*Ash's POV* This was the first time I was unable to sleep for a full night in years,everytime I managed to close my eyes,I kept seeing images of my Dad. The house that felt bubbly and alive in the morning suddenly felt so cold. It was still hard to accept that my Dad was gone. I kept hoping that someone would wake me up and tell me I was having a nightmare,I would give up anything to at least have one more conversation with my Dad. How was I supposed to move on from here?. Where was I even going to start from? My Dad had been a strong anchor to me all my life and even the thought of having to carry on without him was overwhelming. Richard had reached out to me earlier this morning to offer his condolences and had requested that I came to his house later in the day for us to talk. This was an opportunity for me to gain more insight on what I already knew so I accepted his invitation. My mum had refused to come out of her room since she went in yesterday,I wondered what the level of pa
*Cassie's POV*I kept having nightmares every time I tried to sleep for some days. The antidepressants I was initially using stopped working or my body got used to it so I had to get something stronger. I wasn't able to hear the full conversation my Dad had with Ash the other day he came over with his brother. I was going out later today to Ash's place and planned to move from there to Skylar's place but I hadn't found a way to inform my Dad about it yet. He had been happier since the day Alpha Damon was murdered and it killed me to see him being joyful over the death of someone else. He was barely at home and was always apologising for not being available but I was happy I didn't get to always see him around. Sage on the other hand was always checking in on me. We had gone on a few outings since I told him about my Dad. I stood up from my bed and went into my Dad's room.“Dad,seems you're planning to step out of the house”. I said, walking towards him.“Yes,I have a couple of things
*Skylar’s POV*The more I thought that life was the worst it could be,the more things went south. At some point I was beginning to think that there was a curse that recently started taking its course because it was crazy how things went from being normal to bad occurrences always coming up everytime. I had agreed to speak with my parents about Cassie coming to stay with us for a while. She was the last person on earth I should be helping at the moment because of everything she had done but I remembered the times when she helped me out in the past. The thought of also knowing that her Dad was a murderer must really be a lot for her to accept. I decided to do this one favor for her,hoping that moon goddess paid me back whenever I needed it. My parents were a bit reluctant to have her over but after a few persuasions,they gave in and agreed for her to come. Cassie slept almost immediately we arrived at my place till it was time for dinner.“You have a nice room. With the way you behave,o
*Ash's POV*I was going to be meeting with Richard again today. My mum had remained adamant on going with us this time around. I was going to ask him to give up on his ambition of becoming Alpha and probably come to an agreement since he knew a secret my Dad had kept for years. If the rest of the pack found out that my Dad was homosexual,I might lose the chances of ever becoming Alpha forever.“Mum please do not do anything rash while we're there,I know you're still grieving Dad but rhs only way we will be able to make him face the consequences of what he's done us if he is still alive”. I said,pulling up at Richard's garage.“Fine. You have my word,it's not like I'm going to kill him or anything. I just want to see the face of the murderer who took your Dad's life and tell him that I hope he pays dearly for what he did”. She replied.“Hoping that he pays for his sins is quite merciful of you Mum. He's surely gonna pay for what he did”. Luke said, sarcastically.I rang on the doorbell
*Ash's POV*“You really should stop keeping things from me if we're going to be working together. You should have told me about what you had found out about Cassie's mum and maybe we could have put it to better use. It wasn't cool that I had to find out that way”. I said to Luke.“I'm sorry I kept it from you. I explained why I didn't tell you before now and you heard what Richard said,he already took care of her so it doesn't make much of a difference actually. We need to come up with something really fast. Now that Richard knows we're standing up against him,he's definitely not just going to sit back and relax and we're in more danger”. He replied.“What do you suggest we do?. I'm beginning to get frustrated,it's like we keep coming to a dead end with each plan we make”. I said,slouching into a chair.“Relax Man, we'll fix it. We just need to be more strategic seeing that Richard is quite smarter than we thought”. He replied. Luke had been really helpful since the Death of my Dad,he
*Sage's POV*My parents were not comfortable with the recent company I started keeping with Ash. They were of the opinion that Ash was only trying to take advantage of my good nature now that he was in need of my help. It took some time to convince them that Ash had changed from what he used to be, I wasn't really losing much helping him and for all I knew,he could be of equal benefit to me later in life. They were also not happy with the fact that Skylar got back together with him and left me heartbroken but I had to explain to them that she didn't really have much of a choice when it happened as they were fated mates and were in love with each other.“Sage,you didn't tell me you were coming here”. Cassie said with a look of surprise.“Good evening to you too”. I replied, sarcastically.“I'm sorry,Good evening. I'm just surprised to see you”. She greeted.“I'm almost as surprised to see you myself. How are you doing?”. I asked.“I'm alright. Coming here was quite spontaneous. Skylar
*Cassie's POV*The time spent with Skylar's family felt so different. My orientation on what family meant to me changed drastically. It was all genuine love and care among them. Even though they were not as wealthy as my family,they cared for each other so much and I admired it and wished I had something like that going on with my family. I used to believe my Dad really loved me and that everything he did was for my sake, I was beginning to realize it was just a cover up to hide his true nature. After the last time I spoke with Ash about finding a solution to what was happening to me,he spoke to his mum and she went with me to the hospital. After a consultation with a Doctor,I was asked to go through therapy and come for regular check ups for a period of time. I was going to be resuming back to school in a few days and my Dad had requested to see me. He initially told me he wanted me to return home but I pleaded with him to allow me to stay back for a while. My plan was to go home for
*Ash's POV*Things were beginning to fall into place in bits, Richard was starting to leave loose ends which were to our advantage. Luke had informed me that he would be leaving soon because he already had a series of pending business transactions to attend to. I totally understood, he has been really supportive since he's been around and I hoped that I would be able to wrap things up with Richard soon enough before he left. My mum spent most of her time alone she found out about Richard being Luke's Dad, she only came out mostly whenever she has to prepare a meal and didn't say much when she's around us. I knew she was going to snap out of it eventually and I was willing to give her as much time as she needed.“What's up Man?”. I asked Luke. He stepped out earlier and had just returned back home.“I'm cool,quite exhausted though and a bit bored. Decided to take a long walk”“I can imagine. I noticed I've never really seen or heard you have phone calls like you have a partner. Are you
Ash's POVI wasn't exactly sure what to say, so I glanced at my friends, but from the looks in Luke's eyes, I knew that he was completely baffled by the situation. His eyes were hard, contrary to Sage, who looked soft and ready to give in at any moment."I can't believe we are even doing this," he said, his voice expressive as he stepped forward, his eyes flashing. "We shouldn't be bargaining with you; you are in no position to say anything at all.""Am I now?" he asked, his knife pressed a little more to her neck. I could tell that he was about to make a rash decision that would definitely cost him his life, but I was afraid of it costing Cassie's life also."Please," I said to Luke, putting my hand on him. I knew how much he loved his sister and didn't want her to die, so why was he actually acting like this? Luke glanced at Cassie, his eyes rigid as if trying to tell her something. His eyes were fixed on her, but he didn't see anything else, staying in his position with hardly any
Ash POVWe all stayed rooted to the spot, except maybe for Sage behind me, who had taken a subconscious step back. Maybe it was a good idea for us to back away after all—maybe back away out of the room entirely so that I could give Sage a good pep talk and make him gather himself and understand what was actually at stake here.Weakness was the one thing that would actually cost Cassie her life, nothing more. If we played this right, from the position of strength that we actually were in, then we could get her back, though it wasn't certain if we could get Richard and bring him to book along with that; that would actually be asking for too much. One small mistake and our victory had turned into a break-even, or maybe a possible loss if we didn't play our cards right and made another small mistake to add to the former one.I looked at our opponent, the one that we had nearly defeated, for a couple of seconds and finally decided to at least talk with him. If he killed Cassie, then the en
Luke's POVEverything was closing in on me, and I knew that it was too late for me to run away by now. My chance was gone. Looking at my opponent, who was now getting into the attack once more and covering all spaces for me to run into, I knew that he wouldn't let me go. He knew just what I could be thinking at this time, and he also knew that most likely I would try to run away. He was doing everything to prevent that, not wanting his prey to go.I knew that when he won this, he was going to put me along with Cassie and torment us for a very long period of time before killing us eventually. Yes, he had given me my chance to join him, not that I would ever do that, but I hadn't agreed to him, and now he was going to make me pay the price. I was pretty sure of it.I felt a certain feeling of discomfort, knowing how things were about to end, but still staying here anyway. I should be doing my best to run away and break free from his grasp, but I didn't do that for some reason. I just st
Luke's POVIt was honestly very troubling how I was still struggling with Richard after such a long time, and how someone would have thought that by now I would be done with defeating him, especially after I had come to the brink of beating him so many times now. But for some reason, he was always bouncing back and staying up above water, to the point that I was actually pressured by him at times, and even now, I was still pressured. Honestly, I was starting to wonder whether there was something wrong with me, or whether we were just evenly matched. Every time I came to the brink, ready to defeat him, there was one small mistake, or one small thing that happened to make him come back again. And then we started the sequence all over again.It dawned on me now that I would not be able to defeat him, not today, not now. I wasn't strong enough. In fact, I would even be considered lucky to not be defeated by him myself. Remembering clearly how easily he had taken me on previously, I knew
Sage's povThe first thought that came to my mind after he said that was that this was simply too good to be true. I couldn't believe it even now. However, that was a fact. But if he was actually the one keeping Sage from coming here, then he was a true hero. He was the one doing much more work than us and our soldiers who brought the army to the gate and the fight from the outside, because he is definitely the one that brings the fight from the inside, which is the real fight.I looked at Ash, wanting to see how convinced he was. And from the looks of it, he seemed completely convinced by it. When I thought about it, I didn't see any other reason why this could be happening. For one thing, I hadn't heard from Luke at all, indicating that there was a good chance that he was busy. And the fact that, at the same time, Richard was nowhere to be found, made it a little too much to be a coincidence. Most likely, the two of them couldn't be here because they were busy with each other, fight
Sage's POVI didn't really know whether I was safe when I started easily winning the entire fight. It was not much of a battle anymore. If anything, it was starting to become something of a slaughter. I didn't see any reason why I would have it so easy fighting against the man that I was up against—the man who had been rumored to be far stronger than a lot of people and would be a very formidable enemy.I had heard that he was planning some tricks for me, and I also knew that he was skewed and poisoned because that's what I heard from the assassin the time we asked him about Richard. That was enough information to be wary of him, knowing that he could actually be planning something else entirely while we were busy here. But as it happened, maybe he was just all talk after all, and there was nothing to actually be fearful of. He seemed pretty tame to me right now, not at all a threat, no matter how I looked at it.In my planning, I decided to draw back a little and let my men do some o
Ash's POV I join in and things get easy The progress was slow but steady. I knew that it wouldn't be long before we finally reached my territory. Then, I would have the opportunity to take back what was rightfully mine.I could almost see it happening already. As my soldiers marched forward, each with a certain determination in their eyes, I was sure we stood a huge chance of winning this. The moment I got to Richard, I would make sure to rip his eyes out and kill him for everything he had done, especially for killing my father. Until then, I had to make do with what I had and bide my time until everything was set.I had the patience to wait because I had been waiting for this moment all my life. So, even if it was just a couple more hours, I could wait again. It would end in my victory.Setting my eyes on the bigger prize, I kept moving, knowing it would be worth it. I was starting to get tired after marching for what seemed like forever. The soldiers, for their part, seemed much s
Sage's POVMy men started marching forward after I gave the order, each of them moving valiantly. These were pretty much all my forces because the ones I left to defend my home weren't too many anymore and wouldn't really account for much. In other words, if an attack actually started on my home while I was gone, then it would be pretty much defenseless against this attacker, and they would be able to do some large amount of damage to it.It was very precarious, but I knew that if I didn't take as many people as I could with me, then it was highly unlikely that we would win. I had no idea how many people Richard had with him, but I knew that he definitely had a lot of people with him, and that if I took only half of my army, it might not be enough, even when added to what Ash was bringing.I didn't want to take any chances on this because it was pretty much my only chance. If I was going to help, then I was going to help him completely and make sure that we won this. If we didn't win,
Sage's P.O.V.I went home driving in my car at full speed because I wanted to get there as soon possible. Who could have thought that I would be so excited and so fired up about fighting another man's war? It was a big pleasure for me to involve myself to such a large extent like this. But actually, I didn't see myself doing anything else in this particular situation.Cassie had been taken, and this could surely well be the only way I could free her since I couldn't really depend on Luke to do the job for me. Everything seemed to have gone south in this situation and personally, I was feeling affected. I felt incomplete, especially because of the lack of Cassie around, and I also felt a little guilty even though I hadn't exactly done anything.Something told me that the person who had actually caused all this personally didn't even feel guilty himself, and that person was Luke. So, I tried to make myself a little happier knowing that since he wasn't killing himself for what he actuall