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EIGHTEEN | A CURSE AND A KING
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Lily
She had a plan.“A lifetime in my service?” Efaffion repeated, eyes flickering with an emotion she couldn’t read. Her chest tightened, and the air in her lungs suddenly did not feel like enough.
Of course, she had no idea if her plan would work. She didn’t know enough about the eleve to be able to count on it, and she doubted that such a creature – ageless, immortal – would be stupid enough to allow her to trick him. Then again, maybe it was simple enough that it might just work.
“Yes,” Lily said, courage failing. The way he watched her was unnerving, as if she were a gift to be unwrapped slowly, layer by layer. Steeling herself, she managed to continue. “But only if I lose.”
“And if you win?”
“I – I walk out of here alive. And w
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LilyLily stared down at the letter, a tiny smile tugging at her lips. There had been something nagging at her, ever since the battle, and at last she understood what it was.Lily,Or I suppose I should refer to you by your proper title. Luna Lily,I always knew you would grow to be a completely insufferable pack leader. We last met at the Great Battle, as it is already being termed – and, really, should we not wait until longer than a few months have passed before we name things with such grandiose titles? – but you did not seem to recognise me. If I were another, I may have been hurt by that. Then again, you never were very good at seeing through my disguises.Therefore, I have decided to be blunt. I have lost everything. My home and my people are gone. I took that Alpha wolf you had a soft spot for, Atticus, to bargain with Blood Moon. To no avail, might I add. He was more irksome than he was useful, so he has been deposited back in his rightful home. The issue is this: I have no
The Broken Alpha 108 | HEARTFELT
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The Broken Alpha 107 | SUNRISE
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The Broken Alpha 104 | IN DEATH
ElijahElijah fought through the darkness, every step excruciating. His burns seared his flesh, but he was alive. For now.His heart thrashed. The sounds of battle raged ahead, howls and choked off screams and the dull thumps of bodies smacking the ground. It was messy, undignified, and Elijah had never longed to be a part of something so badly.Because Lily had to be there. Everything in him was screaming that she was, even though the thick, pulsating magic cloying the air was throwing off the power of their mate bond. He could not pin her down – but still he knew.At last he reached the clearing. The remnants of magic hung heavy in the cool night air, sparking at his touch as he stepped through the boundary they’d made and through the ring of trees. He paused, sucking in heavy breaths, leaning heavily on a trunk as he tried to pick out Lily amongst the mass of wolves.Bile rose in his throat. Bodies were piled up everywhere, ringing the clearing, bloody and mutilated. He realised wi
The Broken Alpha 103 | KING
AtticusAtticus relished every racing beat of his heart. He was alive, more alive than he had ever felt, and each solid pound of it meant that he was still there. Still fighting.Still fighting for her.When he’d seen that arrogant, too-pretty-for-his-own-good, so-called Alpha kiss Lily, he’d seen red. He’d let that bright, burning red edging his vision become a prediction of the future: Apollo would bleed for all that he’d done. But this fight was no normal fight. Atticus was strong, brutally so, but Apollo never seemed to tire or lag. He had no weaknesses that Atticus could take advantage of, no faltering glances or too-slow reactions. He was on top form, all of the time, and Atticus’s energy was starting to wane.He whipped his head around, searching through the crowd for his Beta or Gamma. They were lost to the writhing sea of bodies, part of the blur of dark fur and bloody teeth surrounding him, packed tight in all directions. His pride kept him from asking them for help. Apoll
The Broken Alpha 102 | CEREMONIAL
LilyA howl shattered the clearing. It tore apart the chants, reverberating through each of the elements swirling through the darkness.The blade froze a hair’s breadth above Lily’s chest. She let out a ragged breath, though her eyes remained fixed on the glint of the blade. It shimmered in the moonlight, trembling in Peverton’s shaky grip.“Potentia grym,” he muttered, shaking his head. Then, again, louder, he said: “Potentia grym!” and raised the blade anew. Before he could slam it down into her chest, though, a huge black wolf smashed into him. Lily gasped, twitching away from the blade as it fell. It caught her foreleg, slicing down towards her paw, her blood dripping down onto the earth before she could tear away.The wolf towered over her on her altar, its fur alight with all four elements. The ends of its black fur were tinged red by the flames; air made its hair sway; ivy coiled up its legs; water slicked down its back. A loud sizzling noise drew her attention away. Her bloo
The Broken Alpha 101 | WARDS
ElijahThe brush of the magic skittering over the veil was cool to the touch. Elijah dipped his fingertips into it, a shiver running down his spine and raising the tiny hairs prickling down his forearms. A sense of foreboding washed over him as he stepped through, his foot landing solidly in Red Ripper’s territory.The entry point of this veil was different to the last one he’d come through. Darkness ebbed and flowed like a river in the far wood, but Elijah turned away from it. He had one goal to focus on: find the cells. Once he’d managed that unnoticed, he could worry about the incessant scratching at the back of his mind and the oppressive weight of magic hanging thick in the night air.Ducking low, Elijah picked his way towards a flickering light in the distance. He’d drawn out a scribbled map of the territory, as it was in his memory, but whether that was accurate to the reality he’d witnessed or if the Red Ripper wolves had changed the pack’s layout since then, he had no idea. I
