“Of course, you shall grant our request. Declining it would be a declaration of war,” Alexei stated, placing his feet on the table to continue vexing the high members. “The news must reach the Triton pack by now, they are preparing for my return with the Luna. Stopping us would not be ideal for this pack given the fact that this is small compared to what was waiting for us in Triton. Calisto would never stand a chance.”I recalled opening my mouth to express my gratitude but it was never my intention to let Alexei speak further, let alone look down on the pack I grew up in. But it was marveling how Alexei spoke those words without thinking of the consequences. It was refreshing and rather commendable. Alexei’s quality is what I lacked before I became who I am now. The only difference we have was he didn’t need to execute a White Stag to prove his courage and determination.“I beg your pardon?” my father asked out of spite, his eyes dark and grim.“Must I presume that you didn't hear m
Alexei’s lips pursed before turning into an imperious grin, crossing his leg to the other as well as his arms on his chest. “Don’t get so full of yourself, Alvarez. My judgment remains unchanged. You are still that unreliable shifter I perceived the moment I laid my eyes on you at that sacred banquet. The only thing that gave you courage was executing the White Stag, which I honestly treated my whole life as rubbish. If it wasn't for the White Stag, you would still be that shifter who has no courage to speak up.” My teeth clamped together and my lips quivered in rage as I looked at Alexei, restraining myself to act upon my temper, otherwise, I wouldn't throw not only scathing words but also my hunting knife, which would surely kill Alexei if I aimed at his heart. I opened my mouth to speak but I immediately closed it when I realized he was right. At least, I admit, despite my simmering anger towards him that was urging me to spew forth but failed when I realized that denying it was l
The female shifter only smiled sweetly at Alexei’s response and extended her hands. Alexei, who was already smiling at his sister, accepted her hands in hopes of assistance, but as soon as she helped him stand up, she slammed him again, this time even harder, which made me wince in pain. Based on how Alexei hollered and curled up, he must have broken his back. “And that’s how I greet my brother, not Triton. Others don't despise their younger brother like I do,” the female shifter crossed her arms and gazed down upon Alexei, who was lying on the ground and constantly grunting. Now that I heard that haughty and sarcasm from her, there was no doubt that she was relative to Alexei. I suppose it runs in their blood. “Alexia, you shit...” Alexei said in a low voice before giving her sister a death glare. “Don’t you think giving me broken born on the day of my return is too much?” “What’s too much is the audacity to come back here after defying the Moon Goddess. Don't be such a big baby.
Snapping his neck. That’s it! I just remembered the fourth way to end Alexei’s life as I gazed up at him. Doing it would be even faster than slashing his neck, actually. It would teach him a lesson for handling me like I was some kind of useless object. If there’s one thing I hated the most in this unfair world is demanding my submission, which I promised myself not to give to anyone, especially a shifter like Alexei. Slowly, I reached for his neck to finally act on my wicked impulse, but then my hands must have a mind on their own when they moved passed to Alexei’s neck and locked his handsome face instead. I brought my face closer to his, not close to letting our lips touch but close enough to feel his breathe on mine. “Alexei...” I whispered, looking straight at his gray eyes and then at his plum lips that were ready to dominate mine. For a moment, I saw a strong restrained dancing in his eyes and the way he gazed down on me immensely. Before his pupil flashed yellow and made me
At first, Alexei was surprised but he deepened the kiss by introducing me to a delectable stroke. When I felt like I was drowning and rather kindled, I pulled away from the kiss and stopped Alexei from chasing my lips. I locked my hands on his face and forced him to look me in the eye.‘Don’t make me kill you in front of your sister, Volkov. She’s behind us,’ I said using the mind link, which stilled Alexei for a second. When he was about to crane his neck towards Alexia, I pinned my forehead on his. ‘Don't. It would only give Alexia a wary sign. Seeing us kissing passionately is enough.’ Alexei held my wrist and nodded at me. Panting, his eyes dropped to my lips and his had quivered in restraint. ‘Screw you, Alvarez... you don't know how much I wanted to spread that legs of yours just to hear you moan my name again. Do you really need to do that? Or were you enjoying seeing me aching for you as I suffer?’ ‘To be honest, yes. At least you know how much you missed after rejecting me.
With my wolf roused in sexual needs siding against Alexei, defeat was waiting for me in this gamble. But I refused to concede as long as I can hold it in. I may not win, but I can always control myself. That, I am certain of succeeding. “No,” I answered while looking straight at his eyes, forbidding mine to drop on his plum lips otherwise I would lose it. “I would rather choke.” “Oh, your inability to accept defeat only made my body crave for you more than I did before, Alvarez. It was annoyingly bold but achingly fucking sexy,” he whispered while looking at me with so much control. However, I did feel the urge rushing in his blood. “How long must you resist me? How long must you forbid yourself to acquire the ecstasy you know yourself you will relish?” I could feel his hands on my waist firming their grasp I never thought I would enjoy. It was tempting, persistent, and knows no surrender. I opened my mouth to speak but Alexei traced his nose on my forehead down to the top of my nos
Silence filled the room and the only sound I could hear was Alexei's sword swishing in the air as I spun it in order to warm up my hand. I used the sword as my stick when the beta winner glanced at Alexei, who was now giving me a sly, sideways sort of glance, in which I couldn't figure out whether he was in favor of stepping up for him without asking for his permission or not. The winner looked at Alexei to challenge him instead but Alexei just offered him a short nod. “I fear for your life, Leonid.”“What?!” the beta named Leonid inquired incredulously before he looked back at me in fright. ‘Try not to kill my beta... remember that you just became our Luna today, Alvarez. Don't fuck this day for us,’ he reminded me, which debased my rising sense of determination to harm. For a moment, I forgot that we were in Triton and not Calisto. I was certain I was thinking of stabbing this beta in the foot for underestimating me. ‘Don't worry, Volkov. You are the only one I would love to kill
My grasp tightened on the knife’s handle as Alexei allowed me to put pressure on his neck, until I saw blood drawing from his skin. Agitated, I swore straight in his face before I threw my hunting knife away. I pushed him many times but Alexei didn't even bulge as he towered over me while looking at me with those predatory eyes, ready to ravish me. “Goddess, I hate you! I hate you so much...” I gritted and then gave him a last push to no avail. Panting, I relinquished my anger and raised my eyes to meet his. The moment his lips parted, I locked my hands to his face and placed my lips on his. I have no idea as to why I did such, yet I found my repulsiveness pleasurable and sustained when Alexei’s hand found my waist and pushed me against the three as he slid his tongue and sucked mine when I matched his rhythm. My moan caught in the back of my throat and I was pulling him closer to demand more, wanting him to get under my skin and force him to stay there for as long as I wished. It
“I couldn’t believe that shifters here in Buenavista forgot the siblings after just two decades, what are your plans for the Martinez siblings and Calisto now?” Irino asked, breaking the peaceful silence I had with Alexei.“Well...” I looked at Mason and Miya and exhaled deeply. “I would love to give them a proper burial and let the Calisto know that they were the Martinez siblings who survived the fall of the Martinez twenty years ago. The shifters who should be the ones ruling Calisto and not the Alvarez. I would also love to conduct a rescue and search for anyone who survived other than Mason and Miya that day to give Calisto back into their hands.”“What if they were the last of their clan?” Irino asked.“I have no choice but to let Akim take Calisto as the new Alpha like everybody was expecting him,” I answered and paused before I faced Irino and the others. “But I won’t let the others face the same leadership here in Calisto, so I will take the shifters who wanted to leave the p
“I’m sorry, Miya...” I uttered under my breath when she dropped at the last blow.Witnessing how Miya shifted back to human, my knees gave up and I threw the gun in outrage, fear, and sorrow. As much as I was thankful that the gun saved me and Alexei, it was still the most dangerous weapon anyone could have possessed to kill one’s wolf.I immediately held my belly and made sure that the baby was alright inside me by caressing it several times. I watched the siblings' dead bodies lying on the ground and heaved a deep sigh.With a heartbreaking sight, I suddenly remember their fates read by the wolfsayer six years ago. It was blank. Unreadable, as the wolfsayer called it, saying she had trouble reading their mates and possibly that they were one of the few that aren’t fated for another. I recall refusing to believe our wolfsayer before, thinking that she only made a mistake.And it turned out that wolfsayers don’t make mistakes. Because the meaning of Mason and Miya’s blank fate is beca
Miya let out a horrified scream before she shot me using her malevolent, trembling eyes. “This is all because of you... this is all because of you! You killed my brother.”Stunned and weeping, I ignored Miya’s outburst and held onto Mason’s stab wound, pulling him closer to me as I refused to believe what Miya had done to her own brother. Mason's eyes were fluttering when I looked at him and his vision was unfocused while watching the setting sun.“Mason, look at me...” I told him as I kept tapping his cheeks. He slowly complied and gave me a sad smile when our eyes finally met. “The Moon Goddess is very kind to let me see you before my life ends, Aera. I had no regrets about saving you, so you should feel the same.”“No, Mason. You will not die! Do you hear me? You will live!” I persisted, but Mason’s breathing started to become shallow and short, making me panic more than I already was.I was now covered in blood. And I didn’t know where to place my hand when Mason suddenly reached
“I will not mess this up, sister. You can trust me,” Mason said, avoiding my gaze as he faced his sister and undisclosing the state I was in.He could have told Miya that I wasn’t unconscious anymore. Kill me the moment he had crouched down since I was secretly listening to their conversation when I should not. Slit my throat without waiting for me to gain consciousness but he didn’t. He remained pretending that I was unconscious for my own sake.With that considerate gesture, I felt like there was still kindness in him, which Miya had totally forsaken a long time ago because of her rage and her intense need for revenge. I most definitely feared that my life was possibly coming to an end, but I felt rather confident about Mason sparing my life.Silently, I just wished I was right.“I trust you,” Miya said to her brother and then she left the cell afterward, leaving Mason who suspiciously trailed his eyes on her sister and let out a big sigh of relief when she was finally out of sight.
MIYA26 years ago...“Yes, honey. You heard your father right. You will be the first female Alpha of the North and the North Canideans will love you once you take the highest rank,” my father, Manolo Martinez, said to me, twirling me in the air and my laughter and shrieks filled my room that blissful night.My mother, Susan Martinez, gave me a warm smile before she walked toward my father’s side. “Okay, that’s enough. The heir to the highest rank will need to get a lot of sleep so she can be the first female of the North when she turns twenty. And that is fifteen years from now. You need to be strong and brave when that happens, Miya honey. For your shifters and for Calisto.”“I would be strong and brave, mother. I promise,” I vowed with my hands spread in the air and then explained excitedly when my father twirled me even faster.After a few turns, my father placed me down and gently tucked me into bed. They kissed my cheeks and wished me good night as their daughter and now the newl
I woke up in a dark room with fear and anger filling me, my hands and feet tied behind my back and I was helplessly facing the floor, trying to shout for help but no words could emerge from my mouth other than a silent moan.Struggling yet determined to move, I tried to free myself by flinging my hands constantly behind my back but my whole body was still numb that I even find it hard to blink or even turn sideways so I would not put all my weight on my stomach since I was a month old pregnant. I am soon to become a mother and I couldn’t lose the most precious blessing the Moon Goddess has given me when other shifters are struggling to bear a child.I never thought that a shifter like Miya, let alone a shifter whom I treated as one of my closest friends and a sister more than I treated Aena would do such a thing to me. And maybe— no, certainly, I am to be blamed as to why I am here in this dark and cold room only the Goddess knew where it was located. It appeared that I trusted Miya t
A week later...Wearing a black dress, I made myself inside Calisto’s hall without minding the mixed gaze of everyone was piercing me.All eyes immediately turned on me when I stepped inside and they gave me a deep respectful bow when I walked past them. Not just Calisto but all shifters from other packs who paid a visit to my father’s funeral. After everything that I had been through, the praise and the exaggerated appreciation, seeing them treat me like I was next to the Moon Goddess was never new, especially when there was a rumor that I helped Muck and not long after when Andras revealed that it wasn’t a rumor but the truth.Aera the Great. That’s what they called me even before the revelation. Now that the truth was out, they began to worship me for driving out all the Antartis as though I did it by myself. I had help. Andras could receive some attention as well, including the Muck’s brave shifters who fought with me during the riot, but the North has never been a fair region eve
“I am what?” I blurted, holding my stomach, unable to believe what Yelena said. “No, I am not.”“You are. Look.” Yelena held my waist and made me face the mirror. And then she tilted me to the side and carefully scooped my bump I never knew I had. “You are pregnant.”I gasped when I realized Yelena was right and my hands flew to cover my mouth in shock and delight. “Oh, my Goddess... I am! I am indeed with child, Yelena.”“You are...” Yelena gushed and did a little jump while holding my hand. Out of excitement, the news made me jump as well with her, but Yelena stopped me immediately. “Careful, Aera. You cannot jump or fight, or do straining activities from now on. You have a precious life inside you now. Oh, what a blessing for you and your mate! We shall tell the others, especially Alexei.”“No,” I cut her off, making Yelena's eyebrows arched in wonder and confusion. “I'm afraid we have to keep it for ourselves, Yelena,”“Why?” she asked with a little wondering laugh that turned out
“W-What?” Mason asked, his tone in utter disbelief and rather contemptuous. “Aera, are you hearing yourself? Are you forgetting yourself? He is your father.”The corner of my lips arched and I looked away, dropping my gaze to the table with a silent yet spiteful laugh before I looked back at him testily.However, this time, my lips turned into a thin line and my reaction turned cold, my face went slack quite intentionally, not because I regretted what I said but because I was disappointed by the fact he had the courage to ask me such an absurd request when he knew my painful past. And seeing how he gave me the reaction, right exactly the opposite reaction I would like to receive from Mason, I knew that the madness inside me that had been kept and caged for long awakened, wanting to spew forth and wild.“A father who abused me mentally and physically,” I corrected him, my voice rising in fury. “Now, let me return the question to you, Mason. Are you hearing yourself? You know exactly wh