They remained on the top of the mountain until the sun started to set and the bright sky took on a pale red tinge."This is the best time of the day to be up here, you can see just how beautiful nature can be." He said to her as he stared fixedly at the sky. "This is a pretty interesting place, having nothing much to do but run the business that keeps the city alive and studying the daily habits of everyone, it is fun at times."Riley's lips curled into a faint smile and she said, "That's such a boring way to have fun, Caleb. I'd like my fun to be with a charming man on a horse who is ready to go on an adventure with me."He looked at her, "A charming man on a horse? Your imagination sure is very creative, have you found or encountered that charming man?" He asked. "Yeah, but he wasn't on a horse, instead he was in a fancy and luxurious limousine." She replied. "I'd have preferred a horse frankly.""Is it the man you talked about earlier?" He asked.She nodded, "Yeah, he was a charmi
'WELCOME TO SHENHAI. SHENHAI.'Shaw and his men stared at the sign for a long time, this was the only small town that was left for them to raid in search of the girl, if she wasn't here, then their search was going to be harder than they thought."Common boys, let's move," Shaw commanded. "If she's not here, then she must be on the other side of the forest. She has a pretty good headstart but she can't outrun us for long."They marched forward, looking like silhouettes in the dark in their all-black costumes. Shaw had a feeling they wouldn't have to get farther than this small, mediocre town, she just had to be here. They stopped when they got off the dirt road that led to the town and finally started seeing buildings that made up the small town of Shenhai. All Shaw was thinking about was how much the princess would give to them for this particular job. It would be his last, after this, he would retire from the special force and go away from the pack, probably raise a chicken farm and
The silent walk back to the pack house couldn't have gotten weirder.When Riley set her eyes on Lucas again, there was a sudden outburst of emotions in her. It felt like she hadn't seen him in years and her heart ached knowing that it was all her fault. Her eyes watered as she stared at him, there were so many things she wanted to do at that point.She wanted to run towards him, she wanted to embrace him in a tight hug, she wanted to cry. She wanted to kiss him and let him know how much she had missed him, she wanted to apologize and make him understand how sorry she was. She wanted to explain to him why she had run away, but she couldn't find her tongue.Lucas stared at the dead man's body, his face had been stained by drops of his blood and his claw was still bloodied by it.He stared at the men who had seized Leia firmly and said in a menacing tone, "Let her go."They looked at each other, unsure of what to do and how to handle this situation. About four more guards stormed into th
Surely he still had a little affection for her in his heart to listen to her pleas.It wasn't her only shot, it was the only chance the innocent maids had to survive."Lucas, please, don't harm them! I beg of you!" She cried, staring into those cold eyes of his."Why?" That was all he asked, he had never seen her in this state.Slowly, the cold wall he had built around his heart started to melt as more of Riley's tears ran down her face. But then, the thoughts of the lies she had told him came flooding into his head again."Why should I spare their lives? They've seen everything after all, what's the point of living?" He asked.The maids had recovered from the shock and they were trembling with fright. "Please, Lucas, don't kill them, they saved my life when I almost died, please!" Her voice was hoarse and desperate, she didn't want any more bloodshed.Lucas frowned and his eyes narrowed, "I think you got it all wrong there, Riley. Not when you almost died, when you almost got yourse
She could have fainted out of shock at that point.Brenda couldn't believe her eyes! Riley! Alive and well right before her eyes! It didn't look real at all, her heart constricted with fear and terror.This meant that Shaw and his men had failed, for fuck's sake Shaw never failed! But how? How was it possible that Lucas found a way to get to her? Shaw and his men had the head start, they had the advantage, so…how?She looked at Riley and she could have sworn that there was a merciless glint in her eyes. A glint that told her that she was treading on thin, dangerous ice. The blood all over them made Brenda cringe as a scary thought dropped in her head, Whose blood was that?"Riley?...No way…" She mumbled.Riley didn't know how to feel, facing the fiancée of the man she was pregnant for but the baby in her womb was the least of Brenda's concerns. She bowed to Brenda who just stared at her speechlessly.She looked at Lucas, "Where did you find her?" She managed to ask."Shenhai." He repl
Everything was still the same as she had left it a few weeks ago.She couldn't even remember how long she had been gone, and to be honest, she missed this pack a lot. Although it wasn't even hers, she started to love it because of Lucas. He was a reason, at least, but it seemed like he despised her now, and for a lot of reasons, it troubled her greatly. Who else could she turn to but him? He was the only one who cared about her, that was until she ran away. She slept comfortably, but only her body was calm, her thoughts were in turmoil. It felt good to be back, but it wasn't just the same. She could never forget the havoc her presence had reeked upon Caleb's house and it made her heart bleed.She imagined the rest of the people of the town waking up to such a gruesome scene and not even finding her there. All fingers would be pointed at her, as they should be, but they would never see her again, she was sure of that. Her thoughts couldn't be prevented from wandering off, she thought
Lucas was pissed after that conversation with Riley.He had a deep frown plastered on his face as he walked into the hallway, even the maids knew that rare look of contorted rage on his face. A group of three maids that were walking towards him froze as they saw that look, one even turned and walked the other way. The other two stood like statues as he walked past them with that deadly look, they only moved when he was out of sight. "Oh my fucking goodness, I don't know who got him that angry, but that person should be praying to the fucking moon goddess right now." One of them remarked.Lucas met Dolph as he was going up the stairs and Dolph took note of that deep frown. Dolph sighed and stopped him, "You need a fucking drink right now." He said. "Common, living room, bar, now." They walked into the living room and Dolph went straight to the bar, he poured Irish scotch for Lucas and added water to his glass."There you go." He said as he walked to the couch Lucas sat on and offere
The look in his eyes chilled her blood and turned it cold.Everything had changed and she knew it was no joke this time, Lucas despised her. She had been very restless as she lay on her bed and decided to go for a walk, she had been surprised to meet him in the living room. He looked her over, the sun was out in its full fervor and she had on a light, plain dress and simple footwear. "Where are you going? Did I just catch you while you were trying to run away again?" He asked scornfully. She sighed dejectedly, "Are you going to keep taunting me, Lucas...Sorry, King Lucas?" She asked."You shouldn't answer my question with a question, Riley." He said sternly. "Now answer my question." His voice was flat and tinged with harshness. Her heart was so fragile in front of him and his words kept on hurting her even more. She stared down because she couldn't look at those eyes that didn't love her anymore, she would burst into tears if she stared at the deep holes that were like an abyss of
Riley struggled to contain her temper, she wanted to hurl at Lucas so badly, but she held back the urge.The startled lady jumped off the desk and straightened her skirt with a look of embarrassment and shock on her face. At that moment, the secretary ran in, panting heavily and her eyes widened as she saw the scene in front of her. “King Lucas, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t restrain the queen from barging in.” She said apologetically, afraid that she might lose her job. Lucas, who had recovered from the brief moment of shock, waved her away. “It’s okay, you can go.”The secretary couldn’t have gotten out of there quicker, it was as hot as a hell hole due to the heat between Riley and Lucas.Riley glared at the lady and suddenly became angry that she was still there. “Get the fuck out, you fucking whore!” She bellowed spitefully and the lady, who was shivering from head to toe, rushed out. Riley slammed the door after her and faced Lucas, who was now on his feet with a cigarette and lig
Riley cried bitterly that night, she felt so betrayed by Lucas that she thought all the love for him she had left was gone, but it wasn’t. She still loved him dearly, but she hated the guts he had to put her through this sort of torture. Ignoring her and making her feel less of a woman wasn't enough for him, he had to sleep around too and that hurt her. Worse was the fact that she was sure he didn't care about her feelings. He knew he was doing this to her intentionally, but it had gone way too far. “What an asshole you are, Lucas, a fucking asshole!” she cried and buried her face in a pillow.She cried herself to keep and all this while,Lucas didn't step foot into the room. “Now you’ve messed up big time, how do you explain this?” Dolph asked, running his fingers through his hair in frustration, this was complete madness! Lucas's face was unconcerned and he just shrugged, “Explain? To who? I owe nobody an explanation for anything, Dolph.” He said flatly. “Yeah, no one except yo
Dolph cleared Lucas's desk before leaving the pack office that evening.He was exhausted and there were some documents he had to drop off at the pack house so Lucas could sign them the next morning before coming to the office.He drove to the pack house, his eyes heavy and tired, he strolled in to find the queen seated in the living room."Hey there, Riley." He said languidly as he walked past her.Riley who had a frown on her face turned to watch him walk away, it seemed like Dolph was dragging himself rather than walking."Hey, Dolph." She said, but he was already out of sight.Riley was getting tired of this pretty quickly, she just wished Lucas would come to his senses soon. His negligence of her and his ill attitude just made her stay here unbearable.She wasn't just some doll or effigy he kept in his house to portray the crown of the queen. She wasn't an object of the throne, she was a human too, who had feelings and emotions and needed care and love. Lucas ruthlessly denied her
Lucas left his office later that day with an angry look on his face. He walked out of the pack office building and his chauffeur brought the car around the building. “Where to, King Lucas?” He asked.Lucas didn't want anyone to know where he was this particular night, so he decided to drive himself there. “Don't worry, I’ll take it from here.” He said to the driver who got out and handed the key to him.Lucas drove for a while, silently and just taking in the beautiful atmosphere of the night, and then he decided that it was time to leave. The more he thought about Riley, the more erect he became and his craving for satisfaction became unbearable. He drove out of the pack and headed into the city, it had been a while since he headed out alone. Usually, he went with Brenda but of course, she was unavailable and very much out of his reach.He went to a huge pub where he had been a regular before he was handed the prestigious crown of his pack, he was still remembered there and even ack
Lucas developed a habit of keeping late nights and soon, it grew into something more.From getting drunk occasionally, to going to clubs and picking up different beautiful ladies. Everything usually ended in the pub or club, but that also started changing too. That night, after Dolph’s conversation with Riley, he became more worried about the relationship between the king and queen of the pack. It was like a bond no longer existed between the both of them but everyone else in the pack was too blind to see it or detect anything wrong. He couldn’t go about his responsibilities properly for the rest of the day and that also included his favorite sport, sex. She stopped riding him for a while and just sat on him, but still it took a short while for him to realize that she had stopped.“What’s the matter?” He asked, his eyes still looking dazed from his thoughts.There was a look of annoyance on her face as she got off him and left the bed, completely naked. She picked up his cigarette ca
Staying with Lucas in the same room wasn’t going to change much or mend the acrid relationship between them but Riley was still going to give it a try.She was determined to win Lucas over again, but it proved to be a rather herculean task as time went on. She realized that at first, their love had blossomed effortlessly, Lucas had fallen in love with her at first sight, and then there was also the bond between them. Riley had forgotten how difficult it was to try and make a man fall in love with her ever since she met Lucas, but now, she was going to discover it again.She had a nightmare of Lucas treating her the same way Shawn had and the thoughts of it just became more and more frightening as she thought about it. One thing she was sure of was that Lucas would never imprison her or hit her, he also would never rape her. Whatever phase he was going through now was just the acceptance at stage all over again and once he finally came to terms with his emotions, all would be fine. But
What Riley thought was a good situation turned out to be hell and she found herself wishing she could leave the pack. Over the next four months or so, her stay with Lucas as his Luna could be described as traumatic and it got into her head so much that she often fell into depression.The next day, after her coronation, Lucas assigned her to another room and she left the maid’s quarters, but she wasn’t staying with him in the same bedroom either. He moved her and all her belongings to another bedroom and that made her confused. “Why do we have to stay separately from each other now that I’m your Luna, Lucas?” She asked.He stared at her impassively, “Because that is how I want it to be, You just wear the crown and bear the title of the luna of my pack, there’s nothing special between us.” He replied indifferently. “And what about the child? What about your child, Lucas?” She asked, suddenly developing a feeling of resentment for him. “My child will be well taken care of. Anytime y
There was a feast later on and then a dance.Lucas left her alone for some time and was lost in the crowd. She too was lost in a small circle of ladies who had gathered around her and were trying to know more about her. She was supposed to join a clique specifically for the Lunas of the Lycan queens and one even confessed something rather embarrassing to her. “I’ll be honest right now, Riley,” One of the other queens around her said. “We already had a special towel made for the incoming queen of the Shadow pack and to be honest, we already had Brenda’s name inscribed on it.” The others laughed softly and one added, “That’s no big issue, we’ll make another one right before our next meeting.”This was when Dolph stepped in and interrupted them, “Excuse me, ladies, if you don’t mind I would like to have the newly crowned queen.” He said politely and they giggled.Riley was relieved that Dolph had whisked her away from them when he did, she became bored of their company very quickly and
Out of everyone in the room, Lucas was the only one who was neither shocked nor surprised. He saw the look on everyone’s face, his eyes caught the expression on Brenda’s but he didn’t look at her or her father or the few people he had brought along from their pack. Instead, he placed his hands on Riley’s arms and helped her to her feet. Her heart was beating so fast and heavily, there were goosebumps all over her skin. She was so shy standing in front of all these people who knew nothing about her.Another thing was, she was happy, her heart busted with jubilation the moment Lucas had said that Brenda couldn’t be his Luna and that had made her smile until the moment she heard her name. Lucas gestured to her and together, they both turned and faced everyone in the hall. There was no applause yet, everyone was still recovering from the shock of what had just happened. It was Dolph who started it. He clapped and slowly, everyone else in the room joined in. Everyone except an angry Brend