Ariah's POV I felt something crawling on my skin as my mind and body were still trapped in unconsciousness, like an insect or bug. That was what I thought it was the first time, a bug, but then it was much heavier than that. It was a person’s fingers and it gave me so much comfort with the way they gently caressed my skin. I could say that it was what brought me back to full consciousness. The hand was about to let go and I don’t know when my arm shot out and grabbed it. The person froze like I felt his or her veins go stiff with surprise. Slowly, I opened my eyes, at first everything was blurry, but my vision sharpened after I blinked severally. I looked at the hand, it was a male's, when I looked up, my eyes widened with surprise to see King Ethan staring down at me impassively. Was it him? He was the one that had been caressing my cheeks so gently? It was hard to believe that it was him as we just stared at each other.Then I realized something, I was still holding his hand! I ga
Ariah’s POV The wind was relentless, as light as I was, I was sure it could sweep me completely off my feet if I were to step outside. We sat in awkward silence as the entire house seemed to rattle under the force of the violent winds. Lowell looked from Ethan to me and I did the same, Ethan just sat still, not looking at either of us as his face glowered with anger. “Well, this is an awkward night,” Lowell said, breaking the silence.“Guess what?” Ethan said to Lowell without looking at him. “What?” Lowell asked.“We have a fucking meeting tomorrow morning by 8 am!” He bellowed and Lowell shrunk away. “Yeah, damn the fucking wind,” Lowell said and shook his head sympathetically. “But you’re the king, you can go late for a start.” “I don’t go late, Lowell.” The king pointed out emphatically in a firm, hard voice. “And now you’ll have to, I blame it on the fucking wind,” Lowell repeated. “No! I blame it on her!” Ethan suddenly snapped, pointing an accusing finger at me who ha
Ariah's pov I was both excited and kind of sad for two reasons. The first being that I had found my wolf at such a crucial time. I considered the timing crucial because I needed someone by my side in this environment that seemed to become more hostile as the day went by. She even had a wonderful name, Leia, it was way more lovely than my name and I was determined to discover just what and what my wolf could do. I was sad because of the king, Ethan, I didn't want to get on his bad side. I berated myself for speaking that way to him and even Leia joined in the scolding. "Do you know something, Ariah?" She asked. "No, tell me," I said eagerly. "I've always been here with you on your crazy and adventurous journey of life." She said and a bored look came to my face. "I'd have preferred if my life had a little less danger and a little more happily ever after. Right now, I don't see things ending well for me, my first mate rejected me and locked me up. He treated me cruelly and abus
Ethan's pov "Don't take it too seriously, Ethan," Lowell said as I walked into the kitchen I was familiar with. I shook my head, "That's the problem with you, Lowell, you do not know how to fucking treat this kind of people." I said angrily. The young maid that had been assigned here was in the kitchen and she was terrified to see me in such a state, when my eyes fell on her, she shrunk in fear and wanted to leave the room. "Hey you, make me coffee, hot, black coffee and if you do it wrong, I'll bathe you with it." I snarled and she nodded, her body convulsing with fright. I turned to Lowell and said, "You see? That's how it's done." He shook his head, "She's a maid, in fact, regardless of that, there are nicer ways to say it that wouldn't make her tremble so badly." Lowell replied in his ever-composed manner. I scoffed, "Sure, teach me all the fucking morals, eh Lowell? Teach them to me like I'm some fucking kid." My voice was hard and harsh. "While you work on your fucking
Ethan’s POVThe next day was going to be a very hectic, yet exciting one. I had to deal with the men that attacked Ariah but before that, there were so many other things to do. I had a meeting with the elders, a deal to seal with another pack and if that was all completed, then the last thing on my list was to party. I had already told Lowell all this, going clubbing with ladies was my way of celebrating. I had done it so many times before, starting from when I was still in school till even when I rose to power. Each time, a lady ended up in my bed that night, but then, I never took the same lady home twice. Why did I have to when I could pick any lady of my damn choice? I woke Lowell up early and we left the quiet place while Ariah was still sleeping. Lowell had slept on a couch in the living room, his tough luck, the bedroom was more comfortable. The wind had been brutal and relentless and everywhere was scattered with leaves and broken branches of trees. “How much will it cost
Ethan’s POVI shook my head as the reality of what he was saying occurred to me. I got to my feet still shaking my head with a smile of disbelief on my face. “You’re kidding me,” I said.The elders stared at each other, all thirteen of them, and only the one who spoke earlier had the guts to rise to his feet with his hunched back. “King Ethan, don’t you see…the possibilities and how well this will profit everyone?” He asked.“No, listen, you all have got to be kidding me. This is the fucking modern era, not some age where some fucking marriages are arranged.” I said, the smile disappearing from my face as I cast a glowering stare at them. “This is absurd.” “Yes, it is, but it is the only way.” The elder said firmly.From the corner of my eyes, I saw the curious and eager look on Lowell’s face and I knew he wanted to say something and he did. “We should also consider the fact that the king, Ethan, might have a mate already.” He said.All eyes fell on me, all thirteen quizzical, worn
Ariah's POVWhen I woke up on the couch and didn’t find Beta Lowell on the couch, I didn’t even bother to check the basement because I knew they were gone. When I eventually went down, the first smell that came to my nostrils was that of King Ethan’s scent. His scent was so strong that it gripped the whole atmosphere in the room and I loved it. For the rest of that day, I didn’t see the king or his beta, Lowell, it didn’t get me. I was excited about it, but only for a very short while. I became bored and started to feel lonely very quickly, the events of the previous night flooding into my head. It had to be the king who had carried me when I fainted during the attack. He was the only person in sight and I would never forget the look I saw in his eyes before he reached me. So vicious and determined, it was like he could have devoured anyone at that time, all for me. How did he even know I was in danger? All these thoughts made my insides curl with excitement. Even though he had prob
Ariah's POVKing Ethan drank for a while without saying anything to me. He just sat on a couch, refusing to allow me to attend to his needs, if he had any that is. I was really confused, there was a dejected look on his face. But something made me smile inwardly, if something was wrong and he came to me first, what did that mean? Was he developing an attraction for me? Or could it be trusted? That could be the case. I just sat quietly on a couch far away from him, then he dropped the half-empty bottle and said. “Come over here, Ariah.” He tapped the space next to him on the couch he sat on. “Come and sit here.”I didn’t completely trust him. I didn't trust him at all. I believed that his actions were partially influenced by the alcohol, but could I refuse his orders even if they were under alcoholic influence? I couldn’t. I stood up and sat next to him, there was still a little distance between us. “What do you think?” He asked.I stared at him blankly, I didn’t know what he was ta