ALPHA KING XALEN ~~ I couldn't bring myself to dig into Laura’s letters. I was too scared of how hard the truth about the woman I had loved for almost a decade would slap me in the face. So, instead of searching and reading myself, I let Haylee do it, even though she was another woman who could hurt me. Every letter that Haylee pulled out only confirmed that Laura wasn't faithful to me. Yes, she cheated on me, not just emotionally but sexually. She cheated on me by swearing her allegiance to whoever the hell she was sharing those letters with. She betrayed me. She betrayed my trust and our love. As hard as it was, I was beginning to come to terms with Laura's betrayal. With every letter, my heart grew accustomed to the painful jabs it had to endure, and my stomach accommodated these same jabs as well. “I'm about to read the seventh one I picked, Alpha King,” Haylee said, her voice soft and hardly audible, as if she was scared speaking too loud would trigger me. I nodded and
HAYLEE~~Although my relationship with Benita might have hit rock bottom, I came to understand what she meant when she told me that Alpha King Xalen has not always been cruel and closed off. I got to see that firsthand as his body began to shake visibly. Even when I wrapped my arms around him, he trembled, sobbing silently but loud enough to make my heart ache. This—what Alpha King Xalen and I have here—wouldn't have happened fifty-one days ago. This was growth for us, but a heartbreaking one. “Isn't this good for us? He hates her now, Haylee. This is the time for us to have him to ourselves finally. We wouldn't have to live in the shadow of that despicable woman.” Liya chimed into my mind. As much as I didn't want to agree with my wolf, I couldn't disagree either. I mean, finally, I could have my mate to myself. Yes, Princess Allison was still an obstacle, but I could feel the bond between Alpha King Xalen and me growing. Gosh, Haylee. Don't go dark now. “Thank you for doing
ALPHA KING XALEN~~ROY.That was the answer to every question that had crossed my mind since we started reading Laura’s letters, and it was no different from the question Haylee’s observation brought to mind.That name was the answer I got no matter how many times I rethought or asked myself these questions.Who did Laura cheat on me with?ROY.Who was she sending those letters to?ROY.Whose kids was she desperate to have?ROY's.Who would hate me so much to want to be King and punish me by turning the woman I loved, who they also wanted, into a backstabber?R.O.Y.Who came back to the pack recently, popping in once in a while like he had always done and pretending I kicked him out of the pack when he chose to be away from his family because he couldn’t accept that Laura was mine and not his?ROY.Who has access to my home and could have planted these letters where I found them?ROY.Who could have killed Laura just to hide the traces of what they had done? And who would do that ju
HAYLEE~~“I think it's high time I listened to him.”I couldn’t believe my ears. Although Alpha King Xalen hasn't said much about what happened between him and Roy, he has made it clear that there was bad blood between the two of them.“Can you tell me what happened between you both?” I asked because I could perceive some love there, even though their hatred for each other had overshadowed that.Xalen and I were still sitting on the floor of his matrimonial bedroom. At first, I felt weird being in here, but we had spent hours on that floor, and I was getting comfortable.The small smile on his face faded, and in that instant, I was certain he didn't want to talk about that topic. His silence was enough to—“Roy was my best friend.” To my surprise, Alpha King Xalen began, opening up to me for the millionth time that night. “He was my brother, and I knew how much he loved me until my parents died and his dad had to take care of me. Roy didn't want to share his dad’s attention, and bec
ALPHA KING XALEN~~Yes, I slept on the floor for the last four hours, but it was a perfect night. I got to sleep with Haylee in the room that would have haunted me for the rest of my life if she hadn't created new memories with me within its four walls.Yes, last night and the early hours of today were used to create new memories.Haylee had helped me conquer my fears, and with the help of my wolf, I have realized the next steps to take to get answers.That was perfection to me, and it would have been an impeccable morning if I had been allowed to wake up on my own, gaze at Haylee’s face while she still sleeps in my arms that I might have wrapped around her after she fell asleep four hours ago, and see her shock when she wakes up and sees my face close to hers.But Allison just had to ruin what could have been a perfect morning.Of course, my heart was still aching because of the wound Laura’s betrayal had inflicted on it, but before I fell asleep with Haylee in my arms, I made up
ALPHA PRINCE ROY (3)~~It's been tough.Being a werewolf without a wolf has been tough, but it's nothing compared to being a Royal werewolf without a wolf. It sounds the same, but it is absolutely different.I have had to train twice as hard to command respect from other wolves. Did I say twice? Let's try four times as hard.Sometimes, I find myself thanking Xalen for constantly kicking me out of the realm. I am grateful that I got to live among the humans because it's easier there. Humans can be a bit oblivious, but at least they aren't as stuck-up as werewolves.I threw a few punches in the air, hoping that would clear my mind and I would be able to focus on training. I have been out here, in the open field behind my childhood home, training my ass off.I was covered in sweat, but I couldn't bring myself to stop even though I was training alone like the lone wolf I had become in my own home pack. Plus, if I wanted to get back at Xalen, I would need all the training I could get.“I
ALPHA KING XALEN~~I allowed it.I allowed Roy to pour the coal of his anger all over me until I perceived that he was getting tired, and before he could stop himself and feel ashamed, I grabbed his wrists, holding them in the air.“I think that’s enough, Roy,” I stated without any sign of pain. Even though he had managed to break a few of my ribs, the pain wasn’t unbearable.Roy yanked his wrists out of my grasp, and once again, I allowed it. He wouldn’t have been able to land a blow if I didn’t want him to, nor would he have succeeded in freeing himself if I wanted to hold him captive.He was a strong male. Or at least I knew him to be a strong male, yet he was no match for me.“Enough?” He seethed in my face, his eyes red, a hot flame of fury burning within them. “You took everything from me. You ruined me, and it took you this long to admit it? Heck! You made everyone believe I was crazy, and I started believing it too because I can’t seem to understand why you would claim a wo
ALPHA PRINCE ROY~~I lost everything. Heck! I would have lost myself as well if my wolf hadn’t sacrificed his existence for me.Honestly, it was easier to blame Xalen. I just couldn’t bring myself to blame Laura, even though the truth was staring back at me as I looked at the familiar penmanship. I was trying to wrap my head around why Laura would do this. I have known her since I was a teenager. Laura was one of the orphans who came to the Royal Pack to seek refuge, and we became friends immediately. She was the perfect person to fill the void my dad and Xalen had created within me as they focused on politics.But she turned out to be a liar.She lied about the bond, claiming she didn’t feel it, and I stupidly believed her. She used to ask me to come home each time I did. She made me believe that Xalen had changed his mind.I also believed that the reason she kept writing to me was that she was kind-hearted. However, the truth was out. Laura wrote to me because she felt the strain
Princess Allison’s POV ~~What in the royal pack is happening?The head of the woman who just openly restored my honor fell to the ground, but that one question still echoed in my mind.“What the hell is happening?” I gasped internally, tears rolling down my chin as I played the part that Benita had given me.It was sudden, of course, but I didn’t fail to play my part perfectly. I could feel hands on my shoulders, comforting me, and even though the urge to shake off the flirty hands on me was intense, I controlled myself, crying like a helpless pregnant woman.Benita was dead. Alpha King Xalen was angry. Haylee was stunned, speechless, and frozen in her spot. The pack was in disarray, while I was confused as hell.I mean, why would Benita do that? She told me she didn’t want Haylee to be queen, but why would she sacrifice her life to make sure of that? Why didn’t she mention my name like I knew Haylee and the King expected, even though I hadn’t been the nicest person to her?“Whate
HAYLEE~~I heard her right. Right?She mentioned my name. Benita, the so-called friend who tried to kill me with different kinds of poison, said Haylee put her up to it.The question is, which Haylee?I mean, there has to be another Haylee in the pack. Perhaps her name is spelled differently from mine—Hailey or maybe Hayley. Urgh, fuck!Frustration slipped into my blood vessels because a huge part of me knew that Benita was referring to me, and it was confirmed when she looked my way and spat with so much hatred, “The supposed Queen put me up to this. If I had known this was the game she was trying to play, I wouldn’t have listened to her.”Benita burst into tears, shedding crocodile tears, but they looked real enough to get a reaction out of the crowd. In fact, she pulled their heartstrings even more when she whimpered, “But I am s-simply a lowly servant. I d-dare not say no to the queen.”I couldn’t believe my ears, yet my body shook with the same rage I had tried so damn hard to
HAYLEE~~As much as Xalen wanted me to rest and get a good night's sleep, I couldn’t. All through the night, I was restless, not because I was worried that Benita would get silenced like the guard that Xalen once secretly held in captivity, but because I wasn’t sure she would tell the truth.I was restless because I knew Xalen wouldn’t hesitate to torture her family if she failed to confess and mention Allison’s name. I hadn’t met any member of Benita’s family, but I knew I couldn’t handle watching them suffer when they hadn’t done anything wrong.After all, they didn’t stab me in the back. Benita did.“What can I do to help you relax, Hay?” Xalen’s voice pierced my thoughts, and my worried gaze shifted to him in a second. “I can hear the wheels turning in your head. I don’t like that.”We were both in our bedroom, waiting for Benita to confess or for her given time to elapse. Although neither of us said anything about waiting, I could tell we were doing just that.“What if Allison
Princess Allison’s POV (24)~~I have screamed. I have cried. I have broken every breakable valuable in my bedroom—or should I call it my prison, because it was beginning to suffocate me? I have even considered returning home to my father.Yes, he will punish me, but at least he will help me get my powers back. I never knew he would take them away from me. Hell! I didn’t even know he could take them until Haylee made me see the truth.Goddess! How I wished I could blame Haylee and finally find a way to tear her apart with the support of the pack members that had sworn to protect me. However, she was right. My dad had screwed me.Ever since I discovered that my power was gone, I have been thinking. I have been trying so damn hard to make use of my intellect and come up with a plan that would help me defeat Haylee, claim the throne, and make my dad lick my feet.However, I haven’t come up with a single plan. Or, more appropriately, I haven't come up with a single perfect plan.How do I
HAYLEE~~The anger swirling within me was unlike any emotion I had felt before.I had experienced intense sadness, but even that didn’t come close to what I was feeling in that moment as I stared at Benita’s scared but unremorseful face. She was a reminder of every bad occurrence that had marred my life.She was a reminder of how meaningless promises and bonds could be.She was a reminder of the one curse I thought was broken—no one could love me genuinely.Alone in this cruel world, I began to wonder if anyone truly loved me. My heart shattered at the thought that Xalen’s love might be fake too. Flavia as well. What if I were back where I started?Yet I was in a different setting, where everyone pretended to love me, unlike the undiluted hatred my previous circles hadn’t hesitated to show me.“That’s your emotions talking, Hay. You know Xalen loves you. You can feel it through the bond, and the fact that you can converse with Aradia is further proof that he isn’t faking his feelin
ALPHA KING XALEN~~Saying I was angry would be the understatement of the century.These past few months, I have lost a lot of people who mattered to me. Even though Laura turned out to be a snake, losing her affected me, and Uncle Calvin’s death remained a trauma I couldn’t get over as fast as I wanted.And now, Haylee was poisoned by one of the servants in my home?There was no way in hell I would allow her to go scot-free. There was no way in hell I wouldn’t make an example of her!“First, Ghostflower juice, and she still had the audacity to use Ashen venom?” Theo gritted angrily within me. My anger boiled hotter with every step I took toward the one place that smelled like that bitch—her bedroom.I knew she wasn’t there, but I needed to get my hands on whatever was left of the venom she fed my woman. I couldn’t shake off the need to get rid of it along with her. I got to her bedroom, ransacked it, and found vials of poisons laid carelessly within her bedside drawer.To my utmost
HAYLEE~~I could have sworn I died.I could have sworn that death swallowed me the second my lids closed, but somehow, those same lids fluttered open after I almost became best buddies with the darkness of death. I didn’t know how long I had been out.But if I were to assume, I would say I was unconscious for about an hour or maybe two.There was this sharp sound ringing in my head, and I just knew I needed to sleep for a long time; still, I had to ask the two concerned women standing beside the bed, “Did you get it out? How long was I out for?”I groaned as I tried to push myself into a sitting position, hoping that the block Liya placed between my mind and Xalen’s didn’t fall when I lost consciousness. Gasping, I added another question, looking deep into Flavia’s eyes this time, “Has he found out?”She knew I was talking about Xalen. I could tell from the way she looked at me, but what I couldn’t tell was the next words Flavia blurted out: “No, he hasn’t, Haylee. It’s been five mi
HAYLEE~~“I told you so.”If Liya wasn’t trembling with rage within me, I was certain those four dreaded words would be echoing endlessly in my mind. My wolf would have said those words to me, but even though she didn’t voice them out loud, I could still hear her furious voice in my subconscious because, truly, she told me so.Heck! Liya warned me severely.“I knew she was a snake, but I didn’t know she would go this far,” Liya hissed into my mind, frustration coursing through her. “I didn’t like her from the start, but I also couldn’t see why she would want to kill you. Even when I forced you to keep that sample from the smoothie, I was just trying to be thorough and cautious.”Well, thank goodness for that, because how else would I have known that the only person who willingly offered to be my friend when I started living in the palace was, undoubtedly, my faceless enemy?Flavia, who had been quietly working, suddenly gasped, “I can’t detoxify you alone. We either get you to the
HAYLEE~~Flavia barged into Sophia’s bedroom, where I was with the kids, her eyes wide as the sky but also cloudy.I dropped the book I had in my hands instinctively, ignoring the soreness of my body. I assumed I had to get used to the muscle soreness that I had been experiencing due to my training session with Xalen.“Are you okay?” Those were the first words that Flavia uttered, even though Sophia and Asher were trying to get her attention.I could see her fingers trembling as she tried to wrap her arms around Sophia and Asher. The scent of her worries invaded my nostrils, almost suffocating me before I answered, “I am okay. Are the results out?”My eyes were heavy, but just like I had ignored my sore muscles, I had been forcing my tired eyes to remain open because I wanted to read more about the various abilities that each faction within the werewolf community had.“They are, Haylee, and they aren’t good.” Flavia let out a shallow breath. “We should get you to your room. You need