HUNTER Nikolai has summoned me to the palace and I'm not quite sure what for yet but what does it matter? I've been in and out of the palace so many times this week, it's Iike I live there. Whatever reason he's asked me to come, I'm sure I still have the mental space to take it. Daphne and I are trying to build an honest relationship with each other and so far, I'm impressed with the outcome. I thought it would be a rollercoaster of secrets and dirty past but it turns out we don't have that many secrets and the ones we do have are no longer secrets anymore. Everyone has skeletons in their closet for sure but I'm glad they're not actual skeletons in our closet. Daphne is yet to explain the circumstances surrounding the pregnancy but I'm patient. She's going to tell me when she's ready. And even if she doesn't, I'll learn to live with it. Her baby is due in a month and she's had no medical assistance whatsoever. I'm going to appeal to Winter for services of the pack doctor when
WINTER. The men heeded my instructions. They all came back alive but not with heads. They came back victorious though. They avenged the death of their men and there was peace in their eyes. They were still sober about their deaths, regardless. Nikolai and I waited the entire night for the men to return. I prayed that they would return because I wouldn’t be able to stop Nikolai from deploying his entire army and charging there to destroy the entire pack if any of his men failed to return. “You don’t have to wait up. I’ll let you know when they return.” He said trying to convince me to go to sleep. “You don’t have to wait up either. The guards will let you know when they arrive.” I responded and he knew he was not going to be able to convince me. “I can’t go to sleep after sending them on a deadly mission.” He retorted. “Well neither can I.” I shot back. “I’m the Alpha.” He said like that would actually have an effect on me. “I’m the Luna.” I tell him and he sighs, defeated. “
ELDER DONOVAN.Nikolai is not above retaliation. I knew planting those bombs and killing his men was the right move. The war won’t start if someone doesn’t strike first, all I had to do was light a match and Nikolai fired the canon ball.He was smart to send his men in the night when the enemy was asleep and unprepared. They massacred a lot of men.I don’t like it when monsters pretend to be civil. Who sets a date for war? It’s a war not a wrestling match! Show some balls.Now that Nikolai seem to have struck first, at least that’s what they’ll think. The war will start for sure and it will be deadly because Alpha Jethro doesn’t like to joke with the life of his men and more interestingly, neither does Nikolai.Nikolai has no longer held meetings. Since the pack meeting, it’s been one training or the other and frankly, I’m impressed by how much he's done.The pack members seem to be more than capable of defending themselves now and the warriors, I don’t know about the warriors. Nikol
NIKOLAI.Alpha Jethro will not be pleased with what I did to his men and I’m not sorry about it. When he decided to retaliate, I will be ready. Winter's Luna duties are taking quite the toll on her, she’s not always been one of many friends. The women of the pack can be quite difficult, I’ll understand if she decides to stop seeing them. I’m even surprised she put up with them for so long. If they’re anything like the elders then she deserves an award for her perseverance. “You seem to be home a lot these days.” Her scent cradles my nose and gives me that comforting feeling. “Are you mad about it?” I tease and she smiles fondly. “A little.” She says and loosens the tight grip of her dress. “Talk to me.” I say and she shoots me a glance.“I like that you’re home but I don’t like that I’m not.” She whines and takes a seat on my lap. “You could be home more. It’s up to you.” I remind her that she could lessen her duties anytime and I won’t be mad about it.“I just started being Lu
NIKOLAI. “Do I have to come with?” I ask Winter and she asks without looking at me. I don’t even know what she’s packing but it's a while lot.“I don’t even know the first thing about babies.” I protest. “You sound just like Hunter.” She says and I try not to take offence that she’s comparing me to Hunter.“No, I don’t.” “You guys have more in common than you think.” She says and stuffs what looks like a hat inside the bag. “No, we don’t.” “Sure.” She smiles, when she’s done she goes to the kitchen and comes back with another bag. There is undoubtedly a bowl inside the bag but I don’t even want to know.“Winter?” I call“Yes?” She answers without sparing me a glance making all my efforts at pouting go to waste. “If you are going to ask whether you can stay again, the answer is no.” “I was going to ask if you’re ready to leave.” I say and she finally spares me a glance.“I’m ready right now.” She says and swings the bag over her shoulders.“Is the carriage ready?” she asks and I n
NIKOLAI I’m really glad Winter insisted that we went. Jethro struck after all, the aftermath is not quite as heavy as I expected, none of my men are dead, good thing I informed them ahead of time to be ready for what’s coming. “What the hell happened here?” Winter asked, her eyes roaming the broken items in the room. “Tell me it’s not what I’m thinking.” Realization is beginning to set in but she’s pushing it away. She’s trying not to believe it. “It's exactly what you’re thinking.” I tell her and she starts to inch closer to me.“You don’t think they’re still here, do you?” I almost laugh but I manage to keep it in. She acts so tough in front of everybody else but she looks so scared right now. “They might be watching us right now.” I say seriously and she frowns and groups something beneath her dress, I don’t know what it is but I assume it’s the silver knife I gifted her after her fight with the hefty burger. “I’ll take the left and you’ll take the right.” She says and I ca
ELDER DONOVAN.“I crave death.” I never thought those words will ever come out of my mouth but after four nights in Jethro's dungeon, I crave death. The mosquitoes are the least of my problems, they bother me too but not as much as Jethro's guards. I’ve never met men more cruel. Instead of food, as per Jethro's instructions they take turns to torture me three times a day. It’s the only indication of time I have in this dark place. I have no knowledge of what is going on outside now, is Jethro going on with the war as planned or is he doing things his own way? I hate that it even bothers me.What I should be worried about now is my own life and how to keep it.I hear footsteps, my stomach is starting to churn like I’ve had one too many drinks. It twists in dread, my fragile heart is beating fast, looks like it’s noon again. The steps draw closer and closer and the beat of my heart goes even faster. The loud steps start to fade away.He just walked past my door. What’s going on? Not
ALPHA JACOB Joining a war that has nothing to do with me might be the most stupid decision I’ve ever made since I became Alpha. I can’t even explain why I want to participate in this war and now that I’m here in front of Nikolai, I know there’s no turning back now. “I don’t understand, what does it have to do with you?” He asks innocently but I would be a fool to think that he completely trusts me. Nobody trusts anybody when it comes to war and to top it all off his woman has recently been kidnapped. “I want to fight this war with you, that is of course if you let me.” I say and he grunts. “Why would you want to do that? You know how deadly this war is going to be and it has nothing to do with you so why?” he asks bit I don’t have an answer for him. If I hadn’t cut off all communications with Isador, I would have said she bewitched me out of spite. “I just thought it would be better to have you as an ally rather than an enemy.” “This is not a war that you have to pick sides, y
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