Rayne's POVMy traitorous stomach growled as soon as I stepped into the dining hall and the smell of freshly cooked food wafted into my nose.Reynolds turned to look at me, his brows creased in irritation.I averted my gaze, and they landed on the Lycan king who was already seated on the dining table. His eyes went to my stomach, which meant he heard my stomach growl. I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks out of embarrassment.Reynolds and I both made our way to the dining table where the Lycan King was seated alongside his Beta. "I'd prefer for my guests to be right beside me today," the Lycan King said, as I made to settle down in the seat farthest from him. My mind went blank as his eyes bore into mine as he spoke."Of course your Majesty," Reynolds said, and slid his arms around my waist. "Isn't our guest so kind?" He asked me, a fake smile plastered on his lips.I gave a tight-lipped smile in return, not trusting my voice to betray how I was truly feeling.As we got to the
Rayne's POV"Can she please keep quiet for a minute? Jeez! She talks too much," Lisa complained in my mind, as the blonde girl who introduced herself as Savannah wouldn't stop talking as she gave us a tour."I guess that's her own way of being nice," I responded."You never learn, do you?" Lisa queried, I could feel her shaking her head. "Remember Reynolds?" She said. "Nice at first, and now…" she trailed off. She didn't need to complete her statement for me to know what she was talking about. Even though she has every reason to be weary because we're really good at trusting the wrong people, I can't just dislike someone I just met a few seconds ago."You know deep in your guts that we shouldn't trust her," Lisa warned."But we can't just write her off as bad, simply because our GUTS tells us so," I told her. "I feel it doesn't seem rational to judge without actually knowing her.""Do you," Lisa said. "As for me, there's something about her that doesn't seem right, no matter how I lo
Rayne's POVSpending time with Savannah went better than expected. Apart from her excessive chattiness and affinity for going on extended monologues about herself and her aspirations, I enjoyed spending time with her. Hopefully, the extended periods of isolation I'd spent while in Oceanpearl hadn't broken something in my head. It would have been very disappointing to accept that my receptiveness to Savannah was because somehow, I'd been conditioned to hold on to the first person that treated me with a semblance of kindness.We both had much together in her room, and I stayed there till evening. I was really full, so there wasn't any need for dinner.I didn't want to return to the guest room that had been given to Reynolds' and me so quickly, especially when he could have been there already, waiting to pounce on me the first moment he got.Wandering around may have been more dangerous, but at least, Mysticrock pack didn't appear to be a place where I'd get hit or abused simply for wal
Kaiden's POVI needed her desperately. Terribly. Madly.Bailing out of the dinner that I had basically planned for myself wasn't something I wanted to do, but things took a turn for the worse when I realized my wolf had started to go crazy.I'd heard about the heat before, but I never imagined that it could be so terrible. All I could think about since morning was Rayne, about her lips, her face . . . Among other things that I didn't want my mind to dwell too much on.In all of this, I had to keep myself sane. Even if there was definitely no doubt about it now that we were mates, I still had to consider what she wanted. I'd seen the look in her eyes that morning. She craved my touch no more than how much I wanted to grant it to her. Her eyes were filled with so much turmoil, and that had been enough to convince me of the fact that I couldn't just think about myself in all of this.We were mates, but she wasn't an object. I could claim her whenever I wanted, but, from the little I'd s
Rayne's POVMy eyes fluttered thanks to the ray of light that shone directly on my face, bringing me out of a sleepy haze. I felt something pressed against me, not suffocating but foreign. Warm breath caressed the back of my neck in measured waves, and it only meant one thing; someone was sleeping beside me!My eyes flew open and my body went stiff. Memories of the night before rushed through me ferociously, with every arc more heated than the last. By the time I fully recalled how I had gotten into this position, heavy guilt and disgust had made a home in my heart.After I'd passed out in that garden from the strain of going through my heat, Lisa must have taken control. It explained why I didn't resist Kaiden, and why I ended up in his bed.My eyes welled up with tears. What could I have done? I had been holding on to my self-respect so that I wouldn't stoop to Reynolds' level and so that at least, no matter what happened, I could never be accused of something as despicable as infi
Kaiden's POVOn waking up, I realized that the other side of the bed still oozed her warmth.Obviously, I'd noticed when she tried to sneak away from me, but I had the feeling that she didn't want me to know. Also, pretending to be asleep gave me the opportunity to bask in her scent a little bit longer.The night had been something I considered unforgettable. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of experience. So many times, I had to stop myself from marking her as mine, even though my wolf wanted it more than anything else. Every part of her had been so soft and delicate, but fit perfectly with my hardness. I never wanted to be separated from her, but apparently, she didn't feel the same way.There was no way I could go back to living like nothing had happened after this. Especially when I knew that I'd been the one to take her maidenhead. If I had known, maybe I would have fought harder to keep myself in check. Maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to lose myself in her beauty scent and liveli
Rayne's POV“So what's it like, being a Luna?” Savannah asked, carefully painting her toenails at the edge of her bed. “I’ve always thought that being a Luna was tough, but you make it look so easy.”We sat in her room. Warm air seeped through the windows and pressed uncomfortably against my skin. Summer had begun, and with it, the last whispers of spring had faded.It was the afternoon after my choking incident, and after the harrowing event, Savannah had invited me over to her room once again. Not wanting to refuse a kind gesture from one who had not only been kind to me, but had also saved my life, I had accepted.“Well, it's not easy, if that's what you think. There are a lot of things involved. First off, you'd have to understand that it's not just you or your family anymore that you have to take care of. You now have to also consider the families that depend on your judgment,” I said, tracing an invisible circle on the bed. “And then, there's the issue of never really being able
Kaiden's POVWhy did everything I ever truly desire have to be so hard to attain? Why couldn't things have been so easy for me since I was born? Did I anger the goddess? Did I scorn someone in a previous lifetime?“Bradford, this isn't funny.”He looked up from his glass of cranberry juice and cleared his throat. “I told you that a hasty approach wasn't going to make things easy for you. But like you always do, you act like you are so perfect and make no mistakes when in fact, you do.”My thumb and forefinger pinched the bridge of my nose. “Look, I know that you warned me against being too forward, but I haven't done anything . . .” I trailed off when the memory of us tangled in bed together flashed against my mind like a white-hot reminder. Bradford paused. “What's that look on your face, Kaiden?”I whistled. Telling him would further give him more reasons to scold me like I was a little child that needed guidance. He would lose his head if he knew that I'd already jumped the gun.B