I tried to shake off the thoughts, tried to shake off the guilt, but I couldn't. Each step I took farther from the throne room only amplified my guilt. I lied, about the dead bodies and how I knew how they were killed…..but at least not where I had seen them before.For years I watched my father ravel on about a world I thought never existed until I was mated to one. I always thought he was somewhat insane and maybe the death of my mother out delusional thoughts in his head.I remembered a journal of my father I came across when I was seventeen. I was bored and alone at home and when I stumbled upon it, it was something I wanted to read.In it, he wrote down the stages of transformation of a wolf until it was fully covered in fur. Their deathly attacks, how and when they attack, what kills them and what strengthens them.Some pages described how he killed werewolves and they were exactly the same way the alphas' said their dead wolves died. I always thought it was some kind of fairy
The graves were half-dug, the shovels resting upright in the mounds of wet sand. The bones lay on makeshift biers, wrapped in white linen, to be burned and set away to sail.For days I felt the weight of sadness my lack members carried. Though their loved ones were missing for a very long time, but they came back not even in flesh but bones. The priestess’s voice droned on, empty words of comfort that did little to ease the ache we all shared. The place was silent, save for the voice of the priestess as we all stood in silence in respect to the dead ones.Then the sound came—heavy footsteps against gravel, cutting through the silence in the air.I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. His scent was enough to recognise him. I gritted my teeth in anger even before I turned to look in his direction.“What the fuck is he doing her!?” I asked no one in particular, letting the words bear my anger. He walked into the clearing, dragging behind him a sack. It looked heavy and I tried to gu
The world around me blurred into the background as I stared at the dead man. It couldn't be right? I blinked, once, twice, praying that my eyes were deceiving me.But they weren’t. It was him.My breath caught in my throat, a strangled gasp that I couldn’t suppress. My grip on August's hand tightened as if I was holding on to the only thing that kept me standing. I felt my knees weaken, threatening to give way beneath me, but I tried to remain on my feet, I couldn't fall.The clearing went silent, the murmurs of the crowd fading into nothingness. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart, and I feared August could hear them too. Oh God this cannot be real….His face—God, his face. There was no mistake that bit was him, even despite how pale his face had gone, I still recognised him. Blood smeared on his skin, but it didn't matter anymore. That was Andrew, a close colleague of my father. I had known Andrew literally all my life and he was just like an uncle to me. Seeing him here
“There’s no such thing as werewolves,” I said for the umpteenth time to my father as we sat in the dining room that evening for dinner.I had gotten tired of his constant rambling about them and how many he had managed to hunt down. It didn’t make any sense to me, a person having the ability to turn into an animal. I had just gotten home from my college dorm after graduation, and the last thing I needed was him lecturing me.“And how do you think I got the money to feed you and the money for this house that I bought?” he challenged, smirking as if he had just trapped me in a corner that would lead me to believe him.“You work other jobs,” I guessed with a shrug. I didn’t want to say anything about it anymore.“I do not,” he argued. “One werewolf is worth tens of thousands of dollars, and that’s only a small size. Six months ago, I was lucky enough to catch one after catching another one a month before.”I stared at him helplessly, not sure whether it really had been a good idea to let
A loud scream tore out of my throat, my voice ripping through the stillness of the night as I felt a searing pain in my neck like fire. Theman’s teeth sunk deeper into my skin, and I grunted, trying to push him off. I thrashed roughly against him, but he was too strong, holding me in place as my body trembled under the agony.In the distance, I heard my father shouting my name. His voice was faint, muffled by the pounding in my head and the my own voiceblaring in my ears.Then, just as quickly as it had come, the weight on top of me was gone. The man disappeared, slipping into the darkness of the woods as if he was a ghost.I gasped for air, clutching at the wound on my neck, my fingers slick with the warmth of my own blood. Everything started to blur, the tall trees around me spinning. I tried to stay conscious, to hold on until my father found me.“Dad,” I whispered, unable to even hear my voice and doubting that he had heard me.“Azalea!” His voice was closer now, full of panic. He
“Oh, my God!” I muttered, my hand slapping my mouth in shock.He stood on the other side of the glass, his face illuminated by the pale moonlight and mostly by the light from my bedroom. He didn’t lookanything like the savage creature I remembered from earlier. His features were sharp, handsome even, and his eyes… they weren’t wild or feral. They were human.He watched me intently, as if waiting for something. My heart pounded in my chest, my breath catching in my throat.I wanted to scream, to run, to call for my father, but I couldn’t move. His eyes held me in place, and I was frozen, trapped in that momentand not sure what to do.This was the man who had marked me. The man who had claimed me as his own, according to my father. And now, he was here, standing at my window, looking more human than ever.How did he know where I lived?“Open it,” I heard him say as he gestured at the latch that was holding my window closed.I narrowed my eyes at him, shaking my head and scoffing at his
My breath hitched as I took in the bloody scene in front of me. These people were digging and tearing into each other with a brutality I could never comprehend. I couldn’t help but realize that I had stumbled into something I wasn’t meant to see.My heart pounded in my chest, every instinct screaming at me to get out of there before anyone noticed that I was not one of them.I slowly backed away, trying to move quietly, praying I could slip away unnoticed. The sounds of snarling and snapping jaws filled my ears, making it hard to focus. My foot crunched on a twig, the sound far too loud in the chaos, and my stomach dropped.“Oh, God,” I said as I felt my stomach twist like I was going to get sick. That would definitely get their attention.In a panic, I turned and bolted out of there.Branches whipped against my arms and face as I raced through the trees, my heart hammering in my chest. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I needed to get away. As far away as possible. The last
The room I was in became suffocating, the adrenaline of what just happened leaving and reality kicking in. Wolves just attacked me. I sat on the edge of the bed in the room I found myself in. It was a simple hut in the woods that August brought me to rest my legs. The lamp cast long shadows on the wall, but the dim light did nothing to ease the storm raging in my chest. August’s voice still echoed in my ears, sharp and frustrated, how he'd looked at me like I had broken some unspoken rule. It made my stomach twist, but behind the anger, I'd seen something raw and vulnerable, though he'd never admit it. That was August. I have come to know him over the past few weeks, and it's a surprise how fast I'm catching up. My fingers absentmindedly found the mark on my neck. A jolt of electricity went through me when I did that, and a hiss came from my lips before I could stop it. The door creaked, and my head snapped up; my heart jumped into my throat when I saw him step in—closing the door
The world around me blurred into the background as I stared at the dead man. It couldn't be right? I blinked, once, twice, praying that my eyes were deceiving me.But they weren’t. It was him.My breath caught in my throat, a strangled gasp that I couldn’t suppress. My grip on August's hand tightened as if I was holding on to the only thing that kept me standing. I felt my knees weaken, threatening to give way beneath me, but I tried to remain on my feet, I couldn't fall.The clearing went silent, the murmurs of the crowd fading into nothingness. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart, and I feared August could hear them too. Oh God this cannot be real….His face—God, his face. There was no mistake that bit was him, even despite how pale his face had gone, I still recognised him. Blood smeared on his skin, but it didn't matter anymore. That was Andrew, a close colleague of my father. I had known Andrew literally all my life and he was just like an uncle to me. Seeing him here
The graves were half-dug, the shovels resting upright in the mounds of wet sand. The bones lay on makeshift biers, wrapped in white linen, to be burned and set away to sail.For days I felt the weight of sadness my lack members carried. Though their loved ones were missing for a very long time, but they came back not even in flesh but bones. The priestess’s voice droned on, empty words of comfort that did little to ease the ache we all shared. The place was silent, save for the voice of the priestess as we all stood in silence in respect to the dead ones.Then the sound came—heavy footsteps against gravel, cutting through the silence in the air.I didn’t need to turn to know who it was. His scent was enough to recognise him. I gritted my teeth in anger even before I turned to look in his direction.“What the fuck is he doing her!?” I asked no one in particular, letting the words bear my anger. He walked into the clearing, dragging behind him a sack. It looked heavy and I tried to gu
I tried to shake off the thoughts, tried to shake off the guilt, but I couldn't. Each step I took farther from the throne room only amplified my guilt. I lied, about the dead bodies and how I knew how they were killed…..but at least not where I had seen them before.For years I watched my father ravel on about a world I thought never existed until I was mated to one. I always thought he was somewhat insane and maybe the death of my mother out delusional thoughts in his head.I remembered a journal of my father I came across when I was seventeen. I was bored and alone at home and when I stumbled upon it, it was something I wanted to read.In it, he wrote down the stages of transformation of a wolf until it was fully covered in fur. Their deathly attacks, how and when they attack, what kills them and what strengthens them.Some pages described how he killed werewolves and they were exactly the same way the alphas' said their dead wolves died. I always thought it was some kind of fairy
The moment we stepped into the throne room, it was as if the weight of a hundred eyes fell on us, one so heavy it'd move the will of kings.The air was thick with tension, laced with the air of dominance and unspoken challenge that always accompanied gatherings like this. Alphas from every pack in our world sat at the table, their heads turning sharply as we entered.Immediately, I felt Azalea's hesitation. Her hand, tucked into the crook of my arm, trembled ever so slightly. I could feel her fear and nervousness from the mate bond, and I pulled her closer to myself in a quiet reassurance. To anyone else, she looked poised, her chin lifted just enough to feign confidence.“Calm your nerves baby, they're just like me.” I relayed through the mind link, and that seemed to work a bit.I straightened my shoulders, making a deliberate show of my authority as we moved toward the throne. My gaze swept the room, daring anyone to hold it for too long. The whispers began before we were settled i
I jolted awake, gasping for air as though I had been drowning. What the fuck was that!My chest heaved, and my heart thudded so loudly I could swear I was hearing it. Cold sweat trickled down my face even though the air in the room was cold. My trembling hands were on my thumping chest as images of the dream flashed through my eyes.“Are you okay?” August's voice seeped into my ears as his arms wrapped around my naked body. I closed my eyes, trying to will away the fear that had crawled up my heart. “Baby…” he called again, but I was too far gone into trying to convince myself that my father was somewhere in the human world and far from Gray's clutches, to answer him.“Azalea?” This time I answered him with a quiet ‘hm’ as I turned to look at him.“What's going on? What happened? You had a nightmare?” “It's worse than a nightmare, August.” My voice came out quiet and almost shake as I ran my hand through my hair, getting it out of my face for a second.August scooped closer, pla
“Is something wrong?” I asked, still holding the toast in my hand. “Your neck…” she muttered, still staring at the spot. “What happened to my neck? Is there something on my skin? Is it bad?” I questioned, touching the skin there. “I thought you had two marks there.”“Yeah…. What happened?”“I can't see the other mark,” she said, she shrugged her shoulders as she took her gaze off my neck. “Really? Which mark? Are you sure?* I touched my neck like I could see it before picking my phone off the table. I unlocked it and tapped on the camera, opening the front one. My face came into display and immediately I turned my neck towards where the camera was. Right were Gray's mark was supposed to be, I couldn't see anything. I brought the camera closer to take a closer look and that was when it became a bit clear. It was still there, but it had faded like it was never there. “Oh my God….. the mark Gray forcefully placed on me is fadingggg.” I squealed in excitement as I examined the mark
My breath caught in my throat as his hands roamed my body. For the first time in days, I felt completely alive, like I was burning out from the inside and I wanted the fire to consume me more. My body responded perfectly to his, vibrating at his touch and dripping from its intensity. I could barely feel my lips from how hard he was kissing me but I didn't care as long as he had his tongue down my throat.“Fuck, Azalea… I've missed you so much.” He groaned out the words as he detached his lips from mine, attacking my neck. “We're not in our room yet, baby, anyone can walk in on us.” I cautioned, looking around in the hallway to be sure no one was there. We were just a few steps away from our room, but August didn't need just a few steps to rip my dress off my body. “Who fucking cares? I make the rules here and I can't wait to have you.” I gave up trying to convince him otherwise. If he say he doesn't care then he doesn't, there was no convincing him otherwise. His hands travelled
“I should give you accolades for finding us here, but you don't deserve it. After all, you were offered help.” Gray's voice boomed into my ears as he eyed the guard I had taken into custody days back. He laid on his floor, his life and head detached from his body.“He disappointed me. With all his pride, you'd think he has tolerance.” Gray gnashed his jaw in anger at the hint of how much torture I put his guard through. “Where's Azalea?” His angry face slowly lifts to a prideful glare. My eyebrows dipped into a frown and I instantly knew I wouldn't like the next words that would leave his mouth.“I certainly do not hate to announce it to you that she no longer wants you. She has tasted a dick better than yours.” Anger burned aggressively in my veins and I could think of nothing but to tear him apart. “So why is she not here to tell me herself?” “I guess she got tired of seeing your disgusting face.” “I know Azalea very well to know you're filled with nothing but bullshit. You'
“Get up.” The lady said to me in an impatient tone as she picked out the first in the tent. I ignored her, too drained of energy to move a muscle.“I'm not talking to a deaf person, am I?” She spoke again, glaring at me under her gaze. “Is this how you all are?” I asked in a very low voice. “What nonsense are you saying?”“You wolves, is this how harsh and aggressive you all are? Or this pack just has it specially buried in their blood?”“I have no time for the nonsense you're spitting. The alpha asked me to get you ready and that's what I'm here for. So get up or I'll go tell him that you're throwing a tantrum.”“Prepare me for what? Are we moving again?” The thought of moving further from August alarmed me and for the first time since whose walked into the tent I was interested in what she had to say. “Stop asking me stupid questions and just stand up.” She grabbed me roughly by the arm, pulling me forward. The chains binding me pulled me back painfully, and I cried in pain.“Y