Annalise's POV
My eyes darted toward the gates for the hundredth time today as I tried to keep myself busy with organising the training ground. It was still quite early in the morning. It wasn't the first time he was doing this but that didn't change how furious I felt. I had awakened this morning to see that Nikolai was nowhere to be found, and I knew he didn't have any business meetings because he would have told me. When I didn't find his car as well I knew he had done it again.He would just leave all of a sudden unannounced. Sometimes I wondered if I would keep bothering to try if we weren't blood related. Everything had changed when his mate had died. He had gone from loving and engaging to cold and passive, and I understood why. I wanted to be there for him, we all did. But he pushed everyone away. Sometimes I couldn't recognise the cold-hearted person he had become.But the day Elle had died, I had sworn never to give up on Nikolai, no matterLiyah's POVThe binds on my wrists pierced deeper into my skin as I struggled to sit up, pushing my back harder against the wall. I readied myself for what was in store for me, scared for myself but still not regretting helping that little boy.In the place of my captor, I saw a beautiful woman walk in. Trying to look through my blurred vision, I recognized her as the woman from the day before, Elyan trailing behind her."Get up," She ordered as she got to where I stood. I obeyed. The last thing I wanted was another round of punishment.My ears burned as she looked me over. For some reason I felt so small and comfortable standing next to her intimidating form. A few moments later she motioned Elyan to release the binds, and I gasped from the combination on pain and relief when they fell off."You have orders from our superior to heal one of the members who is wounded. It should be done quickly and by the hour."My bro
Nikolai's POVI quickly lay back down when a sharp pain tore through my head as I tried to stand up. I was aware that my abdomen stung and that I was sweating. I could remember being stabbed with silver. With difficulty I tried to remember the events of the past few hours. I remembered going on that mission to save those people, meeting a strange man, and getting battered by the Monhowl pack.My heart thumped as I thought of the freed werewolves. The strange man had claimed to know where my safehouse was and then I had had no choice but to trust him. I needed to check and make sure they were really safe there, and not just enslaved to a different master.Turning with difficulty, I faced the other presence in the room. Margaret, the Healer of the pack, sat up straight with a panic stricken expression I could not understand."Alpha, thank the goddess you're awake," She said, bowing.I observed her carefully. She looked relieved to
Jonas' POVI landed a swift punch to his jaw before he could finish explaining. I had not been this furious for a long while now, and if this wasn't of utmost importance, I might have enjoyed the rush of anger.He landed to the floor as I landed the second blow, knocking a few teeth out of his mouth."A-alpha w-we didn't expect them to—"Before he could finish I placed all my weight on his chest, pressing down until he couldn't breathe. Still furious, I beckoned the guards. "Heat up the furnace!"Before I was finished talking they had run off to obey my commands. I glared at my gamma who still lay crumpled on the floor.I pulled him to his feet easily. "You had just one job, you incompetent idiot! One job! What kind of idiots do I have around me? Do I have to do every fucking thing myself?!"He whimpered in response and I could feel myself losing it. "Do you have any idea how much that deal was worth,
Nikolai's POVIgnoring the pleas from the Healer and other members of the pack, I drove at full speed to my destination. My open wound still hurt and my bones weren't fully healed, but I needed to check up on those prisoners. I needed to make sure they were safe. If I had been duped by that man, then I would have to track him down and save them from him too.I slowed the car down as I neared the cave. I had built the mansion which was being used as the safehouse in such a location that even though people passed by it every single day they wouldn't notice. I maneuvered in between the large boulders, passing through and killing the engine of my truck. Getting down, I strolled down through the small farm, stopping when I found what I was looking for.I lifted the trap door with ease, carefully making my way down the stairs. I had built the house underground for obvious reasons and so far it was efficient enough.I rang the doorbell and it was immediately ope
Liyah's POVI bit down hard on my bottom lip, my mind replaying the events that had occured in the past few hours. How could I have been so stupid? I wondered. I was so angry with myself that tears threatened to spill out of my eyes. I should have known. The urgency in that lady's tone when she had ordered me up to heal one of them. I should have known from the worry and anger on their faces when they watched the man who lay in the bed.If I had an inkling that he was my captor, only the Goddess knows I would not have laid a finger on him. My chest swelled as I thought about it. Would I really have had the courage to stand them to all those wolves? They would tear me into pieces before the words were out of my mouth.But the fact that he would have died would have been reason enough. At least we would both die and stop all this torture. That would have been far better. A tear dropped from my eye. I was tired, disgusted. What a shameless man. He kidna
Nikolai's POVThe pain piercing through my abdomen as I drove back to the house reminded me of everything that had happened with the prisoner girl. It was almost like everything had been a figment of my imagination. And for a moment I struggled to believe it. My wolf couldn't possibly have spoken. I had been pierced with silver and suffered a concussion so it was only understandable that I'd have hallucinations. So I convinced myself that there was nothing to worry about.But another thing that bothered me was the girl. Why hadn't Jonas made any move? It had been nearly two weeks since I abducted her and still there was no sign of anything. With Jonas having such a huge influence, the news would have spread by now and he was likely to begin wrecking havoc on any one he was suspicious of.The more I thought about it, the more it puzzled me. And I knew it could only be two things. It was either be that he didn't know she was missing, which was impossib
Liyah's POV"Get up," I heard her say, pulling my arm up as she spoke. I hissed from the pain as I quickly scrambled to my feet to face the same beautiful woman from the other day. For a second I was tempted to ask her how the little boy was doing, but I knew that wouldn't go down well so I bit my tongue and trained my eyes at my feet as she observed me. I tried to remember if I had done anything I wasn't supposed to. My heart skipped a beat as I wondered if they had found out the Healer woman had been seeing me. I just hoped she wasn't in any sort of trouble."Can you cook?"My eyes shot up in surprise as I dared to look up at her scowling form to see if she was really talking to me. That was such a random and unexpected question."Well, uh...yes I can." I replied still a bit startled.She grabbed my arm almost immediately, already leading me to the door. "The person who cooks for the omegas is under the weather at the moment. So you are going to take over
Nikolai's POVI had been eyeing the pile of samosas the whole time. I couldn't remember the last time I had had samosas. As I picked one and tossed it into my mouth almost moaning from how good it tasted, the table went silent.I looked up in suspicion, wondering what had happened. I could see the pack members suddenly become intent on observing their food. They had been arguing and cackling a few seconds ago. Deciding I didn't care, I tossed three more of the snacks into my mouth."We haven't had this in a long time," I commented. "And they never tasted this good either."I could feel their eyes on me. I never struck up conversation anymore because I honestly didn't feel like it. But I don't know what came over me today."Yeah it is. I guess the prisoner girl is good at a lot of things," I heard Margaret say.My jaw stopped working halfway on my sixth snack. I slowly turned to face Margaret who sat at my right side, hoping I had heard incorrectly.
EPILOGUEThe black-haired man who sat on a large ottoman fidgeting quickly sprang to his feet when he saw a middle-aged woman appear from the room directly opposite him. He had been wiping his clammy palms from time to time throughout his stay outside the room. At intervals he would shut his eyes in a silent prayer to the Goddess. His heart leaped in fear when she solemnly began to take off her gloves, and with his heart in his mouth, he waited for her to speak. But instead, her lips parted in a wide grin. "It's done. You can see them now."He raked a hand through his hair, smiling and then leaning in to accept the hug she was offering. "Jeez, Margaret. I was scared for a moment there."She only gave another chuckle. "Go on, they're waiting for you."He nodded shakily, walking into the room. His eyes first flew to the frail-looking woman laid out on the bed. She opened her eyes weakly when he walked in, smiling as she saw him. "Baby..." He whispered, quickly moving to her side. He t
Liyah's POVI tightened my arm over Nikolai's torso, leaning into him and not wanting to let go. I still felt eternally grateful to have him standing by my side alive and well. His wounds had been so bad that he had fallen unconscious for days. Margaret and I had to work day and night to treat him, mixing concoctions and applying them on him and the other man he had asked us to bring back with him. He still hadn't told us anything about the strange man. His wounds were nearly fatal, ten times worse than the ones Nikolai had sustained. I didn't know who he was but I was praying he would be okay. Nikolai chuckled and it sounded like music to my ears. It felt good to hear his laughter again. "Li, I know you love me and that you're happy to have me back, but now you've got me thinking you're planning to send me back into a coma."I laughed, loosening my hold on him. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I touched you or even smelled your hair? Let me have my moment," I joked, pu
Nikolai's POVAs I waited with my eyes shut for a final blow that never came, it all happened at once. One second Jonas was staring at something on the other side of the garden, the next he had slumped to the floor, blood gushing from the hole in his forehead. Still in shock, I stared at Jonas' unmoving body on the floor through my heavy lids, and then I looked to the other end of the garden. That's when I saw her. Liyah dropped the gun from her hand, racing towards me in a split second. "Nikolai..." She breathed, placing a hand behind my head for support. "Drew and Annalise will be here soon, okay? I mindlinked them already. Just hold on..."I smiled, feeling my busted lip ache, but I didn't care. Liyah was here...leaning over me and smoothening out my hair. She was here...she was alive. And Jonas was dead. It felt like a dream. Everything had happened so fast, I wasn't even sure it had happened. My chest was burning, and everything was beginning to get blurry. But that was okay.
Nikolai's POVI could feel the heavy swelling in my right eye as I slowly regained consciousness. I knew I had only been knocked out for a few minutes but I could feel my head spinning. I clutched at the grass, trying to pull myself to my feet but my hands were too shaky. I fell back heavily onto the grass, expelling sharp breaths as my chest started to burn. A piercing scream made me look in the direction of the sound and I looked up to see Jonas digging his fangs into the other man's side. I gasped in shock, trying once more to stand to my feet. I had almost forgotten that the man called Gabriel had come to my rescue. As I tried to crawl over there, I saw Jonas ram his fists into Gabriel's face...over and over again until he finally stilled, his damaged face buried into grass as he fell from Jonas' grip.No, no, no."No!" I yelled, grabbing Jonas' attention to me. As long as he was yet to snap his neck off his shoulders, there was still hope. Maybe he could be saved. Jonas swung ar
Liyah's POVI counted my steps as Barbara and I circled each other, everything I had learned during training resurfacing in my head. I knew she was waiting for the perfect chance to strike, but for now she wanted to stall, make me wait before she came at me. I knew she was confident...the glint in her eyes and the way she was walking calmly as though she were strolling told me she was. And I knew it was because she didn't think I stood a chance against her. She didn't know I had a wolf now. That, was my advantage. She was confident enough that she thought I would be dead in a heartbeat. But she wanted to take her time, taunt me and toss me around before she could really enjoy tearing me into pieces. Which was why I played along. Since she didn't know I was a full werewolf now, why tell her? I would only wait. Wait for her to make a mistake. Then I would play my hand. "Oh, step sister, this will have to be the most interesting thing that has happened in this pack for a long time," S
Nikolai's POV'Nikolai?' My heart skipped a beat when Anna's voice filled my head in a mindlink. I stopped in my tracks, my breath caught in my throat, praying silently that she was about to deliver good news.'I can hear you Anna, what's up? Did you…' I paused, not knowing what exactly to ask. My insides churned as I waited for her response.'We've found Liyah, she's alright.' I felt my heart muscles loosen at the sound of those words, my clenched fists relaxed and I heaved a sigh of relief. Thank the goddess. Liyah was alive. She was safe. Everything would be alright now. 'Okay. That's very good.' I breathed'Drew says our soldiers have already rounded more than half of the Monhowl pack, a lot are dead and the few who are wounded are surrendering.' She sounded in my ears.I scoffed. So these were the best fighters of Monhowl. Pathetic.'Okay. I'll need you to help him gather all the prisoners, maybe into their dungeon or something then wait for my command.' I said and broke the m
Liyah's POVAs I sprinted out of the dungeons, I checked for any sign of life in the cells I passed, but there was no one present. I knew that most times Nanny Maria was either in the cells or in the servant quarters depending on which mood Mira was in. I needed to find her. She was the only member of this pack that I cared about. As I made my way up the passages where I knew she usually was, I prayed that she was still alive and well. I could feel the blood pump in my ears as I kicked the door down and stepped in. My heart fell. The room was empty. No, no. Where else could she be? "Maria!" I yelled into the deserted room. But there was no one around. My head spinning with different thoughts, I held onto the door to steady myself. Maria was alive. She is alive. And I was going to find her. I repeated the mantra in my head until I began to feel better. As I walked out the door, I heard someone sniff. I froze in my steps. It was short and ever so light. But I was sure I heard somethi
Nikolai's POVAnna held my hand in a light squeeze as we waited for Drew to arrive. He had already mindlinked us saying that he was close by. I nodded at her, understanding all she was trying to communicate to me. But I knew I would not be able to relax until Liyah was standing unharmed by my side. I signaled the pack to hide in the shadows as we heard footsteps approaching.Anna and I did the same. A few seconds later, a figure clad in a cloak slipped into the courtyard. My wolf growled but I held back. We needed to be calculative. As soon as he was in the middle of the hall, I stepped out. The spy staggered back in shock. As he made to escape, Drew pushed at him from behind, dealing him with a deathly blow before he could recover from the shock. As I walked toward the man who lay on the floor squirming and begging, I shifted to my elbow. He played a huge part in Liyah's abduction. He was part of the reason why she was not here with me. Kicking him up in the air, I held him forward
Drew's POVFear gripped my insides as I walked out of the study. I couldn't help but continuously blame myself. Why did we leave them both alone? We should have been around, at least we would have been able to stop them before they went too far. But we didn't. And now Nikolai would not stop blaming himself for everything. We were all at fault...we should have been more watchful. If a spy had slipped into our territory unnoticed, it was because we had all let our guard down whilst making preparations for the wedding and the engagement party. I tried to hold myself steady, looking in Nikolai's direction every now and then to make sure he was okay. I couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. As we halted at the entrance of the hall where he had ordered every single pack member to assemble, Nikolai stepped forward. He had already masked his expression as that of anger, and I marveled at how well he was keeping it together."A couple of minutes ago, I found out that my would-be Luna has be