EmilyI pushed to break through a mind link and I finally felt it releasing. He was one of us.“My apologies, your majesty. I have been gone for so long, it is difficult to open my pack link.” He finally answered through the link and I studied him carefully before ordering the guards to stand down.“Who are you and why have you been gone for so long?” I frowned. I couldn’t remember any of our spies being out in the world. Everyone had returned home for the celebration.“I’m Ares, your majesty. I was sent out by your father three years ago to try and find you a mate.” His cheeks turned red and I rolled my eyes. “I guess I know now why I couldn’t find one.”AroraThe news about Emily’s mate spread like wildfire through the kingdom, and before she even walked through the doors with Ares, we knew she had met him. Ares was one of Bernard’s young recruits that should have formed part of the queen’s guard, but Bernard sent him out to try and find a mate for our daughter.We hadn’t heard from
In the werewolf world, males were possessive and powerful men. They were arrogant, ruthless and cruel. In the kingdom of the Black Valley, the king went to extreme lengths to make sure his people stayed loyal by any means necessary. With the use of fake prophecies and even faker legends about the world and its creatures outside the kingdom, he controlled everyone.Females were viewed as lesser creatures that were only there for pleasure or procreation. When the news of a new princess found its way to him, he made sure that she would never grow up. It was bad enough when the rogues chose a king. The last thing the king of the Black Valley needed was a young rival! A female no less!In the kingdom of the Black Valley, turmoil was brewing, and the females were always losing, it seemed.On the night that Alison disappeared it was a dark and gloomy night. The stars hid behind dark clouds as if they couldn’t witness what was about to happen. The man snuck in and out of the castle as if he w
AlisonLIVING IN THE BLACK VALEY was no picnic, but living as an omega was possibly the worst position anyone could be in. The moment you could turn, you had to go through the rank trials, and you were placed according to your performance. Your future depended solely on how you ranked in the trials and not the rank you were born under. What a lie?!Only the ones who had proven their strength could rule. The children born in ranked houses usually won since they were given more training and didn’t have the work schedules we had, so in my mind, the competition was rigged. But I would give it my all in any case. I attacked each challenge with everything I had. I was strong. Nobody had any idea how hard orphans worked in this place, but there was no big surprise when I didn’t make it. Being tired after working all day was apparently no excuse! I was named an omega and shipped off to work straight away without the opportunity to do more.They didn’t even give me the opportunity to grab my t
AlisonThe day that I turned eighteen, I was on my way to clean Alpha Spencer’s room. I didn’t wake up with hope of a party. I didn’t even expect any kind of acknowledgment of my special day. I had woken up with so much hope for my possible future that it didn’t bother me. Alpha Spencer was usually out that time of the morning and as I walked into his room and found him on top of a female, I whipped around. Our eyes met just long enough that we knew we were mates! I had been shocked into silence for only a moment.“I’m sorry! I didn’t … I will come back.” My eyes filled with tears as I ran back to my room. I heard him growling, and it almost felt as if the entire building shook with his anger. I had just closed my door behind me when he stormed in looking like some kind of hellhound out for blood!“I reject you as my mate!” He shouted while gripping me in a death grip. The fact that he was with another female didn’t hurt nearly as much as his words! Spencer didn’t want a mate and he s
AlisonI opened my eyes and, for a moment, I thought I had died. I had to be in heaven or something! There was no way I could be anywhere else! The room was luxurious. More luxurious than anything I had ever seen. My hand slipped over the bedding and it was so soft to the touch! Spencer’s bedding wasn’t even that soft! Fine, so I didn’t have that much experience, and I had not seen many bedrooms, but I was convinced I was in heaven and that was that.I got out of bed and nearly jumped right back when my feet touched the cold floor and I realized I was completely naked! Did people walk around naked in heaven?! Okay, so werewolves sometimes walk around naked after shifting, but I couldn’t for the life of me imagine people walking about naked in such a sacred place!I pulled the covers tightly around my body and started looking around the room. I was just about to peek into one of the cupboards when the door opened, making me nearly jump out of my skin! The moment our eyes met, it was as
Spenser It took a couple of days, but I finally started to feel more like myself again. I could only guess that the omega died. It was the only explanation I could think of for the pain finally subsiding. The rumours about what happened spread through my pack and I had to quickly get us back on track. Those damn rogues could attack at any moment, and I was just lucky that they hadn’t. I had survived the rejection and so had my pack. We could finally move on with our lives. There was a small possibility that I could get a second chance mate at some point in my life, but I didn’t count on it happening. We were fighting a war. I had to keep my focus on that! Alison It was incredibly strange at first. My father had my room redecorated with everything I so much as looked at, and I had to keep reminding him that I was used to a lot less. I also now have a cupboard filled with both new dresses and some of my mother’s old ones. I liked them even though they were apparently out of fashion.
AlisonMy life instantly changed the moment I found my father. Or at least, the moment that Ralph found me. I would never give Spenser any of the credit. He might have been the one who started the ball rolling for me to end up where Ralph could find me, but he didn’t do it because he was trying to help. Spenser rejected me without a second thought! The pain was slowly subsiding.I had to credit my dad, Ralph and the pack for that. They were nothing like I thought they would be. They were nothing like the people in the kingdom thought. I had heard stories over the years, but it was all hearsay. Very few people who actually saw what was going on beyond our borders spoke about it. I very quickly figured out that it was the king’s way of making sure that his people wouldn’t leave his kingdom.“Okay, so you started this war because you believed he kidnapped me or, worse, that he had me killed?” I frowned at my dad who had been telling me their side of the story. I had been there a couple o
AlisonConvincing my father to leave their pack territory was a huge thing. Ralph quickly got what I was planning, and he helped me to convince my father in the end. The warriors needed rest. Proper rest. Away from borders that they had to protect. Some of the younger warriors were thrown into the deep end and were never properly trained.One of the advantages of my position as omega in the old kingdom was that I had a lot of time to just watch what was going on without anyone realizing I was doing it. I wanted to give them all the information I had about the army. I wanted them to know which step they were going to take before they even took it.In order for us to properly prepare, we had to leave our home. We had to get away from everything that could distract us. I wanted to be trained so that I could lead our army in the final battle. I wanted to be there when we ran over their defenses. I wanted to be there when that monstrous king was ripped from his high horse and his throne wa
EmilyI pushed to break through a mind link and I finally felt it releasing. He was one of us.“My apologies, your majesty. I have been gone for so long, it is difficult to open my pack link.” He finally answered through the link and I studied him carefully before ordering the guards to stand down.“Who are you and why have you been gone for so long?” I frowned. I couldn’t remember any of our spies being out in the world. Everyone had returned home for the celebration.“I’m Ares, your majesty. I was sent out by your father three years ago to try and find you a mate.” His cheeks turned red and I rolled my eyes. “I guess I know now why I couldn’t find one.”AroraThe news about Emily’s mate spread like wildfire through the kingdom, and before she even walked through the doors with Ares, we knew she had met him. Ares was one of Bernard’s young recruits that should have formed part of the queen’s guard, but Bernard sent him out to try and find a mate for our daughter.We hadn’t heard from
AroraI kept my promise. The day that Bernard and I retired from royal life and handed over the reigns to our daughter Emily was the proudest day of our lives. She had grown into one of the kindest people I had ever known, while at the same time standing her ground when it was needed.She was strong and brave even though she had not faced a war. She was ready to rule, and the people were ready for her to take over. Emily was much loved by our people as she had grown up in the streets of the city and knew most of them by name.She took all the lessons I taught her over the years to heart and made sure that the people were taken care of long before she became queen. I could hear the rumours again of how much she reminded the people of the old rogue queen, and it made me feel proud that the pack loved her that much.Sadly, new rumours were starting to flare up all over the city, and they unsettled us a little. Emily was old enough now to mate, but unlike most of the royals, she didn’t fi
AroraForgiving the royal family a second time was probably one of the toughest things I ever had to do, but I knew that if I didn’t, there would be no end to the cruelty that would definitely follow. I had preached forgiveness before everything happened, and this gave me the opportunity to again remind people how to forgive.I made sure they saw me happily interacting with the royal family at each event and I made sure the royals that remained spent time with the people. The kingdom grew prosperous again under Bernard’s rule, and with my help, the people became happy again. We announced my pregnancy soon after I passed the second month mark, and very soon after that, I began to show.The royal baby grew fast in my belly as time slowly ticked by. I spent my days in the old queen’s vegetable gardens and tending to the flower gardens as much as my body would allow. I joined the omegas to do the shopping for the castle and made sure I knew what every one of our supplier’s problems were,
AroraMy omegas helped me to get dressed early the next morning. Having a warm and comfortable bed to sleep in and proper food to fill my belly, helped me to at least get some sleep. I was sure that the news about my release had already spread through the kingdom and was surprised when I walked into the dining room and saw the faces of the royals.Most of them were covered in shame as they should be, but I held my head high and took my seat beside Bernard. After the omega left the night before, Bernard told me everything that happened. He told me how he tried to find evidence against Irina and that he only believed her for a short while. It hurt to think that he had so little trust in me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind.None of them were to blame for any of this. Irina was the one who was to blame. She was the one who was going to face trial now and, thanks to Bernard’s genius plan, they had more than enough evidence to sentence Irina without spending much time on a trial.“Ar
AroraBernard took his time. He even postponed the trial for two days so they could find a witch to explain what each item in their mound of evidence was used for. My only glimmer of light was seeing Irina losing her patience the longer Bernard postponed the inevitable. It was clear as day from the looks I was getting in court. All the nobles believed that I was guilty.Bernard was digging deeper into the hole with each move. I didn’t have any hope that they were going to save me. Even with the visits from Bernard and his mother. I don’t trust them anymore. My fate was sealed. Now he just had to make the final decision. He had to judge me. He had to decide how and when I would be killed.IrinaThe glass flew through the air and shattered against the wall as I screamed out in frustration. My cousin was just postponing the inevitable in the hopes that I would slip up. I noticed he now had four guards following my every move. I couldn’t even use the secret passages without having them po
AroraPrincess Helena snuck into the dungeons to see me, and she brought me some food, but I was still so cold that I was having trouble moving. I also wasn’t sure if I could trust the food they were giving me. If they saw me as a traitor, they could very well try to poison me. My trust in all of them had been shattered, and I wasn’t sure if it would ever be possible to repair it.I had been waiting for this shoe to drop since the very moment I found out Bernard was my mate. Almost as though I knew they would just turn around and betray me, but I started to trust them and believe that they would trust me. I couldn’t help the way I was feeling. They all turned on me so fast after seeing all those things in Irina’s little secret room.Nobody believed me. It was as though none of them really knew me at all. Why would I ever trust any of them again? Bernard’s face came to mind and I felt my heartache. He should have believed me right from the start. He should have trusted me. He should ha
AroraIt wasn’t as cold on the cot as it was on the floor, but the night was long, and it still felt like the cold had found its way into my bones. I had no idea what was going on upstairs and, if I was honest, I didn’t care. They were so eager to believe Irina that they didn’t see how cruel she was.They all deserved whatever she had planned for them. I knew she made sure the proof pointed to me, but I couldn’t help myself. They should all have known by now that I wouldn’t have done that. Yet, even Bernard believed I was the traitor. I wasn’t sure if we would ever be able to find our way back to each other after all of this.The memory of Bernard visiting me and whispering came to mind and I pushed it to the back of my mind. I didn’t dare hope that things would work out in the end. Irina had been far too clever so far. She was going to make sure Bernard wouldn’t be able to prove my innocence. She was going to make sure the entire family believed her lies.The cold pushed through my t
BernardNone of this made any sense. Unless I didn’t know Arora as well as I thought I did, but I couldn’t imagine her doing the kinds of things Irina had accused her of. We found notes in the room that referred to even worse actions and I didn’t want to even think about it.I was torn between what I thought I knew and what possibilities there were. Was Arora a cruel and evil person who took revenge on our family or was she the kind heart that helped us to save our family from total ruin? Not that I thought the pack would ever revolt against us.I sat back in my office chair, not wanting to go to our room and not wanting to face my family. There were still far too many unanswered questions and I wanted to be able to answer at least some of them when I faced them again. The most prominent would probably be if I was going to put Arora on trial.“What are you doing here alone, cousin?” Irina wondered in my office and I sighed deeply. She was the last person I wanted to deal with right no
Arora“She planned this.” My voice was soft, but one of two of them heard me. “Irina planned this!” I shouted. “My omega followed her today and found the room. Irina wants all of you to think that I’m the traitor so she can get rid of me. Bernard, you have to believe me.”“His Majesty, don’t have to believe one word that comes out of your traitorous mouth!” Irina shouted from the back. “Your father was a traitor, and so are you!” She hissed and I could feel the atmosphere turning.“We need to hear from the omega, Bernard.” Princess Helena spoke up, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The omega was dragged up the stairs and I could see in her eyes that this wasn’t going to go my way. She kept looking at Irina and I wondered what happened in the short time we were apart. What could Irina have done? She was right there with me the entire time.“Please tell us what happened this morning.” Princess Helena took the lead.“I … Please, don’t make me do this.” The omegas eyes filled with tears as