Madeleine
I willed myself to keep my eyes on his face and not roam around his body. He looked rugged in jeans and the shirtless look suited him.
While my eyes were struggling to not dip down to his bare chest, he asked again,
“Are you okay? Let me take you to the packhouse and then you can tell me everything.”
I simply nodded my head as words failed me. I was still shivering a little so to help me feel comfortable, he weaved his hand in mine and I almost stumbled.
My hand fit in his perfectly and the way he held my hand protectively made me never want to leave his side.
I began walking with him, too awkward to say anything else. I could feel tingles spreading from my hand towards my entire body and I couldn't think straight.
My entire mind was focused on our hands and how it felt to be touched by him.
I was feeling giddy but my happiness didn’t last long. As soon as my eyes fell on Garron, I instinc
Madeleine “That son of a bitch.” He swore under his breath, banging his fist on the windowsill. Though he had spoken in a low voice, I had heard him. “Was that why you were looking for me? I’ll just rip his throat apart and kill him for good.” My eyes grew wide at the thought of him killing Steve. While killing Steve would surely spare me of my pain, I knew that it would only increase his problems with Garron and the rest of the pack. Though I knew Garron and his entire pack wouldn’t last even a minute in front of Hayden, I didn’t want him to be in more trouble because of me. I wasn’t his pack member yet he had done a lot for me already. Besides, now that I had seen Garron here, I knew that Hayden hadn’t been in any real danger. Garron wouldn’t enter an alpha’s territory to harm him. In my short stay with his pack, I had realized that like Steve, Garron too preyed on the weak. Despite being an alp
Hayden It was hard for me to not look at her and feel something. The little devil in my pants had taken a while to calm down but the moment I touched her, he grew hard again. Damn. I tried to tell myself that this was because I had never seen a girl wearing my shirt…just my shirt. My brain was already imagining the softness of her skin underneath but I willed myself to focus on her face. She was just harassed by someone and if I were to do the same thing, how different would I be from the person she had run away from? But I couldn’t help it. I wanted to touch her so I pulled her close and gently kissed her forehead. She was scared of returning back and as much as I wanted to keep her away from harm, I couldn’t just take her in my pack. Not with the treaty in place. I would have to find a way to make Garron leave her, respectfully. He thought of her as a slave, and I didn't want that t
HaydenBen blinked his eyes and looked at me as if he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. His eyes were glued to Madeleine so I cleared my throat.“You were saying something?”Upon hearing my voice, he shook his head, and Ben turned his attention to me.“Yes, the rogues are from far south. It seems like a battle broke out in the south and some packs fought bitterly. I don’t have the complete details but there is a new group of rogues roaming around…”I heard the report carefully and immediately asked him to tighten the security around our territory.I also asked him to take some of the trained recruits with him, who he knew wouldn’t die or get injured if there were to be an attack.Then I turned my attention to Madeleine and said, “Come, let’s put some food into your empty stomach.”She smiled at Ben who couldn’t take his eyes off
Madeleine I kept looking at alpha Hayden at his words and was utterly speechless. He had been doing nothing except caring for me and making me feel secure since I had met him. And, I, on the other hand, had not done anything to deserve it. The thought made me feel sad but I couldn't neglect the fact that I hadn’t felt this happy or relieved since my pack had been killed. It was as if Hayden’s pack was a complete opposite to that of Garron’s. While Hayden was strict but treated everyone with respect, Garron and the others treated everyone as if they were filth with the exception of Clare. But, I was the one who was treated the worst. In contrast, Hayden’s pack had welcomed me and treated me as an equal. I knew that Hayden was aware that I was wolfless and even I had told it to Raine. I had expected her smile to disappear when I shared that secret but her smile didn’t falter. Instead, she hugged me like my mother w
Madeleine I returned to Garron’s pack unwillingly and got back to work immediately. I didn't even dare venture into my cabin because I knew that Steve or Garron would come for me. Clare was in the kitchen preparing for the afternoon meal and her face broke into a relieved smile to see me. She immediately wiped her hands on the apron that was stained with oil and broth and rushed forward. “Where have you been?” She asked me with a concerned voice and pulled me into a hug. Even I let her because she was the only one to welcome me back. Holding my shoulders she looked at me and inspected my face and hands for any possible signs of injury. “Nobody had any idea where you were. I was worried sick about you. I thought….something happened to you…” I took her hands in mine and squeezed it, “I managed to run away before something would happen.” Clare’s eyes grew wide, “Did Steve do something again?”
Madeliene It was the voice of Garron and I was surprised to see him walk into the patch of moonlight filtering in through the windows a moment later. He was grinning at me and eyed the wooden stick I held in front of me. “Put that aside, Madeleine. I am not here to hurt you.” I looked at the stick and to Garron and back to the stick. I didn’t feel like dropping it, but then he was my alpha. I couldn’t really deny a direct order from him. Thus, I lowered the stick and placed it on the ground. He smiled at me as he said, “ Good girl.” “Now please take a seat.” He extended his hand towards the bed asking me to sit on it. I was growing hesitant but I agreed to him. There was nothing else I could do either way. Garron pulled a wooden chair and placed it in front of me. Throwing his legs over it, he placed it while keeping the backside towards me. As I looked at him warily, he placed both his hands on the backsid
HaydenI stared at Garron as my fists clenched in an effort to keep myself from jumping on him. It was his territory but he was beginning to get under my skin.I saw Madeleine walk towards the packhouse and disappear behind the door. And, that is when I felt as if I had lost something.I had wanted to hug her one last time, to hold her in my embrace and tell her that everything was okay. But, I had missed that chance.Even Luke was disappointed with me. All the sorrow and worry were making me want to kill Garron right then and there.But I kept my cool and reminded him of our talk, “If you don’t send all of your pack members to train, you are answerable to the other alphas.”He grimaced but could say nothing except nod his head. Despite the little victory, I had over him, I felt anxious to know that it would be days before I would again see Madeleine.Giving him a stern and loathful look, I stepped in m
After I had spent almost an hour convincing Raine to stay with me, I got up from the floor. My knees were feeling a little numb because I had been sitting on the floor for so long but I was glad that she finally listened to me. I wasn’t sure how long she would stay but I thought that I would find a way to make her extend her stay for another few weeks. For now, she wasn’t going anywhere. And, I was growing restless to find a way to the other problem I had. Hence, I left her after a hug and walked out of the door, straight for my office. The file I had been working on earlier was still lying on the desk but it could wait. Now, I had other things to do. As I walked towards my office, I saw Ben hastily rush towards me. “Alpha, please spare a minute, I wish to talk to you.” I just waved a hand, indicating him to follow me. He did as I asked and walked in the office behind me. I sat on my chair and looked at the watch, “Ok, I
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