Jaselyn's POV“Jaselyn!” It was Zane's voice. He held my shoulders, bringing my body to rest against his.“Did anyone see the face of the person who left just now?” Zane asked in a loud voice but everyone kept quiet.“You really are a sorry excuse for an Alpha. Someone was able to infiltrate your palace and carry out a murder, I'm surprised you can still raise your head.I'm surely taking my daughter out of here, it's clearly not safe. Someone as weak as you can clearly never amount to anything…..” Alpha Ezra commented.“Will you shut your mouth or should I do it for you? Can't you see what's going on?” Rion shot at him angrily, his eyes red. He was emitting such a malicious and overpowering aura that it even made me flinch.“You should be careful, Beta. You'd better know your place or risk losing that insolent tongue of yours.” Alpha Ezra warned.“Enough of this. This isn't the time for this. You speak about respect but can't show it to others. If you can't contribute, it's better y
Jaselyn's POVI stood up to my feet and took a deep breath.“That was intense. Are you OK?” Nila questioned and I nodded.“Hm.”“You really went all out, you were so overwhelmed by anger that I couldn't even reach you. If Hadrian hadn't shown up when he did, you really were prepared to kill Isla, weren't you?” Nila asked rhetorically but I answered anyway.“Yes and I don't regret my decision. She deserves it, she crossed the line this time. She tried to kill Ziarre.” I spoke defensively and for a moment, I couldn't tell if I was trying to convince her or myself.“But we don't know that, do we? She might be innocent and even if she's guilty, do you think it's our place to punish her? I'm not trying to act like a saint. Isla is a truly horrible person and she deserves to be punished but think about it, would you be able to live with yourself if you took her life?” Nila asked and I winced, knowing she was right.“What am I supposed to do then? Just let her continue to ruin my life? She w
Jaselyn's POV“What are you saying, brat? Ziarre has no siblings. You'd better not lie to us because that won't save you.” Rion gritted, dragging him up by the collar once more.“Rion please, let him speak.” I pleaded and he finally relented, letting go of the boy.I walked up to him. “Was any of what you just said to us true?” I asked and he glared at me.“Why would I lie when I'm still gonna be punished anyway. I was caught and that's on me. I might as well tell you the reason for my actions.” He said but paused as a heavy cough racked through his body.I had one of the maids go get some water and he took a big gulp before catching his breath. I'm not being kind for the sake of it, I just need to know why anyone would want to kill someone like Ziarre.“Go ahead, speak up now before I lose my last bit of patience left.” Rion threatened with a menacing expression.“It makes sense that you're just as murderous as her. The two of you are truly meant for each other.” The boy snarked but
Jaselyn's POV15 minutes later, Rion walked out of the room with an expression I couldn't quite read. His lips remained in a tight line but he didn't seem sad or angry, his eyes didn't convey happiness or relief either. It was more……confusion, like he was trying to process something.I approached him. “How is she doing?” “You should go see for yourself. She's waiting for you.” He answered monotonously before going to take a seat.I sucked in a breath before walking into the room and closing the door behind me. My eyes watered when I saw her condition.She was hooked up to a ventilator and had several IVs attached.The sound of the vital signs monitor beeping was the only other thing I could hear aside from the crazy beating of my heart.I didn't know if I could take another step towards her without breaking into tears. Her eyes slowly opened but were heavy and remained droopy. She looked pale, parts of her neck almost bluish.“Jas….elyn….” Her voice was hoarse and sounded muffled ove
Rion's POVI went into her room, my heart beating with trepidation. When I saw her condition, I rushed over to her side quickly and she gave me one of those reassuring smiles but it came out looking so sad.“Ziarre.” I took her hand in mine and kissed it, wanting to be close to her, desiring to comfort her. There was only so much I could, sending a gentle nudge, like a warm caress through our bond. She seemed to appreciate it as she sighed in satisfaction.“You don't have to worry, all of this will be over soon. You'll recover and we'll spend time together. I'll take time off work as much as possible and I'll stay by your side. All you have to do is stay strong for me now and get better as soon as possible.” I proposed and I felt her hand that was in my grasp move weakly so I loosened my hold.She entwined our fingers instead.“I'm sorry….. for being so stubborn at times. You remember when we had to make that difficult decision and we lost our baby? I was so heartbroken but you remai
Rion's POV I wanted to open my mouth and scold her, yell at her to stop spouting nonsense but I had suddenly lost all my willpower. The fight was gone and I was completely drained.The last of my strength I used to grab a chair and sit beside her bed, leaning down and resting my head gently on her shoulder while she brought her hand to my hair, threading her fingers through the dark strands, gently massaging my scalp.“Ziarre……” I whispered, breathing in her scent like I was starved of it, wanting to take all of her and lock her away safely in my heart, where no one could hurt her ever again.“Just stay with me like this, please.” Her voice was so low I could barely hear it.I closed my eyes, letting myself bask in her warmth, listening to the rapid pounding of her heart against her ribcage, almost like it was doing overtime. Part of my brain understood what was going on but I chose to be delusional, if only to protect this precious moment and keep it as perfect as possible.I couldn
Rion's POVAll my feelings of grief and loss, the emptiness; it all condensed into something more feral, malicious. Anger. Hatred.Everything was going perfectly between Ziarre and I. We loved each other and we were happy together. We were going to live a long, fulfilling life together but that monster suddenly showed up and stole Ziarre away from me. He cut her life short just in the blink of an eye and all for his stupid ignorance and twisted sense of justice.It all felt cruel, wickedly so. I don't care how he's related to Ziarre, he killed her and I'm going to make him pay dearly for that. He didn't consider her family so why should I? I'm going to take my time destroying him piece by piece so horrifically that death will seem like the easy way out.This is a promise I'm making to my lost love. I might have failed to be with her during her last moments but I won't fail to get justice for her.I stand up abruptly and wipe my tears, storming down the hallway, the dungeon my only des
Rion's POV Today, he will know true pain.“So the coward finally returns. You look like a wreck, did that bitch finally die? I hope she did or else I'll have to find a way out of here and finish the job.” He jeers and that only adds insult to injury.The more he mocks Ziarre's death, the less guilt I'll feel for what I'm about to do because he deserves it all.I walk over to him unhurriedly, taking calculated steps that only seem to escalate his nervousness. His mask is beginning to crack little by little. This foolish child is only pretending to be brave. He knows danger when he sees it and I must certainly reek of it.“Do you really think bringing me here will do anything? That any of this will affect me?” His laugh is strained, forced.I finally stop next to him, towering over him while he winces softly.“Take off the handcuffs and leave us.” I command the guard and he does as he's told, leaving only I, Nolan and the brat in the room.“Nolan, if you're going to stay you'd better n