Well, what do you think?
Cinnia could not breathe. She waved her arms in the suffocating darkness, fighting to get rid of the weight around her neck but with every movement she made, the pressure on her neck increased. The darkness faded and a masked face materialized above her. She was back in that prison and he, her captor, was straddling her legs, restricting any effort she made to kick. Her eyes bulged and she frantically began to claw at his forearms, drawing blood with each deep scratch but it seemed not to phase him. His blue eyes glinted with hate and a lust for her blood. She lifted her neck, straining to catch a breath amidst the crushing tension. Tears spilled out from the corners of her eyes as she struggled beneath her attacker. "You thought it was over?" he asked in a low tone. A slow, muffled laugh bubbled from his lips when Cinnia clawed at him again. Through the haziness in her vision, she saw his face change. "You haven't seen anything yet, Cinnia," A voice she knew all too well, s
Liquid fire raced down Cinnia's body to pool in the pit of her womb. When she tried to move; to fight past the hot pangs that tore through her abdomen and her heart, heavy weights pressed down on her arms and legs. She couldn't see anything and it made her burning heart race. All she knew was debilitating pain. Denzel paced the length of the room, biting down on his fingersâan old habit that he hadn't quite gotten rid ofâ and watched the doctor administer shot after shot; forcing his princess to vomit and cough up thick strings of blood but nothing was working. Cinnia's flawless dark skin was pale with darkened veins tainting her arms and exposed belly. Denzel wished he had prolonged the suffering of all the members of the rogue pack. He regretted making their deaths quick. For what was happening to Cinnia, he would have torn them limb from limb slowly, enjoying their pleas and cries for mercy which he would never grant. But his hands were tied. The Blood Demons had been eradicated
Sophie turned away, refusing to meet Cinnia's burning gaze. Lips pursed in annoyance, Cinnia sat up and Mya hurriedly propped some pillows up at her back to let her rest against them. "Thank you, Mya. Since Sophie won't answer my question then you have to. I always feel like I'm out of the loop. What's happened and where's Denzel?" Mya pinched Sophie hard causing her to flinch and whirl to face her. "What?" "You're supposed to answer, witch." Sophie narrowed her eyes at her instead. Mya rolled her dark eyes, shook her head, and forced a smile onto her face, then she placed a hand over Cinnia's. "Denzel stepped out with Kai to discuss something important. He has been here since you fainted...at least, that's what I gathered. I was busy training some of the pups but I came as soon as I could." Cinnia nodded slowly. "Oh... Alright then. Thank you for being here." Her hand rubbed her belly slowly, almost dreamily. Her movements stopped after a while of awkward silence. "Sophie, what
Denzel whistled under his breath when Cinnia twirled in front of him, displaying her outfit which she had picked out from the clothes that Denzel had purchased. She decided to change from her usual grunge and tomboy aesthetic to a more elegant and classy look. "Damn, Princess, I didn't think you could get any more gorgeous but look at you." Denzel grabbed Cinnia's hand and pulled her flush against his chest. Cinnia let out an ecstatic giggle and wrapped her hands around his shoulders. He nuzzled the crook of her neck, inhaling her perfume. "Thank you, darling! You clean up quite nicely." Cinnia stood on the tips of her toes, her mouth directly against his ear. "It's taking all my self-control to not rip off your clothes right now. She dragged his earlobe through her teeth, smirking in satisfaction when she felt Denzel's arm tense around her waist. Cinnia pulled away to face him, stifling a pleased smile at the lustful look in his green eyes. "So, where's our first stop on this tou
"You know when you mentioned that you owned the shooting range, I didn't think you also owned a mobile phone brand," Cinnia said in awe as she happily restored all her backed-up information from her previously crushed phone into the new one Denzel got for her while he drove her to a fair in Mist View, a town two hours away from Lunar Crest. After leaving the range, Denzel spirited Cinnia away to a local gadget store which she later discovered from the near panicked and overly dutiful behavior of the staff, that it was an outlet of a company owned by Denzel. Later on, while Cinnia was still in awe, he had gotten her credit cards replaced before blocking the old ones that were probably lying somewhere where the blood demons had kept her. "What? Because I'm a Lycan, I can't have businesses?" Denzel glanced at Cinnia out of the corner of his eye, his lips holding back a laugh, and his hand caressing the inside of her thigh making the events at the shooting range very hard to forget. Ci
"Fuck!" Denzel slammed his hands on the steering wheel after bringing the car to a stop. "Stay here, Princess." "But Iâ" Cinnia tried to protest but Denzel's look had her sitting back with an exasperated huff. Denzel coughed at the smoke billowing from the back tires of the car. His eyes searched the lonely road but came up empty. There was no one there. However, when he reached the spot he had swerved past, a familiar scent filled his nostrils. "He's an Alpha. I caught the scent," Denzel announced to Cinnia when he entered the car. "Yet, there are no Alphas in this area." "None?" Cinnia questioned. "How can that be anyway? Aren't all the Alphas under your leadership? Why would any of them want to stalk and endanger us?" "He isn't under a pack. That I am sure of." "How do you know that? Maybe he is a traitor or something!" Cinnia argued. Denzel sighed and turned on the engine. As he drove, he asked, "What was he wearing? The man on the road?" "A grey hoodie. I'm very sure he i
Cinnia perceived a warm breath on her face. She smiled softly. 'Was Denzel back already?' However, it was puzzling. Cinnia knew she could not have been asleep for long. She had felt dizzy that afternoon while out on a walk with Mya after Denzel left to oversee some business and meet with the Alphas of two other packs; familiarizing herself with the massive compound, the borders, and the pack members who had thankfully stopped gazing at her like she was an alien from another planet. Though the older Epsilonsâthe most respected elder wolvesâof the pack were wary of her and refused to come close, the younger ones were enthralled by her duality. Later on, two Thetas joined in the tour, teaching her about the lands, hunting grounds, and a bit of the history of the Nightfall pack. For some reason, they declined to talk about the witches' involvement when Cinnia asked. Cinnia quickly won over the Thetas, younger Epsilons, and the pups who began following her about despite their mothers' w
Cinnia stared at herself in the mirror in Denzel's room which she felt she could be calling their room but it did not seem quite right just yet. She smoothed down her floor-length dress and turned this way and that, admiring the fitting of the gown that Denzel had insisted a designer make. It was the night of the Charity auction gala and Cinnia's nerves were all over the place. If Denzel's intuition was right, they would be able to find someone from the blood demons, hopefully, their Alpha. She still wasn't exactly sure of what Denzel planned to do once they received the message containing the coordinates and if she were to be honest with herself, some part of her did not want to be aware of it. That part wanted to simply enjoy a night out with her mate without a creepy occurrence or a looming threat to worry about. Cinnia inhaled sharply and let out her breath slowly. She cracked her neck to the side, grabbed her coat, squared her shoulders, and sauntered out of the room to Denzel
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 toâfortunately, they healed quite quickly, some faster than othersâand 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 aâAgh!" 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 intimatelyâespecially Denzelâwere 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