My arm was locked with Lorenzo's as we were greeted by various people in the ballroom. Lorenzo held me like a trophy, warning that if his trophy—his property—was touched, then you would be thrown to the wolves. He had canceled my going to work that day for his Famigilia function in New York and had insisted that I go with him or I would stop going to work—“after all, I have more than enough to take care of you,” he had said. This was the second time he interfered in my job since the first month. I felt dispirited because of this. I wouldn't get to see Neil for God knows how long. I remembered his seizures; what if it happened again and there was no one around to help him? What if he died from it? And he had refused to go to the hospital. The thought of not seeing Neil made me anxious. I wanted to be there for him. I remembered his eyes as he looked at me, the way he held my hand. There was something in his gaze that told me he needed me, even if he didn't say the words. I felt like
Lorenzo tossed me into the bed in the hotel room he had booked. I fell flat on the bed. I tried to scramble backward, away from him, but my limbs felt heavy and uncooperative. Lorenzo stood over me, his face a mask of rage and his hands clenched into fists. He took a step toward me, and I flinched, my heart pounding in my chest. “Who is he? How did you get to know that bastard?” Lorenzo asked, his voice ringing through the whole room. I shuddered. “He was in a meeting at the company…” “And you let him touch you that way?” Lorenzo cut in, his voice sharp. “He is too strong. What would you have me do?” I wanted to ask him how it felt to lose a fight to someone, but I bit back the question. “Where does he live and how is he here in New York?” “Because his company is here in New York,” I replied and cursed myself inwardly for saying that. Now he would ask how I got to have a business meeting with someone who was based in New York. “Henceforth, no more meetings with any male. Every
The cold water from the shower worked its way around my body as I shut my eyes. It had been a long, hectic, and boring day without Amelia. I watched her desk all day long, imagining her sitting behind it and working. I felt so lonely, so empty without her. I longed to have her in my arms, but Lorenzo kept interfering, and I was having enough of this. Neil… I suddenly heard her voice, as if she was calling me for help. Perhaps I was losing my focus, thinking too much about her. But almost immediately, I heard her voice again. Neil… That was when I realized that it was Amelia calling out to me. She was in trouble and afraid. She needed me. I turned off the shower and strained against the silence, desperate to reach out to her. I could feel her fear, her anxiety, her panic—a sign that she was in trouble and I was the only one who could help her. I bounced out of the bathroom, trying hard to send my own thoughts, to let her know that I was here, that I was listening, and that I was co
My mind clouded with thoughts of Amelia as Sphinx sprinted through the undergrowth, conscious of traps and attacks. The forest was dense and dark, and Sphinx weaved between the trees, his paws pounding on the soft earth. The smell of our competition was in the air, which made Sphinx course through the forest with all his strength. Peripherally, I could see Karl's wolf on my right and another on the left, with Karl's wolf moving with almost the same speed as Sphinx. Sphinx… I called, warning him about the others about to overtake us, and the need to speed up. We had to return to the training field first and alive, not as corpses. It's not about running, Neil. It's about being meticulous, about dexterity… Almost as if Sphinx had predicted what would happen, the wolf to my right stepped into a trap and growled in pain. See what I told you? I lost track of Karl's wolf, unsure if he was up ahead or behind me. Sphinx focused on winning this competition without looking at the others; my
I didn't know what happened or how it happened, but all I knew was the first wolf lay on the floor, in a pool of its own blood with eyes wide open. I remembered almost getting impaled by the stalagmite above, but landing had given me the upper hand. It didn't take long, and the first wolf was forcefully torn apart by my claws. Sphinx grabbed the gem with his snout and canines, wondering what being an alpha entailed. It would not be about my mate only; other lycans would depend on me. Sphinx tightened his grip around the gem, readying himself for the long run back to the pack's training field. But as Sphinx sprinted back, I noticed something strange. There was a scent in the air. It was the scent of another wolf. As Sphinx sniffed the air, trying to make sense of the scent, he stepped into a snare. I felt the sharp metal bite into his paws, and I yelped in pain as Sphinx growled. I saw a pair of eyes followed by a muscular grey body appear from the parting leaves. That was when I saw
As I stepped into the office the next morning, my eyes first settled on Amelia's desk. My heart warmed with emotions when I saw her sitting behind that mahogany desk, working. I walked closer to her and noticed she was busy typing, immersed in what she was doing. But not today; we had to spend enough time together—no work for both of us today. I gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked up with weary eyes at me, and almost immediately, Amelia jumped at me and circled her arms around me in a tight, warm hug. “I've missed you,” Amelia said softly. My arms wrapped tightly around her, pulling her deeper into my embrace, and I felt the tension drain from her body. She relaxed into my embrace, and I experienced a sudden sense of calm and peace, knowing I had been anxious to see her safe and well after last night's trauma. We stayed like that, in each other's embrace for a long moment, just holding each other, basking in the comfort of our shared warmth. After a while, Am
The Farem group had been on my nerves since the day I murdered their little group's consiglieri. The capo of the Farem group was starting something she couldn't finish. I was going to show her who owned Chicago. Raiding their headquarters in Greenpalms did not stop them; slaughtering almost all their members, including their capo's father, in my counter-attack did not stop the so-called “Collete” from launching another attack on one of my warehouses last night. I lost a shit ton of money and a good number of men. Damn! That woman was a pain in the arse! I was discussing strategy plans regarding the Farem group, and I thought it was high time I took this Farem nonsense seriously. I wasn't doing it because they killed my parents, but because if I didn't stop them now, the city would lose its fear of me, and I'd lose my respect. The Farem group had been interfering with the drug and gun shipments we had been receiving from the cartel down in Europe. My men were turning up dead at shipmen
Icy water splashed my face. I gasped awake, coughing. Trickles of water raced down my body from my hair and face. My vision was hazy as I tried to make out the face hovering above me. A scream formed in my throat. I wanted to shout, but my lips were tightly sealed with duct tape. I let out a muffled groan instead as I squirmed in the chair I was sitting on. My vision finally cleared, and I discovered the face before me. Karl! Images of what happened flooded my mind instantly. Karl had pulled me close to him just like he had before. I tried to shove him away, but as usual, he was too strong. The next moment, he gently pulled a piece of cloth over my nose, and I lost consciousness, waking up in this dark room tied to a chair. “Hello,” Karl's lips curled into a sickening smile. He tried to stroke my cheek with the edge of his index finger. I turned my head away, my skin crawling at his touch. I tried to keep my expression blank, but I knew my fear was showing on my face. Karl's smile
Neil's POV It had been almost a week and I had been mourning him, loathing myself for his demise. I felt empty, weak, and powerless as he was cremated six feet into the ground. I would bear this scar, this burden all my life, as the one who killed his brother. I couldn’t accept any other truth, knowing this would not have happened if I had paid attention to what my mother said a few weeks ago about my brother's disappearance. I should have gone in search of him; maybe I could have saved him earlier. But now, there seemed to be more to this than just losing him to the monster I was yet to understand. A monster that operated with shadows and was as dangerous as hell, capable of possessing the soul of a werewolf. I had to dig into this. Who were the 'they' that were coming? And why do they want to wipe out all werewolves? His voice echoed in my mind. A thin line of tears rushed down my face as I stared at his grave. Every werewolf in the Castros pack had come to pay their last respe
Neil's POV "Scythe!!!" I screamed in fury with everything in me. The hairs on my body rose in anger. My blood boiled, and the only way to stop this was to take Scythe down and make him pay for everything he put the werewolves of Castros pack through. "Scythe!!" I roared again. Heira paced angrily within me, and I knew any moment now, he would push out. The air suddenly went still, and an ominous silence fell among the ruins of the pack. Cold air rushed in from all sides, and strange shadows began to take shape around me. Scythe's power had increased since the last time. More larger and thicker lumps of shadow penetrated the air now, cloning themselves... more than one Scythe stood before me, ready to attack. "You called me." His voice was unusually deep and menacing, resonating like thunder in the environment. But I cared less; he could display an array of powers as much as he wanted, but he was going down today. With gritted teeth, I pounced forward on both feet, claws pointed at
Neil's POV One blissful, amazing night with my mate had left us both curled into each other's arms. Her head rested on my chest while she slept. She was my mate, my Luna with a wolf spirit—a healer. Not only was she a werewolf now, but she was also a healer. In that moment, I wished I had turned her earlier; Cole wouldn’t have had to endure all of those struggles in Europe to save me from silver. I felt proud of her. She had awakened her wolf successfully after one bite, which was very rare, and she had been blessed by the moon with such a unique power. I suspected that was just the tip of the power of blue wolves. As I lost myself in thoughts about what it would feel like to finally present my mate to the Castros pack, a voice suddenly screamed into my head through the mind-link. "Alpha! Where are you? The pack is in chaos!" It was my beta, Damien. "What’s wrong? What’s happening?" "It’s the shadow assassin! The pack members are disbanding in fear. So many werewolves have been k
Amelia's POV She was very focused and carefully navigated the woods as if she had been there before. Also, she was very fast; I could tell by the amount of wind brushing past her fur. Neil was behind us... wait, not Neil. It was his wolf! I chuckled in excitement. It was getting interesting. 'Lydia is beautiful', I heard Neil in my head as our wolves sprinted through the undergrowth. 'She's charming and very interesting. I love her already', I replied as I laughed. We were beating Neil and his wolf in the race. They couldn't keep up with us; Lydia was extremely fast. 'And she's unusually fast! Damn! Heira is struggling to match her speed!' Neil complained, and I took pride in that. I heard his wolf purr as he increased his speed. 'Catch me if you can,' Lydia screamed in excitement. We pounced ahead. But Lydia suddenly paused and turned to Heira. 'Okay, I think we have arrived at the end of the game.' I stretched my eyes and saw it was a dead end—a cliff. Heira swiftly transfor
Amelia's POV My whole body quaked even while Neil was licking the wound. His hot tongue flapped the bite marks, but that didn't stop the storm I felt within. He pulled away and looked into my face. I thought he was going to let go because he didn't know when my wolf would arrive, but instead, his lips found mine. My lips quivered in his mouth as he kissed me, lips first until our tongues almost set on fire. I could feel my thigh getting slicker as our mouths continued dancing together. Yet, my whole body was on fire; starting from the mark Neil had just placed on my neck to the very pit of my stomach. I began to feel so strange, so alien to my body. I gasped into Neil's mouth while he kissed me because the pains were almost choking me, but Neil's powerful arms held me steadily against his chest as he tried to ease the pains. My fingers dug into his back as it felt as if I could merge with his body. The pains throbbed in my head and pounded in my chest, as if my body would explode an
Amelia's POVI know my name is Amelia. I remember that face; the face I wake up with every morning, right on my mind. I remember his name; he is Neil Morreti. All the memories we ever shared all rushed into my mind; including the sex in the pool at Arkans. I remember he had saved me but I can't remember what happened that he needed to save me in Arkans. I remember that monster, Logan; he cut off my pinky and promised he would send it to Neil, which he did.One distinct thing I also remember is that Neil is not an ordinary human. He has a wolf; a dark haired wolf that is so strong.I couldn't stop myself from imagining what it felt like having a wolf that you could call on, even when you are in danger. I would speak to her, hear her thoughts and opinions and not a soul will know what we are discussing. I would make her my gist mate. I would smell things from afar, hear any little sound like I wish to, become terribly fast and my punch will be strong enough to break enough bones.That f
Amelia's POV I knew my name is Amelia. I remembered that face; the face I woke up with every morning, right on my mind. I remembered his name; he was Neil Morreti. All the memories we had ever shared rushed into my mind, including the moment in the pool at Arkans. I remembered he had saved me, but I couldn't recall what had happened that required his intervention. I remembered that monster, Logan; he had cut off my pinky and promised to send it to Neil, which he did. One distinct thing I also remembered was that Neil was not an ordinary human. He had a wolf; a dark-haired wolf that was incredibly strong. I couldn't stop myself from imagining what it felt like to have a wolf that I could call on, even when I was in danger. I would speak to her, hear her thoughts and opinions, and not a soul would know what we were discussing. I would make her my confidante. I would smell things from afar, hear any little sound I wished to, become incredibly fast, and my punch would be strong enough t
Neil's POV I was shocked to the bone marrow. Not once did Amelia stir as her eyes continued piercing mine inquisitively. "Is he the bad guy who cut my finger with a knife and laughed while I cried?" She raised her stubby pinky to me and pouted her lips, ready to tear up. I was short of words. She remembered Logan, Karl, me, and every other thing except Lorenzo. She didn't remember the man who was ruthless and cruel to her in the name of marriage. She didn't remember how he killed her parents or how he led her to the altar and proceeded with the marriage vows with her. She didn't remember the mafia boss of Chicago, the one who married her for an heir and made life hard for her. She didn't remember any of it. But seeing this situation, I was going to seize it. I would make sure she never remembered those horrible nightmares with Lorenzo. She would never remember that Lorenzo ever existed, that he ever lived in her life. And that he was her husband. I would make sure those nightmares
Neil's POV The first thing I did was get Amelia out of that hospital and take her with me back to America. Cole booked us a room in a hotel to stay and watch out for the time being. The situation in America about being the miscreant who took the lives of hundreds of workers in a refinery explosion hadn't been laid to rest yet. But I was not that bothered about it; now I had all that I wanted, an undisturbed life with my mate. It was late by the time we arrived in America. Amelia had been sleeping on my shoulder all through the flight. She looked so weak and sick. The kind that moved me to pity, but it wasn't pity speaking. I was not pitying my mate. I was deeply concerned about her condition and if Neil Morreti would survive if he lost her. I would become a shadow of myself, and I might not be what anyone expected me to be anymore—just a loner who had lost control of his emotions and his whole self. I let her freshen up alone and treat herself to a nice meal. I took her to watch the