After an additional hour of conversation with Draven, he agreed for us to start with a more friendly and less physical relationship. I was relieved by his sudden change. It put less pressure on us and allowed things to move at their own pace. I shoved away an urge to make Draven talk about his relationship with Jetta. I did it for my own sake… and because I knew she was in my group, and I would have plenty of time to observe her behavior towards Draven. Certainly, I was suspicious, but I got tired of unnecessary drama in my life.
The next morning, Draven organized training on the grounds, where I could see the entire army working out. Draven assigned himself as my sparring partner. He did it as clearly as he could, announcing it aloud while wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Thankfully, Patrick was training his soldiers elsewhere. I bet he would burst out if he saw Draven acting the way he did…
I stopped pushing Draven away. I decided to wholeheartedly
I was sitting on the floor by my bed, holding the note from JD in my hand. I kept staring at it, processing the situation. He must have been somewhere nearby. He must have been watching me all the time. He must have known my every move, as if there was someone silently following me around. What if he really wanted to kill Jetta? Should I warn her? But warn her against whom…? I was helpless. I wanted to go to Patrick and tell him about the note, but what if JD or someone working for him was watching me even at that moment? I had to calm down and act reasonably. Going straight to Patrick at that moment would only mark him as the one helping me. That would make the spy working for JD act cautiously around everyone from the Royal Army, and I couldn't risk losing my best chance of finding the spy's true identity. As much as ignoring the threat aimed at Jetta sounded cruel, that was the only thing I could do: act as if I had never received that note. I got up from the floo
I sat on my bed and stared blankly at Patrick. I was scared and confused. Patrick's gaze was restless and angry. I bet that he regretted leading the legions in this werewolf war. He would rather join the rest of the Royal Army to fight degenerates and the one claiming to be the New King."Do you think that JD might be someone from my father's pack?" I asked after sucking a deep wave of air into my lungs."We can't ignore that possibility," he sighed heavily, knowing that doing so would only make me hate my heritage even more."But as far as I know, there is no one in the pack capable of doing such things." I knew little about the current situation inside the pack, but I knew my father, and he would never allow keeping someone this strong within the pack, someone who could be a threat to his reign."Have you considered that it might be your father?" Patrick asked, hesitantly."Don't be ridiculous." I waved that idea away quickly. "JD's notes sounded
There were multiple small packs living in the north. They were mostly weak and defenseless against a powerful pack such as the Southern Woods Pack. They all sided with Draven but provided little to no help in the war. They were the ones that needed protection. The south was different. There were a lot of bloodthirsty packs, expanding their territories with violence. The weaker packs could have been either crushed or swallowed. Certainly, the biggest and most influential pack was the one ruled by my father. All five of the stronger southern packs sided with him to avoid confrontation. They were called the Great Five, and they were involved in all kinds of illegal business as if they were the worst kind of mob. To conquer the south, Draven had to defeat those five packs before aiming for a battle against Randall D'Apolito.Each one of the Great Five was given a chance to negotiate and surrender, even though Draven's intelligence had already known they'd rather fight till their
We reached the southern forests just before sundown. We were going to camp there for the night and enter the Scarlet Valley Pack's territory at dawn. The vans were carefully masked, and the whole group marched deep into the forest, carrying our backpacks.This was the first time I had to set the tent, and thank God, Ian was there to help me, saving me from embarrassment. At that time, Draven was busy securing the area and talking about the details of the attack over the phone with other group leaders. Coordinating so many people spread across the huge southern territory must have been difficult, yet Draven seemed composed and strict the entire time. His commands were firm and unquestionable. I had to admit that he looked sexy as hell with his leader's demeanor. As soon as he finished the hundredth phone call, he walked towards Ian, me, and my almost-set tent, and pulled me into a surprising, warm hug."All that talking exhausted me. I need to recharge." He placed his f
I saved Sariel's phone number. I did it automatically, and then I stared at the screen, debating whether I should contact him on my own or not. It quickly turned the night into a sleepless one. I was torn. I wasn't sure if I could forgive Sariel for what he did, but my heart beat faster hearing that he hadn't given up on us. On the other hand, Draven started doing a lot of tiny things that worked on me. He was drawing me into his zone, and his captivation was almost irresistible.I got up long before the alarm clock rang. Fortunately, I was running on adrenaline, my blood richer in it than ever. Hormones sufficed for the lack of sleep. I got dressed and then walked out of my tent to stretch. As I was standing in the middle of the still dark forest, wearing a pair of combat boots, combat pants, and a black fitted top with short sleeves, I saw a pair of red pupils aiming at me. I turned my head, facing those eyes, and saw Draven appear from the shadows by his tent. He stepped c
Our group temporarily split into two. The twenty of us went straight from the casino's area to Alpha Marcus's mansion while the rest of us took care of the casino's workers. I hardly noticed Jetta was with us. I was so committed to the fight that, for me, she became yet another fighter on our team. I wouldn't allow her to become my distraction, no matter how hard she tried. Only when she appeared right beside me, I could see her absolutely focused on the goal, her body overfilled with adrenaline like mine. Well, I was relieved to see she didn't want to pick up a fight with me in such an absurd and extreme situation.Jetta and I walked almost shoulder to shoulder, heading to the wire fence guarding the Alpha's mansion. While we were walking, I scanned her body. She had a few bruises already surfacing on her right shoulder, one around her collarbone, and one on her cheek. Her lip was torn and slightly bleeding, and yet her face was unmovedas if she didn't feel any pain at
My world started spinning. Something heavy slammed into my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs and harassing my vocal cords with a painful growl. Hot, furious tears flooded my cheeks and burned my eyes while my heart ached for the mother I had hardly known. But from Ezra, I knew that she loved me even though she had to leave me. I hoped to see her again. I hoped to reconcile with her. I hoped to take her out of the Southern Woods Pack. Why even she had been taken away from me?!"Oh… You didn't know she was dead?" Derek snorted viciously, rubbing salt in my wounds, "This is hilarious! All those years you didn't even know she was dead!" he burst out, nearly stumbling from laughter.I gritted my teeth, desperately trying to hold my body in a fighting stance. Tears kept falling from my eyes, no matter how hard I tried to stop them. I needed to see clearly. I had to focus. I was already exhausted, and I had just received a huge mental blow, yet I forced myself not
The world around me was spinning, and I could hardly walk by myself. I might have been more exhausted mentally than physically. The pain in my chest was dredged up by the guilt of my first kill. I knew I could rationalize what I did, and I knew that Derek deserved to die, but that didn't change how I felt about it deep in my heart. I kept staring at my hands, dirty with blood, and at the knife, which I held tightly.Ian wrapped my arm around his shoulder and walked with me, supporting me at each step. I noticed that the majority of my wounds had mostly regenerated already, but the deep cuts on Ian's neck and chest were still far from healed."Are you ok?" I asked softly."I've been through worse." He gave me a wry grin. "It's you that I'm worried about. You look like a bloody mess. You won't die on me, will you?""It's not my blood, mostly," I sighed, then my lips curved into a faint grimace. "My body is going to be fine. It is my mind that is missing a p