Share

Chapter 43

Author: Aurora Archer
last update Last Updated: 2023-12-05 00:00:45
I got the clear from Ezra. I ensured at least one of the ranked members saw me before bed, but even with Luna Natalie’s impassive nod when I told her I was off to my room, her eyes were vacant.

I thought about that as I slipped out, how she was excited about the trials but seemed to either forget that her own blood was to fight to the potential death or maybe she was ignorant to the fact of how sadistic her own sons were.

You were the one that ended him - Aksala reminded me - Beautifully, I might add.

I smiled, I did, but death was expected in the trials, or so I was told. I was just helping the fanfare.

Sure, sure - Aksala barked a laugh.

With each step away from the packhouse, I actually felt lighter. The nerves I carried with me all day, the ones that hardened when I thought of this meeting, were dissipating. I was sure Aksala had something to do with that. The fact that I wasn’t alone anymore was a huge burden lifted.

I walked the path more confidently than I felt, checking a f
Locked Chapter
Continue to read this book on the APP
Comments (3)
goodnovel comment avatar
KKLeonard13
When are we getting an update? It’s been forever
goodnovel comment avatar
Wendolyn Magarino
Yes, I was quite confused as well. This has been a recurring issue for me with this book, not sure if it's an editing issue. The dialog and the mystery that sometimes feels unnecessary. I felt like this for a couple of chapters on The Gamma's Dark Witch but it's much better now.
goodnovel comment avatar
Magda Mitton
What a confusing chapter
VIEW ALL COMMENTS

Related chapters

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 44

    After Ezra left the library last night, I tried to push the thoughts of us away and focus. He left all the details I needed in our book, and I scribbled the outcome of my own meeting. My heart was thudding the entire time, and I was unsure if it was because of Ezra or how close I was; we were of taking a public stand against Black River. After a quiet breakfast, Tia almost knocked me over in the hallway, handing me a note. I was expecting it to be from Sam, but it was in Ezra’s neat handwriting. How did he know about Tia? Did I tell him? But I kept forgetting that he was a hired assassin; his job was to know things.Our Place That was all it said, and I nodded at Tia gratefully. She was bouncing up and down, and her eyes sparkled. She nodded back vigorously and almost skipped away.I walked into the library and up next to him. He nodded slowly in acknowledgment before looking back vacantly into the fire. He was tenser than normal, and I knew I was too.“No talk of his death?” Ezra a

    Last Updated : 2023-12-15
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 45

    He tensed only for a second, but I heard the sharp inhale of his breath and smiled. “Where did you get that?” he crooned and wrapped a hand around my wrist that held the dagger. I let him think that he could stop me with only that. “Do you want to play?” His face was closer to mine.I twisted the dagger a small bit. “That’s why I’m here.” My smile widened. “Wait..” His grip loosened, and the blindfold was ripped off. The now evening light seemed almost blinding compared to the pitch black. I blinked as my eyes quickly adjusted, and I made out his startled expression, which quickly turned into a wicked smile. “Simone.” He looked me over in disbelief as I ripped off the scarf covering my hair, whipping some strands loose from my braid. “This is a nice surprise,” he said but seemed utterly puzzled.“I was hoping it would be you,” I purred. “How far away is Nolan?” I asked.“Even if he were close, he couldn’t save you. Not from me.” He tilted his head, studying his prey. “Neither will t

    Last Updated : 2023-12-16
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 46

    I froze, but Nolan did too. I didn’t know how much he saw, but me standing over his very dead brother in an entirely blood-stained white dress probably didn’t look so good. I opened my mouth, trying to un-freeze, but Nolan moved first. He bolted, shifting almost mid-air, which shocked me more than anything. I willed my feet to move, and they finally did. I started to stumble after him, my mind racing with all the negative possibilities, and my body fought to keep up.Can we catch him? - I asked AksalaWe’ve only shifted once - she explained gently, too gently.That would take time, and by now, he would already be almost back in the eyesight of the crowd if he wasn’t already.I could have maybe thrown the dagger; I could have tried to shift earlier, but that was no use now. I knew in the back of my mind that I made a huge mistake. I wasn’t listening hard enough, wholly focused on my own fight. You always had to be aware of the greater battle around you. There rarely was only one oppon

    Last Updated : 2023-12-22
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 47

    I jumped awake to something touching my cheek, brushing what felt like my hair away. I swatted it off. It took me too long a moment to realize it was Ezra, and I was still sitting on the floor. Opened my eyes, but they felt heavy. Too heavy. It took me another long minute to groggily pull myself to stand. I stretched against my sore muscles for something to do, stifling a yawn. Sleeping sitting up on the floor was a bad idea. I needed to stay limber. But I knew I would have gotten no sleep without Ezra’s warm, steady presence. “Hi,” I grumbled.“Hi,” he said. I forced my eyes open to see him still sitting motionless on the long windowsill. “You look well rested,” I noted and couldn’t hide my disdain. He was perfect; he always was. I envied him; he was what I wished I could be. Half of his lips quirked up. “I rarely sleep deeply. I can get some sleep while still keeping watch,” he admitted.“Warlock,” I muttered, and my sleepy smile echoed his as I made myself go to the bathroom.

    Last Updated : 2023-12-23
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 48

    I wanted to talk to Ezra and send a note to Sam, but Alice intercepted me on the steps, insisting that I get ready for the funeral. I hadn’t really seen her outside my room before, and that shocked me. She wasn’t ever in the kitchen, but I knew there were other tasks. I hadn’t thought of that before that before, and I should have been.Where was she when she wasn’t with me? “The funeral?” I asked Alice as she brushed my hair. Again. She dropped my hair and met my eye. I didn’t look away. Not now. “Yes?” she asked. “What about it? Are you okay to go?” She eyed me as if death might tear me at the seams.“What do you know about it?” I asked. I couldn’t be caught blindsighted.She looked over her shoulder as if anyone else could possibly be in the room. Well, Ezra could. That thought filled me with a jolt of joy even though I knew he wasn’t. I didn’t sense him. “Two of them,” she whispered, her eyes wide, and I made mine match hers. “Why didn’t they say?” I asked, a hand over my chest.

    Last Updated : 2024-01-01
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 49

    Nolan’s eyes widened, and he looked away from me. “I don’t know,” he admitted. I took a deep breath through my nose. Something inside me crumpled, and I lost some of the anger.“I understand,” I murmured, “the good and the bad are muddled.” That was one overly simplified way to put it.I felt him glance at me, but I was looking ahead. “Yeah. They are,” he agreed.But who were we to discern when the bad outweighed the good? We all had different ideals.But that was why I was here. To enact justice. Part of me felt that was cheap, a huge part of me that wanted another reason, but I knew deep down I didn’t need one. I knew my reason. It was vengeance, and I clung to it.It was tight and fiery and lit me up from the inside. It tasted of justice, and I knew it would feel like it, too. My fingers tingled at the possibility, at the very idea of more vengeance. I clutched them into a fist and tried to hide my smile.I tried to focus and pull a response from my mind. An honest response. “I

    Last Updated : 2024-01-05
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 50

    Neither Nolan nor I didn’t say anything until he was gone, once he seemed to turn toward Alpha Raymond's office in the older wing. Nolan’s eyes were still wide, but they were focused on me. “What?” he breathed.“Did you not feel that?” I asked. He shook his head slowly, but his brows tugged together over pursed lips. “I mean, it felt a bit off, I guess, but…”But nothing like the suffocating skin-crawling power I felt. “I’ve seen that man before, but he didn’t have those tattoos,” he added.“Those weren’t tattoos.” I shook my head, but I didn’t have an explanation for them. “He’s probably just here to pay his condolences, and he will be gone,” Nolan explained. Again, it struck me that he was the one trying to comfort me after his brother's funerals, that were my doing.We stayed staring at each other for a minute before I brushed back through the curtain, now seeming a bit foolish for my insane reaction. Nolan must think I was actually insane. But I still hoped he feared me for it

    Last Updated : 2024-01-13
  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 51

    My breath felt like it was knocked out of me. Logically, I knew what he was capable of. To conspire with Alpha Raymond for the demise of my entire pack. His entire pack. The pack he swore to protect above all else.He was capable of orchestrating the slaughter of those closest to him, no matter how big a part he played. Any part he played was too much. But somehow, hearing that he wanted me dead still shook me. To my very essence, the part that still unwillingly held on to my past.I slipped back into who I used to be before this all for a blissful and haunting moment. The child in me that knew him as my uncle, my confidant, my family, knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm me. He would protect me at all costs.Protection, protected. Something so foreign it made me crumble. My labored breathing and heaving chest brought me back. I wasn’t a child; I wasn’t protected. I realized that the blanket of shock I had been holding since I found out was still weighing on me, however lightly.

    Last Updated : 2024-01-16

Latest chapter

  • The Alpha Assassin   Epilogue

    Nova and I unsealed the documents we found in the makeshift wall between our sacred areas. We uncovered what we expected, and a lot more—a whole lot more. It was the werecats history, written and drawn. Their history was passed through stories, word of mouth around campfires of temporary homes. Now, they had their homes restored and their true history remembered. “I feel as if so many have lived to come back here; it is a heavy burden to carry. That it is me who has led them back. Especially after so many have passed living an in-between life.” Nova’s lips pressed together, her golden eyes glassy. “I feel almost guilty, no, not guilt.” She pursed her lips. “Sad, mournful, I think.”“About?” “The fact we never settled elsewhere. I mean, we tried, but it felt wrong, something about being in one place for too long; it physically started to make my skin crawl, as if something was begging me, us, to move.” She looked to the ceiling and our lands above. “Here…this is the first time I hav

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 85

    Ezra helped me meld the scattered pieces of myself. He gave me some new ones from himself that he would never ask back, and I forged some from who we were together.I had the hardest trouble sorting the pieces of what I used to be, what I was now, and what I could have been. I spent so much time trying to mold a persona, so much time perfecting it; when it was gone, it was both freeing and terrifying.Because I did not expect to have to learn who I was underneath it, the raw, confused, jumbled bits that were left of me.And I could not mesh them together.Was there a part of me that wanted to k.ill? It was an instinct now to start plotting the deaths of all the Alphas who said no to me during the challenge. I couldn’t understand if that was an instinct part of me or something I learned, that I created, or maybe someone else created in me.It was a jarring and difficult thing to try to piece yourself together from fragments, and I would only wish it on my enemies. Because it left me

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 84

    Nova and I were working on rebuilding both of our respective packs. Which ended up being a lot of paperwork. So much paperwork. She was fine keeping this packhouse standing, and us to use it temporarily as she had no personal interest in it.As the days went on I could sense her anxiety.“It is time,” she stated, standing in the Alpha’s office across from me, her disdain and agitation from being here was palpable. “I cannot wait any longer.”I nodded. She glanced at Ezra sitting next to me who only replied, “I will be here if you need.” He nodded at us both.I followed Nova out of the packhouse, through the back lawn. Barely into the treeline stood a semi-cirlce of werecats.They eyed me, most with wariness, some with curiosity, and a few with possible gratefulness. Nova told me to expect as much, they did not know me or understand why I was standing at her side, the first wolf, well, the first wolf they knew of entering their sacred land before them. I knew they appreciated me restor

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 83

    That attraction, that pull, snapped together and became a tangible thing tying us together—binding and unyielding.I looked down as if I could see it, and Ezra did the same. He reached for my hand, and sparks jolted through me. His scent was consuming, powerful, a drug. I blinked at him, the sensations overwhelming. “Mates?” I asked both him and Aksala.Did you know? - I asked only my wolf.No - she responded - I felt connected to his wolf, I felt as if I could trust them, I knew I could immediately. But I did not know they were our mates. Ezra held a hand up, and I placed my palm against his. Those sparks and tingles danced around them and through me. “You are my undoing, Simone," Ezra Rumbled, his mismatched eyes looking at our hands. "Tied forever together.”Forever suddenly felt like not long enough.He pulled me against his warm chest and encircled me in his arms. I hovered between sleep and wake in a state made of pure buttery golden contentedness, a state I wish I could stay

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 82

    His hand came to the nape of neck, fisting my hair as he pulled me to him. I gasped into his mouth, our lips tangled with each other as I was led to the bed, until I fell back onto it. He did not remove his lips from mine as his hands untucked my shirt and roamed up my body. There was a rip and a rush of air against my heated skin, alerting me that I was bare under him, my shirt and bra torn. That thought was ripped away as his palm caressed my breasts, his callused thumb running over my nipples.He groaned into my mouth and settled himself between my legs; heat radiated through both our pants.“Is this okay?” he asked, his breath short.“I am yours,” I told him. “Touch me,” I demanded.And he did. His touches were claiming yet soft, searching yet hungry. There was a carnal need wrapped in innate affection. I was addicted to it. I thrust my hips against him, grinding against his hardness as warmth and desire pooled between my legs. His lips were ripped from mine. My mouth opened in

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 81

    Nolan stood on the other side of the door looking apologetic. “The remaining Alpha and Lunas are set to take off soon,” he told me. “Thank you, give me a minute?” I asked and he nodded rubbing the back of his neck. “Nolan,” I explained to Ezra, who was propped on an arm his muscles tense. “I need to get ready the others are leaving.”Ezra nodded and followed me in. We took a bit longer than I originally planned. He joined me in the shower and although we did not touch each other with our fingers, we took turns helping each other bathe. It felt strange at first, in a way that was unfamiliar but not unwelcome. Then, it turned into something more accepting. BLAH BLAHNolan was still waiting in the hallway when we returned and we followed him us all in a tense sort of way. He felt very… formal. Professional - Aksala added.That - I agreed.When we got nearer to the front Nolan whispered back at us, “I told them you would see them off, there were a lot of questions. Some wanted to stay

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 80

    I awoke to a sky that was turning to dusk. I felt depleted, but in a way that I could live with. My muscles ached, and I could not cry anymore if I tried. Putting them to rest was heartwrenching but incredibly healing, more than I could have thought. It was an honor I did not know I would get to bestow on them. After they were buried, a few words were exchanged between us all; it was a harrowing experience even for those who did not know them personally. A few other Alpha and Lunas had shown, probably to satiate their curiosity. Some stayed, but I did not know who. I could not fault those who could not stomach or accept what they saw.I had no words to express my gratitude to those who stayed, and I was too tired to try. I would always be indebted to them, and one day I would start to repay that. Ezra pulled me against him and I settled against his chest, burying my face into it. It was so strange being able to spend time with him and not hiding; it did not feel real. I wondered if i

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 79

    When we emerged, I was expecting it to be deep in the night. I was surprised to find it was still afternoon, I felt as if we were there for days. I didn’t know if it were me or if the lands truly seemed brighter, more vivid as if their life was slowly being restored to them. Nova insisted we return after we found some of her lost history, saying it was enough to know that something was waiting for her pack, her own hope reignited. I did have a few things to deal with, things that were, for once, easy to forget. When we returned to my packhouse, Ezra locked eyes with me, standing over his brothers. He made his way to me, searching my eyes and body before he relaxed. “We have not buried anyone, just started to lay them together, to prepare them. I hope that is okay.” I nodded, tears filling my eyes as I saw the bones beyond, together as one pack, honored instead of left as they died, strewn about and ignored as if they were part of the furniture. “They have not gone. They refuse to

  • The Alpha Assassin   Chapter 78

    I felt entirely spent but renewed. As the powers drained from me, the heaviness lifted, and now, as I lay there depleted, the rush of magic settled around the place, warming me from within. I lay down on the cool stone and let it wash over me.It was a sense of calm I could not ever remember feeling.After a while Nova spoke, “It was said our lands were connected between the pools.” She was speaking to me as much as she was speaking life into the caverns. I glanced at her to see she was lying near me, staring at the ceiling where the muted blue lights danced across, making waves in their wake.I looked around the space—my eyes snagged on a bit of mortar that seemed different, a cracked brick, a stone slightly off in color—but nothing stood out to indicate that this place ever connected elsewhere. But there was magic I had seen today I had never thought true, so I wouldn’t debase what she said off logic alone. I looked back up,“I-I—” she choked, seeming to shed something herself. I

DMCA.com Protection Status