HUNTER. “You better start talking! You only get two chances and you already lost one so if I were you I’d be very careful with the last one.” “Your Alpha is dead! That is all we have to say to you.” “No, you actually have more to say but you just don’t know it yet, I’ll be right back with a little something to jog your foggy memories.” “Wait! That is truly all we know. We were sent to take over this pack and enslave all the people that we couldn’t sell as slaves.” “Who sent you?” “Alpha Jethro. He gave us the instruction right before he went to kill your Alpha.” “Did you see Jethro kill Nikolai?” “Who's Nikolai?” “My Alpha!” “We didn’t have to, your Alpha had already been hit with out poison arrows twice, all that was left was to finish him off.” All I’m hearing is that there’s still a chance that Nikolai killed Jethro. He’s not one to go down easily but where is he? Where on earth could he be? I have to contain this news about the possibility of Nikolai being dead for
NIKOLAI The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this man was that I was going to have to kill my father twice and I was right He's a Tyson too and that can only mean one thing; that my father had siblings. “It’s probably just a coincidence that he has the same surname as you and looks like your father split into two. We should just apologize to the big guy and be on our way.” Winter whispered tugging at my hand desperately. “I won’t take long.” I assure her but I don’t think it’s the assurance that she wants. “We shouldn’t even be here, are you forgetting the plan? Are you forgetting Jacob? He’s never going to forgive you if he dies.” I almost forgot about Jacob but like I said, I won’t take long. I just want to have a word with this man. “I think you’re at the wrong place Tyson junior.” He growls but I’m not in the least threatened, Winter on the other hand looks like she just offended a god. “We’ll be on our way sir, we’re deeply sorry for the inconvenience.” Wint
WINTER.Something weird is going on. I feel like every door we walk through leads to another big secret that couldn’t keep itself from us anymore. The gates were oddly familiar but I waved them off because I thought it could have just been nothing but a mere coincidence and now there’s yet another Tyson staring us in the face?!“I’m sure you travelled quite a long journey to he here so tell me what would you prefer, tea or juice or maybe water would do. Would you like the maids to prepare a bath for you?”I want all of those things that he just mentioned but everything comes with a price and nobody is nice to their enemy for no reason. “Before we discuss anything else, I need you to hand Jacob back to me. He has done nothing wrong.” Nikolai says, his frown not faltering even once. “Oh, that guy! He’s doing a lot better than you think. I’ll show you.” He descends from his self-made throne and his robe flows on the floor behind him as he walks towards us. The robe looks heavy, I’m s
HUNTER “Charlene, I love you but you have to stop crying, your tears are not helping.” Daphne says putting her down in her cot and doing her best to stop her own tears from falling too. I told her about my plan to go back for Nikolai and she somehow managed to coax the truth out of me. She knows Nikolai asked me to be his Beta. She also knows that she can’t talk me out of my decision to accept his offer. What I don’t know is what to do to get her to stop crying. “Daphne, I’m really sorry that I didn’t tell you. I just didn’t know how to spring up the fact that I was going to be the second-in-command to someone who’s father you hated so much.” “You and I know that it’s not about his father!” Daphne yells. “You know what this is about.” I honestly don’t. I have no idea what this about.“Why don’t you want me to become Beta?” I ask calmly. It’s a dangerous question to ask but it’s all about taking risks at the end of the day. “You think I don’t want you to become Beta? That’s ho
NIKOLAIMy father having siblings comes as a complete shock to me especially because he lived his life like a loveless beast but that’s not what bothers me at all. I have way more bigger problem than uncles I didn’t know about.I don’t know if I can trust Hunter to take care of pack on my behalf. Only the palace guards are currently remaining at the palace and Hunter can’t fight to save his life. Winter doesn’t know I asked him to be my Beta yet and I’m not going to tell her until he accepts. When he does accept, the first thing I’ll do is train him to fight, if I still have a pack to lead by then that is, he can’t be my Beta and not know how to kill a person with his eyes closed. “You have to make a decision now.” Winter whispers and it occurs to me that I’m still in the presence of my oppressor. He’s asked to give him everything my father owns and I have to admit that it’s quite a lot to hand over to someone I’m meeting for the first time. It’s a lot to hand over at all. “If I
WINTER.Nikolai's impatience is a part of the reason we’re here instead of back at the pack and if he does this one more time, I might just snap. “Let him finish!” Elkan says pointing a warning finger at Nikolai but Nikolai ignores his warning.“I would but we don’t have that kind of time, I have a pack to get to,” he says hastily.“We would already be at that pack if you weren’t so impatient so please don’t make the same mistake twice and keep it together.” I scold and he pouts, at least he knows not to ignore my warning.“As I was saying, our father was the original owner of the house you live in. He came up with it out of the love he had for his pack and your father stole it from him, from us, from our family. “Who built the house?” Nikolai asks and they both go quiet.“I guess father built it then, that’s why you’re so quiet. How do you claim that someone stole something when you’re still in possession of it?”It's a very valid question. “How?” I ask feeling proud of my smart h
HUNTER. The warrior’s inability to leave the palace turned out to be a blessing in disguise, I have to say that this is the happiest I’ve been to see Nikolai, but maybe not as happy as I am to see Winter. “Are you okay? You look terrible.”“You don’t have to be modest, I smell terrible and frankly I feel terrible too. I feel like I came back from the dead.” Her shoulders are so low, they’re almost sweeping the ground. “I’m so sorry. I’ll ask the maids to prepare you a hot bath right now.” “Thank you.” She says and heads up stairs without looking back. I turn to face Nikolai, he looks just as terrible but there’s a smug smile on his face.“I knew you could do it.” He says and gives me a side hug, if he wasn’t so smelly the hug might have lasted a little longer but there’s only so much of his stench I can take.“How about the offer I made? Did you consider? You don’t have to tell me your answer now!” he stops me. I think he’s nervous.Nikolai is actually nervous. I feel so important
NIKOLAI.I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but I might have heard the conversation between Hunter and Daphne and I think Daphne is being too much but it’s not for me to decide. I’ll leave everything to Hunter, it’s his decision to make, although I’d really like for him to become my Beta, he’s the most trustworthy person I know and things will be a lot easier with him by my side.We’re all seated at the dining table, Daphne prepared a feast to welcome us and even though I’m mad at her now for being so mean to Hunter, I have to admit that the meal does smell nice.“This looks really good, Daphne. Where did you learn to cook?” “I just kept doing it until I good at it.” She says proudly and takes a seat next to Hunter like she didn’t just crush his dreams into a million pieces thirty minutes ago. “I’m surprised you still have space to stomach this.” Winter says taking a jab at Jacob.“I would leave but I don’t want to be rude.” Jacob responds with a smile. “Sure, blame your gluttony on your
EPILOGUE 2018 A Maybach gears up after the traffic lights turn green. There's a man in a suit in the back seat. He's looking out the window and staring at the billboard of an author and popular model. She's beautiful. He thinks, and he continues staring until his phone rings. "Hello?" "Liam, will you still make it for the meeting?" "Yes, Zach. I'm on my way. There's no traffic, so I'll be there in about five—" The car comes to an abrupt halt. He hears the sound of crash and mutters a curse under his breath. He will not be getting out of this one easily. He looks up and sees the angry driver of the other vehicle already slamming their door closed. He turns to his driver. "What happened?" "I don't know. She just stopped abruptly. I have no idea why. This woman is obviously crazy." He pinches his forehead and comes down from the car after his driver does. She is furious and crazy because the way she's already raving about her bashed car has him taking cautious steps forward.
NIKOLAI Winter's giving birth. I'm as anxious as a live wire. I'm pacing the halls of the house while the midwives and the pack physician deliver our son. Hunter is with me. He's carrying his daughters and feeding them breakfast on the dining table. The house has been gloomy for months since Tara died. This is the first thing that has brought joy to all of us. Our son. I can't wait to meet him. I wonder who he would look like. Deep down, I want him to look like his mother. I smile to myself, and Hunter calls me out. "Pull yourself together. You are embarrassing me." I clasp my sweaty palms together. "I guess this was how you felt when the twins were born." Hunter smiles genuinely. He doesn't do that anymore. There's no reason for joy in his life, and I truly feel sorry for him and for everything he's been through. He lost Daphne and lost Tara, and to think he will always have the memories lodged in his head is pure torture, even for me. "Yes. I'm pretty damn sure I felt much wors
WINTERSix Months Later...It's been six months since Daphne and her father tried to destroy us. Six months since we've heard anything about her whereabouts. Life seemed to go on in contast paranoia that they would be back, especially for Nikolai. I'm almost due. My bump is large, like someone trapped a volleyball inside there. The pack doctor examines me. He says I keep getting weaker and weaker. I've told no one about the conversation Isador and I had the night of Hunter and Tara's big escape. But I know why I'm being diagnosed as weak. I have little time left with my son and mate. It's breaking my heart.I know Elkan didn't survive his brothers wrath. Killian killed him and his triplets before Hunter could make do with his promise. It's beating him up, but he doesn't show it. The fact that he failed those innocent children. It only means one thing, though. Killian owes use all a life, and he will pay up when the time comes.The pack doctor shakes his head. "Your temperature and bl
HUNTER They had beaten me to a pulp, but they were going to need more than that to end me. I just need to know if Tara is alright. Since Daphne carried her into that separate room, I have seen nothing and heard nothing. My wolf is terribly weak. I struggle against the chains. I've been doing that for hours. Killian came and asked Daphne when she was going to kill me. She may hate me now, but I know she can never do something as horrendous as that. Daphne still loved me. I couldn't kill her as well if given the chance. There was just something holding us back. She stalled my execution date until two days from now. Meaning, Nikolai has 48 hours to rescue me successfully, or I have just that amount of time to break free before they sell her off to Ander. I need to save her, or else I won't forgive myself. I struggle against the chains bound to the ceiling above. It hung me up. I pull with all of my might, but nothing can save me from the weakness freezing my wolf out. I feel helpl
NIKOLAITheir weapons are laced with wolf's bane and poisons of various calibres. We are outnumbered, and it's also impossible for us to win this war against Ander. My wolves are perishing all around me, and I feel helpless. Ander is on his horse wrecking havoc with the mighty scythe in his hand.I run for him, growling as my fangs gleam under the afternoon sun. He's about to hit one of my closest wolves from behind. I dive on his horse and throw him to the ground, cartwheeling and dodging the scythe's blade by a narrow miss.Ander roars, getting on his feet. It's between the both of us. I'm not armed, and I know I've got to be careful while going against that blade. Winter warned me about that, and I promised myself I would make it out alive.I charge at him, and he comes for me as well. We clash, baring our teeth. Our wolves around us are still going at each other. Still, it is clear that Ander is winning. He shoves me to the ground. I bring out my leg and swipe it across, making him
DAPHNE Tears burn my throat. It didn't occur to me that he would actually find my replacement. I still loved him deeply, but I couldn't disobey my father. If he chose me now, I would have abandoned everything and saved him from this hell. But the man I love is interested in another woman. This must be my karma. I walk into the barren room where Tara has been kept inside. I know she's scared, but I'm so livid that I could pluck out her entire hair. How dare she steal what is mine? "Ander would love to hear you survived his trap. He would take your sorry ass back and punish you for life because that is what you deserve." Tara starts begging. She knows what it's like to be slaved under Alpha Ander. Not to mention being punished eternity by him. It's pure hell, and I want to laugh at the terrified look on her face. I do laugh. "What? Scared, are we? This is what you get for taking what's not yours." "I didn't know you and Hunter were an item. I met him by chance and he said nothin
HUNTER I told her not to go. I told her I had to stay put right here inside the damned pack house, but she just won't listen. One thing I've learnt about Tara is that she's as pig headed as they come and can't take no for an answer. She literally dragged me out from the house to come and pick herbs in the woods. Her argument is that it's close by and we won't be gone for more than half an hour. It takes only a second for things to go epically wrong, but I don't know why I can't resist her anymore. When she speaks, she always finds a way to get to me, and she doesn't even do much. She only just has to say the word. I don't what to make of it, but I'm trying to school myself into making this the only time such would repeat itself again. Sure, she can pick her herbs for now, but next time, I won't consent to something as careless as this, leaving the pack house unguarded. She's in front of me, skipping happily into the woods. I'm always happy to see her smile. The sight of it just m
WINTER I dread waking up to this morning because I know what it means for us. Nikolai wants us to do this. He wants us to pay Jacob a visit, but I don't think I'm ready. Jacob was the man who hurt me. Although he seems repentant, I still can't tell what his heart would be like. I'm stepping out of the bathroom when he meets me halfway. Nikolai hugs me. Last night brought us a lot closer intimately. I was so darn sure I would have his babies after that. He made sure of it. But then, would the curse of Rose find me now that I am Winter. Will I still not be able to have kids of my own? "Hey, babe." Nikolai calls me, resting his forehead against mine. "You look stressed. Don't be stressed." "You know why I'm stressed." "I'll be right there with you. You don't have to be scared because you have me protecting you always." He has a point. I know he will never abandon me. Nikolai loves me so much. He proved that last night, and I'm certain he will always have my back in everything. I do
HUNTER I walk ahead as soon as I walk towards my room in the Alpha's home. She's right behind me in the next minute. I saw her hold back her words before Nikolai was out of respect. I knew the second she was in the clear, she was going to come at me with everything she's got. Funny enough, I'm anticipating it. I'm also anticipating seeing more of her in those pretty clothes. It's new for Tara. "Ever heard of give people their flowers, Hunter?" She crosses her arms as she falls in step with me. Nikolai and Winter have occupied the main stairs, so we are going all around to get to my room. Tara is just following me without a clue about where she's going. "That's the most senseless thing I've ever heard." She blocks my path, walking with her back when I don't stop coming forward. "Take that back." Tara slaps my chest. Coming from a werewolf, her hit does justice, and I almost break a wince. "I won't take it back, Tara. Because it's my opinion." "I found you empathetic at first