My body stiffened and it took all my willpower to remember how to breathe as I heard the name of my old pack. Had they been out that night, looking for me? Is that why I couldn't remember the end of that night? No, if the alpha expected I had something to do with it I would’ve woken up in a cell rather than in a room. "I have made the necessary checks, Alpha." She sounded slightly annoyed like he'd asked her that question twenty times before, "The man with her was human and had no connection to any wolves. But it was good that you stepped in when you did"Alpha Jackson sighed, "I’m sorry for questioning you, Clarissa, but with the notes and their scents around our territory-""What?" I interrupted with a growl, sitting up straight, groaning at the splitting headache ricocheting around my body.I was getting angry for multiple reasons:Firstly, the bastard had taken me to the one person I had never wanted to meet for lots of reasons. I wasn’t so blinded with pain that I couldn’t reco
Clarissa let me cry alone for a little while as I bundled myself up on the bed feeling every negative emotion possible: sadness, anger, betrayal, pain. All of it built up into that long, painful crying session. I’d wrapped myself in a blanket so tightly I could barely breathe, or maybe that was just the ache in my chest. I thought we’d gotten past that stage of our hatred and distrust toward one another. I hadn't caused any more problems as far as I was aware and he'd been the one training me. He’d even seen me plant the graves for my family, and I knew it was him who had given me that blanket that night. And yet, he was still blinded by his hatred of rogues and suspicious of me."Miss Clares?" Clarissa knocked at the door before letting herself in, carrying a tray with toast and a cup of tea.Hastily, I wiped away the tears that had left streaks on my cheeks and sat up, the blanket still wrapped around my body as a comfort. I didn’t say anything to her as Clarissa set the tray on t
That question. That damned question! This was exactly why I didn’t want anything to do with a witch because deep down I knew she would find out! I spun towards her with a fear I hadn’t known before clawing through my body and I shifted away from her, knowing that I was completely at her mercy. Who knows what she would do with that information? Would she tell Alpha Jackson? Would she try to blackmail me? Only my family knew about my lack of a wolf and I trusted them, but I didn’t trust Clarissa, not that much anyway.“Elise,” She said softly, not making any movements to try to get closer to me, “Elise, I’m not going to hurt you, I-”“You’ll just need to tell the Alpha, is that right?” I cut her off harshly, my hands curling around the bedsheets desperately and I tried to look for a way out.The only exit was a door that was shut. Could I get there before the witch stopped me?My mind was a blur of panic as multiple scenarios shot through my head and my chest grew tighter, so tight th
“How would we get it out?” I asked desperately. I had never dreamed that I would be able to meet my wolf in real life. I wondered what her name could be and what she would look like. What would our first conversation be like? Had she seen everything I’d seen but been unable to do anything about it? But never had I truly thought I would be able to meet her.Clarissa thought for a moment, looking at my shoulder once again, “I don’t know how deeply the Blessed Silver is embedded. I would have to make an incision into each scar to find out first. The procedure to extract it will be painful and we’ll need to get help from a healer just in case it.”I bit my lip nervously, “Do… do we need to tell them why?”“Does anyone outside of me and you know about this?” She asked me out of professional curiosity to see who could be trusted with this secret.“No,” I shook my head, “I haven’t told anyone… But I think Doctor Heath suspects.”“Why would he have reason to suspect this?”I remembered the g
This path through the forest was familiar to me. I came here at least once a week to visit the graves of my family and to offer a prayer to the Moon Goddess that their spirits were safe with her. It didn’t surprise me that the alpha knew the way here too considering he’d seen me make them.As we rounded towards the three small mounds that had begun to grow grass on them, I noticed the small daisies placed on top of one another. The small bundles looked new and I was sure they were because I hadn’t seen them before.“What are you trying to do here?” I asked suspiciously, turning towards him. “Nothing bad, I promise. If there’s one thing I respect, it’s mourning,” He replied with sincerity as he moved towards my family’s grave and kneeled just in front of it. I hesitated before I took a deep breath and sat beside him, looking at the dainty flowers on the ground.“Did you do that?” I mumbled, feeling the tiny stem of one of the daisies that was on my mother’s grave. It wasn't much, but
I don’t know why it affected me so much, him saying those words with a deep sense of promise. He was offering me something I hadn’t had in a long time, a home. Even with Annabelle I had felt so alone because it felt so temporary but now... now I could stay.I thought about it for what felt like forever before I opened my mouth.“I don’t know what it is I want anymore,” I whispered, looking at my family’s grave. They had tried so hard to protect me from one pack only for me to be trapped in another. How would they feel if I gave myself to this pack so easily, as if to forget them? Why was I allowed to move on when they were still stuck there?But didn’t I deserve that? I desreved a chance to start a new life, have a new home and maybe even find someone to love. You weren’t a blessing! I heard my father’s voice from that dream so long ago You were a curse! It made me shudder, immediately making me feel guilty.No… No I didn’t deserve something new, not when it was my fault that they we
It was worse than any of us had imagined. I smelt it before I saw him as I was encouraged to walk down the thin corridor that led to the basement of the Pack House. I could taste the ash from the candles and smell the burning of skin the second I walked down the first step. Frederick wanted that, to prolong my thoughts and fears of what he’d been doing to my father. I was almost sick from the anxiety, and still we walked. It felt like we would never reach the bottom.The claustrophobic corridor began to open up and the first thing I saw was Fredrick smiling at me with that sadistic smirk on his face that made me flinch. He held out a hand like a groom accepting his bride and I trembled as I took it. He led me to a silver-lined door with bars and inside was my father, bound in silver, lying on the floor, screaming in agony through his gag.I rushed to try to open the door, but Fredrick held me back, firstly by my shoulder, then by encircling his arms around me like a lover’s embrace. I
I barely said a word when I got back from the Pack House. My mother had only asked one question:“Is your father okay?”I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears at the question, wishing I could give her any other answer. But I couldn’t. And soon she pulled me into her arms tearfully, sobbing into my hair before we both sunk to our knees, weak from the stress and sorrow. My brother got angry instead, swearing that he was going to rip Fredrick’s head from his body.It took my mother standing in front of the door, tears streaming down her face to stop my brother from leaving the house. He tried to get past her but she held him tightly, begging him.“If you challenge the alpha you’ll end up just like your father,” She cried, clinging onto him for dear life. “He needs to pay! I’m going to tear him limb from limb,” He screamed.“Please,” My mother whimpered and I’d never heard her voice be so small in my entire life, “Please son. I won’t be able to take losing both of you.”That was
Elise’s POVFrom the second I woke up I was pampered by Clarissa and Annabelle who seemed to be more excited than me for the Luna Ceremony, which was saying a lot considering I was jittering with nerves and excitement. I never expected to accept this kind of arrangement so quickly but it just felt like the right thing to do. I wanted this ceremony to happen, I wanted to officially be Jackson’s mate for the world to see and be the Luna of this amazing pack that I now called family.Annabelle shoved me into a large bath filled with so many bubbles, salts and essential oils that I didn’t think the smell of lilies and roses would ever leave my skin.Then they pulled me into a chair as they dried and styled my hair for what seemed like hours, not in a negative way because the two of them made me laugh as we took photos and told funny stories. They curled my hair so it fell like a wave against my back before they braided and tied it so I looked like a blonde Celtic princess.The makeup came
Jackson's POVAfter we managed to get some kind of normalcy in the pack, there was still an air of stress and anxiety. We had multiple members of Fredrick’s pack join us and made sure we kept them far away from the dungeons and monitored them sufficiently just in case anyone tried to break Fredrick and the others out.“The guards and warriors won’t be too rough with them, will they?” Elise asked the last time I saw her, clutching my arm as she watched some of the refugees being directed to their houses looking terrified.I shook my head in assurance, “No, they have strict orders to treat them carefully unless they prove to be a threat, even then they are to take them down with as much force as is necessary and take them to the dungeon.”No one had seemed to try to convince any of my guards to let them pass into the dungeon or even look that way. Instead, they looked somewhat relieved to know that their former alpha was imprisoned there. Nor did they try to fight my pack. Elise was rig
Elise's POVIt was strange walking through the dungeon, free and in charge rather than as a prisoner. I’d been held captive twice in two different dungeons and had to admit that I wasn’t a fan. Maybe that was because I hadn’t deserved it, but neither had the people who got experimented on at Fredrick’s hand. I felt no sympathy or empathy for the ex-alpha as we reached his cell.There were five guards posted in the dungeons, two to watch Fredrick, two to watch Melanie and one to watch Poppy. They all seemed serious and offered Jackson, Christian and me a bow of respect before immediately resuming their posture and attention.As we rounded to Fredrick’s cell, I had to stop and stare.He looked terrible, not the large, imposing alpha who made everyone tremble at just the mention of his name. His clothes were dirty and ripped, his hair was a greasy mess and he looked like a feral animal. I never thought it was possible to see him looking so pathetic and powerless.I noticed the large amou
Elise's POVJackson asked if I wanted to move into the Pack House before the Luna Ceremony and I accepted. But before I could do that, I wanted to go back to the house I’d lived in when I first came to the pack. Before I could move into somewhere new, I wanted to say goodbye.I hadn’t lived in that house long, but it was the first thing that was mine and held a lot of memories like first connecting with Annabelle and Christian, the movie nights with Annabelle and just a general sense of safety and security.“I can go with you if you want,” Jackson offered when I first brought up the idea. “No, thank you,” I said softly, smiling at him, “I don’t have much to move… It’s just to say goodbye.”He didn’t argue or protest, he simply gave me a kiss on the cheek before I headed off.As I walked through the pack, I couldn’t help but reminisce how everything was different now. The first time I was newly out of chains and was being escorted to my new home by Christian. Everyone looked at me war
Elise's POV It was a question we’d all been dreading and I knew that it was partially my fault. If it wasn’t for me then Fredrick would be dead in the dirt and the packs would have one less thing to worry about. But he wasn’t dead and though I knew it was the right decision I also knew that a lot of the other wolves, both in the council room or not would find it difficult to understand.“With all due respect, Luna, would you mind explaining further as to why we can’t kill him?” Doctor Heath asked me, treating me like his luna already though we hadn’t had the ceremony yet. The others might have been saying it out of respect but I knew that Doctor Heath had meant it. He had been one of my first friends when I came here and he'd helped me through so much that I could never thank him enough for it.“I know it’s hard to believe, but a long time ago my family were blessed by The Moon Goddess.”I paused, waiting for some kind of negative reaction. Encountering The Moon Goddess was rare and
Elise's POVI was sat at the council’s table, no longer the shy, timid outsider I had been the first few times I’d come to the council room. As I entered the room, they all stared at me, but not in the way the first had with suspicion and anger. No, this time as I entered, they all stood from their seats. I didn’t know what to expect since Jackson wanted me to enter first, but as I stepped further into the room, the heads of each faction and their subordinates placed a hand on their hearts and bowed their heads in respect.They’d heard what happened on the battlefield and they knew Jackson had claimed me as his luna, so that meant I was theirs as well.I sucked in a deep breath as I realised that what they were doing was accepting me. One of my worries when I accepted Jackson as my mate and my place as his luna was that the pack wouldn’t want me. It frightened me that they would just see me as a rogue who seduced their alpha and caused a big mess. I was more worried that his choice wo
Elise's POVFor the first time in a while, I slept comfortably in a bed and more importantly I was entwined in the arms of someone I loved.After Jackson woke up and we shared a passionate kiss, Clarissa told us that we still needed to rest. Christian had recovered from his injuries and had taken to governing the pack whilst we healed properly. Jackson didn’t mind that, he liked spending time with me, watching over me and making sure I was okay whilst I did the same thing to him.From what it seemed like, we were both completely fine aside from some exhaustion and aches and pains, but Clarissa was still adamant we needed to rest.I wasn’t complaining.Though Jackson seemed to be quite restless. So much had piled up during his time away to rescue me. He had so many letters to answer and duties to attend to and I knew his instincts were in an inner turmoil as he wanted to lead his pack but wanted to make sure his mate was okay.At the end of our third day free from the infirmary, we wer
Jackson's POV My eyes cracked open and I groaned as I tried to move. Yeah, definitely wasn’t dead. There was a sharp pain in my chest like my heart had been ripped out, but obviously, it was still there, pounding away like nothing had changed. I placed a hand over my chest, feeling the steady heartbeat through my body and letting my body relax to that soothing feeling.As my vision returned to normal, I saw that I was lying on a bed and staring up at a familiar ceiling of white. I’d been in this building enough times to recognise it. I was in the infirmary back in my pack.I sucked in a deep breath as I felt tears prick at my eyes. I wasn’t dead. I was home. We’d won. I tried to sit up, struggling to do so but rested against the headrest, feeling a weight on my legs. Elise was there, her arms and head resting on my body. My heart swelled to see her exhausted, sleeping face. Her hair was a mess, sprawled over the mattress like straw. How long had I been asleep and how long had she be
Jackson’s POV It was dark when I opened my eyes and I had no idea where I was. It was like I was floating in space but there was absolutely nothing surrounding me, just an endless tunnel of darkness and isolation.Was I dead?No, no this couldn’t be happening. Even if I was dead I would crawl my way back to earth to save my pack and my mate.“Hello?” I called out, knowing that it was futile, but on the off chance someone could hear me, I did it anyway.When I didn’t get a response, I chose a direction, left or right it didn’t really matter, and started floating that way in the hopes that I’d find something to help me get out from wherever or whatever this place was.Time was strange in this place. I tried counting the minutes in my head but after a certain point, it was like my mind restarted and the counting started again. Even when I tried to keep track of the resets it didn’t matter. My mind was a mess of confusion and fear.This couldn’t have been what the afterlife was like. If