Freya’s P.O.VThere was still that burning rage that lingered inside of me, threatening to consume me like wildfire. I could never just comprehend how evil and twisted Bellona was, for her to be able to do that to my baby. At the same time, guilt made my stomach tie a knot, and it wrecked me that Ivy had to go through all of that alone. I felt so bad that it made me feel like I had failed her. She would always cry every night before bed, begging to sleep in the room Thorne and I shared. Sometimes she was allowed. Sometimes she wasn't. I had never imagined that such a horrific act was happening behind my back and the fact that Ivy went through something as terrifying as that made my heart twist in pain. She must have been dying to tell Thorne and me but Bellona’s threat must have kept her silent, trapping her in a world of nightmares that Bellona had created. “That witch” I muttered through gritted teeth, quickly dashing the tear that tracked down my face with my thumb. I blew ou
Thorne’s P.O.VI blew out a breath, propping against the stone countertop in the wine cellar. With a hand resting on the surface, I leaned forward, pouring myself a drink as my mind drifted to Enzo. The recent pressure from work and the war with the Lycan King had been so overwhelming for him, but that wasn’t the problem. He was bothered about the human that he had fallen in love with because while we were on a mission to save our men from Reginald, he had spotted her again. Not spotted. He stalked her. I mean, she was married. Why would he be so obsessed with her after everything that has happened between them?Aside from that, he had taken a week’s break in a bid to focus on his mental health and put the whole stress from the war behind him. I clicked my tongue, swirling the amber liquid before raising the stemmed glass to my mouth. “How does one fall in love with a human?” I thought to myself. All of a sudden, I was jolted out of my thoughts when the door creaked open. Confusio
Freya’s P.O.VChills. That was all I felt, and I didn’t know which was more terrifying—The fact that my life flashed before my eyes or the grotesque sight of Bellona’s lifeless body and, worse, the unblinking and soulless eyes that stared back at me. It all happened so fast that I couldn’t grasp the whole situation. Unease rose to choke me as my stomach tied a knot. Thorne straightened, slipping the hair that fell on his face to the back as he tossed the blood-stained knife to the floor and muttered a curse word. Slowly, he whipped his head towards me, concern replacing the dangerous glint in his eyes as he rushed towards me. “Are you okay?” His hands brushed through my arm, but I could never take my eyes off the dead eyes that kept staring at me. Her death was satisfactory yet, it also terrified me. I had never expected to witness something as horrifying as this. I stammered. “She…keeps…staring at me” My voice was barely above a whisper. Thorne turned, a wicked smile creeping
Celeste’s P.O.VI stared into space, the whistling sound of the knives that flew past my ear triggered the senses in my head. One of the knives sliced a strand of my hair before it hit the board behind me with a sharp thud. Despite this show of madness that had been incorporated into my daily routine, I didn't budge. I had gotten used to the constant torture and humiliation so bad that I couldn't wait to die. I had lost all hope, and there was no escape from this nightmare that Nigel had created for me. Ropes bounded my wrist, leaving an aching pain that I had now gotten accustomed to. Worse, he made sure that my body was bound in black tape until it stopped above my thigh. I remained on my knees, my fingers curling into fists as the horrendous sound of the violin being played almost made my ears bleed. His daughter’s birthday was in the next five days and to surprise her, he was learning how to play the violin since it was her favorite musical instrument. Despite his hours of pra
Freya’s P.O.VTo get rid of that grotesque image of Bellona that was stuck in my head, I followed Enzo to a car racing game. Thorne was occupied with a lot of work and had promised to accompany me some other time. Racing with Enzo relieved me of stress and gave me just the perfect rush of adrenaline that I needed, even though his car was always the one to cross the finish line. It didn't matter that I had lost the game, what mattered was the relief that it brought me. And hopefully, I would stop seeing the haunting image of Bellona in my dreams. I leaned against the wall, sending Thorne the pictures that Enzo and I had taken. Enzo came out of the car and, like always, he had won against another opponent. Removing his helmet, he raked his hands through his hair and walked towards me. I shoved my phone into my pocket, pushing away from the wall as he now stood before me. He beamed with a smile, but the uneasiness in his eyes made me decipher that he was about to make another reques
Thorne’s P.O.VAn amused smile crossed my face as my gaze lingered on the pictures that Freya had sent me. She was beautiful—Probably, the most attractive woman I had ever set eyes on.However, the smile on my face faltered when I spotted Enzo standing next to her, grinning widely. He was the reason she had no personal picture. Every picture that she had sent, he was always in it! Instead of dwelling on it, I cropped Enzo out of the picture and shifted my gaze to the chauffeur. “How much longer?”He responded, his eyes meeting mine briefly through the rearview mirror. “Ten minutes. We would have gotten there earlier if there wasn't a lot of traffic”I nodded, leaning back against the leather seat. I intended to pull a surprise on Freya since she was still at the track with Enzo. Furthermore, I wanted to come with her but since Enzo took a break, most of the work was piled on my shoulder. And on the other hand, the war with the Lycan King seemed to have taken a dark turn. Something a
Freya’s P.O.VWas it just me, or why did it feel like something bad happened that night?I couldn’t shake that odd feeling that a lot of things went wrong that night. And right now, I didn't know if I was just overthinking things or being paranoid. Thorne and Enzo had carefully assessed the footage, checking every corner and area around the racetrack, but they had found nothing. Not even a shadow. My attempt to remember how I had collapsed in the garage failed. I wanted to settle with the fact that Enzo and Thorne’s suspiciousness was the reason I was on the very edge. But deep inside of me, it felt like I was missing some important information regarding that night. It felt like a part of my memories was wiped out and no matter how much I tried to remember, it only left me with splitting headaches that lasted for hours or worse, the whole day. Done with subjecting myself to torture headaches that felt like something was being hammered against my head, I gave up on trying to recall
Thorne’s P.O.VThe door to the study room creaked open, and Enzo strode in. “This is where you have been hiding? Do you have any idea how long I have been looking for you? And, why the hell have you been blocking the mind link?” I shifted my eyes away from him, fixing it on the book while flipping a page. “Because I didn't want you to find me, and you did…”He scoffed, sitting across from me while dropping the file on the desk. “Anyway, this is about the helicopter you asked me to look into”Without raising my head, I said. “And what about it?”“Turns out that Reginald owns it…”As soon as he mentioned that name, my pulse quickened and the book slipped from my hand to the table as I focused my attention on him. “The same Reginald?” Anger slowly seeped through my veins. Enzo crossed his legs. “Yes…”My blood ran cold when it hit me that I had underestimated Reginald. For him to have a customized helicopter meant that he was very wealthy, and he was controlling a pack that seemed to f
Thorne’s P.O.V“Now!” His words resounded through my head, his eyes piercing deep into mine.Beneath the mask, my eyes darkened, and on exchanging fleeting glances with Nigel, I could see the frustration in his eyes. Now I knew why he told me to use a contact lens— It was because I had such an intense stare that always left a dark and lasting impression on people. Nigel spoke immediately. “What is the issue? They are my men and if there is any of them who makes you feel uneasy, I would have them leave now”I could see the fear that slithered through Freya’s eyes. The fear of everything going wrong. But that wouldn't happen because tonight no one would be spared. Rhys rose to his feet and I could see the confusion in his eyes as he moved away from the chair. “There isn't a reason anyone should be wearing masks. I would remove them…”With every step that he took towards me, my clenched fists tightened and anger pulsed through my veins. This time, I stared at him in the eye and that
Thorne’s P.O.VStaring at the message that Freya had sent a few hours ago, it all made sense now. Why he hated her so much. Why he would never hesitate to harm her and the quadruplets. Why would he pick his stepdaughter over her all the time.It was because she wasn't his daughter. I could see the dark cloud that rolled through Enzo’s eyes as he tossed the picture of the Lycan King into the fire. His eyes lingered on the picture that burned slowly and he muttered. “It is about time…” His eyes met mine and a smile that faltered spread through his face. I inched closer to Enzo and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Yes” I offered him a small smile, and he took me aback when he pulled me into a hug and sobbed on my shoulders. It was weird. He wasn't the type to have emotional outbursts like this. But knowing the things that he had been through, the trauma that he had carried, and all the burden that lay on his shoulders, I had no option but to pat him on the back as different emotions
FreyaI laughed. Not because she was funny or anything. It was because of how absurd she sounded. Maybe it was because she was getting old. Perhaps, dementia?I tried to change the topic. “We should go back inside. Nigel would be searching for me and I promise you that I would be back to drop flowers just before…”She cut in, staring at the grave. “You do know that your father, the Lycan King, real name is Rory right?”I shook my head. “No, please let’s go inside”“Rory and Myles were friends, not best friends though. Things were going well between the two young friends until they fell in love with the same woman. However, Rory liked her first but Myles was quick to confess his feelings to her, and the beautiful thing, they were both mates”My brows knitted together in confusion and it made me wonder what she was talking about. She hated watching movies so could chances be that she was narrating a movie to me. “Is this what you do every year? Telling her about movie plots and stuf
Freya’s P.O.VAnger crawled up my spine and I stared at Ariel with eyes devoid of any emotion. Just the sight of her opened up memories—the horrible ones, the tainted ones, and most importantly, the traumatic ones. “You are supposed to be in the dungeon?”She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and stepped forward, almost closing the space between us. Ariel clicked her tongue in her mouth. “Are you slow? Are you even supposed to be here? I don't like you or anything but do you honestly think that my dad has good plans for you?”She tilted her head to the side. “You are still gullible…” She heaved a sigh and took a step back. “I wasn't locked in any dungeon of any sort. I have been living a good life and…” She stretched her fingers towards me. My gaze landed on the shimmering diamond stone around her fingers. “I just got engaged two days ago. Since you have decided to leave your family and return to this hell-hole, maybe you deserve everything about to happen to you”“Anyway
Thorne’s P.O.VMy heart raced and with every passing second, the only sound that could be heard was that of my blood thrumming in my ears. Panic bled through my veins and I glanced over at Reginald with so much rage burning inside of me. I had nine minutes left. Nine minutes to save everyone’s life and the school was just an hour away. Fuck!I ran a hand through my hair frustratedly, and maybe it was because of the fear that gnawed at me or something else, but I couldn’t think. I knew that I needed to save the quadruplets and all the other kids at school but no solution crossed my mind. I stumbled back, my trembling fingers curling around my clothes. “Since today is the 9th of March, shouldn’t you be coming up with a solution and…” Before he could complete his words, I reached for the iron rod against the wall and swung it at him. It hit him directly on the head and he passed out. I needed to come up with a solution.My gaze landed on my wristwatch. It was now 12:53 pm. I had ju
Freya’s P.O.VVleyr and his two sons were captured just before the end of the festival, and it turned out that Julie’s siblings were never even adopted in the first place like she had thought. Instead, they had been sold to slavery from the very beginning. It was just despicable that he could do that to her. She had returned to New York and Thorne was doing everything in his power to ensure that he got her siblings out of slavery. But that wasn’t the issue right now, the issue was why Nigel kept mentioning my name in the plan that he had just shared with Thorne. Confusion swirled in my mind and I darted my eyes to Thorne, who gave me a nod of approval. What was that supposed to mean?I shook my head, running my hands through my hair, frustratedly. “No, this doesn’t make any sense. Why do I have to face my father? Why do I have to go with Nigel?” A small smile played on Nigel’s mouth. “No harm would come upon you…”Thorne cut in. “Since Enzo and I are going into the meeting in dis
Thorne’s P.O.VI honestly never believed that Nigel was going to honor my invitation because things turned out chaotic the last time we met. Before I could apologize for the accusations and sympathize with him for all the things that he went through because of Celeste, things had taken a dark turn. And here he was with a smile on his face. He came with gifts and introduced me to his daughter who was just a split image of himself and despite everything, things still felt awkward between us. Maybe it was my guilt or was it because I genuinely felt bad for him?As I downed my wine, I forced out a smile that didn’t reach my eyes, searching around for Freya. Where was she? She was by my side a few minutes ago, so how did she just disappear?Nigel’s voice broke the awkward silence that stretched between us as I fixed my eyes on him. “The Lycan King and his allies will be meeting in the next two days according to the information that I got. However, there are rumors that they are planning
Thorne’s P.O.V** The Light Festival **Moon-shaped lanterns hung from the trees while golden lights made in honor of the moon goddess floated through the sky. For a long time in a while, there was this sense of fulfillment that washed through me because it was the first time in many years that the festival would be celebrated. And most importantly, seeing Freya excited made me happy. Because she had lived hidden all her life, she had never experienced something like this. My eyes were fixed on Freya whose gaze mirrored the reflection of the lights.“This is so beautiful” Tears filled her eyes as she glanced at me and her face broke into a smile. She placed a hand on her chest, talking about how she couldn't contain her joy and while she did that, I reached for her hands and slipped the bracelet onto her wrists. It was a diamond bracelet. She paused, darting her eyes between the bracelet and my face. “Again?”I nodded and before I could wrap my head around things, she threw her ha
Freya’s P.O.VIt had been two weeks since Enzo recovered, and one would think that Thorne would be softer toward him since he was beating himself up for almost causing his death. But, the case was otherwise.As soon as he was discharged from the hospital, Thorne placed him under house arrest. He wasn't allowed to leave the house and no one was allowed to meet him unless it was necessary. The house arrest was to last for six months. Initially, it was set to last for four months, but Sadie’s tantrums and constant threats to Thorne made him add two more months. Since then, Thorne and Enzo hadn't spoken. And worse, it was difficult to know what was going through his mind and why he wasn't speaking to his brother when he was the one who didn't want him dead. Was he staying away from him because he was scared that Raze could take over and end Enzo’s life for good this time?The maid’s voice broke my train of thought as she wheeled in a rack of dresses. The clothes were all neon-colored,