RAYA BANKSI had been dreaming of my mother again, and for the second time that night, I woke up in a puddle of my own sweat.I had seen an impression of my mother’s face, with mottled hands that reached out for me from the murky depths of the sea I was standing over, the thin circle of her mouth opened in a silent scream.“Mother!” I gasped, jerking forward and up from the bed, glancing about me wildly, even when I knew she was already dead. Alpha Toph had said the dark descendant Gobar killed her. I swallowed the angry tears that welled in my eyes, feeling as feeble as a limp cock.“Lady of the moon!” I panted, cuddling my ice-cold fingers to my chest and sitting up before I realized it was more than the nightmare that had woken me.There was that noise again, that crashing sound that seemed to be coming from inside the cells along the shadowed hallway.“What the hell is that?” I groaned, gasping and moving to stand closer to the cell bars, catching a glimpse of the tin-armored gua
Alpha Toph“W-what is this Gobar? What's going on?” I wheezed frantically, struggling to release myself from his minion's iron grip and wincing in pain when their talons dug into my flesh.“This dear good old friend is the conversion chamber, where we do all the work of the dark moon,” Gobar drawled, the heavy thud of his footsteps on the cave floor filling my ears as I squinted into the darkness, trying to follow his towering shadow frame with my wolf eyes and failing to.I could feel my spine tingling before I heard a loud cracking sound and blinked through the stars that bled into my eyes from the bright wash of fluorescent light that flooded the cave room.I turned my head to see the Shadowling king still holding onto a piece of white string dangling from the ceiling.The room was small and smelled faintly of something metallic, something that stayed in the back of your throat long after the source had been removed, like blood and bile.I could tell the walls had been scrubbed dow
NIKOLAII had calmed down after dipping myself in the ice bath, but still couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.“Fucking hell,” I breathed, dipping my head back into the water and letting my eyes fall closed, letting the ice worm its way through the thick mass of my dark hair into my scalp and brain. I could feel my wolf rocking back and forth inside me, still uneasy, but better now that I had fed.What WAS that back there? The cravings, were almost as though It were my first full moon and I was only just learning the ropes of being a freaking werewolf.If someone had seen?...“No, no,” I chuckled to myself, shaking my head because I had made sure to cover my tracks, going back to bury the bones that littered the forests, surprised to find that one of them looked almost human.I cleared the thoughts in my head but it was already too late and I could feel the chill how returning to my spine. Everything was going to shit, FAST, ever since I had brought Raya from the
RAYA BANKSThe woman in the other cell suddenly turned to face me and I had to resist the urge to scramble away from the bars I was holding when I saw the silver tears glistening on her cheeks.What in tarnation was going on?“Are you okay Judy? Speak to me dammit! You're freaking me out!” I coaxed, as she moved closer to her own cell gate, her thick hands wrapping around the steel before she pressed the triangle of her face halfway through the bars, leaving only the small stretch of the corridor between us.“I can't stay here Miss, it's so dark, so quiet, I can't,” Judith wheezed, and I got the sense that she was reliving some sort of trauma from her past. I felt my chest squeeze at her pain and I leaned into the bars, not caring when the metal rods dug in painfully into my soft breasts.“It's okay Judith, I'm here alright? I'm here, no one’s going to harm you.” I whispered in encouragement, stretching my hand through the bars like I could touch her before feeling goosebumps rise on
OLIVIA BURNSMy hands were still shaking when I closed the door to my room jerkingly behind me.“Hell, that was close,” I heaved, snatching off the pearl necklace I had thrown on to look presentable and damned near snapping my neck to look back when the rap of knuckles on the door reached my ears.I felt my heart climb to my mouth as I wondered whether Nikolai had changed his mind and decided to see me after all!“Yes? Come in!” I moaned, struggling to calm the raging in my chest as I watched the door creak open ever so slowly and saw a woman’s face in the gap instead.I felt the wide grin that had been on my face vanish before I turned back around to take off my makeup in the mirror, watching Anya enter the room out of the corner of my eye.“Anya,” I muttered simply, not having to add the part about her presence being a surprise.“Hello, Olivia. I saw you fly out your window like some deranged woman so I thought I’d come to say hi after you came back.” The doe-eyed blonde tittered, m
Judith The Maid“Unnnghh!” The olive-skinned woman’s moans echoed lustfully in the small cell and something in my gut twisted and wrenched violently.How could Miss Raya have done this? Only seconds after I had told her my life’s story and she faked her compassion, here she was spreading her legs wide for the King. The King I was madly in love with, so much that I could give my life to save him!I pressed my hand to my mouth to stop the whimper from coming through and let my tears fall silently.That was how all the royal guests were, werewolves with no loyalty.Miss Raya was supposed to be my Mistress! She had everything she had ever bloody wanted even if she didn't deserve it! How dared she throw herself at the King in front of me?“Your Highness! It's too much!” Raya moaned again and I gasped loudly, before clapping a hand to my mouth, chancing a look at the shadowed form of their writhing bodies and realizing I needn't have bothered because the King was completely focused on Raya
RAYA BANKSI was still blushing when I caught a hint of movement in the other cell, only just remembering that Judith had been there.Saints! That was how mad the Alpha drove me, something about being around him just made it seem like we were the only two people in the room. “Judith? Are you there?” I wheezed, stopping to catch my breath and cleaning my head with a frown when only the wind from outside Whistler back to me.“Judith? Can you hear me?” I whispered again, fiercer now as I pressed my head against the steel, catching a brief glimpse of her pale clothes in the shadowed cell opposite before my temples began to throb and I let out a breath I didn't realize I had been holding.Had the poor woman fallen asleep? That was weird considering I hadn't expected Judith to be the type to sleep so easily. If the dark circles under the pale skin of her eyes were any indication, I would have sworn the woman didn't get any sleep at all. Tormented, that was how she looked.“Saints above,”
OLIVIA BURNS“That’s it! Enough! I've had enough of that goddamned woman!” I shrieked after His Highness had majestically swooped past.I had felt my heart seize its beating in my chest when I watched him stride through the aluminum cell doors, tall and elegant, with the feather boa of a good bouncing softly to his shoulders, his brilliant obsidian hair catching the silver of the moon as it glistened and he walked past, a faint smile lingering on his full pink lips.Nikolai did not smile. He never smiled! Not with me anyway. Not anymore.“I'm going to show that whoring bitch how to stay in her lane! I'll kill her today!” I growled through clenched teeth, dashing out from behind the rock where I had been missing and running full speed at the closed cell doors before I felt Anya’s hand snag tightly around my arm, jerking me painfully to a stop.“Snap out of it Olivia! Fucks sake!” Anya hissed harshly in my ear, surprising me when she put me in a strong bear hug that I couldn't wiggle
Raya BanksI hadn't stopped glancing anxiously through the wide carriage windows after we left until my breath caught in my throat when I saw the looming buildings of the castle up ahead and leaned back in my seat, suddenly feeling my pulse jump.“It's okay Raya, I'm here...I won't let anyone hurt you.” Nikolai growled and I felt something warm unravel inside me at the possessive tone of his voice.I nodded, searching his stormy gray eyes once more before looking out the window again at the wet plains of the fields off to the sides.And Olivia? I wanted to ask, but something stopped me and I shook the thought out of my head, resting on his shoulder instead as the giant gate of the castle creaked open and I marveled at the cheers that boomed and erupted.“Holy shit,” I whispered and my cheeks warmed to hear Nikolai laugh beside me. Gosh, I never wanted him to stop laughing! There were rows and rows of ruddy-faced wolves holding large bouquets that they threw like confetti at the carri
NikolaiThe voices, by Jove! The rush of shadows and voices crowded into my head as I wove the moonstone around my neck must have made me mad!I roared, feeling my rage amplify and baring my teeth with bloodlust as I turned my body to see Alpha Toph charging toward me like a bat straight from hell.“You bloody prick! I'm going to annihilate you once and for all!” He bellowed, his lumpy muscled frame flying into the air before I surged forward to meet him halfway, almost stumbling when Raya’s soft whisper carried to my ears.I love you, I love you, I love you. I inhaled sharply, throwing everything I had into the fight as our bodies slammed meatily together before we landed heavily on the floor and I pushed against the bracket of his arms. His disfigured eyes stared at me from behind the barricade with such hate and venom that I threw away all the guilt I had swirling inside me.“Not if I kill you first.” I sneered, jamming my knee into his sides and watching him crumple in on himself
158Raya Banks“Nikolai! Watch out!” I shrieked loudly, feeling my gut wrench with fear as I saw the king get knocked down by Alpha Toph’s hulking frame.“You let a woman be your weakness again Nikolai, it's almost as if you never LEARN! Wasn't Olivia’s betrayal all those years ago enough for you?” Alpha Toph gurgled in a voice that sounded like rushing water and I felt chills wash over me as I tried to struggle to my feet before one of the shadowlings slammed their heavy foot flat on my back, knocking the breath out of me.“No!” I cried out, winded, and stretched a hand to the huge gray wolf that was being mauled ferociously by Alpha Toph’s half-human, half-beast frame. A trap! The beast had set a trap for the king and now he was cut in between. I knew almost immediately what he had planned to do but there was almost no way to warn Alpha Nikolai as he crossed the field to rescue me.Had I been his weakness? How did he find me? It couldn't have been that long since I was kidnapped an
Olivia BurnsIt was the silence that haunted me the most now. The empty hours from dawn to dusk and everything in between, just me and the shadows, and the shadows and me.“You rest up now Miss Burns, His Highness will be back to the Stone Castle in no time.” Meredith’s calming voice rang, making me snap my eyes to her pale oval face that had lifted into an encouraging smile.“Enough, I'm positive ill turn into one of the meadow fishes if you soak my stubs any longer.” I hissed impatiently, feeling my heart squeeze when the woman only smiled, snatching up a dry, white towel from the rack before wrapping my tender feet in it and toweling me off.I sneered at the unhealthy size of the swollen lumps as she massaged them into a reasonable size, and I stirred uneasily in the low plush stool that had been placed in the sunlit room.The King had ordered renovations for me, giant blue ceramic pots with fake gold flowers at the corners of the room that hid the shadowlings from my sight. The bi
NIKOLAIShe was RIGHT THERE, a few feet from me before he snatched her right out of the air. So close, and yet, so far away.“It doesn't have to be this way Tophas, my mate has no business in our rivalry, let her go.” I deadpanned, hearing the din of my voice as it caught in the wind whipping about us before my brother’s uneven face jerked into an excited smile.I could hear the thud of my heart beating and was aware how fast my breaths rushed out from my chest and yet, I could do nothing but stand and wait. No sudden movements.“But you lie, brother, Raya Banks is my mate too don't you reckon?” Tophas growled, slamming one thick paw that looked like the fingers had been snapped all the way back against Raya’s full cleavage.“Please!” Raya’s desperate wheezes twisted at my heart as I held out a hand, stopping Gallagher’s copper-colored wolf from morphing out and tearing forward. I could sense his agitation, because it was double in my gut, watching the woman I loved so much desperatel
Raya BanksI couldn't stop the shudders from running through my body before the sound of wolves laughing heartily in the distance reached my ears.“Oh God, oh God, help me,” I panted, squeezing my eyes shut and clamping my lips firmly to keep from whimpering when what felt like a tongue licked at the underside of my ass from the stone.The damned thing was alive! Like the stack of bodies in the corner of the room! Wolf zombies, immobile now, no doubt until the dark shadow king Gobar wanted to command them!“A feast! We shall have a feast!” Alpha Toph’s voice boomed in the distance and my body automatically stiffened, still as a rock.It had been some time since he left and the hearty yellow beam I could see beyond the cave opening flaps if I angled my head right had now turned a smokey gray. Dusk. I had to get out of here fast, I couldn't hope on the King any longer, he may as well have moved on with his betrothed and heir and here I was slaving away, holding out hope and waiting for
Alpha TophMy tongue pressed against the uneven ridges of my teeth as I fiddled with the lock of the shadow king’s secret compartment.I had caught a glimpse of the mammoth beast leaving the small shed, the spot on his neck where the blood moonstone hung bare. I knew then that Gobar had to have been hiding it here. He never wore it to hunt.“Come on!” I gritted through clenched teeth, feeling my eyeballs sting as the sweat rolled down from the cliff of my forehead.Everything had begun to feel weird, it was hard enough to feed without tasting the worms from the inside of my mouth in the blood.If I could just get my hands on the dark moonstone I could stop the transformation and have SOME chance of killing the shadow king.Yes! I had to kill him, there was no way in seven hells I would have gone through all the pains to settle for being his eternal stooge!The numbers I tried to spin on the lock didn't make any sense and it was beginning to get dark. I glanced around quickly, catchin
Meredith The Maid“MEREDITH!” My name, I answer it with pride when my mistress calls, but she does not call today. “MEREDIFFTH!” My name, whenever the mistress was in one of her moods and couldn't stand to get the words out nice and proper, her shrill tone seemed to shake me to my very core.She was in one of her moods again as I led her away from the King’s horses, holding the blubbering countess by the hand and helping her climb the stairs until we were behind the safe walls of the familiar quarters.“What time is it Meredith? I haven't had my afternoon tea and all that screaming has made me rather, famished!” Miss Olivia exclaimed and I caught my tongue between my teeth before I could tell her she had taken her lunch already. Thrice.“Of course, I'll send for it M’lady,” I cooed softly, lowering her onto the plush cushion of the high bed and propping her feet too before smothering her with the rich red duvets that had been layered on the foam.“My Merd, what would I do without y
NIKOLAITime seemed to stand still as I swung the silver sword in a neat arc, striking the stretched meat of my best friend’s neck and feeling the sword spasm in my death grip before cutting cleanly through the bone and clanging up to my shoulders against the hard rock of the dias.My heart pounded wildly in my chest as the brightly colored room blurred in my vision for a moment before I caught the lapse and blinked everything back into focus.The silence was so loud that my ears rang from the nothingness, not a breath, not a word, nothing but quiet. I watched Igor’s blood-spattered head roll quietly down each stone staircase until it toppled in a neat circle and stopped on the floor.I was breathing fast, and heavily, with my fingers shaking on the hilt of the executioner sword I still held tightly in my hand and yet I couldn't manage to shake it off.It was like a part of me had died the moment I held the blade. My fault! It was all my fault. I had let my best man turn into a trait