I ran away from my hideout before I would be discovered by either Antonio or my uncle.
Going back into the palace was completely out of the question because that’s where I was expected to be, and running to the exit gate would leave me open to my killer. So, I followed the path that led to the back of the palace instead.
As I ran, I kept looking over my shoulder to be sure that I wasn’t being followed. Just as I rounded the corner that would lead me to the safety of the palace backyard, I came face-to-face with my nemesis.
“So, it is true,” said Brianna. “The servants told me you were in the palace and I thought they were crazy but here you are. To what do we owe this unpleasant surprise?”
“Not now, Brianna. I don’t have time to chat with you. Please, get out of my way,” I said in-between panting.
“It’s you who’s in my way,” she said saucily, blocking my path as I attempted to get away from her.
“Brianna, please, let me pass!” I begged her desperately and looked over my shoulder to make sure that my uncle hadn’t sent a search party to fish me out of wherever I was hiding.
“Who are you running away from?” Brianna asked curiously. “What have you done this time and why are you even here? Where’s your savage mate?”
“I really can’t talk right now,” I said and pushed past her.
I heard someone yelling in the distance, ordering the guards to lock the gates. At that point, I knew it would take a miracle for me to escape the palace grounds alive.
Brianna too had heard the shouts and she followed me as I ran around the vegetable garden frantically, looking for a place to hide but there was none.
I fell to my knees and began to weep beside a tomato vine. My life was officially over and my mates were going to be killed tonight all because of me!
“Seriously, Jade! What did you do?” Brianna demanded. “Is someone looking for you?”
“Your father wants me dead,” I told her as I sobbed. “He has sent Antonio to kill me and he’s looking for me right now.”
Her beautiful face turned white from shock. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know,” I wailed.
“Please, Brianna, help me. I don’t want to die. I am carrying my mate’s child in my womb right now. Please, save my innocent child’s life. I’m begging you!”
“You’re pregnant?” She asked with a look of disgust.
“Yes, I am, and for the sake of this child, I beg you to help me. Please, save me and my baby from sudden death.”
We heard footsteps approaching and we both looked in the direction of the noise with wide eyes.
Brianna looked back at me and said, “Get up and hide behind the apple tree over there, quick!”
I got to my feet and ran to the apple tree that she had pointed out behind the tomato vines. From my hideout, I heard the footsteps get closer and then a man asked Brianna if she’d seen me.
To my surprise, she denied seeing me and claimed not to know that I’d come to the palace. The man instructed her to notify her father or Antonio if she saw me and then he left. I finally released the breath I’d been holding since I hid behind the tree.
She came to meet me and said, “You can relax now, he’s gone.”
“Thank you,” I said. “At least, I’m safe for now.”
“I can help you get away from here,” she said. “I may not like you but that doesn’t mean I should let you die with a baby in your womb. I’m not a monster like my father or Antonio.”
“You would help me?” I asked in wonder.
“That’s what I said,” she snapped irritably.
I was amazed. Not in a million years would I have ever imagined that a day would come when Brianna, my self-appointed archenemy would offer to help me when she could have easily offered me on a platter of gold to her father to be killed. What a miracle!
“There’s a secret passage at the end of this garden,” she said.
“It’s a small part of the fence that somehow got broken and was never mended. I discovered it many years ago and I’ve never told anyone about it. It’s my secret gateway to exploring the outback village whenever I feel like going on a little adventure.”
My awe doubled at this point because I could hardly imagine my arrogant cousin squeezing through a broken fence to hang out with commoners who lived on the disadvantaged side of the kingdom.
“I know someone there who can help you get away from Apex Woods,” she said.
“Oh, Brianna. Thank you!” I gushed and stepped forward to embrace her but she blocked me with her arm.
“We are still not friends,” she said, sharply. “I’m only helping you because of your unborn baby.”
“Thank you,” I said. “But what about my… my mate?”
“What about him?”
“Your father wants Antonio to kill him too.”
“Well, that’s not my concern,” she said flippantly. “He’s an Alpha, isn’t he? Let him save himself while I save you. Come on, let’s go.”
Not wanting to appear ungrateful, I suppressed my urge to beg her to plead with Alpha Barry on my behalf to stop this attack on my family and quietly followed her instead.
We walked a short distance until we reached the palace fence which was draped with climbing plants and surrounded by wildflowers.
“Here we are,” said Brianna with a flourish.
She bent down and pushed aside some of the hanging plants, parting them like a curtain to reveal a gaping hole on the wall with ragged edges. It was about sixty inches wide and barely big enough for either of us to squeeze through.
“I can’t believe that I am about to ruin my new dress just to save you,” she complained like a child. “We’ll have to get on our knees and crawl through the whole carefully.”
“Thank you,” I said, feeling grateful for her help so far.
“Don’t thank me yet. Wait until I get you out of here safely. Come on, let’s go.”
We got on our hands and knees and crawled through the small hole, and just like that, I was out of the palace grounds in one piece. The other side of the wall led to a dense bush that separated the Alpha’s home from the surrounding villages.
“Where are you taking me to?” I asked Brianna when we were only a few steps away from the nearest village.
“I have a friend around here who can help you get out of Apex Woods safely,” she said casually.
I was shocked. “You have a friend?”
She looked at me with a frown. “There are people who actually like me, you know. You’re clearly not one of them but that’s fine because you don’t count.”
I let the insult slide because my safety right now depends on this vile cousin of mine. We entered the village through a back road that looked like an alley and once we were in, Brianna began to whistle softly.
“Why are you doing that?” I asked because the sound made the hairs on my back stand on end.
“Shush!” She replied and continued whistling again.
Suddenly, a wolf ran out of one of the slums toward us, and from the size and colouring, I could tell that it was a Gamma. It stood on its back legs and suddenly shifted into a lanky man with dark hair. He was young and dressed in faded clothes.
“My Princess, I wasn’t expecting you here today!” He gushed. His eyes sparkled as he gazed adoringly at Brianna.
“I know, Zayne,” she said with a sweet smile.
“I came here to ask you for a favour. This is my…friend and she needs help with getting out of Apex Woods. I want you to help her cross safely to the Highlands.”
“The Highlands?” I gasped. “That’s so far away from here. What about my mates, I mean, mate? I can’t just leave him and run away to another country!”
Brianna glared at me. “You ungrateful lout! You should be thanking me for trying to save you instead of handing you over to my betrothed to slaughter you like a cow."
"Sorry," I whispered.
"Weren’t you the one that said my father had ordered the killing of your mate?" She continued. "So, would you rather go to the mountains and die with him or run away and give your child the chance of being born into this world? Which option makes more sense to you?”
As much as I didn’t like the idea of abandoning my mates and not even having the opportunity to warn them of their imminent death, I could see that Brianna’s offer made sense. I didn’t want to die or lose my baby either.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to annoy you,” I apologized to her. “I’ll go to the Highlands.”
“Good,” she said with a pleased smile. She looked at Zayne and said, “Take her with you. You know what to do.”
He nodded and looked at me. “Let’s go,” he said.
I felt a sense of unease instead of relief and it bothered me. Nevertheless, I decided to follow Zayne.
“Thank you, Brianna,” I said to my cousin as I passed her. “I will never forget this.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” she said with a smug smile. “Enjoy your new life.”
I don’t know why but something about her behaviour troubled me deeply. Was she truly helping me or was she setting me up?
As I continued to follow Zayne through some narrow passages between rows of pack houses, someone hit me on the back of my head with something hard and I fainted.
When I woke up, the sun was shining on my face while I lay on a hard surface that made my back hurt badly. I was swaying from side to side and the shaky movements troubled my stomach badly, making me want to vomit. I turned to my lefthand side and vomited my breakfast into a body of water. It was then that I finally realized that I was in a boat surrounded by women of different ages and features. Their ankles were tied with chains attached to a pole in the middle of the boat. I looked down and saw that my ankles were also tied. “What are these?” I gasped in horror. “Are you blind?” A woman asked flippantly beside me. She was middle-aged and dressed in worn-out but neat clothes. “They’re chains,” she continued. “Or do they look like a string of pearls to you?” Some of the women laughed. My face turned red but it wasn’t from embarrassment, it was from anger. How dare anyone chain my ankles like this, as if I was some kind of animal that could be tied down? I leapt up from where I
A sharp slap across my face brought me back to life, while a hard pressure on my stomach sent me coughing up sea water violently. I was lying on my back and there was absolute confusion around me. A male voice I didn’t recognize called out to someone to bring blankets. “This stupid bitch has been trying to get away from me all day!” Scout screamed angrily. “I’m going to teach her a lesson when this is over.” I finally opened my eyes, blinking several times because of the sting from the salt water. I was back on the boat again but it wasn’t swaying anymore and that told me we were on land. “Let me go!” I moaned weakly. “Not until I get my thirty gold coins back with interest,” Scout shouted at me. “I tried to be nice to you but you have shown me that you don’t deserve my kindness. Now, come here, and get your punishment!” He dragged me up roughly by my arm and began to pull me to the front of the boat While the other women simply stood back and watched. “Let her go, Scout,” said
I was carried into the palace through a back entrance and whisked to the harem through a stairway hidden behind a bookshelf. When we got there, I was too tired and hungry to keep fighting my carrier. One of the Alpha’s concubines was ordered to take care of me. She was a dark-skinned sexy beauty with a head full of bouncy curls. She took me to the huge bathroom and cleaned me up, bathed me and dressed me in a soft silk robe. “Beautiful necklace,” she said as she tied the sash of my robe. “Thank you,” I whispered and then my chin began to wobble as feelings of despair descended on me. “Now, dear, don’t cry,” my carer cooed softly. “Believe me, it’s not so bad here. Do you know how awful it would’ve been if you had been sent to the fields or underground mines to work? You’re lucky.” “No, I’m not. I’m doomed! I shouldn’t be here. My mates – “ I gasped and clutched my sides as a sharp pain pierced through me. My heart began to race and I felt adrenalin shooting through me. I was af
Tarik was waiting outside the door when I stepped out. When he saw me, he raised an eyebrow in surprise and his lips curved slightly in what looked like a half smile. “Lynda did a fabulous job cleaning you up nicely,” he said. “My Alpha will be impressed.” “I didn’t realize he belonged to you alone,” I joked but his little smile disappeared and his face became hard. “Let’s go,” he said and walked away. I hurried after him, kicking myself mentally for not keeping my mouth shut. I don’t want to make enemies here on my first night in the palace. Instead of making stupid jokes, I needed to focus my mind on planning my escape. The Highland palace was more lavishly decorated than the one I grew up in at Apex Woods. Everything here was over-the-top, making it look like a museum. I followed Tarik down a flight of stairs, across a large hall, past an indoor gallery garden with a fountain, and then up another flight of stairs, and finally down a carpeted corridor that ended in front of hug
After three weeks passed and Alpha Jaxon hadn’t sent for me, I became restless. All twenty-seven women in the harem including Lynda had warmed his bed during that period but he never requested to see me.“Is he punishing me?” I asked her finally when Tarik came to call one of the girls tonight while obviously ignoring me.Lynda laughed. “Are you kidding? You should be happy. Alpha Jaxon is not a gentle lover as you may have already suspected, so any day you don’t have to entertain him is a good day. Trust me.”I sighed. “You know the only reason why I want to see him is so that I can get back my necklace. I don’t care about anything else.”“Be careful, Jade,” Lynda warned me.“If he smells your desperation, he’ll make you miserable and probably never give you the necklace. Want some free advice? Forget about it. Your mates are probably already dead by now.”“No!” I said sharply. “Please, don’t say that. Please.”“Sorry. Excuse me, I’ve got to use the bathroom.”When Lynda left, I star
She took me through the garden that was decorated with sculptures and paintings and furnished with a love seat and two chaise lounges in between several pots of flowers, ferns and monsteras.The fountain in the middle provided rhythmic relaxing sounds of water pouring nonstop. It was a perfect place to rest and I instantly fell in love with it.When we reached the end of the garden, Elena pushed a hidden button behind a tall plant and the wall in front of us shifted slightly.She pressed her palms against it and opened the secret door that led to a corridor. She entered and I followed her obediently.After she closed the secret door, she pointed to the left side of the narrow corridor and said, “That way leads to Jaxon’s place and this other way leads to mine. Let’s go.”I followed her and after walking a short distance, she pushed the wall at the end of the corridor and it opened into her suite.It was as large as the Alpha’s den but done in teal and gold, furnished like the palace o
“Why did you abandon us?” Dominic asked me angrily.I was back in the cottage and the three brothers were glaring at me as if they wanted to rip me apart for deserting them. I’d never seen them this mad before and guilt overwhelmed me.“I am so sorry,” I apologized. “It wasn’t intentional. I didn’t know that I would be gone this long, but I’m back now. I’m ready to make up for the lost time.”“You better,” said Darius, still annoyed. “We have been worried sick about you. Do you know how horrible that feels? We missed you so much.”“I missed you all too,” I said.“Where is your necklace?” Damian asked. “Did you give it away?”“No, it was stolen from me but I’ll get it back. I promise.”“At least, you’re here,” said Dominic with a smile. “Come, let’s welcome you home properly.”He took my hand and led me into the cottage which had now transformed into a replica of Elena’s room but with gold and red furnishings instead.He kissed me and my clothes melted away just as his did. We were on
About an hour after Elena went downstairs to join Alpha Jaxon in welcoming their guests, I sneaked out of her room and entered the narrow corridor.As I approached the Alpha’s room, I could hear male voices inside but they sounded far away. I was afraid but my desire to get back my necklace pushed me further.I opened the door to the den and saw that the room was empty and only a few lights were on. I didn’t know where exactly to look to find my necklace but I went forward.I heard the voices again; one sounded like moaning while the other was panting. I was curious to know what was going on, so I traced the voices to Jaxon’s closet. My eyes widened when I saw what was causing all that moaning and panting.Alpha Jaxon had Tarik pinned against the wall and was humping him from behind. One of his hands pinned Tarik’s neck, while the other gripped the Beta’s hip.I saw Jaxon’s large cock going in and out of Tarik’s ass and my jaw dropped. I gasped in shock and they heard me.“What the fu
“You’re back,” Rowan whispered happily. I blinked. “Where am I?” “We had to bring you to the pack hospital. Your bones were broken badly from the fall,” he explained. “But don’t worry, you’re the only one here. We cleared out the hospital to give you some privacy.” I looked at him and noticed how tired he looked. There were dark circles under his eyes and his beard was overgrown like his father’s own in the chasm. “I am so sorry,” I apologized. “I have put you through a lot. You don’t deserve any of these troubles you’ve experienced because of me.” “Please, don’t say that,” he replied tenderly. “We are one. You’re my mate and that means that whatever affects you affects me. We’re in this together.” “Thank you,” I whispered. “From the bottom of my heart, I say thank you, Alpha Rowan.” He smiled tenderly. “You’re welcome, Luna Jade. Always and forever.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. “I have some good news for you,” he whispered. “Let me guess, you found the neckl
“Here she is, my lord,” Tarik announced as he led me into Alpha Jaxon’s lair.“Leave us,” he growled and Tarik promptly disappeared.Alpha Jaxon watched me warily like a predator. He was sitting on a wingbacked chair, nursing a goblet of wine. His beard was overgrown and his bloodshot eyes told me that he was piss drunk.“Where have you been?” He asked me. His deep voice rumbled like thunder.“I – I…”“Answer me!” He barked and I nearly peed on myself.Why the hell did I agree to this? Why did I let Lynda talk me into this nonsense? I wasn’t even Sasha, so why should I receive her punishment?“I’m not Sasha,” I blurted out fearfully.“That’s not the answer to my question,” he rumbled again. “I will ask you one more time only.”I swallowed hard. My heart was pounding wildly in my chest.“Where… have… you… been?”I began to shiver with fear. “I am not Sasha,” I repeated stubbornly.He was out of his chair like a shot and was standing in front of me within a second. He grabbed my throat
The last thing I remembered was Albert and Lattie shifting into their wolf forms and meeting Damian mid-air. I don’t even know how I found my way out of the cottage but I did.“I have to get to the Highlands! I have to get to the Highlands!” I chanted again as I ran towards the dock.I couldn’t see Damian but my wolf senses told me that he was already behind me. I could almost feel his breath on my back.As I reached the dock, a boat was just pulling up and the only passenger on it got off through the gangplank. He was a dashing guy that I would recognize anywhere.“Sahid! What are you doing here?”He stared at me blankly. “Who are you?”“It’s me, Jade.”“Watch out!” He yelled and pushed me out of the way.Damian crashed into Sahid, knocking him to the ground. He tried to come after me but Sahid wouldn’t let him. He held onto the Alpha’s hind legs, stalling his movement.“Get away from me, you fool!” Damian shouted and kicked Sahid savagely.Once he broke free from the Lycan’s grip, h
“Slow down, girl. Why are you running?” An old woman asked me.I had reached the southern village and I was heading to the dock to get a boat ride to the Highlands. I’d stopped briefly by an empty stall in the market to catch my breath when the woman showed up.“Are you ok?” She asked.She was standing in the shadows where I couldn’t see her properly but I recognized her voice.“Lattie?”She stepped forward and the moonlight shone on her face. She was staring at me with a puzzled expression.“Do I know you?” She asked.“Not in this life,” I replied plainly. “Where’s Albert? Do you think he’ll be willing to give me a ride to the Highlands?”Lattie was speechless at first. “Who are you?”“My name is Jade. You don’t know me yet or maybe you do and don’t remember, but I know you from another time.”“Child, that doesn’t make sense.”“To you, it doesn’t but to me, it does. Where’s Albert?”“He already packed up and left. I only stayed back this long to sell off my last batch of fresh apples
“You don’t even know me,” I said.“Doesn’t matter,” he replied promptly. “Come here.”I sighed. This new life was filled with more sex than I’d had in my other life. I’m not even sure if that’s a good thing at this point but I could tell that it was purely a physical thing for me at this point.“What a stubborn fellow,” I grumbled under my breath.“I heard that,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll make this worth your while.”“Whatever…” I mumbled. An image of Hazim fucking Sasha on her kitchen cabinet flashed through my mind and I nearly gagged. Yikes!“Why do you look like a lamb approaching the slaughterhouse?” He asked me with a chuckle. “You’re not afraid of me, are you?”“No.”“Then what is it?”“I don’t want to have sex with you.”“Oh.” He looked disappointed. “Well, you don’t have to.”I stared at him. “Then how do I get my necklace from you?”He threw it at me and it hit me in the face. That reminded me of that nightmare I had in my other life where Dominic threw the necklace at me.
“Intruders!”My eyes flew open. Hycinth and Lola woke up with a start too. We could hear loud voices outside our tent and what sounded like a stampede.“What’s going on?” I gasped.“That’s what I intend to find out,” Hycinth grumbled. I could tell that he was seriously pissed about being woken up so rudely.We scrambled to get dressed but we were barely halfway through it when Gertrude burst into our tent. Her eyes were wide with fear.“Quick, we have to flee! There’s an army of werewolves out there trying to kill everyone!” She shouted frantically.“Where are they from?” Hycinth asked.“Who cares? There’s too many of them and they’re here for blood.”We ran outside with Hycinth in front and we were shocked to see the chaos going on outside. The enemy werewolves were pouncing on every Gypsy in sight, attacking them viciously.It only took me a few moments to recognize the Alphas leading them. Fear paralysed me. I knew I should run but I simply couldn’t.Hycinth swung into full battle
All Hycinth and I ever did was have sex at the slightest opportunity. We did it anytime and everywhere until Gertrude became annoyed.“You must have been starved of sex in your previous relationship,” she commented one day. “Don’t you ever get tired?” “You could ask Hycinth that too,” I replied cheekily and that silenced her.Hycinth and I were unofficially mates. His mother had tried to choose a mate for him a couple of times because he never felt the mate bond with anyone.According to him, once he’s had sex with them, he loses interest in having a proper relationship with them. He’s had a ‘taste’ of all the young she-wolves in the pack to the annoyance of the elders.“What happens when I eventually leave?” I asked him when we settled down for the night in our tent later that day.“Why would you leave?” He asked with a questioning look.“I can’t stay here forever. I have several unanswered questions burning in my mind.”“Have you regained your memory?”“Uh, no but I’m curious about
“Who is this?” Gertrude asked as we entered the camp.“This is Jade. I rescued her from the jaws of a beast that tried to kill her.”“Why? What did you do?” She asked me.“I don’t know. I don’t remember,” I said. I’m going to stick to my amnesia story and see how this plays out. I didn’t want to get myself in trouble by saying the wrong thing.“She appears to have lost her memory,” said Hycinth.“Something traumatic must have happened to her. Come on, then. Let’s get you cleaned up and fed.”She led me through the camp where everyone stared at me curiously. She assigned Lola and Cherise to take care of me. It felt odd that they didn’t recognize me.“Your wounds are already closing up,” said Lola. “Are you from the Moon Pack? They’re famous for healing faster than every other werewolf.”“No, I’m not. I’m from…” I bit my tongue before I blurted out my identity.“From where?” Cherise asked me.“I don’t remember,” I lied.“It must be very frustrating to not remember anything about your pa
“We’ll send for you when the time is right,” said Damian.It was two days after the tragic stillbirth of Domarius. My birthing injuries had finally healed but I wasn’t ready to be kicked out yet.“Why are you all blaming me for what happened?” I asked softly.“Because you gave us false hopes. We will send for you when we get over this disappointment. Goodbye, Jade.”He shut the door before I could manage to get another word in. So, here I was, mateless and babyless in what should have been my comeback.I went to Nana’s cabin to see where she’d buried the baby’s body. I saw the small mound of sand where she’d put him and my heart broke.“Who’s there?” She asked from inside.“It’s me, Nana,” I replied.She came outside and met me there. Her expression softened when she saw my tear-stained face.“Oh, Jade. Can you ever forgive me?”“There’s nothing to forgive, Nana. What happened wasn’t your fault. I think we both miscalculated the outcome.”“When are the triplets coming to see the baby’