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Embers, ash, and pillars. That was all that was left of the ancient edifice that had once stood in the position Cinnia, Denzel, and Mya were standing on. "One step ahead of us... Fucking son of a—Agh!" Cinnia balled her fists and kicked a pebble in front of her, sending it flying. She ran her fingers through her hair and sank to sit on her heels. A muscle in Denzel's jaw ticked. He wanted to break something, to kill someone but he had to keep his anger in check. There had to be another way. "When could he have done this?" Denzel murmured to himself as he stepped further into the rubble, not minding the smoldering ash that licked at his shoes. Mya moved ahead of him, kicking away crushed stones and waving her hand in front of her to block away the dust that threatened to suffocate her. Some minutes later, they returned to where Cinnia still sat, her fists shaking in her lap. The look on their faces said it all. The tree was gone. Cut down and burnt to a crisp. Only a single root r
Six months later... It is during the time of peace that one should fear the occurrence of war. However, the prospect of war was a distant threat. One that Cinnia didn't even want to think or worry about. Sebastian was gone; so were Elijah and all the other vampires and hybrids he had created. Therefore, Cinnia only sought to enjoy the relative peace that had settled over West Volken for the last six months. There had been a lot to do after finally defeating Sebastian. The wounded had to be attended to—fortunately, they healed quite quickly, some faster than others—and a lot of collaboration among all the factions had to be established to ensure that adequate excuses and compensations were given to the families of the humans that had been turned by Sebastian and the matter hidden from the press. In the two months after New Orleans, although everyone constantly reassured Cinnia that none of the deaths was her fault and nothing was held against her, she still couldn't help but occasio
PROLOGUE Twenty-one years ago. "You should not have married and impregnated a witch, Wolf! You have upset the balance of nature. Such abomination cannot stand without consequences!" The lone fae seethed, pointing an accusatory finger at Nathan Ramilek who stood defiantly, meeting her fiery gaze without a hint of fear or cowardice. "I know that but what's done is done. You promised to help and not repeat what I have already heard countless times from both my pack and her coven!" Nathan retorted. His heavily pregnant wife, Manara, was a powerful witch of the magic-borne community in Darah Haven, a city in West Volken consisting mostly of witches and humans. They had met and fell in love when Manara visited his home of Lunar Crest. A place where he reigned as Alpha of the Nightfall pack and Alpha king of all the other eleven werewolf packs which were also in the state of West Volken. They were to sign a peace treaty in a bid to try to finally resolve the tensions between their tw
Waiting for them outside the bar was a dark-blue Ferrari. Nothing else mattered to Cinnia except going wherever he wanted her to go. She didn't take a look at the driver that opened the car door for them and she didn't care. The number one thing on her mind was the man who was making her go crazy. As they settled in the car and he signaled for the driver to move, she tried her best to regulate her breathing and reduce the heat in her core. Denzel had other plans. He pulled the privacy shutter down and the next moment, he pulled Cinnia onto his lap. Caution flew to the wind instantly the moment her center connected with his covered bulge. She straddled him, grinding slowly on him; an action that elicited a needy groan. At that moment, she forgot that he was supposed to be part of the enemy and that he was trouble. He moved her dress up further to expose her round and fleshy butt and in response, she helped him out of his jacket. His eyes focused on her breasts as his hands cares
"Surgit." With a start, Cinnia woke up and coughed at the weird smell of a powder that lingered in her nostrils. Squinting at the bright sunlight coming from a gap in a boarded window, she shook her head trying to get rid of the cloudiness. It hurt to keep her eyes open, her throat felt itchy and her body felt like it had been slammed by a speed train. She could hear voices talking in low tones. Voices she didn't recognize. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she noticed she was seated in some kind of small room. There was a small, iron bed beside her, right next to the window where the sunlight came from; hung around the walls were various artifacts and idols of which she only recognized a few because she had seen them in the Fae forests where she grew up. What the hell is this place? There was nothing but darkness in front of her. The sunlight from the single window wasn't enough to illuminate it. When she tried to move to see what was behind her, she realized she had been ti
"The gammas caught him wandering at the edge of the woods. I believe he was trying to spy on our activities. He has no mark," Maverick, Denzel's only brother and his Beta, reported. "A rogue?" Denzel asked, his jaw ticking as darkness settled over his expression. "Not just any rogue. He is a member of the Blood Demons. We couldn't get him to say any more than that." The Blood Demons consisted of rogue werewolves, who came together two years ago to form a pack separate from the twelve established packs of West Volken. Abiding by their different laws, they were ruled by a nameless Alpha and under his leadership, did whatever they wanted without fear of consequences. Over the last year, they threatened the diplomatic relationship between the wolves and humans through their insouciant killings and maiming of the human population of West Volken. Through the council which consisted of Denzel, his father, the mayor of West Volken, and the catholic priest, they managed to cover up the mu
A child. Cinnia lay on the hard, iron bed with a hand gently placed on her flat belly. Even with all the proof she needed, she still couldn't believe it. She was going to be a mother. Tracing her belly with her index finger, she wondered what the child would look like. Would it look more like her or like the stranger? Denzel. Lycan. She had never heard of such a supernatural creature before and the old witches refused to tell her anything. When she had asked Sophie, the young witch promptly ignored her questions and instead made her tell her something important that Denzel would remember from their encounter. That one night of pure sensuality. Her heart beat rapidly against her ribs as she began wringing her fingers together. Unsatisfied, she got up from the bed and began pacing back and forth. Despite the cool air in the room, a trickle of sweat ran down her right temple. She was afraid but also impatient. Afraid of what his reaction would be when he saw her after she had
It was all a blur to Cinnia. In merely two months and two days, she had mind-blowing sex with a devilishly handsome rake, found her way back home, got kidnapped, found out she was pregnant with a hybrid baby, and is currently being used as a pawn in a witch game. How exciting. "So, you're telling me that you're putting my life in danger because you want protection from blood devils or whatever you call them? Are you fucking kidding me right now? You witches, are crazy." Cinnia scoffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Says the girl who was born part-witch," Sophie retorted. "Maybe that's why I'm not as crazy as you and your coven!" "Cinnia." It was the first time he mentioned her name and as she turned to face him, she found herself yearning to hear her name from his mouth every single day. "I'll handle this, Princess," he murmured, stroking her cheek softly. Scratch that previous thought, she wanted him to continue calling her princess every day of her life. Without even rea
Six months later... It is during the time of peace that one should fear the occurrence of war. However, the prospect of war was a distant threat. One that Cinnia didn't even want to think or worry about. Sebastian was gone; so were Elijah and all the other vampires and hybrids he had created. Therefore, Cinnia only sought to enjoy the relative peace that had settled over West Volken for the last six months. There had been a lot to do after finally defeating Sebastian. The wounded had to be attended to—fortunately, they healed quite quickly, some faster than others—and a lot of collaboration among all the factions had to be established to ensure that adequate excuses and compensations were given to the families of the humans that had been turned by Sebastian and the matter hidden from the press. In the two months after New Orleans, although everyone constantly reassured Cinnia that none of the deaths was her fault and nothing was held against her, she still couldn't help but occasio
Embers, ash, and pillars. That was all that was left of the ancient edifice that had once stood in the position Cinnia, Denzel, and Mya were standing on. "One step ahead of us... Fucking son of a—Agh!" Cinnia balled her fists and kicked a pebble in front of her, sending it flying. She ran her fingers through her hair and sank to sit on her heels. A muscle in Denzel's jaw ticked. He wanted to break something, to kill someone but he had to keep his anger in check. There had to be another way. "When could he have done this?" Denzel murmured to himself as he stepped further into the rubble, not minding the smoldering ash that licked at his shoes. Mya moved ahead of him, kicking away crushed stones and waving her hand in front of her to block away the dust that threatened to suffocate her. Some minutes later, they returned to where Cinnia still sat, her fists shaking in her lap. The look on their faces said it all. The tree was gone. Cut down and burnt to a crisp. Only a single root r
"I feel I should be surprised but weirdly, I'm not," Cinnia whispered to Maverick whilst keeping her eyes on Denzel who stood ramrod straight as he stared down at the bloody heart in his palm. "Me neither," Maverick replied with the corners of his lips raised in satisfaction. His brother always had a way of showing up at the right moment. "Can you please find me some water around here? My throat is dying," Cinnia requested to Maverick. "Sure." The moment he left, Cinnia took slow steps to Denzel. The clangs of weapons, grunts and growls of the supernaturals, and the whimpers of the wounded echoed through her ears which created a nagging feeling in her chest. Something was wrong. Sebastian was dead, wasn't he? Then why was the battle still ongoing? His creatures should have dropped dead...even the one she had granted the illusion of choice. Yet, when Denzel's eyes met hers finally, all previous thoughts melted away and she picked up the pace and ran to him. A huge smile lit up Den
Cinnia's heart pounded in her chest as she waited and hoped that Sebastian was truly messing with her and Maverick wasn't dead. She didn't think she would ever be able to forgive herself if he died because of her rashness. She gasped when Maverick landed face-first on the ground right in front of her. A relieved smile grew on her face but promptly bled out when she noticed that he wasn't moving. "Why isn't he getting up? What did you do to him, you bastard?!" Cinnia yelled, struggling against the bonds that held her back. She felt the skin on her neck break and begin to bleed but she paid no mind to it. She screamed her voice hoarse, yanking at the chains but it was futile and all to Sebastian's glee. "What did you do?... What did you do to him?..." Cinnia sagged against the chains that held her down; her voice reduced to a pitiful croak. Sebastian sat on his heels and bent his head to the side. A wide smile that immensely irritated Cinnia was stretched out across his face. "It's
"Beg your pardon?" Cinnia quirked up an eyebrow, uncertain about whether she heard properly. "Kneel before your King," Sebastian repeated, dragging out each syllable like she and Maverick were dim-witted five-year-olds. Cinnia and Maverick exchanged a glance. Then, Maverick scoffed while shaking his head and clutching the fresh wound caused by the grazing of the silver bullet, on his arm. "I only have one king and I don't even kneel before him..." Cinnia bit back. A second later, she added as an afterthought, "Often... And I certainly won't do it if he demands it in that tone you're using." As she spoke, she kept her right hand behind her with a portion of her mind focused on chanting a spell and channeling power to her fingertips. Sebastian barked out a laugh. "I do love your sense of humor. It's refreshing. Very rarely do average people make jest in dangerous situations." "Thank you for recognizing my immense potential." At the last word, she fired two bolts of crackling ligh
For the first time in a long while, Denzel had a dream. One that he remembered the moment his eyes fluttered open to the dimness of his room. A smile grew on his face as he recalled the events. He was happy. There were no foes. Just him and his princess. Yawning, he stretched out his muscles and then turned to pull Cinnia closer to him. But the sheets beside him were as cold as ice. He shot up from the bed, his heart racing in alarm. A glance at the bedside clock let him know that it was almost four-thirty, half an hour before the pack would assemble by five a.m. He got up and threw open the curtains. As someone who never slept for long, he should have been awake thirty minutes before. "Princess?" He called out to the eerily empty room, hoping that she was in the bathroom and just being extremely quiet or holding her breath or something. Yet, from his incredible hearing, the sinking realization occurred to him and his eyes widened. In a flash, he washed his face, threw on some c
Cinnia watched from her window as Denzel drove off with Maverick, Mya, Kai, and five of his best gammas. As Luna, without even being told, everyone was looking up to her to run things in the absence of their Alpha and Beta. However, she didn't feel like doing anything pack-related. Earlier that morning, she practiced various spells from a grimoire she had taken from her mother's house before the Darah Haven witches decided to try and drain her of her magic. Yet, she still experienced some difficulty in performing some of the more complicated magical spells and it made her throw the entire book aside from frustration. Cinnia leaned her head against the window frame and heaved out a melancholic sigh. Just as she was about to lock her door and try the spells again, someone knocked on her door. Her shoulders dropped as she bowed her head and let out another sigh. "Come in," She called out after a beat. Conall stepped in and shut the door behind him. "Do you people not have off
"Fuck the drive. What is it?" Denzel whirled around to face Maverick, his eyes alight and expectant. "It's not good, brother." Maverick shook his head solemnly. Mya scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. "When last has anything been good around here?" Denzel shot her a look that made her zip up her mouth. "Well? Speak up, brother," Denzel pressed as his index finger drummed an anxious beat on his thigh. "Sebastian has made more vampires out of innocent humans. The council just sent a memo about a meeting tomorrow because of all the disappearances the human faction have had to cover up as freak accidents or kidnaps," Maverick informed. Denzel raised an eyebrow at him. "You aren't telling me everything." "Can this get any worse?" Mya mumbled while tracing a pattern on the ground with her foot. "It can. It has," Maverick answered her. "I don't understand how Sebastian has done it but the smaller packs have been recruited into working for him. He's making an army of vamp
Cinnia wordlessly threw dirt onto the little coffin in the freshly dug hole in the ground. Three days had passed since Sebastian's victory and barely a word had left her mouth. To someone who wasn't privy to her situation, they would think she went about her days like a normal person but those who knew her intimately—especially Denzel—were aware that she wasn't the same. The Cinnia he had met that starry night in Bromsken was gone and replaced by a hollow shell of the woman she used to be. Maverick was like Cinnia. The only difference was that he buried himself in business, pack duties, and hunting for Sebastian. Sophie's death had changed something inside of him. Though he never properly acknowledged the relationship they had, it didn't make him feel any better. In those three days, he was filled with unwavering regret that he couldn't have been with her the way he wanted. He finally understood just how Denzel felt about Cinnia even though she was part witch. Worst of all, he cou