WARNING: the stereotypes are supposed to be funny! I promise, if you laugh--- you might go to hell, but you’ll be laughing when you get there…
Arella’s POV
“What crawled up his ass and died?” I asked, gesturing to the retreating form of his brother.
“It’s complicated,” Zane growled, still glaring at the door. There was a slight cracking sound and I realized that the metal of the rail was about to give way to the big log’s fury. On instinct, I reached out and placed my hand over his, surprised at how warm his hands felt. And at the strange buzzing sensation that felt like electricity where our skin touched.
As if sensing this too, Zane’s attention snapped from the door to our joined hands. The murderous aura that had been suffocating the room dissipated within a second. He didn’t waste a second to interlace our fingers and I could see his body finally relax. The death grip on the bed eased and he closed his eyes, a look of
Arella's POVAnd while I loved to tell his sexist and “mightier than thou”-ass off, I bit back the retort – for now! I didn’t know what it was, but that pressure in my head was back, and while it was uncomfortable, it wasn’t pain. It felt more like a stroke to my nerves, telling me he needed this.He needed to feel in some sort of control…I was in a hospital bed and I guessed, I hadn’t gotten here by magic. Which meant that it had been Zane that got me here. And judging from his outbursts, I had a feeling that he was more freaked out than anything. I had no idea what kind of memories this brought back for him and, with the small bit I did know about him, I bet he blamed himself more than anyone for what happened.Just like he blamed himself for his wife’s murder…So, I was going to give some leeway for that one – for now! I could be a bitch, but I wasn’t heartless
Zane’s POV“Then how would it be any different?”She asked as if it was an actual legitimate question! Just the thought of her in danger sent my wolf spiraling into an enraged frenzy. He’d failed to protect her and now she was telling us she would do something like that again if she felt she had to? How much blood had she lost? Because it had to be some trauma that had her speaking like that, right? She had to have hit her head and it knocked a couple of screws loose or something.Or did this woman just NOT have a survival instinct AT ALL?!Her track record said no, since she acted and talked to me as some would have done to a misbehaving pup. Which required some brass balls and then some. And I knew her job as a ranger could be dangerous, but---Jumping in front of a bullet?The woman HAD to be crazy!“Because---!”I bellowed the word, about to make her und
Zane's POVDespite lying on a hospital bed, she looked like a goddess. Her unruly black curls lay around her like a halo, framing her beautiful round face. Her eyes looked like black diamonds with streaks of gold and brown, giving them an ethereal warmth that seemed to seep straight into your very soul. And her scent of spring was only getting richer and fuller with her wolf about to come out. Breathing it in felt like Viagra shot straight to my cock, making it throb in the confines of my jeans.“Now imagine if I’d let bullets ruin those fine glutes,” she teased, and just to really drive home the awkward boner I now was sporting, she winked. “I would go to hell for it for sure.”“Stop making me want to laugh!” I tried to yell at her again, but--- fuck, I couldn’t stop laughing. That attitude and that smile---! Shit! All I wanted to do was to rip the dress the rest of the way down,
Zane's POVShe gaped at me, watching me as if I’d grown an extra head. Well, I guess I finally got to see a semi-normal reaction from her. Not that we’d told a lot of humans about our existence, but their reactions normally varied from terror, thinking that we were the devil reincarnated or some sort of monster, to hysterical laughter, thinking that we were joking.And then, terror would set in.Personally, I’d never overseen such a transaction. Ever since becoming king, I’d only ever sanctioned one transformation – she was the mate of an omega wolf in another pack – but he did the whole introduction thing himself and, since she was a mate, he’d also bitten her. But from what I’d heard, she’d been hysterical for days, terrified for months, and even then it had taken her almost a year before she accepted the transformation.I had only hours to get Arella up to speed…
Zane's POVI cursed and quickly shifted back, grabbed my pants, and put them on. Now my wolf was frantic; furiously slamming his body against the mental barrier between us and I hissed at him to quiet down. I couldn’t fix this if he kept taking up all my mental space.And just like that, he went quiet!At least that was one problem down. Now to deal with the annoying, shocked human female that gave me hard-ons from hell…“Hey!” I snapped in front of her, trying to wave my hands in front of her eyes. But her eyes never left mine and her expression never changed. “You need to breathe!”I never thought I’d ever see the day when I ever would have to say those words, but here we were…“You-you---!”She stuttered, her hand slowly coming up and pointing at me. I had no idea what she was trying to do, and I didn’t care. The infuriating woman still wasn’
Arella’s POVI was boiling inside.How could he do this to me?HOW?!First, I had to question if Zane might be one of those weird conspiracy people that thought they were being followed by the government and ran around with tinfoil hats. Only in this case, they hid out in the forest, having their own weird-ass community, and thought they were werewolves. Hell, just my luck, that the first guy that stirred all of my insides just right would turn out to be some nutjob off his meds.But then he stripped – and yes, I would be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy the show. Zane might be insane, but he had a jaw-dropping body. And if the next time I saw him and he was in a straight jacket, was it really a crime to look? In all honestly, I would think it was a crime, not to look--- and perhaps take advantage of the slightly crazy, but insanely hot guy!I was simply appreciating what fate had served in front of
Arella's POV“Are you serious?!” I gaped at him, suddenly feeling like I’d been dropped into some backwaters' Bollywood Cinderella story.And no, it wasn’t a very nice feeling either…“Yes,” he answered firmly, this time meeting my eyes without a hint of emotion in them. “I’m Zane King. Alpha King of the Werewolves and leader of The Royal Pack.”Well--- shit!“That explains so much macho alpha shit that has been going on,” I mumbled, the only shred of sanity that I’d had left hanging on to. Because no matter how you looked at it, Zane hadn’t just been in my cabin, he had possessed it. His presence filled up the room despite what he did and the way he moved, as if he owned everything, suddenly made sense.Crazy!But it made sense…Groaning, I leaned back and closed my eyes. I hadn’t done a
Zane’s POVWerewolf me up?!Mentally, I chuckled at the statement. Never had a human asked to be “werewolf’ed up”. I mean sure, there were those back in the days when hunters were still a problem and humans still believed in werewolves, that the occasional hippy or “fan” would seek us out and ask to become part of a pack.Normally, they were instantly killed…Our world was a brutal one and not many humans had what it took to be a part of it. There was a lot of aggression and fighting involved with werewolves. Kidnapping and murders weren’t that uncommon and while we’d gotten more civilized over the decades, there were still some universal truths to being a werewolf, that were firmly based on our animal counterparts.One: we killed without remorse!And two: we protected what we considered ours!And yes, anything we considered ours, we&rsq
Arella's POV“What the hell is your problem, female?” He grunted, his voice strained with pain and frustration.Erm…Excuse me?!“My-my issue?!” I screeched, my breath coming in gasps, still struggling against the panic and confusion that clouded my mind. The words were a blur of disbelief, as my chest kept tightening in fear. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”His head snapped up, looking at me as if I’d just grown another head.“What I’m doing---?!” he gaped, shaking his head in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”I couldn’t believe it.Was he seriously playing dumb?!What the hell was his game?“You just tried to kidnap me!” I shouted, trying to make sense of what had just happened. His response?He laughed.He actually laughed!The
Arella’s POV“She’s nothing to me!”Zane’s words hit me like a slap to the face, and I froze in the hallway, my heart pounding in my chest. I’d just overheard him, standing in his study, speaking to Noah with such cold finality. It felt as if the ground had shifted beneath me, my world tilting on its axis.I didn’t know how long I’d stood there, but when I finally turned and stumbled away, I could feel my legs trembling, the weight of his words felt like cold clutches gripping my heart in a tight merciless hold. I fought against the tears that threatened to fall, knowing they wouldn’t help anything. I knew it! I knew he felt that way…So why…?I had already known the truth—hadn’t I? He’d made it so clear over and over again. Zane wasn’t interested in me. He wasn’t even capable of it, not after losing Helena. He had no
Zane’s POV“She’s a menace!”I slammed the door to my study shut with a force that made the hinges rattle. My blood was boiling, my fists clenched so tight I could feel my nails digging into my palms. Arella had gotten her way, and now, I was supposed to accept it. Because even if I didn’t want to, there was no way in hell I’d let myself be the butt of a joke where she fucking played me like a fiddle!Damned, stupid, Alpha pride!I couldn’t go back on my word! If I did, I’d look weak--- no, worse. I’d lose my respect. My pride was everything to me, but Arella was making me question every fucking thing I thought I knew.FUCK!Growling, I stomped over to my desk, turning it over and making my paperwork fly everywhere. Frustrating, inaugurating female! She had no idea what she was playing with—what this could mean for her, for my pups, for the entire
Zane's POVFury, the likes I’d never felt before, colored my vision red. My wolf let out a howl of pure unadulterated wrath, his dominance like a whip cracking down on anyone close to him.I had to get out of there!I had to stop this!“Zane, Please!” I heard Selena beg, but she suddenly seemed so far away I could barely make out her words. “It’s for the pups! It’s---”“Where?” I asked although the sound that came out sounded like some kind of animal. “Where is Arella?”I wanted to believe that I could protect her, protect them, and keep everything inside these walls safe. But now I was confronted with the reality of it—an open invitation to the very monsters who had torn my life apart.I couldn’t!“The banquette hall,” Selena once again gave it up, unable to resist my alpha aura. I stormed off, ignoring the calls and plea
Zane’s POV“… they’re so excited about it…”“...I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes when King Zane finds out…”“...all the planning goes through, Miss Garcia…”I’d been walking to my office when I picked up bits and pieces of conversation whispered in the corners by the omegas. It wasn’t until they mentioned Arella’s name that I stopped and listened. But the second the omegas saw me, they went pale and scurried away like I’d been the devil himself.Sighing, I couldn’t really blame them…Despite feeling better than I had in a year, my wolf was still unpredictable at best. And it wasn’t getting any better considering that I was trying to distance myself from my little angel. I hated that my body literally felt like shit when I wasn’t around her. What I hated even more, was letting her believe that o
Arella's POVI was glad I wasn’t sipping on my wine right then because that didn’t sound like the Zane I knew. Sure, I’d seen some of the core things that she mentioned. He was kind, and being a good King was very important to him. He wanted what was best for the kingdom and he wanted to protect his kids – although he’d been going about that the wrong way entirely. He was now ruled by anger and because he constantly had to fight his wolf, he was unpredictable at best...Hearing Selena talk about this side of him—this past version of him—was something strangely heartwarming. Something I wasn’t sure I’d ever get to see. Which strangely didn’t bother me. I’d gotten used to this version of Zane and to be honest, I think the old version of him would have bored me. While infuriating, a small sad
Arella's POV“That sounds like a lovely idea.”I snapped my head around, and there, stepping gracefully into the kitchen was Selena. She looked like those photo-shopped models that just stepped out of a magazine or something—gorgeous, poised, and effortlessly elegant. She didn’t belong in the kitchen, covered in flour and sugar. Yet there she was, eyes gleaming with curiosity.“You think so?” I asked, raising an eyebrow and wiping my hands on my apron. “I was just telling the kids about a little party we’re going to throw for them. Cain’s birthday is overdue, and Eva’s is right around the corner.”Selena’s lips quirked into a smile, though her eyes betrayed a hint of caution.“Yes, a party sounds wonderful,” she agre
Arella’s POVThe kitchen was filled with the warm smell of sugar and cinnamon as I stood at the kitchen counter, flour dusting the surface in a messy pile. Cain and Eva were laughing, both covered in a thin layer of flour, their small hands grabbing at cookie cutters and dough with wild abandon. I grinned, finally feeling like there was some kind of normalcy back in my life. After all the chaos I’d been through – being shot, almost killed, and being turned into a werewolf – I wanted to hold onto this as tightly as I could.I love to cook!My mom had been the real chef in the family, but she’d always let me cook with her. Be it a huge feast for carnival or baking cookies for Christmas, she was always moving around in the kitchen. Hell, even now, I swear I could hear her laughter as Cain helped his sister with the butterfly cutter.This felt like home…“Are we making chocolate ones too?” Cain asked eagerly, his face covered in flour
Arella's POVOK, he got points for... you know, being the actual KING! But while every instinct in my body told me to submit to his authority, my stupidly stubborn self refused. I’d been subjected to the authority of domineering, selfish bastards my whole fucking life and I’d made myself a promise to never fall victim to that ever again. I had a fucking will of my own, I had autonomy and I was nobody’s bitch!“Let me get this straight,” I snapped back, raising an eyebrow and gaping at the fucking audacity of this man. “You want me to do everything you say, no questions asked?”“YES!” His voice was a low, forceful command. Hell, it was almost cute the way he looked all angry and flustered. I stared at him, utterly floored by the ballsiness of his words.“Have you had a doctor look at that problem of yours?” I asked, my brows furring in concern for his health. “It can&r