LOGINShare
Ready for the Worst
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Alpha King's Breeder Letters Home
*Isaac*Four days earlier…Cassian crouches on the other side of the fire, balancing on his heels. His pen scribbles over the notepad resting on his knee. He pauses, cursing under his breath,and tears the page free before crumpling it and throwing it in the fire. “What the fuck am I even supposed to say?” he says to himself, growling low in his throat as he makes a single mark on the page before sinking into a seated position on the hard ground. Trees choked by moss, their branches long dead, surround us. Behind us, miles of open plains stretch all the way back to Moorn. It took us days to reach this place. Several dozen camps light up the edge of the forest. Wolves pass back and forth in groups of three or four, and small groups of warriors in their human forms gather around fires just like this one, eating, drinking, and resting. Or trying to put words down on paper to send back home. Phones don’t work this far from any settlement. “Just tell her you're alive,” I mumble, scrat
The Alpha King's Breeder Symbolism
*Maddy*I spend the rest of the afternoon and early evening with Ella in her studio. She’s nearly finished with my official portrait, and it’s exquisite, so realistic it could be a photograph.As I pick through my dinner sometime later, I silently wonder if anyone captured any pictures of Isaac and I on our wedding day. I hadn’t even thought about it before now, and my chest tightens with the sudden realization that we might not have anything that shows us together but a silly piece of paper with our signatures on it proving we’ve wed. Dinners at the castle lately have been quiet and tense. Emery and Ben’s children are the only reason any of us haven’t succumbed to total numbness waiting for news from the front lines. Isla is getting especially fidgety lately. She wants to go to Maddox, that’s clear, and I know she eventually will. How would she feel about me going, too? I shake the thought from my mind as I leave the table and excuse myself, feigning a headache, ready to spend the
The Alpha King's Breeder The Locket
*Maddy*I stand on the steps leading to the tower watching Isla as she hovers in the doorway. Past her, I she Ella’s shadow moving through her art studio, the sounds of paint being poured and brushes scraping against the ceramic jars she keeps them in. It’s almost dawn. The sky through the narrow windows is dreary and gray, and the scent of rain is heavy in the air. There will be no sun today. Or additional sleep, apparently, especially for Ella. I slowly ascend the stairs to stand in silence with Isla. Ella stands, her arm flying as she coats a canvas a foot taller than her with black paint. I find it momentarily hard to swallow as the black paint swirls like it has a mind of its own, drawing me in. “Come with me,” Isla whispers. She gently touches my elbow and turns toward the stairs. I glance back at Ella once more before following her. The house is quiet as we walk through the darkened hallways. Isla shows me into her room and closes the door behind us. She switches on the li
The Alpha King's Breeder Blood on the Floor
*Maddy*Cassian is in pieces. That’s the only way I can describe him. His chest is flayed open, the bandages holding him together are soaked through with blood. Isla’s magic isn’t working fast enough. She’s leaning over him, her face stained with fresh tears as she pours a fourth vial of that precious liquid onto his dry and cracked lips. I watch in awe as the slices covering his legs slowly, miraculously, knit themselves together. “Get her out of here,” Trinity says somewhere behind me, where a frantic Hannah is having a panic attack. I feel someone–likely Rosie–come up behind me, her shoulder brushing against my back as she forces Hannah from the room. My heart is lodged in my throat as I count every breath Cassian struggles to take. My eyes slide to the place where his right arm should be, and I force them closed. He’s going to die. I can feel it. But I know he’s in better shape than some of the warriors who have returned, their tarnished bodies having filled the hospital in a
The Alpha King's Breeder It Was Always Me
*Maddy*Wind whispers over us. Little flakes of silver ice bite into my cheeks despite the fact that it’s summer. Nothing here feels right. The long dead grass sways in a vicious breeze, the air so chilled it stings. The sky is pitch black and moonless, like the night came and refused to ease its grip on the world. There’s magic in the air, and not the good kind. The scent of death reaches my nose and causes me to shudder. Ella watches me, her eyes nearly black in the darkness. She pulls the tiniest bag I’ve ever seen out of her pocket, something so small she can hold it in the palm of her hand, and sets it on the ground at her feet. She starts removing her clothes. “Undress, Maddy. We need to get going. We’re not alone out here.”As if in answer, howling reaches us on the wind. I bristle and start unclasping my belt. What will we do with our clothes? Carry them in our mouths? I halt my progress, my shirt pulled up over my belly, as I watch reach down to stuff her boots into the im
The Alpha King's Breeder The Second Beast
*Isaac*Blood drips down from my temple where a gash runs from my forehead to my chin, right over the bridge of my nose. It’s not healing with the usual speed my powers award me. I’m not like my mother. I can’t heal others. But my body rapidly heals itself…. At least, it should have by now. The young warrior, Emmet, one of the six survivors I found after the battle in the plains, crouches beside me while we watch an enemy encampment from a large, jagged rock on the base of the mountains. Both of us are drenched in blood–most of it belonging to others–and sweat, filth, and dirt from the forest. It’s impossible to keep track of time when the whole forest is under a spell of pure darkness, but I’d guess we’d been out here for days now, watching, waiting to strike. Emmet, a boy of fifteen, had snuck out of his home and joined the cause illegally. Too young to shift, some would have thought he’d been helpless during the battle. But when I found him, he’d been wielding his great-grandfa
The Alpha King's Breeder He's Not the One
*Maddox*These Goddess forsaken kids of mine. “He pulled a sword on me, Isla. A sword!” I shrug my leathers over my shoulders and fix my mate with a look that mimics her own–something made of steel and ice cold. “It’s been three days since Ella and Maddy took off after him. I’m going. I’m bringing Cassian with me.”“He had his arm bitten clean off–”“He is just fine,” I say through gritted teeth, knowing the direction this conversation is about to go. Isla, beautiful and convincing as always, has no intentions of hearing me out. She had no intentions of doing so yesterday–when I showed up at the castle expecting to find her and Ella safe and sound. Instead, after two days securing a perimeter around Moorn after the battle on the plains that had wiped out half of our territory’s warriors, and left a third of those remaining severely injured, I found her going toe-to-toe with Trinity. For twenty four years, they’d been friends, best friends, but Isla had murder in her eyes when I fou
The Alpha King's Breeder You're Not Alone, Maddy
*Maddy*“Maddy!” The voice comes again, louder than the first time. I rise to my feet, my legs tingling from lack of use. The fire in the cave shudders out on a phantom wind. I bristle against the sudden chill, my hands trembling as I feel along the cave wall toward the entrance. It’s nearly pitch black. I’ve never been anywhere so dark and empty, especially with no moonlight illuminating the outside world, let alone the cave entrance. I take a moment to feel over my clothes. They’re not mine, and I’m wearing something thin and rough. A man’s shirt, I realize, that brushes just over my knees. My legs prickle from the cold–and the knowledge that someone had to undress and then redress me. I make it to the cave’s entrance and stand, my bare toes curling over cold stone. I glance behind me into the inky darkness and shiver, deciding maybe I’m better off outside than I am trying to maneuver around the cave again with Mystica’s magic fire and her ghostly company. Had I imagined everyth
Latest chapter
The Alpha King's Breeder Ran Right Into It
Misty“Wait, wait.” Georgia smooths her hands through her hair, riling up her curls. She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and says, “Let me get this perfectly straight.”“Okay.” I curl my legs beneath me as I sit across from her in our bed. It’s been a few hours since Declan stupidly left the door jammed, but I haven’t made any moves yet. Instead, I told Georgia everything. I figured if I leave tonight to map the castle and get caught or killed, she’ll live on to at least tell my story.“We’ve been kidnapped by an underground secret society, and they’re responsible for the attack on TU,” she begins, raising a finger. “Nathan not only cheated on you, but is part of the order.” She raises a second finger.“Yep.”She frowns. “You think the order is trying to start a war with your family.”I nod, and sh
The Alpha King's Breeder A Whole Lot of Blood
MistyI follow Cole through his… apartment, I guess. The layout of these suites is remarkably like the Firestone castle in Moonrise where my family has their own apartments within the castle. But this place is practically empty. Dusty and stale. If he has personal objects, they’re not here.I creep behind him, careful to keep at least a few feet of distance between us as he leads me into a bedroom that… smells like him.I hadn’t noticed before–his scent. It’s very clean and brisk. It’s hard to describe. I don’t dwell on it. Instead, I’m looking at his perfectly made bed–so perfect I wonder if he’s ever even slept in it.“Sit down,” he commands… gently, at least.“Why?”“Because you need stitches, and you’re very short. I don’t want to have to bend down the whole time.”“
The Alpha King's Breeder He’s a Richard
MistyThe next morning, I’m summoned by Declan and his cronies. Dressed in my favorite brand of athletic shorts and a tanktop–my school uniform, basically–I walk steadily behind them, in iron chains over my silver manacles, and Declan keeps his distance.I’m hungry and tired but curious about what comes next, especially after last night. Georgia seemed okay this morning–quiet, a little dazed–but that’s expected. I’m sure reality hit her as we ate bland oatmeal together in the warm sunlight streaming through the windows that bathed the dust all over our apartment in gold.I feel chipper and ready to commit murder, however. Which is my plan. I feel like I’ll give Declan a pass, though, at least for now, since I damn near bit his cheek off yesterday. Still, I size up the two men standing at my sides. Gregory, an art history student, like Georgia, has dark skin and short, black hair. He&
The Alpha King's Breeder Getting Him Back
MistyI pace in front of a set of wooden double doors. They’re etched with sweeping designs that’re a near perfect match to the doors littered throughout the castle in Moonrise. This place–this apartment within the castle–it’s beautiful. At least, it was likely very beautiful once. Everything is covered in dust as it stands. The glass vases scattered across nearly every surface probably held bouquets of tropical flowers at one point. Books used to line every shelf. Silk and satin draped over the massive canopy of the four poster bed in the main bedroom, I’m sure, and the bed was covered by silk sheets that smelled like rose oil, freshly cleaned.Now, this apartment is a shell with ancient furniture and cheap, slightly ratty linens covering the beds, chairs, and old couches.But I haven’t really explored, not while my mind races. Where is Georgia? How do I get out and find her? I’ll escape
The Alpha King's Breeder My Defense
ColeShe’s exactly what I hoped she’d be.Beautiful, sure. I knew she’d be beautiful. The soft, ocean blue of her eyes reminds me of the sky in the early mornings, when stars still dance toward the horizon until they’’re chased away by the sun. She’s dainty and graceful. She’s exactly what a princess should be, as long as she doesn’t open her fucking mouth… but she needs to keep talking. She needs to keep pissing off the Umbra Mortis. She’s the perfect distraction.I hate that I need her.I hate that she showed how useful she could be when she unleashed her powers in the library because she’s just as trapped as I am now. But she might be our only hope. My only hope.I sink behind the desk in the sliver of personal space I've managed to carve out for myself in this massive fortress built in the dead center of the desert. We’re hundreds of m
The Alpha King's Breeder Loose Tongue
MistyDrip. Drip. Drip.I open my eyes to darkness, blinking it away. My body aches like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, but I’m alive. I’m alive, and in a dungeon.I rise to my knees, crawling to the bars that separate me from a dingy, damp hallway lit by flickering torches.I hesitate before gripping the bars, but it’s iron, not silver, thank the Goddess. I’m not sure how much more I can take… wait a minute.I lift my wrists to the torchlight. Twin silver bands–wide, and seamless–hug each wrist. They’re no chains between them. Nothing keeping me bound to the wall. Manacles. I immediately try to pull them off, but I can’t. It doesn’t hurt, though. I wedge a pinky between my skin and the manacle on my left wrist and feel… leather? Some type of barrier between the silver and my skin.Still, even without the silver restin
The Alpha King's Breeder The B Word
AvivaI’ve never been to Crescent Falls before. I imagined something different than quiet, somber hallways and hushed murmurs. I guess, in any other circumstance, we would have been able to drive here in a real car from the border with Eastonia, taking several days to travel through the sweeping plains of Moorn before reaching the mountainous, sprawling mecca of the capitol while Ryan told me stories about growing up in this fascinating place but that’s… not how this is happening.We arrived an hour ago to chaos. Now, I pace behind a couch, watching my mate lean into conversation with his twin brother Sydney and their father, Alpha King Isaac. Ryatt, the Alpha King of Eastonia, isn’t here. Neither is his wife and mate, Ella, Ryan’s aunt.Evander’s here, however, and he keeps stealing glances in my direction while I do my best to fade into Maddy’s floral wallpaper.One second, I&rsq
The Alpha King's Breeder The World Crashes Down
MistyGeorgia turns to the railing in awe. The students sharing our little alcove rise from their chairs in confusion as the books crash to the ground.My already thundering heart nearly stops, skipping several beats, and in that time, the first screams echo all the way down to us on the second to last floor, splitting the normally silent air into pieces. I stand, my chair falling over backward, as green-hued light blasts through the upper section of the library.“GEORGIA!” I scream, lunging for her as debris–a tangle of stone, books, and paper–cascade down the open space housing the staircase. A shockwave slams into us, knocking Georgia away from the railing and sending me backward into one of the racks, my spine singing in pain. More screams follow, growing in intensity, as I open my eyes to thick dust and the haze of magic I can taste on my tongue.Shadowed figures move down the staircase. Wolves
The Alpha King's Breeder A Whispered Warning
MistyBurning sunlight stuns me into alertness. I open my eyes to slits and promptly close them again. A dull pain spreads through my head, reminiscent of the type of hangover I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but that doesn’t make any sense. I’m standing in the damp, dusty corridor in the web-like underground beneath campus… right?I open my eyes against the light and stare blankly at the ceiling of my dorm room. Soft snoring echoes all around me. Ignoring the sickening pain in my head, I turn ever so slightly to look at the person who’s arm and leg are draped over my body, finding Georgia sleeping peacefully, still wearing her black dress. We’re in her bed on top of the bedspread, and one quick glance across the room shows me a tangle of cloaks and shoes separating Georgia’s section of the tight room from mine where Fia and Darby are fast asleep in my bed. I sit up. Georgia’s arm slips from my waist as I slide out of bed and walk on unsteady feet to the door, grabbing my shower k
