VALERIAN’S POVI walked on, averting my eyes as well, as Jared transformed from a tall, lean man with light blond hair and dark blue eyes to a large white wolf with a deep, thick coat and brilliantly white teeth. Jared sprinted past him as he sprinted to join Sophia where she waited patiently, pausing for a second to let me run my fingers through the guard hairs along his back."Please keep me in the loop while you're out there, Jared," I said to them both while looking at Jared, tapping his temple, meaning the mental mind link. "I don't want to lose any more wolves to those bastards."Jared yipped in agreement, and he and Sophia took off down the path, towards the other canines where the other Red Sun Hill wolves were bunking. I watched them go, and then I turned my feet towards the big cabin at the top of the path. My boots slid in the melting snow and ice on the pathway not being sturdy enough to hold him upright as I walked carefully down, and I wondered briefly if I should change
ELENA’S POVI watched forlornly, as Lorna fluttered around Anika trying to calm her down.At that moment, I wished to be like Anika, to feel a mother's love and comfort during my time of distress. All I ever got from my mother was apathy and indifference, I'm sure if news of my death got to her she would probably jump for joy.I looked away from the loving sight turning my gaze to the current patchwork of throws discarded on the table, bitter emotions and memories swamping me. Looking closely, I saw that they looked a bit familiar, the pattern of the work stood out to me, then I remembered that Anika had worn a dress with the same pattern some weeks back. I remembered the dress vividly because of the way the thread was interwoven into the silk-like material, it showed a great deal of care was taken into making it.Only two things are made with that precision- either it was a very expensive dress or it was handmade by someone close to her. Now I can see that it was her mother. It was s
ELENA'S POV"I'M not sure," Sam replied, chewing on a piece of meat thoughtfully.I blew out a breath and continued eating, wondering how long before Anika came. It was mid-morning and I had nothing to do. Most days after eating and taking a bath, I relaxed and slept or maybe engaged Lorna in a conversation to while away the time.The table was quiet, partially due to Same being around. He was a quiet man through and through, he didn't like noise while eating but I reckoned he just didn't like noise in general.I scraped my bowl clean in record time and I made to stand up but Lorna took another dish bowl and scooped out a little and placed it on my plate.Chuckling softly, I sat back down and started to eat again. Sometimes I wondered if Lorna's mission was to fatten me up.Sam stopped up his last bit of stew with his bread, then gulped down his water in a hurry splashing some down his shirt. He stood up and dabbed at his shirt while placing a quick kiss on Lorna's forehead before das
ELENA'S POV"It's fine," I said, clearing my throat. I jumped up, too excited to sit still."You guys should get going," Lorna spoke up."It's getting late."I looked at Anika, waiting for her response."Yeah, but first" she stood up and walked over to her mother. "We need to talk." She whispered.They went over to a corner and started talking, whispering so I wouldn't overhear them.I huffed and went back to my seat, looking at the paper I was going through earlier.Glancing over to where the two women were standing, I saw something exchange hands between the two of them. I tried looking closer but it was too fast for me to see anything.They concluded their talk and walked back over, their faces drawn."Miss Elena, can we go?" Anika asked."Can I go like this?"She looked at me with the clothes I had on that Lorna loaned me and shrugged."Hopefully we aren't going to run into anyone so you're fine."I finished my drink and took a look around, feeling nostalgic. I spent just a couple
VALERIAN’S POVI sat down watching the young man compose himself, swallowing visibly. Micha, one of the tortured and bruised pups that we rescued in that apartment complex was brave enough to sit down with us and tell us what he remembered from that gruesome incident.I had to give it to the budding Alpha, that took some massive grit. Inwardly, I was proud of his ability to face a terrible reality.Micha cleared his throat, making me focus on him once again. He was explaining what happened from the moment they were attacked."He liked taking me around and showing me the 'ropes' he called it. He said that we would need allies in case some people- that had been making trouble for him- were about to Challenge us for our territory. He wanted people that would fight with us if that ever happened." He continued."He was right to do that. I'm not sure if those people wanted your territory or just to get back at your family. Anyways, please tell me about the night that they took you."Micha d
Valerian’s POVAfter making sure everything was in order in the boy's mind and not wanting to poke around in his brain too much, I withdrew from his mind, sending the boy a mental command to sleep before leaving completely and Micha slumped back on the couch, going limp.The boy would possibly sleep for a short while, then wake up, fully aware of what I had done. If he had any complaints, then I would remove the directive, even though it was more emotional bulwark than a controlling influence. I doubted the young man would ask that of him.River went over to the boy's side and put a hand on his forehead and inspected his body to check the boy's state. He dropped his hand away after a while and looked at Valerian."Well done young one, I have not seen you use your ability in this manner before. Usually, people with a gift such as yours use it for more nefarious reasons, far more selfish purposes but you use yours for good. I'm glad."I flushed at River's praise, my cheeks turning red w
ELENA'S POVShe was wearing a side pleated gown with ruffles down the arm, and a thin pearl necklace around her neck. A thin silver belt anchored the gown around her small waist, on any other person the cloth would look ridiculous but she managed to pull it off elegantly. It must be a rich people thing.She was looking at me the way you would look at a rat that wasn't where it was supposed to be.From what I gathered the last time we had an encounter, she was related to Valerian.Once I got within talking distance, I stopped walking. It wasn't like I couldn't ignore her and pass but she was pretty much standing in the middle of the hallway, so if I wanted to leave I'd have to touch her.In my current state, I was physically and mentally drained, all I just wanted to was just curl up on my bed and sleep. Probably never wake up again."You look horrible." She finally spoke, her lips pursed in disgust as she looked at me from head to toe.The vehemence behind her words made me look at my
ELENA’S POVI LAY down on my back, looking at the ceiling trying to get my mind lost in the pattern drawn there. My left hand which lay on the bed traced a word over and over again.Valerian.The past couple of days have been quiet. I hadn't stepped out of the room, not even to the gardens. I guess the irrational fear that if I stepped out of this space- my enclosed bubble, something terrible would happen kept me confined here.All I just did was sleep, eat, think, and shower.Over and over again.I hadn't seen Anika since that day. Don't get me wrong, my room was still getting cleaned like clockwork and my meals never stopped. Only it was by another person now.I didn't know what to make of it at first, I thought maybe something had happened to make Anika not show up but when my new maid came in and continued coming over the next couple of days, I realized that maybe Anika didn't want to see me anymore.As much as that hurt, I respected it even though I had gotten used to our meeting
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