AEROS "Vienna, my pack does not take kindly to thieves. We do not appreciate you coming into our private garden and taking what is not yours," I began softly, not wanting to scare her into retreating into her shell.“I did not steal those herbs,” she snapped back.I was taken aback by how confident and bold she sounded. I had expected her to be a timid and easily scared woman, but she seemed far from that.“Those were general herbs, and if you had any knowledge of them, you’d know they are not supposed to be hoarded in a private garden. They should be shared with the rest of the world,” she added.“Shut your mouth,” a guard growled, shoving her forward roughly. She turned and shot him a glare. Irritated by her defiance, the guard raised his hand to strike her, but Jonathan grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.My lips curved into a thin smile. I was sincerely amused by how she spoke back without fear of the consequences. She sounded nothing like the timid woman I had initially expect
ELARIAN “Why do I feel like Alpha Xavier is mad at me?” I asked Gabby as I paced the length of the waiting room. We were still in the pack house, waiting for Alpha Xavier, who had left the mansion a while ago to bring Vienna back.Gabby didn’t want to dwell on it too much due to her health, so she kept herself occupied with knitting by the window overlooking the large gates, hoping to be the first to see when the Alpha returned.“He’s just upset, that’s all,” she replied without looking up from her task. “You’re carrying the child of an Alpha. That changes everything, Elarian. This could lead to war, especially when that Alpha is someone of high status. You, of all people, should know the consequences of what you’ve done.”“I know… I know… but Aeros has no idea about the pregnancy. He doesn’t even know I’m here, so I don’t see why we should panic. You said so yourself,” I said as I stopped pacing and walked over to her, desperate for reassurance.“That makes it even worse, Elarian. A
AEROS“A car just pulled out of his house a few minutes ago,” Jonathan announced as he walked into my study, still holding a phone to his ear.He was clearly talking to our man stationed at Xavier’s house. I had kept a close eye on Xavier ever since the incident with Blair, using this spy because I became suspicious of him when I lost her. Over time, I had tried to let go, realizing I was just paranoid when I lost her. Xavier had no real reason to want the woman he loved dead.“Who left the house?” I asked, looking up from the report I had been reviewing.I had asked one of the guards to gather any information they could find on Vienna, the young woman currently in my dungeon, hoping to find some sort of connection. But there was nothing. She lived with her mother, who was a healer in Xavier’s pack. Nothing about her stood out, and the more I looked at her details, the more it dawned on me that Xavier could be right.Maybe I was grasping at straws. Maybe Elarian wasn’t there. But the
AEROS The moment my eyes locked onto hers, my entire world stood still. Seeing her again after all these months hit me like a punch to the gut, leaving me breathless and reeling. My mind raced with questions, a jumbled mess of emotions swirling inside me.As I took in the sight of her, my heart swelled with a mix of joy and disbelief. But then my gaze dropped to her belly, and my world came crashing down. The sight of her swollen stomach felt like a ton of bricks, leaving me sucker-punched.Disbelief and shock gave way to a tidal wave of emotions: anger, hurt, betrayal, and an overwhelming sense of loss. I felt like something precious, something that was mine, had been stolen from me. My mind reeled with questions and doubts.But beneath it all, there lingered a deep sadness and longing. It felt as though I had lost her all over again, like I was reliving the pain of our separation. Her pregnant belly was a harsh reminder of what could have been, of what we had lost.“Please, Aeros,
ELARIAN It was clear that Xavier didn’t want me anywhere near Aeros. It felt like he was somehow trying to use me against him. When I noticed two other identical cars behind us, I knew something was going on.The erratic driving, as if the driver was trying to lose someone, worried me, but we eventually arrived at our destination. I was immediately surrounded by more guards than I had ever seen.I tried to keep myself occupied by exploring the apartment, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Gabby’s face as I left. The look in her eyes haunted me.Had I really made the right choice by hiding from Aeros?I just wanted what was best for my baby.Suddenly, the mark on my neck began to tingle. It was as if I could sense Aeros, but I knew he couldn’t possibly be anywhere near here. Deciding I needed to return to the mansion, I demanded the guards take me back. They refused at first, but after I threatened them with the possibility of losing the baby, they reluctantly agreed.When we arrived
ELARIAN The entire room fell silent as Aeros stared at me, his expression one of stunned disbelief. Jonathan looked just as shocked, and that’s when I noticed Xavier standing by the door. There was a look on his face that I couldn’t quite read.“What did you just say?” Aeros asked, taking a step closer, but I instinctively took a step back.“Don’t… don’t take another step, Aeros,” I stammered. Tears pooled at the bottom of my eyes, and I swallowed hard, fighting to keep them from spilling.“Why… why didn’t you say something, Elarian? You should have told me. You should have come back home to me. You should never have run from those rogues who were supposed to bring you to me. And you never should have left in the first place.” His tone was firm, and the way his eyes locked onto mine made me want to believe everything he said.But I couldn’t forget. I couldn’t forget how he kicked me out after the mind-blowing sex, how he made me crave him only to treat me like nothing but a pet. He w
ELARIAN Aeros excused himself to have a word with the elder, leaving Jonathan and me standing outside. After a few moments, I made my way toward Xavier’s room. Inside, Gabby was already tending to him, while Vienna nursed small bruises on her arms.As soon as I stepped in, they all paused and looked up at me.“I’m so sorry that things took such a drastic turn. I hope he’s not too hurt?” I asked, trying to sound as sympathetic as possible. Guilt weighed heavily on me—I felt responsible for everything that had happened.After all, Aeros was here because of me.Vienna and Gabby remained silent, and Xavier lay unconscious on the bed. I waited, hoping they might say something to reassure me they didn’t blame me for all this. But when no one spoke, I turned to excuse myself.Just as I reached the door, Vienna called after me.“It’s not your fault, Elarian. He’s the monster, not you,” she said.It felt good to know she didn’t blame me for everything, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that th
ELARIAN “You said you wanted to tell me something,” I said to Jonathan, who sat silently beside me. He remained quiet, not uttering a single word, and I could still feel Aeros' gaze on me.Realizing I was right, that Jonathan didn’t have anything to say, I got up and headed towards my room. Before I could make it inside, Aeros called my name and rushed to join me in front of the door.“Please, Elarian, you can’t keep shutting me out like this. I made a mistake, yes. I was stupid for thinking I could live without you and that you were just a pet to me. I’ve realized how wrong I was. Let’s just make this work, at least for the sake of our child,” he pleaded, stepping forward to touch my hand, but I stepped away from his reach.“Child?” I raised an eyebrow. “What child are you talking about? The one you didn’t even know existed until a few hours ago?”“The only reason I didn’t know about the baby is because you didn’t tell me, Elarian. I had no idea before you disappeared and—”“Disappe
ELARIAN I'll never forget the sound of Aero's voice, low and menacing, as he growled, "Let. Her. Go." I was tied to a chair, helpless, as Xavier held me hostage right in front of him with his claws aimed directly at my throat. His heartbeat reeked of blood and death, causing my stomach to turn in disgust and fear. His claws trailed my bare skin, and my body trembled in fear.Aero rushed forward with such speed that I had never seen before or thought possible, his eyes blazing with fury. Xavier sneered, baring his razor-sharp canine teeth. Aero's gaze locked onto mine, and for a fleeting moment, I saw a glimmer of reassurance.He was here to save me."Save Liam!" I tried to yell out for him to hear, but my words were muffled, and I was certain he could not understand them. So I just sat there, fighting as hard as I could against the ropes I was tied down with, even though it was useless, as the tears poured down my face.I didn't want to lose my husband and son like this. I just wante
AEROS Jonathan advised that we did not go in immediately, and I actually agreed with him because I had told Elyse to call me the moment she noticed anyone or anything move in that region. So I had a feeling that Tyler would reach out to Xavier, and Xavier would in turn reach out to whoever was holding Liam and Elarian. There would definitely be a movement that would catch Elyse's attention—all we had to do was wait for it.We didn't exactly leave, but we stayed close enough and at the same time far enough to not be under their gaze. After waiting for a couple of hours and hearing nothing from Elyse, we decided to make a stop at Xavier's mansion. His territory was a bit farther away from Tyler's, but the drive would probably give us enough time to contemplate what had happened at Tyler's place. So we headed out as soon as we had agreed on what to do next.Jonathan kept insisting that he would like to speak with Xavier instead of me, but I told him it was best I handled Xavier because
AEROS "You should have told me that a long time ago then I wouldn't have been against this so much. But what if Tyler and Xavier had nothing to do with this in the first place? What if this was all some wild goose chase and they had nothing to do with the disappearance of your wife and son, and at the end of the day, this only led to war? What's going to happen then?" Jonathan asked with that same skepticism in his tone."At least I would know who is behind all this, and we could finally put an end to whatever madness is going on here.""I trust you, and if this is what you want to do, then you have my full support. But just understand that if you're going to go in there, then you're going to talk to them as respectfully as you possibly can because war is not an option right now. I know you're not going to listen to me, and at the end of the day, you do what you want to do. But please, for the sake of your son and Elarian, just think about what a war could cause and focus on finding
AEROS "They couldn't have gone far," I began. "After the explosion happened, it didn't take long at all for Jonathan and I to get back into the mansion, and they were already missing by that time. So I feel they have definitely not taken them far away from the pack house because the time frame it was carried out in is just too little to pull off something long distance from here. So I believe we should send out a search party and lead one to vigorously search the entire area," I added, and the elders of the council all mumbled their agreement."The Alpha is right. There is no way they could have moved the Luna and Liam so far away from the pack house within such a short period of time, so we need to keep our guard up and keep an eye on every single movement in the area. I am certain that we would find them if we just know where to look," Jonathan joined in the conversation."You're both forgetting one serious detail, and that is, Blair was also kidnapped," Elyse spoke up next."I dou
ELARIAN “What the hell is going on? Where is my son? Liam! Aeros! Jonathan! Elyse!”I called out every single name that I knew one by one, and there was not a single response. I was shrouded in darkness and could barely see a thing, nor could I hear any sound at all. I knew something had been wrapped around my eyes because I could feel its pressure against my vision, and my sense of smell picked up that there were people around, but for some reason, I could not hear a single sound.My heartbeat increased, and I was so scared because I had been just about to head up to take care of Liam when the explosion happened, and that was the last thing I remembered. I didn’t recall anything afterwards, and I was beginning to panic because Liam had been in the bedroom when it happened. Although I wasn’t exactly sure where the explosion had come from, I was just worried that something had happened to my baby.“Somebody please help! Is anyone out there?!” I cried out, but there was still no respon
AEROS The sound of Kaiden screaming out loud in pain and the smell of his blood filled the air as Jonathan's claws kept going deeper and deeper inside of him to a point where he could no longer take it. He was so close to passing out before Jonathan pulled away and took a step back.“Now, I think we should try this again,” I said, struggling so hard to keep my wolf at bay as I approached Kaiden. The urge to rip his face to shreds was so overpowering, and the thought that he had even dared to harm my son and Elarian was so infuriating that seeing him alive irked me. But then, I had to admit that I needed him alive if I wanted to find the both of them.“I am going to ask you one last time before your head is severed from your body—who is responsible for the explosion and the disappearance of Liam and Elarian? Tell me every single thing you know and do not hold back a single detail,” I added as I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me.He winced in pain as he struggled to catch h
AEROS “Who do you think is responsible for this? I'm not asking you who you suspect. I am asking you to think about who could be behind this because I am certain whoever is doing this is already expecting us to jump to conclusions about who it could possibly be. But I feel we should look beyond that and understand what is actually going on here so we'll be able to save the Luna and your son as soon as we can,” Elyse pointed out.With everything that was going on, she seemed to be quite wise and smart, and even though I badly wanted to think like her, I could not possibly think straight knowing that my son and Elarian could be in trouble.“I think I know who we should talk to about this,” I stated confidently as I shot sharply to my feet.“You really think we should be talking to him without having any clue what is really going on and coming up with a plan? That is exactly what they want us to do. Go running to him to find the solution so he would be able to put whatever nonsense is i
AEROS The loud bang that came from upstairs the moment Kaiden said those words made my heart skip a beat. Jonathan immediately broke into a run, and I rushed after him, tossing Kaiden aside. I was certain he had slammed his back against the wall or something because I heard something crack.We rushed outside and made it back into the mansion, but it was already a disaster in there. The maids and guards were rushing around, trying to put out a fire or something, and I didn’t exactly know what it was, but I knew there was smoke everywhere. Everyone was coughing so badly that I couldn’t actually listen to anything, so I had to block out the noise and listen to my wolf’s instincts.The fire was coming from the dining area that we had just vacated, and the moment I realized that, the first thing I thought about was Elarian. She was still at the table when we left, so I was so scared that I ran into the fire, regardless of how the flames were burning high enough to the ceiling and looking
AEROS I had no idea what Kaiden wanted, but I knew one thing for sure and I was certain he was going to ask me for something I would definitely not be able to willingly give him. So, I decided to speak with him in his cell after the ritual with Blair was successful and she was able to return to her normal activities.Blair insisted he would like to speak to me himself, so after we had finished eating at the table, I headed down to the dungeons with Jonathan by my side to speak with him. Although it was obvious that Elarian was confused about what was going on, she clearly wanted to ask me about it but refrained from doing so because she had to attend to Liam, and I promised her that I would join her in the bedroom as soon as possible.“What do you think he is going to ask for?” Jonathan asked me as we stepped into the dungeons, and I shrugged.“I don't know, I can't say for sure. But for him to willingly return here to help Blair and give up his freedom to stay in this dungeon withou