landed on a Friday. Her teammates greeted her and gave her gifts.“What did your mate give you?” Hana curiously asked.“Nothing.” Polly thought he probably didn’t know it’s her birthday.“Nothing? I bet he’s going to surprise you later.” Hana elbowed her with a meaningful smile.She lopsidedly smiled and inwardly sighed. She’s n
The alpha king audibly sighed in exasperation. These kids! Why don’t they listen?Thankfully, Jordan didn’t react negatively. In a way, he felt relieved that he could tolerate her proximity now. He managed a smile, which she promptly returned. He looked more handsome when he smiles!When the guy Alex called showed up, Jordan tensed up again.“Just stay there for now. We’re doing an experiment.” Alex instructed.“Alright.”“You’re not looking at him.” Alex noted, wondering why the boy would display aggression.Jordan grunted, “I could very well imagine him looking this way. At her.”Alex sighed. So, the potion worked for his possessive tendencies, but not for aggression.Through the mind-link, Alex asked the other boy to move closer. Jordan growled in warning and Alex told the boy to go, thanking him for his participation.“Were you like this yesterday? It’s a wonder you haven’t brawled with anyone yet.”“The training helped in distracting me. Right now, there’s nothing to distract me.”
She sheepishly told her parents what happened and she didn’t like the look her father was giving her.“He already told you that he’s having difficulty controlling himself and you still went to corner him? What were you thinking?”She pouted as she explained, “I just wanted to see for myself what exactly he’s going through.”Alex sighed. “What would you have done if he lost control? You should be thankful he managed to stop.”“Why is it my fault? It’s his responsibility to control himself.”“But you went to him, triggering the bond further. In that sense, it was your fault.”“Still, nothing really happened. I’m fine. Why is it that he’s strongly affected by the bond? The others I’ve seen weren’t.”This time, it was her mom who replied. “It’s different for everyone. You should be glad you’re not as affected as he was.”Xandra took a deep breath. “Fine. I understand.” She’d seen it for herself, so what else can she say? She also became curious. Why is it that he’s feeling more compared t
Xandra sat on her bed. She took a deep breath before closing her eyes and doing her best to locate him within the castle. She can’t mess up and link to a random person. She’d done that before and it was mortifying.She pictured his face in her mind and called for his name. Jordan. She called him three times before receiving a reply.He frowned when he heard someone calling him, but he’s currently alone in his room. He thought maybe someone was calling from outside the door. Also, it was a girl’s voice. What’s a girl doing in the men’s dormitory?“Who is it?” Frowning, he got up and went to open the door. He saw a couple of guys further down the hallway but that was it.As he closed the door, he heard her voice again.“It’s me, Xandra. You know who I am, don’t you?”“Xandra?” He gulped, unsure if he’s hallucinating or not. They’re not mated, so how can they have a link?“Hmm, you know who I am, right?” She badly wanted his answer to that.“The younger princess.”“And?”Jordan took a de
A few years later, in the middle of the night . . .Xandra gasped as she woke up, her surroundings still shrouded in darkness. What is it? She asked in her head. She sniffed as she caught a faint scent in the air. It was faint but something she immediately recognized. Her mate! He’s here!She grinned as she hurried from her bed and went to her older sister’s room.“Kaia!” She shouted with much excitement.The older woman bolted from her bed and even managed to take out the knife she kept strapped on her thigh. Her expression was one of confusion, even so, she was ready to fight. “What?”“Do you still sleep with that thing? You’re inside the palace.”Kaia frowned, looked outside the window, and stepped off the bed. “What did you yell for?! The sun’s not even out yet!”Xandra jumped up and down in front of her. “My mate! He’s here!”“What?”“I can sense him! I think he just arrived!”Kaia grimaced. “Why are you excited? He might not even be someone you’ll like. Calm down!”Yeah, that se
The thing is . . . the guy she likes is a year younger than her. She was nervous when her eighteenth birthday came, hoping she won’t feel a mate bond towards someone else. She was both relieved and disappointed when she felt nothing, though. If he was her mate, they’ll only know when he turns eighteen. And so, they continued their training.As his birthday loomed, she couldn’t help the trepidation she’s feeling. Still, they remained close and for his part, he was somewhat excited. He already told her when his exact birthday was, as if it was important that she needed to know.“What’s this about?” Janelle accepted his invitation to hang out. The Royal Pack has a dormitory for all visiting trainees, but this guy was a nephew of the reigning royals. He has a room of his own, which was twice as big as a regular room in Red Rogues.“Your room is nice.” She commented after looking around.Austin cleared his throat. “Tomorrow’s my birthday. I’m wondering if you would care to celebrate it wit
“You fucked up.”Polly stated from behind Jared as they watched their son walking away.He sighed before facing her. “What do you think I should’ve done?”“You could’ve told him much earlier.”“It’s not as if it was a secret. Everyone knew we meant for Janelle to take over as alpha.”“He’s still young. He might have heard but he might not have taken it seriously. Still, you haven’t properly discussed this with Janelle either, have you?”“I’m waiting until she’s of age.”“Shouldn’t you do it sooner? What if she declines? You would’ve made your son upset for no reason.”Jared grunted before sighing. “Would she?”“From my observation, I don’t think she’s quite interested.”He sighed again as Polly stood next to him.“He’s as mature as his sister. And I think she understands that as they grow older, she’ll be physically weaker than him.”His lip twitched. It’s true that he initially planned it that way because he wanted to be unconventional. He wanted to show that he doesn’t care if his h
Jared was worried. He left his mate and their daughter home. Polly was sick and couldn’t come with him to the celebration. The Alpha King and Luna Queen will be officially recognized. He was reluctant to go but she convinced him that he must.“You’re an alpha now. Your presence is required.”When he didn’t look convinced, she added, “We’ll be fine here. Nothing would happen. Alex already confirmed that there are no more Lycans. No one would attack us while you’re gone. Besides, don’t you remember Luna’s words? We’ll have a son soon.”Her eyes twinkled, looking forward to having another child. She has waited for so long before they were blessed with one. The prospect of having another made her excited. She wanted to be a mother. She wanted them to have an actual family, complete with children.He sighed as he relented, “Fine. I’ll come back as soon as I can.”“I know. Try to have a little fun, Jared. The war is over. When you return, we’ll be able to focus on our own lives. I’d like to
He sighed, holding her tighter, “I’m not. I’m sorry I made you worried.”“I thought you were upset that I finally got pregnant and that you didn’t really want to have a child.” She finally aired her complaint, wanting to hear his reassurance.He seemed surprise by her assumption, “How could that be? I want this child. I want to give you everything you want, anything that would make you happy.”He bent down and gave her a long kiss, which was exceptional.“I want you to name her.” She implored him after recovering her wits.“Me?”“Yes. Please?”Damn. He’s feeling more pressure from this task than the possibility of becoming an alpha.“Wait. Her? How do you know it’s a girl?” He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her stomach. That’s a pity. He wanted to have a boy, an heir.She grinned at his reaction and knew what he must be thinking. “Luna told me. Didn’t she tell you we’ll have another child after you become an alpha? That one will be a boy so you don’t need to worry about an heir.
“It’s not about the baby. He loves you and he wants the baby as much as you do because he knew it would make you happy. I told him one other thing. Just like you, he probably didn’t believe me at first, but now that you’re pregnant, he must be thinking the other matter will also come to pass. It’s something he has already given up on, so he’s probably having a hard time accepting it again. He’ll come around. Just give him time and continue to support him. You two are made for each other. He needs you.”Polly was relieved to hear it, but she became curious, too. “What else did you tell him?”Luna pursed her lips. “It’s not my matter to say. You should hear it from him. I’m sure he would eventually tell you. Just wait a bit more. Don’t be hurt by his actions. He’s already struggling so just show him your support. You’ve done it before, right?”She gave Polly an encouraging smile and the woman was reminded by her words. Yes, she has done it before. Years ago, she told him to open up to h