ARIAI watched as the werewolves of Dark Wolf pack assembled at the training ground and Marcel barked orders at them. As the pack’s beta, it was his duty to oversee the pack training alongside their head warrior. The training sessions are divided into three sections, as it will be impossible for all pack members to train at the same time. I have learned a lot in the few days that I’ve been here and I’m gradually adapting to the environment.I sighted Sapphire at the front rows dressed in a black sports bra and matching joggers. The bra pushed her chest up, revealing a large part of her bosom. She has avoided me like a plague since that incident, but I’d made up my mind not to confront her.I watched them train. They started with regular exercises before paring themselves to groups of fours, and then later to a partner each. They moved with speed, and I wondered if I would ever be allowed to train with them. I wanted desperately to be a part of Dark Wolf ev
“Spread your legs,” his command washed over me, goosebumps spreading rapidly all over my skin as I watched him unfasten his belts.I expected him to send me parking, or to punish me and demand his money back. To tell me he wanted out of the deal, or even spit in my face. To look at me with scorn in his eyes and tell me how much of a mistake I am.“I swear, it’s not what you think,” my voice shook, but his face remained passive, his expression bland, his jaw taut.“I gave you time to adjust, yet you insult me,” his voice was too cool it made me scared. I’d have felt at ease if he yelled, or crashed things like he’d done when he saw me in that dress. A knot formed in my stomach when I saw his lips had formed a thin line, tension gripping every part of my being. I searched for tears, but they deserted me. Right from the minute I set eyes on him, all I’d wanted was to please him, to make him see me more than the pauper that sold her body to pay off her family’
I tapped on the office door once, and without waiting for a response, I barged in. “What happens when the baby comes?” I crossed my arms tightly beneath my boobs and looked squarely into his eyes, ignoring the other two pairs of eyes that snapped up to look at me. “What?” Slade looked at me with bewilderment, his brows drawing together in confusion. “What happens when I get pregnant and the baby eventually comes? I deserve a right to be in my child’s life, don’t you think?” I didn’t think about if he was going to have full custody of the child until his statement last night and even though I’d not bargained having a child this early in life, it will be totally unfair to give up my baby and not be a part of their life. I don’t know the first thing about being a mother, in fact, the thought scares me, and I may suck at it, but I wasn’t going to keep giving him the idea that he could toss me about any way that he pleased. Naturally, I’m not someone that can easily be bent over, but ho
“Alpha Slade,” My mum’s voice sounded ecstatic and over the moon as she answered the phone on the first ring. It’s been like a lifetime since I heard her sound so overjoyed and a warmth quickly spread through my stomach. I’d prayed many days for her to be happy again, she has done a lot and she deserves it.I glanced quickly at Slade who was pressed against the wall staring at me with a bored expression and both hands tucked into his pant pockets.“Hello mom, It’s me,” I say coolly. I hated that I had to put the phone on loud speaker, I hated that he had to be present even, and with him watching me with that look on his face, there was only so much I could say.“Aria!” Mom gasps “Your cell is suddenly no longer reachable. Are you alright?” she asked.“That’s because Slade doesn’t trust me enough to keep a phone. In fact, he’s listening to this conversation right now,” I eyed him.“Oh!” mum paused “That means you know now?” she asked.“About his kind? Yes I definitely do,” I sighed “Wh
I wish I didn’t have to face Sapphire again, but there was no escaping her so long as I was in this pack. I flopped on the bench close to the pack house and gulped down half the contents of my bottle after a fifteen minutes run in the early hours of the morning, and Sapphire slumped into the same sit barely ten seconds later in her workout outfit.I have been exercising more lately and I only just realized how much I enjoyed the early morning jogs. It helps me reduce anxiety and stress from all the problems around me. I haven’t seen Daryl at all since that day and even though I hate him for what he did, I have become curious as to what happened to him. What if Slade had done something terrible to him? I still remember Daryl’s warnings and Slade’s threats.Daryl is the reason Slade may never trust me. I had read a bit about his pack after that day but there wasn’t so much to read. Dark Wolf detested Lakewood pack and more than half of their members were slaving away in the pack’s dunge
SLADE“I want him dead,” My gaze remained fixed on the dimwit’s bloodied face. He mumbled something incoherent before rolling on his left side, coughing and spewing blood on the hard concrete ground of his cell.“As you wish, Alpha,” The guard on duty saluted before grabbing Daryl’s tattered shirt and hauling him off the ground.“Slade-“ Marcel looked like he was going to protest but one glare was enough to keep him shut.Daryl was almost unrecognizable. His face was badly bruised and battered, his legs could barely hold him up. But I wasn’t satisfied, I wanted him totally out of the way, I couldn’t even bear to think that he’d had his hands on my mate. I made sure that picture was deleted, never to be seen again, but I couldn’t wipe it from my memory. Asher wanted him dead for touching our mate, and it’s the one thing we have agreed on in a long time.I hated members of Lakewood Pack in a special way, and it is no news members of their pack were outcasts here. Their witch did this to
MARCEL“She’s a disgrace to this pack, Marcel. Can't you see it too? It’s bad enough that the future Alpha of Dark Wolf has to be birthed by some weak half-blood, but if Slade makes her Luna, we are headed for doom. This pack will fall to ruins and then the witch’s curse would have been fully manifested,” Sapphire’s baby blue eyes flashed back and forth as she paced the lengths of my living room, her fingers curled into fists.The highlight of her evenings since Aria’s arrival were her nagging and angry frets that I had to somehow condone because no other person would. We both wanted the same thing, but for different reasons.I was convinced Sapphire will make the perfect Luna for Dark Wolf because of the many years I’ve worked with her. I was comfortable around her, and hence she would be easier to work with when Slade is no more. My chest squeezed at the thought, my wolf didn’t agree with me on that, I can’t imagine working with anyone that isn’t Alpha Hayden Slade.We were born to
ARIAThe cold wind caressed my face as I stared at nothing in particular. Being a half blood meant I had a wolf but would never be able to shift and may or may not be able to interact with my wolf counterpart. Finding one’s wolf is a process, and if I hadn’t discovered mine at this age, it is most likely that I fall under the category of half-bloods that could not interact with their wolf side, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have one.It is easy to tell the higher-ranking werewolves from the middle ranks and the lower ranks here in Dark wolf and possibly all werewolf packs even with my limited knowledge of werewolves. The omegas and latent wolves were made to serve the higher-ranking ones. The warriors and any wolf that cared to join, rotated a shift to oversee the pack boarder day and night to keep rogues and intruders out.It was very unlikely for werewolves to be mated to humans, but there were few exceptions like in the case of my parents. If that happened, the werewolf was expecte
I opened my eyes slowly to find Slade watching me and a small blush crept up my cheeks. “Why are you awake?” I asked him with a sleepy voice.“Just wondering what I did to get so lucky,” He smiled at me. “And you can go back to sleep, your mom is attending to Zion already,”I have gotten used to waking up at this time to feed my baby, but I had the night off today. It’s been three days after the mating ceremony and I have had to deal with a lot after that. We were also moving into a bigger house. Slade thought the penthouse wasn’t big enough to start a family which is just off considering how large it is. He wants Zion to have the best.Now that we share a mate bond, communication was easier between us. When I was overwhelmed, he’d feel it too, and did everything he could to make me feel better. He was a great dad to his son, and many packs were sending in gifts every day since the birth of Zion, wanting a form of friendship with Dark Wolf.Sapphire was sentenced to death, but only a
ARIA“You look so adorable,” my mom wiped her eyes with the back of her hands as she stared at me “Reminds me of when I married your dad. We didn’t have an elaborate wedding, but it was the best day of my life. Everyone thought I was crazy for marrying him, but it’s the one thing I know I did right and I’d walk down the aisle with him again if I had to,” she finished.“Mom,” I fought back the tears that threatened to fall to my cheeks. Luna Evelyn specifically warned me not to ruin my makeup, and I didn’t want to have to listen to her complain if I did the exact thing she warned me not to do.Today is the mating ceremony. The day I become Luna of Dark Wolf pack, and the day I have dreamed of since I set eye on my mate. It’s funny how much things have changed, almost unbelievable.I didn’t have any expectations coming to dark wolf, but I started to have expectations as the days passed. Expectations that I didn’t expect to come through. I’d hoped my mate will come to love me, but I’d al
SLADE“What happens to Sapphire?” My beta asked me. Since she was pregnant, I knew the council will not put her to death until the baby comes, but she’d lost her right eye completely and could not clearly see with her left. I don’t deny that I want her dead though, and by my hands. After all she did to my mate and my pack, she does not deserve to live. We’d lost several warriors and it saddened me. In all my years as Alpha, I’d not witnessed so much loss in my pack, even during the days of my invasion. My heart was heavy, but the thought of my son brought me joy. People were beginning to ask questions since many of them expected me to die. I did not just survive a curse, but also a silver bullet. I sighed, my right hands reaching up to clutch my chest while I drove with my other free hand. I needed to make a stop at the dungeon where Sapphire was being held and then to Allegra’s hut. I also know I need to address the members of Dark Wolf tonight. I had meetings with the council as w
ARIAI tore my eyes from my baby and turned to my mate. He was smiling down at me while our child slept peacefully. I’d gone into labour at thirty-two weeks, earlier than the doctor had predicted but my baby was surprisingly healthy. A full-breed werewolf would carry a child for six months, but as an hybrid, I was expected to carry my pregnancy for nine months, but my little boy had come out at thirty-two weeks. It’s been almost twenty four hours since I put to bed and I was not to be discharged until tomorrow. Slade has been beside me, only leaving my side to take his own medications. He was healing, the doctor had said, but he still had a bandage around his chest. It wasn’t hard to see that he was obsessed with this child. In the last twenty-four hours, Slade barely allowed anyone near him, not even those who’d come bearing gifts.There was still a lot going on in the pack after the fight. Dark Wolf had won but with many casualties. Audrey helped in taking care of the sick as I was
MARCEL“The hunters have fled the pack,” Alpha Hance informed me through mind link “They are outnumbered, but they still pose a threat,” he says.“We need the prisoners back in the dungeons. Every one of them that survived,” I tell him back.“Many of them have gone into hiding. Where the fuck are you and where the fuck is Slade. Alive I hope?” He asked with a concerned voice. I didn’t respond but cut off the mind link instead. How can I explain the situation to him? Someone needs to keep things going out there. Daryl was dead and Sapphire had been apprehended. From the way Aria disfigured her eyes, it’s unlikely that she will be able to see again. She’d still face judgment by the council, but her recruits were not backing off. It seems like some of the packs that agreed to work with her had ideas of their own. While many have surrendered and others fled, some of the packs were still going on with the war even though they were clearly outnumbered. Our warriors were not backing down,
ARIA“Slade!! No!” I screamed, wrenching my arms away from the man that still had his gun trained on me.“I swear I’ll shoot-“ I didn’t hear the rest of what he was saying as I rushed towards Slade, but Sapphire threw herself in my way, blocking me from reaching him. I heard gunshots behind me, then Marcel’s voice. When I turned, the man who had his gun trained at me was laying lifeless on the floor, and Marcel had Daryl by the neck, the two of them battling each other. Sapphire gripped my hair, pulling it hard, but I didn’t feel the pain from her hold. The only pain I felt was seeing Slade lay lifeless on the floor. I hit her jaw with my elbow and dodged a blow she aimed at me. I haven’t done a lot of training but I have watched the warriors train countless times. I’d watched Sapphire train and I was able to predict her next move. I saw her lunge for the gun on the floor, and I moved fast, kicking it out of the way. She rolled on top of me, punching me hard on the face before going
SLADEI clawed at the wolf in front of me while trying to shake off the one on my back. He fell to the floor and using my hind legs, I pinned him to the ground, making sure to finish off the first wolf before returning to him. Four others approached me with speed. My wolf was covered in blood, but I wasn’t tired. I took them down, one after the other but sustained an injury on my right side. I knew I had a lot of enemies, but Sapphire had gone overboard to bring them together. Even the warriors of Cross Shadow were involved, the pack I’d refused to join Dark Wolf. I wasn’t surprised, because I knew Sapphire was preparing herself and taking her time. What surprised me was that she’d sold us to the werewolf hunters.I felt a mind link coming through and I connected to Marcel while fighting off the last wolf.“We have another problem, Slade,” My beta tells me through mind link. I could hear him panting, his hard breath indicating he was fighting off an enemy.“What is it?” I asked him,
Of all the things Sapphire said, I knew she was right about one. Slade will not kill her if what she says is true, but then she isn’t going to walk out of Dark Wolf a free woman either. That much is certain. I stared at the phone in my hands many minutes after the call ended, pacing the living room and trying to calm my seething beast. There’s no way Slade expects me to sit here and not know what is going on out there, especially after the call I just received. The penthouse was full of members of the pack, young and old, and several warriors stationed inside and outside, and I know these guards will not let me out since Slade instructed it. I was getting frustrated as the sounds of gunshots continued outside. I was scared. I cursed when I felt a vibration again only to realize it was Slade’s phone this time. I picked up without hesitation, listening to hear the voice on the other end before speaking.“Alpha Slade, are you there?” A deep husky voice asked.“This is his mate. What’s
The crowd dispersed in chaos, everyone running to shelter. Silver bullets, the type that’ll kill a werewolf in seconds. My wolf recognized the scent as it filled the air. The screams of women and children, men trying to protect their wives filled everywhere. “Sapphire,” I muttered under my breath. It could only be her. She chose the right time. “Take them inside and keep them safe, Marcel,” Slade turned to his beta, handing me and Audrey over to him. “No,” I and Audrey chorused at the same time. Many guards had surrounded us, protecting their alpha and his heir. “Aria, Listen to me. I don’t have time to argue with you. You are carrying my baby. You have to be safe,” “So you expect me to just sit inside and do nothing?” I asked. “I’m not pregnant, I can fight,” Audrey said stubbornly. Slade groaned. He glanced at the men around us, and next thing I know, I’m being lifted off my feet. Myself and Audrey were taken into the house, along with many orders. Slade was gone in seconds as