Lila's restless pacing echoed in my mind, a relentless drumbeat of urgency. "Vesta, we need to go back. Lucius is waiting."I hate that she wasn’t listening to me. Since I ran yesterday, I’ve been disgusted at myself. How could I run? I had a better plan but running made more sense yesterday. Now he would see me as a weak little wolf, when all I want to be is his worst nightmare. My wolf not being in sync with me made everything even worse. She was fighting hard to take control, If she took control, she would lead us back to him. Lila just wanted to be with her mate. "No, Lila. We can't risk it. He's the one who took them away from us," I retorted, clenching my fists. She needed to see my own reason too, I was the human here, the logical one. The mate bond was affecting her own decisions. "He's our mate! We belong with him!" Lila's voice growled, a fierce undertone of desperation. She was scratching the back of my mind, she was fighting so hard to take control and I couldn’t let h
I woke up on the floor, my body aching and my head pounding. I had no idea when I slept off. I was still having a time suppressing Lila. I tried to reach her but she was blocking me. I sighed in distress, I wasn’t ready to face her yet or have another go of our argument. I just needed to get better at least. The pang in my chest has reduced but I feel even way worse. Like i was being ran through with a truck. Luna watched me from where she was seated, concern etched across her face."You okay, Vesta?" Luna asked, handing me a glass of water. "Just tired," I mumbled, taking the glass and struggling to sit up. The headache was still very much present and I didn’t want to make it worse. "That was a rough argument with Lila," Luna observed, her eyes filled with understanding."Yeah, it always is," I sighed, feeling the lingering exhaustion from the internal battle. My wolf is a strong willed one and I am too, so it’s basically like two alphas clashing. Luna nodded, her gaze softeni
I tried not to look I was the problem but I was feeling significantly worser than I was before I took the soup. Maybe something in the soup was allergic to my body but I rarely had reactions. I could feel another sneeze coming up as I struggled to grapple for the edge of the sheets. I waited a bit and it ended up not coming as I sighed and rested on the edge of the bed. I needed to feel better and it looked like I was far from it. The knock on the door made my heart skip a beat, ever since I came here, I’ve been jumpy. Fears of Lucius finally finding me has been on my mind and it looked like my sickness was making my paranoia worse too. “How are you feeling now?” Luna’s voice cut through the voices in my head and I look up to see her leaning against the door and I could feel her stare at me in sympathy. I hated being gazed upon like that but what choices do I have? I still couldn’t afford to stand on my own and a crazed wolf is out there looking for me and relentless about maki
Lucius's POVI sat in the dimly lit chamber, attempting to clear my mind through meditation. The scent of incense hung heavy, but Knight's persistent voice shattered the fragile calm. My thoughts were scattered, and I needed to regain control. I had never doubted myself before, but this was new.Having someone linked to me forever, having my heart beat fiercely for them, even without my consent, was unsettling. I didn’t know her before, yet I found myself wanting to protect her fiercely. This was the madness of a mate bond.This was bad for me, bad for me as the king of the werewolf realm. A lot could go wrong if I wasn't careful. The most powerful alphas had been brought to their knees by their mates, and I wondered if such a fate would befall me, too.Would Vesta be my weakness? Would she bring down everything I had worked hard for years to build? Everything I built with my blood when the whole world was against me, and I had to fight for my place without my eyes.“Don’t worry, she w
ALPHA LUCIUS’S POVI was having a hard time keeping all of it bottled inside. I had just gotten off the cell with Alpha Callum and he had no idea where his niece had disappeared to. I feel even worse for letting that girl outsmart me. Why the hell did I think that she would have accepted being mated to me without any fuss? She let herself leave under her uncle’s wings and now she was out there in the wind and Knight kept nagging at me about how much of a danger she was in. I have abandoned every damn thing that required my attention to look for my mate who has decided to cost me my peace. I shouldn’t be bothered about if she was safe or not, I should wait for her to come back. I should let her do whatever she wants but Knight won’t let me be. That’s why I am out here assembling my men in preparation to storm the rogue island. The Rogue Island isn’t my favorite place to be, they hate my guts over there and I share the same passion for them. Bloody, unruly wolves. The concept of rul
VESTA'S POVThe loud throbbing in my head had disappeared and somehow, my body felt even more at peace than it had been for the previous days. Something about where I was made me feel more comfortable and I felt like the herb Tate had given me was finally working and now I could feel better and move on with my life. Lila was back too, she was still in deep sleep but I could feel her in me and I almost leaped in excitement, i was having the best sleep of my life. We might have had our differences but knowing she was back to me provided the kind of relief I never imagined in a thousand years. “I think she’s waking up,” someone whispered and that got my attention, the voice was too soft to belong to Luna and I didn’t see any other person at Tate’s place when we got there. That made me wonder where I was and I slowly rose up. I slowly noted that the beds were softer, almost like they belonged in a castle. I finally opened my eyes and the whole room was filled up with different people
Vesta's POVI finished breakfast alone, the taste a distant memory as I returned to the room Lucius confined me in. He was firm about not letting me out of his sight, with multiple omegas flanking me on my way back. I wanted to tell them I wasn't running, but who was I to make them go against their boss' orders?"Anika," I spoke to the omega, "Can we take a walk outside?" I asked gently, even though I knew what the answer would be. They were just omegas, not capable of making decisions like that. Plus, Lucius probably had the whole place surrounded. I would only be putting them in trouble."The alpha's orders. No leaving the room," she replied curtly, and I nodded. There was no need to hate the messenger when I could hate the man himself.I sighed, resigned. "Fine, I'll stay here."Time crawled by, and I decided to take a short nap. There was nothing else for me to do, so I decided to sleep it off. The room's dullness didn't help. It felt like a comfortable dungeon, and it was too sile
I decided to frustrate Lucius with every effort. He'd grow tired of me, and I'd watch out for my escape. I couldn’t give up trying to get out of this hell hole; I couldn’t. For my parents, whose lives he brutally took, and for my own sake, giving up would mean I was a failure. It would mean I had failed them terribly. Since the last time he came and I didn't give him an audience, he hasn’t been in the room since then. My routine still hasn't changed, and Anika and the rest of the omegas still fuss over me. They draw my bath in the morning, I eat by the secluded balcony, and I return to bed, where I do nothing but stare into the ceiling or sleep. I had memorized every stroke of paint on the wall, every cell, and every damn decoration in this bloody room; there was no difference between here and being locked up in a dungeon. Maybe the tiny difference is being waited upon and eating on a balcony with a great view. When I returned from eating an early dinner, I was surprised to find L