The rest of Zoe's sentence died inside of me. I could see the door, no, the remains of it sprawled on the floor convinced me I wasn't dreaming even though I might need a pinch in the cheeks to confirm. The night was still and the chills spreading down my spine was strange but I knew the source of it. Our communication block may had been severed but some things just couldn't change. The blazing inferno in his eyes were still the same, or maybe even worse now. I wasn't sure about that, but I was sure about one thing, mad was an understatement where he was."You see." Zoe drawled within me.. " I told you I could hear someone..""And you couldn't clarify that it was Noah freaking Sage?" I mentally lashed out at her. If she had told me it was Noah I would have known what to do immediately. I would have known what to do before he got here. " You could have told me he was the one coming here!""But what did you expect?" Zoe countered. " Who else do you think would be coming up around here by
With a contented sigh, I closed the book shut before setting it up on my bedside table. There were two piles, one for the books I'd completed and the other for the ones I was yet to read. In total, I'd gotten a whopping amount of 12 books and in the space of two days I'd read and thoroughly digested six. I had no idea if it was good progress or not.Reluctantly, I wiped a tear in my eye. No, don't get me wrong, I was fine or maybe I wasn't. The book I'd just read had the most beautiful ending. And I wasn't a big fan of happy endings, so me saying that was a big ups to the author of that book. I glanced at both stacks again. A good number of them were romance books and spoke about love and all and it was weird. Why? Because Noah gave them to me. Yes, the ruthless Alpha Noah. He was so against love and women entirely, so why did he recommend a handful of romance books for me?Noah. He'd been on my mind since that night. I had no idea what I was expecting but a tiny part of me wished he
"What do you think about this Zoe?" I smoothed the paint brush with orange colour dripping from it over the colourful canvas in front of me. " Is that enough Orange, or should i add another shade?""If you keep on adding more orange." Zoe drawled. " You're going to end up with an orange canvas instead of the sunset you were initially going for."I pushed myself back to peer at the painting and she was right. My imitation of the sunset 🌇 was already too vivid, anymore orange and it would look like the poor fruit puked all over my canvas. I watched in awe as each stroke of paint stood out, brightly adding to its beauty. In the distance, of my painting of course, the sunlight shone bright, with streaks of orange showing it's slow descent. Around it, silhouettes of trees scattered in the horizon stood tall, with a few paths winding around it. An image played in my head and somehow, the painting looked a lot like the dark forest from that night.It could be, but the setting sun proved oth
"Yes. " I could still hear Noah's voice echo all around me. " Those paintings, belonged to my mother."He was nowhere near me anymore, but his last sentence stuck, like a leech latching onto it's host. I could still see his snug smile playing out over and over in my head. The expression he had on his face after dropping the bombshell was priceless, at least to him anyway."What?" I let out immediately. I wasn't sure I'd heard right so I needed to confirm. " What did you just say?""What do you think you heard?" Noah smiled, putting his hand into his pockets. "Come on, I'll give you a hint, if you're wrong." "I heard you say.." I started slowly, the cogs in my head spelling out what I thought I heard. " I heard you say that the paintings in that hallway….""Belonged to my mother." Noah finished up for me. " You were asking me about my mother the other day right? Or probably was it about my parents ….""Who are they?" I yelled, throwing my barrage of questions at him all at once. The m
Talking to Eric was useless, I wish I knew before spending the last two hours with him. He kept stringing me on, bringing up clues at one point, just for me to find out he was only trash talking all along. I was enraged. I could feel my blood boiling so much, it was a miracle my skin was still intact."Remind me why you're here again?" I could hear the sarcasm clearly in his voice. He was perched at the foot of his bed while I stood by the door, the distance between us feeling do small. " I think you might have to jog my memory again.""Who are Noah's parents?" I was sure I'd repeated that question a million times since I was here. I guess it was a little sacrifice if I wanted to get any answers. " Specifically, his mum. Who was she?""Was." He smiled, quoting me. There was nothing sweet or normal about the smile he gave. I had no idea if it was me, but the way his lips curled up looked bitter, and even had a pinch of sinister attached to it. " You talk about her like she's dead. Is t
"And what did we find?" I asked for the umpteenth time. Like asking the same question that I already had the answer to would change anything. " After searching long and hard for hours.""Nothing." I could feel the pain in Zoe's voice. It was raw and undiluted, with a little hint of tiredness and irritation. I could understand her because I felt the same way, if not worse. " Nothing at all."It was frustrating. I know I'd been saying that but I was getting to the point where I would burst, literally. Hours and hours of hard work bore nothing, nothing but an aching head and sore limbs. After we'd stumbled on that storage room again, we felt blessed. As if the moon goddess had us in mind,the room was bursting with desks of different shapes and sizes alike. At the very sight of it, Zoe and I felt like we were in heaven. Not until we started searching though.After combing through desk after desk, smashing some locked drawers and tables too, I was down with the flu. Who knew dust bunnies c
"What?" My voice was barely a whisper. If I wasn't the one who'd just spoken, I would have doubted if that monosyllabic word actually just left my lips. I wasn't even sure Zoe heard it, despite being inside me so that definitely counted as something. " What did you just say?""Bailey?" Zoe called out slowly. " Are you okay?" She definitely didn't hear me so maybe this was a good time to reconsider if I actually voiced out my thoughts or I just exclaimed loudly in my head."Bailey, you're getting me worried." If she was getting worried, then what did she think I would be feeling. " Say something.""What did you say?" I asked again. I needed confirmation. Maybe, somehow, I'd misheard and was panicking unnecessarily. " I'm not sure I heard you properly.""Those designs on the table." Zoe spelt it out again. If she was trying to be mean or just being brutally honest, I actually had no idea. " Belong specifically to the royal family.""Wow." I got up from the ground, just to dive into the
I stood rooted to my spot as Noah's footsteps became more pronounced. He hadn't spoken yet, he didn't have to. Who else would walk in here with the audacity that he just displayed? He literally slammed the door. "What are we going to do now?" I heard Zoe ask inside me. She knew better than to voice it out, or I'd be doomed. Both of us. " Bailey?" I paid her no heed. I stood unmoving, like the very action would pause time so I could sneak out of here and pretend like none of this ever happened. The door slammed shut and I prayed to the moon goddess that maybe somehow, he'd walked out again. But the gruff exhale that followed told me, once again, the moon goddess had decides to ignore me when I needed her the most. "Stupid dignitaries." I heard Noah mumble. He was angry. Was there ever a time he wasn't? I didn't know much about where he was earlier but from his tone, I was guessing a meeting didn't go well. " How dare they defy me? His voice was more close and I came to the conclusi
"Attention everyone." I smiled giddily as Noah knocked on a champagne glass continuously with a spoon. " I would like to make a toast."Amidst the chatter of people that had died down, my hand found Noah's and the reassuring squeeze he gave made me smile all the more. " After the defeat of the rogues and my cousin that tried to invade the kingdom, my wife and I have good news to share with you, we're expecting a baby."The cheer that erupted from the crowd was massive. From the corner of my eyes at the buffet table, I watched dad wipe off a tear from his eyes. Mum on the other hand couldn't stop mouthing I'm going to be a grandma soon. "On this note, eat, drink and make merry. " Another round of applause followed Noah as he settled back down into his seat next to me. An upbeat tune filled the air as the musicians just at the corner of the stage began to play. What was a wedding with some music, right?"I know I'm not the only one who's been dying to ask this." Mother chipped in. "Wh
I was stunned, stuck in between anger and frustration at his tone. How could he even mutter that, like he didn't just snap my cousin's neck into half."You bastard!" I couldn't stop the tears from falling at this point. " How dare you ..""I told you. " His smile was smug. "She's nothing to me, nothing but a pawn that has served its purpose and she had to go. You're the one I'm doing this for. Join me, be my rogue queen and let's rule this kingdom together."" I…" whatever insults I was about to rain on Eric were cut short by the sound of a horn blaring loudly. It was ear deafening and for a moment after it had passed I could still hear my ears ring. I glanced at Eric and the fury on his face could only mean two things, either he was still mad at me or the horn signified the start of something else. Something neither Eric and I were ready to face. Before I could get any more words out,the sound of stomping feet reached my ears. It didn't take any more time for the owner to come; a rog
The last thing I wanted was to listen to this fool ramble on, but at this point I liked to think the urge to satisfy my curiosity was way more important than anything else."It was a fine cold night." He started in something I only assumed to be his imitation of a poetic voice. To be honest, he actually sounded like a croaking frog on a broken record. " I was pondering on ….""Would you get to the point?" I cut him off. "The faster we talk, the quicker I don't get to hear your annoying voice anymore.""Well someone's in a bad mood." Eric smiled, his huge grin giving him a creepy look. " I wouldn't say I blame you though, Given the pathetic position you're in …""Just get to it!" I snapped, cutting him off. His smile melted into a look of annoyance qnf it was my turn to smile now. " We don't have all day.""Fine." He was less enthusiastic than in the beginning. " I've always had one goal in my life, for a long time and that has been to bring dear Noah down. But you see, my plan had alw
The plink plink sound of water leaking out from somewhere was the first sound I registered when I regained consciousness. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open and it was weird; I felt not an ounce of pain as I wearily stared at my surroundings. Usually, the mere thought of even opening my eyes came with an intense amount of pain. So why then didn't I……"Arghhhhh." I had no idea about how long I was passed out for, but the fact that I could yell so loudly was strange, given that I was supposed to be weak and we'll honestly, dead or halfway dead. " What the hell? What's going on?"It was no surprise that no one else could answer the many questions I had so I decided to take matters into my own hands by taking a quick survey of my surroundings, not like I had so much of a choice anyway. High grey walls stared back at me. From the corner of my eyes I could make out a tiny hole in the ceiling, that's where the leak was coming from. Green moss lined the floors and a pungent smell hit my nose. I wa
I wasn't quite sure what exactly had triggered the excruciating pain in my head, if it was seeing Noah struggling and all tangled up in a net trap or perhaps Eric walking in like he owned the forest alongside the kingdom. I never liked Eric and always thought he was up to some kind of shady business and now he'd proved it. Or perhaps it was even Nita who had shockingly appeared beside this monster or maybe I was just hallucinating after being tortured and unconscious for a good amount of time in this forest. Either way the pain in my head wasn't relieving for one bit and the way the new pair of people droned on, seemed to amplify the hurt in my head."That's Queen Nita to you now." She smirked. " Right Alpha Eric?"I hadn't heard right. There was no way I'd just heard what Nita had just said, or maybe the pain in my head was jugging up my ability to understand sentences now. Yeah, that had to be it."Yes, my Queen." I fought the urge to barf at Eric's words. Underneath that will to vo
NOAH'S POV The atmosphere was tense, the air in the room stuffy. The temperature was humid too and the feel of the damp slimy liquid snaking down my back only worsened my mood. I spun to the large window in the room and realized it was open. It was, so why was I feeling like I'd been dropped right in the middle of a volcano that was just about to erupt. I tore my gaze away from the window and onto the men that stood with me in the throne room, each one a good difference from the others. They were all at alert, each one ready and avoiding my gaze but I couldn't see a trace of the humidity I was feeling. "Was I the only one suffering this predicament?"Any news yet?" The question slid past my lips immediately but I didn't regret it. "Have you found anything else?""Asides the reports that were brought in earlier." The guard who spoke up paused after that. If it was for suspense or he was simply reading the room, I wasn't quite sure. There was one thing I was sure about though, if h
I stood rooted to my spot, the height of the doors towering over me. I'd been here lots of times but somehow, and strangely today and at this moment, I didn't want to go in. I didn't even want to be anywhere near here in the first place. But was it necessary? Yes, highly important even. Did I have another alternative? Obviously yes. Did I really have to inform Noah this time? Not really, but I wasn't too keen on doing this all wrong. I shook my head of the many thoughts and questions that were trying to creep in. It wouldn't take long before they would all swarm me and keep me disoriented for the rest of the day. It was a surprise why Noah hadn't called me out for loitering about his front door for a while now because I was very sure he could feel and hear me, thanks to his heightened werewolf senses. Why he was quiet about it though, I had no idea."I thought you didn't want to come in." He let out immediately the door creaked open. His back was turned to me but I couldn't help but f
I didn't see that coming. I knew yelling and pushing all of his buttons would definitely get a reaction out of him but I wasn't expecting what he just did in a million years. And you know what was worse, I actually let him go further with it. The moment his lips brushed with mine, I should have kicked against it. I should have hit him square in the jaw and given him a kick in the groin. Even biting down hard on his lips wouldn't have been bad. Instead I let him in, and shamelessly let my eyelids flutter shut while I was at it too. He definitely wasn't expecting it, the soft gasp he let out was proof enough. I knew that I knew so little about Noah, but never in a million universes did my mind going to him being a good kisser. Scratch that, an excellent one.The way his lips seemed to move over mine definitely needed to be studied. It was smooth and silky and I found myself aching for even more pleasure his tongue seemed to be giving. With each time our lips collided, something shifted
NOAH'S POV "I have done all you've asked of me, my King." I was barely listening to the man in front of me. I knew he was speaking, hell, I could see his lips work up and down but for the life of me, I just couldn't register one word he was saying. " The borders have been checked and are all under twenty four hours surveillance.""I don't need to listen to you. Any of this." Bailey. Her words buzzed in my ear. It'd been ringing for so long that if I wasn't careful, I was sure I wouldn't be able to recognize my own voice or my wolf's either."Are you listening to me, Sire?" He caught my attention for a while. I nodded and gave a wave of my hand, an obvious gesture that he should go on with whatever it was he was rambling about." There's no way anyone would be able to sneak in. An army of rogues invading, is highly unlikely at this point. Impossible, even."That amount of security and still Bailey escaped, to only the goddess knows where. Where the hell was she? She had been gone f