Floating on a weightless cloud, Alicia was enveloped in warmth as a comfortable darkness prevailed on her mind while her muscles were relaxed and her body feeling rejuvenated. It was the piercing light behind her eyes that dragged Alicia from her long slumber and she groggily fluttered her eyelids open.She squinted to the light, and once her eyes adjusted, she realised the room spun, or perhaps she felt a little dizzy.“Easy,” Rowan’s smooth voice called to her and she turned her head in his direction, eyes focusing only on him like a camera lens zooming in on him and only him.Alicia could tell others were in the room, but seeing her mate alive and well comforted her beyond measure. She released a sigh and began sitting up. Rowan rushed forward and helped her to lean back against the headboard of the bed, adjusting her pillows.As he did so, Alicia’s eyes strayed to the others in the room, and she was shocked to discover the core pack members of Shadowmoon in their bedroom. They wat
Rowan’s SUV departed from the town car he left Alicia in. Beta Voss met up with his driver halfway and collected Rowan to take him to the palace. Neither could go against an order by the Alpha King, even if Rowan did want to see to Alicia’s safety.She was still pale and looked tired when he left her.The sooner he dealt with the King and Queen, the quicker he could return to her.Rowan’s fingers tapped against his leg as his Beta drove at high speed to the palace. He wondered if the witch’s actions were finally catching up with her, which was how his dim-witted father discovered her existence.As soon as the SUV parked in front of the grand steps of the palace, Rowan strolled forward, buttoning his suit jacket, going straight to the audience chamber. Once, the guards opened the doors for Rowan, disrupting who was speaking with the King and Queen.“Who-” The King halted his abrasive attitude upon seeing Rowan calmly walk towards the centre of the creamy hall.The floors and walls were
When Rowan returns to Bloody Claw, his mind is swarmed with strategising and planning to find the witch and take his place on the throne. Tom, the little antagonistic pr*ck, only motivated him more. Even if that pathetic pup did find the witch before him, Alicia was NEVER going to be his.Upon entering the pack house, however, his thoughts fled as he felt thick tension in the air. Ruby stormed out of the front door, glancing at Rowan, lips parting to say something, then shook her head before he had a chance to ask her what was wrong. Something was off.Why was Ruby in a nightie?His questions only grew, and hackles only raised more once he smelt blood and felt his mate’s concern. Their bond was still growing, but some of Alicia’s emotions were already starting to shimmer, like a sprinkle of dust landing on the tether between them. Rowan could feel when she was in danger immediately and could pick up on her emotions by her expressions and body language, but the bond was on another leve
By the time Ruby finally returned to the pack house, a good twenty minutes after Rowan expected her, Voss’ expression remained blank as he showed her the way to Rowan’s office.Ruby shrugged Voss’ hand off her back and glared at him. “I know where it is,” she hissed, continuing down the hallway. Voss didn’t comment, or leave the she-wolf but he didn’t touch her again either.It wasn’t like he wanted to anyway. Garnet was going to lose his sh*t when he discovered what his baby sister did to their mother. It was a good thing Rowan was sorting this now before the Gamma returned from training.Ruby strolled through the office door nonchalantly, she made a point of changing into tight black skinny jeans and a boxy cropped top, still revealing her toned stomach. It as disrespectful to Rowan not to come to the pack house immediately. But Alicia did feel better that the girl changed into something… well more than a nightie that was meant to seduce her mate.Nausea gripped her stomach but Alic
Ruby collapsed onto her front after Tom finished violently inside her, his hand releasing her neck. She was covered in bites, fingerprint marks and bruises. The ‘golden boy’ image was only that, an image. Ruby had been right.No complaints left her mouth though. She needed his rough handling, even if it was almost borderline psychotic. It helped ease the longing in her chest for another, though it did nothing to douse her anger.Tom slid out of her backside, and rolled onto his back, breathing heavily, and feeling much better after expending some of his energy. This Ruby chick was really wild, completely different to those in the brothel and his Alicia. She was nothing more than a hole though—a feisty hole.Placing his hand behind his head, Tom smirked as he watched Ruby reach out and grab some tissue to tidy herself up. He was about to tug her towards him so he could feel her warmth against his skin, hoping to feel some connection, something to warm his chilled heart.The only reason
On the decking outside the pack house, overlooking the scenery, Alicia’s head lay resting on Rowan’s lap, her legs spread out while he looked over some papers. He was always in that office when doing paperwork, so she decided to take him outside and get some fresh air. It was peaceful for her too.Rowan informed Alicia about what happened at the palace, now that Ruby was out of the pack and the drama had died down—for now anyway—they continued with their discussions and plans.“That’s suspicious,” Alicia said after Rowan explained the King and Queen would make him King if he caught the witch. “The Queen hates you, so why would she give you this?”Rowan nodded. “I know. I feel the same way.” He continued to stroke the top of her hair while reading through some documents.Alicia stared at his features under the sunlight. The wind blew his dark locks gently against the top of his forehead. Instead of his usual suits, Rowan wore a white button down, the top couple of buttons undone reveal
Rowan didn’t know what Alicia planned to do or say to Ruby, but he watched the town car with Alicia and Garnet in, drive away. There was already enough on Rowan’s plate and he could see how determined his mate was about this. She’d been brought up around such toxic people that someone like Ruby was nothing.Although Rowan was confident about Alicia finding out what Ruby knew, he couldn’t send her alone. He already sent his orders to Garnet. The Gamma could watch from a distance if he didn’t want to interact with Ruby, and he didn’t have to do anything unless it looked like Ruby might severely hurt his mate.Turning away, Rowan headed in the direction of one of the labs, as he ordered Voss to track down the witch from Shadowmoon, report to him, and not interact with her if he does discover her.While Rowan returned to his Alpha duties, Alicia found herself once again in Blue Crescent. Goddess, at some point she would really like to put this d*mned place behind her. Now it just made her
Alicia tilted her head at Ruby, her thoughts only momentarily distracted by Tom and how he was acquainted with Ruby. That didn’t matter right now. Ruby was now a part of Blue Crescent so they were bound to run into each other, although conversing like how they were was a little suspicious.Ruby was said to be able to locate the witch, and she left the Bloody Claw pack fuming. It didn’t surprise Alicia that she’d run to Rowan’s enemies. Her behaviour was beyond childish, considering Ruby was meant to be smart enough to devise such a plan to locate the witch.“What are you doing here?” Ruby snarled, rising to her feet. Her eyes gleamed at Alicia, no doubt thinking this was the perfect time to attack her, but then her attention snapped to Garnet and she faltered.“Would you believe me if I said I came here to see you?” Alicia asked nonchalantly.Ruby’s gaze snapped back to Alicia. “Why? Because you didn’t cause enough trouble already?”‘She’s the trouble maker here,’ Alpine snapped, her