Elara POVI stood in the shadows, peering through the slightly ajar door. Jealousy festered as I saw them together. Darius and Liana.The sight burned into me like a fresh wound. He was holding her, his hands brushing over her skin like she was the most delicate treasure. When he kissed her, it wasn’t just a kiss—it was possessive, raw, and full of emotion. His eyes, dark with intensity, said everything I didn’t want to see.How could he? How could she?Then I opened the door on purpose. He had shielded her from view by tightly hugging her, wrapping his arms around her naked body.My blood boiled, my fists clenched tightly at my sides. The room felt suffocating, the air heavy with their connection. It was undeniable now; Darius wasn’t just protective of her. He cared for her—deeply. The bond between them wasn’t just about duty or survival; it was on the verge of getting real. And that reality clawed at my insides like a beast.“Oh, I’m sorry!” I said loudly, gasping, hoping that they
Liana POV I was feeling so much better that night. The tension of the past few days had vanished after Darius made me see stars, and I just wanted to sleep. As I settled into bed, a faint rustling noise caught my attention. At first, I thought it was the wind outside. But then, I saw it—a snake slithering out from the shadows, its fangs glinting in the dim light.How did a snake find its way in my room? I glanced at the windows, which were all closed. And I always closed the door of my room when I went out. Unless—unless someone put it here deliberately. As werewolves we could heal fast and were more powerful than humans, but a snake bite could push us towards our death. We avoided places where we sniffed snakes. It was a universal knowledge and none of us played with things like it. So where the hell did this one come from? I screamed, my body frozen with fear as the snake lunged toward me. I barely managed to roll off the bed, grabbing a nearby chair to shield myself. My heart pou
Liana POV The week leading to the ball was a whirlwind of activity, filled with both excitement and anticipation. Along with Kaden, Elara had taken charge of the preparations. She left no detail overlooked. Kaden would appreciate her efforts and thank her for helping him often. But I noticed his reluctant behavior towards her. Like he thanked her but it was cold. Somehow, she had stopped sparring with me verbally and had reduced our interaction whenever we met. Maybe she was tired of it. Moreover, I didn’t have time. Darius was keeping me updated about my father’s and Rowan’s movements. Since I knew about my pack, I helped him in forming the strategy. No one asked me to help them with the ball and so I stayed away, fearing people’s judgmental gazes. The pack buzzed with chatter about the event—who would attend, what they would wear, and most importantly, how spectacular it would be. Even with my uneasy feelings toward Elara, I couldn’t deny her knack for hosting grand events. It se
Liana POV As I stepped back, struggling to process what I’d just heard, Darius turned to me, his face a mixture of anger and disbelief. “Liana, this isn’t true,” he said firmly, his voice low but urgent. “I never agreed to this. I don’t know where these rumors are coming from.”Before I could respond, Elara appeared, her face streaked with tears. Without hesitation, she threw her arms around Darius, hugging him tightly. “I knew you’d propose to me one day,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion.Darius stiffened, his eyes locking with mine over her shoulder. “Elara, stop this,” he said, his tone cold.But she clung to him, ignoring his words. The scene felt odd, and the crowd’s murmurs grew louder, out of excitement.Before the tension could escalate further, the music began. Elara seized the opportunity, grabbing Darius by the arm. “Dance with me, Alpha Darius,” she said with soft eyes, pulling him toward the center of the room.I stood frozen, watching as every pack member pre
Chapter 26Liana POV I couldn’t help but feel happy that even if it was a few moments, I was the one Darius had chosen. My emotions were like that of a little girl who stole a candy. The clearing near the temple was alive with quiet reverence as the ritual began. The Shaman handed me a small bowl filled with sacred herbs. He whispered instructions to me on how to offer them to the spirits. I stepped forward, feeling the weight of every eye on me. The altar glowed softly in the fire light, its surface covered with offerings from the pack. As I scattered the herbs into the ceremonial fire, fragrant smoke curled upward into the night sky. My hands trembled slightly. I was never involved in such ceremonies in my father’s pack because he thought of me as a weak wolf who was nothing else other than to serve the purpose of being a breeder. Rowan’s breeder to be specific. That is if I lived. Shoving those thoughts from my mind, I focused on the Shaman’s chants, echoing his words as best a
Liana POV Surprise flickered on Nero’s face for a moment but he quickly masked it when he saw how Darius approached me. However, bowing to Darius, he left without looking at me. “What was he talking about?” Darius asked me.“He asked if I was interested in you?” He stared at me intensely. “And what did you say?” “You approached me before I could reply.”Darius chuckled. He held my hand, and danced to the music until we both were tired as hell. Then he took me to a private booth set up for the Alpha. Pulling out a chair for me, he said, “Let’s eat!” I chuckled as the omegas started serving us food. Darius made sure that my plate was filled with food at all times. “You really wanna get me fat!” I commented. “Well, not fat, but curvier,” he replied, giving me more dark chocolate pastry. I shot him a glare. He coughed his laugh and added, “There’ll be more of you, darling.” And I burst out laughing. We weren’t a couple in a traditional way, but we were behaving just like that. It w
Liana POV The words froze me in place, my mind reeling with disbelief. Rowan? Here? It made no sense. My breath quickened as I tried to process the information. Rowan knew I was here? How? I knew from Darius that he and my father were planning something. But why didn’t he contact Darius first to seek a resolve? Why attack this pack without first contacting any of us? A wave of unease washed over me. How had he even found out I was here? Did someone betray my presence? And if so, who? The questions swirled in my mind, each one more unsettling than the last.I shook my head, struggling to make sense of it. Rowan was aggressive, yes, but an outright attack without communication felt... desperate and reeked of betrayal inside the Midnight Claw pack. My chest tightened with worry. “Where’s Darius?” I demanded, my voice sharp with urgency. If Rowan had come for me, Darius might already be in danger.Kaden hesitated for a moment before answering. “He’s already out there, leading our warri
Liana POV Rowan’s warriors had underestimated us by attacking us in a surprise move, but they paid the price. When the last of them fled into the forest, the tension in the air finally began to ease.Along with Darius, we all moved to the tree line where we would shift and wear robes. However, instead of going there, Darius’s wolf nudged me to follow the line of the tree with him. I wanted to resist, tired and wounded, but he sat on his fours, asking me silently to sit on him even though he was so injured. I couldn’t resist the temptation and sat on him, and he carried me deep inside the forest to an unknown place. Surprise flickered through me because we should’ve gone to the pack doctors and not come in the wild. Wasn’t this going to make us susceptible to more attacks? However, he stopped in a clearing and lowered himself for me to get down. As soon as I got down, I saw a bunch of omegas and Dr. Jody who had seen me earlier at the pack.Darius shifted back into his human form, hi
Liana POVI looked at Darius who stood up and said, “The trust and power you have entrusted in me is overwhelming.” He looked at me, his eyes softening. “I will take care of my Luna and make sure that I measure up to her standards, not just for her pack, but also mine. Thank you, Liana, for entrusting me with this opportunity.” Another round of cheers erupted and somehow on the inside I knew that this was the best decision I took. As the council members dispersed, I could sense a pulse of excitement amongst them. There were a lot of changes that had to be made, and I knew that under the able leadership of my husband, everything was going to turn out beautifully. With Rowan gone and Victor behind the bars, I felt like the dark era ended. Once the members were gone, we talked to Kaden and Kaycee for long, giving them proper instructions on what to do next. Both of them were to remain Betas of the united pack. “We will be leaving as soon as the overtaking ceremony is done,” Darius an
Liana POVRowan grunted in pain, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he struggled against Darius’s grip but Darius was unrelenting.“This is for everything you’ve done,” Darius snarled, and his voice carried a promise.Rowan looked at Darius, his eyes bloodshot and blood covering half his face. In a barely audible voice, between shallow breaths, he said, “How was it to mark the woman who was given to me? How was it to see my mark on her?” He let out a manic laughter even in his state. “You bastard!” Darius shouted, squeezing his throat. “Liana was never yours! She is my mate.” He laughed again, his shoulders bouncing. He grabbed Darius’s wrists in his hands. “Her father gave her to me, and you plundered what belonged to me.” “Are you fucking nuts?” Darius said through gritted teeth. “Elara is your mate. She is fucking pregnant with your pup.” “That bitch didn’t deserve me. Yeah, she was a good fuck!” “Rowan!” Nero yelled. “You crossed your line.” He scoffed. “Not me. Go say tha
Liana POV Darius and Nero had come last night and after Darius heard everything from me, he was sure that it was the only way to find him, to finally put an end to this nightmare. “We are going to attack him as soon as possible,” he said. “Do you think Teri can help us?” After that I talked to her and she agreed. She was hesitant at first but when I told her how Rowan affected so many of us, she was determined to track him down for us. Teri walked ahead of us in the forest. Despite the terror Teri was feeling, she led us back to the place where she had last seen Rowan. There was a team of over fifty warriors following us. As she walked through the woods, Kaden and Kaycee were behind her like shadows. Her hands trembled slightly, but she didn’t turn back. Occasionally, Kaden would hold her hand and as if on an instinct, she would stop trembling. As a human she couldn’t feel the bond so much, but it was just a matter of time. Darius had wanted me to stay behind. He had argued that
Liana POV Suddenly, I felt strange.For the past few days, I had been feeling… different. It was just exhaustion from the attack. My body was still healing, and the stress of everything made sense.Next day, I woke up feeling dizzy. The moment I sat up, the room spun for a second before settling. I placed a hand on my forehead and took deep breaths.Darius got up and held me in his arms. “You okay?”I forced a small smile. “Yeah. Just tired.”His golden eyes studied me carefully. “You didn’t eat much last night.”“I wasn’t hungry.” That wasn’t completely true. The smell of the food had made my stomach twist in the worst way. I didn’t tell him that, though.Darius leaned down to brush his lips against my forehead. “You should rest more.”“I will,” I lied. I was feeling like vomiting every other hour. “When you're back, we are going to the doctor and show you,” he insisted. Only when I agreed, he allowed me to go to the Silver Moon pack. I asked Darius to send a driver with me. Dariu
Liana POV It had been two days since the attack from the rogues. Darius and his wolves were trying to track the rogues but whenever they hit their hiding point, the rogues had already gone from there. It was like they were chasing ghosts. I was getting uncomfortable by the day. There had to be a time when they came to keep a vigilance on us. What was that time of the day? Darius had increased the patrolling along the borders and given orders to kill them at sight. On the second day, as Darius had gone to train his wolves, I decided to go to the west border to check the patrolling party. I had already circled the perimeter but it was in the west that I felt there was some loophole. Like it was gaping at me. The warriors bowed to me as soon as they saw me parking my car. “Have you checked the entire perimeter for security?” I asked as I got down. “Yes Luna,” the leader replied. “There isn’t anything untoward.” Not feeling comfortable, I started walking along the west border, my eye
Liana POV That night Darius had to go for an urgent meeting with the council members because they had spotted rogues on the outskirts of the pack’s territory. A doubt crept in my mind—what if these were Rowan’s friends? After all, he was a rogue before my father made him the Alpha of the Crimson Howl pack. I sat on the edge of the bed, gripping my phone tightly, wondering if I should call Kaden or not. My hands felt a little clammy, and my heart was still racing from everything that had happened today. I dialed his number, and after a few rings, he picked up."Luna Liana?" he said, his voice full of exhaustion."Kaden, how are things on your end?" I asked, trying to sound calm. Honestly, I wanted to know about the human girl. There was a pause before he let out a heavy sigh. "Complicated. Kaycee and I… we’re struggling to figure things out with Teri… that human girl."So her name was Teri. "Did something happen?" I asked. "She doesn’t trust me," Kaycee’s voice cut in suddenly. It
Liana POVI walked through the hallways of the packhouse. My heart felt strangely heavy after my interaction with my father and Elara. I remembered how I saw a flicker of regret in my father’s eyes, but then was it genuine? As for Elara, she was absolutely a gone case. I took a deep breath. Darius had sent Nero to call me for lunch. He followed me through the hallway to the main dining room. When I saw the council members and Elder Cornelius, I knew this wasn’t just any meal. There was something serious about it. After everything that had happened in the dungeons, my mind was still a mess.Darius was already seated at the head of the table. He looked composed with a calm, strong demeanor, but I could sense his tension through our mate bond. His sharp green eyes met mine, and for a second, I hesitated. He pointed toward the chair on his right and gestured for me to sit. Elder Cornelius was sitting to Darius’s left, his severe gaze fixed on me as if he was inspecting me, trying to rea
Liana POV I knew that voice. I knew that laughter. It was the bane of my existence. Elara. The woman who did everything in her own twisted way to keep me away from my mate while she enjoyed her mate. And even became pregnant with his pup. A shudder ran down my spine when I remembered how she pegged it on Darius. Gritting my teeth, I followed the sound, stepping deeper into the dungeon. When I reached her cell, I found her lounging against the wall, her hair disheveled, his clothes tattered and her face gaunt. She looked like a ghost from the past. Her cell was stinking with rot and mold and uneaten food. With my heart hammering in my chest, I went to stand in front of her prison just to tell her that this was her karma. But some people never learn, do they? “Elara,” I smirked. “You look perfect here.” "How cruel of you, Liana," she purred, her voice dripping with venom and helplessness. "To throw a pregnant woman into the dungeons. The Luna of the Midnight Claw Pack, no less. Wha
Liana POV “Liana?” Darius’s sleepy voice reached my ears. “What’s up, love? Come back,” he murmured and pulled me back in his arms. His hard cock pressed against my belly’s side and I knew that my husband was already seeking to get inside me. Without another word, he rolled me on my back with him on the top, pressing me on the mattress. As soon as I opened my legs, he was inside me in one thrust. He groaned, his eyes flashing golden as if his wolf wanted to come out. “Fuck,” he muttered. “I could live all my life inside you.” Saying that he began to thrust at a punishing speed, making me whimper. His balls slapped against my pussy and the only sound in the room was that of our sex slapping each other. He buried his face in the crook of my neck and licked his mark. The action was enough to send shivers of lust down my body. My pussy clenched so tightly that stars burst in my vision and orgasm hit me in waves. I cried his name as he increased his pace, and within a few seconds, he fo