Klaus’s POV I was in the old alpha’s office pacing back and forth seething in rage. I could still feel the wound on my shoulder as it was healing from the silver knife that stupid, yet brave, girl threw at me. My mind went back to that moment in the woods when I laid eyes on her for the first time. Me and my inner circle were going to visit the Grey’s pack; which were actually now a part of the Crescent Moon, before sunrise. I wanted to check on a few things before the submission ceremony. We were running separately from each other, as I needed some space and quiet to gather my conflicted thoughts. That’s when I saw her. I stopped and stared in surprise at the girl standing in front of me. I wasn’t expecting to find anyone out here at this hour. It wasn’t just that, it was also the fact that she was covered from head to toe in mud. Why the hell was she covered in so much mud? It looked like she fell straight into a mud swamp. I tried to sniff her real scent b
Klaus’s POV I looked at the wall clock in the old alpha’s office. It read 7:02 a.m. Great, less than half an hour to the submission ceremony and I have no idea what Ella’s punishment should be. One thing I was absolutely sure of, no execution. Had she been a guy I might have considered it, maybe. But, what is a fitting punishment for trying to break the rules and killing the alpha? What will send the right message to my new pack? I ran my hands through my hair for the hundredth time since I locked myself in the office. Where the hell was Joseph? He was supposed to lock her up in a cell and come straight to the office. My father didn’t punish many people during his time as alpha. He was very fair and well loved by everyone. But when he did, he would either execute them or whip them in public. That’s it, public whipping. It was better than being dead or cutting off some limb. It will leave marks, but it will eventually heal. How many whips should I give her? How many w
Ella’s POV As soon as Joseph left, I collapsed on the floor of the cell. My body was beyond exhausted. I laid on my stomach for goddess knows how long. My head was blank. I tried not to think of anything. Nothing I would think about mattered anymore. I am going to die this morning. Maybe there is something much better on the other side. Maybe I’ll finally get to see my mom. I closed my eyes and waited for the inevitable. I drifted for a while until my back felt like it was on fire that I had to do something to ease the pain. I slowly got up. I had no idea how much time had passed. It could have been an hour or three. I went to the toilet, removed the tank lid and tried to clean my hands, neck, and face from the dried up mud. I think I got most of it by the time I was finished. I don’t know why, but the thought of dying filthy and smelly in public wasn’t something I wanted. My clothes however were a lost cause. Suddenly, I remembered that I put on two long sleeved shirts. I removed th
Ella’s POV I sighed. 20 lashes is a piece of cake. I've had much worse than that. Well, considering my back had 20 open cuts across it and a dozen other whip marks, it wasn’t really a piece of cake. I was grateful actually that it was only 20. Any more lashes, and I would probably pass out. After 15 minutes, beta Joseph opened the door for me. He was holding a white shirt that he handed to me. “You’ll need to change into this shirt” he said almost sadly. “I’ll be waiting outside to take you when you finish” he closed the door without locking it, and gave me his back. I took a look at the shirt. It was super light and almost see through. Realization hit me, I had to wear it because I can’t be naked in public. And the point of punishment was to make it hurt, so I can’t exactly be whipped in the thick shirt I was wearing. I took off my old shirt and put on the white one. I was practically wearing nothing, which was the point. I opened the door and let Joseph take me to the back door
Klaus’s POV I give Joseph a nod to let Ella come to the stage. He gestures for her to move without touching her. I don’t know why Ella hates him so much and is always scared of him. Although Joseph obviously cared about her ever since last night when he caught her in the forest. She steps into the stage and stands in front of her pack with her head held high. She looks at them without showing an ounce of fear from the upcoming punishment. Even when I told her at her cell that she will be publicly whipped, she didn’t seem afraid of it at all. It was strange, but I think it’s because she has never been whipped before that she doesn’t realize it will hurt her so much. My heart felt sorry for the pain I was about to inflict on her. “Sit down on the ground Ella” I ordered her. She knelt down on the ground and sat on her legs. She swept her hair to the front to give me full access, bowed her head down, and put her hands on her knees. I was caught off guard when she swept her hair out of
Ella’s POV I end up hiding in my room all day crying my eyes out. I skipped breakfast and lunch. I didn’t want to see anyone, not to mention I had no appetite. Looking myself in the mirror this morning, made the psychotic break-down I have been avoiding for 10 months tear my heart open. I sobbed and sobbed until there were no tears left in me. All I was left with was the constant pain that never seemed to end. Around 3 p.m., I heard a knock on my door. I considered ignoring it, but my curiosity got the best of me as I rarely get my door knocked on. I open the door and find the deep blue eyes of beta Joseph staring at me. I grip the door tightly at the sight of him. Why is he here? My heart begins to beat rapidly, as I stare at him in fear. He takes a look at my face and sadness fills his features. “Ella, I went to the pack hospital to check on you. They told me you never came. Are you okay?“ he asks in concern. It takes me a minute to answer him. Why would he go to check on me? Did
Ella’s POV I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. Despite the horrible discovery I just made about my father and alpha Klaus, that was not the reason for my inability to breathe. A sudden sense of déjà vu hit me. I was in this kitchen serving alpha Grey and beta Sam, when I accidentally dropped the alpha’s glass of wine shattering it to the floor. I have known unimaginable agony ever sense that night. I looked up at my new alpha and beta. They were staring at the mess I made in surprise. Alpha Klaus took a few steps towards me, and I immediately flinched and backed away to a corner raising my hands to my face to protect it from his slap. “I’m sorry alpha, please don’t hurt me. It slipped from my hands” I begged in a shaky voice. I saw through my fingers the shocked face of alpha Klaus. “Why would I hurt you for breaking a bottle of wine Ella? What kind of monster do you think I am?” he asked angrily. I kept staring at him through my shaky fingers. Beta Joseph walked over to me sl
Ella’s POVI recognized the man holding me against the door and threatening to kill me if I scream for help. He was one of beta Sam’s men. The one who spies for him. Who kills for him. I didn’t know his name unfortunately. What the hell is he doing in my room?“Are you going to be smart and keep your mouth shut when I remove my hand?“ he asks.I manage to give a small nod. He lets me go and backs away a little. I take a good look at him. He was probably in his forties. He was very huge and muscular, I could barely reach his chest. He was bald and had a black short beard. His brown eyes were looking down at me in disgust.“I heard your little confession to alpha Klaus in the back yard about what your father did. And let me tell you that that was a very stupid thing you did little girl” he said sarcastically.“What’s it to you? You weren’t involved in what happened?” I whispered.
Klaus’s POV “Waffles, nana, please” We were all gathered for breakfast like we do everyday. Me, Ella, Joseph, Sara, and our precious twins, MJ and Melanie. MJ was pointing at the plate of waffles, cutely asking his grandmother for the last piece left. There would have been war between me and Sara over who would get the last piece, a few years ago. But, because it was her little spoiled grandson asking for it now, she happily obliged. The twins had a special place in all of our hearts. MJ looked like Ella with his golden bouncy curls and big brown eyes, while Melanie had my hazel eye color and my ash blond hair. As Sara handed him the last piece with a kiss on his chubby cheek, we all noticed at the same time a yellow note left on the waffles plate. It was hidden by the last piece that Sara gave to MJ. It said “Save The Last Piece For Me Please!! -Baby #3” My heart fluttered excitedly as I reread the note again and again. I looked up at Ella and saw her staring at me lovingly w
The only people I have to thank and give credit to for completing this book, are my amazing readers. Without your encouragements, comments, and likes, this book wouldn’t have finished. You gave me the confidence in myself as a writer and in my story. Without your interactions with every update, I would have dropped the whole thing and considered myself a failure in this particular field. Thank you so much for having the time to leave your comments, they fill me with so much joy to read every single one of them. Thank you for having faith in my story and loving my characters as much as I loved them. And finally, thank you for sticking by this book and waiting patiently for every update. I know how frustrating it was for you to stop reading just before things got to the exciting moments. New readers who got to read the completed book and reached this far, consider yourselves so lucky because you got to read the whole thing in one piece w
6 years Later It’s been six years since my life actually began. Six wonderful years full of love, happiness, safety, and bliss with the closest people to my heart sharing it with me. Six years where neither me, or anyone of my family was harmed or put in danger. My life was perfect in every way. The day dreams I used to have back at my old pack, on my thin cots, trying desperately to distract myself from my throbbing and aching body, finally came true. I had the best parents in this whole world. Even I didn’t envision them to be as perfect as they actually are. I was the luckiest girl to marry this man that I am sleeping next to right now. He was perfect in my eyes. It’s ironic, considering that our first few encounters always filled me with a mix of fear and hatred towards him. If someone back then could possibly see the future and informed me that I will end up marrying alpha Klaus and become so happy with him, I would’ve hi
Ella’s POV He was so shocked by my unexpected condition, it almost felt like I asked him to kill someone for me. I stifled a chuckle from escaping me at his reaction, and repeated myself in case he doubted what he heard me say. “Kiss me Klaus… here” I put my index finger on my lips. “I want to taste the feel of your lips on mine again. I keep thinking about how our kiss at the wedding ceremony made my insides melt, and I want more than just a brief, short kiss, I want the whole…” He cut me off as his lips came crashing down on mine, silencing me in the best way anyone could silence another person. And it was no brief short kiss at all. He kissed me with a hunger that coursed through my whole body, with a passion that made me explode; literally, with desire. The kiss made me realize that I was missing out on a very important, life sustaining, supplement, his lips. I couldn’t contain my moan from escaping as the emotions I felt were too much to suppress inside me. That one kiss w
Klaus’s POV “If I doze off behind the wheel and hit a tree, I will haunt your ass for eternity Klaus. Why couldn’t we just spend the night and travel back to the head pack first thing in the morning?” asked Joseph while stifling a yawn. We were on our way back home from visiting our last pack. It was almost midnight and the path we were driving through was barely visible in the poorly lit, uncemented dirt road. “It’s just an hour and a half drive Joseph, I’ll keep you awake don’t worry” I said firmly. “That still doesn’t answer my question. What’s the rush?” he asked curiously. I sighed heavily. The rush was because of Ella. If I thought the three days before our wedding were torturous, I was so wrong. I wasn’t as attached to her then as I was now. I wanted to return back to the head pack since the first night. Hell, I wanted to return the second we drove past the border. I have no idea how I’m going to do this again next time. She was an addiction I never wanted to sober up fr
Ella’s POV “I thought you were in a meeting with Joseph” I said in wonder. “I found myself unable to stop thinking about you the whole day, I couldn’t wait for the damn meeting to end so I could come spend the rest of my day with you. I missed you even though we were apart for a few hours only” he said fondly. I grinned at his lovely words as I replied “I missed you too so much. You never left my thoughts all day” I came over to him and hugged him, placing my head on my new favorite place, his chest. He tightened his embrace around me passionately. After a minute, we pulled away as he turned his expression into a professional one and said “Ok, let’s see what you’ve got” We trained together for an hour and a half, and I was always on the defensive side. He was simply a magnificent fighter. Graceful, fast, and strong. I found myself constantly getting distracted by his beauty and skillful movements during our fights, that I fail to block his attacks and end up falling down or get
Ella’s POV Klaus and Joseph head for their offices and I hang back with Sara before she heads to work too. I had ten minutes before my studying session with Jake, so I decided to open the subject with Sara. “What’s on your mind Ella?” asks Sara curiously. She could always read me like an open book. I wondered if I was the only one she could read so easily, or she had a special gift of reading people. “I don’t know if Klaus talked to you about this, but he and I have real feelings for each other. We’ve had them well before we got married, but we were both scared of our own feelings” I said awkwardly. She speaks tenderly “I know, not just because Klaus confirmed it last night, but because Joseph and I suspected it from the beginning” I suppress my snort as I wonder to myself. How come everyone but us, was so sure that we had feelings for each other? She laughs under her breath as she says “We probably figured it out before you two even admitted it to yourselves. We didn’t say any
Ella’s POV We end up having a super late dinner. As the four of us already skipped lunch and the usual dinner time, we were all starving at that point. We kept our conversation light and short, without diving into anymore drama. We were exposed to enough drama to last us for a year. As soon as dinner was over, I couldn’t keep myself from yawning constantly. I was super tired and exhausted from all the emotional turmoil that I put my body through today. Sara notices my yawns and speaks softly to me “It’s getting late, you should go lay down and rest. It was a very rough day on all of us” I nod my head in agreement as we all get up from the table. Klaus comes over to my side and holds my hand instinctively. We say good night to them and head back towards our home, hand in hand. I couldn’t get enough of his touch, it had a magical calming effect on me, I will probably never get enough of it. When we walk into the bedroom, I notice that everything was put back in its place, and al
Klaus’s POV After Ella fled from the house, Joseph and Sara started sobbing so hard. My heart was aching for all of them. “She was right about everything. We can never make it up to her or erase what happened” said Joseph in a broken tone. He was still kneeling on the ground where Ella was sitting. “She hates us” he said sadly. Sara shook her head as she spoke for the first time since we came here. “She doesn’t hate us, she was just too hurt, too angry, she had to let it all out. The trauma and the truth that was revealed were overwhelming her so much, she had to speak everything trapped inside of her to be able to tolerate and stand the realization that everything she had lost was supposed to be her right from birth. Even if we ended up being blamed for forgetting her and for everything she was deprived from. I just hope she doesn’t end up hurting herself” She came over and sat next to me as she held my face tenderly with both of her hands. “Klaus, please don’t leave her alone