MalachiThe window in front of me reflects nothing but emptiness, a void that mirrors the hollow feeling inside my chest. Behind me, Cassian and Rune are arguing again. Their voices, once filled with love and strength, now clash with bitterness and desperation. I wish I could say something, add my voice to theirs, but nothing wants to come out.I’m stuck in this silent torment, trapped by the guilt that claws at my insides. Reyna’s face haunts my every waking moment, her eyes filled with pain, her body broken. It’s my fault. I should have protected her. I should have been there.The world outside the window is a blur, the colours muted, the sounds distant. I feel disconnected from everything, adrift in a sea of regret and self-loathing. The memories of Reyna’s touch, her laugh, her warmth, all seem like echoes from a past life, a world that no longer exists.[“Malachi, say something!”] Rune calls over the mind link, his voice breaking through my fog.I turn to look at him, my eyes va
ReynaThe world came back to me in fragments, disjointed and hazy. Pain radiated from my chest, a sharp agony that pulsed with every heartbeat. The smell of herbs and the soft rustle of fabric reached my senses, and voices – familiar yet distant – called out to me.Then I remembered the being behind me, and screamed, only to wake up in a warm bed, surrounded by my mates. I don’t know how I got back here, or what happened. But now I’m sitting up in bed, alive, and holding the people who mean the world to me after thinking I had killed them. This shouldn’t be happening, I know people die after being shot in the heart especially with an arrow dipped in wolfsbane and silver. But that can wait for later, right now I am just appreciating getting to hold them, inhaling their scents and feeling their soft skin in my hands.Well, all but Malachi; he’s standing at the window and staring at me with wide eyesCassian’s face is pale, guilt written across his features. He looks away, unable to mee
ReynaI’ve been staring out of the window for the last few hours, mulling everything over in my mind. My life started to change drastically after I met the Alphas, and they sighted me as their mate. I started having those dreams right after as well, and I was attacked a few hours after meeting them.Who could have known about this before it even happened? Who knew about a prophecy placed on me and what I supposedly caused and will still cause? The only one I can think this leads to is my mother; could she be the one after me? No, that makes no sense. If she knew what I supposedly was, she would have killed me at birth and not…wait, was I left on the castle steps or did my father take me from her? I can’t remember. Everything feels hazy for some reason.“Your thoughts are loud, beautiful,” Malachi says as he sits down next to me. He takes my hand in his and kisses it. “Worrying over this won’t help much for now, so try not to think about it, okay?”I lean my head against his shoulder
ReynaWe touched down on Queen Court’s island a few hours ago and now I am sitting in a guest bedroom waiting for Leana. She’s in the shower currently, still in a daze after we saved her, and Rune is going to give her a check up after she’s settled in.Cassian and Malachi are sure that they didn't hear any heartbeats or feel any signs of life out there. So how is Leana still alive? Or rather, WHY is Leana still alive?The bathroom door opens and Leana walks out, her eyes downcast. Her damp red curls cascade over her shoulders, and when she looks up, it’s almost like I can feel my father’s gaze on me. Both her and Abby’s eye colour were always eerily similar to our father.“Feeling better?” I ask her with what I hope is a comforting smile on my face. She wraps her arms around herself and nods. “I am, thank you,” she says with a hoarse voice, returning my smile with an awkward one of her own as she walks toward the bed. I notice now that she’s washed the ash and soot away that there’s
Malachi“Oh, fuck,” I moan, the scents around my sending me on a high.A shiver shoots up Reyna’s spine as Rune tongue fucks her, and his groans send me on a different high while I slowly thrust inside of him. She’s sitting on his face, grinding her pussy into his mouth and barely containing her moans even with Cassian’s cock in her mouth.Three-way pleasure with the people who mean the fucking world to me, and yet my thoughts aren’t here at all.I watch Cassian pick up his pace, gripping her hair and fucking her mouth while getting ready to shoot his load down her throat. The staining of her lips, the sounds when she chokes coupled with the way Rune is gripping my cock makes me pick up my pace and I allow myself to get lost in what all three of them are making me feel.So I push the danger signs away and stifle the alarm sirens going off in my head.After we've all reached our limit, I wait until Reyna has fallen asleep before stepping out of the bedroom and onto the terrace outside.
ReynaThree pairs of blue eyes regard me warily, and I have to take a deep breath in order to control my emotions. But of course… it doesn’t work.“In what world did any of you think this would be a good idea?!” I exclaim, placing one hand on my hip. “Contacting one of the Elemental Alphas? The very people who destroyed my old kingdom!”From the looks on their faces, I can tell they expected this reprimand from me and honestly, it just pisses me off more.Malachi steps forward with an outstretched hand. “I know how it seems, Reyna, but you need to understand that this was the only way—”“How was it the only way?!” I exclaim as I slowly feel the anger rising. “To go to them after what they’ve done? To allow yourselves to willingly walk into a trap?!”“That’s just it!” Malachi says, slightly raising his voice and causing me to step back. “We have to go to them instead of waiting for them to come to us again. Last time we lost you, Reyna; last time you died!”My heart drops when Malachi
CassianThe island is as unsettling as the rumours foretell—icy winds sweep through, a stark contrast to the unusually calm waters that surround it. There’s a haunting quality to this place, an ethereal beauty that leaves one feeling both awed and unwelcome. As Malachi and I disembark from the jet, I can’t help but glance back toward the direction from which we came. My thoughts are on Reyna, our mate, whose eyes held a sea of concerns as we left.“Are you ready?” Malachi asks, his eyes surveying the island, bathed in a silver glow from the overcast sky.“Does it matter? We’ve come too far to turn back now,” I reply, but internally, I admit—I’m uneasy.As much as I wanted to assure Reyna that everything would be fine, all three of us hated having to do this. We do not fucking trust this man, and yet here we are.We begin to walk, and as if summoned, a path of ice forms ahead, leading us deeper into the island. We’re soon enveloped by frost-encrusted trees and a silence so profound it
ReynaThe atmosphere in the living room is a mixed bag of emotions. Rune sits beside me on the plush sofa, a supportive hand resting on my knee, while Leana occupies the armchair across from us. Her eyes are brimming with disbelief as Rune extends the offer.“You’re welcome to stay in my kingdom, Leana, until you're back on your feet,” Rune says, smiling at her and my heart warms.She shakes her head and scoffs incredulously. “Are you sure? But… you don’t even know me that well!”Rune chuckles. “You’re Reyna’s only family left, that means more to us,” he says. “And from what Reyna has told me, you’ve never spoken a bad word to her, nor did you participate in the abuse.”“But I was complacent…” she says and looks down at her hands folded in her lap, sighing. “I can’t thank you enough, Alpha Rune and you, Reyna.”The look in her eyes is one of pure relief, but something niggles at the back of my mind, an unsettled feeling I can’t shake off. Maybe it’s the weight of Cassian and Malachi’