Aiden“She shifted.” Leighton mumbles from next to me.“I can see!” I snap. She was huge. Bigger than other Wolves. Easily twice the size if not more. Her fur was copper coloured, just like her hair and her eyes are more golden than I have ever seen before. It wasn’t jealousy that had forced her into her first shift. It was the need to protect the vulnerable. Something I had never witnessed in another Wolf or Lycan..I feel my bones snap back into place. Taking a deep breath, I rise to my feet. The Rogues surrounding us had backed away from us and moved towards Bella. Their yellow eyes purely focussed on my mate as they tried to creep towards her.Her ears twitch as the Rogues advance behind her. She slams her body into them, sending them sprawling across the floor.Her jaws clamp down on one, catapulting them through the air like a ball. His body slams into the wall near Christian.She rips the throats out of the other Rogues before they even had a chance to get back on their feet.
Bella“You let her leave.” I whisper from my spot on the floor. Every inch of me burned. It was different from being in heat. This felt like I had walked through fire. Like I had just stood in the flames as they licked my body. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to move. The tiled floor was cold and it eased the burning.“Someone needs to tell that bastard.” Aiden snaps as he crouches by me. His hand grazes my face and his brow wrinkles into a frown. I had seen that look before. Not since we were mated, but I had seen it. The look that said he was disgusted with me.“They didn’t shift.” I mutter. “Christian and Myra, they didn’t shift.”“It doesn’t matter.” He rises up, looking around at the mess.But it did. Why didn’t they? They could have fought back. Aiden and Leighton were in chains. Why didn’t they fight back?“Can you stand?” Aiden asks, he sounded hollow.I glance at Leighton. Connor was asleep, curled into him with his head resting on Leightons shoulder. At least I had saved him
Aiden The hate and the anger made me feel like I did when Ivy died all those years ago. An empty hole had been created in my heart. I tear through the house, looking for my father and my mother. There were no signs of them anywhere. I knew my father was dead. I felt the shift of power. But mum, there was every chance she was still alive. Would Linc really have let someone kill a pregnant woman? He had adored my mum. Leighton is in the kitchen alone. “Where’s Bella?” I ask, looking around the room. “She left.” He doesn’t quite meet my gaze. “What do you mean, she left?” “She took Connor and left.” “When?” “About an hour ago, when you were stomping around the house." “Why didn’t you stop her? I asked you to keep her safe.” “Safe from them or from you?” He mutters, glaring at me. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” “She’s right, isn’t she? She has to be, she can sense what you are feeling.” “Leighton?” I snap “You blame her for what has happened.” “What? No I don’t.
Bella“Why did you burn them?” Amanda asks as I concentrate on the road.I wasn’t a driver and the last thing I needed to do was kill us all. Especially as the rain appeared to be getting heavier by the second.“It’s what the King does.” I mutter as the car slides around the corner. I hadn't thought about it. After the attack it just seemed like the logical thing to do. Burn the evidence.“Your Wolf is massive.”“I know.”“Why?”“I don’t know. I wasn’t even sure if I could shift.”"But you did and there were so many of them.""I know, I was there." The Rogues had just kept coming. One after another, attacking us from all angles. I was exhausted, but I couldn't stop.“I miss being able to shift.” she muttersI would probably have said the same if it had been taken away from me completely. Yet, somehow, the drug never had a lasting effect. And I still didn't know why.“Does he have a name?” I mutter as she keeps her child clutched to her chest.“No, I’ve been too scared to name him, j
Aiden“What do you mean by ‘he’s there’? Who?” I demand“That’s all she said.” Leighton mutters. “Where is ‘there’?” I shouldn’t have to ask him to give me all the information.“I don’t know. She didn’t say anything else. And she won’t answer me.”Whatever it was, it didn’t feel like she was scared. There wasn’t an ounce of panic in our bond. But it still frustrated me how she thought she could handle everything on her own. She didn't have to anymore.“Do you think she is talking about Linc? She’s never met the guy. How would she know it’s even him?”He stares straight at me, cocking an eyebrow. “Because he is the one responsible for all of this! What other man could it be? Cedric is dead, Christian is dead. Her father is dead. It’s kinda obvious who it is.”“Right.” I mutter in annoyance. “Just go and get one of the cars. I have to find her.”He shakes his head at me and hurries away, back into the forest.‘Bella?’ I try linking her again. She was still closed off, refusing to talk
BellaI don’t know how long I was asleep before I wake to find Aiden staring at me. His arm draped over my waist, his fingers slowly circling my skin just above my hip. He was warm and comforting, it overrode the anger I had towards him and I hated it. Why would the Moon Goddess create such a bond? Why would she make women feel the need to be safely wrapped in a man’s arms? Like we were unable to defend ourselves?“What are you doing?” I whisper with frustration in the dark bedroom. I was well aware Connor was asleep nearby and didn’t want to wake him.“You were….”“Don’t do that. Don’t blame my nightmares. Don’t use them as an excuse.”I lift his arm off of my waist and slide out from underneath it. Tiptoeing across the room. I check on Connor. He was still fast asleep but he was in a different outfit to what I had put him to bed in.“I was trying to say that you have been asleep for almost forty eight hours.” Aiden whispers.“What?” I was so confused. “Forty eight hours?” It didn’t
Aiden.Her golden orbs lock onto mine. Her lips press tightly together as she stares at me. The longer she stares without saying anything, the more it makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe I had pushed it too far this time.As usual, her emotions seem to be all over the place. Never hanging on to one long enough for me to know how she felt.It took me long enough to realise that she had spent her childhood, bottling up every emotion she felt. Never truly being allowed to experience something because she would be punished for it. The result was her not being able to deal with certain situations.I needed her to talk to me.She glances down at my hand curled around her wrist. She doesn’t tug it away like she had been doing.Slowly, her eyebrows knit together until she is scowling. “Let go.”“Not until you talk to me!”She twists her arm, trying to escape my grip. My hand wasn’t gripping her tight enough to cause any burns, but it also wasn’t loose enough for her to easily get away.“I’ve s
BellaI find myself just staring at the mug of hot chocolate. I had placed it on the desk in the bedroom and sat in the chair, staring at it, like it was going to explode at any moment. It was a simple gesture on his behalf, but one that means alot to me. It smelt like him. There’s a soft knock on the door. When I don’t respond, the handle starts to turn and the door creaks open.Amanda smiles at me. “I just wanted to check that you were okay after everything.”“He didn’t come, if that’s what you are asking?”She places a hand on her chest. “Thank the Goddess for that!”She steps further into the room and quietly closes the door. Her brown eyes scan the room as if she is waiting for someone to jump out on her.“Did you ever meet him?” I ask. She didn't talk about her time in the dungeons, but then neither did I.“Linc? No. I saw the inside of the dungeons and the inside of a small room. I was then moved to a house, full of other pregnant women. We never got to see the man behind it a