“I think he is different,” Rae said after Lyra had gotten back into bed.Lyra frowned into the dark, wondering if they were thinking about the same person. How exactly was he different? “If by different you mean that he is worse than Devon, then, yes.”Rae was silent for a minute. Finally, she said, “I don’t think he is as bad as Devon.”“Because he hasn’t forced me to watch him with another female yet?” Lyra said bitterly. “I’m sure that day will come soon.”Or maybe he would force her to do something way worse.Should I bring another male who is not your mate?“I just…” Rae began, then trailed off.“What?” Lyra asked.“He hates you because he thinks you have rotten behaviour,” Rae said. “If you could show him the truth–”“And how am I going to do that?” Lyra asked, feeling a little annoyed. “He thinks everything that comes out of my mouth is a lie. Plus I think he wants it that way. He does not want an Omega queen, so he’ll take any excuse to shun me.”“He could just get rid of you,
The Alpha turned his attention towards the three Omegas, who had shifted back into their human forms. They stood with their heads bowed and their hands clasped in front of them, submissive.“Alpha Zero,” they murmured in unison when he got to his feet and approached them.Zero was the Lycan King’s cousin and the Alpha of the Azure Pack. He was known all over the kingdom for his good looks and gentle disposition despite being one of the strongest Alphas in the kingdom.“What’s going on here?” he asked, his voice steely as he regarded the three shewolves. They were forbidden from shifting or fighting in the royal palace without permission, and yet they had done both.“She started it,” Claire replied. “She is new here and refused our advice on work, then she attacked me with a dagger. The others jumped in to save me.”“I did not start it,” Lyra claimed through her clenched teeth. This Alpha had shown concern when he helped her get up earlier. Would he care about the truth or believe the
As Julian got ready in the training room, he could barely keep his anger in check. He could not even tell why he was so mad at seeing Lyra pressed up close to Zero. It was not like he did not already know the kind of female she was!He knew his cousin was fond of taking care of weaker werewolves, so Zero would of course offer to help her. But he also knew that unless Zero had an interest in Lyra, he would not have let her into his suite.He must be attracted to her. After all, Lyra was so good at pulling off the innocent victim look. Someone with Zero’s personality would definitely fall for it.“Let’s do this,” he said to Zero, bouncing on his feet and getting his hands into a fighting stance.Zero was thrilled that Julian had asked him for one-on-one combat. There were lots of fighting skills he could still learn from the Lycan King. Plus, he wanted to see how well he could hold up against the most powerful male in the kingdom. There was no better challenger.“Bring it on,” Zero said
Thea worked Lyra hard for the rest of the day and did not give her a morsel to eat just as she had threatened. By the end of the day, Lyra was feeling hungry and desolate, and she hoped that she would not run into Julian. He did nothing but make her miserable, and she had enough of that for one day.When Lyra got back to her room in the dormitory, she started tending to her wounds. While Zero’s treatment had helped her earlier, her injuries had started hurting and bleeding again because of all the hard work she had done throughout the day.If she was any stronger as a werewolf, she would not need to take care of her wounds so much for them to heal. But the way things were, her healing abilities were not any better than a human’s.While she cleaned her wounds, she could not help thinking about Julian and how he had acted when he showed up at Zero’s suite earlier. He had dismissed her like she was a disgusting bug he could not bear to look at.He was her mate and the one person who shou
Julian’s nostrils flared as his senses filled with his mate’s scent. He crossed the distance between them in a second and pinned her against the door behind her.Lyra looked up at him with her lips parted and her blue eyes wide and filled with a mixture of fear and lust. What was she afraid of? She had been staring at him like a piece of meat just a few seconds ago.Julian dropped his face to her neck, dragging his nose along her skin and inhaling deeply. The only thing he could think about was her taste and how much he missed it. He wanted to taste her again so bad it felt like he would start hurting physically if he didn’t.“Who said you could come in here without my permission?” he whispered breathily against her skin. “Looking to seduce me like the little slut you are?”Lyra made a noise in her throat, he couldn’t tell whether it was a protest or a moan. Julian’s lips stretched in an evil smile. Was she not going to bother claiming her usual innocence? It was fine, he was getting
Lyra swallowed and bit down on her lip. It seemed that after all, he intended on making her stay and watch him have sex with another shewolf.During the day, she had convinced herself that he would not do the same thing that Devon had done. How could she be so unlucky? But it seemed that her luck was indeed as bad as they came.She tried to quell the emotions rising inside her. But try as she could, she could not keep the tears from welling up in her eyes.Just great.As if she needed to humiliate herself in front of him further by showing him how much his actions hurt her.At least now she was certain of one thing–the Lycan King was every bit as cruel and despicable as Devon. Actually, he could be worse.“You made the bed,” Julian said, lowering his head and bringing his mouth close to her ear. “Now it’s time to lie in it.”Lyra thought that was his twisted way of telling her that this was somehow her fault, but a moment later, he picked her up and walked towards the bed. He laid her
After meeting Lyra for the first time, Alpha Zero could not stop thinking about her. He had felt attracted to her from the first time he laid his eyes on her, and then after their interaction, his attraction grew even stronger.Try as he might, he could not remove the image of her face with her beautiful ocean blue eyes from his mind.From the moment he had seen her, he had wanted to protect her and hurt anyone who caused her any harm.It was true that he had a penchant for saving and protecting the weak, but this time, it was different. Normally, he didn’t spend hours thinking about the ones he saved days after the fact. He was happy to help, and that was it. But when it came to Lyra…it was something different.“She is not your mate,” his wolf Nolan had reminded him. “Forget about her.”“It doesn’t matter,” Zero had told him.He had never been attracted to any shewolf the way he was to her. Bond or not, he was certain he wanted to know her more. Beyond that, he was ready to devote hi
After Lyra left, Julian rose from his bed and paced. His body was excited, yearning for her. Again. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. What the hell was she doing to him?She had already left, but she could as well still be in the room. Her scent was everywhere, and he could still hear her moans and whimpers and cries of pleasure in his ears. She was gone, but he couldn’t get rid of her.“You should just make her queen–”“No,” he interrupted Yuri before he could complete his sentence.Yuri sighed in annoyance. “Whether you admit it or not, you will never have an experience like that with anyone else. She is our mate, made for us. Who cares whether she is an Omega? She is the perfect fit for you.”“You can’t be serious,” Julian scoffed. “I can’t have an Omega queen. This kingdom cannot have an Omega queen.”“And yet the Goddess fated her to you,” Yuri pointed out. “Or doesn’t that matter to you anymore?”Julian grunted in displeasure and moved to the window. Outside, it w
“Why aren’t you back yet?” Julian’s worried voice came across the phone when Lyra received his call.“I’m on my way,” Lyra told him. “I’ll be back soon.”“If you run into any problem, tell me,” he told her. “I know how Alpha Lucian can be. If he is giving you a hard time, I’ll teach him a lesson.”“Don’t worry, I can handle Lucian by myself,” she told him. “I’ve settled everything and I’ll be at the palace soon.”“Okay, I’m waiting for you,” he told her.Lyra hung up with a smile. Earlier, she had left on a trip to the Luminous Pack for the grand opening of a werewolf academy that would welcome students from all over the kingdom.Julian had been worried that Alpha Lucian would give her a hard time and wanted to go with her, but he had other official duties to attend to. Even though no werewolf in the kingdom could stand up to her, his first instinct was to protect her, whether from mortal danger or rude Alphas.“He really has no idea, does he?” Anna asked.Lyra shook her head. “Nope.”
Many days later, Lyra woke up in the palace. Julian was lying next to her, sleeping peacefully. She smiled as she looked at him, a warm feeling blooming in her chest. She fought the urge to touch his face, afraid to wake him.However, when she turned to leave the bed, his arm shot out and hooked around her waist. “Don’t go,” he murmured sleepily.Lyra’s smile widened in amusement as she looked back at him. “You are awake?”He shook his head, his eyes still closed. “No.”She laughed and tapped his hand. “Get up, Your Majesty,” she teased. “We have a kingdom to run.”He tightened his hold around her, pulling her to him. “They can survive a few hours without us. It’s not like an evil witch is going to fly in and blast us all to hell.”“Haha,” Lyra laughed dryly. “I’m glad you can joke about that.”Julian opened his eyes and smiled. “Me too.”They both burst laughing, with Lyra falling back to his side. Julian reached for her face and kissed her. Lyra kissed him back, getting lost in the
Deciding to attack together, Julian and Lyra ran towards the altar. While they were midway, Valeria waved her hand, sending a wave of energy their way.They braced themselves, but it turned out to be nothing like the attacks they had faced from the other witches. The energy was so forceful that it knocked them off their feet and sent them flying backwards before they crashed into the floor.As they collected themselves from the floor, Valeria’s laugh filled the room. “Did you think you could come here and do whatever you wanted? Prepare for your death!”Just when they had gotten back on their feet, she hit them with another blast of energy. This time, they both crashed into the wall before falling to the ground.“How is she so strong?” Lyra asked Julian through their mindlink. It was impressive that she could knock both of them around like that at the same time.“She is too powerful,” Julian replied. “We can’t let her wear us out. I’ll go all in, and when she is distracted with me, yo
Following Julian’s scent, Lyra found the basement a few minutes later. It was a dank round room solely illuminated by candles.As soon as Lyra walked into the room, she was welcomed by the sound of clapping. Looking up, she saw Valeria standing on a raised altar in the middle of the room. She was the one clapping, a huge smirk on her lips.“We are all here,” Valeria said. “Perfect.”After having her plans thwarted so many times, Valeria had been scrambling to find a way to get rid of the Lycan King and the Luna Queen.She had not expected that the Rogue King would be such a useless ally. Even after she had helped him steal the Lycan King’s identity and made him powerful talismans, he had failed.As if that wasn’t bad enough, all her latest experiments failed. After finding out that the Lycan Kingdom had made significant steps in finding a weapon that could easily eliminate corrupted wolves, she had tried to make them stronger.She had succeeded in making stronger, faster, and more res
Using the tip of her dagger, Lyra pricked her fingertip. When blood pooled at the tip, she pressed it to the barrier. During her research while making the serums, Beryl had read somewhere that the Wolf Mother’s blood could be used to break magical barriers.It turned out to be true as the barrier between them and the beasts dissipated the moment Lyra touched it with her blood. As soon as the barrier was down, the beasts rushed towards them.There were all sorts of beasts, from winged creatures that were as big as horses and serpents with multiple heads. Among the beasts were also corrupted wolves.The division of the troop that had been assigned archery roles released a multitude of arrows, raining them down on the beasts. The arrows were created with special magical metal tips doused in poison, allowing them to deal critical damage to magical creatures with a single hit.The second division of the troop shifted into their wolf forms and met the beasts head on. When it was no longer p
The southern jungle covered hundreds of thousands of hectares, providing a good hiding place for rogues. However, even rogues did not venture into the deepest parts of the forest, since they were considered too dangerous.The forest was rumoured to not only be the witches’ hideout, but to also contain all sorts of magical beasts. While some of the southern packs had led expeditions into the jungle while dealing with rogues, they did not have enough information that could be used to accurately map out the witch’s lair.After hours of walking in the jungle, Lyra finally sensed magical power. Leading the way, she guided the troops deeper into the forest. The farther they got, the more ominous it became. The magical power also got stronger, and everybody could feel it.After close to an hour, they spied a castle through the trees. It was big and old, its walls almost entirely covered by vines.“This is it,” Lyra informed everybody through mindlink. “I’ve felt Valeria’s energy before, and
As soon as Julian and Lyra got back to the palace, Beryl and Spencer took the flower and started making the antidote.They had been gone less than an hour, but Zero’s condition had worsened. Even with Beryl and Spencer’s help, he would not have been able to hold on much longer without the antidote.As for Anna, she was still unconscious, but there were no signs that she was in danger. There also hadn’t been any other incidents in the palace.When Beryl administered the antidote to Zero, his condition started improving right away. As soon as he woke up, he looked around for Anna. When he did not see her, fear washed over him. Before losing consciousness, he had heard people calling for her execution.“Where is Anna?” he asked Beryl, getting down from the hospital bed. “Is she okay? It was not her fault. She is not working for the witches.”“We know,” Beryl told him. “The witch possessed her and made her do it. She is fine now, but she passed out and is in recovery. Don’t worry, she is
The snake had appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Lyra so fast that Julian did not get a chance to warn her. It was long and thick, and its body was coiled around Lyra’s upper body and neck, its head poised to strike.Julian’s heart froze in fear as the gravity of the situation registered. Both of them could not use their magic or werewolf abilities. From the size and appearance of the snake, he could tell it was not a normal one. It must be a magical beast.Magical beasts normally had their own territories and attacked anyone who trespassed. However, Julian had never heard that the Deadly Swamp was territory to any magical beast.The snake had only appeared after Lyra plucked out the flower, so it was more likely that the beast was guarding the flower, not the swamp.“Throw away the flower,” he yelled at Lyra. “It’s guarding the flower. As long as you have it, it won’t let you go.”Lyra did not want to let go of the flower, but she was aware that she could not afford to
After leaving the infirmary, Julian and Lyra instructed staff around the palace to ensure all the guests were catered to, leaving Asher in supervision.They also ensured that security was beefed up around the palace and the capital city in case the witches attempted another attack.Lyra was worried that it might be too late by the time they got to the swamp, found the flower, and brought it back to Beryl and Spencer to make the antidote. The two healers could keep Zero alive with their healing powers, but the poison was powerful and would kill him if not stopped soon.“We are taking the jet, right?” Lyra asked Julian as they got ready in the weapon room, grabbing basic items that would come in handy in the swamp.“No,” Julian said.“If we drive, we’ll never get back in time,” she said.“We are not driving,” he told her. “Come, I’ll show you something.”Moving to one end of the room, he pressed his palm to a panel on the wall next to a door labelled ‘Restricted Access’. The door opened