I was fuming with anger and pacing the lengths of the room, still very much pissed at Susan and overwhelmed by what I’d just learned. Ryder was still in love with Adeline. That explained why he did not put his mark on me, the son of a bitch was toiling with me.
I hate Susan but I know she had a point. Ryder is an alpha prince, I may have witnessed how domineering and possessive he can be but a man like him would have marked me already except he was still in love with his ex-mate. That explained why her topic was always so sensitive and why he would not talk about her even after I told him about myself.
I saw how affected he was by what I told him and his immediate actions. Yes, I fear for the western wolves but my intentions were not to make things worse for them. I can imagine how this would affect them knowing the royals were no longer behind them.
Ryder says he would rather investigate Jayce’s death but I don’t see how this is going to benefit this case. E
The first time I met Elsie and heard her voice, I thought she was going to be a spoiled princess, I didn’t envision that a girl like her would want to be friends with me or that she would be willing to grant me favors, but over the couple of weeks I realize I may not have been able to handle a lot of things around here if it were not for her. I know this is a big risk for her, and her brother would not take it likely with her if he found out that she aided my escape from his house but she was willing to do it for me and although she said she was doing it because of her brother too, I am yet to understand what she meant by that. Ryder would look for me but he wouldn’t be missing anything. I was so sure of it. Elsie took me to her room in the royal palace. Her room was on the fifth floor, and she explained that Louis's was on the floor just above hers. I didn’t get a grand tour of the palace like the others that we came together because the prince chose to keep me lock
“Who would have thought you were capable of gaining any weight!” Layla screamed and enveloped me in a tight hug. It’s been few weeks since I last saw her and it feels like forever. She spins me around to check me out after releasing me from her rather tight hug, her eyes a little misty. It feels just like yesterday when she was comforting me and doing everything to convince me that Jayce’s death was not my fault. I feel less guilty about his death since I have been in the royal palace because there was no constant reminder of what happened and people at the royal palace didn’t look at me and see a killer. “I missed you so much Layla,” I said and she hugged me again, dapping at her eyes. “I miss you too. I can smell your wolf now,” she says excitedly and I nodded my head. The potion I took was supposed to last an hour according to Elsie but it wore off after thirty minutes. “Yes Layla,” I nodded my head. There was a lot to catch up with but we needed t
RYDER’S POV The alpha of the Western wolves is worried sick, and scared to death that he has somehow managed to anger the royals again. My dad called me to his office to discuss why I had a change in mind after deploying some warriors to the western regions but I didn’t give him my main reason. I have been handling this case for the past eighteen months and I was making all the decisions and calling the shots. My dad could care less about the Western wolves. He inherited the hatred towards them from his own father, which I have been trying to curb. No matter how hard they tried to get in our good books, my dad was not someone that could easily be won over. Since the incident with Tiana, I have avoided him as much as I could which hasn’t been all that much, because I still had to attend these really long meetings with him present and his signature was still needed on a lot of things before they could pass. That
TIANA’S POV“Hey babe,” The lanky dude that had to be Layla’s boyfriend kissed her before pulling her into a tight hug.“I missed you so much,” Layla swooned, then turned to introduce me to him. “This is Tiana, my best friend. Tee, meet Luke, my boyfriend,” she says with a wide smile.Luke shook my hands a little awkwardly, I’m not sure why. “Layla tells me about you. It’s nice to finally meet you,” he says.“It’s nice to meet you too Luke. Layla has nothing but sweet things to say about you too,” I tell him and he smiled.Luke seems like a chilled guy, and a lot different than that player Logan. I can’t seem to figure out why he doesn’t feel so comfortable around me, or maybe it was just my imagination.Daystar pack is not as bad as people made them seem. They don’t like intruders no dou
RYDER’S POVHow could she? How is it possible that she walked out of this palace without anyone seeing her? Unless someone aided her escape, and if I find out who did this, I would not have any mercy on them. If I find her, then she is going to be punished. Seems like I gave her too much liberty.I should have known. For fuck’s sake how did I manage to allow her so much privilege around here? What if something bad happened to her? What if she was in danger right now? How would I live with myself if she harmed herself or if I eventually do not see her again?I know for a fact that she is safe. If she was harmed or in some sort of trouble, I would have felt it. She left on her own. How could she do this? How? It feels like I would go crazy any minute if I do not see her, or even hear from her. I am mad and scared at the same time. This cannot be happening to me, not after Adeline.What if she went
TIANA’S POVThe night seemed to be dragging for way too long, and I know exactly why. I returned back to the house when Layla went into a panic and was screaming my name alongside Luke barely thirty minutes after I left. She seemed overly surprised that I climbed down that window and she has spent the last one hour asking me how I managed to, but I can’t explain myself.We have been talking non-stop since she found me, but nothing we said could take my mind away from him. I try to find sleep but it wasn’t coming.“You are not okay,” Layla commented.“What?” I turned to her absentmindedly.“I have been talking to myself for the past ten minutes,” she says slowly “You don’t look okay,”I walked over to the window I had climbed down from and stared out. That walk was supposed to calm my nerves but it didn’t.&ldqu
The next day was a little bit of fun. We visited three neighboring packs in disguise, sneaking into two of them while the third pack granted us easy access because one of those on parole had been ‘struck by my beauty’ in his words.Layla told Lucas I was going to visit a relative nearby and we may not be back for a long time. He wasn’t too pleased to let us go at first but he eventually gave in. I don’t think he bought the lie though but I needed something to take me away from Day star, I needed something to keep me busy, other than hiding away in that house and wallowing away as thoughts of Ryder was the only thing on my mind. Even during our adventure, he still clouded my thoughts.My phone was still turned off, so I have not heard from Elsie since her call last night when I got here. I hoped she was fine and I miss her too, and I hope Ryder didn’t know she helped me with this.I was glad Layla was having fun too. We met a few peo
“What do we do?” Layla asked in a voice I could barely recognize as hers. “Calm down,” I say in my own weird voice. I was scared, but mostly for Layla because I dragged her into this whole mess. Jordan was threatening to kill her and for all we know her family could be in trouble already. I wouldn’t put it past him to do anything rash, he sounded desperate and I remember the look in his eyes after he beat me up on the night he rejected me. He could have killed me if he wanted to and I thought he was going to, but he spared me and now I have dragged Layla into all of it. Layla was hardly ever scared of anything, but she looked terrified now and I know it is not just about Jordan’s threat but fear of what the prince would do to her. “Jordan is going to kill me. He almost beat me up the day he asked for your number and I refused to give it to him,” she says shakily “But even if I manage to escape his wrath, because after all my parents are respectable members of
We had just given the closing remarks when I finally caught a glimpse of Layla. She waved at me from behind the crowd, a wide smile on her face. I’d have been mad if I wasn’t surprised at how broadly she smiled and waved at me. It was hard pulling away from Ryder to go to her when my hands were trapped between his.When he finally let go, Layla was walking up to me same time as I was walking to her. A closer view revealed her flushed cheeks and bright eyes.“Someone looks overly excited. Where have you been?” I smiled as she pulled me into a tight embrace.“First, I’m sorry I haven’t been beside you,” She says with a little giggle, I doubted if she was really sorry.“And you are supposed to be my best friend,” I pouted childishly which made her laugh more.“I know, but I couldn’t help it,” she giggled “You look absolutely amazing by the way. I’ve never seen a
We recited our oaths before going into the ritual proper, and then the mating process had to come before the crowning ceremony. It was a rigorous exercise with Ryder taking his oath first, and then I followed suit.The king slits his left palm with a royal dagger, and Ryder does the same. Then they shook hands and the crowd bared their necks while the exchange of power was ongoing, with the kinsmen reading out the vows for Ryder to repeat.Once that was done, he had to go on his knees to receive the crown from his father. I knelt with him as his father proceeded to crown me with his mother’s crown once he was done with Ryder. I repeated my vows too and swore my loyalty to my people and to Ryder, to rule alongside him and put the welfare of my subjects first.Then it was time for the mating proper. My wolf was giddy with excitement, she had waited for this a long time. To be joined with her mate forever as one. It was midnight already and the moon was at hi
I smiled at the girl in the mirror and she smiled back. Tears glistened my eyes, but I had to hold it in, or else Elsie would go ballistic on me. ‘Don’t you dare ruin your make up’ she’d warned countless times. I laughed childishly as her eyes pried into mine through the mirror, the warning very evident in them. I can’t believe this is happening. I am just a few minutes away from being crowned the werewolf queen. Clad in the royal attire, and adorned with the most expensive jewelries, I looked nothing short of a Queen. Nora, Sadie, Rose and Layla had just exited the room to join the crowd outside. “You look absolutely stunning,” Elsie wiped her own tear before it dropped. “You know how much this means to Ryder,” she sniffed. “It means everything to him,” I nodded my head. I didn’t doubt Ryder wanted this as much as I did, or even more. “My mother’s crown has been laying around for years since her demise. It was her dying wish
The following days passed in a blur. There seemed to be too much to do under very little time, and I would not have been able to hold it off, if not for Elsie’s help. I didn’t know the first thing about organizing anything, and I wanted this to be perfect. I can’t afford any lapses.Ryder was enveloped in a pile of work himself, and we had little time with each other. Many nights, he didn’t return to bed and had to work through the night. He wouldn’t allow me to assist knowing I was pretty exhausted myself, but I fell asleep very frequently in his office and woke up in his room.The royal suite had been cleared out in the main castle for us while his father moved to the building behind that had been created for the purpose of his retirement. Our things had been cleared out and arranged in the royal suite and it would be our last night here. Louis will be moving in here once we moved out, and I knew I would miss this place so much.T
Right now, I’m super exhausted and I just want to crawl into bed and sleep, even though the evening is still young. I and Elsie have been on a shopping spree all day, trying to put a few things in place in preparation for the mating ceremony. There is a whole lot to be done before that day and I only just realized we have little time. Elsie had too much energy for one person, and if I hadn’t insisted that we continue tomorrow, we would have still been out by now.The regained my strength the minute I stepped into Ryder’s house and noticed he was home. He’d called earlier, but we hadn’t talked much. I climbed up the stair to the room with speed. Our bodies and minds were connected. I knew he could feel my presence the minute I walked into the building, just like I felt his.He was just stepping out of the shower when I walked in, a towel wrapped loosely around his waist, and I drooled over his body. Tearing my eyes from his chest and biceps
We returned back to the royal palace that same day and by the following day, things were being put in place to shut down Eclipse pack. I didn’t stay back to see it though, my job there was done, and I was back to the royal palace. Many members of Eclipse pack will not like me, because they wouldn’t understand this was in their best interest, but I was used to them not liking me, I lived with that all my life, only difference now is that I have upper hand. I hurried to meet Elsie who had been waiting for me downstairs for a while. As usual, I had woken up to find Ryder’s side of the bed empty, and the disappointment that followed was totally beyond my control. I had to remind myself that the fact that he had marked me now didn’t mean that he would have lesser responsibilities, and he only just informed me about his father’s decision to retire in less than two weeks, so there is a lot that needed to be done before the handover ceremony. To my surprise, Louis was beside
It’s a long ride from the royal palace to Eclipse pack and I would have dreaded the journey if not for the presence of my mate besides me. The last time I had to travel this long was when I left the royal palace to hide from Ryder, a very foolish decision as I have now noticed. I could never do without him, and I don’t even want to try.We pulled into the pack gates and looking round, a lot has changed from when I was here. The warriors on guard saluted and stood in position as we entered. From behind the tinted side glasses of the vehicle, I can see mothers carrying their young pups and hurriedly running to shelter, for fear of the Alpha Prince.The pack has been under the governance of the royals for the last few days, and a lot of things have changed since I remember. The atmosphere around the pack was unusually gloomy, and even the warriors wore sad faces. The walls of the packhouse look duller than I can remember and the trees and plants that decorated
Dungeons are really scary. We had a small dungeon in Eclipse pack where I spent a couple of nights in the past. I remember Alpha Simeon had me locked there for two weeks straight one time he said I had disrespected his Luna. It was the longest time I stayed in a dungeon at a stretch and it was a horrific experience. I think I was about thirteen then.I swallowed as one of the guards led us to the cell where Jordan was. Ryder’s hands were positioned at the small of my back, and apparently, he didn’t like the idea. I could feel his emotions and I know he can feel how uncomfortable I am here.I have never seen a dungeon so large before. It rested many feet underground with several cells lined up opposite each other. I couldn’t walk the lengths of the cell, because it was separated into several sections. Some cells were smaller than some and the crime committed would determine the cell one gets. I know this all too well from my own experience.I co
TIANA’S POVFor obvious reasons, I felt relieved when I heard about the news of Simeon’s death. I know my mate would have wanted a more severe punishment for him, but I could care less. I was more than happy that the case would finally be closed and that my mate can have a little rest and move on to other things.My father had to go back to get himself ready to move here fully, and he said he would be here in a couple of days. I am glad that he would be around me from now on and that we would finally be able to be part of each other’s life. Meeting Ryder was the best thing that happened to me, and I don’t want to envision a life without him.I want to be more involved in the work going on around here, and most importantly I want to go back to training, although Ryder is not hearing any of it. It is late in the night already and we were laying on the field by the lake side, gazing at the star