KAI The next few days were a whirlwind of me trying to bypass the elders. They had called for me urgently in the past 24 hours more than five times, and it seemed that it was about time since I went to them. I was tired of our meetings. It only consisted of me telling them the one thing they did not want to hear. After a few more summons today, I decided that I needed to go. They needed to be fucking patient. The tension in the conference room was palpable when I walked in, thickening the air. I sat at the head of the table, staring at the faces of the lords and elders, their expressions a mix of frustration and fear. They seemed to be even more on edge right now. They had sent me a letter that ren more guards had been killed at the borders. I offered my sympathy to the families, but that was not enough. Lily told me that people were talking a lot. “We can’t wait any longer,” Lord Armand said immediately after I sat down on the chair. He did not even wait for me to breathe. “The
ALINA Something felt wrong with Kai. I couldn’t shake the feeling that had settled deep in my chest, the sense that something was off with him. He had been acting strangely for the past few days—distant, distracted, like there was something weighing heavily on his mind. And while he tried to hide it, I could see through him. Normally, I would over think and maybe think that perhaps he was not who he said he was. Maybe he was just putting up an act with me, but then a part of me strongly did not believe that. This morning, I hadn’t seen him at all, which only made the knot in my stomach tighten. I needed to know what was going on, so when one of the maids brought my breakfast, I asked her directly.“Is there something big happening in the pack?” I asked, trying to keep my voice casual, though the anxiety in me was growing.The guard’s eyes widened slightly, like she was not expecting me to speak to her, and she shook her head quickly. “No, ma’am,” she said, her voice tense. “Everyth
ALINAWith the hasty decision I made, I was hoping the day was not going to come soon. I hoped that it would take some more time at least, but that was not the case. The day came as fast even though I was dreading it. On top of all of that, instead of excitement or joy, I was filled with a deep, unsettling sense that something was missing. I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection in the elegant gown I had been fitted for, but I barely recognized the woman looking back at me.This wasn’t how I had imagined my wedding day. When I thought about marriage growing up, it was always about love. I never expected to be standing here, preparing to marry someone because I felt bad for them. And yet, here I was, about to marry Kai. Not because I was madly in love with him, but because I had convinced myself that maybe, just maybe, this was the right thing to do.But deep down, I knew it wasn’t. I could not just marry someone because of that. I wanted to be selfless, but I could no
KAI I felt sick to my core. Guilt clawed at me, heavy and relentless, as I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection. I barely recognized the man looking back at me. The weight of the lie I had told Alina was suffocating, and Nyx’s voice echoed in the back of my mind, a constant reminder that I had gone too far.‘I warned you,’ Nyx growled, his frustration palpable. ‘You shouldn’t have lied. You should’ve been honest with her from the start.’ He had been repeating those words in my head since in the morning that they are starting to feel monotonous. Even when I was busy he was still trying to talk to me. I clenched my fists, trying to block him out even though I knew he was right but I did not need constant reminders of that. I had messed up. In a moment of desperation, I had fabricated the story about Nyx being in pain, using it as an excuse to convince Alina into marrying me. It had seemed like the only way to fix everything, the only way to secure the throne and prot
ALINAI felt nothing. As I walked away from the pack, the place that was supposed to be my home, my future, all I could think about was how numb I felt. It was like everything inside me had shut down. My mind kept racing through the people who had betrayed me. Alex, Kai, Xavier. Kai again. I couldn’t even muster the strength to shed a tear. I had cried so much before, but now, there was nothing left. I was empty. I thought I had found a chance to be happy here. I thought that maybe, after everything I had been through, I could finally have a place where I belonged. I was such a fool to believe that.I kept walking, my steps slow and aimless, not caring where I was going. The borders of the pack were dangerous. I knew that when I made the split second decision to leave and when I was packing my bags but as I stepped out, the murders and the threats didn’t seem to matter anymore. What was the point of being careful when everything had already fallen apart? I couldn’t bring myself to ca
KAIThe sharp sting of Alina’s slap radiated down my face, settling deep in my chest. It wasn’t just the physical pain, it was her anger, the betrayal in her eyes that caused me the real pain that I was feeling deep down in my chest. I deserved it. Every bit of it. But that didn’t make it any easier to swallow. I knew that it was going to end with this one day. She was going to find out and she was going to hate me, and somehow I had braced myself up for it. But I did not want it to be so soon. “Alina, please,” I said, my voice tight with emotion and desperation. “I can explain—”“I don’t want to hear it!” she snapped, cutting me off before I could even try to justify myself. After she was done hitting me, she leaned away from me and the pain in her eyes nearly made me crumble. But her words hit harder than the slaps. I knew she didn’t want to listen to me, not after everything I had done. I had lied, and manipulated her, and now, she wanted nothing to do with me. I had pushed her to
KAII stayed with Alina for several hours, thinking of what I was going to say to her when she woke up. My face was still bruised from all of the slaps. I was surprised that Lily did not make a comment on them because I saw her eyeing my face. I guess she understood what happened between us and did not want to make the situation worse for me by talking about it. After I decided that I was genuinely confused about what I was going to say to her when she woke up, I decided to do something different. I was going to go and meet the man that is going to take my throne.I stormed through the palace halls, my mind filled with disbelief. My cousin Jaime, of all people, was the one they had chosen to replace me. I had sacrificed everything for this throne, and now it was slipping through my fingers. I was not going to do all of that in vain. I had sacrificed my entire life training to be an alpha. Ever since I was young, they had always trained me on what it was going to be like to be a great
ALINAI woke up feeling groggy, my mind heavy with the remnants of sleep, but the second I opened my eyes and saw the familiar surroundings, anger flooded through me. I was back in my room, the one that I had just escaped from. I was back in the Seven Isles. For a moment, I lay there, the events of the past few hours rushing back to me. Kai had drugged me. He had forced me back here against my will, despite everything yet again. My chest tightened as the anger flared hotter, and I sat up in bed, swinging my legs over the edge. I felt the rush of betrayal, and all I wanted to do was teach him a lesson he would never forget.My hand instinctively went to my neck, where I always wore the necklace that belonged to my mother, the one thing I had left of her. It brought me so much comfort and when I woke up, one of the first things that I noticed was that my neck felt too empty. But when my fingers brushed my skin, I felt nothing. My heart stopped. The necklace was gone. Panic seized me im