Kicking the rusty bucket around the bleak room soon lost its appeal. Its purpose as my punching bag had eased my annoyance but not my curiosity. What could have spooked Lucien so much that he turned into a complete ass all over again? He might as well have thrown me in this room he wanted to be rid of me so quickly.
Although he hadn’t locked me in, I didn’t want to attract attention by leaving it open to freshen the air or invite random thugs to investigate. The noise outside was building by the minute, something was clearly happening in the town today.
Studying my new base was a sorry sight. A sagging, stained mattress that I had no intention of letting my skin touch, shafts of light covered the floor through the poorly constructed wooden walls, it was a delight. The only saving grace was a window. Although it was right at the top of the wall above the disgusting bed.
Grimacing, I found a towel, placed it on the mattress, the shrieking squeak of my weight on
Today could not have gone much fucking worse. I kind of regretted leaving her in that room, it looked god awful. I needed space before I collapsed so crappy, stinking shack it was. Bella also thinks I am heading to interrogate the old guy. Little does she know I've headed straight back out of town, almost running until I found a rocky enclave where I could be undisturbed. Honestly, the instant I saw the town this afternoon I got dangerous vibes coming at me like cannon fire. Viktor was off the charts, scampering round my mind begging me to leave, to come up with another plan. But we were here, and after last night with Bella…well. She was so infuriatingly certain about this shithead Bram. Shaking my head and rubbing my neck in frustration I cracked open a bottle and started chugging. I had to be quick before the pain made me pass out. To distract me from the feeling someone was sawing my head off I went back to last night. How could someone as
It was late at night by the time we arrived at Rising Star. Our arrival was unannounced, but their guards had picked up on our movement. As our call pulled up, waiting outside their Palace was Alpha Brandon and Luna Hollie. They were a striking couple, his platinum white hair and icy eyes whilst Luna Hollie had yellow eyes like a jungle cat and brunette hair. We had always been strong friends, especially between our respective packs. The grave expression on their faces was matched by ours as we exited the car. Luna Hollie bounced forward with a friendly greeting to ease the tension. "Alpha Alexander, Luna Helena it is our privilege to welcome you to Rising Star! Please let us show you a suite and then join us for dinner?" Omegas were instructed to handle our luggage whilst we made small talk about the journey. I couldn't help noticing the abundance of Beta guards around the castle complex. The Rising Star castle was an imposing structure. A central to
I knew exactly where I was before they took the bag from my head in the pitch black of night. Cells all have the same distinct smell of unwashed and abandoned. The huge men had carried me kicking and screaming towards whichever building they were now holding me in.I hadn’t slept a wink all night, just sat perfectly still on whatever bench they had left me on. My hands were shackled to the wall so I couldn’t remove the linen bag. To my distress I had discovered that moving or thrashing too quickly made the air in the bag too hot, causing me to retch as my body tried to escape its confinement.The hours had slowly dragged on, every sound in the distance, a clinking of keys, a door slamming sent all my nerves leaping skywards. It seemed at any moment I was going to be roughly grabbed and given the justice this mob of lunatics deemed fit.I sensed it was dawn through the lightening of my vision, though all I could see was brown canvas. It was better tha
By the time I woke up from my drinking blackout it is already dawn, I had been asleep for hours. Guilt draped over me in waves, weighing me down as I rubbed my neck and eyes. Bella, fuck. I’d left her in that room for half a day! She was going to be furious with me. Viktor growled if she is even there at all. I hate to admit it, but I felt a little lurch within at the idea of her being so pissed with me that she may have walked out and taken her chances on her own. She is too sensible for that, I told Viktor, there is no way she would have gone on her own. I have the money and the bike keys even if she wanted to getaway. It didn’t stop me from running back into the town, the early dawn sunshine mixing with a strong smell of burning. The town square was covered in abandoned flame torches, some with embers still glowing at the end, mixed with scattered white flowers. It reminded me of a strange wedding party or celebration, but I had no time. I need to find a c
My head stayed firmly in my hands, roughly grabbing at my hair in frustration. I didn’t want to risk my scars going into nuclear meltdown by looking at her. Nor did I want to give her fucking satisfaction either. “What do you want?” I growled at her. The faintest hush of a gasped breath before she softly declared. “That’s not very nice after all these years, I saw you yesterday you know.” “You know I left immediately too then, if I had wanted to talk to you I would have.” I heard her click the roof of her mouth in annoyance, a bad habit she had failed to drop. “You can at least look at me, do I not get that?” “As you well know, I fucking can’t thanks to your psychotic family slashing me up,” I snapped back angrily, “I think we’re done here." I waved my hand, gesturing for her to get the hell out. Instead of leaving, her footsteps softly padded further into the room, Viktor was oddly still, unmoved by her presence. Yesterday he
After fainting in front of Alpha Brandon and Luna Hollie when that goblet appeared, Alexander had carried me straight to bed. Still woozy and useless he had driven us straight home the next day and taken me to our suite. It has been two days. The commitment ceremony for Azalea and Ivan is tomorrow and I'm still on bed rest. Alexander is being so firm about it it's irritating the hell out of me but I said I would trust him. Doctors have been taking blood and performing all kinds of tests. It's not like I can tell them I'm fine, I just fainted from seeing my terrifying series of visions start to come to life. I pace around the room, the main reason I'm so irritable, I think anyway is that I'm missing Alexander's touch. We have been so back in sync and I want that closeness, that raw edgy, sweaty desperate closeness you only get from a matebond. I sent him a pulse of desire, wondering if he would return it or be too busy. Instead, it bounced
Alexander and I headed to the castle courtyard together, my hand resting on his firm arm as he formally escorted me to greet our arrival. In his white shirt and jet black cloak he reminded me of a wild pirate, his hair blowing back into the wind and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Leaving the sanctuary of the castle, into the bright sunshine of the square courtyard felt like walking towards a firing squad. The half-dozen Beta’s we had just spoken to was close to the vehicles. To others they were offering a friendly welcome and asking about the drive, we knew that one gesture and they would all be pinned and arrested. Annoyingly, a large crowd of omegas, servants and others had gathered around the edges of the large square, eager to see who arrived in such triumphant style. Fyre nudged me and as I breezed through the group, ready to greet the newcomers I saw the red hair of Ivan bobbing through the mass of people. Azalea was no doubt close by too. My heart lea
He slowly moved to stand next to Bella as she lay crouched on the floor. Her eyes now stared sadly at the floor. I could see her hands shaking though, she was absolutely terrified. "Alpha Francis!" a female voice rang out as Azalea ran forward from within the crowd, embracing him like a father. He clutched her to him tightly, then held her face, staring deeply into her eyes before softly kissing her forehead. Ivan followed behind clapping his hands, a huge smile on his face. He didn't even give me a look as he walked towards his somewhat father-in-law, clearly taken with the exotic charisma he had on display. "Hurrah for Alpha Francis! He has recaptured the escapee! What a miracle!" Azalea cheered. She thrust her hands into the air to stimulate a ripple of applause from the crowd. I heard murmurs amongst the rabble of 'East Wall' and other such threats. No wonder Bella was shaking. Alpha Francis gave Azalea another kiss on the forehead in thanks
FOUR YEARS LATERThe softly lapping river is a constant source of joy. It gives the small family within all they need. Fresh drinking water cleans their clothes and bodies. Little Zena, a black-haired bundle of energy loves creating boats out of anything she can get her hands on, green eyes with a cat-like tilt sparkling as she works.Her little brother Finn is more reserved, he can spend hours laid beside the river, the gentle sounds of the brook helping his imagination wander into the far-off lands of adventure he hears his parents talking about.Their parents were doting and kind. At night they would pack them into their big, shared bed, the duck feather mattresses and pillow cushioning them softly, and tell them tales of daring adventures. How on their motorcycles they had travelled hundreds of miles to the very
The familiar little cottage with the bent chimney soon came into view. My stomach churned but I tried to clamp down on my worries for Lucien. He knew what he was doing, my sending him waves of panic was hardly going to help.We pulled up outside the cottage and he sat for a minute with his head down breathing deeply. Hopping off the bike and taking my helmet off I slowly wandered down the crooked path towards the door. I had last knocked on this door living under Bram’s shadow, Gitte hiding in the wings. Padgett and whatever it was she could do was our best chance at getting some closure on the pain Lucien was suffering.The door slowly opened, and that familiar face reappeared. The chunky, clanging jewellery and grey eyes were the same. Her Wispy auburn hair scattered around her face like a misshapen crown and if anything she had become even plumper. She
Marked. Finally I had everything I ever wanted.Lucien's eyes went to the sky as he struggled to contain his pleasure. The base of his cock had swollen like a plug clamping us together. Every tiny movement rubbed my clit against it.After all the pleasure he had given me the tables were suddenly turned. Now knotted he was the one who could be pleasured no end. His eyes shot to mine as I rocked my hips. I think he thought I'd have nothing left.To be honest three earth shattering orgasms and I should have been out for the count. But that mark, being given that seemed to be a recharge and now all I wanted was to watch that handsome bastard lose it all over again."Bella," he said in a warning voice."What?" I said innocently, c
I had her right where I wanted her. Naked, the firelight bouncing off her immaculate body and all mine. She fully deserved this, all afternoon my cock had been in agony against the saddle of the bike.I'd sped up, swerved, slowed down to let her overtake me trying to think of anything to get her mind off my dick. The past few days have been unreal. It's a strange sensation allowing all this love and adoration to seep into my bones. She was everything, her grey eyes sparkling and laughing as she whizzed by in the sunshine.But right now, here in the moonlight she was all mine. Her quivering, shaking body was already wracked with pressure. Just my fingers probing inside her gave me fireworks, watching her jerk to my command made my dick twitch harder with every gulp of air she swallowed in.My dick didn't need any mor
Our first job was to get back to the gold. I kind of enjoyed having to live rough on the road again. I really am not made for the high end luxury life in a castle it turns out. The days were long but the views were stunning.Long open roads, winding valleys, lakes and the back of Lucien. I blamed the bikes, the vibration and the pebbly path but really, the reason I joyously leapt onto him and showered him with kisses every time we stopped was because I was that attracted to him.Three days staring at his back on the roads meant I knew the outline of his body better than my own. His soft boyish curls of short brown hair that softened his appearance. The wide, humongously muscled shoulders that looked as though they could rip trees from the ground.The very best thing was pulling up alongside him every so often and ca
My eyes fluttered open after a huge splash of water hit my face.A terrifying thought struck me as I spluttered back into consciousness that I was back in the river and that everything between Lucien and I had been a coma dream. Thankfully the first thing I saw, same as back when he first rescued me were those eyes. Kind, full of love and concern and for the first time, brimming with tears.“Lucien, they said I could go,” I whispered, placing my hand on his cheek softly brushing away his tear.He didn’t say a word, just held me closer to him, squeezing me as though I might fly away if he loosened his grip. “Lucien, we can be together,” I whispered again, this time placing a soft kiss upon his cheek.He stroked my hair softly, although
Beta Jackson was sent on his mission before the sun rose this morning. We had found out their location yesterday to be honest but I pleaded with Alexander to give them one more night.“If had been us, possibly separated forever, what harm would it do?” I had said.“Your faith in them still being there is staggering,” he grunted, kissing me and playing with one of my long brown curls as we sat on the bleachers together once more. We were finding ourselves outside of the castle more frequently.Almost as though the castle had become a place with too many associations, too many awful things had happened. Murder, devastation and plots had spoiled it for a while. Being amongst the gardens, watching the defence training taking place whilst taking deep lungful’s of air, that made us happ
I had imagined every possible scenario for how this meeting would go. I remembered her parents from some of the Full Moon Balls. They were fairly plain but both shared Grace’s pale blue eyes. They had lived in Silver City then, as soon as Grace had been mated to Bram they had been allocated a town house in the centre. Apparently Grace had been a regular visitor to them. I once saw them walking around the market square just outside the castle and felt a wave of guilt. Of course the times she went for these visits were the same times Bram visited me. I often dreamed that Bram encouraged her visits, so desperate to spend time with me, it made me feel special. From my room I could see the castle courtyard and I would watch her head off, blonde hair bouncing and flowing as the crowds gave way for her. It was my prompt to make sure I was ready, knowing any second B
We held hands tightly in silence all the way there. Entwined together like ancient tree branches. There was nothing to say that we hadn't covered last night. It is not a word I use but it was perfect. It made confessing the stains of my life, my savage destruction of my own family feel like it was worth it. Airing out the poison in order to create a clean, fresh start. My mind buzzed with the possibility that perhaps this medicine woman might be the one to finally reconnect me with my family. My mother in particular. I got my greeny eyes from and nothing else. She was a small dark haired woman with a sparkling laugh and a constant need to be in contact. As I told Bella last night you couldn't move in our house, neither me or Felicia without being swept into a cuddle, a squeeze or a hair ruffle by her. I didn't tell Bella that she was exactly the type of