ALEXEIDays earlier...“Alexei, we need to talk,” Svetlana suddenly appeared behind me, interrupting me from my afternoon break with Mikhail, who was expressing his strong interest in learning how to operate a laptop and asking me to borrow it again from Irino after using it for a few hours with Yelena. Among the gifts the South had given us, the camera and the laptop were the ones Mikhail and Yelena used all day as their reward. “Like now now. I need a word with you and Mikha...”Mikhail shot his cousin with an annoyed look before he drew several lines to his neck, indicating that I should ignore Svetlana. But Svetlana saw Mikhail’s reaction so she extended her hand and pulled Mikhail's hair.“Oh, for wolf's sake!” Mikhail exclaimed in pain, but Svetlana even firmly held his hand to show that she was serious and didn’t need some jest at the moment.Now that I was aware of the measure Svetlana used on Mikha, I sensed that it was more serious than what she was trying to point out. Svet
ALEXEI“What was that, Alexei?” Svetlana asked the moment Aera closed the door, her voice laced with panic while motioning her hands towards the door in frustration, requiring my excuse even though she knew that hearing it was pointless.“I’m sorry... I panicked. Knowing that information came from Andras himself, I know he made it look like I did it on purpose,” I answered, unable to look Svetlana in the eye.I rose to my feet, constantly eyeing the door while anxiously running my hands through my hair before I held myself still. I decided to give Aera the solitude she requested and I thought it wouldn't be a very good idea to stay rather than follow her. However, the painful look in her eyes before she left was now carved into my mind and I feared that she wouldn’t look at me the same way she used to.“Obviously. It was Andras, what did you expect from a shifter like him? The only thing you should have done was to seal your mouth because I was going to deny it for you,” she fired aga
ALEXEI“What? How is that even possible?!” I asked. I was so frustrated I did not notice that I snapped in front of everybody, specifically slamming my hands on the table, which made everyone stop eating and place down their utensils.But their pause was merely a concern for little Anastasia, who was now sitting beside me, exactly right in Aera’s chair. It was too late for me to withdraw what I did when the corner of her lips curved down.“I’m sorry...” Anastasia said all of a sudden, choking on her emotions. Her lips puckered as she looked at me with fear behind her lashes. Before I could say a word, she hastily stood up just to kneel down in front of me.Out of surprise, I couldn’t stop Anastasia from kneeling when she fretted in front of me. She didn’t even let me speak when she clasped her hands together.“I played in the kitchen with Dmi and yes, I b-broke a bowl yesterday,” she added as her eyes began to tear up. “It was me who caused the loud noise, but I didn’t mean to. It was
ALEXEI“I'm sorry...” Mikhail said, which made me shake my head in objection after falling into dead silence.“No, Mikha. Don't. Why are you even apologizing?” I asked him, coughing at the word because my voice began to sound strained. “I refused to believe that Aera did not make it because she was still alive, alright? I know deep in my heart that she was still existing.”Holding back my tears, I looked at Irino to ask for more faith. And then to others, including my father. But their reaction never changed. It remained hopeless, uncertain, and concerned while gazing back at me.With an undeniable fear and refusal simmering inside me, I just wanted everyone's assurance that Aera still lives, that I was not wrong and I should not worry that she did not make it to the riot in Muck, but no one can bring themselves to do it except me.I withdrew my eyes from my father and my teeth clenched in irritation. “Why... why are you looking at me like Aera was already gone and left us permanently
ALEXEI“When she left, what I could sense was a total void. No emotions, no subtle hints of affection, just pure nothing. Aera's repugnance towards me had totally blocked me entirely from sensing her. That's why I couldn't figure out if Aera was still alive or not,” I admitted, and my admission had surprised all of them, except for my father, who was marked a long time ago and knows how the mate bond works. “I couldn't feel her anymore...” “And now in order to have an answer, you need to go to Ether?” Irino confirmed, sounding like he already wasn't in favor of my idea. “Aena, her sister. They had a sister bond ever since they were in their mother's wound,” I explained further. “Whether they hated each other, they were born with it until they both die.” “Oh, yeah... and once Aena complies with your demand and asks you for your reason? Are you going to answer it's because Aera left after she find out that you are the reason for their mother's death as if Aena would not feel devastate
ALEXEI“A child? Did I hear it right?” I asked, stepping backward out of shock. I had to confirm it since it was beyond my understanding. Why on earth would they request something like that from me? “Yes, a child, Mister Volkov. Unfortunately, I cannot bear a child...” Jared confessed all of a sudden, which made me step back again. I cannot believe that coming to Ether would lead me to find a new discovery, a shocking and concerning one. “And when one cannot bear a child means there's no heir. And when there’s no heir, one is strictly required to give up the—” “The rank...” I completed Jared’s sentence and gazed back at him full of concern. As an Alpha in waiting ever since I was born, I could relate to Jared’s problem. We were expected to secure our position by producing an heir the moment we were fated and marked. From what I have heard, Jared and Aena have marked each other for five years now. It was only understandable that after many years of copulation and a lot of mating seas
ALEXEIPlacing my hand on my heart, I let out a strained breath after holding it for a while as I waited for Aena’s confirmation. I felt like my heart could explode out of anxiety and ease at the same time. “She’s alive, I can feel her heartbeat still...” Aena repeated in a flat voice as she rolled her eyes. Her lips twisted in a combination of animosity and hatred. With the confirmation, I uttered a heartfelt gratitude to the Moon Goddess. I was so assured, I found myself roaming my eyes around to find a wall to sag against because my knees felt like giving up any minute. But I ended up holding myself since I was in front of the displeased Jared and Aena. Aena rolled her eyes again and then proceeded to check her nails boringly. “I don’t think that was good news for me after what she did to me in Triton. I was waiting for her to meet her end, honestly. Her popularity skyrocketed in a span of less than a year, it’s annoying. And now there’s a rumor she was the one who helped Muck, m
ALEXEI“Any guess Aera could be?” Yelena asked, making everyone think, including Anastasia, who insisted on joining the meeting and taking Dmitri with her.“Definitely not Corella. The only one she knew there was her bitch sister so not there,” Svetlana answered, completely forgetting about little Anastasia sitting on the sofa beside Dmitri.“What’s a bitch?” Anastasia asked curiously, smiling inquisitively at everybody. When Dmitri winced in secret, I already figured out that he already had the meaning of the word. “Oh, is that like an endearment? Like how Svetlana and Irino called each other love when they are alone.”Everybody fell silent and all eyes were immediately settled on Svetlana and Irino. Except for Mikhail, whose head tilted towards Irino and shot him a death stare. But he was smiling, restraining himself to swear at Irino because Anastasia and Dmitri were around.Svetlana’s cheeks stained red before she forced Mikhail's face to look in the other direction. “Stop it or p
“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