FIONA The heavens thundered as I waited for something from Alexios. I wanted him to tell me it was all a lie. My ears were clearly not deceiving me but if he told me that was the case, I would accept it with no question. Alexios however remained silent. I could see the stigma in his eyes. He couldn't even bring himself to deny it fit my sake. Dips of tears pinnacled my face as he tried to come closer. I couldn't bear to even look at him right now. "Stay away!" I warned. My scream caused a mug on the table to shatter stimulating Clara to jerk backward. I wanted to apologize. I wanted to take it all back and fix the damage that my magic had done but my anger kept getting the better of me. It felt like a consuming fume I couldn't escape from. "Was that it?" I asked him. Alexios looked at me worried as he tried to pare the space between us again. "Fiona, listen...""Answer me goddamnit!!" I retorted. This time the heavens parted in two and a fork of light descended dangerously close t
ALEXIOS"What have I done?" I repeated almost scoffing. "I did exactly what you forced my hands to do. Now deal with the consequences to come. You know, the terrible things that follow a rejected Luna." It was an attack because I knew my mother's morals would not be able to handle it if Lydia's wolf could not handle the rejection. In many books, it was written that when the wolf dies, the body followed because the body and soul of a shifter was bound. Agony and death followed from losing one. There were rare cases where the shifter and their wolf survived but I doubted that would be the case here after everything Lydia and her wolf had been through. It almost made me feel guilty. No, this was different. A subtle pain settled within me. At first, it wasn't physical but second crawled by, I came to realize that it was both physical and emotional. Was this the rejection, I wondered. My eyes wavered at Loretta. Why wasn't the feeling this? I didn't know how to describe it but my wolf c
LYDIA As a young child, I had never thought of my father as evil. Sure, he could be a sore prick for most days but my father's love for me was undeniable. When he could, my father had made time for a father-daughter relationship, and although my mother and several members of my pack had always claimed that Duncan Nightshade always wanted a daughter. My father had told me he was building me an empire. But now, things felt different. As I reclined on the cold floor and heard Alexios Rose spew his heart to his mother. I no longer saw the monster everyone spoke about. The Alpha who was wicked to the core and devoted only to only his pack was dead to me. Alpha Alexios was an angry man. A child who was yet to forgive himself. A true mate was rare but I was glad Alexios had rejected me. As the last of his verbal assault left his mouth, Alexios 's mother fled the room leaving me alone with the man who murdered my parents and a witch who would certainly now hold a grudge against me. Desti
ALEXIOS I stepped outside to rethink. The pain had subsided but that only happened because my wolf, tired of the discomfort, accepted its union to Lydia's wolf. I walked to the garden which was situated at the back of the mansion. It was a quiet place so I knew there would be a lot of opportunities for me to go on a rant without the watchful gaze and silent concerns of the pack members who frolicked around the pack house. “Let the fucking bond go right this instant! You do know what a fucking rejection means right?” I slammed my foot on the ground as if my wolf was opposite me and it wasn't more an internal struggle. My wolf snarled back. “You don't tell me what to do. You might be content with telling yourself Fiona is your fated but I know better. I won't put myself in foolish foolish pain for your pride and butthurt. I want to claim my mate.” I tried to keep my ground, "Shut it! She doesn't even want us. Have you forgotten what we both did to her? We killed her family and caus
CLARA The Rose packhouse used to feel like a home. A place I cherished but eternities had changed. My home felt alien and so did my son. I understood his rage. I did but his anger would be the thing to destroy him and whatever happiness he could garner. I had come back with the highest of hopes only for Alexios to shatter it without thinking twice. It made me think he was beyond saving. Perhaps that was what he wanted me to believe. I hated to admit it but if that was his plan, he was doing a swell job. "Did it work?" I heard Elliot ask. The sound of his voice shook me to the core. I whipped my head backward and aced him. He was crouched at a corner of the hall. He has come here using his gifts but that didn't mean he wouldn't be in danger if my people found him out. "What are you doing here?" I demanded, ignoring his question. "I came to ask how it went down. Is the girl his mate?"I ignored Elliot's ramblings and scurried left and right the hallways to see if anyone still stood
ALEXIOS "Where are you, Curtis?" I demanded, stepping out of the garden into the parking lot. Curtis had always informed me a day before he was returning to Havenbourne. After spending a decent time outside pack territory with the sole purpose of exterminating opposing enemy packs, I knew the laws would have no effect on his bloodlust. At sensitive times like this, Curtis needed to be monitored. Lest he did something against what the Rose pack stood for. The damn kid had control issues and his volatile wolf wasn't helping matters but I loved the bastard. I found it odd that he chose to inform me about this return until today. "I'm at the Havenbourne airport," Curtis answered. "Why do you ask? Can't wait to set eyes on me?"Havenbourne Airport. I violently snapped my fingers at a sentinel hanging around the parking lot. "Get the car keys. We are heading out."The junior werewolf nodded in response and rushed in to get the keys. He lunged outside a few seconds later with a bunch of ke
LYDIA Minutes after Fiona and I had made up, There was a knock on the door. A guard had peeked in and given word that my room was ready which came more as a shock to me because Fiona had stated that I would be staying with her and I found it hard to believe that Alexios who had just rejected me was sympathetic enough to get me my own room. I didn't even have my own clothes. So I had to ask."I don't understand. I have my own room?""Yes." The guard replied, sighing in frustration. It was evident he didn't want to do this and that suggested that someone in the higher ranks was executing this. "Who ordered you to give her a room?" Fiona asked, walking over the door and opening it. The guard crouched low in respect for Fiona. "The Grand Luna ordered immediately she stepped into the mansion that Lydia Nightshade have her own quarters.""What..." Fiona was dumbstruck. So was I. The grand luna was usually the mother of the current Alpha. My senses pricked open as I realized what that me
LYDIA"Enter." The voice from inside instructed followed by a hollow click. I obliged and I was immediately greeted by a brightness that contrasted the gloom of my room. The walls were painted pastel pink. Flower vases of the rosiest of flowers stood opposite the giant queen-sized bed that the Grand Luna was rested in. A smile slowed its way to her mouth as our eyes met. "Lydia Nightshade..." She mused. "It's so nice to finally get to know you."A nervous smile eluded me. She seemed like the nicest person but I also had to remember she was the wife of the Alpha my father had killed in cold blood. Her kindness had to have limits. "I came here to say thank you..." I struggled to say."Thanks?!?" Confusion riddled her expression. "For what?"Out of sheer uneasiness, I pointed to the door I had just stepped into just moments ago as I made an attempt to explain my gratitude. "The guard... He told me... I wanted to thank you for the quarters you gifted me...""Please," The Grand Luna chuc
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