Valerian's POVImmediately we saw movements indicating that they were here, each man went to his respective positions. Jared coordinated the remaining men to flank us and some to be a couple of feet away.I wanted to tell him that we can handle ourselves but I realized that it was more for the men that were approaching us -their benefit, than mine.Jared and I locked eyes at the same time and we had a silent conversation for a few seconds."Are you ready?" His eyes asked."I was born ready.* I replied, shifting my stance."We'll be using the same formation in case they try anything, so stay alert."I shook my head slightly in assent, then swung my eyes to the front, effectively breaking the connection and ending our conversation.Squaring my shoulders, I crossed my hands at her back while we all waited on pins and needles for them to reach.Several big black cars, possibly Hummers or Escalades came roaring to our front, kicking up dust and swinging it in our faces.I glared unblinking
Valerian’s POVWe got to the house in record time as the driver took several short routes, I had closed my eyes during the trip back, I hadn't realized how tense I was as we were going to meet Elena's mates, and the relief I felt that there was no bloodshed was so powerful that I almost stumbled. I caught Jared stealing several glances at me while he thought I wasn't noticing but I just ignored it all, pushing everything to the back of my mind.I had several things to do and I can't allow myself to feel the loss of my father and what I had done.It was all for the right cause.I kept repeating that mantra over and over again, and it kept all the thoughts at bay...for now.There was a crowd in Front of my house, and as we pulled up they rushed towards us. It was my pack members demanding an explanation as they were confused and rumors were flying around about my father.How the fuck did a rumor get out?I fucking stated that no one was to know about this until I gave a prepared speech
Ethan's POV"Yahhh, ughhn!" The sounds of fighting in the arena surrounded me but I remained distant amongst it all, standing with my back against the dirty wall and my hands in my pants pockets.My gaze was focused on the two contestants in the boxing ring. Both were bloody and sweaty and the other man was losing, bleeding from nose and mouth, also limping as he tried to dodge the man charging at him.The bleeding man feinted to the left before landing a punch successfully on the winning man's stomach. The crowd roared wildly, their support easily shifted to who was going to win tonight.The big man clapped his fists together and charged at the other man, prepared for him this time. The other man tried to run away seeing the intent in the bigger man's eyes but unfortunately was not fast enough, the bigger man caught him by his calf and lifted him in the air, shaking him around as the crowd chanted his name 'Snake' voraciously. The bigger man tossed him to the ground, stalked over to
Valerian’s POVThe entire city has been in uproar after the announcement of my father's death a couple of days ago. Some took the news well, some didn't and were probing to know more but I quickly shut that down. No form of insurgency was going to rise in my city if I had my way, I wouldn't be like my father that ignored threats until they came to bite him in the ass.Ruling and running a city wasn't easy, the past few days have been filled with meetings, briefings, handing over of power from some Alphas to Enforcers, and a whole lot of things.I hadn't even had the opportunity to see Elena or even properly grieve my father.Now that I was in a position of authority, I had a decisive power on most of the happenings in the city and its environs and I wanted to immediately demote Maddox into a much lesser position but Jared advised me against it saying that all we heard were just rumors and even with Colin's testament, we didn't have enough against him as far as he didn't commit any unt
Ruby''s POV"HERE ma'am." Runita, my maid, dropped the glass on the table near me, bending as she made sure it was balanced before standing upright a few feet away from me."Anything else, ma'am?" She asked politely.I shook my head, no. She bowed slightly before scurrying away, back into the house. She knew when I was in a mood like this, I didn't want any interruption from anyone. I picked up the glass she had placed on the table, twirling it between my fingers as I watched the smooth dark brown liquid flow this way and that, I became lost in thoughts.A few days ago, the news of Damien Griffin's death circulated the entire city, and even though my spies in the Council had informed me that something fishy was going on there, it was the last thing I had expected to hear. I didn't even think that Valerian had the guts to carry out such a gruesome act, but then again when it comes to power, you can't exactly hope that people will be unfazed.When I first heard it, I was in disbelief s
Valerian's POV"Do you still have an eye on Ruby ?" I asked Jared. "Yes. The weird thing is she's been at her house all this while." "Why do you say weird?" He looked at me as if I didn't know who Ruby was, she wasn't the soulful, meditative type to just look at herself indoors for hours.But then again, she was a woman scorned so her behavior was understandable, I guess….Honestly, women, whatever race or species they were, were complicated as hell.I sighed out loud, not wanting to dwell on that."Just take care of it." I waved it off to Jared."I am. I have a feeling there's something shady going on with her, this isn't typical Ruby behavior.""Don't forget I've all but called off the marriage, so she might be just licking her wounds or whatever women do." I chip in."Nah, there's something else." He intoned, tapping his fingertips on the desk."If you think so, then figure it out." I stood up and stretched a bit, working out all the kinks in my shoulders and my back from sittin
Ruby's POV"HERE ma'am." Runita, my maid, dropped the glass on the table near me, bending as she made sure it was balanced before standing upright a few feet away from me."Anything else, ma'am?" She asked politely.I shook my head, no. She bowed slightly before scurrying away, back into the house. She knew when I was in a mood like this, I didn't want any interruption from anyone. I picked up the glass she had placed on the table, twirling it between my fingers as I watched the smooth dark brown liquid flow this way and that, I became lost in thoughts.A few days ago, the news of Damien Griffin's death circulated the entire city, and even though my spies in the Council had informed me that something fishy was going on there, it was the last thing I had expected to hear. I didn't even think that Valerian had the guts to carry out such a gruesome act, but then again when it comes to power, you can't exactly hope that people will be unfazed.When I first heard it, I was in disbelief so
Elena’s POVThe past few weeks have been peaceful but as the norm in my life, once I enjoy a little bit of peace it gets taken away from me. So I just enjoy this period of calmness for as long as I can while waiting for the other shoe to drop.Even Valerian has been very attentive towards me, I think I kind of scared him with how I reacted when he first came to see me after the incident happened.Every evening, or should I say most evenings he comes around and we take a walk through the gardens chatting about mundane things. Sometimes we don't even talk at all, we just stay there hanging around each other in comfortable silence. I liked that, I liked it so much I was scared, as I didn't want to get used to it. Used to him.He's been acting so sweet towards me, making sure I'm comfortable at every turn, sending random gifts my way, I think he's trying to make up for the guilt he felt for abandoning me the way he did.Slowly, he began dropping hints of me and him being together and eve
Ethan's POV I jerked awake out of the darkness with a deep gasp, clutching my heart which felt like it was going to jump right out of my chest.I felt my chest knit itself back slowly in my chest, and I felt the faint sharp cut still worrying me."What do you remember? Can you hear me?" Someone asked, leaning and blocking the light, which upset me. And of the three men, one guy came close being brave to check on me.I remember his cute, innocent eyes peering at me...I loved when those same eyes were bleeding with fear.I tried to raise my other hand only for the hand to stubbornly refuse my command, the other hand however have graduated enough to learn movement.Before even the next morning, I had already learned about the major languages in the country and can strangely pronounce them.My body and joints felt very awkward like they weren't mine and it took some getting used to.I moved forward, my muscles grinding against my bone, creating a very unpleasant experience.I wanted to s
Valerian's POV Ethan was so caught up in what he was doing that he didn't hear me coming in time and only turned back at the last minute.I rushed towards his knees, tackling him to the floor.I raised my fists and brought them down on his nose, breaking it with a sick crack.I lunged again but he dodged, rolling to the side and I lost my balance."Why. Won't. You. Fucking. Die?" He banged my head against the floor harder with each word he uttered as he tightened his hand on my head.I reach out to hit him but He rolls and leaps to his feet kicking me in my stomach. I curl into a ball as fresh pain blooms in my stomach as the kick reopened the wound. He didn't care, kicking me harder, so much so the force made me fly backward hitting the window and shattering the glass to pieces.I was so badly hurt that I didn't move after I slumped to the floor, just moaning in pain."Fucking pathetic prick." He spat, stumbling to his feet, and walked drunkenly towards Elena. She scrambled back,
Valerian's POV My heart was in my throat as we sped back to the city, all the while inside my mind I was beating myself up for not seeing everything they had planned out sooner.I should have known it was all a setup.I've heard stories about how sick those men were and I can only imagine the twisted and depraved things they were doing to my pack mates, people who right now were looking up to me for help….and I let them down."You'll drive yourself crazy if you don't stop." Jared came to stand beside me where I was fidgeting. I couldn't keep calm, eager to get back home and fight."I can't stop!" I hissed, whirling around to turn furious eyes at him. "It's all my fault that this is happening. I was in such a hurry to get to Elena, I rushed in blindly avoiding a lot of blinking red flags.""Blaming yourself won't help our people, pulling yourself together will."Due to my whole display in the woods, everyone kept away from me giving me a wide berth.I didn't like messy killings prefer
Somewhere on the outskirts of Red Sun Hill CityZayn's POV The soft rays of the early morning sun were filtering through the clouds and I moved around impatiently, waiting for the signal.We were all gathered here since yesterday, camping in their backyard. It was quite hard to conceal this large number of people from the city's radar but our people on the inside helped with that, diverting any attention away from us."What's the status?"I spoke into the earpiece I'd wired into my ear for easy communication, while one eye was on my mate. She was by Ethan's side, her head swept to the side to display her collar which was a symbol of our ownership. "It's a go, sir." A voice squeaked over the earpiece, quite difficult to hear but I easily got the message since it was what I'd been waiting to hear all day.Immediately I signaled to the Alpha for them to kick into action, then called Trent to the side.He jogged over to meet me, decked in his battle gear with several daggers and a knife
Valerian's POV "Hey," Jared calls out and I turned from where I was on the balcony to stare at him, watching his long legs eat up the space before he crossed over to where I was."Heard anything from her yet?" It had taken him a few hours but he healed from the wound, and after being placed on mandatory bed rest he was back to his normal jovial self.The search was still out for Ruby but I doubt we would catch her, I had a feeling she was long gone.I turn back, looking down at the activities taking place below.I was at the Court for some meetings- which seems never ending recently - and also because I needed to think. Being clouded by Elena's things and her scent in the house wasn't helping me think clearly.I had needed to come to a fast decision on what to do, either to forget about Elena and try to move on with my life or to fight like hell for her.I was quite torn about it for a while, the natural instincts as Alpha to protect my pack weighing heavily against my selfish desir
Ethan's POV"I've been thinking," Zayn announced out of the blue, gesturing for us to take a walk down the line of trees by the cabin away from prying eyes. "About what?” I ask, watching two birds tweeting at each other.“Elena.” The sound of her name was like a blaring alarm which caused me to look up at Zayn.“What happened to her?” I think back to the unconscious woman lying on the floor a few feet away from where we stood.“I want us to perform the mating ceremony today.” He informs me, not looking anywhere near me.“That’s sudden,” I turned to look at him. “what caused the change?” “If she’s mated with us, she would truly become one with us in every aspect physically and up here” he tapped the side of his head looking fierce. “she won't be able to hide anything.""You're not giving her the choice?"We might have not been the most loving of mates but there are some lines I do consider extreme, we are mates but performing the mating ceremony has to be the choice of both people i
Ethan's POV I watched Zayn down drink after drink of alcohol, trying to blot out whatever he was feeling.When he first found out, he yelled, raged, and raked for the longest time until I thought he wouldn't stop.I totally understood why she would do that, she was a simple creature that just wanted love and to be loved, unfortunately, she got saddled with the wrong people but what made Zayn so angry was that she was going to take our child away from him.I opened the door quietly and looked at where Elena lay unconscious on the floor with the mark on her thigh.Zayn had rubbed wolfsbane into the wound to ensure that it didn't heal properly, even if it did heal, it would ensure that his name would forever be branded on her thigh.I had initially wanted to stop him thinking that that would be too much and it would definitely make her hate him all the more, but then I understood that he was hurt and he needed to lash out, in whatever form.After he stomped out still angry, his marks on
Elena's POV I was rudely awakened when someone dragged me out of bed in the morning by thrusting the covers back, letting the chill of the morning air kiss my skin, and winding their hand around my arm, pushing me out. I blinked my eyes several times to clear the grogginess and focus on the brick of a man dragging me away, my night dress flapping around my feet. I whimpered when my bare foot stubbed on a table, effectively clearing the sleepiness from my eyes and the man turned to look at me and I realized it was Zayn. I sagged in his hold with relief and looked up at his face. "Za-yn slow down!" I shrieked when he increased his pace. He rounded the corner, his long legs eating up the floor and I hurried behind him walking twice as fast to keep up. He almost ran down the stairs, still dragging me without paying any attention to me or even stopping. If I thought my words were going to convince him to let up, boy was I wrong, because if anything he started to walk faster. "Zay-n! P
Valerian's POV "Someone get me, Jared!" I yelled to the entire room not speaking to anyone in particular, raking my hand through my hair in agitation. I've been trying to get across to him but to no avail. We were supposed to meet up this morning but he wasn't picking up at all and after a while, the calls were going to voicemail. I was getting worried, it was not like him to dismiss an important meeting without cause. "Sir." Someone called my attention to the front and I turned in that direction, meeting one of the younger shifter's earnest gaze. "I've tracked his phone as you suggested, its location is still pinging that it's at his house. 'So why wasn't he picking up the phone?" I mutter to myself. Then I picked up my keys and dashed out of the room like my tail was on fire. The beta assigned to drive me today saw me rushing out of the building and standing up in a hurry, to jump into the vehicle but I paid him no heed, rounding to the driver's side and I sped off without lo