CLARA"What would a girl her age like?" I pondered as I scanned the pieces of jewelry adorning the necks of perfect mannequins scattered across the store. "...what would Lydia want?" I wanted something expensive yet elegant. It was the type of person she was. I did not want the girl to believe for a second that I was beginning to manage her. Half f me suspected she was only being this way with me because of the power I held and the kindness I had displayed to her and while I did feel a slight prick by the heart for my supposed selfishness, I knew I was doing the right thing."Clara, tell me you do not intend to use Lydia to bait your son in tonight's banquet?"I flicked my head to the side and what did you know, it was Elliot tossed to the side like the devil on my shoulder. Why was he here, I wondered as I lifted a piece of jewelry that caught my fancy to the face. The necklace was a simple silver chain with a scarlet stone as big as a grape dangling at the end. It would contrast Lyd
LYDIAI remained frozen and motionless. Just staring into the deception of my reflection. It couldn't be. But no matter the lie I tried to tell myself, as my brain cells continued to diligently work, my reflection was all that stared back."Um...Miss Lydia?" The beautician coughed. I looked in her direction. She was by the door, holding it open for me. I felt a prick of guilt tear through me realizing I had been too carried away by my new improved self to make this woman's job easier. Numbly, I walked through and went out into the reception area.Clara was there, sitting on a chair made available with his eyes glued to something that glittered in her hands."Mrs. Rose." The stylist was sure to call her attention. Clara straightened her back and her gaze went my way as I continued to approach her. I noticed her eyes pop out in shock as her gaze lingered."Lydia?" The disbelief in her voice was evident and she couldn’t even mask it. I couldn't blame that she had found it impossible
FIONA"Did you like that?" Alexios asked with lust still heavy in his voice. I was by my side when he threw the question, probably still reeling from his post-orgasm daze. A tear escaped my eyes as I did my best to put on a brave voice, but deep inside I was trembling. I had come here wanting to know everything; now, I felt terrified. I did not understand what was happening and why it was happening to me. Performing the glamour spell to look like Lydia was a mistake because it showed me a truth I still didn't want to see. I trembled remembering the Seer's utterances. It was true. All of it was valid. Alexios had cheated on me. It didn't matter that it was still me. He has no idea it was me. Yet, he had sex with me. Mind blowing sex we had never shared as a couple. Not to mention that he marked me. A feat I had failed to make him perform. Alexios had always claimed that he was only waiting for the bond to overcome him and I had believed him. “Yes, I did,” I replied, trying my best to
LYDIAI found myself back in the garden. Alexios was about to break the kiss when I kissed him back without thought, instantly intoxicated by him. His mouth was firm yet tender on mine, silently coaxing me to let go of my inhibitions and just follow my instincts. I tried, hard to turn off my thoughts. My fears. Turn off every old feeling. I already knew I could be with this man, and he was pretty perfect. At least this side of him was. But my wolf wanted this. To just be with him. I raised my palm to his cheek, felt the rough stubble there. Without quite intending to, my lips parted, inviting his tongue into my mouth, and the move saturated my whole body with warmth, especially when a low moan left him, letting me know that . . . mmm, he felt it just as much. When finally we stopped kissing, our foreheads touched and I absorbed his very nearness, bit my lip, let out a sigh. Then his hand slid softly up my side, stopping at the swell of my breast, causing me to tremble.“I want to tou
ALEXIOS They arrived by the dozen, each sporting expensive looking masks decorated in gold and silver that hid their identities entirely. Everyone present wore a new dress or suit which would be discarded after the night was past. I could smell the scent of new permeate the room. In the sky, the moon provided a natural disco ball and lighting into the house which held the main event. Greetings were offered out along the gravel path, some to me as dainty fairy lights added a surplus amount of color to the parade of footsteps. The gifts exchange had already begun when I found my way across the lawn to get a drink - a bottle of Rose in return for a clear mind which would be lost to the hawk-eyed scroungers of the party. I felt like they could see through me. I wondered why I hadn't felt that same guilt when Lydia had undressed herself hours ago. I would be lying if I said I did not enjoy every single second of it. Now. Now it just felt wrong. A sweet melody was drifting through the b
LYDIA Would it be so strange if I said the entirety of the room turned their heads to where I stood? I felt the lump in my throat grow as muttering lips whispered words I could hear but couldn't make into proper words. Clara was just behind me. "Your eyes..." The guard by the end of the stairs muttered. "Are you...""Nightshade." I finished for him. Honestly, I welcomed the look of disgust he threw my way. The eyes from across the room were causing my heart to beat faster and not in a good way. In the middle of the ballroom and dressed in complete opposites were Alexios and Fiona. They had their eyes on me too probably wondering who I thought I was barging into their celebration. I could tell at least one of them if not both of them wanted me out of the room but for some reason, they kept their peace. Surely, it had to be because there were others in the room. Alexios might be ruthless but even he had to have a certain respect for his guest. As our eyes continued to linger, I began
LYDIA He was jealous. How... Why was he jealous? The glare they both sent each other was unnerving. Alphas had the pride of lions and the brute nature of silverback gorillas. If something wasn't done to cut them off soon. A fight would ensue. My eyes traveled to where Clara sat. The grand luna was standing now, clearly worried as to the situation arising in the middle of the ballroom. Questioning eyes also followed. People wanted to know what was happening and why two men seemed to be fighting against themselves for my sake. "Yours? She is a consort?" Archie queried, removing the mask that covered the half of his face. I was greeted by thick brows, pleasant full lips, and a chiseled jaw. It would be a shame if Alexios unable to control himself punched him. In seconds, this whole confrontation could go wrong. "She is my slave." Alexios spat.The whole room suddenly went quiet. Maybe that wasn't true. The truth was that my system completely stopped working when he said that. I was
FIONA Time ticked faster waiting for Alexios . The clock was about to hit eight and the Aloha who would open the feast was nowhere to be seen. Curtis was beginning to send me looks and so did our visitors. I knew I had to take it upon myself to check on him. I walked out of the halls and back into the house. "You," I whistled at a maid mopping the marbled floor clean to glass. "Have you by any chance seen Alpha Alexios ?"Her head shot up and she immediately bowed before answering. "Yes.""Where?""He's with the slave girl" She replied with her head still bowed.Lydia ? My heart pulsed. The bite marks that Alexios had imprinted just down my throat itched. Alexios had lied again. He had told me he was going to the toilet only for him to go behind my back and see that girl. He had been acting weird all night and a huge spur for that might be because of the atrocity he believed he committed with Lydia . I looked back at the maid and tried to keep a proper composure even when I was l
LYDIA This was madness, wasn't it? As our tongues tangled together, playful one moment, hard and desperate the next. I had never been kissed so thoroughly or gloriously in my life. I knew it needed to feel wrong. Goddess knows I wanted it to feel wrong but when his body touched mine, when his lips plundered mine, the gap within me seemed to close up. I dared to believe at that moment that Alexios completed me but it was immoral. Yes, It shouldn't have felt good when felt his hands drifted to my waist and in seconds, my promise to hate this man perished as the stiff denim material I wearing fell to my feet. If I felt nothing for him, why did I toe off my sneakers and slip off my shirt giving him unbroken access to body, mind, and soul? His hands fingered through my panties and brassiere and with a single flick, they become nothing but shreds of clothing on the graveyard floor. His strong hands lifted me to a gravestone and I welcomed him between my legs, pulling him closer. His hand
ALEXIOSImmediately the ritual was over, Fiona's body was dropped by my feet. They were kind enough to say a last prayer to the woman who had caused them harm in the first place but they weren't about to bury her in a sacred place for their people and I understood that. "I apologize again for this. If it was in my power to bury her here, I have no problem doing so but as a Beta installed Alpha, my stance is not to be questioned." Vitale told me.I looked up at him blandly. I couldn't even focus on his words because all that dominated my heart were the things that Lydia had said about me. She was right. I was an arrogant idiot and a murderer. Those two things were the personality traits I had garnered since my childhood was taken for me. They were the only thing I could grasp on to at the time because those aspects of myself wouldn't leave me as my father had done."I understand." I finally replied. "I have an idea of where to bury her. I have a feeling she would like it there.""If t
LYDIA"You didn't have to do that," I told him. "It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of me. The bodies will be buried after the rituals are completed and I will be out of town. But a thank you is deserved I must say. Now that you are here again, I am reaching out to that stubborn part of your skull to see past the bond that is blinding you and see common sense. Alexios Rose, it would be in your best interest to reject me.""You act like it's only my wolf that will be eternal torment. We both will so instead of placating to my stubborn skull, you should be subduing your headstrong attitude. I will not be rejecting you. If we must suffer together, then so be it.""The rules might not apply to me, Alexios . My mom made the goddess promise her that I end up happy. Whether I choose you or not, it doesn't matter. The rules do not apply to me anymore. So please, reject me." I forced myself to ignore my wolf and my body’s demands even when Alexios stepped even closer. One of his hands cage
LYDIA I stayed. Not because of any of the things that Alexios had spewed. I did it for myself. Okay. Maybe I wasn't being completely honest. Alexios 's words did make some sense. I couldn't trust the Nightshade to give Elliot a proper burial. They couldn't even do it for my mother who was part and parcel of the pack and a goddamn Luna at that. Elliot had been an outcast at the time he died, as much as I viewed him as a hero, it was really tragic that plenty had no idea what sacrifices he had to make because I didn't matter, and neither did Elliot. The clean-up process had been fast. Swiftly wrapped up compared to the tragedy that befell us during the aftermath of the divine justice that befell my father. I couldn't quite tell if this was because of better leadership or prior preparation. By evening time, the bodies had been wrapped up and brought to a platform where the traditional rites of soul passage were read out for them. It almost brought tears to my eyes seeing Elliot's body
ALEXIOSMedics from the Nightshade finished strapping the last of their bloodied, defeated pack members onto stretchers. They were being taken to the pack's healer for treatment. I stared at the bodies on the floor. My eyes lingered where my mom stood, an inch not too far away from where Fiona's body lay. The medics around walked towards her body. Some of them had been rounding the bodies. But when they got to Fiona. I notice the scowl and disdain they all had on their faces. They all ignored it. In their eyes, Fiona was Blossom trash and I was torn. I did pity Fiona. I couldn't hate her. No matter how rational I tried to think about it. Not even when she had summoned a ball of fire to kill me as I continued to protect Lydia . But Fiona had been a true Blossom at the last moments of her life. She has become the very thing she hated about her family and that was the legacy she had left for herself. I felt guilty for that. Because as much as I tried to water it down. It was still my fa
ALEXIOSI had never shifted to my wolf form fully unless it was serious business and this was serious business. After being left stranded in the middle of nowhere by Fiona, I was pissed and downright worried. One of my pack members had been murdered by Fiona. I didn't know how to get out of that. As my mother and I sprinted on all fours, I made time to ponder on a truth that bothered me. I wondered if Fiona was worth saving at this point while also cementing the fact should the scenario eventually occur, Fiona posed a danger to Loretta. I couldn't let that happen. After running miles, we eventually made it to Nightshade territory. My keen senses caught the chaos. I could hear screaming the closer we got to the gates. It was not the scent of fire, smoke, and wood burning that made my wolf skid to a halt. It was the horrific sight in front of me. Lydia had pinned Fiona down. Her right hand was clasped to Fiona's throat. Her windpipe was blocked ensuring she couldn't cast any spells. H
FIONAWhy did I stop? I asked myself looking at the girl I was supposed to kill. My chimera had paused too because it sensed my hesitation. I did want to kill Lydia but that moment when she dropped to the floor and fetched Elliot's body shattered me. It brought back something I believed I could keep buried inside me for as long as I needed to. My humanity. Tears streamed down Loretta's face as Elliot breathed his last. Lydia remained rooted where she kneeled. She was cold and stiff as marble but beneath the surface, I could sense anger surging out of her frail little self like jolts of electricity consuming everything in its path. Her gaze rose from the body below her and she chuckled between gritted teeth. Eyes the color of a dark storm landed on me, twinkling with malice. I swore that the color of her irises altered. A menacing silver gleamed my way. I couldn't be seeing things because moments after Lydia Nightshade's irises turned ghost white. Her hair did too. "What the..." I t
NOTE: This conversation takes place mere seconds after our FL (Female lead) ascends to the second dimension. Time works differently here. However, this conversation is important for readers to understand what is about to happen soon after. The wolf stepped forward. The hair on its skin moving in molasses. Each stand moved like seaweed in the waters. Beautiful and mesmerizing. It didn't speak but I could hear its words loud and clear. I didn't quite understand it but neither was I so wary about it. "Do you know your mother was here last time?" The creature told me. "She stood at the very spot you are now. Covered a pool of her own blood. Yet all she did was think about you."I looked at the floor. The earth was filled with fine sand. Each smithereens looked like crushed glass. To think about that awful memory yet again brought me nothing but suffering. I swallowed a lump in my throat and looked at the ethereal beauty before me. "That is why I am here." I mused. "You want me to ask f
LYDIA Whatever fantasy I had conjured in my head died when I arrived at the gates. The great oak that had once barricaded the entrance had been shattered to smithereens. I saw bodies scattered across the ground. Some were missing heads. Some legs. The singular thing the bodies did share was that they were extinct. "Run!" A sentinel shoved me away from his path. The distress in his face was eminent as he raced for the creature his brothers were also fighting. Whatever it was, it looked like a man. It was double in size and riddled with tattoos that glowed red hot and singed deeper into its blue skin every passing second. The wind that blew my way confirmed that the enemy was anything but human. My nose simmered just inhaling. The air surrounding us smelled like sulfur and rotting meat. Behind the creature was a smaller figure unbothered by the chaos enveloping them. I squinted my eyes a little and realized the figure was that of a woman. Her hair danced in the hot whiff that encompas