Warning: This chapter depicts notes of self-harm. . . . **** The moment Elise heard those words of doubt come from Rygan, she stood up and slapped him right across the face. “How dare you accuse me, Rygan?” She whispered out in disbelief. Her heart was breaking with each word. “I'm not, and I never will, but Alvira had testified to the Elders that after she talked to you, when she saw you talking with Kyren, another female servant said the same thing.” Elise couldn’t believe it was Rygan who was saying this; he didn’t believe her. "She is lying!…Rygan…” She felt like she couldn’t breathe—no, she couldn’t at all. Rygan noticed it with wide eyes as he came forward, and she felt Rygan’s hands wrap around her shoulder. “You’re having a panic attack; I need you to breathe for me." She pushed his hands away, shoving them at his chest. “Stay the hell away from me!” She called out in pain. "Our alpha doesn’t trust us; our alpha doesn’t trust us!" Her wolf whined in di
Elise walks through the wood with only the chirps of insects to accompany her as her trudged down the familiar roads, to the cabin that Kaide had previously invited her to. She still recalls parts of the road even as nightfall approaches quickly. She sees the familiar cabin come into view, and she trails forward, weakly calling his name, but there is no answer. The door creaks open, and Elise makes her way into Kaide's home. “Kaide? Kaide, are you here? I really need to talk to you,” she mutters desperately, but there is no response as the house is quiet and empty, with the sound of her footsteps echoing into the dimly lit hallways. She makes it to the end of the hall, to the familiar hallway, and down to the door of the study. There is no trace of Kaide here either. She then opens the door, moving into the large study. Her curiosity is piqued since she is the only one here. She rifles through the bookshelf and books, none catching her interest—not until she sees the silver-
The tension in the room grew, and Alvira began to tremble as she sucked in a breath, looking back at Kaide to say or do something. “Elise, please calm down; you don’t understand,” Kaide says slowly, with his hands raised to calm her like an animal. The minute he tries to come close to her, Elise explodes in fury. “Don’t you dare come near me unless you want your hands ripped off; I am not an animal that you are trying to pacify; you messed with my life!” She roars. Both Alvira and Kaide know that they are in deep trouble, and Elise can see that Alvira is in no way remorseful as she stays behind her cousin. “You lied to me; everything you said, you never felt anything for me; you only used me for your selfish gain and whatever sick research you were planning,” she notes. For a split second, Kaide’s gaze moved to the book on the floor, and she realized that she must have read it and his notes. "No, Elise, what I felt for you was real; yes, I was interested and intrigued by y
Rygan’s POV . . I was so damn lost. I feel numb shell, have felt like my souls been barely there since Alvira informed me of her plans to have Elise banished. She begged, saying she’d let Elise be my concubine. The desperation in her eyes and her plea for our child not to be neglected broke me. I couldn’t help feeling the guilt since Alana, who was my first love, and her sister had died with our child in them before she was killed by the human hunt guild. And I wouldn't want my child to be neglected. Alvira will be seen as a disgrace. So the moment I walked into that hall, I fought all my will, and my wolf trashed me to look at Elise. Every part of my wolf yearned for her, yet I ignored him and fought to focus on my duty as I marched with Alvira by my side. And the moons knew how much I wanted to take her arms in mine as my mate. But then Kyren had arrived, the monster who held me and Elise captive; all those memories of his torture rushed back anew, and now this demon
Elise felt a deep, sharp pain in her temples. She tried to stretch her arms to touch them, but she felt that she was immobile and unable to move. Her throat felt dry, and her eyes felt crusty and painful as she opened them. She tried to open them, but one eye was closed, shut, and swollen from the fight. Her eyes opened up as she shot up from her lying position. The cold ground and dark cell room felt all too familiar; she felt like she couldn’t breathe. From the bad memories she has of being locked up and the poison roaming in her system made her shiver. She recalls what she learned, and that Kaide was lying to her and betraying her all along, he fed her sweet lies she wanted to hear; he put her here, and Rygan must have agreed; he put her in this cell and locked her up. How could they do this to her? The silver chains on her arms and ankles wear down her strength as she can barely even sit up, and worse, she feels a metal mask covering her mouth; she feels chained up like
Alvira gives a cold and wicked glance to Elise, unconscious frame on the seat. She doesn’t care about what Kaide wants; she is going to make sure Rygan doesn’t find out the truth from Elise. Alvira is more than brutal in her decision; even her masked companion looks skeptical as they search around the forest; it is getting darker, and they aren’t supposed to be there after nightfall. The cold night loomed eerily as the masked delta bristled with fear of being in this part of the forest. “Is this alright, my lady? It would have been better if she faced death in the pack than this!” “Don’t you dare speak about my decisions; take her out now,” she snarls at the male servant. He pulls Elise's unconscious frame from the carriage, putting her to the ground. “Hurry!” Alvira's voice echoes as the male rushes back in haste, feeling the air already changing. With a whip to the two horses, they were off; they often used their horses when they wanted a quiet journey and didn’t want to l
Elise feels like she’s been hit by a heavy boulder; her labored breathing turns calm the moment she begins to regain consciousness. Gone were the stone walls and iron doors she was kept in to hold her; now she was looking at the sky and stars above. Her body feels itchy on the dewy grass she is lying on. It takes a moment for her to push herself up from the floor; every movement makes the grass crunch under her body. She groaned from the pain and her sore arms. Her head still felt a bit foggy. She steadied herself with the bark of a tree she saw, leaning over it, confused and panicked. She tried to navigate where she was. “What in the moon?” she called, still groggy from the sleeping smoke."where the hell am I?" She freezes as the memory returns to her mind. She recalls what happened back before she fell unconscious and how Kaide and Alvira once again used their dirty tricks to get her, and this time she’s taken to the middle of nowhere. She feels the cold shif
Book II HAYDEN Nights in the pack have been uneventful; it always has been for the years that we’ve been on this island, away from the other packs and away from the fight. Ever since the bloody battle that scarred our people two decades ago, great leaders have been lost to it. My wolf brothers and I sat perched on the top of a hilltop that surrounds and overlooks the pack, watching the stars align in the sky just like any other day, but for a moment, it felt different. “Why are you spacing out, Hayden?” Jax, a beta, and my best friend called to me while the others snickered around the fire. I don’t know why this night felt colder than the other nights I’ve spent on patrol with my men. “I’m sure he’s thinking about the very pretty female who seduced him to her bed last night; he left early from the bar,” my other friend Beta Michael mutters, making the small group howl with laughter. "Well, fuck you, Michael,” I mutter with a chuckle, but it was interrupted by a damning h