Kayla's POV
Serena sobbed quietly in the corner of the cave. Her Grandfather paced the perimeter mumbling all the ways in which he would make Maddox Mason hurt before he slaughtered him and reclaimed dominion over our people.
I sat in silence on the warm, thick sleeping mat, with a heavy wool blanket wrapped around my shoulders. Izzy offered the odd comforting word, promising me it would all work out. That we'd find a new mate, one worthy of us.
"Mate?" I asked her.
"That's the connection you felt with Maddox Mason. That's what woke me. But if he's everything Casper says he is, I reject him. I want more. We deserve more."
I sighed, pulled the blanket over my head and sank back into the sleeping mat. My head throbbed and my heart ached. A million questions raced through my mind.
Why would the Moon Goddess match me with a monster? What connection could a Princess, a powerful White Wolf, have with me?
Maddox's POV "Lock it down," I sighed into the phone. "Lock it all down. Spread the word to other packs. Until the rogue is caught and brought to justice no wolf leaves their pack alone." "Got it," Blake said. I sank to the bed. I'd remained at Cedar Wood, refusing to leave until my mate was found. In the weeks that passed, the rogue grew bolder, upped his killing and stealing. Two of my pack were missing, presumed dead. Some smaller packs were decimated. Slaughtered while they slept and still, we were no closer to finding him. Patrick admitted nothing about his mistreatment of my mate or his pack and even with him locked away they were still too afraid to speak. Graham's testimony helped but the most he could be charged with was assaulting my mate. The elders sentenced him to five years in the dungeons and stripped him of his title. I pinched the bridge of my nose. My mate was missing. My peop
Kayla's POVBarefoot, I wriggled my toes in the soft, warm sand and inhaled letting my gaze roam over the turquoise ocean. Casper was out hunting wild boar. Serena was sleeping and I'd finally heard the words I'd waited all my life for."I'm ready."Izzie, my wolf, was ready.The sun warmed my face. All my life I wanted those words, none more so than when I turned 18 and she still didn't appear. When I was a pup, held prisoner by Alpha Patrick, forced into slavery I used to dream about my wolf rescuing me. The evening of my eighteenth birthday she would come to me. I'd let her out and she'd be the fastest, strongest, most majestic she-wolf to ever roam our lands. My pack would bow down before me in awe and together we would overthrow Alpha Patrick, rescue the missing Princess and I would live in Castle Rock, the whole Kingdom indebted to me. But it never happened. Izzy never showed and I wasn't the strongest wolf ever to liv
Maddox's POVShadow paused, lifted his snout and inhaled a huge lungful of fresh forest air. His pulse quickened. He tore through the trees at breakneck speed, following a scent only he could decipher. Branches snapped under his heavy paws, thorns tore into his skin but he didn't slow, not for a second.He came to a screeching halt at the top of a hill, the last place our mate was seen alive. I followed Shadow's gaze and my heart stopped.Before us, perched on a rock on the top of the hill, naked as the day she was born, was the most beautiful woman I'd ever laid eyes on. Her chocolate coloured hair hung in glossy waves down her back. Her body was lithe, muscular with just a hint of womanly curves. Rays of sunlight glittered off the gold specks swirling in her molten honey gaze."Mate," Shadow said inching forwards slowly."Um, Shadow, that's not Mouse," I said.He sniffed the air. "Mate." He repeat
Kayla's POVMaddox's wolf's pained yowling carried on the wind as Izzy raced through the woods, back to the safety of Casper and Serena. The howling stopped. The hammering of heavy black paws on soft, muddy ground echoed behind us."We can't go back," I begged Izzy. "He's following us. Casper will kill him.""Good," Izzy hissed. "He deserves it. We shouldn't have had to live as a slave.""But what if it wasn't him?""Wasn't him?" Izzy laughed, "he installed himself as royalty, lorded over us all like a King. Who else would it be?"I shrugged. It did kinda look like Maddox was responsible for the way we lived. I shuddered at the memory of my former. I lived in terror for as long as I could remember.Izzy careered into the cave. Casper jumped to his feet. Serena's blue eyes widened, her jaw dropped and she inhaled."Kayla," she breathed. "Your wolf...she's...beautiful."Maddox's wolf sn
Maddox's POV"Sir, a lone female is approaching our territory," Bryan, one of my warriors told me. Since the rogue increased his activity I'd had groups of scouts patrolling our land and reporting back anything strange."Show me," I demanded. Bryan handed over his phone. A photo of Mouse flickered to life. She huddled by a rock overlooking our packhouse. I ran my finger over the screen and smiled."You're sure she's alone?""Yes, sir.""Fine, watch her but do not approach her.""Yes, sir."The day carried on around me as normal but my mind, and Shadow, refused to focus on anything but Mouse. She was close. She was alone but why?"We need to go to her," Shadow demanded, fighting me for control."No, we'll frighten her."Shadow spent the day arguing with me, fighting for control and sulking. I was almost glad when supper rolled around giving me chance to focus on something else.
Kayla's POVMaddox led me back down to the office. His pack emerged from their rooms all smiling and nodding as they passed me."She's gorgeous," I heard one of them whisper."Nice to meet you, Luna," another chirped as she rushed by."Supper smells lush, Alpha, cheers," a younger male grinned running down the stairs. "I'm starving.""Amber," Maddox grabbed her arm as she skittered past, pulling her to one side. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention the war to anyone.""Of course, Sir," Amber nodded."I will do everything within my power to avoid war and if it does happen, I swear to you, I will keep you safe.""I trust you, Alpha Maddox," Amber smiled touching his arm.Maddox's pack seemed endless. They emerged from all corners of the packhouse, all smiling and laughing and all well fed and well dressed. After endless greetings we finally made it to the privacy of his office. Maddox pul
Maddox's POV"Shadow, dude" I snapped my head throbbing as he clawed at my skull, screaming and howling, "give it a break. I can't think straight.""That explains why you're trying to kill us," he growled still fighting me for control."Shadow," I sighed, "as a fighter you're amazing, you can take wolves twice your size and I'll forever bow down to expertise in battle but this stuff, this intricate human stuff. This is my domain and you need to trust me.""Why should I," he challenged, "when you don't trust yourself? You hate this stuff. You constantly question yourself.""I'm not questioning this," I snapped."Fine," Shadow huffed, "But if we get killed I'm never speaking to you again.""One can dream," I sighed.For the rest of the short, moonlit walk to the cave Shadow sulked in silence, occasionally sighing at the pounding of my racing heart. The closer we got, the faster my heartbeat. C
Maddox's POVCasper tore through the trees. I struggled to keep stride as I fought for Blake."If you hurt him..." I warned."If he's who you say he is I won't need to," Casper said with an annoying air of calm. For once, Shadow was quiet, simply watching from the depths of my mind."Shadow," I begged, "you know Blake, help me."He didn't reply.We reached Mountain Ridge in half the time it took for me to reach the cave. Casper threw open the heavy double door."Kayla," he bellowed.My pack came running, some already unleashing their wolves. Growling and gasping echoed off the walls. Lena stood in the front. Blake stayed in the back his arms stretched protectively in front of Kayla."Kayla," Casper held out his hand."King Casper," Lena whispered. The entrance hall fell into a deathly silence. My pack dropped to their knees, bowing their heads, all except Blake who still stood
The Patient's POVA burning sensation pulsed through my head like something was screaming inside my brain. My body ached and tensed with lightening hot pain, as if my limbs were twisting and breaking. I tried to open my eyes but the light pierced through me.I didn't know where I was but I knew I needed to be somewhere. Desperately needed to be somewhere. Something was missing. Something more important than anything else in the world. Something more important than air or food. It was like a part of me was missing, ripped away by a terrifying darkness. I took a deep breath, ignoring the stabbing, scratching pain in my ribs, and forced one eye open. The room I was in was dim and dusty but the warm glow from the fire was enough to make my eyeball scream in agony. Despite the pain, I forced my other eye open, squinting against the soft, orange glow of the flames dancing in the open fire. A deep knot tightened in my gut. I didn't know where I was. I frantically scrabbled through my brain,
Alaya's POVI tossed the empty rabbit trap back to the ground, scowling at it as if my rage would somehow shame it into trapping something edible. Without Fyre hunting was next to impossible but my patient would need sustenance if he ever woke up. A few dozen rabbits waited in the freezer for him, hardly enough to last a large werewolf three days. There was no telling how long it would take him to gain the strength to hunt for himself if he ever awoke.I'd snuck into a local human settlement a few days after finding him and stole some supplies. Patrick left a full pantry when he left but he couldn't live on sugar water forever. His body was already smaller and weaker than when I found him three weeks ago.Since Obsidian finally left me I had trawled Cedar Woods day and night, desperately searching for food. Yet more desperate was my search for survivors or any evidence that my people still lived, that Obsidian had not obliterated my entire pack along with every other pack in our regio
Alaya's POV I woke on the soft, mossy mound Henry left me on. The iron tang of blood still rested on my tongue. The horrors of the night came flooding back. The desperate pleas of women and children begging for their lives flooded my mind. It wasn't supposed to be like that. They were supposed to worship me for rescuing them from the moronic leadership of Ralph and his insipid son. The only ones supposed to die were Ralph and Casper and their soldiers. Oh Goddess, the Princess. She was a newborn, only a few days old and innocent. Fat, heavy tears rolled down my cheeks. I wanted power, I wanted revenge for losing Fyre. I wanted people to cower in my shadow. I didn't want terror and massacre. "Hmm," Obsidian murmured as she woke from her slumber. "Last night was the best night of my life," she grinned. "The screams, the terror and the carnage wasn't it just amazing?" "You're insane," I snapped. "You're sick.
Skye's POVWords spewed from the mouths of my friends and my family. My pack, our pack, Maddox's and mine but they made no sense. Maddox was lost. Not gone and yet they insisted on spewing lies at me instead of looking for him. On holding me tight, suffocating me with their grief instead of scouring the lands for him. He wasn't gone. I refused to believe it.We won. Maddox told me we won. Those were the last words he spoke to me before he was lost. Maddox would not lie to me.He promised me if he didn't make it our bond would slowly fade along with the mark he left on my skin but I felt it more than ever. He needed me. He was out there, lost and broken and he needed me."Skye," Blake said holding his hand to me."He's here," I said, "he's right here."I clasped my hand to my heart."Gage has called for transport back to Greystone. We can't stay here."Everything inside me boiled with rage an
Blake POVI dragged myself up from the mud and leaned against a half uprooted tree. Every bone in my body screamed in agony as I scanned the chaos around me. Bodies lay broken and battered. Trees were felled. Dirt and debris still fell from the sky.Skye stood in the middle of it all, howling an agonised howl that burned into my memory like a wretched scar."Maddox! Maddox!"No matter how loud she screamed he offered no reply.I looked over to where I last spotted Lena and my heart crashed to my knees. My stomach twisted into a thick knot. Her tiny, bruised body lay motionless in a crumpled heap against a rock. Blood matted her golden hair."Lena," I croaked still struggling to breathe after the massive blast of energy from Alaya threw me sailing through the skies. "Lena."She rolled to her side, groaning quietly and I deflated.Lena's eyes scanned the same mess mine had seconds earlier, des
Maddox POVAlaya stormed towards me her amber eyes locked on Henry's lifeless corpse and his blood-soaked son still standing over him with his fangs bloody and dripping. She didn't care who got in her way, her own warriors or mine, they were all fair game.She tossed their bodies aside as if they were nothing more than ragdolls. They smashed into trees or slammed into the ground their bones snapping and cracking as they landed. The anguished wail tearing from her lungs never waned.Skye tried to slow her down throwing the ground beneath her thick, heavy paws into the air. The earth rumbled and shook. Warriors, ours and Alaya's fell down crevices opening in the ground, their bodies buried by the debris raining from the sky.Willow's coven chanted spells, desperately trying to slow the beast down.I readied the syringe and rushed towards it, jumping over fallen trees and broken bodies. the beast fell to all
Maddox POVI stood back as my warriors slowly peeled their clothes off and released their wolves."Unless you can develop opposable thumbs in the next thirty seconds and can handle a syringe, this is my fight," I told Shadow."I understand," he said. We'd finally come to an understanding. He respected me and I listened to him and now it was all about to bed.Blake, Lena and Skye were the last to change."You take care of each other," I warned them."And you take care of you," Blake said as he shifted into his wolf."I love you," Skyesobbed as she let Izzy free. I kept my eyes on her massive white wolf as she took off into the herd rushing over the ridge. Lena was last to leave.Lena, my best friend for as long as I could remember. No matter how bad things got she was always at my side, always defending me and watching my back. She was the strongest wold I knew.
Maddox POVWarriors crammed into every inch of the entrance hall. Some spilt out of the kitchen and office, others piled on the balconied landing behind me. Hundreds of warriors, stood waiting for me to address them. Skye stood at my side at the top of the staircase. Casper, Serena, Blake and Lena stood behind me. The silence was sickening, deafening. Even the birds in the trees beyond our fortified walls stopped their singing and listened.Our families were secreted away in Greystone Manor. Whisked away amid tears and goodbyes to safely live another day. We all knew some of us would not live to see them again. My Gran took it hardest of all, wringing her hands in her apron and sobbing hysterically as she was forced into a four-wheel drive and taken away to safety. She knew as well as I did what needed to happen. Only I could force the cure into Alaya. And I would not survive it.Skye gripped my hand, her palm damp from the t
Maddox POVSkye's eyelids flickered. She nuzzled further into me in a vain attempt to block the morning sun from dragging her away from her dream. A soft smile rested on her lips."Mmm," she sighed, arching her back."It's morning," I whispered brushing a stray curl from her face. Her smile faded. She twisted to her side pulling herself up on her elbow to face me."It's today, isn't it? We go to war today?"I nodded swallowing down the lump in my throat.We had the perfect night last night, alone in the woods with only the song of the crickets for company we finally sealed our bond. We were mates. True, bonded mates and today we go to war with the vilest enemy my people have ever faced.Skye twisted herself around, pulling her knees into her chest as she faced the sunrise. We sat in silence, enjoying the last moments of our final morning on Earth. Golden rays of light kissed Mountain Ridge far in t