QuinnI made my way through the bustling mansion. It had never been this busy, but the princes brought warriors with them, and we had to find a way to accommodate all of them. Most stayed with the other warriors elsewhere on the estate, and for those that could not find a bed elsewhere, Missus Lowry and Glover turned just about every other room into some kind of dorm.Most of them slept on the floor, and none of the complained about it.The only rooms that remained untouched were our bedrooms upstairs, the library, the cinema, the silver cell in the basement, and Troy’s office.I expected the influx of people to make me nervous and uncomfortable like the Lycan nobles did, but these people were different. They weren’t here to harm us, and I could feel it, see it, even smell it.I pushed the door leading to the East wing open and stepped into the Omegas’ buzzing living quarters. Music played over the loudspeakers, Omegas laughed and squealed as they ran through the corridors. Children I
Troy I woke when the sharp pop of a gunshot shattered my slumber. Everything was quiet. The mansion itself barely breathed. For a moment, I lay completely still, sure that I dreamed or imagined it. Then another shot rang out. Fuck! “Quinn,” I mind linked with my mate as I fell out of bed and ran for the door, not caring that I was dressed in only my underwear. “Are you all right?” “It’s okay. I got him. Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure he’s dead. Casper’s checking now.” “Who? Who did you shoot?” “Xander Shelby.” “Where are you?” “The garden.” I ran down the hall, my feet slapping loudly on the gleaming hardwood. I flew down the stairs, taking them four at a time while I used the bannister to propel me forward. “What garden?” “The one behind the pool house. I've never seen this one before. It's kind of pretty.” What the hell was she doing there? It was hidden from the main house. I posted a few guards there to patrol it, but no one ever used the garden, and it wasn’t as well pro
TroyQuinn found Dexter Maree’s frozen body behind a tree the next morning. She hadn’t said a word about her father or Xander for the rest of the night. After I braided her hair, she curled into a tight little ball and rocked herself to sleep.I wished it were someone else who found Dexter’s corpse. Strong as she was, as easy as she could shake off trauma, even Quinn had her breaking point, and I had the unsettling feeling that she would reach it soon.She kept her barriers up, making sure I couldn’t feel her. I wanted to tell her to stop doing it, that I wouldn’t be able to protect her if I didn’t know she was in danger, but she’d just worry about me becoming too obsessed with her.My mate knelt next to her dead grandfather and closed his eyes. A shiver ran down her body as her skin touched his. “Someone should go check on Jolene,” I said, and looked up at Lucas. “Go see if she died.”“Yes, Prince,” the guard muttered and dashed across the frozen grounds back to the mansion.The cold
QuinnI lay on the bed, hands behind my head, staring up at the ceiling. Troy left early that morning for a meeting. He did ask if I wanted to go with him, but I couldn’t do it. I could barely get myself out of bed to shower these days.The way I felt, he might as well have asked me to climb Mount Everest, let alone go into city. I was exhausted. Everything felt like too much effort.Troy made it blatantly clear that he did not like my sudden silence, but at the same time, he did not force me to talk about it. I had no idea what I’d say anyway. I did not know how to explain to him that my mind was completely empty, that I had gone numb.How could I tell him that it was simply easier not to feel? That shutting down my emotions was a natural thing for me to do. I started doing it when I was very young, and realised my tears had no effect whatsoever on my mother.Thomas Shelby came and went. Troy told him to seek out Eduard for his pack's safety, but my uncle asserted that his pack were
TroyI weighed the consequences of my decisions very carefully before I asked Quinn what she thought about them. I knew she wouldn’t give me a straight answer about my desire to give up the throne – Dexter’s unnecessary warning about a she-wolf's power over her fated mate terrified her so much she basically turned into an ice sculpture.She was doing her best to push me away, carefully constructing a wall around her heart, and hoping I’d fall out of love with her in the process.I glanced at the painting one last time before I put it away. The vision stubbornly refused to change. Maybe Sebastian and I weren’t the reason Quinn set upon the path that would lead to my father. Perhaps it was Dexter and his careless words.I watched as Quinn started to select clothes to bring with her to the woods. “Do you mind packing a bag for me?” I asked.She looked up. “I don’t mind, but…what if I forget something?”I shrugged. “Just make sure I have a toothbrush and some shorts. We’re going to the wo
TroyI came back from training just as the almost full moon started to rise. The night was icy-cold and the wind snapped at my heated body, trying to freeze the sweat on my skin. Around me, the other princes and warriors rushed to their tents, running on their tiptoes in an attempt to spare the soles of their feet, and I heard their uneven breathing as they tried to regulate their body heat. We’d been in the woods for almost a week now. When we arrived, we discovered traces of my father’s Lycans in the woods. They left animal carcasses, still smouldering coals, and even torn tents behind, but we couldn’t find the nobles. No matter how much we searched, they kept evading us.Eleanor was protecting them. Here and there, I felt a shimmer of magic - not enough so I could track her, but enough to annoy me.God, I hated that witch. I kind of hoped Quinn would kill her for me when the time came.We finally set up camp where the cabin used to be and established a proper boundary. Sebastian
Quinn It was so cold that my tears froze on my face. Troy shuddered as gusts of wind whipped through the trees, but he did not let me go. He had to be uncomfortable, sitting naked on the icy rock, but he simply held on to me while I tried my best to stop crying. If Fionn was no longer in the painting, it had to mean that the princes would win. They would kill their fathers and these wolves that I loved so much would finally know peace. Perhaps, Sebastian would change his mind too, and then Troy could live the life he wanted. I didn’t know if the life as a gang leader was any more peaceful than life as a Lycan king, but it had to be if that was what my mate dreamed of these days. The war did not affect me, not yet, but I could see what it did to those around me. They talked about the end of the war non-stop, about their dreams for a peaceful future, and what they’d do when it was all over. Nell was especially vulnerable, and she often cried about lost brothers and sisters, or worri
QuinnUnlike the last few weeks, the warriors didn’t head off into the woods to train. For the first time since we arrived, everyone gathered around the fires to enjoy the day together before the full moon forced us into the woods to shift.I looked up at the muted moon hanging in the clear blue sky. With each passing month, I could feel the moon’s effects more intensely. The closer I came to my twenty-first birthday, the stronger it became. It was like the ocean's tide rose inside me, and I was terrified of what would happen when the wave broke upon the shore.The moon was almost like a living being to me. I could feel her pulsating heart, and hear her sigh as she moved along her way.I cocked my head at the blue-white globe, fully expecting her to start speaking at any moment, and was completely unaware that the group sharing our fire stopped eating to watch me.It wasn’t until I tore my eyes from the moon that I noticed all of them had put their plates down and folded their hands i