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
AidenBella takes a moment to process what I had said. We both knew I was right. If she was going to kill me, she would have already tried, regardless of the request Linc had made. She wouldn’t have killed me because someone else wanted me dead, it would have been because she wanted me dead.She puffs out her cheeks “Maybe you are right.”‘You once told me that you would kill me in my sleep. Yet I will happily lay next to you, knowing full well that you won’t.’ I mutter through mind link‘So I have to talk to you this way all the time now?’‘Not all the time, just about the stuff we don’t want Amanda hearing.’Her head bobs up and down ‘I can do that.’She continues to study me. Her mind was still chaotic and as usual impossible to read. I wondered sometimes if she was like that so no one could get into her head. Always thinking, always planning. The times it was quietest was when she slept against my chest. But she rarely had what I would consider happy memories.“I’m still annoyed.”
BellaDanica keeps talking through her tears. Blabbering on about how she is sorry as she rocks my brother in her arms.Aiden keeps her talking, though she was starting to slip. Information leaking through the gaps as she is no longer able to keep up with her own lies.“Were you told to say that?” I ask as I keep my eyes firmly on my brother. He was relaxed in her grip. It made sense, she was his mother. But her finger tips are pure white. Holding onto him like he was going to be taken from her at any second or that he was some kind of prized possession. “No, I had to tell you. You have been so kind to me, both of you, Leighton too.”“Why did you wait so long?” Aiden demands. “Why didn’t you come clean before?”She looks down at Connor, kissing the top of his head. She rests her cheek on him, closing her eyes as she sways side to side.“You’ve known me for a long time, Bella.”“What the hell are you talking about?”Her blue eyes go to Aiden, “You too. You just didn’t know me other th
Bella“Pain?” I mutter. “Haven’t you caused him enough pain, you killed his sister, you killed his father. You hold his mother hostage.”His dark eyes bore into mine. His deathly smell felt like it was sucking my soul from me.“It’s not enough, Bella. Oh no, it's not nearly enough.”Not enough, how could it be not enough?“You said you killed your mate!” I splutter "It wasn't Aiden."“That is correct. She was the first love of my life. Intriguing and frustrating. I killed her to protect Lilah. We have discussed this.”“What does that have to do with Aiden? If you are the one who killed her.”“I never said it has anything to do with my first love.”Glancing back at Aiden, I was desperate for him to wake up. Neither of them were telling me the truth but I needed to know what it was that Aiden did. What could it have been for Linc to take revenge like this?“He didn’t kill your mate, but he killed someone you loved. Someone close to you.”“And the little Wolf figures it out!” He smiles a
AidenHer golden eyes shine bright as she gazes back at me. All this time, she had kept fighting. Trying to overcome the odds. Even when things were rough, she tried something else. Yet, now she seemed prepared to give up, like she had decided dying was the only option. It wasn’t like her and if I couldn’t scent our bond, I would have been sure a Shifter was standing in front of me, not the Bella I know.“You have your Wolf. He doesn’t know what your Wolf looks like.” I try, hoping that she would find the fight she usually had.She slowly nods but doesn’t speak. Rising to her feet, she heads to the door. “I’m going to check on Connor.”“Sure, I will check on Theo.”She scowls. “Theo isn’t here.”“What are you talking about? Are you trying to say he got up and walked away?” I smile, trying to break the tension.She looks down and blicks a few times,“Um, he took Theo. Theo is his son.”“I thought….”“We all thought that Christian was the father, because that's what Aman…Danica told us.
Bella“And the voices you are hearing are the Wolves, Lycans and Hybrids that are ….”“I don’t want to hear voices!” I mutter, covering my ears with my hands. But no matter how tightly I pushed my hands against my ears, they were still there. I could understand how people went crazy.He pulls my hands away, “You learn to block them out. That’s what my mum did. That’s what I do.”“And I’m really the Queen?”He points to the small crescent on his neck. “You marked the King.” He mutters with a smile.“But Lilah is still alive?”“Yes, but it doesn’t work like that. The blood of a King resides in the men of he family, not mum. She became Queen by marking my father.”“So Halle would never have officially become Queen?”He shakes his head, “As much as she wanted it, no. Though I was prepared to let her have control.”“Right. But we talked about this. Being a Queen wasn’t…..”He cocks an eyebrow at me and I didn’t know how to finish the sentence. I was someone who had a terrible childhood. I
Bella“What are you doing to me?” The icy cold of his touch was spreading through my arm. He had touched me before, but it wasn’t like this. He had done something by gripping my wrist. Some kind of poison from his touch.“Let go of me!”“Call him!” Linc demands.I try to peel his icy fingers from my skin.“Call him!” He demands again. “Let him see what happens to you.”I close my mouth and stare into his insanely dark eyes. I had to keep calm. If Aiden felt one ounce of my worry he would be out here. I couldn't think about it either or he would know.“Do as you are told!” He snaps and tightens his grip on my wrist.My heart rhythm steadies as I stare at him. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. “Why did you kidnap Amelia?”His lip twitches as he glares at me.It had to have something to do with me. Something Aiden said, about us being the same age. But if she was kidnapped when she was two, there would be no way that she would know her full name. Unless th
AidenSelene disappears before I get to ask her more about Linc’s family. I had witnessed his wife’s death. I was there the moment my father ripped out her throat. He had done it for what she had done to his children. Their children.I didn’t even have a chance to ask my father if it were true. But surely the Moon Goddess wouldn’t lie to me. “Is she ever wrong?” Bella mutters from the sofa. She was studying her own wrist, the black hand print was almost gone, just leaving an ashy tone to her pale skin.“I….”“I don’t understand why Linc is punishing you. If your father was the one who killed her, then he has already got his revenge.” She mumbles. “It was my idea.”She gazes up at me. “You wanted them dead?”“Not the kids. It’s true that my mother was worried. It’s true that Linc’s wife was trying to stage something, but we caught on to it early. Bella, she was committing treason by plotting against the King. Death is the standard punishment.”“It seems like death is everyone’s punis