Gaius’s POVWith my heart so heavy, I walked away from my mate. Even though it broke my heart to leave her standing in the dark, I knew that there was little to nothing else I could do. Even if I wasn’t feeling guilty that she should have belonged to my brother, I knew that I needed to give her space and enough time for her to forget her ex husband. At the thought of that man who had us all pent up, my anger returned and I hissed loudly. “What is it?” I heard Lisa ask. I paused from my walking and looked up, only to see that I was already halfway through the room. I couldn’t believe that I had been so angry and lost in thought that I hadn’t even figured out that I was walking and would have hit the wall if Lisa had not spoken up. “She is still refusing to get the vital evidence for us from her dad?” She asked again when I didn’t answer the first question. I knew that the ‘she’ in this context was only referring to Evelyn. Evelyn.The name that made me both happy and furious. H
Evelyn’s POVI watched as the man who was supposed to be my mate walked away from me like I was a fly that would perch on him if he accidentally stayed. Unwilling to let myself think more about everything that was going on with me and Alpha Gaius, I turned my back to the wall and forced myself to get back to sleep. By the time I would open my eyes again, the sun was already seeping through the window. I sighed and got out of the bed even though I had no idea what I was going to do with my day. At first, I thought about making myself breakfast, but I kicked against it. I was in a strange house and place. Rushing to the kitchen on my first day at the place might be frowned upon. I thought about staying indoors all day next, but again I kicked against that, knowing that was not the way to appreciate the people who had done nothing but made me feel welcome when they didn’t know me from anywhere. Determined to make the most of the day, I cleaned up and made my way to the living room of
Evelyn’s POVNo. Not that I almost dropped the phone. It actually slipped from my hand. “Evelyn!” The voice yelled at me from the other end. Unable to control myself, I quickly grabbed the phone and placed it back to my ear. Not in a million days had I expected to hear that voice so soon again. It made me dumb enough that I didn’t even know what exactly it was that I was supposed to do. “He-hello?” I managed to stammer out again. I wanted to be sure it was truly who I thought it was and not just that I was hallucinating. “Yes. How are you?” The voice asked me. The tone was not one that suggested that the person in the other end truly wanted to know how I was doing. Cyrus!Why the hell was he calling me now?“I’m not even going to wonder why you are not talking.” He said, laughing hysterically in the background. It was an evil laughter - one that suggested that he was deliberately taunting me. I wanted to retaliate. I wanted to curse him. I wanted to yell at him and ask him to
Gaius’s POVOnce again, the meeting had ended abruptly, with the women out of the pictures again, leaving just Adam and I in the meeting room. One of the women had asked for permission to think about whether she wanted to be mated to me or not. The other one had stumped her foot off in anger over why the first one had to think about something that would help all of us.I sighed deeply, not knowing what to think again. As much as I wanted to be considerate and think of Evelyn and how she was feeling with everything in her life happening at once, I couldn’t help but feel bad that she had even thought that she needed time to decide if we should announce our mating bond or not. Was I that bad to be with it?Could it be that she was irrevocably in love with that monster called Cyrus and she was not willing to let go of that love for him. Or could it be that she was ashamed of me and didn’t want to be associated with me?My mind went back to when I had introduced her to a couple of peop
Evelyn. My jaw dropped and my mouth was wide open as I stared at the man who had not just walked away from me after it seemed like we were getting close to each other, but the fact that he had actually transformed into his wolf form and dashed away from me like I was some sort of plague he should not be associated with. My heart shattered into what could only be described as a million little pieces from the heart break. What the heck was the man’s problem?Why was he always drawing close to me and then pushing me off whenever I lost my guide and wanted to be closer to him as well?Was all of this a joke to him and he just wanted to flirt with me? Or was he trying to see if I was a cheap catch?*His fur is amazing!* My wolf screeched into my thoughts. My annoyance doubled at her words. *How about having some care that the man is always rude to us?* I hissed at her. Even though I knew that she might have been right about his fur being amazingly cute, I didn’t want to dwell on that
Evelyn. Raven. The name felt very bitter in my mouth even as I spat it out. What the hell was she doing at this place? “I am very sure it is not nice to meet me, right?” She said in a cool, collected voice that made me raise a brow in suspicion. Why was she this collected? Especially when we were alone in the woods where no one would know anything if she attempted to get revenge on me. “What do you want?” I hissed at her. She shrugged like she didn’t hear what I was saying. I watched as she began to look at me from my hair to my toes. Subconsciously, I looked at myself again. My mind relaxed a bit when I realized that I was still dressing in a neat way, courtesy of Alpha Gaius and the outing we went to. “Why are you here, Raven?!” I asked her, this time, more forcefully than before. If she was the one Alpha Cyrus had thought to send after me, then I was going to make sure I didn’t go down without a fight. “I came to see how you are enjoying your new life at Hartwood Pack.” Sh
Gaius. The moment I took off in a race in my wolf form, I found myself panting at my brother’s grave. I hadn’t brought myself there consciously, but I didn’t find it strange, given the fact that my mind had been on him from the moment I walked away from Evelyn. I turned back into my human form and sat by the side of the grave. I sighed as I noticed the small bush that was growing on the graveyard. It had been a while since I had visited. Given that I had to step into the role of an Alpha and chase after Cyrus for revenge, I had gotten so busy that I couldn’t make out enough time to visit and clean the grave as frequently as needed. I stretched my hand and plucked the first weed I could grab. “You know, I feel so guilty that I am now leading the pack that was supposed to be yours by right,” I said as I plucked out the second one. A sigh left my lips before I could stop it. “And now, the moon goddess mated me to your mate,” I informed him. Again, I pulled out another blade of gra
Gaius. I felt like hitting something. Hard. How had that man gone as far as being close to signing a merger with a pack and we were only just finding out?“What do we do?” I asked Lisa and Evelyn. I didn’t even know what to think and how to stop the merger from happening. I just knew that it had to stop. “Adam is in the meeting room, waiting for us. So I suggest that we go there and we can all deliberate on the next step to take,” Lisa answered. “You know we can't fully trust anyone.” She added in a whisper, indicating toward the door to show that anyone might be eavesdropping on our conversation. At that, we agreed to continue the meeting at the usual place. Lisa left first to wait for us. About ten minutes after she was gone, I held Evelyn’s hand and helped her out of the mansion. To anyone else, it would look like we were on a date, just strolling under the half moonlight, but we were on our way to the meeting room. “Welcome, Alpha Gaius. Lady Evelyn, how do you feel now?” Ada
GaiusThe morning air nipped at my face as I stood on the balcony outside my study, gazing at the horizon. The pack grounds stretched out before me, it should have felt peaceful, but there was no peace to be found here. Not now.Cyrus loomed like a storm , his influence spreading like wildfire. Every move I made seemed one step behind his, and the pack was restless. They needed action, and I couldn’t afford to waste time.Inside the study, Zack and Dan waited, their eyes scanning the maps and notes spread across the table. Each mark represented a sighting of Cyrus’s rogues, whispers of his growing power.I stepped back into the room and pointed at a spot on the map—a warehouse on the outskirts of a neighboring territory.“This is our target,” I said. “Recent reports suggest Cyrus has been using this location as a base for his operations. We need to confirm and strike.”Zack crossed his arms, his expression skeptical. “With all due respect, Alpha, how do we know this isn’t another div
EvelynEvery day felt heavier lately, with Gaius and I juggling the growing threats against the pack and the silence from my father. He was still unconscious, lying in that same cold room, his face pale and motionless.I sat by the window, looking out over the pack grounds. Children played near the garden, their laughter faint but steady, a fragile reminder of what we were fighting to protect. My wolf stirred uneasily inside me, restless and hard to control ever since the attack that nearly broke us.A knock at the door snapped me out of my thoughts. It wasn’t the usual firm knock from Grace or one of Gaius’s men. This one was soft, hesitant.I opened the door cautiously, my wolf on edge. Standing in the hallway was a hooded figure. My instincts screamed danger, but there was something familiar in the way they held themselves—calm, yet alert.“Who are you?” I asked, keeping my tone firm.The figure pushed the hood back slightly, revealing a woman with sharp, striking features. Her
CyrusThe room was silent, except for the faint crackle of the fire in the corner. It did little to warm the chill that seemed to settle in me.I stood at the head of the long table, staring down at the map spread before me. Red pins marked my territories—what remained of them. Black pins marked the ones I’d lost.There were too many black pins.I clenched my fists, feeling the rage bubbling under the surface. My council sat around the table, their heads down, avoiding my gaze. Useless, the lot of them. When everything was going well, they were quick to boast about our victories, eager to share the spoils. Now, they cowered, leaving me to clean up the mess.Finally, I broke the silence. “Speak,” I growled, my voice low but laced with menace. “Tell me why my empire is crumbling.”One of the advisors, a wiry man with a nervous tic that made his eye twitch, cleared his throat. “M-my Lord,” he stammered, “the factory explosion... it has caused unrest among the packs.”“Unrest?” I repeated
EvelynThe walk to the cabin felt longer than I remembered. My mind raced with questions I couldn’t quiet, no matter how hard I tried. The cool breeze brushing my skin did little to settle the unease that twisted in my stomach.Raven.Even her name made my chest tighten. She wasn’t just a reminder of Gaius’s past; she was a thread tied directly to Cyrus, to everything that had gone wrong in my life. She’d shown up bruised and battered, collapsing at our door, but I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for her. Not yet. Not after everything.When I reached the cabin, Zack stood by the door, his arms crossed over his chest. He gave me a sharp nod. “She’s awake. Still looks like hell, though.”“Good,” I said, my tone clipped.Zack smirked faintly, stepping aside to let me pass. “Call me if you need anything.”I nodded and pushed the door open, bracing myself for whatever mood Raven might be in.Inside, Raven sat on the edge of the bed, her cloak discarded on the floor. Bandages wrapped
GaiusThe morning after the explosions, I stood in my study, pacing. My phone lay on the desk, taunting me. The council of elders needed to be informed about the attacks on Cyrus’s factories, but I knew they wouldn’t make it easy. The council liked to sit in their plush chairs and argue while the rest of us did the real work of keeping order.Still, this was too big to ignore. I needed answers, and the council had resources I couldn’t access alone.I grabbed the phone and dialed the private number that connected me to their offices. The line rang longer than I liked before a stern, familiar voice answered.“Alpha Gaius,” Elder Rowan greeted, his tone as neutral as ever. “To what do we owe this early call?”“Cyrus’s factories,” I said bluntly. “They were destroyed last night. All of them.”A pause. I could practically hear the gears turning in Rowan’s head. “We heard reports of explosions,” he admitted. “But we assumed it was a local issue. You’re saying this was coordinated?”“Yes,”
EvelynRaven lay on the couch, looking pale and broken.Her chest rising and falling in uneven, shallow breaths. Blood stained her clothe and streaked her face, and I couldn’t look at her without feeling a strange mix of emotions. Hatred and anger , all deep inside me, reminders of the damage she’d caused in the past, but they were overshadowed by something else now. Worry. Unease.The medics rushed in with their kits, their faces set in grim determination. I stepped back, giving them room to work. Gaius stayed nearby, his sharp eyes watching every movement as if willing Raven to survive by force.“She’s critical,” one of the medics muttered to the other as they worked quickly. “Her wounds are deep, and she’s lost a lot of blood. We’ll do what we can, but it’s not looking good.”Gaius’s jaw clenched at their words. “Do everything,” he said firmly. “Whatever it takes.”“We’ll try, Alpha,” the medic replied, though her tone was far from reassuring.I stood frozen a few steps away
EvelynThe house was too quiet. It wasn’t the kind of peaceful silence that brought comfort, but the heavy one that makes it hard to breathe. I sat on the edge of the bed, clutching my phone in one hand and staring at the number saved on the screen.It wasn’t mine.It was hers. The number I had blocked.I had written out the number, instinctually. Before Gaius had deleted it from my block history.A simple scrap of paper with a hastily scrawled number, one I clearly hadn’t intended for him to see.It felt like a secret, like another piece of his life he’d chosen to keep from me.I hated how much it bothered me. After everything we’d been through together, I shouldn’t have been second-guessing his intentions. But the thought of him leaving me out, of him choosing to meet with her, his ex-mate, was more painful than I wanted to admit.My fingers hovered over the phone, indecisive. The logical part of me said to let it go, to trust Gaius. But my heart wasn’t so easily silenced. If
GaiusThe pack house was quiet when I entered, except for the soft glow of the lamps. The scent of lavender—Evelyn’s favorite—lingered in the air, mingling with the faint aroma of freshly baked bread. It was the smell of home, of safety, but tonight it felt stifling.I dropped my coat on the back of a chair, running a hand through my hair as I tried to push aside the weight of the day. The tension with Raven, the danger of Cyrus’s growing power—it all churned in my mind like a storm I couldn’t outrun.Evelyn’s soft footsteps reached my ears before I saw her. She appeared from the hallway, her face lighting up immediately she saw me. But the happiness was short-lived. Her eyes scanned my face, her expression shifting to concern.“You’re late,” she said softly, stepping closer. Her hands brushed against my arms, her touch grounding me for a moment. “How did it go? Did you meet them?”I hesitated, the words feeling stuck in my throat. I hated lying to her, but I couldn’t figure
GaiusRaven walked beside me looking tensed. She moved with caution.She had remained quiet for a while, and I found it difficult to read her expression. I finally broke the silence, my voice sharp. “What were you thinking back there, Raven? Going after her at like that? That could’ve gone very wrong.”Raven stopped abruptly, turning to face me. “What was I thinking?” she snapped, her eyes glaring at me.“What were you thinking, Gaius? Dragging us into some stranger’s trap without any solid plan? And I’m the reckless one?”“You didn’t have to make it worse,” I shot back, stepping closer. “ Attacking her like that—what did you think that was going to accomplish?”Raven clenched her hands into fists, and she scoffed, her voice filled with sarcasm. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize we were supposed to politely play along with her little game while she fed us with riddles. We don’t have time for this, Gaius. Every second we waste, Cyrus gets stronger.”“And every second you act witho