I RELEASED Kenneth and stepped out of his castle. At the gate, I saw Nick waiting for me. So, he was the reason why I heard the sound of a helicopter a while ago.“I had a feeling that I would find you here and I was right. Where do you plan to go now, Val? Tell me and I will drop you off. With your current state of emotion, I am worried that you might break things. If you want to pick up Cassandra-”“No, I won’t. I’m going back to Maryland.”“Are you leaving Cassandra behind?”I walked past him. “As if I could do that to the only woman who made me feel that I still have a heart. When I told her that I would protect her, I meant it. That promise still stands regardless of who she is. All of my weapons are in Maryland. I need to get them back.”I was excited to see Cassandra, but I couldn’t seem to face her right away knowing that she was Alexandra. When I remembered Kenneth’s compulsion, it took all of my willpower not to go back to the castle and attack him again.It was true that I
“THAT’S the girl, Alpha,” Richard uttered.I didn’t answer and just walked towards the woman who seemed to be so immersed in her little world. I stopped just a few steps away from Cassandra who still hadn’t raised her head. She was too busy drawing what seemed to be a rose on a little girl’s palm using her fountain pen.The girl giggled. “It’s ticklish, Miss Cassey.”When I looked at the palms of the other children, I saw drawings of different kinds of insects, animals, and plants. There was a spider, a dragonfly, butterfly, elephant, dog, cat, tulips, and roses. She was good with her hands. All of them looked really nice. My daughter would love something like that as well.“There, it’s done. Do you like it?” I heard her say.My heart leaped. Even that voice was achingly familiar.“Very much,” the girl answered. “Thank you, Miss Cassey.”Cassandra finally lifted her head and smiled. “I’m glad you liked it. You are welcome, kiddo.”When I cleared my throat, our eyes locked. I heard her
‘DADDY, Mommy did it! She is an in-demand photographer now! Wasn’t it her dream? She made it happen,’ I suddenly remembered Iris saying. Her voice cracked, but then she smiled at me. ‘I am so proud of Mommy, Daddy. I saw her works on the net! She is as beautiful as you said, as wonderful, and as talented. She didn’t know me, but guess what? She gave me a hug and earlier, she tried to stop me from crying. She gives the best hugs and kisses. I want Mommy to hug and kiss me again. I just hope… that she remembers us soon so I could tell her how much I miss and love her.’“Whether you are good at it or not, we will find out tomorrow, Miss Hudson. However, it’s an event that will last for three to five days. That’s how wolves celebrate. Will that be okay? By chance, is there somebody who is going to be angry if you were to stay with the wolves for a couple of days?”Five days were not even enough. If only I could make an event for my wife that could last for a lifetime, I would do just that
WAS it longing that I saw in the Alpha’s eyes? It kept drawing me in.I nodded and just said, “I hope so, too, Alpha.”“Luther.”“Pardon?”“Please call me ‘Luther’. Alpha sounds too… distant. Can I call you by your name as well? After all, we will be seeing each other for a while.”“All right. Luther it is. Feel free to call me by my name, too.”“Thank you.”When Luther smiled, I suddenly remembered his daughter. I didn’t know that he could actually smile like that. He looked less formidable, more humane, and more… amazing.“You’re drifting, Cassandra.”My cheeks turned red. I was not aware that I was just staring at him like a school girl fawning over her crush. That was so embarrassing!“God, I’m sorry. I didn’t notice. It’s just that I remembered the princess when you smiled. The two of you look similar when you smile. Her smile was contagious… and so was yours.”I heard people near us gasp when Luther suddenly laughed. “It’s the first time that someone told me that my daughter and
MY DRIVER was about to close the car door when I saw Iris running out of the manor. It was almost twelve midnight. I didn’t stop by in her room because the servant said that Iris was already sleeping and I didn’t want to wake her.She was running in her big mickey mouse dress and with her bare feet. I stepped out of the car, met her halfway, and immediately lifted her with one hand. My other hand was busy wiping the sweat off her face with my hanky.“Why aren’t you sleeping yet?”“I set an alarm. Grandpa told me that you will arrive at around ten in the evening that’s why I was awake when you came, but I couldn’t visit you in the hall because they said you have a meeting. I went to the kitchen and waited there for you, Daddy. But you took so long. I got bored so I ate a little while waiting.”‘Little’ was an understatement. I know my daughter like the back of my hand. Her ‘little’ was a lot for humans to take. She must have raided the fridge again. She smelled like pizza and yogurt. T
THE WOLF staggered. I may have lost my memories, but I was neither blind nor deaf. My senses still worked just fine. And I knew how to read between the lines.“I told you I’ve been watching you on TV. The way you looked at me with pain and longing as you talked about your wife, the way you held me close to your heart while we were dancing as if you didn’t want to let me go, the way your voice would shake a little every time you would call me by my name, and the way a tear fell down your cheek when you turned your back on me after dropping me off my cabin, I’d seen it all, Luther.“Then you told me about your wife coming back in this town after so long and without any memory of you. And now, you are here at an ungodly hour, quietly waiting for me outside my door. I’m sure you wouldn’t have done this for anybody. And I wouldn’t have felt like this for anybody. How long have you been waiting?” I rubbed my palms together and when I gathered enough heat in my hands, I pressed it against hi
THE TRIP from New York to San Antonio was incredibly long, but the trip from the resort to the pack house seemed longer. Luther and I had spent the last few hours talking. He told me about my past as a Luna and my current situation as a human which explained my strange affinity towards the wolves. I thought I was just fascinated by them, obsessed even, without knowing that it was because I actually belonged to them. I was one of them all along.“With my wolf injured, do you think the pack will still accept me? Would they acknowledge me when I could not even acknowledge my own self? The Luna you all loved and cherished was the past version of myself, Luther. This was the new me now: weak, powerless, and without a single memory of any of you.”There. I finally got to voice out my insecurities.“You? Weak and powerless? How did you even come to that conclusion? Alexandra, you have complete power over me. You could either build me or shatter me with your words. And you still have influenc
“YOU will be staying in this room. The servants also took the liberty to put your things in the closet. If there is anything you wish to change, please tell me. We will change it according to your preference,” Luther told me as he and Iris took me to the biggest room in the manor.The father and daughter stood on my left and right, both were firmly holding my hands. The entire time they toured me around the manor, they didn’t let go which I found heartwarming and amusing, too. It was as if they were worried that I might fly away once they released their grip.I scanned the master bedroom. What was there not to like? The room I had in my condo unit in New York was already big, but this room had the size of my entire unit, even bigger than that. Everything about the room was big, especially the chandelier, one where I only used to see in five-star hotels and in Valerian’s mansion.The walls were hand painted. It had the scenery of the woods, with the sunlight peeping through the branche
LUTHER’S fingers grazed my cheek as he stared at my face. He swallowed when he glanced at my lips. Seconds later and he pulled my head and waist as he claimed my mouth. He nibbled on my lower lip, urging me to open my mouth and when I did, he hungrily pushed his tongue in until our tongues met.When he finally let my mouth go, he took a rough breath and rubbed his erection against my stomach. “You look so lovely again today that I just wanna devour you right here, right now, Mrs. Sinclair.”Although completely aroused, I held it in and just smiled. “You can’t. Dad texted me an hour ago and said he’s preparing a victory party for me. We need to go back to San Antonio. How did you even escape from Iris?”“No worries. I told them that I was promised a date and I would claim that promise today. They seemed to understand. Dad told us to take our time, he’ll look after our princess. She even happily let me leave by myself. She had one thing to say, though. She said it’s her Christmas wish.”
(Valerian)“THE ROYAL family from the wolf empire is here to give their greetings and gifts to Your Majesty,” Matteo, the host of the event, announced. The guards opened the castle doors and from there, Alexandra, Luther, and their daughter appeared and walked towards the center of the hall, towards me.After Alexandra’s wolf reappeared, her hair was back to being crimson and so was her daughter’s. Luther’s hair, however, was still ink-black. It was the only thing he retained from his human genes. But whenever these three were on the edge of their emotions just like what happened in San Antonio before, their hair would all turn crimson along with their eyes.Together, these three could move mountains.Iris was at their middle. I stared at the Luna Queen, she was as stunning as before, but whenever I see her lately, her beauty just transcends everyone around her in another level. I guessed it was the radiance in her eyes. She was happy and it showed. She was shining more than ever.See
‘THE CRAZIEST thing in the world happened, but I cannot tell you about it yet, little sis. Telling you will spoil whatever scheme your moon goddess is cooking up. So, don’t get too disappointed if I will shut up for now. But be assured that Val is okay. He was just shocked and confused. Let him be. This is his first time being in this state. It’s actually fun to watch him rattled,’ Nick assured me. He winked. ‘He will figure it out and he will get over it, trust your big bro.’ ‘When?’ I asked. Nick laughed. ‘In fifteen to twenty years, I guess?’ Nick seemed to be having the best time of his life teasing Valerian. Even now, he was grinning beside Val who just ignored him. He turned to my direction and tenderly smiled. “I’m proud of you,” he mouthed. “I know you will be great.” “Thank you so much,” I replied. Halfway through the red carpet, I glanced at Giovanni who quietly walked with me. Just like my husband, he had come a long way, too. All of us had matured. He had become one
(Alexandra)MY POSITION was the closest to Beatrix. I could have stopped her from killing herself. But when she shook her head and looked at me with weariness in her eyes as if she was begging me not to take another step, I couldn’t move my feet.This was her wish: to be one with the man she loved. As heartbreaking as it was, I had to respect it.“Beatrix!” her parents yelled and sobbed.She confessed it to me while I was still pregnant. Kenji was the second mate given to her by the moon goddess. It was something she didn’t have the courage to tell even to her own parents knowing that they would not be happy about it anyway. It was rare for wolves to be given another mate after the original one dies. In fact, it was so rare that there were no records of it anywhere.Trix could be the first to experience such phenomenon and there could be a reason behind it, reason which Kenji and Trix had an eternity to discover.My knees staggered, but Luther was quick to grab me by the waist. Both o
(Beatrix)I HAD a secret that I could never admit to anyone. A month after the tragedy that killed my best friend, I was able to recover. At that time, I was about to go back to my duty in the pack but on my supposed to be last night at the facility, Kenji paid me a visit.His voice was gentle as he talked to me. He spoke like an old friend of mine. His eyes were affectionate as he called my name. He didn’t talk anything about vampires and wolves. Kenji only talked about the time we dated. And I pretended to be crazy so I could keep seeing him, so I could keep being with him in my own way.And maybe I had really gone crazy. Who would have imagined that I could stay in that facility for seven years all for him? For a chance to hear his voice? But for me, that facility had become our secret place, our hideout.‘I’m the world’s richest man. I have everything that money could buy, Trix, but I would swap them all for a day to be with you again, to feel your kisses one more time, your hugs,
THE WIND grew more violent as each second passed. The birds that were resting on the branches of the trees all squealed and flew away. We were yet to see the hybrids, but we knew they were here. We could feel it as tension sizzled in the air. We could even smell it. Their blood scent was everywhere which meant that we were now surrounded by them.And when Kenji had finally made his appearance, the steel gates flew towards our direction. But we were quick to evade them. There were hundreds of hybrids and they were all wearing red cloaks. I saw the faces of the men who made my mother suffer. And when they sneered at me as if they were remembering the same thing, my blood boiled and my body shook with anger.“The reports are true after all. My best friend and my mentor are indeed in one place and are working together. What a reunion,” Kenji said as he smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. In fact, he had a dead look in his eyes as if he was uncertain about tonight’s outcome as well. When
I STOOD up and ran my fingers through my scalp. “When you told me to escape with you back then, I wanted to do just that. It was not just you. I wanted so badly to forget, too, Trix! I would do anything to forget even for a day. I want to escape, too! I want to be with you, too! But I can’t forget their cries. It haunts me all the fucking time.”I kneeled before Trix and when I could no longer stop myself, I held her hands and buried my face in them, relishing the familiar warmth that I could not feel in any other place no matter how hard I searched.Only Beatrix could do this to me. If it was not her, it would not work. She was my sanctuary. The voices were still there, I could still hear them. It seemed like I had been cursed to hear them for as long as I lived. Or maybe my mind was just playing with me, maybe I had gone crazy. My mind was a wretched place to be. And so was my heart.But with Beatrix this close to me, the voices were not as loud as before. It gave me the chance to l
(Kenneth)“HAVE MERCY, your majesty! I am still your father-“The old lying son of a bitch didn’t get to finish his sentence when I swung my sword onto his neck. His head rolled onto the floor along with the rest of the Mages who swore their loyalty to me. It sucks how Valerian was right again. The clan who abandoned me before because I was not as strong as them only came to find me after they heard how I rose to the throne. If I didn’t discover what they were secretly planning to do behind my back, they would have overthrown me and would have tossed me on the streets, poor and powerless.Their plan backfired, though. I killed them before they could even do that to me. Using a spell, I stole all of their magic.They were only after my throne, my position, and my army. To hell with them all! I don’t need them! They could rot in hell and after all this, I will see them there. In hell will be where our next family reunion will take place.After I killed the man who claimed to be my biolo
(Alexandra)“GET up, Alexandra. Shift and run with me.”When I heard Dad’s voice, I wiped my tears away and rose. His eyes were full of compassion as if he could relate to what I was feeling. He gave me a soft smile.“Shall we go?”I nodded. When he shifted, I followed him and shifted as well. Together, we ran in the woods as quickly as we could and howled. It was the farewell ritual that I didn’t get to do for Mom before and Dad was allowing me to finally do it for her now.It was seven years late, but I hope Mom could still hear it… including my apology and gratitude. While we were running, I was taken aback by the huge number of wolves who ran behind us including Luther. They howled along with us until we reached the lake once again.When we all transformed, the women took me someplace else and I just let them. They prepared a white silk dress for me to wear. They assisted me as I wore it. When I