RayneThe war with GrayLeaf only ended with their Alpha’s death. It was Max himself who killed him. There was no way around it. He never believed it was Veronica’s doing, and when he found Albert dead, he assumed Max was the culprit. There were many casualties. My father lost men he trusted. AmberMane lost some of their own, the biggest loss being Victor. I have to admit that I thought they would hate and blame me for his death because I most certainly blamed myself, but nothing between us changed apart from the loss we now shared. I didn’t know Victor as well as I could’ve, but he’d been a friend to me, and he had helped me make myself stronger. I wish things had gone differently. I wish he didn’t have to die. Things took a long time to settle down after the war. GrayLeaf collapsed completely. The remaining members of their pack became rogues. I offered to help them but Max said it wasn’t the right choice to make. A lot of the people who remained were widows and children of the f
Rayne Reaching MoonWater fills me with excitement and dread. The last time I was here, we were still in the middle of the war. It was Max’s idea for me to leave and go to Iron until things cooled down. I agreed because frankly, I was tired of the bloodshed. I felt I had nothing left to do but go away, and so that’s what I did. I haven’t been back since. Max and I have been communicating with each other but not as often. Our communication is mostly nonverbal. I can’t hear his words in my head or even send a message across; it’s more of a swapping of emotions. This has gotten stronger over the weeks, and now that I’m here, closer to him, I feel the bond’s strength. I exit the carriage and near the gate. I inform the guards of who I am but they don’t ask me to wait for them to call someone. They open the gates for me instantly. I walk through them, leaving the carriage behind. Everything looks as I remember, pre-war. This has to be a good sign. I continue walking until I reach the f
RayneAs I scrub the floors of the Grand Hall clean, I ask myself an important yet heartbreaking question: Will I ever get out of here? From the time of my birth, I've been a slave. A slave to the MoonWater pack. I've never had the opportunity to be anything else. My mother was a slave, which makes me a slave, too. She wasn't born a slave, but that doesn't matter here. They don't care that she was sold into slavery by her own mate—my father—to pay off a debt he had with some ruthless men. They never took pity on her. Not once.I, along with the other workers, have been up since four in the morning to get the house ready for the big event. There will be over a hundred guests from all the packs in the area and they all have to be fed. Rooms will have to be provided. The house can comfortably accommodate a hundred guests. It used to be called a 'palace' back in the day, but things had changed significantly since the old Alpha died. His son is now in charge of the pack and he felt that
Rayne“Come on," the woman says while closing her hand around my wrist. I try to ask her what she meant by that but she doesn't seem to be listening to me. With a sharp tug, she pulls me into the room. The door is closed behind me. I look back at it, confused. She pushes me onto a chair and says to the man with the gold eyeliner, "Pass me those brushes, will you?"I scowl. What is she talking about? Why do I have to be seated here? Why does the Alpha have to see me walking down the aisle? I try to remember if the woman who gave me the garment bag gave me any other instruction. She didn't. A brief glance around shows me that there are four people in the room in total. The woman I just talked to, the man with the gold eyeliner, another woman who is plumper and shorter than the woman who handled me, and a tall, slim man who's wearing all black. His hair is in his eyes, and his green eyes are almost piercing through me. He has lines on his cheeks, but he isn't an old man. He's just too
RayneI open my eyes. There's too much light this time and I put a hand up to shield my eyes. I can't open them all the way, not yet anyway. There's a ringing in my ears that doesn't go away even after I scratch my throat. My head hurts and inside of me, there's a rumbling. Like a storm. It isn't hunger. It's something else, something that makes me feel on edge and terrified. When my eyes have finally adjusted to the light, I look around me and see a strange room. The kind of room I shouldn't be in. I'm lying on an enormous poster bed with red covers and sheets. Directly across from me, there's a large dresser with candles and a vase with fresh flowers. The floor is carpeted, and the windows are open, hence why there's so much light in the room. I sit up hurriedly, ignoring the spinning in my head. I rub my face with my hands and keep my eyes closed until the spinning stops. When I open my eyes, I see that I'm still wearing the white dress. The right sleeve is bloodied, and when
RayneDenise brought me a fresh set of clothes that was in my old drawer along with everything else that belonged to me. Granted, my clothes are all plain and not at all suitable for my 'new position' as she told me, but at least they're better than the bloodied mating dress. Besides, I don't think anyone will care about what I'm wearing. I don't even want to think about being the Luna of MoonWater. Once I'm dressed in my old and comfortable clothes, I sit on the bed and hug my knees. I'm deathly afraid of leaving this bedroom. I'm afraid of coming across people who will openly judge me for what I did. I'm afraid of the Betas. The First Beta is scary because of his strictness and lack of mercy but it's the Second Beta who truly terrifies me. I wonder what he thinks of me now. He was waiting for me and even looking for me the day of the mating, so he undoubtedly knows what happened. What's going through his mind? I bet he's even angrier than before. Now, I'm not so easily accessibl
RayneI’m dressed in Denise’s best clothes. She might not think they’re better than what I was wearing before but they are. I twirl around in front of the mirror in my bedroom and take in my appearance. Her ‘best clothes’ consist of a black dress with a tight bodice and flared skirt. It’s presentable—that can’t be disputed—but it puts a little too much emphasis on my cleavage. She has also helped me put my hair up in a loose chignon and my neck is fully exposed. She has also spritzed some perfume on me. She claps her hands and says, “Wonderful. You look like a different woman! All you need is to put on a little weight to fill out your hips and you’ll be perfect!”I don’t agree with her. I don’t think this dress is appropriate at all. “Can I get a shawl or a coat? Something to cover up a little bit more?”“Nonsense!” she says, waving her hand at me. “This is perfect. This is an outfit worthy of the Luna of MoonWater.”“Denise, my circumstances are different. You know that.”“Nonsense
Rayne Denise looks at the damage that was done on her dress first. Then, she looks at my face.There is no point trying to hide the black eye that the Second Beta gave me as punishment for...I don't know. I guess it's everything. He hated me when I was a slave but he hates me even more now. I thought that being 'Luna' would protect me from him. I was wrong. I take the dress off and dress into my old clothes. Thankfully, he didn't hit any other part of my body. He did, however, tear at the dress with his claws. He ruined the straps. I'm not even sure if she can fix them. "Did the Alpha do this to you?" she finally asks. "No," I say, staring at my lap. "The Second Beta did it."Denise frowns and lets the dress drop to the ground. "Rayne, you can't be serious! The Second Beta?"I look away from her. "Don't tell me that you don't know he targets all of the worker girls. Because if you do, I won't believe you.""I didn't plan on denying it," she says stiffly. "You know as well as I