Zeke’s words caused me to freeze as I stared at him. “What? Pathetic?”"You’re just making excuses because you’re scared to choose me." Zeke’s eyes were filled with pity as he looked at me as if I was a weak, wounded animal."He begged for your love, and you think that means he loved you? No, Celine. He begged because he hated the idea of losing. That’s all you’ve ever been to him. A prize he didn’t want anyone else to have." He took my hand in his. “Let me love you so I can show you what love truly is. Let me, Celine. Does it have to be Kaiden?”I stared at him through tears as he asked me the question I had asked myself every night since I found out I had feelings for Zeke.Why not him? Why not Zeke, who made me believe I could be stronger? Why not Zeke, who protected me? Why not Zeke, who made me reach my full potential?Why not Zeke, who wanted to be with me and who had a space in my heart?I opened my mouth, but no words came. My heart clenched as I looked at him. His eyes were p
KaidenI stared at the invitation in my hand. The quadrennial Alpha Hunting Competition, an event that was held every four years, one I had never attended, was starting today, and I was meant to participate, having never gone before. My brother went when he was Alpha, but ever since he died, it did not feel right to take his place.But I had to; I was King, and it was part of it. And to quote Damon, “quit being such an emo, and step out the palace for once.”Ever since we caught Sheila and Neil said the things he had said to me, it was hard to forgive myself for all the destruction to my life, that was all my fault. But I was done sulking. The divorce with Sheila was finalized, and the kingdom accepted the apology I gave tem. The pack was being rebuilt again and the first time in five years, things felt good again in the kingdom.Celine would want me to live again. And this competition seemed like the best way to do so.It sure would be fun to kick the ass of other kings and Alphas,
CelineZeke did not come to see me off. It did not matter because I knew he was going to be listening so he could know when I am in danger.A part of me wished we did not have to leave things the way they were, but Deep down, I knew I was making the right decision. He would always have a space in my heart, but he could not take Kaiden’s space.“Please be careful, Celine.” Father hugged me. “ Are you sure about this? That place... It’s not just dangerous, Celine. It’s a nightmare. There’s a reason no one comes back from there.""I don’t care," I said, my voice unwavering. "She’s my mother. If she’s still alive, then I have to go. I won’t abandon her."He let out a sigh. “If you are in danger, don't forget your training. And call out to Zeke. Hee would answer.”“I would,” I said, holding the strap of my bag tight as I turned to Evelyn, Bridgette, and Penny, who carried Arienna in her arms.“My baby girl.” I cooed at my innocent baby who had no idea I was leaving and she was not going
CelineShould I reveal myself to Kaiden?No. What if he still held a grudge against me for Anya’s death? I touched the ring in my pocket. Would a simple ring convince him or change his mind?A sigh left my lips as Tasha and the other maids chatted as the other Alphas arrived.“I want to serve the king. Maybe he would like me to give him a massage or something.” The maid next to Tasha muttered, and my gaze snapped to her. I didn't want to say anything, but jealousy brewed within me. Tasha chuckled. “He seems so strict. We would have to wait till they were done with their meeting before knowing who we were assigned to. I also would love to show him what I can—”I shut her off, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. A meeting. If I could get close enough, I may be able to hear just what they may be talking about, and if there would be a hint to help me with this mission.”The minute all the Alphas stepped into the castle, I knew I had to leave the line of maids to find out more
KaidenThe minute I saw the island, I knew Damon would do anything to be here right now.Luckily for the maids, I did not bring my pig of a beta.The maids were all lined up, and they bowed as I was led into the Castle meeting room. The head maid walked up to me and gave me a bow. “Your highness.” She batted her eyelashes suggestively at me. “Well come.”My gaze schemed over her as the Alphas arrived one by one. I took a seat at the head of the long table, leaning back as the room filled with voices and footsteps. The Alphas greeted each other, exchanging nods and brief handshakes before settling in.Alpha Van sat to my right, his sharp gaze scanning the room. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered. “We all know why we’re here.”Damon had briefed me on every Alpha and what the Alpha Competition was a front for. The competition held, yes, the prisoners were just as important, but not to us. It was a bigger story entirely, our only job being to hold the key.He also told me the brief o
Celine“Ugh, I heard some maid got to be the King’s maid even before the darn list came out! And it’s the hot one, not the other married ones.”The room was in a frenzy as soon as that was said, and I groaned, changing into our evening uniform.The list was out, and almost all the girls hated that they were not assigned to the king and were actively hunting for the girl who was the maid. I hated to admit it, but a part of me was overjoyed that no other maid had been assigned to Kaiden. They were ready to take advantage of the fact that he came without a Luna, and that did not sit well with me.Where was Sheila anyway?And why did Kaiden request I be his maid? Was he suspecting me? Of course he was; he caught me eavesdropping on their important meeting. I just had to make sure I stayed out his way, and found the key before anything. I had to be extra careful with my identity. I could not risk anything coming between me getting my mother back.But how do I handle myself being in the s
CelineThe next morning, i was up and serving Kaiden as soon as possible. The hunting competitin was starting today and it was his first, his brother being the one who used to attend before. I knew this because Anya and i used to be close, before Sheila happened.I knew he might be nervous. He was silent when i entered, and hours after i prepared him for today, so i thought of lifting his spirits with a tea.“Here, your highness,” I said, placing the steaming hot cup of tea on his desk. “This should help you with your tasks for today.”He barely glanced at the cup, focusing on the documents in his hands. “I did not ask for tea.”I almost rolled my eyes, but I stopped myself. “Yes, I just felt it should help. You seem a bit tense, and I thought you might need it.”He turned his attention to the cup, then to me, his eyes searching mine.“Thank you. Seems we have a caring one here.” He said, a ghost of a smile on his lips.I chuckled nervously, sliding my hair out of my face. “No, it's j
CelineThe first competition was The Grand Hunt, the first brutal test of skill and survival.The rules were simple:Hunt down the marked beast before anyone else.Avoid the hidden traps scattered throughout the forest.Outrun, outfight, or outsmart rival competitors trying to take you down.The first to bring the beast’s head to the podium wins.Sounds easy? It’s not. The beast wasn’t just any animal, it was enhanced with magic, making it faster, stronger, and deadlier. The forest itself was enchanted, filled with tricks to throw hunters off course.This wasn’t just about strength. It was about instincts, strategy, and knowing exactly when to attack, or when to hide.Each team of Alphas led by the king were to enter into the forest through three individual entrances, and they were allowed to arm each other, but none of them were allowed to kill.Kaiden stood in front of his Alphas, some changed into wolves, and some in human forms, just like the other kingdoms. Kaiden’s kingdom was
Celine“Did Charles really say all that to you?” “Yes, he did. I have been having a lot of nightmares about him. He's always coming into my dreams telling me I'm his mate and no matter what I do, it would make me his. I only went there to confront him and tell him to stay out of my dreams. But he threatened me, and I didn't know what to do. I walked out of his house in annoyance yesterday,” I explained better to Kaiden, and he hugged me and said, “I'm sorry. I didn't know that that was what really happened. Charles twisted the whole thing and lied to me about you coming to his place. He lied. He twisted the whole thing around and lied. I'm sorry. I should have believed you first. I should have asked you what happened before blaming you.” “It's fine. You don't have to apologize. You only acted on impulse. I know how much I mean to you. That's why you acted that way,” I said to him and calmed him down. Then he released me from the hug and said, “Why did you come here in the first pl
Celine When I got to my room, I couldn't stop thinking about what my mom had revealed to me and what Charles had said. A lot of thoughts kept on flooding my head as I remembered how Charles threatened to reveal what I did. How I awakened him and my mom in the coffin that day if I didn't agree to be his mate. I didn't know what to do. And I hoped my mom would devise a plan to stop him from forcing me to be his mate. I hoped. I hoped that he wouldn't disturb me in my dreams tonight and let me sleep well and rest properly. Because I was seriously tired of him being in my dreams and disrupting my sleep. I couldn't rest well for the past few days because of the nightmares he'd been giving me. I just hoped that me confronting him today would make him stop and give me a break. Maybe just for this night because I was really tired, and my head was filled right now with a lot of thoughts. I sat on the bed and kept on thinking about how to convince him to leave me alone and not force me to be
Rose. I just sat there staring into space, helpless. I couldn't bring myself to tell Celine that I couldn't explain to her how she was the opposite of the Moon Goddess. I could remember back then; it came to me as a flashback. Celine was busy playing right outside our house. And then the Moon Goddess…It was almost close to the celebration of the Moon Goddess. The Moon Goddess did something to show her appearance and that she was happy with the pack members. But then Celine got very angry and did something that she wasn't supposed to do. I quickly ran outside and went to her. “Celine, stop. Don't do that ever again. Nobody can ever know that you can do this. Do you understand me? You can't make everybody find out what you just did today. We have to keep it a secret between you and Mom. Okay?” I said to her. And she immediately got scared. I started thinking, what did this girl choose to do? How could she do that to something that the Moon Goddess did? How could she do something li
Celine. I was more than scared of him right now. Yes, I was really scared, and I didn't know what to do anymore. I just stood there, dumbfounded and short of words. I couldn't say anything, and I was shaking already in fear.Hearing this, I realized that there was nothing I could do about this problem right now. I needed to go home and think about it and maybe talk to my mom if she had finally woken up to look for a plan to stop Charles from claiming me as his mate. I didn't utter a word. He started to walk out of his place, but then he said something that made me stop in my tracks. “You, no matter what you do, Celine, you will still be my mate. And I'll make sure that I make you mine. I'll make you my mate. No matter what happens to me, no matter what plan you devise, I'll still make you my mate, and there's nothing that you're going to do about it,” he yelled back at me, and I didn't even turn to look in his direction as I stormed out of his house in frustration. When I got outs
Celine“What do you want to talk about?” “Why have you been coming into my nightmares? I know you have been doing it on purpose. This is not the first time nor the second that I'm seeing you in my dream, and I want you to stop coming into my dream right from this instant.” He laughed sarcastically and looked at me. I scoffed and wondered why he was laughing, and then he stopped and apologized. “I'm sorry for laughing like that, but you just look so funny.” I looked at him with seriousness showing on my face. But then he burst out laughing again, and I immediately felt irritated by his laugh. Everything about him irritated me. I just hated the way he was laughing right now. I needed him to be serious, and here he was laughing, I thought to myself. Then, after a while, he stopped laughing and kept a straight face. “Okay, what made you think that I'm purposely coming into your dreams? Maybe you are just saying things. Maybe it's because you can not just resist me. That's why you ar
Celine I looked at the set of girls that were standing in front of me angrily. I wondered why they had to poke their nose in other people's business and why they enjoyed bullying other maids. I had done my best to ignore them all. But it seemed inevitable and I didn't have the strength to be dealing with them or even to argue with them. So I walked out of their presence and went straight into my room. As I got into the room, I laid down on the soft bed, frustrated and very tired. I could not get what just happened right at the arena out of my mind. A lot of thoughts kept on running into my head. What if he fought with him and died? What if he gets killed by Charles? I couldn’t bear to see Charles kill Alpha Kaiden. He has done a lot for me, and now that he needed my help, there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t seem to not feel guilty because most of the reason why he was fighting this battle was because of me. Just to save me, just so that Charles wouldn’t take me as his mate. Bu
Kaiden But I had already decided I was going to fight, and I couldn't go back on my decision. Going back would mean I was a weak Alpha, and I definitely was not. I was not ready to back down from this fight. I had to prove to him that he couldn't be the Alpha of this kingdom just because he woke up from the dead and claimed Celine as his mate. No, it was never going to happen. Celine was mine long before he woke up from that long sleep, I would not easily give up Celine and my kingdom just because of some stupid maniac. I thought to myself while one of the council members walked up to me, trying to convince me not to proceed with this fight. But I said no. “I wouldn’t do that for anything. I would fight him and show him who the true Alpha of this kingdom was. I had to prove to him what I was worth and who Celine would choose,” I said to him angrily.The rest of the council members walked up straight to me and Elder Tom said, “Why do you have to push on with this fight? And why do y
KaidenI felt so frustrated as I walked inside my room. Why would he dare to send me a threat letter? Who did he think he was? Just because he came back from the dead didn’t mean he can speak to me any way he wants. I still remained the Alpha of this kingdom, I thought angrily as I threw a vase that was standing on top of my mirror against the wall, shattering it, as I scratched at things inside my room. I was very frustrated and angry. Why did he have to threaten me this way? Did he think I was scared of him? Did he think that I would feel inferior to his threats? No, I wouldn't. I didn’t care about whatever he said or his threats. I didn’t give a damn about it. I was going to do whatever I feel is right. Celine was mine and mine alone. He could not take Cely from me. Celine was not his mate. ‘He was just acting stupid because he came back from the dead,’ I muttered to myself. Just then, I heard a knock at my door. I immediately stood up to open it and found a guard standing there
KaidenI was still in the middle of thinking of what was next for Celine and her mother when a guard had knocked on my door and told me that I had been summoned. Facing the council of kings was the last thing I wanted to do because I still had a lot of thinking and figuring things out to do. My body was tense and my nerves were shot up as I tried to wrap my head around what had happened back in the cave. I dismissed the guard, took a deep breath and turned to Celine who was looking at me with wide eyes. I told her not to leave the room and she should stay with her mother while I figured out the next step we were going to take. The walk to the meeting room was long and I dreaded what was about to go down in there. The room fell silent as the last elder took his seat, their eyes were sharp and filled with expectation. I sat at the head of the table, my breathing uneven and my nerves shot up because I knew exactly what they had called the emergency meeting for. They had felt the tre