KierMy footsteps echo down the empty hallway, and the silence between each step is unnerving. I rarely pay visits to this wing of the castle—the dungeons. It reminds me too much of the visits I’d paid to my father before he was executed.A soul-rending howl splits the air, and the sound of a desperate plea follows. Lloyd walks ahead, motioning to the guards to let us through. I stare at him and stifle the anger that threatens to build. It’s been four days since I spoke to Jessamine, four days since I tucked her in to sleep. She won’t even look at me, the ungrateful witch. Or talk to me. For four days, I’ve been on edge, anticipating what she might do next, when she will visit my study again, when next she might taunt and haunt me.She’s everywhere. The hallways, the breakfast table, the training halls, the gardens, outside my study, the library, every godsdamned place in my castle, and yet, all she’s done, is act like I do not fucking exist. She’s either laughing or joking around wi
KierHer cheeks are a bright shade of red, and my hands cling to her side to keep her from falling. Somehow, putting me to sleep had us both emptying out the entire bottle of wine.There's such light and joy in her eyes that for the first time since we met, I notice how young she is. A far cry for the very old, cunning soul I've gotten used to.She looks...mortal. More vulnerable. Almost human. I catch myself staring abashedly as she rattles off details about nothing and everything, giggling at her own jokes. Jessamine falters, tripping on her gown, and as I catch her, she laughs, slapping her fingers over her mouth. "Oops." Her eyelids close and her lips pucker. "I can't see anything, Kier. It's dark. Everywhere," she cries, feeling out in front of her.My lips curve up. "Your eyes are closed, Jessamine.""I can't open them. Might I have gone blind?" Her words slur, only made worse with the whimper that leaves her lips. "Kier, I'm blind. I can't see!""Would you like to see th
Jessamine "Is he looking?" I ask softly, flipping the page over. "Yes," Lloyd answers, fingers combing through my hair. My head's on his lap, and I'm reading a book to him. Partly because I know Alpha Kier does his morning runs through this path every day, and the other reason is because I really don't want to talk to anyone today. Or see anyone else. I'm hungover and in a terrible mood. "For how long will you do this, Little Jess?" Lloyd asks after a moment and I move the book out of my face to really look at him. "For as long as I need to." I start to sit up when I remember Alpha Kier's looking. "I'm sorry for using you like this." Lloyd chuckles, his green eyes softening. "I don't mind. Messing with Kier is much more fun than being holed up in my study, looking at the logs, and besides," her murmurs, tapping my nose fondly. "I quite like having your attention." I raise my book to hide my blush. Lloyd's always been this way with me. Doting. Ca
NymeriaThere's a fire.I wheeze, grabbing my night robe from its stand and I run, draping it around me. The servants are screaming."The stables!" "The larder!""Water!" I run into Alpha Darrock in the hallway, and his maroon gaze flicks over me, darkening momentarily with lust. I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "What's going on?""An attack from the rogues, perhaps," he murmurs, eyes on my breasts. "You should rest. It is being taken care of, princess."I frown. "The castle hasn't been invaded in forever. How did they get over the wall? Have they being caught?" I ask, inching a step forward, but Darrock blocks my path."Do not concern yourself with these things. It is unbecoming of you. No one likes a nosy woman. Join your mother in the Grand Hall, where the rest of the women are. We'll handle it. Your father and I."I stare at him, lips parted in surprise. "Nosy? Who the fuck do you think you are to tell me where I should be in my castle?""Your father has no sons, and you're mu
KierJessamine approaches, and I can’t help but suppress a chuckle at the sight. Covered in a tattered tunic that seems more suited for peasants, pants that look one step away from becoming rags, and worn boots that have more holes in them than all my clothes put together, she looks absolutely ridiculous.A brown leather belt hugs her waist, a dagger hanging off it in plain sight. Gloves cover her hands, weathered and stained with Goddess knows what, and a scarf is clumsily wrapped around her hair, failing to conceal a few strands of that luscious hair that frames her face.Yes, at first glance, she resembles a little man. But her violet eyes, there’s no hiding that spark of mischief forever in them. Or those lips that could never be found on a man’s face. Or her pert little nose. Or those dimples that grace her cheeks when she pouts, looking at me like I’m the one who looks ridiculous.“Kier, do you wish to get mugged?” she asks, closing the distance between us in swift, confident st
JessamineWe lost.Not the gamble. I won that. Only, the money got stolen and a huge fight broke out and Kier and I barely got out of the den with our heads intact. My stomach hurts from laughing, and Alpha Kier isn’t having any of it. He glares at me as unties the noose from the trees. “I shouldn’t have listened to you. You almost got us killed.”Rolling my eyes, I inch closer, letting him lift me unto the horse. “Tell me you didn’t have fun. You were cheering the mercenary way more than I did. Pretend all you want, but I know you absolutely loved every part of it. Especially the running part.”He joins, sitting behind me, and it’s an effort to ignore the way our bodies are pressed together. “Not particularly.” His voice is hoarse against my ear and a delicious shiver runs down my spine.“Liar.”The ride back is unnervingly silent, but I wait it out. Never initiate conversations in this sort of setting. Let him make the effort. Let him work to learn even the littlest things about yo
Kier"No."The man tips his head back and laughs. "An odd choice, considering how dire the situation is. Do not think for a second that my King cares for this treaty. Or peace. Your father murdered peace, and you have continued in his stead."My jaw ticks. "Your King had my lands attacked. Four maidens, daughters of Alphas died in that charge. Yet, I held back." I lean back in my seat. "If I wished to play games like, burn the castle, I would have sent more men, and your King wouldn't be alive to send this message. So, no. I did not send rogues to Dawn. Perhaps, I should've sent an army right after I buried my dead."Darrock falls silent. "The rogue gave your name."I recall the dungeons, and the rogue I'd killed. His warm blood running down my hands, staining my sleeves. "And the prisoner gave me your King's name."The emissary slices his head left, his forehead creasing. "If I am to believe you, someone is trying to start a war between our kingdoms." A pause in which his lips tug do
KierMy arms yank her lithe frame up and her legs wrap around my waist, fingers shredding the arm of my shirt as she nips on my lower lip. I taste blood, anger and lust on her lips. Her tongue lashes against mine, stroking softly one second, and violently the next second, and it is my undoing. I hardly notice her legs unwrapping me, until I am shoved into the wall with shocking strength. The tiny witch pulls back, growling as she fumbles my tunic, trying to get it over my head, but she’s too short to reach. A snarl rips from her lips as she grips two ends of the collar and rips it in half. It hits the floor, somewhere on the left…or right. I don’t know. I can’t take my eyes off her.Her gaze rises to mine in that moment and her eyes—they’re fucking silver with a violet ring around them. Zephyr roars, lurching forward, and my lips slam into the skin of her neck, kissing, nipping, and I sniff deeply. She’s mine. She’s fucking mine.I grip her waist, pushing her onto the desk and things
Az rubbed his eyes tiredly. It’d been days since he last had a peaceful night’s rest. Lord of Grimstone. He often found himself laughing at the title. He wasn’t lord of anything—at least not yet. His people didn’t seem to think so with their constant rebellion of him and stealing from him, no matter that he tried his best to ensure even the darkest parts of Grimstone got ridded of their poverty.They didn’t warm up to him. They called him a freak. It was pathetic and he should have known Jessamine was lying the moment she started batting those long lashes of hers and speaking to him sweetly.He left Dawn after the wedding and he’d been at Grimstone for a total of seven months now. And in that time she’d come to see him thrice, with her twin boys, Wren and Alder. They both had their mother's eyes, but that was where the resemblance ended. The rest was all Kier. From their red hair down to their angry growls whenever Az didn't give them what they wanted.Of course, Jessamine had come to
Jessamine If you’ve ever been away from home for too long, you’d understand the feeling of your stomach plummeting at the most familiar scents, the urge to breathe in deeply, feel everything, reacquaint yourself with every single detail—details that suddenly seem more vivid and…and intense. That is all I can call this—coming home. Somehow, between punching Kier and telling him I hate him and I’ll return to my father’s castle and find me a man who isn’t quite as infuriating as he is, he’d kissed me. Concussion be damned, Kier’s lips heal me in more ways than any physician could. I walk Kier back into the throne room, pushing off the remains of his shirt. His fingers tangle in my hair as his lips on mine reminds me of the first time…the first time I saw him. His eyes looked like a tear from an ocean of peridots. His hair was shorter, not long enough to run my fingers through, but I was fascinated by the rich hue of it. He rarely smiled then, but when he did, it was bright as starlight
My fingers shake and I hide them behind my back as I round the corner. Slowly, I approach, the large oak door standing ominously in the distance. I wipe the sweat from my wrist against my light skirts and grip tightly as my chest thumps. Once. Twice. The closer I draw, the heavier the dagger under my skirt weighs. The maids behind me chatter, but I barely hear the words they say. I try to hide it behind a show of boredom but the fear creeps up my spine and it is all I can do to keep going. It takes an eternity, but I reach the door eventually. “He’s not in,” the guard tells me when I start to open the door. There usually aren’t any, but after this morning, I understand why he has his chambers guarded. My fingers still by the door. Not in? This is when we have dinner. Every night. I didn’t factor his possible absence into my plans. Gods above. “Where is he?”“Throne room. The reports from the prisoners came back. He’s off attending to it and said to tell you to wait for him.”Oh no.
Jessamine“I didn’t do it,” Killian growls for the umpteenth time. His gaze darts to me. “She did. This is her attempt at trying to get rid of me. Tell me what motive I would have to set the freak free. I’d gain nothing from it. I wasn’t even in the castle!”His argument would seem solid enough to Atticus if he wasn’t also accusing me of framing him. Darrock got out last night. Kier didn’t. When I heard the news, I bawled for hours in the bathroom, keeping the water running to drown out the sound. Why didn’t he leave? Because he’s mad at me? He claimed that I destroyed him last night. His eyes were hurt and broken. Why didn’t he just fucking leave?Atticus’s head tilts left. “Where were you last night?”Killian hesitates, his jaw grinding. I ponder on his reluctance to tell Atticus where he’d run off to. The bonfire. His gaze cuts to Raya and his fists clench. “The queen informed me of Raya’s plans to leave. I had to go bring her back.”Raya gives me a look that is equal parts be
JessamineHe’s drunk. I should have known serving him glass after glass would lead here. My hands trapped in his, held above my head, and his body a cage above mine. His long lashes flutter as he breathes in deeply. “Say it again.”The lie comes as easy as breathing. “I’m yours.”His canines gleam as he gives me a smile no one else has seen. “Youknowwhat intriguesme themostaboutyou?” His words tumble out together and it takes only a second to pull them apart as he leans in, his hot breath tickling my nose. “That I can’t tell your lies apart from your truths.”“Now, that is a terrible lie,” I whisper, reaching up to brush my lips against his chin. He shudders, a strangled noise building in his throat. “You like that you never know what I’m thinking. You love the danger I present. It excites you. It is why you keep me close, despite knowing I have a dagger strapped to my thigh, especially made to kill you. You romanticize with death, and death I will be, for you.”His response is a hea
JessamineKier might have been in chains and covered in dirt and blood, but there will never be any man as beautiful as him. He hasn’t noticed me yet, his teeth bared at the guards fighting to put him on his knees. The humans gasp, the smell of their fear filling the room when his bound arms ram into the side of a guard’s head, knocking him out.That earns him a growl from Killian who doesn’t hesitate to draw his sword and ram it into the back of Kier’s head. My mate stumbles, his blood spilling down his torn brown shirt, and he falls on one knee. I start to stand from Atticus’s lap, a growl traveling up my throat, when Atticus breathes against my neck, “Does his discomfort trouble you? You forget that he abandoned you, left you to rot here while he chose them again over you.”Kier would never, but I don’t say that. My mind is whirling in so many directions. How could he surrender? How could he let them…take him? How…my eyes widen when Lloyd walks in next and bows low, to the hip as h
JessamineI’ve been involved in an unhealthy number of ceremonies, and each time, it’s even less eventful. That isn’t to say that our wedding wasn’t a large affair. I’m fairly certain nearly all of Ashbourne was in attendance, all eager to see the werewolf princess with eyes like precious stones. Yes, someone said that as she delivered gifts to me, wishing me a long, happy marriage—a duchess, maybe. If only she knew.The castle couldn’t contain all of the guests and the guards around me were triple the normal size, like Atticus half expected someone to disrupt the ceremony. Someone who I can bet is Kier. Nervous, the entire time, I’d waited, staring at the door, hoping for a commotion that would bring a special redhead to me.But Kier never showed up and the ceremony was sealed. I was the puppet queen of Ashbourne. I was Atticus’s dove, his pet. I was thankful that nothing else was expected of me, other than sitting still and looking pretty. Unlike Kier, Atticus didn’t entertain the
JessamineI get a visitor a few minutes to my…wedding. My gaze lands on Darrock’s and nothing could have held me back. I launch myself at him with whatever little strength I have garnered in the past hour—which is close to nothing and he snatches my wrist before I can impale him with the butterknife I’d stolen from my dinner tray earlier.“Violet, please,” he rasps. “Listen to me—”Reaching up, I slam my head into his. He groans, retreating a step back and I see that I have caused no damage except the ache spreading through my head. I stumble in the bid to attack him again and he steadies me before I can fall. “Take your hands off me—” A firm hand clamps down on my mouth, silencing my scream of outrage before it can escape. “I’m trying to help,” he whispers. “We’re leaving. Now.”I let him see the response to that in my gaze; Over my dead body will I follow him anywhere.Darrock glances over his shoulder and when his eyes return to me, they’re troubled. “I know you have questions, an
Kier“It can’t be breached,” Lloyd explains and a disgruntled sound from the man seated beside me, whose aura rivals against mine greatly seems to set us all over the edge again. “Do not speak in absolutes,” King Hunter murmurs, his grimace turning darker. “He doesn’t have enough of us to guard his foothold. Surely, an army of humans can’t be that lethal.”Lloyd laughs, and it is nothing charming. He’d been the first I’d gone to for help after Randale convinced me that I’d get myself and Jessamine killed if I headed first into Ashbourne without a plan, and it had taken a lot of convincing to get him in here—the council room. “They have weapons and banes that’d render you useless in the twinkle of an eye. If you wish to bring him down, you must do it from within. An outright attack will if anything, help him kill your daughter quicker—and believe me, there is no level of relevance that would prevent him from doing that once he decides he has no use for her.”Pain flickers behind Lloyd