The next day, Julian and Crystal’s engagement ceremony was held at the royal palace. Alphas and Lunas from all over the kingdom, and all other high ranking officials, were present. It was such a huge glamorous affair that Lyra could not imagine how the wedding would outshine it.
As part of the security team, Lyra was stationed outside the banquet hall before the ceremony officially began. Guests walked past her on the way inside the palace, and that was how Devon came upon her.
Lyra noticed him from a distance. He was not alone–Allison was right beside him, her arm hooked through his. Lyra hoped that they would not notice her, but that turned out to be too much to hope for.
As soon as Devon had stepped inside the palace grounds, his eyes had been roving all over the place, searching for Lyra. When he finally saw her, he did a double take. It was definitely her, but she looked so different from what he remembered.
And it was not just because sh
As soon as Zero saw Devon, he recognised him as the Alpha of the Red Moon Pack and Lyra’s former mate. He went over to them and stood right next to Lyra, looking down at Devon with a hard look. “What do you think you are doing?”“What is it to you?” Devon snapped, giving him a glare. “This is between me and her, mind your own business.”“You are the one who should learn manners and mind your business,” Zero told him. “Respect the king’s guard or you’ll find yourself enjoying the ceremony from the dungeons.”“The king’s what?” Devon looked from Zero and then to Lyra. Surely, he didn’t mean her. He looked back at Zero. “I have no issue with you,” he told him. He pointed an accusing finger at Lyra. “This female is from my pack, and she dared to insult me. It’s within my rights to discipline her how I see fit.”Zero took a step c
“I’m not sure I can help you with that,” Lyra told him.“What do you mean you can’t?” Devon asked her. “Surely, they don’t pay the king’s bodyguard skimpily, do they?”Lyra looked at him speechlessly for a few seconds. He wanted her to…give him her money? The money she earned? How on earth could she fix his pack’s finances with her salary? It’s not like she was getting paid an insane amount.“I don’t think I can be any help to you with my salary,” she told him.“Oh, come on,” he said, lifting his hand to stroke her cheek. Lyra pushed it away immediately. He snickered, then brought his lips close to her ear. “You seem to have made many important friends in the palace. I’m sure you can find a way to give me what I want. If you can’t, you know what will happen to your belongings.”Lyra did not even want to think about wh
As far as Julian was concerned, the engagement ceremony had been a total failure. He had not gotten what he had wanted from it, contrary to what his guests might think. Instead, annoyingly, he had gotten a fiancée.That had not been part of his plan. If his plan had worked, Alpha Black would be grovelling in the royal dungeon at this point of the night, and the entire Blacksword pack would be at Julian’s mercy. But as it turned out, Alpha Black was playing his cards close to his chest, careful enough to not take one step wrong where Julian could catch him.Julian wondered whether the other male knew that he was investigating him. He had expected to get the final piece of information that would expose Alpha Black’s scheming during the ceremony, but that hadn’t happened.Now here he was, saying goodbye to important guests with Crystal glued to his side. A lot was said, but he could barely hear it–not that it mattered. It was all infl
Julian got up on his elbows, giving her a puzzled look. “What?”Lyra pulled on her pants. “I’m rejecting you. I want you to set me free.”Julian climbed out of bed and faced her. “Forget about it. I don’t accept your rejection.”Lyra looked at him, her eyes hard and unwavering. “Why not? What exactly do you want from me? You don’t like that I’m your mate, and you are getting mated to someone else. Let me go.”Julian shook his head. “You are not going anywhere. Your place is here, with me.”Lyra wanted to scream. He was not making any sense. Could he even hear himself? He did not want a mate as worthless as her. He formalised his engagement to a powerful Alpha’s daughter a few hours ago. So why could he not let her go?“I don’t want to be here, or with you,” she told him. “I reject you as my mate, as you have rejected me in so many ways. Do me a favour and break this bond once and for all, and I’ll get out of your life.”“Who said I want you out of my life?” he questioned.Lyra nodded,
Lyra yelled as she fell through the air before landing onto hard ground. Pain shot from her bottom to her back, causing her to wince. Shortly after she crashed to the ground, commotion rose around her, with the sound of scampering reaching her ears.Forgetting her pain, she quickly reached for her gun and looked around. She was in a chamber of some kind–an underground room. But, despite the commotion, there was no one inside the room.Frowning, she got to her feet and looked upwards. Above her head, there was a wooden trap door covering the hole she had fallen through. Swallowing, she stepped farther into the room. Even though she could see no one, there were many scents in the air, and many different sounds–whispering, breathing–reached her ears.“Who’s there?” she called out, holding her gun ready.There was no answer for a few moments. Slowly, Lyra made her way towards a passage leading away from the chamber. Finally, someone answered.“Who are you?” It was a masculine voice, and s
Lyra felt as if her body was on autopilot as she faced the wolves. They surrounded her, their fangs exposed and their growls rumbling through the air.All things considered, she looked like dead meat. There were four of them and then there was her, armed with a pair of daggers. A few months ago, she would not have survived this. Regardless, she would have fought with everything she had.Now, she had the advantage of having unlocked her abilities and receiving hours of training from the best instructors in the kingdom. She had never imagined that she would find herself in such a battle all alone without backup, but there was no turning back.Remembering how her mental powers had helped her in her fight against Beryl, she used them to try and control the wolves. To her relief, they worked fine. Using them, she manipulated the wolves’ movements, allowing her to evade most of their attacks. But, while this worked, she quickly got tired, which affected her ability to calculate her actions.
The day after the engagement ceremony, Julian held a meeting with Alphas from packs around the kingdom to discuss the issue of the corrupted wolves.He had kept the matter confidential until then while he tried to gauge the extent of the problem. While there had been no incident reported in any of the packs, his investigations showed that there was a huge presence of the corrupted wolves, and it would only be a matter of time before they became a menace to the kingdom.To make sure it did not get to that, he had to alert all Alphas of the looming danger and create strategies to flush out the corrupted wolves and deal with them before they became a public menace.“This is surprising news,” Alpha Black said after Julian was done with his briefing. “I don’t think any of us have had any sightings of tainted wolves in our territories. Your Majesty, is there a possibility you received the wrong information?”Julian pinned the other male with a steely gaze. “Are you suggesting that I would c
Voices filled with agony and pain filled Lyra’s mind. Even after all these years, she recognised them like she had heard them yesterday.The memories from when her pack was afflicted by the mysterious disease played in her brain like a reel, reminding her of the worst parts of the ordeal. Parents had been forced to watch their children suffer and vice versa, with no one being able to help the other.People had died in the arms of their loved ones, all hope gone after it became clear that there was nothing anyone could do to stop the ravenous disease from claiming lives. At some point, it had become apparent that the Blue Night Pack had been targeted by witches.The images in her mind moved on to Devon and Allison. She heard the insults he threw her way after finding out she was wolfless, and she felt the hits he landed on her every time he beat her. Images of the two in bed together mocking her flashed through her mind, reminding her of memories she had forcibly hidden in the dark rec
Lyra left Nile’s side and went to stand beside Julian, which caused another stir among the guests.“Lyra, what are you doing?” Nile asked, pretending to be hurt and confused. “Who is he? What’s the meaning of this?”“It’s over, Nile,” Lyra said, calling him by his real name. “The real Lycan King is here.” Looking around, she addressed the guests. “That is the Rogue King who has been trying to take over the kingdom. He imprisoned His Majesty and forced me to work for him.”“How absurd!” Nile yelled. “Lyra, how could you do this to me? I trusted you despite what everyone said about you, and this is how you repay me? Have you been working for the rogues all this time?”“He could be right,” someone said. “Nobody knows anything about her background. Maybe she is a spy sent by the rogues.”“I knew something did not make sens
“Where have you been?” Nile asked when Lyra appeared at his side a while later. After separating with Julian, Lyra had gone to her room to freshen up to get rid of any scent that would give away the fact that she had been with Julian.“I went on a walk with some of the guests and we wandered around the palace,” she told him. “Was I gone for long?”“Yes,” he said, his voice tinged with displeasure. “Stay by my side from now on.”“Of course,” she agreed, giving him a smile.“There are some important guests you haven’t met,” he said, steering her towards a group of guests. “They are from the Northern Packs Alliance. You know what to do.”Lyra knew of the Northern Packs Alliance. It was a group of three packs–Sky, Northern, and Ferun. The northern part of the kingdom had once been overrun by rogues, but the three packs came together and defeated
“It worked,” Julian said in awe, lifting his hands in front of his face. He could feel his wolf’s power surging through him, potent and unrestricted.“Really?” Lyra asked, rising on her elbow. They were lying side by side on the examination table after a frantic lovemaking session that left their bodies slick with sweat and out of breath.“Yes,” Julian confirmed. “He is fully restored.”“Great!” Lyra exclaimed, feeling thrilled. Leaning towards him, she gave him a kiss. He sunk his hand into her hair and held her in place, deepening the kiss. When they pulled apart, there was an amused smile on Julian’s face.“What is it?” she asked him, curious.“Yuri is impatient to tear that bastard into pieces,” he revealed.Lyra nodded. “That makes four of us.”Rae was also excited and already urging Lyra to get out there and ruin Nile’s grand plan. With Yuri by her side, she felt invincible. Lyra felt the same way about having Julian with her, but she knew it was crucial to have a good plan befo
“Julian?” Lyra whispered, an overwhelming relief washing over her.Julian jumped down from the examination table and met her halfway. Their arms went around each other. When they pulled back, her eyes were shining with tears.She raised her hands to his face and cupped his cheeks, examining his face. It felt like it had been forever since she had last seen him. This was the same face that Nile was parading around, and yet, there was such a huge difference.This was Julian. Her Julian.“Are you okay?” she asked him, lowering her hand to his chest and moving his robe aside. There was a dark mark where he was stabbed, but the wound had healed up.“I’m fine,” he told her, taking her hand. “Almost.”Feeling relieved, Lyra embraced him again, resting her face on his chest.“What about you?” Julian asked, palming her hair.“I’m alright,” she told him. “Don’t worry abut me.”He pulled her back and looked at her with a concerned frown. “Are you eating well? Where are you staying?”“I’m staying
After confining Lyra in her room for a few days, Nile arrived with news of a royal banquet.“This is your chance to show me whose side you are on,” he told her after presenting her with the gown she was to wear for the occasion. “I have invited Alphas, Lunas, and Elders from all around the kingdom. The banquet is in your honour as the future queen, so I expect you to act the part. Will you have a problem with that?”“No,” she said, eyeing the gown. It was a red gown, embellished with glimmering gems. Alongside it was a beautiful diamond tiara which Lyra recognised as being one of the royal family’s heirlooms.“Good,” he said, holding her chin and lifting her face. “If you help me get through this banquet, you'll have done your job well, and I'll make sure Julian continues getting the best medical care. But if you make a mistake…” He trailed off, moving his hand to her throat and resting it there. “...you'll pay.”“I understand,” she told him. Such a gathering could go very wrong for h
“Approximately five hundred years ago, there was a tyrant Lycan King,” Nile started his narration when Lyra agreed to hear his version of the story. “He oppressed all other packs for the benefit of the royal pack, which amassed wealth and unmatched power at the expense of others. While the royal pack lived in luxury, the rest of the kingdom was barely getting by. The king forced them to send slaves and tributes, stripping the packs of their best talents and driving many werewolves to poverty and near starvation. Nobody was brave enough to stand up to the king, but one day, the Scarlet Alpha said enough was enough.”Lyras frowned, because she had never heard of a Scarlet Alpha or a Scarlet Pack for that matter. “The Scarlet Alpha? From which pack?”“The Scarlet Pack,” Nile replied. “You wouldn't know it. It has long gone extinct, and the royal family saw to it that it was wiped from history. After long enough, most werewolves forgot anything like it ever existed.”“Did the Scarlet Alph
“What's the meaning of this?” Crystal demanded as soon as the shop attendant left the room. “Why would you pay that much for her but refuse to pay mine?”“I invited her to go shopping,” Nile replied coolly, “but I don't remember inviting you. I also did not promise to pay for your stuff at any time.”“What?” Crystal screeched. “I am your partner! How can you treat me like this, especially in front of her? You did not even punish her for attacking me that day and locking me in the secret chamber. Aren't you supposed to be on my side?”“What does that have to do with this?” Nile asked, losing his cool. “I don't have to explain what I do to you.”Crystal scoffed. “So then, you are just going to humiliate me?”“Just because we work together does not mean you are in control of me,” Nile told her. “It's not in your place to tell m
Lyra sighed for the umpteenth time as she looked at her reflection in the mirror. She reached for the hem of her skirt and tugged, but it had reached its full length, somewhere several inches above the middle of her thighs.She huffed in annoyance at the ridiculousness of the situation. Nile had come out of nowhere and announced that they were going shopping and took the liberty of choosing Lyra's outfit.He had chosen an extremely short skirt paired with a soft cashmere sweater. The outfit might have been perfect for a night out, but why on earth would she wear like this to go shopping? Forget a night out, the skirt was way too short for her liking, she felt like she would be flashing her bottom with every step she took.He had refused her attempts to choose a different outfit, so she was stuck with this. Slipping her feet into a pair of stilettos–yet another poor choice for the occasion–she left her room and went downstairs.She found Nile a
When Julian woke up, he found himself in a sterile room with white walls. It was filled with the stench of disinfectant and medicine.When he tried moving his body, he realised that his limbs were strapped to the bed, restricting his movements. He turned his head to look around, but the room was empty. He lifted his head to check his wound. His torso was wrapped with bandages, so he could not see anything.He lay back and tried to recall what had happened. The last thing he remembered was being in the dungeon with Nile and Lyra. When he recalled the deal Lyra had made with Nile, he shut his eyes in regret.A sudden sound made him open his eyes just in time to see someone walk into the room. Julian was surprised to see that it was the royal healer, Spencer.“You are finally awake,” Spencer said, moving to the bedside table and placing a metallic tray carrying various medical items there. “How are you feeling?”“Spencer?” Julian called his name in disbelief. “Do you know who you are wor