Blood filled the floor, and for some reason, nobody was remotely startled. All they did was shift out of the way so that they wouldn't get touched. It seemed I was the only one who was even terrified.Everybody wore faces of complete and utter understanding; they watched what happened, covered the eyes of the younger ones, but basically, there was no difference from their usual expressions.With just a move, Philip had cracked the man's head open.I was shocked.It all happened so suddenly that I didn't even know how to react. I didn't know what to think or how to feel about seeing my groom just kill someone in cold blood like the man was a full watermelon that could just be easily squashed.Philip turned around, and just like I guessed, his eyes had changed, and he was looking around with so much rage in his eyes."Find the others, Tessa, and kill them." His voice was loud and clear, instantly instilling fear in me.I panicked.I wasn't terrified of him; I knew damn well that Philip
Lyra's POVThe celebrations kicked off, and it became as if we all had not noticed the death of a random man. His betas had been taken away and obviously slaughtered, knowing Philip.The only thing that made the atmosphere a little serious, giving off the idea that something terrible and life-threatening had happened, was the security that filled the place.According to my deductions, guards were not a thing that existed on this island, and it was a rarity for there to exist such an air in the place.No matter how I tried to let go, to just focus on having fun like everyone else, I was reminded of what was going on, of the fact that there would always be danger lurking in the darkness, in the secret place.There was no way that there would just exist peace here, knowing that the death of Tristan wasn't going to bring about such.Something in me thought if I had known that this was how the world was going to be after his death, then maybe I wouldn't have killed him.That was a lie.I w
Philip's POVI took in a deep breath as I tried to massage my temple, hoping that the headache I was feeling would disappear like it was never there. But the longer I sat here on this chair, the more intensified the headache became.I was expecting to see blood dripping down my nose soon because from the way my head banged, that would not be far away.It hasn't even been two days since Lyra gave birth, and instead of it being a time of joy and celebration, we were mourning.Two of the triplets she gave birth to had been taken from us.It had been done so surreptitiously and dexterously that I was sure the person who did this was a professional. Maybe not someone who stole babies as a livelihood, but someone who was good with children. He was sure to take the babies away, babies that were supposed to be in the bosom of their mother.The last thing I wanted was Lyra waking up and seeing that the babies were gone; there was no way she wouldn't blame me."Philip."I lifted my head."Are y
Philip's POVI took in a deep breath as I tried to massage my temple, hoping that the headache I was feeling would disappear like it was never there. But the longer I sat here on this chair, the more intensified the headache became.I was expecting to see blood dripping down my nose soon because from the way my head banged, that would not be far away.It hasn't even been two days since Lyra gave birth, and instead of it being a time of joy and celebration, we were mourning.Two of the triplets she gave birth to had been taken from us.It had been done so surreptitiously and dexterously that I was sure the person who did this was a professional. Maybe not someone who stole babies as a livelihood, but someone who was good with children. He was sure to take the babies away, babies that were supposed to be in the bosom of their mother.The last thing I wanted was Lyra waking up and seeing that the babies were gone; there was no way she wouldn't blame me."Philip."I lifted my head."Are y
Philip's POVTessa blinked several times to show how stunned and generally taken aback she was. It was a very weird request; I'll admit it. Seeing as she had no way in hell of infiltrating an entire pack, and given the amount of time we had, it was almost impossible.She knew no one there, and if anyone saw her, they would know instantly that she was there under my command, given that Emily would probably be aware that we're searching for the babies. So that mission, that request was somewhat impossible.However, I had hope. This was Tessa. She had a higher body count than anyone else, then both Matt and I combined, and those were girls we see every day but can never point them out. She was a flirt, and it was backed up with a good amount of aesthetics; she was perfect to infiltrate in that manner.But, of course, saying that I was advising her to sell out her body was out of the question. I wasn't going to say it; even thinking about it was offensive. I only thought if she wanted to
Philip's POVWhat she proposed seemed like a good idea; bringing them in, giving them the one thing they desperately needed. The only problem was that I wanted them nowhere near me or my people. They were barbaric, had no loyalty, had the ability to switch up as fast as light, and even though they would love the food, they were not going to settle for it.Sure, it was a great idea when you're looking at it from afar, but these people would want something more. They would ask for more since we're proposing a deal to avoid war. They had a peanut-sized brain and would think the reason we're avoiding war is generally that we're scared, and they wouldn't even ask themselves if there may be other reasons.However, Lyra shook her head, "they are not going to move in with us, what are you thinking? If they move in, pretty soon they'll be thinking that this place belongs to them; you were the one who said they were barbaric."I nodded my head, seeing as she was on the same page with me about t
Philip's POVI wanted to run fast straight to the other side where the hut was located. It was from there I could see the figures, and I knew that it was proof that there were people in there.However, I couldn't run as fast as I wanted to because we were investigating, and I wasn't about to leave them. There was the uncertainty of what was waiting for me ahead as well, so I had to be cautious in my movements. And also, this was something like Lyra had said to me: she wanted me to change how rash and impulsive I was.It was going to be hard, it was going to be very hard, but this was what I had to do to become not just a better ruler but a better husband and a good father.I was those things now, immediately thrown from the life of a bachelor and tossed into this one where I had to protect my kids against the enemies I had gained in life.If I had not been the impulsive brat who wanted to pay back every punch, maybe I would not have acquired so many enemies, maybe life wouldn't be so
Philip's POVSuddenly, everything grew quiet, save for the crickets chirping, the wind in between the leaves of the trees, and the croaking of the frog.My betas walked like ghosts, not one twig breaking upon receiving the heaviness of their steps. They walked like predators, exactly how I have taught them. And under the leadership of Matt, they surrounded the hut in inconspicuous areas.It was left for me.I walked to the door and placed a knock there. Matt was standing against the wall right beside the door. If the person opened the door, they wouldn't be able to see him; he blended perfectly with the night, looking like a shadow rather than a person.His eyes were fixated on me, but I knew his attention wasn't. He was more focused on trying to overhear any form of conversation inside the house, listening for footsteps and heartbeats as faint as possible.This was important because we had no idea if he had any other person in the house; probably, the person who had kidnapped the bab
Tessa's PovIt's been a month ever since what happened. Kura returned to the silver moon pack and from what the news said the economy of he place wss taking a turn for the better. Things were finally looking up for them.I wss still yet to be given a nate and so was Michelle, there wasn't anything better to do than to just continue with our relationshipsMatt as expected became the leader of the pack for a while till Keagan was old enough to return. We all wanted hom as the leader. Philip had seen something in hom, the something he saw in all of us. Other than the fact he was born an alpha, he probably had zeal, he had the strength of a leader.Michelle had gone to meet Lyra, sje had a particular liking doe the kids and loved that about her. There were news of lyra and Asher's relationship probably leading to marriage and I was happy for Gomez finally throwback going to be married to their mates and they were happy.We were all happy for them.The rest of the betas had gotten themselv
Asher's POV"No!!" Tesaa screamed.Emily smiled victoriously asbshe saw the small cottage engulf in flames, she had a satisfies smile on her lips and shebste the projectile weapon on the ground next tonher feetz unknown to her, she setbthe remote control as well."Thwn that's jt, they both are dead."The flames were intense bring everything in the cottage turning it all to crisp, inwas sure that Tessa ws on the verge of jumping intonthe flames asbshe grww sloser yknthe cliff onnher knees and so I quickly hekd her down. Inwraoed my hands around her and then whispered into her ears."You csn kill her now".Tesaa froze. She disnt react to what insaid by looking at me, but rather she just slithered outnof my hold and then rose tonher feeshe tuened to where Emily stood lookingbatbthe flames, haooy that she had brought suxh destruction.Tesaa smirked, "you must be proud"Emily clapped, "you cannot even begin to fathom how excited I am.about thism this is truly a miracle. Thjs js something j
Asher's POVI shuddered slightly at what she said and instantly just started the car. I drove the car and sped of so that I would be driving right behind Emily she was moving so fast out of town out of everywhere and towards the docks. She was going to take a boat sowmehre and there were a large number of boats available for use.She immediately stopped her car and then jumped into one of the baots there.I saw this from the windscreens and madensure that I caught up with her. Tessa was as impatient as I was because she didn't even wait foe.me tonstoo the car before she was already running out and running towards a free motorboat bjust like the one that Emily had taken.I quickly pulled over and huried to where Tessa was getting the boat into the water, I quickly koined her and mived to first start the motor engine. Then it roared to life, I looked behind me andnsaw Tessa's approving glance. We started driving l, as fast as we could so nthat we could be right behind Emily.Emily dorve
Asher's POV"What do you mean by that?" I asked her and i moved forward."Oh," she chuckled, "you didn't realize? I think the person who poisoned you was Steven."I shook my head as I began to feel by body vibrate with the sense of being betrayed. Incident know I'd trusting Devlin's words were the right thing to do but at the moment, it made sense.He was the one that the assasin hadbeen warning me about. He was the person that was close to me thst wanted me dead. I didnt know why hebwas behaving kike that. Why he had posioned me and started tk act like the ruler.I didn't know what j should be thinking about ir even feeling but I felt frustrated. I felt broken."It cannot be" I said to myself.Devlin laughed, "stop lying to yourself, you already knew abiut jt."Somehow, when I thought back, it really was the truth, he had in so many ways done a lot of things. Hehad been the one whonkeot pestering me to go out and get drunk and how can I have possibly slipped away from him and he just
Asher's POVAfter the confession last night, I didn't even know how I ended up on.my.bed, I didn't know how I even slept but as I stared at myself in the mirror, with dark circles under my eyes and a certain fatigue in my.bearing, I believed that I might not have had any sleep last night.I brushed my teeth, and then proceeded to take my bath before I went downstairs to keep searching for anything that woukd kead ne to Philip.But ko matter how I'd love to go over the issue with Philip, s that i can work my way around finding him, i just couldn't even think for a minute. I couldn't understand what was happening nor why it has to be.like this.If Lyra's babies were really mine, did Philip know? Did he decide to be their father regardless? Lyra hsd saud she thought I hated her and all, so was the reason she hid the children from me because sbe thought I was going to deny them? That it was not going you accept and love them?I couldn't helo but winder jow broken she must've bee to even c
Asher's POVI ran my hand over my face and steooed forward to where shebwaa standing, maybe it was the distance that made me hear incorrectly what shebhad just said.Maybe i had been imagining things that she just said that Philip wasnt home.Because if he wasn't here, then where was he?"Lyra, I am not joking"She frowned, "I'm not joking either. I suddenly got tired and then I left the party after searching around for the both of you. What would make you think I'm lying?"She suddenly went quiet and her whose focused somewhere else, "what are you saying?" She asked, "Philip isn't with you?"I shook my head, "he isn't, and if you say he's not here then I have no fucking clue where he is". I said exasperatedly."Thus was what Fiona had saud, she told me that there was nothing i could do to stop their fucked up plan from going into action". I said shaking my head and recalling every bit of my conversation with Fiona. "If I had known, I would've left instantly"."Left?" Lyra's eyes chan
Asher's POVI grabbed a drink off from the tray of drinks a waiter wss passing around. The spaces between people kept getting more narrow and weaving through them became a huge hassle.I downed the alcohol in a go and then kept the glass on a nearest table before finding a way to swim through the sea of people, so that I could use the bathroom.I didn't even know where the bathroom was located.I looked around some more. Everybody wore masks and I was sure even the celebrant had her own mask. I suspected this because everywhere I've looked, I haven't seen her face. Akk I could see were different colors, shiny or dull and just eyes.I wasn't particularly looking for her fir I had nothing to say to her, anybody that could lead me to the bathroom right now was going to do me a huge favour."Asher?"I immediately turned around and saw a woman standing behind me.She wore a silver dress embedded with stones that glistened under the light. Her hair was shirt and brown and so were her eyes.
Philip's POVThe party was all I thought it would be, soft music playing, people talking amongst themselves rather than dancing. Only a few people were on the dancefloor doing nothing really amazing.As we walked further into the place, a waiter holding a tray approached us holding a tray of masks and then presented it to us.Asher picked one and then Lyra did before i settled for mine.I looked at the two of them first and saw the design of their mask, Lyra's own had feathers, jt was blue with shiny stones and quite beautiful to look at.Asher picked something more manly, it was plain black and had nothing quite noticeable. He just tied it around hisbface and instantly he blended with the group. So djd Lyra.I did the same."Well," Asher said, "be careful". Again he was here with his advice. Something inwas not against.I gave Lyra a kiss on her cheek and then decided to go around the olace. We all knew what we wrre doing. We all knew our plans and showing affections or soending the
Asher's POVThe visit to Emily's place had been a waste of time. I had found out absolutely nothing about Tristan. The women kept talking about the upcoming party and the theme they were using and everything else that was no business of mine. Fiona even went as far as to show me all that she had prepared.And when I walked out of there, a headache was already spotting.I had no intention of ever paying a visit to a female friend just because. There was nonjoy from such an activity but only stress.When I returned to Philip's place, I was praying and hoping that hebhad sorted out whatever he needed to sort out with Lyra. I hadkeft thwn with a strangeness in the air. They were aost having a fill out fight iverghe fact that Philip had feelings. Over the fact that he was feeling guilty over betraying his friend.I understood jownhe felt, but unfortunately, Lyra was not even about to hear it. Hwr opinion of Tristan had never been the best but after what he did to her, she was not about to