Dahlia ~“I really think you should stop getting on his nerves so often,” Sienna muttered as we strolled through the dimly lit hallway toward the dining hall. Her voice carried a half-joking, half-serious tone.“It’s not completely my fault,” I replied, flicking a strand of hair out of my face. “He’s utterly insufferable. I hate him, I hate all of them.”“How couldn’t you?” Sienna sighed. “I’ve been trying to hide how much they disgust me.”I clenched my jaw. “It’s getting harder to pretend I don’t want to set this entire school on fire with everyone in it.”The words had barely left my mouth when we rounded the corner and ran straight into some students. Four of them… it was a pack. The Alpha stood in the middle and his sneer was instant. He shoved Sienna so hard and she hit the ground with a thud that echoed through the hallway.“Watch it, dimwits,” he said with a voice that dripped with disdain, “You both reek of abominations.”My blood boiled instantly. I grabbed Sienna’s arm a
Kaden ~“I would kill that fucking bitch! Strangle her until there is nothing left in her but audacity, and then I will squash that as well.” Anger welled up in my veins even more as thoughts of what she had just done ran through my mind's eye. “So what exactly is pissing you off right now?” Orion asked as we entered the dorm room. I was once again assaulted by her scent. Of all the scents in the room… hers, hers penetrated my nostrils and branded itself in my brain, never to be forgotten. This was fucking torture.“Is it the fact that she won you, or the fact that you can't get her out of your mind? If it's the latter, losing to women isn't as bad as you think.” Orion continued.“What?” I asked, looking up at him sharply. “Who the fuck are you, and what have you done with Orion?” I questioned and he lifted his arms in surrender with a small smile playing on his face.“I have to admit, Sienna’s witchery or whatever it's called might be getting to me, but I love it, you know, I want
Dahlia ~“Kaden, Orion, Aurelian, Silas, Theo and Caleb.” The instructor called.All students were gathered once again at the training fields, it wasn't even dawn yet and I had barely managed to get enough sleep the previous night because of how irritable Kaden was, he intentionally bumped into me so many times that I feared I might have developed a concussion. He was such a sore loser.And when it was finally time to go to sleep, my duvet was nowhere to be found. Now, everyone else was fully dressed yet my training gear AND my uniforms were discovered missing this morning. I would kill the son of a bitch, slowly, ensuring he felt every single agonizing moment, and then I will kill ALL werewolves, they were all vile creatures that did not deserve breath.A shiver racked through my body as I stood bare foot on the grass, wearing nothing but my skimpy silk pajamas.Yes, my shoes were missing too.I was lucky he left my chest bandages. Otherwise one look at me and everyone would know
Dahlia ~They would easily track us with the shirt, plus the scent of my blood was so strong because of all the cuts on my feet. The footsteps were right outside the cathedral now. Sienna snatched the stone from its spot and handed it to me. I looked at her with confusion in my gaze.“You need to shove it down your vagina,” she said.“What? That's the best you could come up with?” I grabbed it from her hand.“Have any other plans? My pockets are too exposed and the gemstone could fall out at any moment, plus, I'm too dressed to shove it into my—“Fine… just give me a second,” I pulled my pants down.Luckily, the gemstone was rather small, about a quarter of a fist. But it was still too large as nothing had ever entered me before through that entrance.My fingers ran through my folds and I realized just how treacherous my body was when I found them wet. I momentarily hated myself. The gemstone slid in easily and it was properly nested when the doors were busted open.Kaden strolle
Dahlia ~“So where is it?” Naima questioned as her gaze flicked between us. “Let me see the gemstone.”I froze as shame colored my cheeks.Sienna coughed. “Uh… it’s inside of Dahlia.”Naima blinked. Then, with the straightest face, she said, “Oh, never mind.”I resisted the urge to shrivel into the floor.“Moving on.” She folded her arms across her full chest. “I need to teach you both a teleportation spell.”Sienna frowned. “Why would we need that?”“Because this school is a fortress,” Naima said. “It’s guarded by werewolves trained in the previous king’s army. And there is nothing more terrifying than an extremely powerful, highly skilled warrior holding a gun.”Fair point.Naima continued. “Since you both have royal blood, your magic is naturally stronger than that of regular Scarvyns, but power is nothing without control. You need to hone your skills before you can cast anything stronger than mere teleportation spells.”“When was the last time you fed?” she asked.I thought for a
DahliaThe spell worked, thank the goddess! But we had not teleported far enough, we were outside the school gates.“Find them!” A voice shouted from inside the school.Shit.Sienna grabbed my hand, and we ran. The cold night air stung my face and rocks pierced my raw feet, but adrenaline dulled the pain. We barely made it a few feet before a glossy black limousine pulled up beside us.The door swung open.There was no time to hesitate. Sienna dove in.But just as I was about to do the same, I felt something that made me glance back.That was when I saw him.The unmistakable silhouette of Kaden stood on the roof of the school, the moonlight turned his new white hair silver. His mismatched eyes practically glowed in the darkness. He stared at me like he was marking me, branding me, his gaze held a hunger that frightened me right to my soul—“Dahlia get in!” Sienna yanked me inside, and the door slammed shut.The car sped off.I pressed my back against the seat, trying to catch my brea
Orion ~Kaden was losing his mind.I stood a few feet away, arms crossed, as I watched him hack into a forty-foot tree like a rabid beast. His now white hair clung to his damp forehead, his bare chest glistened with sweat under the moonlight. Each swing of his axe sent splinters flying, his muscles flexing, his jaw clenched so tight it looked like his teeth might crack.By the time the tree finally gave in and collapsed with a deafening crash, Kaden stood there panting, gripping the axe so hard his knuckles turned white.He was fucking unhinged.And it wasn’t just the damn tree… no far from it.He was contstantly on the lookout for an outlet for his rage. The past three days, he’d been on a literal warpath. Getting into random pointless fights, baring the crap out of any and everyone, he was basically tearing through the school like a hurricane. He was restless. Reckless.Deadly.Dahlia did this to him.I exhaled through my nose leaning against a tree watching him. “Feeling better
Dahlia ~“It is done.”Lord Malachi’s voice rang through the room, cutting through the long silence.“The transformation spells have been completed successfully.” He stated. “You are no longer Dahlia and Sienna. From this moment on, you are Maeve and Roxanne. You must prepare yourselves mentally, for the severity of this mission is enough to weaken one’s spirit. It is not easy to live such a lie.”A slow exhale excaped my lips as I toyed with my fingers that refused to stay still.My nervousness came as a result of the fact that I realized there was no turning back anymore.Sienna and I had been in the Scarvyn refuge for four months now.Four months of relentless training, exhausting magic drills, and discipline that practically stripped away every ounce of softness we once had. We weren’t the same girls who had left Kingmaker academy.Now, we were something else, much stronger.We had honed our skills and now in seconds, we could draw our blood to form sigils to control the weather,
Dahlia ~The battlefield was flled with screams of the dying and struggling.Steel clashed against steel, and flesh, the scent of blood and smoke was thick in the air. The Jorrans were relentless in their fierceness.Kaden was a storm.He moved like he was born for battle, his black sword seeped with smoke anc he handled it as though it was an extension of his body. He cut through enemy after enemy without hesitation, his expression was calm, cold and calculating… I came to the realization that back in the training room, he had let me over power him for some reason.And I should have hated it.Should have hated seeing just how much of a challenge he would be to kill. But there was something maddeningly intoxicating about the way he fought. Like war was nothing more than a game he knew he would win. Like death was an inconvenience he didn’t have time for.He turned and his back was to me for just a second as he struck down a warrior to his left. Another enemy lunged from behind him wi
Sienna ~The battle had barely begun, and already, Orion was at my side.Where has he materialized from? I have no idea. I should have been annoyed.I should have rolled my eyes, brushed him off and told him I didn’t need a bodyguard.But the way he looked at me as though I was the only person in this entire palace that mattered… yeah, made my pulse stutter.His voice was rough, urgent. “Are you alright?”I blinked and gripped my machine gun tighter. “Why do you care?”His jaw clenched. “That’s not an answer.”I hated that my heart fluttered at the way he said it. Like my well-being was something personal to him.I forced a smirk. “I’m fine. But really, Orion, don’t you have more important people to protect?”He didn’t hesitate. “No.”I swallowed.Damn him.I shook off the warmth threatening to settle in my chest. “You know nothing about me.”Something changed in his eyes.“You remind me of someone,” he said slowly. “Someone I once knew, she meant a lot to me.”My breath caught and m
DahliaKaden drove fast and hard until we got to the area where the smoke was coming from. I rushed down from the car and a massive fire was set to the kingdom.Bombs were dropped from fighter jets and explosion after explosion rattled my bones.For a second, I couldn’t move. The smoke plumes curled into the sky, thick and dark, the scent of burning wood and blood clogging my lungs. My heart slammed against my ribs.Gunshots rang out and my eyes darted to the kingdom where people fought with guns and knives. A scream tore through the air and a warrior charged at me. He was fast and deadly. His golden blade gleamed in the light as he swung toward me. I willed my body to move, to dodge, to fight, to go anything, but my feet stuck to the ground.But Kaden was quick to counter his attack.His dagger sank into the warrior’s chest before I could even gasp. The man choked, eyes wide, before crumpling to the ground.Kaden swore under his breath and yanked his blade free, his other hand alre
Dahlia ~The training session was a total mess. I had barely made it back to my chambers before the shaking started.I slammed the door behind me and pressed my back against it, trying to catch my breath. My pulse was still unstable and my skin was on fire from Kaden’s proximity.Damn him.Damn his strength, damn his eyes, damn the way he got under my skin without even trying.This wasn’t supposed to happen.I squeezed my eyes shut, but all I could see was the way he had looked at me—like he saw something beneath the surface, like he was trying to read me. Like he knew I was Dahlia.He can’t know. He can’t.I shoved off the door and paced the length of my room. My muscles were still tight from our fight, my body still wired from the way he had pinned me, so close, so solid, so unbearably there.I should have laughed it off. I should have played along. I should have leaned in and let him fall deeper into the trap I was supposed to be setting.But instead, I had panicked.Like a foo
Kaden ~I couldn’t stop thinking about her.The way she had leaned over the map, completely unbothered and completely in control. The way she had traced her finger along the ridges, pointed out weaknesses in my defenses like she had studied war her entire life. Like she had been born for it.It rattled me.Because I had not expected seduction. She was compliant, almost eager to obey me and prove herself to me.And I had liked it a little too much.I let out a sharp breath, rolling my shoulders as I struck the training dummy in front of me. The crack of impact echoed through the empty dark arena, but it didn’t help. My body was still tight with tension, my mind still raced with the venom craving.I hit the dummy again. And again until it came off its base.No matter how hard I trained, I couldn’t shake the memory of her. The sharp intelligence in her eyes. The way her lips had curled into a knowing smirk when she realized she had surprised me. If only she knew how much I needed…Fuc
Dahlia ~I slammed the door to my room shut behind me, and I pressed my back against the hard wood. My breath was uneven and my pulse a wild, unstable thrum in my neck.What the hell was that?I squeezed my eyes shut in an attempt to drown out the memory of him, but it didn’t help. Kaden was still there, etched into my mind’s eye. The heat of his fingers on my skin, the unwanted goosebumps I got. The way the bond had roared to life the second he touched me, the hunger in his gaze and the way he looked at me as though he might kiss me…Oh damn it! Why did he have this effect on me? It was simply because of the mate bond right? It had to be.And when I killed him, all these stupid, silly feelings would be morphed into sorrow and pain.A quick knock sounded at the door.I barely had time to compose myself before Naima strode in, her sharp eyes raking over me like she already knew everything.I exhaled through my nose, turning away. Not now. I didn’t have the patience for one of her lec
Kaden ~I simply couldn’t get her out of my head.I hated it so much, fuck!Her scent lingered in my mind, a whisper of something wild and dark, curling around me no matter how much I tried to shove it away. I had spent the entire night battling the thought of her, but it clung to me like a second skin. Even now, standing under the cold rush of water in my chamber, I could still feel her. The way she had looked at me in the training grounds, wide-eyed with her lips parted.Like she wanted me, but then I was probably just being delusional.My mind had been ruined.My hands pressed against the wet stone, steam curling around my body. Forget her. She’s just another Scarvyn.But it wasn’t that simple, was it? Because I had sworn to myself that no Scarvyn would ever hold power over me again. That I would never let another one get under my skin after what Dahlia did to me.And yet here I was, feeling like my body was betraying me. My wolf, Tiernan was restless, pacing, growling. He want
Dahlia ~I sharply snapped my gaze away from him before my mind wondered to places it shouldn't.Kaden stood in the training arena, he was looking at me with that suspicious mismatched gaze of his as sweat glistened on his sun kissed skin, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths. He was strength and dominance carved into flesh, and I hated that I noticed. Hated that my body reacted, that my throat felt tight, that the memory of his hands on me last night clawed at the edges of my mind.I swallowed hard and forced my focus elsewhere. Orion sat nearby, watching me, his intelligent green eyes looked at me as though he knew exactly what was running through my head.I ignored them both and walked past sharply.I focused on the hunger gnawing at my stomach. Focusing on it was probably a mistake but I couldn't help it. I had barely fed last night. I just tasted a few drops before that cursed mate bond had flared to life between us. I had pulled away then, terrified of what I woul
Kaden ~The sun was brutal that morning. I could hear the sizzles of my sweat with each drop on the hot sand of the training Arena.The sound of steel crashing against steel resonated around me as Orion and I circled each other. I wasn’t focused on this training session. Not really. My thoughts were unwillingly elsewhere… on Maeve.Her scent, her taste, the way her lips had trembled against my neck when she felt the tug of the bond. The way her venom felt as it saturated my needy veins—Pain seared across my back.I gritted my teeth and stumbled forward as Orion’s sword sliced sharply through my shirt, and jerked me from my thoughts. I rapidly turned to face him with a vicious snarl. An annoying smirk tugged at his lips.“Distracted?” he asked in a mocking tone as he rolled his shoulders. “You’re slow today, your Majesty. On a normal day, I would be regenerating my hand by now.”I rolled my shoulders and flung the sword in my fingers, loosening my wrist. “I’m fine.”He tilted his he