Before I could intervene, Ace released Derek and he crashed to the floor, coughing and struggling to catch his breath. Ace turned away, his face hard as he cussed under his breath. I reached to touch him but my hand hung halfway, as I couldn't bring myself to. What if he doesn't want me to comfort him? Or he pushes me away? Ace turned to Derek who had just gotten his steady breathing back, "The Crimson Pack must continue to supply gas to my pack due to the agreement. If not, I will not sit back and stay silent. Tell Jeffrey I said this. Unless he seeks war with my men, your part of the agreement stands." Derek was stunned by Ace's utterances, "You broke your part of the deal-"I don't break a deal. Taking back what is already mine isn't breaking a deal." Derek scoffed, "You do have some guts openly breaking a rule that guides the werewolf society. The rule of trust. The rules state that a deal is a deal no matter what or who is involved, the Alpha rule of the underworld. I though
For the next few days, I was busy touring the pack house, getting myself familiarized with the pack's business, and getting enlightened and accustomed to my role as Luna. It was a fun activity but also challenging, especially since I had no experience in matters of such. As I was strolling through the exterior of the pack house, checking on the servants as they carried out their duties, I noticed Mira Tate cleaning at a corner with some other servants.Her back view was all I saw but the familiarity was unforgettable. She was being punished with her family by Ace for burning me with soup, and they were all serving the Ocean Howls Pack now for the rest of their lives. A smirk met my lips as I approached them, the bitter memory of her abuses appearing on my mental screen one after the other. She turned and noticed me before I even got to her and her eyes turned cold, filled with spite and hatred. I kept my emotions in check as more memories poured in, almost making me crash to a sto
...After my satisfying yet emotion-wrecking encounter with Mira, I continued my patrol in the pack house. It was a nice way to clear my head, especially after Mira's words that left some pieces of regret in me. I realized she was right about one thing, I couldn't avenge Natalie's death. Derek was a powerful wolf, he had almost as much power and affluence as Ace, and making a move at him would leave me at the losing end. I paused when I sighted some shrubs, Natalie's favorite flower was lined up to decorate a small cemented demarcation, I crouched and uprooted a daffodil, not minding the dirt on it that might soil my palm. "Luna.." a maid called, stopping me as I made to sniff the plant. "It looks dirty," she added when I grimaced at her for the interruption. She offered a napkin, coming to take the flower from me so she could wipe it. "Leave it," I stopped her. "It's important to me." Despite her warning, I took a big sniff of the flower, my mind reliving my time with Natalie.
Ace left me in the room to get dressed, we were going out for dinner and he already made reservations. Georgia helped me get dressed and fixed my jewelry in the right places. I had chosen to wear an evening gown that came with velvet gloves. The green dress was a trumpet-shaped silky material with single straps that exposed almost my arms. The neckline was pretty low and exposed a tiny amount of my cleavage, the bodice was tightly fitted and the skirt had me constantly reaching to grab them. I was getting used to this kind of wear and learning how to perfectly walk in them and I could say I was doing really good at it. A slight makeover was done on my face, at my request, and my feet were cladded in fancy slippers with silver designs. "How do I look?" I asked Georgia even though I already knew her response. "Perfect," she beamed. She dismissed the stylists on my behalf and picked my fur jacket, covering me with it. "Don't forget to put it on, it's a lot colder outside," she adv
After dinner which ended with Ace continuously giving me the 'princess treatment', we head back to the pack house.I had just gotten dressed in my nightdress, ready to retire for the day when Ace returned, he met me spraying the daffodil I had a maid bring to our room. I felt his arms snake around me, touching against the silky material to feel my thighs as his breath fanned my neck. I turned to him, wallowing in his embrace. "I've been thinking of something. Can we talk?" I asked, tilting my head to stare at his face. "Sure," he agreed. "Let's sit." His forehead was already etched with concern even before I could speak. "I've decided to use my healing ability to serve the pack. I can work at the pack's general hospital and assist the doctors. It'll make their work easier and keep me busy at the same time working for the pack," I revealed to him. There was a twitch in his expression, a twitch that left me disappointed as I could already guess what would come after it. Ace's han
...The next morning, I woke up with an ache in my core and my stomach grumbling from hunger. Feeling lazy, I tossed on the bed, enjoying the feel of the silk sheet on my naked skin. I looked beside me and just like I thought, Ace wasn't there. We had snuggled up all night, his comfort was the best I've ever had. I could still feel the effect of his deep thrusts and stretch in my core, despite his massage the previous night. I looked around and my gaze landed on the clock, I realized it was past eight and I had slept in, but I felt lazy so I didn't bother trying to stand up. I thought of all the things I would be doing indoors, and only a few seemed fun to me. I preferred to be outside but I knew Ace wouldn't appreciate that, and since he hadn't concluded our discussion last night, I didn't want to piss him off. But I wasn't going to accept his desire to have me locked up in the house like a prisoner. The only difference was that I would have the right to delicious foods and people
"What the hell are you doing here?!" I yanked at her in anger. The mere sight of her was enough to wring out the bitter memories, pouring them into my thoughts in a rush. I felt the effect all over my body, her brutality and torture. Like a book being flipped, her abuses faced me one after the other. My past life unwantedly revisiting my memory, reminding me of how much hate I bore for the pack that birthed me. Why do they keep coming into my life? Why wouldn't they fuckin let me be, and enjoy the glory of not coming across their horrendous faces? Didn't they call me cursed and unwanted? So why do they keep appearing in my affairs when I'm no longer involved with them?"I asked you a goddamn question!" I thundered at her when she said nothing, leaving my position to storm towards her. Silence fell over the living room, the workers lowering their heads and avoiding my gaze. Before I could reach Brittany, she fell on her knees, bowing submissively at my feet. I paused, taken abac
...I fell on the bed, unleashing the fear in me as tears poured from my eyes. I sprang to my feet and began pacing the room, my mind disturbed.Above the sour feelings Brittany's presence brought was anger. Anger at Ace for betraying me like this. Did he not know of my experience in the Crimson Pack? That Brittany's torture almost led to my death? Or did he feel nonchalant about it and assume I was fine with having her around? That experience is my for-life scar! He knew all about it.I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, my mind held rage and so many questions that I needed answers to. I decided to find Ace. Wherever he was, I would find him and fetch answers from him. I stormed towards the door and was ready to throw it open when it was pushed open and Ace walked in. I stepped back on sighting him, fury clouding my thoughts as my palm tightly fisted. "What's wrong?" He asked with a grimace."What's wrong?" I repeated coldly, "You let Brittany into the pack house yet you
-My fingers ran through the gemstones, a grin resting on my face. "This is forever beautiful," I cried, letting him twirl me around gently until I was facing him. "You sure you don't want this one instead?" He asked, referring to the expensive gold necklace on his palm, seated in a jewelry box. "That one is a bit old.""I'm sure," I beamed. "It was through this necklace that I was able to know that you were alive. I was ready to give up to Ryker. I had prepared to die after he killed the warriors, but this gave me a reason to live."As I spoke, I remembered the Rogue maid who had lost her life for revealing Ace's situation to me. Bless her soul. I was alive because of her too. "To me, this is the most beautiful jewelry in the world, and it is important to me because it is important to you, too."Ace nodded, his eyes lighting up. I could sense that he had briefly recalled a part of his past. It was the day of the coronation for Ace's new position and we were in our room after get
-My thumping heartbeat decelerated as I stared at Derek's lifeless body, my eyes filling up with tears of relief and gratefulness. Ace dug his claws into Derek's chest, uprooting his heart and signifying the end of the war. Like a whiff, all the memories and history I had with Derek raced through my mind. "It's finally over," I heard Acantha sigh, and the tears dropped from my eyes. It was really over. Derek was dead! It was over for good. My nose crinkled in disbelief, my eyes furrowing as the reality settled within me. My gaze shifted to Ace and despite the loud chants and celebration, I could hear the beating of my heart clearly. Despite the amount of people around, my eyes could somehow only see Ace. Amongst the crowd hovering around him, his gaze found me, too, and before I could burst, I swooped into his arms. He caught me easily and I buried my face into his chest, releasing my emotions shamelessly. Two of our greatest enemies were now gone for good!Ace nuzzled his face
-Ace held my hand, stopping me from getting any closer to Derek. "This is not over, I promise you," he gritted, his eyes sending daggers at me.We watched quietly as he contested with the pain, trying to subdue it. He attempted to get up several times, cussing violently every time he failed; his eyes were filled with rage and determination as he continuously tried to move. After a final hectic attempt, he crashed to the ground and burst into laughter. "It's funny how easily fooled you can be, Ace," he cackled, blood dripping slightly from the side of his lip.I figured he was trying to buy time and gather his strength again so he could take us unaware but before I could act, Ace charged at him. "No, it's funny how you think you can stall me while you buy some fuckin time," Ace grabbed him up roughly. "Why?" Derek scoffed, feigning strength even though he was limping. "You're scared I'd beat your ass up if I wasn't in this situation?""We both know what the truth is-"Then why d
-Ace glared at Derek, making sure his body obstructed mine."You will have to go through me first to have her!"Derek's steps faltered, and he seemed even more angry. "If that is what you want then I shall do as you please and get rid of you.""You seem to use your mouth a lot, don't you?" Ace scoffed. "I use it better, too; you can ask your little mate to tell you what I mean."I put my palm in Ace's, ensuring he held me, and preventing him from rashly going at Derek. Derek was trying hard to provoke him and it made me wonder what he was up to. "We had a little fun while you were out there in the wilderness, struggling to survive."I opened my mouth to speak and vehemently curse at Derek for lying but Ace beat me to it. "She must not have liked it as much as you think seeing how she still tricked and escaped from you. She came back to me, that should tell you a lot of things.""Still she betrayed you!""Oh Derek," Ace breathed out, "you don't get it, do you? What matters is whos
-We stood in the open, ensuring that the passage to our secret safehouse was out of sight. Everyone took their position, mine was beside Ace, as we heard the enemy's footsteps approaching. I held my breath, trying not to squirm under Ace's hold. I knew he would at once detect my discomfort and send me back in. I didn't want that; I wanted to face Derek; I burned to see him fall with my own eyes. Derek showed up first, leading the warriors of his pack; he growled and roared as they approached us, arrogantly announcing his presence. Ace moved me to stand behind him and I stayed without arguing. I took the chance to fix my discomfort, ensuring that I showed no weakness in front of Derek. "What a surprise, it is indeed true that you survived. Fuckin luck," Derek mocked, scoffing at Ace. "Well, it's too bad because this time, you're going to the land of the dead, and there is no escaping it.""If I were you, I'd do more fighting and less talking. Did you forget you're in my territory?"
-With Henry's suggestion, we swiftly gathered around. He had already drawn out a quick plan on how we were going to face Derek and his goons, and he discussed it with Ace. Inputting Acantha's suggestion, we came to a conclusion on how to face our attackers. Ace stepped out and dished the instructions and everyone immediately set to work. Leaving out the pups, younger and ailing wolves aside, the rest of us came together to be grouped in smaller forms. There were many hidden parts of the Ocean Howls pack that the Crimson pack or any other pack was not aware of. Ace had reconstructed the country after his father's defeat in a way that we would mostly have the upper hand against the enemy. That was a big advantage for us. Ace regrouped the warriors into ten smaller groups and individually gave them a goal, coordinating each group separately. Some groups were focused on studying maps of the Ocean Howls Pack territory and securing strategic locations for refuge in case our attackers
Ellen-"Our only way in now is through the emergency back gate; hopefully, through it, we can arrive at the pack house in time before Derek's men reach it," Ace revealed. He was a lot calmer now. "Who else is aware of this entrance?" Acantha asked, being cautious. "Only Henry and I know about it. Out of safety, we didn't reveal it to the pack members yet. I constructed it as an emergency exit for situations like this, there is also a safe house behind it. I believe Henry must have evacuated the members to the safe house," Ace spoke. From the tensity of his breathing, one could tell how furious he was. The situation had gotten chronic. If Acantha hadn't stopped him at the time she did, from running after the warriors, things could have taken a drastic twist. I didn't want to imagine what could have happened. Ace led us to the emergency exit, and we walked as quickly as we could. If we could arrive before Derek's men, we would be able to prepare ourselves beforehand.
"Your bravery reminds me of your father," Acantha voiced after being quiet for a while. "No matter how hard I try to overlook it, I see his face when I look at you. How did he die?"I lowered my gaze, talking about my parents had always been a sensitive topic for me. It was something I didn't fancy discussing with anyone. It was the only topic that could break an Alpha like me. Georgia was the only one who had successfully managed to get a word out of me concerning it, and it was probably because she experienced the torture with me. "I'm sorry for bringing that up, it's fine if you don't want to talk about it," Acantha apologized. "No, it's okay," I bit my lower lip, making my expression stoic. I needed to get over it, and also build my relationship with Acantha. For Ellen's sake, I wanted to do this. "I was twelve when he was murdered, he died trying to protect me after we were attacked unaware. My mother was killed on the same day, she was raped to death, and I was made to watc
-"Ace, I-I can't. My powers are gone," Ellen vibrated, her hands shaking out of fear, her eyes teary. I glanced at the beasts who had already reached us and I pushed Ellen to my side so my body was facing them.She started to shake her head, trying to stop me from my thoughtless decision but I was hell-bent on protecting her. With her powers gone, it was even more dangerous for her to be close to these beasts. I would rather die than watch her face that fate. In despair, I prepared for whatever was coming, determined to fight even to death. Just as they growled, attempting to jump at us, I felt a familiar presence and her voice echoed through the cave when she spoke. "Acantha!" I heard Ellen exclaim in excitement. I turned to find Acantha emerging towards us, holding a staff in her hand that radiated a great amount of power. The strength that exuded out of her alone was enough to cease the beasts' steps. Calmly analyzing the situation, she stepped in front of me, facing the bea