“We shouldn’t be doing this.” Darkness. I can’t see anything yet I am in a memory. I can feel where I am right now and I know it’s a large space. “We really shouldn’t be doing this Diane. We could get caught, you could die.” A female voice. One of them should be Diane, but the one who’s speaking, I haven't heard that voice in any of her memories. I’m blind here and it’s disconcerting. I don’t like being trapped in memories blind. Light bursts forth and it almost blinds me. I hiss and avert my face then realize I'm not the only one who’s hissing. “What the fuck Diane?” “I’m sorry, I'm sorry. I didn’t know it would react like that. I swear this thing misbehaves sometimes.” “I shouldn’t go blind because of the staff’s misbehavior, Diane. If anyone should, it’s you. You’re the one who wants to steal it.” I hear someone’s chuckle and I can tell it’s Diane’s. I still can’t see her, I can barely see anything. “Blood’s leaking from my eyes Di, shit.” Magic hums in the air and I hear
Queen Diane helps me hold my hair back as I retch. Sea water gushes out of my mouth and what follows is relief. I always feel horrible when I vomit, yet this makes my body feel freed. Something in me chills as I come to a conclusion but that isn’t what matters right now. “Someone’s been using the Lycan’s flame.” I look up at the queen and blink back the tears at the side of my eyes. My body is still a body after all, but what I saw just now…. “You’ve known all this while haven’t you?” She shakes her head and rises. The Queen I see in those memories and the one who stands in front of me are so vastly different that I almost feel scammed. Where is the fierceness I saw in her eyes? The pride of being able to command spirits of every shape and size? The assurance of capability she exuded? “I suspected something like that was happening too, but I know it isn’t. No one could have used the Lycan’s flame, not after what I did.” Something in me curls at her words. It doesn’t just curl,
“Hey, wake up.”My eyes flutter open to Safira gently shaking me and I blink back the bleariness I feel. My eyes scan the room immediately and I’m relieved to find that it isn’t in a state of destruction.Lyros doesn’t seem to be here and Safira…. Looks okay.She frowns when I continue to stare at her so I look away. I sit on the bed and stretch to alleviate the ache in my back.“I think I’m up. Can I know what time it is?”Safira is silent for a while before she answers.“It’s the sixth bell. Dinner should be waiting for you in the castle by the next hour.”That means I slept for at least six hours. It didn’t feel like six hours, but maybe that’s just the thing with Diane’s memory realm. Maybe the place is getting used to me.Or maybe it’s because I viewed only two memories.“Cain should be awake by now. Want to come with me to see him?”I nod almost eagerly and Safira chuckles as she slips into her clothes. The jacket makes her look formidable, and the leather pants are also beauti
“Tell us the truth, Cain.”Adelaide sounds cold. Like the wind in winter.When I look at her I can see it’s the concern she feels for me that’s making her sound like that. The concern and the suspicion in her eyes.She knows something new and I hate the fact that this has to happen in front of Rafie. I wouldn’t have minded showing it to her alone, but Rafie is a wild card. I don’t know what to do with him.“I have other things to do, Cain. Don’t make this harder than it already is.”At the sound of Rafie’s voice, I feel something in the air change and memories tingle the back of my mind. To have a King care for you is a deep and violent thing, sometimes they cause you harm without meaning to. I consider how much harm this will cause if I do tell them, but the truth is that it will cause more harm if I don't.“The first time it happened was when Lyros used his magic to heal me.”Adelaide tenses up immediately and I take a few steps away from her just to put distance between us. I don’
“Adelaide.” I ignore his call and keep walking. “Adelaide, come on, let’s talk this out.” I don’t know why this hurts me the way it does but I know it does. How could he keep that kind of information secret? It’s not like I'd understand half of what caused it anyway but at least, just so I could know, he could have told me so I could be aware of it. I interacted with Fenrir on that ship. I thought something was odd about him, but it was Cain all along and he didn’t say anything! I wallowed in fear and blamed myself for so long and he was around me all the time that happened. Did he find it pleasing to see me in that state? Was he happy to know I felt horrible and wondered constantly about where he was? “Adelaide.” Cain’s hand wraps around my wrist and I snap it away. “Don’t! Touch me right now okay? I’m angry, you shouldn’t be touching me while I'm angry.” People stop to look at us in the hallway but I don't care about that. My heart twists and constricts and I don't know w
She blinks and when she looks at me, it’s with a bewildered expression on her face. Her voice is almost a whisper when she speaks but I hear her clearly.“Excuse me?”My words get stuck in my throat but I say them all the same.“I said I'm sorry. I apologize for what I did to Cain…. I wasn’t meant to do that. I panicked.”Adelaide blinks yet again and she releases a disbelief-filled huff of air. Her expression tells me everything I need to know.She’s surprised and she can’t believe her ears, but she’s also scared.“You’ve never apologized for anything in the past.”Her voice is in that whispery-like timbre again and I nod.“Some things have changed since we first met.”Adelaide stares at me and I can see the disbelief when it enters her eyes. That courage she’s known for, the courage to be brave even when she knows it can be provocative, that courage rises in her and she scoffs.“Nice try. An apology won’t make me forget what you did.”“But it’s a start isn’t it?”Adelaide freezes a
Lyros is acting strange.“Let me.”I don’t argue with him this time as he takes the strings of the dress from me. For some reason, this dress has strings to tighten it upfront. They crisscross across my stomach and like that isn’t enough, Lyro has to face me to do them up. I’m not sure if he’s suffering from a brain concussion or if he hit his head on a rock. He looks fine…….He looks perfectly okay yet he’s chosen today to act crazier than he ever has since I've known him because an apology? I’m still not sure if the memory of that in my head is a dream or a hallucination. My eyes drift to him and he’s still there. He has the strings to the lacing of this gown in his hands and he looks at them intently, fumbling with the tiny strands of fabric as he tries to figure them out.A scoff almost escapes my lips, but then he looks up.Lyros’s eyes glow from under thick heavy lashes and I feel like I'm looking down at him and looking up at him at the same time.His hands have paused on
“How is this….. happening ?” Lyros grins but doesn’t reply to me. He simply keeps on walking and sticks his hand into his pockets. People stop to look at us as we pass by and they’re not just people, they’re humans. We were in Raleigh a second ago, so unless Lyros is deceiving me with an illusion, then we really did just leave the border and step into the human world. That should be impossible. Normal Lycans can barely leave unless they are banished by their King, and werewolves cannot leave at all since there hasn’t been an Alpha King in forever. Walking through the border shouldn’t be something anyone can do, but Lyros has done much more than that. We’ve crossed thousands of miles in a mere second. “Excuse me, Miss.” I flinch and the female in front of me looks startled. She has creamy white hair and has her phone in hand. Her clothes are human clothes and she’s so clearly human I cannot deny the fact. “I just wanted to say you look really pretty. I like your dress.” I mana
Cain grabs onto my waist and kisses me, hauling me up and plastering me against him. His voice is a rough husk in my ear as he whispers “You did it, Adelaide.” Tears run down my eyes and he hugs me, holding my body to his as I sob into his chest. I don’t think I'd believe what just happened if someone told me it would a few months ago. All I wanted was to be free and run off to hell knows where, but I'm glad for what I did. Now I know I have parents, parents who loved me and a mother who would have done anything for me. I’m not just the pack omega destined to be maltreated and beaten for all of her life. The suffering I went through changed me. It gave me tougher skin and with the power of my heritage… I've just won back my kingdom. Freedom is mine if I want it. Freedom, and power, and love, if I want any of it, and all of it, and I do. I really do. I kiss Cain again, just to cement the fact that we are a thing now. We’re more than a thing. I’m wearing his ring. He’s as much
Lyros is no longer the all-powerful Lycan lording his majesty over the weak populace. We are powerful in our own right now.And in the face of real power, the Lycan king can only do one thing, cower, like a coward.Lyros attempts to run but almost like he knows it’s futile there’s no spirit in it. Lycan speed might have given him a chance, but running was just one final way of making a dash for his life.I flash and slam Lyros with my sword, the blade slapping the side of his face and drawing blood as he tumbles to the ground. I lean down and whisper close to his ear,“I don’t intend to kill you Lord Lyros.”I feel his heartbeat intensify as my words graze his ears but I continue confidently, “I intend to make you pay for all you’ve done. For the young girls you plucked from weak werewolf packs, only to kill them after torturing them, their dreams ended and hopes cut short because of your wickedness. I intend to make you pay for the cities you’ve attacked, the people you have killed,
I rip through the fabric of space as I burn.I feel the Lycan’s flame coursing through my being and it sets me on fire with the force of a supernova. I feel the strength of a thousand stars in me. The flames lick at my dress, burning it short and tattered, turning me into a version these men see, but which they don’t see at all.I wonder how many times Lyros has looked at me and seen nothing but skin. Nothing but clothes in pieces, flesh for the taking, a body to be claimed, and a mind to have fun with.I wonder how many times he’s seen skin and ignored the fire that rages in my heart. Ignored the love I have for the simple things. Ignored the fact that I am more than just skin and flesh, that I am heart and brains and emotion. That I am not his plaything.I am a Queen, and this Kingdom is mine.I kill the King beyond the border first. The battle with him takes less than an hour.In my hand is a sword hot as flame and solid as diamond. Rafie attacks me next so I slay him too.Raymel
We all stand in wait for her.Me, Rafie, Alizadeh, and Galan, all four Lycan kings, we wait for a weak omega female and something hollow rings in my chest. It was stupid to think I could find love.Even before the truth of Elara’s betrayal was revealed to me, I already knew. I already knew something was wrong with my heart and that I couldn't love properly anymore.I should have left it out of the cards, left love to those foolish enough to crave it but instead, I had to go ahead and try to keep her. Adelaide made me imagine something hot and exciting between us, something fiery and passionate, but at the end of the day, she’s expendable.She’s always been. Only I matter.A kingdom rests on my shoulders.“Is she on her way?”Rafie’s voice grates against my nerves but I nod. I’m not angry at him anymore. He’s doing what I didn't have the strength to do.Galan chortles where he stands and I feel my hands clench. I should kill him for using his trickster magic on me, but he saved my life
“How sweet.”Cain’s hand stops immediately and my foggy brain can’t even make sense of what’s happening. Has Cain taken me to the point of release this morning? Yes.I’m worried I might be a horndog.I turn to see Safira leaning on the doorframe. Her dress is so pretty, it drapes over her body like liquid and damn, I almost forgot how pretty she was.She smirks as her eyes meet mine, “Should I leave?” Cain answers sweetly before I can and his reply makes me chuckle. He goes “Yes please.”Safira’s hand twitches and a pillow launches itself at the back of Cain’s head. I let it hit and burst into subdued chuckles when he lets out a slight “oof.”Safirs sighs and shakes her head “You have a meeting in like six minutes. Will you be down?”Cain smirks lazily and shrugs. Safira’s gaze darts to me and she fixes me with an inquisitive stare, “Will he be down?”I nod because despite how much I want him to stay with me and kiss me silly, he’s already explained to me how things are here.He has
Diane visits me one last time in my dreams. She smiles at me and though my heart breaks, I smile back at her.I know this is the end. This is the last time I will see her, and as we stand on the sandy beach, our eyes locked on each other and the resemblance undeniable, I let her embrace me as a mother would her child, and I cry so bad my heart feels like it’s going to break.Diane kisses my forehead and wipes my tears, “You’re stronger than your pain my love. You know that right?”I want to nod. I desperately want to nod. The moment I saw Cain, the reality of what had happened to me seemed to come crashing down on me. The moment I saw Lyros instead of him, saw flashes of me and him behind my closed eyes each time I blinked….. How do I live with that?How do I live with the knowledge of all the things I did with the man I hate? A man who used me?I wish I could forget.“This is fire Adelaide,” I clutch Diane closer as she pats my hair down, tears still streaming down my cheeks “Like g
Anger makes my teeth crack as Adelaide asks me a question. She looks up at me, uncertainty in her eyes, her expression scared and bleak.“Would you still love me, if I showed you what Lyros and I have been doing these past few months?”Something threatens to snap in me but I know what this is.I’ve seen this before. I’ve done this once.I nod and Adelaide’s shoulders shudder. I can see how fervently she’s trying to control herself. How ferociously she’s attacking the emotions that are surging forth.Something’s happened, and when I ask her, she tells me everything.Trapped in a memory chain of the Lycan King’s making for three months, her magic being the thing he used to fuel that spell, Lyros turned her magic into her trap, and then she tells me what the memories were about. Entire years' worth of memories of her waiting for him patiently in the fortress.Memories of how he saved her from her pack and brought her to a better life in his care, Memories of how she became his personal p
Cain and Safira comfort me and tell me it’s okay. I can feel Cain’s concern for me like eyes at the back of my head.He’s always staring at me. He looks at me with such intensity that I feel all the things in my stomach churn and my thoughts go filthy. Memories flash past my eyes each time I close them.Memories of me and him in this world.Memories of me and him in a cave, happy sated smiles on our faces and our bodies totally unclad. We’re nude, and we’re comfortable.I see memories of deep and easy loving. Love that took me to the peak of pleasure, and threw me off the edge of my climax, again, and again, and again.My body begins to warm and Safira hits me on the arm, “For skies’ sake, Focus Adelaide. Are you sure you’re okay?”I turn to her and at the sight of familiar deeply tan skin and obsidian black eyes, a smile lights up my face. “I haven’t spent a day here and I’m already being mothered.”Safira grins and chuckles at that, and I feel light in my heart.She and Cain give
My heart melts with each passing moment i listen to Cain’s words and I almost can’t believe this is happening.My mind tells me if I blink he’ll go away, so I keep my eyes wide open, and I stare at him. I know it’s real when he stares at me in that same way.The lines of Cain’s face look new to me now. His warmth feels so familiar yet so alien. There’s an air around him that I can’t place, but I love every bit of it.I love it the way I love him, and when he leans in to kiss me again, I can feel the desperation in his touch. He’s as scared of me leaving as I am of him not being real in this moment. Finding him shouldn’t be this easy.It shouldn’t have been this easy, yet it was and I can’t seem to believe that.A sudden scream makes me cling to him like a frightened puppy until my brain realizes i know that voice.I know the texture of that squeall. I’ve heard that feminine tilt before.Safira’s scent invades my senses immediately and a warm body plasters itself to mine. She’s sobbing