Clay’s P.O.V
Delicate. That was the only word that I could conjure up as I looked down at Flora on my bed. Her long red hair was sprawled across the cream white sheets like ripples of liquid silk. Her skin looked pale in the moonlight, but as I traced my fingers up her sides, I was struck anew with just how soft her skin was. Had I ever touched a skin quite as soft, as delicate as hers? I couldn’t remember and I realized with a start that I didn’t want to. The moonlight streamed in through the open windows and touched her skin, making it glow. It was like even the moon was her lover tonight.
I wanted to laugh at myself. Since when had I been a poet? Never. And yet, as I continued to take my fill of Flora, continued to touch, to taste her delicate skin, I found out that I didn’t mind a little touch of poetry in my life.
I traced my lips down the slender column of her neck, taking in the earthiness of her scent. If she was
Flora’s P.O.VMy body felt sore and yet, I wanted more of it; more of Clay.It was unlike any coupling I’d heard of, nothing like my first time during Heat. What I’d just experienced…sex felt like a very tame word for it.Making love. This is what romantic movies called making love. And I had just experienced it for the first time in my life.I laid panting on the bed, stars still dancing in my vision as the orgasm rocked through my body. Clay’s heavy weight on top of me was a reminder of theClay got off me and got out of bed and instantly I found myself following him with my eyes. From the dark copper tousled strands of his hair, the width of his strong shoulders to the smooth skin of his back and lower, to the-“Don’t.”Startled at the gritted out command, I looked up at his face to find him watching me over his shoulders, his wolf predominant in his e
Flora’s P.O.VClay had left marks.I turned my back to the mirror, twisting my neck as much as I could so I could see the bruises, but I gave up after some time when my neck began to hurt.They weren’t so much as bruises as love bites and they were all over my body. Light red dots where he had sucked at my skin, making me feel things I had never thought possible. Thankfully, I was a wolf with faster healing than any normal human and if my guess was right, I would be fine and love-bite free by tonight.There were however, a couple bluish bruises on my back in the shape of fingerprints, where he had clutched onto me when we were both in the throes of passion. Those bruises might take a few more hours to disappear. But somehow, I didn’t mind them. These marks were proof that we had been together in a way only lovers could be.Looking at the woman in the mirror, I felt like I couldn’t even recognize mys
Flora’s P.O.V“How did you get hurt?” I asked as I sat him down on my bed and stepped back to inspect his wound.The cut on his leg was deep and long, starting from right below his knee to halfway down his leg. The blood flow had stopped and the wound appeared to have started healing, which wasn't surprising at all considering the power Clay carried inside him. “You should’ve gone to a healer; I think you might need stitches.” I told him.“I’m the future Alpha, Flora. I don’t need stitches.” Clay said instantly. “I fell off my bike, it was a little accident. All I need is a little help.”I wondered what it cost his pride to admit that he needed help. “And I still think you need to go to Jessica.” I repeated. Why was he here anyways? His leg must be hurting like hell!“What a cruel woman!” Clay shook his head in amusement. “Ca
Flora’s P.O.VEarly next morning, I got a surprise visit from my brother before I could head off to school.“Hey, do you have a minute?” Riley asked as he knocked on my door, his mop of dirty blonde hair sticking to his forehead as perspiration beaded his forehead. Looks like he had been out on patrol duty.“Riles? Why are you even asking that? Come on in.” I called out as I placed the book I’ve been reading on the nightstand and scooted back against the headboard to make space for him to sit.“How are you doing, chubby?” Riley smiled as he pinched my cheek before taking a seat at the foot of my bed. “Why don’t you come visit me in the pack house with mom and dad?”“Because it’s the pack house!” I told him as I rubbed my cheeks with a frown on my face. When was he going to get rid of his stupid nickname? I did not have chubby cheeks anymore. “
Flora’s P.O.VOne week had passed since Riley’s visit to my house, one whole week since I’d been alone with Clay.I’d tried my very best to avoid him as much as I could. I never stayed back in class, especially the ones that I had with him and I was usually the first one out of the classroom. I even made sure that I was never alone. Despite my shy personality, I’d tried to make new friends and stay surrounded by people so Clay couldn’t reach me in any possible way.During assignments, I had often found notes written in Clay’s pretty handwriting slipped into my notebooks but I just kept on dumping them into a box at the bottom of my closet because I just didn’t have it in me to just throw them away.At night, I kept all my doors and windows tightly shut and the curtains drawn so Clay couldn’t come in, even though I knew that a few windows were nothing compared to his Alpha strength. Whe
Flora’s P.O.V“Clay?”I looked around surprised at the empty classroom and then back towards the entrance to find Clay just standing there with his hands tucked into his pockets like he had no care in the world.Seeing him again felt surreal. I knew I would run into him sooner or later and I might as well have to be alone with him, but I hadn’t thought it would be this soon. The impact of him just standing there felt like a punch to the gut. He was just as handsome...just as beautiful. And my whole body ached for him. I wanted nothing more than to run to his embrace and hold him to me forever.And that’s why I had decided to stay away…He wore a teal coloured shirt with black dress pants and a black tie. His hair was combed back with a few stray strands falling onto his forehead. From this far, I couldn’t read his expression; his face was cold, impassive. But when I looked into his e
Flora’s P.O.V“Clay…” I looked around as I regained some of my senses. “We’re in the classroom…”“The doors are locked.” He left a trail of wet kisses down my neck. “And I’ve disabled the cameras.”“You’ve planned this through.” I moaned as he found a pleasure spot and sucked on it with deliberate slowness.“You drove me half crazy, woman.” He groaned against my skin. “I knew I had to get you back before I lost myself.”“We’re not mates.” I reminded him once again.“For the thousandth fucking time, Flora,” he brought his face us to look me in the eyes; the wolf in his voice as he wrapped his fingers around my nape hauled me close. “I don’t give a shit anymore.”With that, he pushed me down on the desk and climbed on top of me.I gasped at the s
Flora’s P.O.V“So…you and Trevor?”“So…you and Clay?”Ruth gave me a wide grin and a wink as she sat up against the headboard.I’d come over to her house after school the next day and she had immediately insisted that I have a shower before doing anything else.“You smell like Clay.” She’d told me straight up. “And my mom’s a huge gossip.” Which was a very true statement. Mrs. Summers always had the latest pack gossip and the Asian cooking classes she taught the other pack mothers three days a week, was just an excuse to exchange even more gossip. I would NOT want to be the centre of that attention.So I took a quick shower and changed into a pair of loose comfy T-shirt and sweat pants. Since I came over at her house often, I always had clean clothing over at her house as she had in mine. And today, after two whole weeks, I finally got to s
Malachi Andrews, the Alpha of Lindersay, looked out through the open windows of the infirmary at the two figures lying on two separate beds on opposite sides of the room. Gazing at the star-crossed lovers, he wondered for the thousandth time…could love really conquer all? This wasn’t the first time he had seen a pair, who weren’t mates, be drawn to each other like magnets…or perhaps, the better notion would be, ‘like moths to a flame’? Their love was always ill-fated, would perhaps always remain so. But this was the first time someone had been able to break the mating bond and come out of it alive. The Goddess Selene hadn’t been pleased. It didn’t surprise him all too much since Gods weren’t used to defiance. They believed themselves to be the most supreme beings in the universe. He knew that better than anyone. “Your Lordship.” A moon maiden came to bow before him, her midnight dark hair braided into a thousand braids around her head;
Flora’s P.O.VA blinding light surrounded us at the instant, making me cover my eyes.The entire alter was glowing, including the ceremonial circle on the ground, the light bright enough to light up every corner of the room. It turned everything white and even shielding our eyes didn’t help protect us from the glare. But just as suddenly as the light appeared, it disappeared, plunging us in darkness.When I was finally able to open my eyes, everything appeared to be dark as stars danced in my vision. I blinked several times to clear the haze and then I was searching for Clay. I didn’t have to look long because he was right beside me, trying to shield me from the blinding light. He too blinked several times before his emerald eyes landed on me.“Flora!”He cupped my face in his hands. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”“No, I’m fine.” I told him, searching him in return for an
Clay’s P.O.VThe gateway to Lindersay was a secret that only a select few knew about. Most people who were taken to Lindersay were rendered unconscious while travelling the pathway to the sacred world of the wolves. It was located in another dimension and everything about it was a secret.Like most of the populace, I didn’t know how this place came into being or when it was formed, but the one thing I did know was the portal that would lead me to Lindersay. It was situated in the middle of a road that only a few travelled through and it lead to a dead-end. But right at that dead end was located the portal to Lindersay. Any car could pass through it…if it was travelling at exactly 102 miles per hour.I knew this because all Alphas were given the secret just in case it was needed. Even Riley or any other beta had no idea how to get here.Just as I saw the dead end approaching, I switched gears and kept the speed at exactl
Flora’s P.O.VWe descended down a flight of stairs to the ceremonial hall where I would be integrated into the Lunar Maidens. From the number of stairs that we climbed down, I could tell that the hall was somewhere underground.This was it. Once this ceremony was over, it would seal my fate forever. My wolf told me that if I wanted to back out now, this was my only chance. But my heart knew it was too late. I could never love someone the way I loved Clay.So I’ll wait for the mating bond to suck me in like it did with Clay and I would live in a world of falsehood, forced to love someone for eternity that I hadn’t chosen. Because I had fate in the Moon Goddess to find that person for me. The lover of my dreams who would love me unconditionally.Finally I could see a door at the end of the staircase and these were made of metal instead of wood. The door was plain and simple, just two bars of heavy iron shut together with t
Flora’s P.O.VI woke up to the sound of light knocks on the door.I sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I tried to look at my surroundings. It proved to be difficult since my eyes were swollen and keeping them open for long made the hurt. But the knocking on the door continued, so I had to get up.“Good morning.” It was the two women from last night.But the smiles on their faces diminished as soon as they saw my face. “Oh dear!”“Sorry, I…” I shook my head, unable to finish the sentence. What could I tell them? That I was so in love with a man who wasn’t my mate that I decided to leave everything behind and become a Lunar Maiden? That I didn’t think it was possible for me to love anyone else like I did Clay? I don’t think they would understand, no one could.“Here,” the Asian woman held out a tray and on it I found cubes of ice and a
Clay’s P.O.VWhen I arrived at the town square, I found almost every wolf in our pack present there.Alpha Nicolas and Luna Maria were both standing at the centre and as soon as they saw Dorothy with me, smiles broke out on their faces in misunderstanding.“Finally!” Alpha Nicolas came to place his hands on my shoulders. “You’ve come to your senses.”“I’m sorry to disappoint you, uncle.” I removed his hands and turned to Dorothy. “Dorothy has something to say. It’s important.”Everyone looked at Dorothy expectantly, waiting for her to be the bearer of good news, but Dorothy shook her head with a sad smile. “The mating bond is gone. I stopped feeling it this morning.”Several gasps sounded from all directions as whispers began to rise.“How is this possible?”“Is she lying?”“They must have fa
Flora’s P.O.V“And how, may I ask, did you come to know of the Lunar Maidens?”Malachi’s voice hadn’t changed but his eyes were hard and focused only on me, causing me to squirm. The shove of power that had receded a minute ago was now back in full force, shoving against my senses like an avalanche.“Some warriors from a pack told around about them.” I told Malachi through gritted teeth as the power shoved harder, making my head ache. “They turned rogue after a few days and their pack relocated. So some members joined our pack.”“And these members,” he frowned. “How many people did they tell?”“No one.” I brought my hands to my temples as the headache turned to pain. “Just me. I haven’t told anyone else.”The power disappeared just as suddenly as it had appeared and I was left gasping for breath and feeling like my hea
Flora’s P.O.V “This way.” I followed the guards in silence as they led me down another corridor, another long hallway. The wolf capital of Lindersay was a spiralling maze and I had a suspicion that it was same for most of the shifter towers that made up the sprawling city. However, I had no doubt in my mind that each tower would be different, their planning made in such a fashion that one race couldn’t intrude on the other, couldn’t spy on them through any angle. And with all the hallways? I was sure that only the permanent residents of the tower ever came close to remembering them. We turned another corner and followed another hallway, and instantly I could tell that these were residential quarters. There were several rooms on either side of the hallway but the space didn’t feel as distant as the rest of the hallways I’d travelled. There was a brightness here that I hadn’t felt elsewhere, even though I couldn’t tell the difference on the sur
Clay’s P.O.VI knocked twice on Nicolas’s door before entering. There was no point in stalling anyway. We both knew why I had been summoned here and I knew that Nicholas would be awaiting my arrival with teeth gritting patience.“What the hell was last night about?”So much for teeth greeting patience.“I thought I explained everything last night itself.” I told him firmly. “I’m in love with Flora and I can’t accept Dorothy as my mate.”“Mates are decided by the moon goddess!” Nicolas snapped at me, the veins in his neck swelling in anger. “To reject her gift is to bring a curse upon yourself and your entire pack!”“Then I’ll leave the pack.” It was a split second decision, but I knew in my heart that it wasn’t a wrong one. “If my family, my own pack cannot accept my choice or respect my decision, then I’m