Hello my darling readers! <3 as this chapter marks 100 chapters in this book, I am having to start to think about who my next book will be about. Cassie and Vasilios? Enzo and his missing mate, Katerina? Yvonne? Tell me who you'd like to read more about in the comments! And as always, thank you to all those who have sent gems and comments, your support and love are the reason I continue writing. with love, Kristi xxx
Eliana POV“Luna, we've landed. You can open your eyes now.”The gravelly voice of one of the men Luca handpicked to go with me to Cambridge sounded as if he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. “Thank you, Federico,” I whispered, slowly letting go of the armrests of the seat. “I'm starting to believe that the alpha may need to install extra protection for these chairs if he's expecting me to continue flying ask over the place.” The stone faced second man, whose name I never did catch, grunted his response. I'm pretty darn sure he can't talk, since grunting seems to be his only form of communication. “I'll pass on the suggestion to the pilot,” Federico agreed monotonously, passing my bags to stone-face before he held out his hand to lead me from the plane. The pilot, still sulking about my previous comment on his plane, remained out of sight in the cockpit. A car was waiting for me when I arrived, Luca's black bullet proof SUV had become a fixture in my life, so I was rather surpris
Eliana POV I stared at the head of the wolf, a cold sweat breaking out over my body. “Who would do such a thing to a dog?” I heard a girl sob as she turned away and ran toward the stairs. “Some sick bastard,” a guy responded even though she was long gone. “Although this looks more like a wild animal than a domestic pet. Maybe even a wolf.” The debate of where the wolf may have come from was struck up, and I pushed my way back through the crowd to my room. Federico took the key from my shaking hand as I attempted to slip it into the lock, opening the door while stone-face held me back from following Federico into the room. “It's all clear,” Federico said in Italian as he returned, motioning me in. With a sigh, I set my bags on my bed and sat down beside them. There was no mistaking who the message had been left for. It was as clear as day that Marco was still around and wanting to get his revenge. “Luna, will you be alright? We want to find our own room and get set up, but don'
Eliana POVCassie cried on and off for about half an hour, not saying a word other than to tell us that she was fine… but she wasn't. Even a blind man would be able to tell that much. Yvonne ended up going back to her room to fetch her tranquillisers - the meds the hospital had issued her just after Nathan had been killed. We had to threaten Cassie with hospital before she would take them, but she eventually did. “I wonder what is happening,” Yvonne whispered when Cassie was fast asleep. The indestructible Cassie seemed broken beyond repair... and we felt completely at a loss.“Don't know, but it would have to be something big.” We both agreed and spoke in hushed voices while our friend slept… and slept… and slept. At around midnight, Yvonne decided to call it a night and left me alone with sleeping beauty. I quickly showered and climbed into bed, not tired in the least - even though I'd been almost dead on my feet a few hours ago. Turns out a crying friend helps chase away the s
Luca POVThe guard yawned and slid lower on his chair, any lower and he would be sitting on the floor. With a sigh, I looked at my watch and wasn’t at all surprised that it hadn’t even been five minutes since the last time I checked it. It had been the same the last fifteen times already – time was just dragging.I huffed and stood up, pacing the small waiting room outside the Council chambers. I was ready to burst past the guard (not that it would be hard to do so) and announce my presence to the grumpy old men who thought that their word was higher than all else in our world. Only the king had any stand against them, and they still looked down on him because, at fifty, he was still half their age. There was a rustling just inside the doorway and I watched with amusement as the guard suddenly shot to his feet, looking oh so useful the moment the door handle turned. “Alpha Castello, please come in,” a croaky voice called to me as the door opened to reveal a weathered old man.I nodd
Eliana POV“Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Cassie as she packed the last of her belongings into the suitcase she had bought. “I don't have a choice,” she said softly, her heartbreak evident in her voice. “If he loved me it would be a different story, but he doesn't. I can't stay with a man who doesn't love me.”I chewed on my bottom lip, nervous for my best friend. In fact, my lip had started to crack from the amount of abuse it had received in the last forty-eight hours. I'm not sure who looked worse, Cassie or myself. The front door opened and closed with a loud click as Yvonne entered the apartment from her assigned mission. “Okay, my guy did his best and I'm pretty sure these will be able to get you to America. Your flight has also been booked under your new name so at least Vasilios won't be able to track you there,” Yvonne said as she tossed a brown envelope onto the bed. I reached across and pulled out the passport, noticing the golden American emblem on the gre
Eliana POV“Hey, I'm here. The flight was long and shit, so I'm going to go to find the real estate agent, get the key to my place, and crash. Love you guys.”Cassie's voicenote played loudly in the silence of the apartment, and I felt the wave of loneliness wash over me. I'd listened to her voicenote a few times already, but playing it seemed to make the place seem less empty. It had only been three days since Yvonne and I helped her pack up her belongings and waved goodbye to her, but I quickly discovered that I was not one who enjoyed their own company. In fact, I found myself rather boring. I'd even considered asking Yvonne if she wanted to move in with me, but that would be a dead giveaway to all observers that Cassie wasn't around anymore.I played the voicenote again and sighed, reading Cassie's texts saying that she was settled and that she would call me on the weekend. Luca's name popped up on my screen as the ringtone I'd set specifically for him played. I quickly picked u
Eliana POV Pain shot through my skull, a stabbing pain that seemed to engulf my whole body even though a part of me knew that it was only my head that had been injured. I slowly pried open my eyes, my vision blurred for a few moments before it settled and I was able to take in my surroundings. It looked like I was lying in someone's garden shed - bags of fertiliser and compost stacked against one wall with an assortment of plant pots and an ancient lawnmower against another. I was lying on a pile of empty sacks and it made my skin crawl to think of how many bugs were probably hiding in the crevices of the shed. Pushing myself up slowly, I managed to sit up as my head swirled and I fought the dizziness which threatened to overwhelm me. A tickling feeling on my cheek made my hand fly up, the thought of the bugs setting me on edge. Feeling something wet, I pulled my hand away and looked at it in horror as my brain processed the red liquid as being blood - my blood. “Fuck,” I swore un
Eliana POV Hours passed and I could tell that the sun had set, the light which had slipped through the cracks around the door had disappeared and the shed was plunged into darkness. After finally succeeding in getting the collar off of my neck, I'd spent a few hours trying to pry out the screws which held the door's hinge in place. It was a pointless task and I only succeeded in breaking all of my nails, the tips of my fingers now raw and bleeding. Cassie would have been appalled at the state of my nails, but desperation held fast. I knew that there was no way that Luca would be able to track me down. He would be looking for Marco, not a lowlife like Wilson.The threat of the greasy, rotten toothed man forcing himself onto me made my stomach knot. It was something I didn't even want to think about, and yet it kept recurring in my mind. “Honey, I'm home,” I heard cold laughter outside of the door as the lock on the door was opened noisily and the bolt was unlatched. I swallowed the
Chapter 2Cassie POVI ignored the feeling of being watched, knowing that it was too late to run now. There was no running away from someone like Vasilios. Even the first time had been a bitch of a task, and I'd had Eliana and Yvonne's help to do it. Now, I was as good as alone and there was no fucking way I'd manage it. “Whiskey, neat,” I heard his voice like silk, as he gave his order to Jessie. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he leant casually against the bar, his eyes glued on a pair of ladies who were dancing seductively against each other. “Yes, sir,” Jessie replied, and I swear she used her arms to push her gigantic breasts together, trying to entice him. Only the Vasilios I remembered was impossible to entice. He was practically a walking, talking statue, trained from the moment he turned eighteen to be the alpha he was born to be. Not that he was alpha yet - although, a lot can happen in three years, so perhaps he had in fact become alpha in the time I was away.
Chapter 1Cassie POV“Show me your tits!”The creepy middle-aged guy shouted again at me as I swung around on the pole. He picked up a shot and downed it before he slammed the glass down on the table, running his hand over his shiny bald head. I ignored him, like I always did. The more wasted Gerald was, the more he'd shout and the quicker he'd get kicked out. “Come on, sexy! I came to see your tits!” He shouted again, and I hid a smile when I watched Ms. Ho summon the bouncer. Cue the shouting in three, two, one. I flipped upside-down into the “Russian Layback” pose and held it as Gerald started shouting about the lack of flesh in the club. “Third time this week. I don't know how many times the guy has to be told that he's got the wrong place,” Glitter said as she passed my podium with a tray of drinks for a corner table. She was right about that. What he was needing was a hooker, not a stripper - especially not a stripper in a bikini bar where flesh was served tastily clad in b
Eliana POVThe giggles of the little girl filtered through the house, bringing a smile to my face. It seemed as if it were yesterday when I had told Luca that we were expecting a baby, and now we were about to celebrate that little baby's second birthday.“Papà!” Gianna squealed just as the two of them burst into the kitchen, Luca holding the toddler on his shoulders. “You're wrinkling up her dress,” I warned him with a stern expression plastered on my face. He shrugged nonchalantly, eliciting more giggles from Gianna. “So? She's two, no one is going to expect a perfect outfit from a two year old. Just wait until she gets her hands on the cake.”I guess dressing her up in a satin white dress wasn't the smartest idea, but I had wanted her to look like the little princess she was - at least to her father and myself. “Are your parents coming?” Luca asked, lifting Gia from his shoulders and setting her firmly on the floor. “They will be late, as always,” I responded, handing him a tray
Cassie POVLong after Yvonne had gone to her hotel room, Vasilios had disappeared to his own apartment and Enzo had crashed in the spare room, Luca and I got a chance to finally be alone. “It seems like I cannot let you out of my sight without you getting into some sort of trouble,” he sighed as he fell back onto the bed and yawned.“It's not my fault I'm a magnet for weirdos and creeps,” I grumbled, wrapping my robe tightly around me. Luca raised himself up on his elbow and watched me through hooded eyes, “I'm hoping that my mere presence will be enough to chase those types away. I'm going to be the only man to touch that gorgeous body of yours until death do we part.” I giggled and joined him on the bed, fitting into his arms as if I belonged there - and I guess I did. “Who would have thought, that night when I messed coffee all over your table, that we would be where we are now?” I said softly, my fingers threading through his hair. He chuckled with a smirk on his face. “In my
Eliana POVLuca passed me a cup of tea as I curled up on the couch of his London flat, waiting for news from the hospital about Elijah’s surgery. Vasilios had made sure that the top surgeon on his payroll was part of the surgery, not trusting the council's doctors in the least. “He will be okay,” Luca said softly, reassuring me for probably the thousandth time.Vasilios grunted from the other side of the living room, as if disappointed that I didn't trust his man. Well, either that or he was still angry at me that I refused to tell him where Cassie had gone. Probably the second option.There was a knock on the door seconds before it was flung open and Enzo waltzed into the apartment as if he owned it, Yvonne close on his heels. “If you wanted to give up your alpha title, there are easier ways,” he told Luca with a whack on the back. Luca shoved him playfully, “I thought it would be more fun this way.”Yvonne rolled her eyes and collapsed onto the couch next to me, gripping my hand
Luca POVA scream ripped from Eliana's mouth the second we heard the explosion, before her screams turned to heart wrenching sobs. I pulled myself up and tried to move toward the door to see what had happened, but she grabbed my hand, fear shining brightly in her eyes.“I'm just going to check out what has happened,” I tried to tell her reassuringly. “I'll be right back.” “I'm coming with you,” she clambered to her feet. “I'm not staying behind in this house for another second longer than I have to.”Gripping my hand, she followed me outside, through the kitchen door and into the small, enclosed courtyard. I could smell the blood before I could see it, the metallic scent unmistakable. “Stay here,” I commanded Eliana, not entirely sure what I'd discover when I walked through the arched doorway into the garden a few metres away.She clung to my arm, seemingly not registering my words. Slowly, I pried her fingers from my arm and forced her to sit down on an ancient looking rocking chai
Eliana POVMy head pounded like I'd been beaten severely, and I struggled to pry my eyes open. There was laughter echoing in my head and making the headache a thousand times worse. With a groan, I pushed myself up into a seated position as my vision became more clear and I could see what seemed like an extremely old kitchen. Extremely old and extremely dirty.“Ah, look who has decided to join us,” I heard Marco laugh before he kicked out at Luca's outstretched legs. “Guess I'll be able to start my fun sooner than I thought.”Luca growled and launched himself forward, only to yank the table we were apparently tied to with him slightly. “Nah ah ah, alpha. I'd hate to have to waste more tranquilliser on you. Your little stunts at my warehouses have left my stocks rather low,” Marco huffed, folding his arms like a sulking child. “Why are you doing this, Marco?” I asked, desperate for answers.He laughed and shook his head. “Oh, dearest Eliana. You missed my big confession to my big brot
Luca POV The moment I felt the ground shudder under Bruno’s paws, I knew we had fucked up. The bastard knew we were coming and he was ready for us. And then I heard his laughter, that maniacal laughter that could only come from the mouth of a mad man. “Welcome to my humble abode,” he laughed, circling the cage cautiously. Elijah’s wolf was frantic, launching himself at the bars again and again until I was sure that blood would start to pour from his snout at any moment. He continued until Marco slammed his hand against the cage and shouted. “Enough, you mongrel. Didn’t you learn the last time you were in a cage that it is pointless to fight it?” It didn’t work though, and Elijah continued to launch himself at the bars until Marco went into a shed and returned with a gun, aiming it at the other wolf. Eliana’s wolf panicked and tried to grab Elijah’s wolf by the scruff of its neck, but he was too strong and threw her off of him with ease. Marco aimed the gun and pulled the trigger,
Eliana POV“I won't rat out my friend,” I said for probably the thousandth time in the last twenty-four hours. Luca raised his eyebrow at me in the rear view mirror before he sighed loudly and turned to my brother in the passenger seat.“Has she always been this stubborn?” He asked.Elijah chuckled and nodded, “pretty much so. She was the challenging child when we were growing up.”I huffed and folded my arms, ignoring the two in the front of the car. “Vasilios is going to find her one way or another, so all you'd be doing is reducing his anger at her when he does find her,” Luca said, changing tactics slightly. It didn't work. “He'll be angry either way, and if I said something she'd be angry with me instead,” I said boldly. “Now can we drop it? I'm not going to tell you where Cassie is and that's the end of the story. She's safe, she's happy and that's all you'll ever hear from my lips on the matter.” Luca shook his head in disbelief before he fixed his eyes on the road ahead a