Landry’s POVLandry could smell Bernice as soon as she neared the hospital room. He could feel Amon growing excited within him the closer she got. He did everything but break free from Landry and run to her.When she opened the door, his heart fell into her stomach. She was looking so worn out and ill; more ill than she looked the other day. She was much thinner, her features were worn out, her eyes were fading in color, and her hair was flat and unwashed. She still looked beautiful, but he could tell she wasn’t feeling well.It must have been the medication; she’s been too long without his blood and now her body was deteriorating before his eyes.She gave him a faint smile when she saw him; a slight relief look appeared in her eyes when she saw that he was awake.“You’re up…” she breathed as she stepped into the room.Jessie stood up quickly upon seeing her appearance.“Oh, my goddess,” she gasped. “Bernice, you don’t look well. Are you okay?”“Yes,” she answered, brushing her hands
Landry’s POVLandry stayed in the hospital for one more day before he was completely healed and was able to return to his palace. Bernice hadn’t left his side and Jessie popped in periodically to check on him.He couldn’t help but think of Cora in Jessie’s palace.“I wish you would just kick her out,” Landry said to her as they made their way back to his palace. He was alone with Jessie at this point because Bernice wasn’t feeling well and stayed at the palace, in bed. “There’s no reason she needs to stay around.”“I know…” Jessie said, staring down at her hands. “But she was once a good friend of mine… just as she was yours. I’m not sure what happened between the two of you to change that, and I know she may be overstepping, making Bernice uncomfortable, but I can’t bring myself to throw her out on the streets.”“She could return to wherever she came from,” Landry mumbled.He hasn’t told Jessie what exactly Cora has done; he knew if she knew, it would break her heart. She would be fu
Landry’s POVAnother dead end.The sorcerer who gave Bernice’s father the medication was dead. There was nothing Landry could do.“I see,” Landry said, standing to his feet. “Thank you for your time.”Bernice’s father stood as well.“I’m sorry if that wasn’t what you wanted to hear, your majesty. But there’s nothing we can do. She’s gone and any chances of a cure are gone with her.”Landry nodded.“I appreciate your time,” Landry said in return.He left without another word; Jessie trailed closely behind him.“That’s it?” Jessie complained. “We are just giving up?”“It’s a dead end, Jessie,” he said in return. “You heard him; the sorcerer is dead. There’s no cure here.”“And you believe him?”“There’s no reason to not believe him. He might not care for Bernice as his daughter, but he wouldn’t deny her a cure if he had one.”Jessie said nothing more as they returned to his palace.“We can’t give up,” Jessie finally spoke after a long silence.“Who said anything about giving up?” Landry
Bernice’s POVWhat did he just say? My eyes opened quickly as I looked over at Landry who remained beside me, staring at me with a gaze I didn’t recognize. I knew it was filled with love and admiration, but there was something else there too. Something different; something real.“What?” I asked, finding my voice.“I wish to make you my luna,” he clarified, squeezing my hand gently. “It’s no secret that I love you. And I think you might love me too.”He remembered that I told him that I loved him before he passed out the other day?He hasn’t said anything up until that moment, so I assumed he didn’t hear me. There was a part of me that hoped he didn’t hear me. My heart felt so conflicted; I worried about giving him myself and then dying before we have a chance of becoming anything.I wasn’t even sure if there was anything to become.I’m still going to die in a few months, which meant loving him was pointless. Loving me was pointless.I sat up, grabbing a sheet in the process and cover
Bernice’s POVIt felt like everybody was watching me as I came down the stairs of the palace and into the foyer. All the servants were whispering, and I knew gossip would soon surface around the kingdom. But my question was, what are they gossiping about?“Oh, my goddess!” Jessie screamed as she ran through the foyer and toward me. “Have you seen the news?” She asked, grabbing my arm, and pulling me along with her and toward the living room. “What’s going on?” I asked, my nerves rising in my stomach.“It’s really bad…”“Where’s Landry?”“I don’t know. Probably dealing with it. At least, I hope he is…”“You’re starting to scare me,” I say; I couldn’t keep the worry from my tone.We entered the living room, and the news was already playing on the television. There was a picture of me, as the Alpha, on the greenscreen with a newscaster standing in front of it.“It seems the female Alpha is actually an Omega and has been deceiving the kingdom for years. This is an unforgivable act. How i
Jessie’s POVFury was rising through Jessie at what Landry was saying.How could her brother keep such an important thing from her?She stood to her feet as he concluded his story.“How could you not tell me any of this, Landry?”“I didn’t want to upset you,” he said in return; his tone was calm. “There’s nothing you could have done. I already banned her…”“I could have kept her from staying in my palace,” Jessie hissed. “You shouldn’t have kept this from me.”She turned and stormed out without saying anything more. She was going to see Bernice before she left entirely, but she couldn’t even think straight. The couple of servants that accompanied her to the palace followed behind her.“Where are we going, your highness?” One of them asked, breathlessly, as they worked to keep up with her.“To kick out a rat,” she growled.They didn’t ask any more questions after that.Upon returning to the palace, Cora was in the sitting room, sipping on some tea as she often was.“Oh, hello Jessie,”
Bernice I couldn’t get Cora’s words out of my head.Leave Landry; and don’t return. Maybe I should; it might make things easier. He clearly can’t get it in his head that there’s no saving me. So, maybe leaving him is the best choice.“You don’t mean that,” Julia complained. “You love him; just tell him the truth.” Thankfully, Landry hadn’t noticed I left. He was too preoccupied with doing damage control. The kingdom was furious at this discovery. They felt lied to and unsafe and I couldn’t blame them.Landry thinks it’s best if I keep an even lower profile; now that the vampires and bears know that we are vulnerable, they are bound to attack at any moment.When I was in my room and received the mindlink from Cora, I had to admit that I was a little surprised she wanted to speak to me. A part of me assumed she had something to do with the bugs around the palace and leaking the information to the media. I didn’t know that Landry suspected the same thing.Landry and I still haven’t sp
Bernice’s POVI wasn’t sure if it was the emotions of my omega side or the fury of my wolf, but I couldn’t stay in that room any longer. I wanted to go see Landry and ask him how the hell he didn’t tell me any of this information. I couldn’t believe he allowed this woman to stay in the kingdom with what she did. I wanted to find her and rip her head off with my claws.I struggled to keep Julia at bay; she had never felt fury like this before and I almost lost control of her.Jessie could see the many emotions crossing my face and she looked worried. But I also knew she couldn’t blame me. I had no idea how she managed to stay in control for this long after finding out what Cora had done.She had crossed a line of trust for both Jessie and Landry. She shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near them.How had she gone this long without being punished?“He didn’t want me to tell you,” Jessie said, eyeing me carefully. “He doesn’t want anyone to know.”“I don’t understand… why not?” I asked, my voi
Bernice’s POV6 months later“Oh, my goddess, Bernice!! You look gorgeous!!” Jessie squealed as she ran into my room.I stood in front of my mirror wearing the most beautiful wedding gown I had ever seen. It was designed by the best designers around the kingdom. Jessie wouldn’t let me get my dress from anyone different.I couldn’t believe that today was the day that I was marrying Landry. I never thought this day would come. I kept my long hair up and away from my neck; I wanted my mark to be seen by all eyes as I walked down the aisle to my love. My wedding dress was strapless and hugged my curves perfectly, expanding around my waists and flowing in smooth and delicate fabrics around my feet, expanding outward. There were white flowers decaling the fabrics and a couple of white flowers entwined in the curly locks of my hair.I felt like a princess; this must be how Jessie feels all of the time.Jessie, of course, looked gorgeous in her light pink dress.“I’m honored you chose me to b
Bernice’s POVI couldn’t get back to the palace fast enough. As soon as I got through the front doors, I could smell the scent of my pup. He was in the living room with Caleb.Caleb sat on the couch with my pup in his arms; he was laughing and speaking in the baby which made me smile. Caleb looked up and gave me a wide grin.“We were just bonding,” Caleb said fondly.I chuckled as I made my way over to them; Landry stepped beside me to get a better look at our son and I could feel his breathing out in relief. I knew Landry would be pleased that he looked exactly like him. I could feel his heart growing in size as he stared down at the small pup.“He’s incredible…” Landry breathed; he reached out to touch the pup’s cheek, running his hand down the side of his face. “He’s beautiful.”Tears were welling in Landry’s eyes; my heart was feeling so full at that moment. I was so happy to be with my family once again.“He needs a name still,” I tell him. “I wanted to wait for you.”Landry thou
Bernice’s POVI could already hear the music from the ceremony booming through the city. This wasn’t a place to take a baby. I turned to Caleb and handed him my pup.“Can you take him to the palace?” I asked. “I need to find Landry and congratulate Jessie, and then we will come home.”“Of course,” Caleb said with a fond smile as he gladly took my pup from me. “See you soon,” he said, turning away and heading in the direction of the palace.I smiled fondly as I watched him walk away. After a moment, I turned back in the direction of the ceremony and went toward the music.I had to admit that it was incredibly overwhelming. There was no way I would ever get used to this many people in one place; there had to be hundreds of people at the ceremony. Not many noticed me as I shoved my way through them. A couple of them gasped as they got a glimpse of my face, and I heard some murmurs that I was Landry’s Omega.I certainly didn’t like being called Landry’s anything. I wasn’t his property. Bu
Bernice’s POVI can’t remember the last time I slept that well; it’s been ages. As I opened my eyes, the sun shining through the window nearly blinded me. I winced, feeling a small headache brewing in my temple. I sat up in bed, staring around the fairly plane room. This was another smaller pack so the packhouse was also on the smaller side.I could smell coffee brewing from downstairs, causing my mouth to water. I hadn’t had coffee since before I was pregnant.Wait.Oh, my goddess!I look down at my bed and saw that it was empty.My pup was gone.With a racing heart, I slid out of bed quickly and ran out of the room. I couldn’t get downstairs fast enough. Someone had taken my pup and they were going to pay for this.I didn’t give anybody permission to…“Caleb?” I gasped as I entered the kitchen.Caleb sat at the kitchen with a plate of breakfast, coffee, and my pup in his arms. I stared at him with such disbelief that he broke out into a grin.“I didn’t want to wake you,” he said. “I
Landry’s POVIt’s been 24 hours since Alaric has been killed. It took a few hours for his men to clean the mess of the vampires and go through all of Alaric’s stuff in the layer. There wasn’t much to find other than Alaric’s plans to take over the werewolf territory and eventually work his way to the bear territory.He knew that not all his vampire issues were solved, there will still be vampires that want to defeat the wolves, and there will also be bears that would want to defeat the wolves as well. But at least his biggest problem was done for right now.He could finally breathe; except for the fact that Bernice still couldn’t be found. His Beta had reported moments ago that they have checked 4 packs so far and Bernice wasn’t in any of them. She still had him blocked from their mindlink, so he couldn’t reach out to her.A nasty feeling formed in the pit of Landry’s stomach. What if she doesn’t want to return home?“Don’t be stupid,” his wolf hissed. “Of course, she wants to return
Landry’s POVCaleb stood trembling with blood splattered across his body, standing over Alaric’s dead body. Landry was amazed that Caleb had that much courage and managed to kill Alaric.Caleb looked utterly defeated, and yet he also looked relieved.Landry knew this was a lot for a 15-year-old to take in.He placed his hand on Caleb’s shoulder, reassuring him that he was there and that he was going to be okay.“We still don’t know where Bernice is,” Caleb cried. “She has all of us blocked. She won’t know that Alaric is dead.”He was right and Landry would be lying if he said he wasn’t also worried about that. But for right now, they needed to clean this mess. There will be other vampires after them once they realize their lord was taken from them.“Alpha King!” His Beta shouted in a mindlink. Caleb also looked up, indicating that he could also hear the Beta speaking. “You need to come out here… something is happening!”Caleb and Landry exchanged wary looks before departing from the l
Third Person POVAt a young age, Caleb had learned from his father how to break into safes. He wasn’t sure why that was a skill his father had taught him, or how his father even knew how to do such a thing. He never thought that type of skill would ever come in handy; until now.It didn’t take him long to get into Alaric’s safe; once he had it opened, there was only one thing inside. It was wrapped in this maroon, silk cloth. As soon as Caleb touched it, he knew whatever was inside was incredibly sharp. He could also feel the dark magic consuming it. It gave him an uneasy feeling.He didn’t think this was something he should be holding; but somehow, he knew that this was the key to defeating Alaric.He unwrapped the object to uncover a dagger. It was an interesting dagger made entirely of silver. The handle was maroon with golden swirls, just like everything else in this room.Caleb was sensing a theme.This was what was going to kill Alaric once and for all.“You thought you were cle
Third Person POVThe layer was dark; Caleb had to squint his eyes in order to see properly. Even with his wolf’s eyes, it was difficult to navigate through the dark halls that to what felt like nowhere. There were no sounds that indicated any life within the layer, and he wasn’t sure where the halls ended, but he found what seemed to be an elevator in one of the darkest corners.His heart was pounding violently against his chest as he stepped into the elevator. He knew already it was going to lead him down to the layer where Alaric has kept his sister for torture. He doesn’t think he was going to find Bernice down there, but he feared for what he was about to find.As the elevator doors opened, he stepped into a dimly lit room. The walls were lit with candlelight; everything seemed to be made of concrete and smelled of mildew and rotting flesh. He nearly gagged at the stench.Still, there were no sounds indicating that there was anybody down there. Could Alaric really have left his la
Bernice’s POV“Talia…?” I said again, forcing myself to sit up and ignore the dizzy feeling that washed over me. “What… what are…” I couldn’t even get the words out of my voice.She continued to cradle my crying pup in her arms while staring at me with a grin spreading across her face.“You didn’t honestly think that Alaric would let you go that easily… did you?” She asked with a fake pout. “You are pathetic to think otherwise. I’m just glad I don’t have to pretend to be your friend anymore.”“It was you the entire time?” I asked, my word quivering. I could hardly believe what was seen before me.How had I not known that it was Talia this entire time? I have lived in her house for almost a month; she showed me kindness and helped take care of me. But it was only so she can get my baby.“Sorry to disappoint you,” she said. “But I must be leaving now.”She turned away as I started to feel my wolf growing furious from within me. She was no longer going to be quiet; she was about to lose