AEROSI didn’t know what happened, but I knew that I found myself in my room as soon as I woke up. I hadn’t been in my room before; I was with the prisoner in the secret room, so how did I end up here? I thought to myself.I got out of bed and immediately crashed to the floor with a loud thud because my legs felt like jelly underneath me. I couldn’t feel them anymore.Unable to get up on my own, I just remained there, seriously contemplating what had happened last night and how I ended up in my room. Did I bring myself here, or was it Jonathan?And why couldn’t I remember what happened?“You’re awake.” A familiar voice filled the room. I couldn’t get up, so I just turned, and to my surprise, I found Elarian standing beside me with a tray containing some dishes that I couldn’t see the contents of due to my position.Shame made me look away immediately. How could I let her see me like this? She dropped the tray on the table and moved closer to me with outstretched arms. I could tell she
ElarianNothing! I heard nothing from Aeros for the rest of the day. I was locked up in his room, and no one, not even the maid, came to check up on me. I knew there was a guard at the door, so I didn’t even think of stepping outside.As the hours passed, the suspicion grew, and the apprehension of what was to come kept me on the edge of the bed. If I had heard Aeros and Jonathan properly, Tyler was the guest downstairs with him, but for what reason?Why was the Alpha of the pack I had left behind here in Aeros’ pack? From what I had heard, Tyler and Aeros were not on very good terms.A loud bang suddenly interrupted my thoughts, and I jumped to my feet in a hurry. I rushed to the door and tried to open it, but it was still locked. I banged on the door and yelled as loud as I could for someone to open up, but there was no response.I paced the length of my room while nervously chewing on my nails, lips, and anything else I could find, but that didn’t help matters; instead, it made the
AEROS “They attacked my mansion,” I growled as I slammed my fist on the table angrily. “He started this, so why shouldn’t I give him a taste of his own medicine?”“Alpha Aeros, you need to calm down,” one of the elders sitting among my council members said. “He is only doing this because of the girl, so why don’t you hand the girl over?”“Hand her over?” I scoffed. “She is mine. Plus, we all know that the only reason he wants her back is because he knows I have taken an interest in her.”“She is not a member of our pack,” another elder grumbled.Ever since the meeting began, they had all been against going to war with Tyler. Not that they were afraid of his pack, but because they were afraid of what I might do.“But she is here now, and I am going to protect her no matter what, even if it’s the last thing I do.”I meant every single word I had just said. For some reason, I had developed this very strong sense of protecting Elarian. After what happened to my mate, I wanted nothing mor
Elarian“Elarian,” Jonathan called out my name softly at the door, and I glanced up at him sharply. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t hear him open the door. The look on his face made me feel like something was wrong.As if the only reason he was standing in front of my door was because he had some bad news for me. But what could it be?“Aeros was involved in an accident,” he announced, and I didn’t respond or react immediately. I just stared back at him in shock.“What!”“I just got a call not too long ago. I guess he lost control of the wheel, but he’s with the healer as we speak, and she has assured me that he will be fine.”It took a few seconds for my brain to process what he had just said. “Can I see him?” I asked as I jumped out of bed and moved closer to him.“He’s unconscious, and the healer said he needs all the rest he can get.”“What happened? How did he leave the mansion without any form of—”“Things got out of control at the council meeting, and I wasn’t aware h
AerosI almost killed her! I could have killed her! I whispered to myself as I paced the length of my room, nervously biting down on my lower lip while the healer attended to the unconscious Elarian on the bed.If I couldn’t protect Blair, then I should at least be able to protect Elarian. I couldn’t let her go down the same road as Blair.“You need to calm down, Aeros. It was just an accident. You can’t beat yourself up for it,” Jonathan said calmly as he placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it gently.I shrugged him off.“That’s easy for you to say when you’re not the one that almost killed her. I would have to live with it for the rest of my life if anything, anything at all, happened to her.”“You’re overthinking this. You should get some sleep and have something to eat. Don’t forget you’re injured too.” Jonathan tried to persuade me, but I didn’t let him do that.Before I could respond, the healer walked up to us and said, “She will be fine. She was just shaken up a littl
Aeros“Hey!” Jonathan snapped his fingers in front of me, jolting me out of my thoughts. “Whoa… you weren’t even listening to me. Is something wrong?” he asked as he shut the document we had been going through before I lost track of what he was explaining.“Yeah… uh… I’m good. You were saying we should reinforce the guards at the outskirts of our territory.” I tried to sound convincing enough, but he didn’t buy it.He raised a brow at me suspiciously.“No, that’s not what I said. I was showing you my ideas on the… you know what, never mind, just tell me what’s on your mind.”“There’s nothing, and I’m sorry. I just have a lot on my mind lately. Nothing serious, though.” I responded as I eased back into my seat.He sighed deeply. “It’s so difficult to try and talk to you at times. You shut me out, and I really don’t know how to deal with it anymore. Listen to me, Aeros, I know Blair would have loved to see you happy again. What happened was unfortunate, but you can’t let it make your li
ElarianI loved him, and there was no denying that fact. I could feel myself drowning in his scent and getting overwhelmed with the urge to have him by my side all the time. Being in his arms even made the lower part of my neck, right before my shoulders, tingle.There was nothing more that I wanted than for him to mark me, and it scared me because I knew and had experienced firsthand just how unpredictable he could be.He might wake up the next morning and decide that he didn’t want to have anything to do with me, or he might retreat further into his shell after a couple of hours of making me feel so loved. These fears haunted me every single time I tried to open up to him about being my mate, so I made a decision to keep it to myself and see how things would play out.Maybe someday… someday… he would feel the bond too and realize that this could be our precious second chance that the Moon Goddess had so generously bestowed on us.He had lost his mate, and as for mine… well… that on
AEROSIt had barely been a few hours since I left the house before I began to lose control of myself. The overwhelming urge to see her and claim her took me by surprise, and I had never felt anything like it before.I managed to pull through a few meetings, but on our way to the last one, something inside of me snapped. I had never felt anything like it before, and Xavier did not make things any easier.He was spiraling out of control, and I could feel it. He missed her and craved her presence so much that he became restless and unable to focus.“Turn the car around,” I suddenly ordered the guard behind the wheel.Jonathan, who was sitting beside me, shot me a look immediately. “Are you okay? Is something wrong?” he asked out of genuine concern.I didn’t respond to him though; I just shook my head and repeated the same order to the guard, who was sincerely confused and had no idea what to do, so he just brought the car to a halt.“What’s going on, Aeros? What do you mean by turning th
AEROS“What are you going to do about Blair now?” Jonathan asked as we made our way into the dining hall to get some food for dinner.Guests had been trooping inside the mansion non-stop since Elarian gave birth, and we had been so busy trying to make them comfortable that we barely had any time for ourselves. The servants worked just as much as we did, and even though it was just one child, there was always something to do in the mansion.“Letting her go would probably be a mistake, so I think I should just let nature take its course. Elyse said she would most likely pass if the ritual is not done soon, so maybe…”“You and I know you cannot just turn a blind eye to Blair losing her life. I know you well enough to know that about you, so maybe you could make Elyse look for a way to help her,” he suggested, and I shrugged as I slipped into a seat at the table and the maid dropped a plate in front of me.“I doubt that Elyse would want to do that. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but she
AEROSAs soon as I was alone with her, I squatted down right in front of her and gripped her chin.“When you were gone, there were voices inside my head. I had nightmares a lot and could barely sleep. Everywhere in my head was filled with thoughts of you. The blood was everywhere that day, and I couldn’t get the sight of it out of my head. So, if you were not dead, then why did those things happen to me?"Why fake your own death and make it look so realistic if…if…”“You would have moved on easily if I didn’t do that,” she interrupted me with a smile on her face. “It was all dark magic. I used it to keep you under control and make you feel so guilty for my death.”“And why would you do that, Blair? Why show up now, after everything is over?”“You think everything is over?” she scoffed out loud. “I made this all happen. I made Elarian the way she was because I knew you would run to him for help, regardless of how much you despised dark magic, and you did exactly that.”“What?!”“Kaiden
ELARIAN Jonathan was nervous about going to her. He kept running his hand over his face and acting like, if given the opportunity, he wouldn’t be doing it.“You know you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to,” I said softly to him as I placed a hand on his shoulder. Elyse had excused herself to get some things in order, so we were waiting for her.“It’s not about me wanting to, Elarian. I just… with Blair, there’s this feeling of helplessness, like I can’t fight against her, and I would do anything she wants me to,” he replied with an expression on his face that I couldn’t quite read.“What you feel is what matters the most, so if you don’t want to do this, then all you have to do is…”“I am ready,” Elyse cut me off as she walked up to us and announced that we should all head to our positions.My task was to keep Aeros busy so he wouldn’t walk in on her and Jonathan. It was something I didn’t want to do either. I wasn’t sure I wanted to face him, but I had no choice but to agree w
ELARIAN “I heard what happened,” Jonathan’s voice came from behind me, and I turned around sharply to find him standing there with a glass of water in hand.“I thought you would need something to drink,” he added as he came to stand by my side and handed over the glass to me. I took it from him with a thin smile on my face.Still struggling to catch my breath after what I had just seen, I tried not to make it obvious that my entire world was crumbling inside of me. When I heard him shut the door, I thought he wanted to give me space, and I went after him to tell him that I didn’t want any space, I just wanted him but he was gone before I could catch up to him.For some reason, I had a feeling that he was with Blair, and it took everything inside of me not to crumble to the ground when I saw him like that with her. He had his back to me, but I could see just how much he wanted her. It was obvious in the way he—“Blair and I was a mistake,” Jonathan suddenly spoke up, pulling me out of
AEROSI continuously paced the length of my study, unsure of how I was supposed to face Elarian after what had happened at the breakfast table. It was almost dark, and yet I was still locked up in my study after instructing the guards that I did not want to be disturbed by anyone.I had no idea Blair was going to rope me in like that. I had no idea why I did not open my mouth to say anything. Maybe it was because a part of me knew what she said was true, and that made me feel so… stupid and terrible.A soft knock interrupted my thoughts, and I suddenly stopped pacing. I knew no one else would dare knock after I had told the guards I wanted to be left alone, except for Elyse, who I had sent to check on Elarian.Or was it Elarian? My heart began to race. What was I supposed to say to her? I saw the look in her eyes, she wanted me to say something, to do something, but I didn’t. I just stood there, unable to say anything.The door creaked open, and Elyse walked into the room. I sighed in
ELARIAN I had no idea when I drifted off to sleep, but I knew I had been too weak to do anything else. All I could do was ease into my bed and close my eyes after Elyse left the room. She had returned to drop off my dinner with a maid, and that was the last thing I remembered.When I opened my eyes again, I felt something or someone beside me on the bed. When I tried to move, Aeros' familiar scent overwhelmed my senses. He was lying next to me, his arms wrapped around my waist.When did he even get back? I wondered as I soaked in his relaxing scent and the comforting feel of him beside me. I stayed like that until morning, drifting in and out of sleep. Despite his presence, I found myself waking up countless times, restless for reasons I couldn’t quite place.As the first rays of sunlight began to creep across the horizon, Aeros stirred beside me. The first thing he did was plant a kiss on my cheek.“You’re up early,” he remarked, and I smiled at him softly.Something was bothering m
ELARIAN Blair.That was definitely Blair, though her hair was no longer golden as it had been when I met her in the human world. The wolf who had taken me from the hospital that day had told me she had sold me out to the humans, and I knew it was because of the mark she had seen on my neck.But Blair had been human when I met her in the human world, so why was she here? And how had her hair become a deep shade of black?“Blair? How are you here?” I asked, and Aeros stepped forward.“I told you she suddenly turned up after we lost a prisoner with Jonathan. I have no idea how it happened either, but it just happened,” he explained as my eyes darted from him to Blair.I wasn’t sure he had any clue what he was talking about.“Is this your Blair?” I asked, raising a brow, my face stunned. I could have sworn she was the woman I had met when I first arrived in the human world, so how could she be his Blair?“I thought she was dead too, but when she showed up… the whole thing just became a t
ELARIAN “A lot has happened in your absence, Luna Elarian.” The healer’s words echoed in the back of my mind, and the sadness in her eyes as she said them lingered in my thoughts.“You have to stay in bed. Both you and the baby need as much rest as possible. Plus, Alpha Aeros clearly instructed that we keep you here until he returns,” Elyse’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts and made me aware of my surroundings.“But you just said Jonathan has been… I need to go to him,” I said as I tried to push myself up from the bed. A sharp pain shot through my head, making me scream out loud and collapse back.“Your body is still too weak. It will take time to regain your strength,” Elyse pointed out, stepping forward. “I know you want to be with your husband right now, but for the sake of your baby, Luna Elarian, you need to stay right here,” she added firmly.I sighed heavily and eased back into the bed in defeat. Elyse and the healer excused themselves to check on Aeros after a maid rushed
ELARIAN“Thank the goddess, Elarian. You have no idea how worried I was. You have no idea how scared I was. I thought I had lost you, and when the healer said you were…” His words trailed off as if there was something on the tip of his tongue he couldn’t bring himself to say.“Alpha Aeros, we agreed to let her get enough rest. And please, get something for her to eat. It must have been one hell of an ordeal,” the woman I hadn’t noticed was in the room said. I turned to see a much younger woman standing beside the healer, hovering over me.“Of course,” Aeros mumbled grudgingly as he reluctantly pulled himself away from me and headed outside. For some reason, I was extremely weak, too weak to even speak or move, and the young woman beside me noticed that. She leaned forward and urged me to relax into the bed.“You must be really weak. Please just stay back and wait for him. Within a few hours, you should feel much better,” she said calmly. I stared at her for a few seconds before glanci