Veronica’s POV “Did I make you proud, Mother?” The question pierced through the tense air at the chapel. The guests and audience were feeding on the drama unfolding right before their eyes. But this is all between us. I turned to Sebastian for a second before meeting her stunned eyes again, “I traded for a better husband and a stronger Alpha,” I tapped my hand on his chest and beamed at her. The worst thing for them is that it was true. There is no Alpha in the North that could match Sebastian. He is in his own league. She has always wanted to use me for power and status, make me climb the ranks and bag a good Alpha that would benefit her. I just surpassed her expectations this time. I wonder what she must be feeling right now, “It’s all thanks to you.” Jadeline was lost for words. It all came down to her at once. I bet her mind is racing, trying to grasp this situation. Ruby is still deeply confused and humiliated. I think she might cry in frustration. Meanwhile Colton hasn'
Veronica’s POVLife in Helios became easier and harder at the same time after we got back from Eviera.The pack welcomed our arrival— or just Sebastian, actually. It’s an etiquette when their king is back.They were a bit more civil to me now. Not entirely accepted by the majority but less skeptic than last time. I’m sure it's probably because they heard how Sebastian treats and dotes on me.Apparently word gets around really fast here. By night time of our first day back in the territory, the wedding shenanigans were known to the whole pack. Lots of rumors have been swirling around.I wasn't sure how they would judge me for it. Whether it made my reputation better or worse, I had no time to overthink it.Even if I was still elated by everything that transpired in Eviera, and how it all fell to my favor, I knew I couldn't stay too complacent.One thing I know about Jadeline is she bites back, harder.She wouldn't just give up. I have to be ready.But again, I currently don't have any
Veronica’s POV The wedding day arrived in a blink of an eye. I was sitting in front of the mirror while the servants were rushing to get me ready. Someone was putting makeup on my face and styling my hair. It was a busy day for everyone. Big event too, especially for the entire Helios pack. The other night, I knew the Rozeiros family arrived. I asked Sebastian about it when we met for breakfast the morning after. “Your family is here?” I interrogated before taking a sip from my morning coffee. I saw him halt for a split second before he continued eating like he didn't hear it even if I noticed he did. He acted lost while not meeting my eyes, “What?” “I heard the trumpet last night,” I said with a stoic expression. Something doesn't feel right. “Ah,” he was still looking at his plate. He knew he couldn't deny it now, “Yeah. They heard about our wedding,” he shrugged before continuing to eat. He still doesn't look my way. “Of course, you'll be getting married so they'd know
Veronica’s POV The reception was festive and lively. The entire Northern continent celebrated with us. Sebastian and I sat close to each other. He had his hand on my lap as I leaned to him. I'm getting more and more comfortable in his presence. Well, he is now my husband so that should be normal… right? Nothing to overthink about. Yeah, okay. That's right. This is normal. This is not wrong. I can give myself this. And if I crave something greedier whenever he touches me, that's only mine to keep. The banquet was elegant and gorgeous. It was able to accommodate a great amount of our guest list. I heard there were even some attendees from the West, East, and South too. Naturally, there were a lot of faces I didn't know. But of course, there are also those I am very familiar with. Ruby and Colton were lining up to greet us at our table that was situated in front and on a stage of the venue. Because of our status, we're not the ones to go around the tables to thank our guests. The
Note: The following chapter contains explicit adult content.* * * * *Veronica’s POVEverything happened in a blink of an eye. One second we were still at the reception, next thing I knew, I was in his arms inside his master's bedroom.His chambers were dark and there were only the two of us. Alone. It was utterly silent in the night. I imagined this room to be bigger and surely it is. Yet it still somehow feels cramped. Like it’s closing in on us, trapping us into a space where we have no choice but to close the distance between our bodies.“Hey,” Sebastian whispered. His voice sounds so
Note: The following chapter contains explicit adult content.* * * * *Sebastian's POVI had everything I have ever desired in my hands right now— and it’s better than I have ever imagined.My palms slid to smooth on her back, feeling every inch of her and my jaw tightened as I felt her reaction from below, clenching around me.“Oh! Ah, ah!” Veronica was sobbing, face down on the pillow.My hand found her nape and I pushed her head down a bit more to the soft cushions as she continued moaning my name, “Sebastian!”I can feel my eyes darken as I felt the prid
Veronica's POVMy body was killing me and I will kill Sebastian for this.It was the morning after our first night. The sunlight from the windows slipped between the curtains in his chambers. I could hear the day starting outside. It was probably late in the morning.I feel numb and aching all over. I was sore in a lot of places. He really did take a toll on me.His arms were wrapped around me, my back on him, and I know that he is awake by the way he tries to nip and bite my neck.“Sebastian, you know it can't work yet,” I told him in a lazy manner, the tiredness was still in my bones.He was nipping for a
Veronica’s POVThe Northern continent is cold by nature. Almost throughout the year, the weather is just varying levels of the wintry season. Sometimes we experience summer and spring but it's very short.There is no snow right now but it's still frosty so I wore a fur-trimmed overcoat with elegant embroidery, its A-line silhouette passing below my knee as I wear high boots to walk around. In our human form, werewolves can feel chilly too. Not that I feel the chill but Analynn insisted for me to wear this.It was Isolde and Soren who accompanied and toured me around Helios after lunch. It’s my first time leaving the palace premises aside from when I was at the previous mansion where I was originally locked up and the banquet last time.
Note: The following chapter is entirely a flashback**Jadeline’s POV“I did it for the pack,” were the first words from Rozeiros, as if trying to explain what he did to my husband.However, no amount of explanation—whether it may be just or not—could ever take away the pain of losing my mate. The moment Helian’s body turned cold, I already lost my friend and home. I have only one thing left for me. My child.I took a step forward, glaring at him and baring my claws.“That’s not what I’m asking.” I snarled. “Tell me where my daughter is!”I lunged an attack at him.I wasn’t a hunter nor a warrior. I never liked violence. I was just a healer. It was then when I regretted it. There was a big gap in our skills. He was just mostly dodging and defending himself, probably not even taking me seriously.But it works in my favor. It will be his fatal mistake to go easy on me. I have no intentions of letting him off the hook without my daughter.“I thought you were his brother,” I accused him
Jadeline’s POVThe worst thing about betrayal is that it can only be done to you by the people you treasured most.“What are you doing?!” I yell, voice cracking.Rozeiros still could not say a word. I felt my eyes slowly tearing up.“This isn't his fault, Rozeiros! He was doing it for the pack! You're misunderstanding it!” I tried to lunge at him but the pack members continued holding me back tightly.So I just continued shouting, “You know he wouldn't do something like this for no reason! You know Helian!”Rozeiros averted his gaze at me and I couldn't help but burst in betrayal.“How can you do this?!”I saw his jaw clench and hands fist but the coward did not dare meet my eyes.“Jaedelinne…” his voice trailed off. “I don't have any choice.”Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit!His words sounded like excuses. He didn't have a choice? He did! If he truly trusted Helian and what he knew about him, he wouldn't just try and kill him just like this!They knew each other longer. He knew him firs
Note: The following chapter mainly contains flashback**Jadeline’s POVA great sacrifice—is what they called my child.My innocent child. To them, she was nothing but a sacrifice, a collateral damage. Both sides saw a helpless infant and decided that taking her life is not a big deal. As if I didn’t hold her fragile small body in my arms after I birthed her, felt her warmth and the way she lit up my world, forever changing my purpose, my being.It was only days after my marriage with Helian and our coronation when we found out that I was already pregnant for a while.The best moment throughout my entire existence was the first time I held my daughter.“She’s beautiful,” I whispered, eyes tearing up as I stared at my sleeping baby, cradling her to my chest.“She is,” Helian said and leaned closer to us. He rubbed his thumb faintly on our child’s cheek, careful to not wake her up. He dropped a lingering gentle kiss on top of my head and mumbled, “Thank you for bringing her to this wor
Veronica’s POV“Time to fulfill your purpose, my dear.”Jadeline’s clawed hand shoved me to the ground and I was thrown off balance, crashing onto the snow-covered earth sliding backward, cold seeped into my bones while ice and frozen dirt scraped against my skin. The sting of the impact barely registered to me. I didn’t feel cold, the rage I had burned hotter and I gritted my teeth, pushed myself up to glare at the woman who threw me.I looked around. We were at the entrance towards the clearing of Helios’ waterfalls where the winter doesn’t fall. The place that once looked so magical and majestic in my eyes seemed terrifying in this light.Jadeline walked towards me and picked me up by the wrists again, yanking me forward with force. I gasped as she dragged me across the dirty ground."Let me go!" I snarled with a struggle but her grip was unyielding.Things continued passing in a blur.I couldn’t hold back my cries and sobs as I tried to escape from her grasps. However, what momen
Veronica’s POVThe blood moon is almost devoured in half by the eclipse. Time is running out on me. I’m exhausted. I was losing my will. At some point, anger was just too heavy to carry that it made me hollow inside but this was my fault. I have no one else to blame but myself. I have let my heart lead me here.My entire life, I was just going around in circles, following someone like a pathetic dog trained and tricked to be pulled on a leash—just for a fraction of fake love. I was lonely and I clung to scraps to fill the missing part in my chest. It’s what led me to despair. It’s what led me to vengeance.Now, everything is different. I found someone who’s willing to pour me the affection I’ve been chasing all this time; more than I could take, more than I could handle.In the pits of my hopelessness, his red eyes flashed in my mind.That’s right, I still have Sebastian.I can’t afford to pity myself. He believes I am strong enough to push through this. He trusted me and isn’t that
Veronica’s POV“How did you break free?” I choked out while I tried to remove her grip on my jaw.I need to think fast. I cannot lose the upper hand or everything would go downhill and she would turn the tables on me. Yet I can’t let her predict how I plan on getting away from her.Jadeline let out a hollow, bitter laugh. “Don’t be so full of yourself, Veronica. I would give it to you—it was a nice try but you know better than underestimate me.”“A flimsy spell of illusion won’t keep me for long.” I yelped as her claws dug into my flesh, blood dripped on my chin. I pulled on her wrist but she just gripped me tighter.Perhaps this strength is still part of the perks of her contract with the dark entity. The spell wasn’t fully completed, I wasn’t able to weaken Jadeline to her lowest. “You think I’d agree to let myself be tortured in pain for your satisfaction?” Her frenzied eyes stared into mine. Her words piqued my attention.That’s right, what triggered her sudden will that allowed
Veronica’s POVIt was as if I’m taken back to a century ago.Jadeline’s next memory is the first great eclipse as I realized the surroundings and the sky in her vision.I felt her body freeze from where she was paralyzed in front of me, my gaze briefly checking on her before I looked around to see the memory in detail.It was her and Helian.“They will find out about this,” young Jaedelinne was agitated as she paced back and forth, fumbling with her fingers.“I’m telling you! You should just give this up,” her voice broke and she moved to hold his arm, pulling him.But Helian remained staring at the waterfalls. I wasn't sure if he’s not listening or he just can't hear her.Jaedelinne faced him even as his eyes continued to look past her. There was definitely something wrong with him. He doesn't feel like the same man in her earlier visions. It was as if he’s not in his right mind.“Helian! Helian, listen to me!” Jaedelinne said louder this time. She’s growing more anxious as she fran
Sebastian's POVI didn’t plan on leaving Veronica to herself until I heard the fading voices and tortured sounds of my siblings. At first, I was still conflicted because we have anticipated complications like this but I had a fraction of a second to decide when I felt their fading presence.My body moved on its own and I came rushing to them.It’s as if my entire being is being pulled towards the grave danger that it detected. I felt an ominous disturbance that sent my instincts into alert. I knew this was no regular for, surpassing even what we projected.I have to trust for now that Veronica could handle herself before I go back to her.My strength has never been challenged to the point where I consider the possibility of losing. Hence, I never feared an opponent. I even So this unfamiliar trepidation that flows through my veins right now is not a good sign.It was the same case for my family, my siblings. Being at the top means that there are only a handful that can stand against
Third Person’s POVWhile Queen Veronica was extracting the strength and power of her once stepmother Jadeline, on the other side of the kingdom, three figures dashed in full speed within the woods of Helios.They followed the shadow that was ripped out from the body of its host as it soared through the sky with its ominous aura.Within minutes of crossing the woods behind the main castle, faraway from the square where Veronica was at, and the waterfalls that will be the venue of the ritual, the forest finally opened to a clearing.“It’s reaching the seal, brace yourselves,” Rowan says as they draw closer and the shadow starts shooting downwards.There was a giant boulder with the carvings that the Supreme engraved last time he was in the territory. The symbols started glowing as the entity neared. “Stop!” Rowan instructs and halts in his feet with his arm extended to make them cease on their tracks too.Luciana and Nolan slowed down close behind him. They all watched the scene unfol