Betrothed. Rygan was betrothed. Elise could barely make out any words as those words came out of Kaide’s lips. Elise waited for Rygan to say it was a joke, a lie, or at least pull away from Alvira, but he didn’t. And then she felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. In Rygan’s defense, he did look like he was about to throw up from that information about his betrothal coming to light, and Elise prayed and wished the ground could open up and swallow her right that instant. “El? El.” Kaide called again, his voice finally reaching and breaking her clouding thoughts, and Elise forced herself to give a short, reserved smile and bow to Alvira, whose cold stare never left Elise. “We all need to talk to the moonhouse now,” he tells Tazmin, Alvira, and Kaide, who give a nod of agreement. “Her too,” he says, addressing Elise, who still hasn’t said a word. The meeting point was in the white-stoned chateau; its name was called the Moon House because of the intricate design of the
Rygan’s POV I should have stayed away. The first time I tasted Elise’s body, I felt her alluring skin against mine, scented because of my rut. I took it as just my wolf reacting to any female, repeating it like a mantra in my head. Kyren had forced many females onto me before, so it had to have meant nothing. But it was no mistake the second I took her to bed in that abandoned cabin. Something changed. Elise felt perfect in my arms; my wolf was hungry and yearned for more of her; and a sinister yet feral part of me was satisfied that I was the one who took her virginity and that I was the only one who tasted her skin and virgin hole first. But it was all a mistake, it had to be, especially when I woke and remembered the promise that my family made to Alvira's parents, who helped my father, with a promise to join our house, a betrothal to have Alvira as my future mate. It left a bitter taste in my mouth, knowing that I had to avoid her. I couldn’t bear the crestfallen loo
ELISE’S POV. I didn’t go down for dinner; I couldn't stomach the thought of seeing Rygan and Alvira together; it made something in me want to come out and claw them apart. I couldn’t even control my wolf anyway. My pack made me weak; females were never taught anything but to be weak or never taught to control our wolves until we were mated and obeyed our mates' wishes. "He’s going to reject you soon; you are nothing; you are weak; you are a burden and a curse!" Those thoughts swarmed my head. I buried my head in my pillow, but a knock pulled me out of those thoughts. As I sat up, I wondered if Kaide was back. Kaide was caring enough to bring me food early, but I could only stomach a half-sandwich and an apple. I trudged up to the door. “Kaide?” I called but was surprised to see who was at the door as I opened it, meeting face-to-face with Rygan. He grunted the moment our eyes met, his brows furrowed in annoyance, maybe because I called Kaide's name. “Why we
The training grounds for the troops were crowded with males that surrounded the entire ring. Elise could not help but feel intrigued as she walked closer, finding a part to squeeze through as she noticed who stood on the ring. Kaide and Taz were both shirtless; Taz's muscles were hard and thick; his left arm was covered with a black band; and he had two striped tattoos. Elise had noticed that it was on all the males' left arm; one band meant you were delta, two bands were beta, and three bands were alpha, like the one she saw on Rygan's body. She hated that even at this moment that she thought of Rygan's ravishing sculpted body right now, shaking her head to get rid of the thoughts. “Don’t think about it,” she scolded herself as her hand tightened on the railing around the ring to focus on them. Kaide's body was more lean-muscled, but his body was not lacking in any way, just less jacked than Taz's. A blush crept on Elise's face when she looked up to see Kaide staring at h
The banquet continued in full swing as the circle converged on different tales. Elise found relief in Tazmin's stories and world adventures while Kaide watched and added a few bits and pieces to the story, which made her laugh. She didn’t shy away from Taz’s advances, especially the moment he tucked her hair behind her ears. She found relief in his distraction. Meanwhile, Rygan, on the other hand, looked like his chair was too uncomfortable to keep sitting down, as he tried hard not to look in their direction. Alvira was busy explaining that she had talked to the elders, who were willing to have the mating date set at any time, but Rygan was half-listening at this point and was more focused on Elise's voice. Especially when he saw Taz’s hands on Elise, she didn’t pull away; he tore himself to control and contain his pheromones seething with anger and irritation as much as he could. He wondered if Kaide had noticed but looked away, not bearing to look at his third in comm
Meanwhile, after Kyren had found out about their escape from his prison, he was filled with so much rage that everyone walked on eggshells back at the Darknight pack, looking for ways to appease their alpha king, Kyren, who had been in a maddening mood for days with no end. Even now, as he downed another bottle of wine and had sex with a female without mercy, her body slammed against the wall, his thrusts so barbaric that they pushed against her, her hips bent as Kyren's hard cock moved inside her, his grip hard on her nape. There was no mercy or softness in the sex, only anger and a harsh sex drive. He put his fingers into her mouth to keep the female quiet as his cock stroked deeper into her. “Ugh..hmm Ngh-agh!” The female cried out as Kyren pushed deeper, thrusting animalistically into her. There was a startling knock at the door, but Kyren made no move to stop as his beta guard was let in. The beta knew it was a death sentence to look at his alpha, who was deeply engaged
A hard knock on the door had pulled Elise from her sleep; she could barely keep her eyes open, and worse, the pain she was feeling felt like she had been barreled by a heavy boulder. Elise should have known how much she would have regretted it. Regret the decision to drink so much at the party last night. Now that her head was aching so bad, she felt like it had been split open, a punishment for her greedy and guilty thoughts from last night with Rygan. She could still taste him on her skin. She groaned as she rolled out of the gray cotton sheets, her dress draped to the floor while she had slept naked. She moved to take a robe from resting on an armchair, wrapping it around herself, as she heard Hana’s voice echo from the door. “Elise?” “I’m awake, I’m awake,” she mumbled as she pushed another lock of hair obstructing her view from the door as she sat down back by the foot of the bed. The look on Hana’s face was almost comical; she was trying so hard to burst into laugh
Elise felt like vanishing when Kaide held back her hand as she tried to enter her room—so much for dealing with it alone. “What’s wrong? What happened?” Kaide asked Elise, his jaws squared in, filled with worry and alertness as he caressed Elise's face. But Elise shook her head. “Nothing, nothing at all,” she said. “You don’t need to worry about it, please,” she said, and Kaide knew she was asking him to let it go. His hands dropped from her soft cheeks, taking a step back to lengthen the space, which he had noticed was far too small because of them. “What's in your hand?” Elise asked, her gaze lowered to what Kaide was holding in his hands. Elise then looked back when she heard the sounds of someone coming down the steps. And for a moment, there was noticeable panic on her face that Kaide noticed, but before he could ask, Elise had pushed him into her room, closing the door in haste. “Sorry about that; what were you saying?” She asked, forcing a smile that was almost co