LYDIA “Alpha Alexios is demanding another set of fifty tributes, Luna Alaska.” An elder informed my mother. The distress in his tone was very much there so much so that even my dull brain could read the room. “What should we do?” The elder asked. “If we do so much as step on his toes, the rose pack will render us out of existence.”“Give me time.” My mother pleaded with the elder speaking. “I will come up with something.”The room grew tense from my mother’s statement. I could see it in the eyes of elders that sat on the round table. None of them supported us. The only reason they were here being rational was simply because the matter of the tributes ensured their survival. No soul in the room tried to hide the scowl on their faces. Those cowards! They had never put this much energy into any despicable thing my father, the late Alpha of the nightshade pack did. Now that he was gone, we had lost the respect of our pack. They saw us as the source of their misery and there was no hidin
LYDIA They say he is a monster. Wicked to the core and devoted only to only his pack known as the Rose. They say with eyes like blood, the Alpha of the Rose-the onset of the conclusion to those that defy him— travels from territory to territory, wiping out enemy packs in a single battle. Drawn to war, he slew even the smallest resistance with misery and bloodshed.To see him, they say, is to look death right in the eye.They claim he has no moral compass and that he killed without mercy, stole without qualm, and obliterated without guilt, all to receive serenity: Assurance in knowing his pack would never have to suffer the fate they did in time past to rival packs. In two excruciating nights, I had gotten to know all the horrible things Alexios Rose stood for. The cell was cold and I was utterly alone. It had been two good days but I still refused to admit to myself that a cruel lot had been tossed my way. Two days ago, I had been werewolf royalty. Now...now I was about to be sold
LYDIA I stood rooted in the spot, the lights shining onto the stage made it hard to see who was bidding for me. I was terrified. Lined before me were other girls like me. I watched as the chains on their legs rattled. I watched as the bidding got hot before coming to a halt. The horror was barely over as cheers erupted from below the stage. A tribute had been bought. A girl who must have had a seemingly normal life before this had become someone's property. I looked helplessly as my cover was given away. The stage light circled around me, implying I was next.The atmosphere in the room was terrible. Most, if not all of these men bidding were doing it for the opportunity to fuck a virgin because that was what would most likely happen. Men dominated the room and I was not blind to the look scribbled on their faces. Brash lust. These men wanted a young petite enemy werewolf to break literally. The auctioneer sauntered over to my direction and smirked. His beefy arms coiled around my n
ALEXIOS EARLIER... "I am ready." Fiona Blossom waltzed towards me and proceeded to plant a kiss on my cheek. "How is the fit by the way?"She was dressed in green. Her favorite. The color of earth. Something she associated with her spirituality. Witches could be the oddest. It was beautiful. It cupped her breast in all the right places and the slit that stopped at her thigh made my wolf go feral. But I was Alpha and an Alpha never renounced control."Beautiful as always but I do need to go remind you we are going to pick out a slave girl for your needs and not the red carpet." I teased.Fiona sent me a look that made the sky crack in half. It might have been a coincidence but with witches, It was always wise to think otherwise. It was what I loved about them. Their unpredictable nature. Among the supernatural community, they were widely avoided because of the bad reputation that came with the power and title but Fiona was different. She was empathic. The one woman who had managed to
LYDIAWhat was the moon goddess thinking? I asked myself as the auctioneer yelled out loud that Alexios Rose had won the bid considering that no one else dared to toss a contender."Sold for five million." The auctioneer sounded overjoyed. I could hear the slaver scream from behind the curtains. A contract was immediately brought over and Alexios signed, solidifying my fate. Enjoy your purchase." The auctioneer told Alexios as he slammed the paperwork close. "Have a great evening." A woman. Dark-haired. Pale skin and onyx orbs ran to Alexios's side. She had a worried look on her face. She pulled Alexios by the arm and pulled him close like he wasn't a killer. It was crystal clear that she didn't get him. I dared to say that she looked furious. I just couldn't wrap my fingers as to why. No matter though. Life had kicked me hard enough. I was going to die just like I had manifested in the four cold walls of the cell. I knew I should be afraid. I needed to be. But I wasn't. The man inch
ALEXIOS Fiona wouldn't look at me all through the drive. Let alone have a word with me. She was far too busy making sure the daughter of that bastard was doing alright. I bet she would feel differently if I told her what had happened. The Nightshade girl hadn't brought it up so I felt no need to talk about it. The last thing I needed was to have this girl believe we had some sort of hold over me. "Kiss her," That pestering voice had the back of my head rattled. "You know you want to." It was enticing. Her lips were the most inviting pink I had ever laid my eyes on and so could barely stop thinking about it. God, It was slowly happening. The madness of the bond. I looked into the rear mirror. It was easier to spy from there without gathering suspicions. Fiona had given her scarf to the Nightshade girl. In Fiona's eyes, I could see the look of disdain. Her lips were pouted and at the base of her throat, a bobbing vein threatened to explode. Lydia on the other hand looked disturbed. I
ALEXIOS Fiona's kisses got deeper. Her fingers caressed my body, stopping at my hip. Her fingers slid into my pants with ease as she reached for my belt. As she undid the clasp, I felt my wolf overpower me. If I hadn't managed to rein it in as quickly as I did, the animalistic impulse within me told me I would have really hurt Fiona. Fiona must have noticed my hesitation because she immediately broke off the kiss. "Are you alright?" She asked. I pondered on whether it was right to tell her. I could hardly believe this madness myself but I was reasonable enough to know that such a piece of information would wreak havoc on Fiona's mental state because that wasn't the plan. Was the goddess blind? I had to wonder. I had never needed her permission to love and live. At the tender age of ten, I had ascertained that Selene, the alleged mother of all had her favorites and Alexios Rose was not one of them. Everything I was, I had built on my own accord. What right did Selene have to jump ba
UNKNOWN POV Hot air escaped from my lips as I tugged my sweater close. Wentworth was cold this time of the air. My feet wobbled as they tried to stay afloat on the frozen floor. It was times like this I wished I was back at Havenbourne; the city of Roses. I entered an alleyway that served as a shortcut to my apartment. My phone buzzed and as I fished into my pocket to retrieve it, I saw something move behind me. Instinctively turning back, I surveyed the area. Wentworth wasn't particularly dangerous but one could never be too careful with dark alleyways. "Who is there?" I demanded. My sense of smell was keen and so was my divine gift. "I know there is someone there and if you don't step out of the shadows, I will kill you."My threat seemed to work nicely. My stalker stepped into the moonlight. The first thing I caught was the color of their eyes. They were the darkest blues implying this was a Nightshade werewolf and that vital piece of information caused me to immediately take a b
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