Lucien I couldn't run in circles anymore. I had to tell her the truth."They want me dead, Irene," I informed her, making sure she heard me properly.Irene’s face twisted in confusion, and she readjusted her dress on her body, moving closer to the table beside her."I'm sorry. I swear, I don't understand what you mean by that," she answered, and I knew she was only playing me around. I was going to tell her everything anyway. I had already made up my mind."Alright. I will explain. I said the Council…" I started, bringing my voice low. "They have been plotting this for months and maybe years. They want me out of the way so they can replace me with Chris. They want to dethrone me," I explained, and Irene blinked, shaking her head.She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but it was the truth."They want to replace you with Chris? Your Beta?" she asked, and I nodded.Was there anyone else named Chris that she knew? I was talking about the one who followed me around, claiming he had m
IreneI didn’t know when I suddenly switched. The other minute, I was already saying that I was going to be Lucien’s spy to help bring down Malcolm.I guessed I said all of that because Malcolm was the one who did all of these to hurt me and my family.He was the one who killed my father, making me pass through this pain and stress that I was going through now.I didn’t need anyone to tell me anything. I needed to help myself and also help get the revenge that I sought after.But after countless thoughts, I had a change of mind instantly. It was as though I got a click that all these thoughts were a lie.I shouldn’t trust anything that Lucien said."You are lying," I blurted out. I didn’t mean to say it out loud, but the words slipped before I could stop them.I was not to blame for that. Me accusing Lucien of lying didn’t mean that I had proof that he was lying.It was just that everything he said did not align with my thought process."I’m not. How could you suddenly call me a liar
Lucien“You make me sick,” Irene said after everything. But I was not surprised she said that to me after all the words we had exchanged She was only triggered by me giving her space.Irene’s voice was cold, and it cut through the air like a sharp blade that aimed straight for my throat.It shouldn’t have affected me. It shouldn’t have sunk under my skin the way it did, but it did.I didn't have any control over that.I held my jaw tight, forcing down the fire that burned the tip of my tongue.I didn't have much patience left. I was already losing all that was in me.I muttered, “Is that so? Now, I suddenly make you sick?” crossing my arms over my chest.She scoffed, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.“You had all the power in the world to stop this, but you let it happen. You let them kill my father. And now you expect me to just… accept everything? You must be out of your mind!” she yelled at me, and the accusation stung me hard.A bee sting would hav
Lucien“You really think I did all of this to hurt you?” I asked, frustration clawing at the back of my throat.I should have let her be but guilt and regret were both threatening to swallow me whole. I had to make her understand. I had to explain everything but I was starting to realize that nothing I said would change how she saw me now.Irene stared blankly, but I could see the pain and anger in her eyes. All these emotions were in her eyes and stood there in front of me. While we stood there, I noticed that there was something cold in the air between us now. This was a feeling that had not been there before..She didn’t say anything for a long time. And then, as if the words had been boiling inside her for too long, she opened her mouth.“You did it for power. You can't convince me otherwise that you did it for your own damn selfish reasons.”My eyes bulged out and my lips fell open. I wanted to shout back at her and tell her that she was wrong, that she didn’t understand anyt
IRENE’S POV"How long have I been this blind?"I wish I could get the answer to that particular question but there was no one here to answer me.I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall, my fingers digging into the fabric of my dress.My heart pounded against my chest and this was not as a result of love or excitement. It was far from that. I just suddenly realised that my entire relationship had been a lie and it was not just a small lie.It was a massive, twisted and ugly deception that I had been entangled in and I had been the fool who believed in it.My throat felt dry and my chest tightened. Everything I knew kept flooding in and it kept on hitting me like a sharp slap to my face. I was totally ruined by everything going on with me. Silas’s cold glances and his empty apologies were not helping and I had ignored it all. He had warned me so many times about making a good decision to forget about whatever relationship k had but I had convinced myself that he was just
Irene“But you know what, Irene? You are the last person I expected to see crawling back to me,” Kael said, bursting my bubbles. The switch in his reaction was crazy. So, everything he said to me earlier was just to deceive me that he actually felt good about helping me. This time, his eyes were burning with fire and his smile appeared wicked. I looked lost in everything and his laughter came rumbling close to my ears. I almost wanted to walk away from him so that I could ignore the way his words made me feel bad. The reason I was here was not because I wanted to waste my time or to settle whatever we had in the past. I had one purpose, and I wouldn’t let his arrogance distract me.“Are you done?” I asked him and my voice flat remained flat and unimpressed.Kael smirked, pushing himself off the wall. “Not even close,” he answered. “I knew you might be wondering why I decided to honour your call. Tell me, princess, why would someone like you want to talk to someone like me? Were
Irene"Meet me at the back of the pack tonight,” Kael said to me after he decided how and when we were going to meet. I had already had it in mind that the reason I was doing all of these was because I was desperate. But, my wolf won't let me deceive myself to that extent. She kept on bringing countless thoughts and suggestions to me but thankfully, I was able to shut her out. But, it was only for a short while…“You heard me, didn't you?” Kael asked and he sounded almost amused, as if he already knew my answer.“Why? Why should I meet you at the back of the pack house? And at night?” I asked, narrowing my eyes but he only looked at me as though I wasn't serious with what I wanted. To him, if I was serious. I wouldn't ask any question. I would just accept his request immediately. "You want the truth, don’t you?" He asked me and that made the hair on my body stand erect. That was where the problem was. I was being guilt trapped by everything that was happening around me. He knew
Kael POVMy sister sent for me and I couldn't decline her request, knowing fully well that she wanted to see me. There was a reason for that and there was a lot to discuss. I flipped my jacket over the chair when I got to the room where my sister was seated. "You wanted to see me. Now, I'm here. I'm really glad you were patient and waited until I came,” I said to her and I signalled a servant to get me some cold water because of how badly I was boiling inside. My sister, Liora, sat across from me with her arms crossed and even though I just commended her for waiting for me, she still had a mild look of impatience on her face."How far along is she?" she asked, without waiting too much time. "Irene, I mean,” she added and I tried hard to hide my smile. “She’s okay. Irene is very much okay but She is still fighting it. Irene is stubborn, as expected but she is this close to giving in. She just needs a little more push, and she will have no choice but to come to me,” I answered and
Irene's POVI tried to sleep. The warmth of the blanket should have comforted me, but my instincts prickled beneath my skin. I was too restless. The bond between Lucien and I hummed with something heavy.Then I heard it—his voice, cold and full of command.“BOW DOWN!”“Lucien?” I echoed, and sat up instantly. My breath was caught in my throat. That wasn't a command whispered in private. That was Lucien's Alpha voice; the kind he'd used on Silas the first time we met. He told me to stay inside, but that was the last thing to do. I threw the blankets off and dressed quickly, tugging a robe over my body. I left the room and ran down the hall. I met a few guards posted around.“What's going on?” I asked breathlessly.The guards looked at themselves before one of them answered. “Alpha Lucien is exposing the traitors. The Council of Elders are being arrested.”“What?” I was shocked. Lucien hadn't said anything like that this morning. Why had he asked me not to come out? I didn't wait for
Lucien's POVThe morning sun barely broke out before I had my bath, got dressed, and crawled back into bed with Irene. She smelt nice after the thorough bath we had during midnight.“I need to meet the council,” I said, tightening the last button of my shirt as Irene stirred beneath the sheets.She opened her eyes slowly, still drowsy from the night we spent locked in each other's arms. “Good morning. What did you say?”I leaned down and kissed her gently, brushing her hair from her face. “You look so beautiful, Irene.”She giggled and kissed me. “That's not what I asked you, Lucien.”“I am meeting the pack council.” I repeated slowly. “This is something I should’ve done a long time ago, it's not too late now, though. But I need you to stay here.”Her brows furrowed, worry creeping into her gaze. “Stay here? Why?”“Because I can't risk you getting hurt again. Not like before.” I kissed her, slower this time, memorising the softness of her lips. “Please, Irene. Trust me, huh?”Her sile
Lucien's POV“I have stitched up his wound. He would come around in the morning. It's nothing serious.” The healer assured us and I gave him a nod of gratitude.Irene stood still, not wanting to leave the room.“Silas will be fine, Irene. Let's go to our room.” I whispered, pulling her away from the healer's chamber. Silas had passed out because of the blood he lost, but the healer assured us that he would be fine. I had no intention of going to the hospital, I wanted to do this low key and get to the councils when they were totally relaxed. Irene didn't argue with me this time, she just held my hand tight as I led her out. She made sure Silas was settled and he was breathing. “Will he be fine?” She asked silently, her voice warm.I nodded without saying a word. She seemed to trust my silence because she willingly allowed me to lead her down the hallway, past other rooms, until we got to our room. When we reached the bedroom door, I paused, reluctant to go in with her. She might b
Silas’s POV“Kael! Your time is up, man. Stop hiding.” I yelled into the empty hallway. Blood smeared my knuckles, and the lifeless bodies of Kael’s men that I had fought with were strewn across the floor. I was angry, and I needed to get to Kael to discharge that anger. I pushed open the last door at the end of the hall and let myself in. I discovered it was a mini bar. The room was dim, soaked in the amber glow of an overhead fluorescent light. The air was thick with the scent of whiskey, its smell made me wipe my bleeding lip with the back of my palm.“Kael!” I called angrily.He was slumped in a leather chair, his shirt unbuttoned, and an empty bottle dangled from his hand. He was wasted, asleep in fact.I stepped in and shut the door behind me. He didn’t stir. Rage and grief filled my mind as I lunged at him.“This is for my father!” I plunged the dagger forward but was stopped midair.“Shit!” Kael cursed, his eyes locking tight on me. He gave a strangled gasp, the bottle slipp
LucienWhile I was still trying to get myself as I stood beside the dead body. I heard a loud shout from outside. What can to me was my guards and Silas. I hope nothing had happened to them. I looked at the corpse on the floor which I had already decided was Irene and I tried to look for a way to get the corpse back to my pack. That was going to be very difficult because I didn't know how to do that. I needed help from Silas and my guards. But, I didn't know how I was going to do all that without attracting the people that we were hiding from. I was thinking so hard and while I tried to reach a conclusion. I heard a loud thud outside like an earthquake. I ran out of the room and I was that Silas and the guards were being rounded up by some guards. We were caught! I rushed towards them and one of them saw me and tried to jump on me. "Get your filthy hands off me!" I growled, slamming the guard against the wall with enough force to rattle the wooden frame.We had arrived and if
LucienI knew that this information came as a shock to me but I was not totally surprised. It was something that was expected from people like Kael and I had always suspected his ass. "He played us. Kael played us all,” Silas said. His face fell flat like he just got hit by a trailer load of disappointment. I remember when Kael promised him a lot of things and how he was so loyal to him. But, now everything has backfired. It was sad for him but I didn’t flinch when Silas said it. I couldn’t. I was too far gone in my thoughts to react the way he wanted me to. That feeling that had been sitting on my chest like a stone since Irene disappeared had finally taken shape. Kael.I should have known.I leaned forward in my seat and my fingers steepled under my chin as I replayed the last words we had heard through the bug in Peris's car. Kael, casually spitting out the exact location where Irene was being held, like it wasn’t someone’s life he was toying with."He sounded so... proud,"
LucienWe sat in my car, parked far enough from Malcolm's mansion to avoid suspicion, yet we were close enough to pick up every word through Silas' little device. The night was unnaturally still and calm and it was only the faint hum of Silas' recorder that played between us.Silas leaned forward, fiddling with the device volume. "Just listen, carefully,” he informed me and after that, Chris' voice came through clearly. "We are fighting for something that matters, Peris. The park spies are the backbone of our survival. If we can get our hands on the document…""The one with the names?" Peris interrupted."Yes, all of them. Every spy hidden in every pack. If we find it and deliver it to the right Alphas, we can expose corruption and reset the system."I let out a dry laugh. Are they mad?"Reset the system? By throwing us into chaos? These people are very sick!”Silas stayed quiet. I could tell he was trying to process it all.Chris continued, unaware of how his words were slamming a
Lucien"He is already on the move and he’s not alone, Lucien,” Silas said immediately as he stepped into my study. He didn’t bother knocking and he didn’t even shake when I whipped my head around so fast to look at him. My goodness! What was that? I appreciated the effort he was making towards this and I didn't damn care if he lacked courtesy or not. What I wanted was good information! "You followed Chris? How did it go? Please, spill the tea," I asked, heart thudding louder than it should."I did. Not for long, though," he said, moving to close the door behind him. "I didn’t need to. I know exactly where he is going."I stood up slowly, brows pulling together. "Where?""Malcolm’s house. There’s a meeting happening there and Chris isn’t the only one attending,” he informed me and my heart dropped.This was very concerning. My fists clenched and the veins on my face popped out. Of course Malcolm would be involved. The man had always rubbed me the wrong way. He was too quiet and
LUCIEN"If he's hiding something, I'm going to find out. Even if it kills me,” I assured myself as I grew suspicious of Chris' disappearance. This was strange and I knew that it didn't just happen. It was not a coincidence. Something was happening in the background that I wasn't aware of. “He's up to something,” another thought ran through my head as I paced across my study.My instincts were clawing at me, telling me something was wrong and I could not ignore it because it was always right. It kept telling me someone close had betrayed me and now, all fingers were pointing at Chris. I know I couldn't be too sure about things but I was suspecting and I was sure of it. I hadn’t seen Chris in days.Every time I sent someone to find him, they returned empty-handed. No one knew where he went. No one had any answers to the numerous questions that I had asked about him and I was getting sick of it.My fists clenched at my sides. Chris was my Beta and my friend. He was the one I truste