Haden"Oh wow," as we stumble into a large hall at the tunnel's end, I utter."Are all of these...tombs?" Terrel whispers, his eyes flitting from one to another."These are indeed the tombs of the Rexellen family. Every member of our bloodline since founding this castle, except for our parents and my mate, are buried here," Elias says, passing in between us. He steps near one of the cubicles which are closed by a thick, stone slab. "If my memory is correct, this belongs to the first Alpha King of our bloodline."It’s easy to forget at times that Elias is a prince, a member of the Rexellen family who once refused the great power that came with it. He is so humble, and so down to earth that Elias never seemed to be apart from us, even when we were children. Theon always kept the air of royalty around him, even when he insisted that we treat him as an equal. But Elias? When he abdicated, he completely gave up trying to be royal in any way.But then he would speak of his bloodline, and we
HadenWe exit the tunnel soon after, fortunately not facing any rogue threats. The kids are terrified, and they cling to their parents as we approach the exit, which is illuminated by the faint light that comes from the outside. By the time we reach the broken seal of the exit, the storm has gone down substantially."Oh, thank the Goddess, we made it out of there," Bailey mutters as we step out into the snow-filled ground. The sky is less grey than before, and the snow flurries less. The kids look better now that they are outside. We are still in the forest, yes, but we are not within the pack barrier. We can feel that, deep in our bones. We're in the outside world that belongs to the humans."I'm sure that the human city has recovered enough to host some wolves," Kellin tells Gemini. "Try to get a pretty average hotel room and keep your head down and stay there until I give you a call.""I will," Gemini nods, and leans into Kellin to nuzzle his neck, catching the scent of her mate.
CallistaTheon manages to sit on his own a while later, and we move to the corner of the cell, where it’s warmer. He wraps his arms around me, and I snuggle into him, and it’s reassuring because he’s still alive and relatively unharmed, and so am I, and as long as we have each other, we will be okay.We have got to be okay.Sleep takes a while to come, and when it does, it’s uneasy. We manage to rest only for a few hours before we get rudely awakened.A loud noise comes from the outside as a door bangs, jolting me awake. Awareness returns to me like a lightning bolt."Theon, wake up," I shake my mate awake, and he startles as he sits up straight."Wh…what is it?""I think someone's coming," I reply and sure enough, we start to hear footsteps approaching our direction.A masked man opens the door to the room that contains our cell. In one of his hands, he holds a tray with two plates."The Alpha King ordered us to feed you," The guard says in a droll tone. Theon bristles at the misuse
CallistaThe guards manhandle us, shoving us up the stairs. I can feel Theon’s embarrassment from where I stand. He's too weak to even stand without support yet, much less walk. The effects of Wolfsbane mixed with him losing his birthright have affected him greatly, and he needs some more time to recover.Of course, Farris is not going to give us that time. We are both taken to Theon's study, where Farris sits behind Theon's desk, on the chair that belongs to Theon. He's flitting through some papers, and as soon as Theon sees him, he starts to struggle."Those are confidential information!" he yells at Farris who rolls his eyes."True, and I am the Alpha King now, so I can do whatever I want with any confidential information regarding this pack. My pack," Farris shrugs, turning to another paper."What? No, you can't. We can only access those with the permission of the person they belong to only. What kind of an Alpha are you if you don't know that?!" Theon exclaims, anger seeping fro
CallistaI'm dragged out of the castle by the two guards that hold me. I don't know where they are taking me, because I haven't actually been into the Rexellen pack town. I have driven past it two times, and both times we took some sort of an off-road that circled the town. But this time I'm dragged right to the center of the town. There are people swarming us, standing on either side of the snow-laden roads. Some of them, the unmated wolves, are wearing masks and I wonder why they were here. They watch me with fearful eyes as I walk through them. That's one thing they all have in common. Fear in their expressions. They are afraid.Are they afraid for me, or of me?The construction projects are almost completed but still covered, and the town looks gloomy. Snow still falls but not as much as before. I can't see Theon or even Farris. Or Valencia.Although I try to appear calm, I am panicking inside. What's happening? Why are they taking me outside? Why are all the townspeople in atte
CallistaTheon’s scream is raw as the guards drag me to the cage. They open the door and push me in. The metal clang of the gate closing is distinct, even with the roar of the crowd surrounding us. I feel numb. It all happens so fast after that. Farris uses his voice on the crowd to silence them again as the guards carry five heavily chained wolves into the town square. They all have ruby-red eyes that signify they are rogues. The guards open the other gates that lead to the cage and push the rogue wolves, who are already growling inside. The locks that hold the chains together are automatic. It will only take one click of a remote button to release them. I can see their blood-tinged fangs as they clash with the black of the chains, and their eyes as they stare at me like I am prey. I am frozen where I stand. No thought registers in my head except a constant, desperate voice chanting the word 'Run!" repeatedly in my mind. But where the hell am I supposed to run? I'm trapped in a c
TheonAs soon as the chains unlock, the wolves get up. They shimmy the chains off their bodies and kick their limbs to get used to standing up.Then they turn to Callista.I can't even scream as they start circling her, because my throat is locked from Farris’ order. I never ever thought that I would be the one on the receiving side of the voice of the Alpha King. It just shows more of how much of a failure I am as a leader. I fell for a forged document and risked the life of an innocent wolf, who was also my mate. I tortured her, I made her escape right into the hands of a new danger. I publicly humiliated her. I fell for her sister's scheming like some little boy who knew nothing about the world. I trusted someone who once tried to kill my freaking brother. Goddess, why were my people still loyal to me? I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve any of it. I didn't deserve to be the Alpha King. I don't feel as weak as I did before. The damage done to my body by Wolfsbane was greatly
Callista"Take that!" I fling the chain at a wolf, and my ring guides my hand. The chain hits the rogue's snout with a firm smack, hitting hard enough to break the skin. With a yelp, the rogue jumps back, licking at his snout. "You want it too?!" I scream at the others, spiraling the loose corner of the chain. "Well, come and get it!"A rogue tries to jump at me from behind, but my amulet is more intuitive. It guides my hands and the chains whip at the underbelly of the wolf, making it fall to the ground with a thud. I cross my arms to create a shield as the rest of the wolves pounce at me, all at once. Their speed and strength work to their own disadvantage, as they hit my shield hard, flying back. "Impressive!" Farris claps from the outside, mockingly with a sardonic grin. "You almost had me there. Almost. Say, Callista, what do you think is the best thing about rogues?”He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Unless you kill them, they always get up!"Sure enough, the fallen rogues only
Theon"Theon, are you crazy?!" Kellin shouts as we run down a staircase that leads to the ground floor of the keep. "You can't challenge him to a duel like you are, he's the Alpha King!""I have to try, Kellin," I throw over my shoulder without breaking my stride. "That fucker used the voice about ten times for just shits and giggles. He’s got no thought of consequence at all! I can't have someone like him, a sociopath, running around holding that much power.""I agree with everything you said about Leighwen but is this the time?" Kellin grabs me by the shoulder, finally halting me. He turns me so he can look at me, wearing a very worried expression. “You’re an average wolf now, and you’re weak enough from the wolfsbane. Please, think this through. Screw honor, let’s attack him together. Let’s take him down without a duel. This is madness and you know it, Alpha!”"No, Kellin. I’m afraid this is how we have to do it,” I say. "I’ve never fought with dishonor in my life, and I can’t star
TheonI punch the mouthy guard on his face, giving him a bloody nose, and use his surprise to kick him in the stomach. The guard falls on his back, groaning, and I kick him in the ribs for good measure. The guard crumples with that, curling into a fetal position. I feel a bit bad, but in hindsight, they shouldn't have come to take over my pack if they wanted to be unharmed. The hallways are filled with werewolves in both human and wolf forms fighting one another, and I try to navigate through the chaos to chase after Farris and Valencia. I'd seen them run away moments ago toward the direction of the eastern wing, and I couldn't let them escape. I had to get my power back.More and more guards still in their human forms lunge at me, and I get distracted trying to fight them all. It's not easy because although I feel better than I did before, I am still recovering."Alpha!" A maid calls next to me, pummeling a guard with a broom. "We can handle it here! You need to find the Gamma, rig
TheonThe vines that are twisted around my waist literally throw me into a castle hallway through a window, right in the middle of a bunch of castle staff who scream as soon as they see me. "Alpha?!" they exclaim, gaping at me with wide eyes. "How did you do that?"I scramble to my feet, feeling as if I've gone on a roller coaster. In a way, I had. Except with vines...that moved...on their own?What?I shake my head and focus on my surroundings. I recognize the part of the castle where I am. This is the west wing, which was barricaded against the hostiles using the gates. I focus on my people, and I notice that they are all carrying things like rolling pins, brooms, iron skillets, etc. in their hands."What are you doing?" I ask them, feeling as if my mind was jumbling with everything that's just happened. A moment ago, I was chained to a pole and now I was with the castle staff, in the castle. One maid lifts a butcher's knife. "We're going to fight against the hostiles on the Gamm
CallistaThe rogue wolf's teeth connect with my arm, and I cry out. My whole hand goes numb from the pain as his jaws tighten around my flesh, and blood spurts out into his mouth."No!" Ophelia yells, and a vine shoots at the wolf, tightening around his midriff."Let go of my friend!" Ophelia screams and the vines yank the wolf off my arm. But the wolf doesn't let go in time, and its sharp teeth drag through my skin. I see stars from the pain."Oh, my Goddess, Callista I'm so sorry!" Ophelia yells."It's okay," I mutter through gritted teeth, trying to see clearly through the tears that blur my sight. The rogues stare at the wolf who was thrown away by the vines.That's when the strangest thing happens. The wolf who attacked me started to convulse violently as if someone was shaking him from the inside. It makes the other rogues back away from fear. The rogue wolf starts to froth from his mouth and whimper as if he were a wounded animal. "What's happening?" Ophelia exclaims next to
Callista"Take that!" I fling the chain at a wolf, and my ring guides my hand. The chain hits the rogue's snout with a firm smack, hitting hard enough to break the skin. With a yelp, the rogue jumps back, licking at his snout. "You want it too?!" I scream at the others, spiraling the loose corner of the chain. "Well, come and get it!"A rogue tries to jump at me from behind, but my amulet is more intuitive. It guides my hands and the chains whip at the underbelly of the wolf, making it fall to the ground with a thud. I cross my arms to create a shield as the rest of the wolves pounce at me, all at once. Their speed and strength work to their own disadvantage, as they hit my shield hard, flying back. "Impressive!" Farris claps from the outside, mockingly with a sardonic grin. "You almost had me there. Almost. Say, Callista, what do you think is the best thing about rogues?”He doesn’t wait for an answer. “Unless you kill them, they always get up!"Sure enough, the fallen rogues only
TheonAs soon as the chains unlock, the wolves get up. They shimmy the chains off their bodies and kick their limbs to get used to standing up.Then they turn to Callista.I can't even scream as they start circling her, because my throat is locked from Farris’ order. I never ever thought that I would be the one on the receiving side of the voice of the Alpha King. It just shows more of how much of a failure I am as a leader. I fell for a forged document and risked the life of an innocent wolf, who was also my mate. I tortured her, I made her escape right into the hands of a new danger. I publicly humiliated her. I fell for her sister's scheming like some little boy who knew nothing about the world. I trusted someone who once tried to kill my freaking brother. Goddess, why were my people still loyal to me? I didn't deserve it. I didn't deserve any of it. I didn't deserve to be the Alpha King. I don't feel as weak as I did before. The damage done to my body by Wolfsbane was greatly
CallistaTheon’s scream is raw as the guards drag me to the cage. They open the door and push me in. The metal clang of the gate closing is distinct, even with the roar of the crowd surrounding us. I feel numb. It all happens so fast after that. Farris uses his voice on the crowd to silence them again as the guards carry five heavily chained wolves into the town square. They all have ruby-red eyes that signify they are rogues. The guards open the other gates that lead to the cage and push the rogue wolves, who are already growling inside. The locks that hold the chains together are automatic. It will only take one click of a remote button to release them. I can see their blood-tinged fangs as they clash with the black of the chains, and their eyes as they stare at me like I am prey. I am frozen where I stand. No thought registers in my head except a constant, desperate voice chanting the word 'Run!" repeatedly in my mind. But where the hell am I supposed to run? I'm trapped in a c
CallistaI'm dragged out of the castle by the two guards that hold me. I don't know where they are taking me, because I haven't actually been into the Rexellen pack town. I have driven past it two times, and both times we took some sort of an off-road that circled the town. But this time I'm dragged right to the center of the town. There are people swarming us, standing on either side of the snow-laden roads. Some of them, the unmated wolves, are wearing masks and I wonder why they were here. They watch me with fearful eyes as I walk through them. That's one thing they all have in common. Fear in their expressions. They are afraid.Are they afraid for me, or of me?The construction projects are almost completed but still covered, and the town looks gloomy. Snow still falls but not as much as before. I can't see Theon or even Farris. Or Valencia.Although I try to appear calm, I am panicking inside. What's happening? Why are they taking me outside? Why are all the townspeople in atte
CallistaThe guards manhandle us, shoving us up the stairs. I can feel Theon’s embarrassment from where I stand. He's too weak to even stand without support yet, much less walk. The effects of Wolfsbane mixed with him losing his birthright have affected him greatly, and he needs some more time to recover.Of course, Farris is not going to give us that time. We are both taken to Theon's study, where Farris sits behind Theon's desk, on the chair that belongs to Theon. He's flitting through some papers, and as soon as Theon sees him, he starts to struggle."Those are confidential information!" he yells at Farris who rolls his eyes."True, and I am the Alpha King now, so I can do whatever I want with any confidential information regarding this pack. My pack," Farris shrugs, turning to another paper."What? No, you can't. We can only access those with the permission of the person they belong to only. What kind of an Alpha are you if you don't know that?!" Theon exclaims, anger seeping fro