Cassie POV“He’s your WHAT?” I almost shouted, sitting up in shock.Vasilios sighed and ran his hand through his hair. How the hell could that jerk with his golden brown eyes, his mousy brown hair and his slender frame be Vasilios’s brother. It made no sense! They looked nothing alike!“You know the story of my parents struggling to fall pregnant, right?” Vasilios asked casually.I nodded, having heard chatter throughout my childhood as to why Vaslios was an only child. “My father blamed my mother for her many miscarriages, and he refused to leave this world without a son of his taking the Alpha title,” he continued. “And so he had an affair with an omega woman I grew up thinking was my father’s distant cousin. My mother knew about the affair, and she knew when Viktor’s mother fell pregnant with him. She gave birth soon after my mother found out that she was pregnant with me, but everyone believed that my mother was going to miscarry me too. Even though I am the legitimate heir, in m
Cassie POVPreparations for the Full Moon Celebration were in full swing. Luna Delia had caterers come in and, with the presence of the King, the entire event had been upscaled to preposterous levels. “Do you think roast swan or roast peacock would be better?” I overheard Luna Delia ask the chef as I ducked into my father’s office.My father looked up from his desk with a frown before he realised that the intruder was me, and then a bright smile lit up his face.“I thought you were Delia,” he chuckled, setting down the document he was reading.I laughed and sat on the opposite chair. “Are you also hiding from her?”He sent me a sheepish look before he admitted, “I haven’t left my office the whole day just to keep out of her event planning madness. Luckily, Laryssa will arrive this evening and will be able to calm the chaos. She’s very good at planning impromptu events – although I dare say that the presence of King Mattias will be a new challenge for her. But there is nothing that wo
Cassie POV“You look gorgeous,” Laryssa crooned as she stared at my reflection in the mirror, pinning the last stray curl in place.“I wish my mother had your skill in hair and makeup,” Elle sighed wistfully from where she lounged on the bed, her face and hair artfully made up by Laryssa. I leaned forward on the stool and admired her handiwork in the dressing table mirror. “As much as I do a pretty good job of my own makeup, I have to admit that you're better,” I told her honestly.Laryssa blushed and squeezed my shoulder, no words leaving her mouth but her eyes shone with pride as they met mine in the mirror.“I can't believe it's the Full Moon Celebration,” Elle said as she stood up, brushing the creases from her floor length, forest green gown. In contrast, the dress Laryssa had presented me with for the occasion was black with silver beads sewn over the dress which caught the light. It reminded me of the night sky and I'd fallen in love with it the moment I laid eyes on it. Lar
Vasilios POVI watched as that bastard Damian guided Cassandra back to our assigned table, my fist clenched as his hand rested mere centimetres away from her arse. When he shot me a glance I almost lept across the room and punched that smug look off his face. Luckily, I had Luca beside me. “He’s playing with you and you’re letting him,” Luca said with a sigh, swirling his whiskey in the tumbler in his hand. I knew he was right.“This whole evening has me on edge and I just want to sink my fist into someone’s face,” I admitted.“See, this is the reason I don’t agree with this voting shit. It should be a test of strength, not a popularity contest,” Luca grumbled. “The council really screwed over our species with this new rule.”“It’s easier to alter who wins this way,” Jurgen said as he joined us, gladly accepting the glass of whiskey Luca thrust into his hands. “With a battle to the death, or even just a normal contest, the results could not easily be changed to suit the council.”L
Cassie POVAs soon as Vasilios’s name left the king’s mouth, it was as if war had been declared. The people who had alligned themselves with Viktor lunged forward, teeth bared with the intention of killing Vasilios. Screams erupted all around me as Vasilios grabbed me and forced me under the table, his “take-charge” attitude probably saving my life as teeth and claws lashed out in our direction. I heard the tearing of fabric, crashing of furniture and howls of pain before a harsh growl reverberated through the room. Instantly, there was silence. “You disappoint me,” I heard the King say angrily. “Do you not trust my choice of Alpha?”No one dared respond.I gathered up my courage and peaked out from under the tablecloth, taking in the scene of the werewolves with their bowed heads, necks bared as they showed their submission to their King. “Perhaps it is the threat of Viktor being outcast from the pack which has made you act so rashly,” King Mattias mused, and I could just see him
Cassie POVI was woken up by birds chirping loudly in the tree outside the window, the sun illuminating the room and boldly declaring that it was morning. With a yawn, I rolled over to Vasilios’s side of the bed, but it was empty - no sign of him having come to bed at all. With a frown, I dragged myself from the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, not caring what I looked like as I stumbled out of the bedroom. The packhouse was silent, everyone still fast asleep as I walked quietly through the house toward the kitchen. As I pushed open the door, I heard a hushed voice.Amber stood with her back to me, talking on her cellphone. “Just wait, I have a plan,” I heard her say in an almost whisper before she put her phone down and sighed. I was about to retrace my steps and get the hell out of there, but I didn’t have a chance. Amber turned around and the worry on her face quickly disappeared and turned into a serene smile. “Good morning, Cassie,” she said brightly, almost knoc
Cassie POVVasilios stumbled into the packhouse at around lunch time, limping slightly but the gigantic smile on his face was enough to make me ignore his limp. “Where on earth were you, young man?” Delilah asked him in her best mother voice before I could even open my mouth. He walked up to her and wrapped his muscular arms around her, swinging her around and placing a kiss on her cheek. “Ah, Mama. Titan wouldn’t let me stop running until sunrise, the power of the pack surging through our veins was enough to drive him on long after our pack members had fallen behind in exhaustion,” he explained with a grin. Delilah swatted him with the back of her hand as he let her go, tutting slightly but without the fire behind her scorn that had been there minutes ago. Vasilios turned his ice blue eyes my way, walked up to me and kissed me soundly until all breath seemed to be drained from my lungs. “My Luna, you are looking absolutely gorgeous this morning,” he said, laying the charm on thi
Cassie POV Viktor was missing. Well, not really missing - it was just that he'd tucked tail and run for the mainland along with some of his staunch supporters. It turned out that he'd made promises he could no longer cash out since he wasn't handed the Alpha title on the silver platter as he had presumed he would be. So he did what any coward would do, he headed for the hills as soon as things went south.“Vasilios could have made Viktor feel more at home here,” Dimitri said sullenly when the news of Viktor's escape was made known. “What could he have done? Thrown him a welcoming party?” my father asked with a sarcastic edge to his voice. Dimitri didn't respond, but I could tell that the suggestion wasn't too far off from what he had in mind. His disappointment that Viktor had left stayed in my mind long after the guests had begun leaving for their homes. “I think Dimitri thought he would be able to get both sons to work together and be one big happy family,” Elle said as she pack
Chapter 2Kat POVI pressed my ear to the door of the suite on the third floor of the Palazzo Hotel, hearing the steady breathing of the occupant inside. He must be fast asleep - just how I wanted him.“This should be easy,” I whispered to myself as I pulled the lock picks from where I had hidden them in my hair.The hotel had been deserted as I had made my way through the foyer and hallways, as it should be at 3am. Only a sleepy looking desk clerk had possibly seen me, but I think the man was too busy scrolling through reels on his phone to even realise that I had snuck in.Not exactly the kind of service you would expect to find at a five star hotel, but I was glad for it. Within a few seconds, I had the door unlocked. With a slightly proud smile, I slipped off my shoes and pushed the door quietly open before I snuck inside. The room was lavishly decorated and my bare feet sunk into the thick carpet. Exquisite paintings hung on almost every wall and I had to stop myself from pullin
Chapter 1Kat POVI was drowning. The water flooded my lungs as I tried to scream, my clothing dragging me down into the dark depths as shadows hovered above the water. Bright lights flashed across my vision like fireworks as my lungs burned, and then it all went black.“Wake up, Kat, it’s just a nightmare.” I felt a hand press against my mouth and my arms flew out to ward off my attacker. “Stop screaming before you wake up the others!”Giulia’s face was barely visible in the dark room, her warm brown eyes filled with sisterly concern.I nodded my head and she removed her hand, brushing my hair from my face just like a real big sister would do. “Was it the same nightmare again?” she whispered, careful not to wake up the four children who slept on mattresses on the floor.“Yeah,” I whispered back, shivering as the cool night air cut through my pyjamas which were drenched with my own sweat. Giulia tugged the thin blanket up under my chin, looking after me just as she had done ever sin
Cassie POVI stood watching the ceremony with tears in my eyes as Aleko took over the Alpha title amidst cheers from the pack. Once the shock of Vasilios stepping down had worn off, the elders of the pack were elated to have Aleko back again. The giant man had begun helping with training the younger wolves, and had even gone as far as to redo the roof of one of the ancient widow’s homes that Vasilios and I hadn’t even known was leaking. All in all, he was far more suited to the role than Vasilios ever had been. And we had come to the conclusion that Vasilios had just wanted to be Alpha because that is what had been expected of him his whole life. Vasilios had formed a strong bond with Aleko in just a few short months, and the man had quickly become like a father figure to him. In fact, no one was surprised when we named our own son Niklos Aleko after his great uncle. The baby boy had launched himself into our lives a month early, but according to Luna Delia it was probably a good th
Cassie POV“I wonder why Damian is being so secretive about who he wants us to meet,” I mused aloud as we drove to Damian’s house. Vaslios was driving at a snail’s pace, and I had to resist the urge to take over. The man had been driving me insane over the last few days with how over protective he was being - “No Cassandra, you can’t lift that. You’ll hurt yourself.”, “No agapití mou gynaíka. You shouldn’t be straining yourself. You need to rest.”I was seconds away from murdering the man. I guess it was cute that he was trying to protect me, but I was made of tougher stuff and I didn’t feel like being imprisoned in my own apartment because the man thought the stairs were too dangerous. “I guess it won’t matter since I will die of old age before we get there,” I muttered under my breath. Vasilios snorted and rolled his eyes before he increased the speed by a fraction. Luckily we weren’t far from Damian’s house and as we drove up the driveway we could see another car parked. “Well
Vasilios POVI watched the screen as the doctor slid what looked like a product scanner across Cassandra’s stomach, not entirely sure what to expect. I’d always heard that foetuses look like little aliens, but to me it looked like perfection. “There’s the spine, and there you can see baby’s heart beating,” the doctor pointed out bodyparts on the screen which I could barely make out. It was a bit like those black blobs shrinks use to determine if you’re insane or not - only in this case I was trying to figure out my kid’s anatomy. My child. The thought was still so strange and yet so welcoming. “Are you wanting to know the gender?” the doctor asked. Before I could respond, Cassandra shook her head. “No. I want it to be a surprise.” As if having the kid in the first place wasn’t enough of a surprise, but I let her have her way. Either way the child was going to be loved beyond measure. If it was a girl, she would be my princess. I would treat her in a way that she would know what
Cassie POVVasilios and I collapsed onto the bed in the honeymoon suite of the hotel - the same one where I had lost my virginity to him. I chuckled when we had pulled up outside the Aman and he had shot me a strange look before he took my hand and guided me into the gigantic, minimalistic monstrosity.The honeymoon suite was on the top floor, and Vasilios lifted me into his arms and carried me through the door into the candle lit room, laying me gently on the petal covered bed before he collapsed beside me.Our wedding reception had been a blast, even with the very few guests attending. By the end of the night, Laryssa had pulled out a handy pair of scissors and had styled a fashionable knee-length dress out of my gown, and we had all danced to music played by Benny while Terry poured drinks into any glass that seemed slightly empty. The pair had celebrated my pregnancy and my nuptials in style, insisting that they be part of the celebration.Vasilios and I had been slightly surprise
Cassie POVIf someone ever tells you that you can’t organise a wedding in twenty-four hours, tell them that they’re wrong. By the time the sun rose the next morning, I was relaxing in my apartment with Elle and Laryssa, sipping mocktails and gushing about the gorgeous dress Laryssa had managed to get for me for an absolute steal. “So, Amy is on her way to pick up the bouquets we ordered and then she will come and dress here. Luca says the decor is already set up and that Damian’s chef friend is preparing what seems to be a twenty-course meal. We are all sorted,” Elle ticked off the to-do list on her fingers, smiling brightly. I took her and Laryssa’s hands and squeezed them slightly, “thank you for everything you have done for me. I really don’t think I could have pulled this off without you both.”Elle kissed my cheek and winked before she snuck off to call her mother-in-law so that she could check in with Gia - the kid was probably having the time of her life without her mother c
Cassie POVI’m pretty sure that the nurses held a party the moment I walked out of the hospital. Not because I was a terrible patient, but because Vasilios was probably the most non-compliant family member the ward had ever experienced. He refused to leave my side, and only my father was able to make him leave for an hour, although he complained about that too and made my dad stay while he was away. Vasilios broke all the hospital rules; climbing into bed beside me, reading my medical chart, getting food delivered because he said hospital food didn’t have enough nutrition to feed both me and his baby. The guy was overbearing to put it mildly. But I didn’t mind in the least. Vasilios drove carefully through the city, and we spoke about our wedding plans. I was determined to be able to have a relaxed ceremony with just our close friends and family, where we could actually say our vows and mean it. Yes, I know that we weren’t technically divorced, but this ceremony was going to be the
Cassie POVI felt as if I was burning alive, the fire clawing at my chest as restraints held me down. I tugged on the rope which seemed to be emerging from my own arm, but that only caused screaming from the depths of the dark cave I was locked in. “Someone, help!” I thought I heard Vasilios’s voice, but then a sharp pain radiated from my arm and my world went dark once again. It seemed like just a few moments later that I woke up again, the pain in my chest more of a dull throb than the fire it had been. The room was dimly lit, but my eyes seemed to take a while to adjust to the light as I slowly became aware of my surroundings. The clinical environment and the drip poking out of my arm seemed to be enough clues to point to the fact that I was in hospital. The highly flattering hospital gown and catheter removed all doubts that remained. I tried to sit up and groaned as the fire burned through my chest again, and I was forced to remember that I had been shot. The last thing I re