My nervousness along with the fact that he was nowhere to be seen made me believe that he was going to really throw me out.
And, I was desperate to talk to him and ask or beg him to not do that.
While I was in thoughts, Raine pulled me back from the hug.
“So, I hear the reward ceremony along with Hayden’s big announcement is going to be tonight. I guess, he already knows that you have woken up. Thus, I think it won’t be an issue to start it as soon as possible.”
I gave her a half-hearted smile and she tried to infuse some courage in me. “Don’t you worry, but now I guess I have to take over for a while. We have a grand ceremony in your honor and so it will be great if you look stunning. We need to get rid of your jeans and t-shirt and make you wear something more glamorous and sexy.”
My eyes went wide at the words ‘glamorous and sexy’
I didn’t think of myself as either of the two. I
Raine just shrugged her shoulders, “I would have asked you to go with the first dress if that was what I wanted. I want you to appear as a strong and independent woman amongst the other werewolves.Today, they would look at you with a newfound interest and I want them to see you in your best and confident version.”Raine added with a proud smile and I could only shake my head in response.Sighing, I went in again and took off the knee-length dress to put on the next one.This one was a deep blue gown with a fish cut and floor-length waves. The dress was sleeveless and two big straps held it on the shoulder. The neckline wasn’t too deep, neither was it too shallow.It had a small slit on the thigh and looked sexy. At least, that was what I thought.But so far, Raine had rejected my opinion so I didn’t know what to think of this one.I put on the dress and before she could shout, stepped out.I only looked
My face must have drained of all color because she immediately came near me and added,“What is the issue, dear? Why are you panicking? Nobody is going to literally pounce on you, I was kidding you know.”Raine said while trying to reassure me but it was as if my feet along with the rest of my body had gone cold.The thought of being amidst all the alphas and their packs from north and south was already getting to me.And, to think that I was supposed to give a speech and in front of them scared me to death.She left me on my own and went inside to quickly change into a formal dress. While she had taken hours to get me ready, she stepped out of her room in 20 minutes flat.And still, she looked very gorgeous.“I didn’t know you had a magic wand.”I added with a smile and she beamed at me. She wore a simple black A-line dress and merely put on lipstick and some mascara.But, the dress l
HaydenI guess she didn’t want to leave me alone to greet the guests but I think almost everyone was done so I would be free in minutes anyways.Thus, I decided to let her go and she walked away with Garron. Once, everyone was done I walked inside too.The stage was lit in soft lights and the combination of white drapes against blue flowers really made the whole set-up stand out.Now that I looked at the preparations, even I felt that marigold wouldn’t have been the right choice,“Thanks, sis”I muttered to myself and went to the stage.The alphas had been asked to sit in the front rows while the next line was betas, then gammas then omegas, and then the rest of the pack members.Thus, everybody sat in a line to form their pack.Walking up to the stage, I began,“Thank you alphas of the north and south as well as all the pack members for showing up today. Some of you hav
HaydenAll I wanted to do was get down from the stage, grab her and devour her completely.When her eyes met mine, she gave a smile and my heart skipped a beat. But, then as I saw her in a daze, I realized that even Kyle had fallen silent.Not just me but the entire crowd was watching her walk up to the stage.And, their faces were painted with identical expressions of surprise. Even those newcomers who had been training with her all week, couldn’t believe that it was the same Madeline who used to run around in her jeans and t-shirt.Blinking my eyes, I tried to get myself in control of the situation and ignore my little devil growing hard in my pants.Raine helped her from tripping over the loose folds of the gown around her legs and I extended a hand to help her climb up.The moment her fingers brushed mine, I felt a bolt of electricity zap through me.Tingles were all over my body and I tried desperately to not l
HaydenI had been expecting this question and was glad that somebody had asked it.After squeezing her shoulder reassuringly to tell her that I wasn’t going to leave her, I turned to the audience once again.“The Ascension ceremony allows me just that. If the potential candidate applied to be accepted in one of the many packs and the alpha deems him fit, this can be done.This ceremony gave the recruits the power to choose between two alphas or more. As such, the alpha of their current pack won’t have any control over their decision.”I explained to everybody who listened to me in rapt attention. It was as if they all were hearing this for the first time and probably they were.While being locked in my office for a long time, I had tried to sift through drawers and look for past records of anything that could help me in finding a way of freeing Madeleine.The pack system was designed around the alpha and alpha
MadeleineAll the discussions involving me made me feel extremely nervous. Hayden’s suggestion was sweet and had relieved me of my worries, but Kyle’s suggestion made me feel nervous all over again.I didn’t know Kyle and though he appeared to be a nice person, I didn’t want to spend a week with him. I wanted to be with Hayden and his pack only.Raine and Ben were good to me and Charlie was a little angry due to whatever reason, but I knew I would win him over.Meanwhile, Hayden stepped down from the stage and extended his hand to me which I gladly accepted.Holding my hand, he helped me step down and I walked behind him.No sooner had I stepped down, everybody gathered around me. The crowd of newcomers and young recruits formed a large group around me, trying to talk to me.Some even were gushing about how pretty I looked and how they aspired to be in my place. The words and the excitement made me feel very ha
MadeleineHearing him, I almost toppled the glass of water that was placed beside my plate. But, somehow I stopped it from falling over.Meanwhile, Hayden suppressed a chuckle and winked at me before taking a seat.All of this happened so fast that I couldn’t even think of a reply or a comeback. Hayden on the other hand was completely calm and composed and even pointed at my plate, indicating to me to start eating.I only blinked my eyes.Blink. Blink. Blink.This alpha was either going to kill me by nervousness or by making my heart race with his playful taunts.I took a deep breath and took a bite from the food. As soon as I was seated, everybody began to eat quietly.It took me some time to get adjusted to the feeling that I was dining with all the alphas but after some time, I simply looked down and stared at my food.Thankfully, the alphas were fast eaters and by the time they had their second and third helpin
MadeleineIt was late at night when I heard a knock on my door. Or maybe early morning, I wasn’t sure.My eyes were still drowsy and I didn’t want to even move. Thus, I ignored the knock but it came again.Annoyed a little, I blabbered in my sleep, “Go away, and let me sleep”Saying so, I turned to my side and it was then that I heard a reply, “You want me to go away?”That voice made me open my eyes wide despite sleep fighting to keep them shut.I almost sprang up from my bed to hear his voice and croaked, “Hayden? Is that you?”Before he could even reply, I had jumped up from my bed and ran towards the door. My dress almost made me trip over but it did not matter to me.I opened the door and saw Hayden wearing the same jeans and shirt along with the coat.Our eyes met and before I could say anything, he walked in and closed the door behind him with his leg.Pushing
Hello, all my lovely readers, The last epilogue marks the end of the story of Hayden and Madeleine. Writing this book has been a roller coaster of emotions for me and I hope I was able to do justice to the characters and to all of you who read the story, felt what the characters felt, rooted for some of them, and hated a few. I am still a novice writer and there is a lot for me to learn and improve. In these past few months, I have received a lot of love from you all which was my biggest dream; to be recognized as a writer. Putting my story out there was like putting my bare self out in the open for everyone to judge. I know I might have made mistakes, and that there is a lot of scope for improvement. I want to thank every single one of you for giving me and my story a chance, for giving me hope that I can write captivating stories that make you forget the real world and your worries, if only for those few minutes in which you read it. Reading your comments and reviews is the bigge
Epilogue (A month after the gruesome battle) Soft afternoon light spilled into the room where Madeleine was sleeping. The curtains rustled in the soft wind as she turned from side to side on the bed. For a month after the epic battle between her and the demon, she had been having nightmares. Pack doctors, herbologists, occultists and everyone who her family felt would be able to help her were called to her aid but their efforts bore little to no fruit. She was tossing and turning in her bed as Raine worried at her lip outside the room. She was carrying a tray in her hand that had a lot of different potions and medicines along with a cloth and a bowl of water. She quickly dabbed her eye and was about to reach for the door to open it when a hand stopped her. She looked at the man nervously and asked, “Are you sure, you want to do this?” He nodded his head gently and took the tray from her. “But the doctors say that it might shock her even more…” She said in the same nervous voi
Epilogue IISelene smiled at Madeleine, teasing her, “You really love him”Madeleine merely studied her body lying on the ground and thought of a remark but could not come up with anything.Selene spoke, “It is your wish, you have to ask for it”“I want Hayden” Madeleine spoke in a low voice.“Sorry? I can’t quite hear you,” Selene acted as if she had not heard a word.Madeleine opened her mouth and closed it again. She realized that the Goddess was making fun of her but then how long would they cry and mourn over the lives they had lost?“Please give Hayden back to me”Madeleine repeated herself and Selene said, “Louder please”“Give me Hayden!!!!”Madeleine screamed and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth. She was horrified that she had almost yelled at the Goddess but Selene did not mind.“Somebody found their voice it seems”Madeleine smiled and turned to look at him.“Come”The Goddess said and Madeleine’s soul drifted towards her. Slowly, they both neared Hayden and Mad
(All the epilogues are in 3rd POV instead of 1st POV)It was dark and gloomy while the pungent smell of smoke, charred flesh, and death hung heavily in the air.A silhouette of a woman was sadly walking through the ground, as silent drops of tears flowed down her cheeks. She was in pain; she was grieving and her ethereal form was blipping in and out of existence just like a candle’s flame that would fight against a breeze of wind to stay alive.She was Selene and she looked around at the wreck of a forest that she had lovingly and painstakingly nurtured. Her feet slowly took her to the demon’s corpse and she studied it impassively to see if there were any signs of the wretched demon left in that hollow vessel that he called his body.Then her eyes flicked to the severed head that lay not too far from the corpse. She picked it up and looked at it, dead in the eye.The demon’s eyes were thrown wide open, probably in shock and surprise at the way the dagger had cut through his neck. Sh
“Noooooooo”I let out a shriek. My eyes could suddenly see well beyond my limited vision and I saw that the crack fell just short of affecting the tree, the giver of life of the forest.The cracks stopped just a few meters away from the tree that shuddered from the impact of the demon's fist that cracked open the ground.It sobbed and gave out a terrifying cry that I had never heard before. I did not even know that it could cry but maybe it was the Goddess who could hear it and not me.I looked around wildly, wanting to find something that could stop him...something, anything...My eyes spotted the very same dagger that Valrok had hurled at me to make me cut myself and give my blood.I got up and swayed a bit but made my way towards the dagger. He saw me get up and let out a mirthless laugh.“Running away from me? That is what you should have done earlier, Selene”He taunted and looked back at the tree that was far away from both of us. And, I knew what he was going to do next.“You a
MadeleineAs I turned to the side, I saw Hayden looking at me, holding a long pole. I stared at him in shock as he raised his hands with the pole and brought it down upon me, smacking my back hard.I was so taken aback by his act that I was flung away from him and the demon. I crashed to the ground as the demon’s laughter reached me.“Fight your children, Selene”He mocked and I could feel the Goddess fuming inside me. She had been calm and composed all this while despite the demon taunting and jeering her but even a Goddess has a limit to her patience.I got up from the ground as I felt the anger wafting off me as it reached its peak. My hands shot to either side of me as I felt an uncontainable energy surge through me.The demon shot his hand forward in response as a ring of white light began to form around me. The ground below me began to crack as hellfire shot up from every possible opening, shooting straight up.The small crowd of onlookers who had dared stay back to witness our
MadeleineI took a step forward and I saw him curl his fingers into fists.“Hello my old friend Selene, took you long enough”He greeted me and I looked at myself in confusion. It was then that I realized that I had turned into a living, breathing halo. All of my body was glowing brightly as if I was made of nothing but pure, white light.The words that left my mouth were not necessarily mine but it did not matter. The Goddess had chosen me as her vessel and I would gladly let her.“I thought you had learned your lesson last time, Valrok.”'Valrok? That must be the name of the demon', I thought.The Goddess or rather I continued speaking, “I gave you enough chances to stop this madness, to not let innocent lives suffer because of your selfish goals but you leave me no choice.”Valrok snarled, “You gave me chances? You are the one who reduced me to this state! It is because of you that I had to rely on puny humans and werewolves until I grew strong enough”“There is still time, stop th
MadeleineEverything happened so fast but it was as if I was seeing it in slow motion. As I watched in a daze, the white beam hummed with a vibrant and restless energy. It was so bright that I had to shield my eyes for a while. I believed it must be so bright and big that almost the entire forest must have witnessed the spectacle. The entire dark night that was filled with terror and gloominess and all the negativity surrounding the demon was suddenly punctured with that beam of light. Even the demon stopped chanting for a while and looked up at the sky.His expressions, at first, were of confusion but quickly it was replaced by rage. He had left the cave and came up on the land, left his stronghold, and decided to walk on the surface thinking that he was now undefeatable.Looked like he had gotten it all wrong.A smile appeared on my face as I looked at him for a brief moment and he grimaced. I did not say anything but my expressions were more than enough for him to understand what
MadeleineI opened my eyes and felt that my face was wet. I touched my cheek and realized that tears had trickled down my eyes. However, what I had seen was just a memory but a powerful one. My mind began to come up with various theories as I replayed them in my head. The runes, the chants with me in the centre…that had to mean something.I was not sure why the memory had been hidden from me all this while or why it had resurfaced only now but my guess would be that the similarity of my current situation with the past memory might have brought it up in vivid clarity.The words of the old man and his conversation with my parents told me once again that the lich wanted to use me not harm me.I recalled everything that had happened in the cave and realized that it had been true. Whenever Amanda tried to hurt me, the lich shunned her. My blood had been too precious for him and now I knew why.Somehow, the wizard, which was what I called him in my head because of his appearance, had combi