ELORA The sun was ruthless today. Sweat clung to my back like a second skin as I moved from one drill to the next. Due to the injury Anya had inflicted on me, my limbs were aching, but I kept my spirit steady. I didn’t allow myself to breathe, not under Ryker’s supervision. The warriors barely looked at me now. There was no longer scorn or empathy in their curious lenses. Just… tolerance. Maybe even something close to acceptance. I’d bled enough with them for that, I supposed.It was on this hot day I met them. Jarek and Dain, brothers, and Ryker’s most trusted men. Jarek could be described as a quiet storm. He was towering, but not as tall as Ryker, lean, and with that strange calm around him that only true strength could carry. I noticed the way his eyes always strayed to Anya when he thought no one was watching. But I was watching. I saw the way his expression softened around her. How he kept his distance like being close to her might undo him completely. Perhaps it already
KAELMy nightmares always started the same way, but this one was different. So different. I stood in the ruins of my pack, commander of the army of Stormrider, sweating, wounded. The air was thick with smoke and the metallic stench of blood- both wet and dried. Around me, bodies of my men were scattered all over the ground like broken dolls. Some had lost their heads, some hands, some legs. Intestines spilled out of armors. Their eyes were all fixed on one person; me. Their great commander who couldn’t save them. The screams of my soldiers lingered like ghosts in the wind. I gripped my sword tighter, my hands were slick with blood. Something dark was rising in the shadows ahead of me. Whatever had murdered tens of thousands of my men was coming, and it was coming for me. My knees trembled violently, yet I fought the urge to fall to the ground as it quaked beneath my boots. Thunder rumbled across the pitch-black sky, followed by a strike of lighting. I tried to swallow, but t
KAEL Another nightmare?” she asked. Her tone was laced with worry. I nodded stiffly, unable to form words.She sighed. “This is getting ridiculous. Is it about…?”“She’s alive,” I snapped. Even then, my voice didn’t sound like my own. Selene arched a brow, and I continued. “Elora’s alive.”Selene froze for half a second. Hope ignited in my chest. Finally. Someone could share in my fear, in my relentless search. All of a sudden, my wife threw back her head and bursted into laughter. My face twisted into a frown. I had been a fool to think she, of all people, would understand. “That’s impossible,” she said, waving a hand as her laughter slowly died. “You brought her chopped fingers and flesh back to this pack with your own two hands, Kael. She cannot possibly have survived all that, and even if she did, I’m sure she’ll be better off dead wherever she is.”My throat tightened. Even after all this time, Selene was still filled with hate whenever she thought of Elora. But my
AUTHOR’S POVSelene watched the door slam shut with a resounding bang that seemed to shake the very pillars of the room, including her soul. Her lean fingers clenched the tangled sheets at her waist, while her fury twisted inside her like a blade in the stomach. To think her husband was still dreaming of her! Her mute, good for nothing, step sister! She hadn’t worked her entire life to be Kael Stormrider’s Luna only to have her sister haunt his very essence. Selene’s jaw tightened. No. This had to stop. She swung her legs out of bed, snatching up the nearest robe and yanking it around herself with quick motions. Kael hadn’t even spared her a second glance. He hadn’t seen the hurt flashing across her face or the way her fists had trembled with the urge to slap sense back into him. If only she could slap him without being at risk of losing her head. She was his wife after all, and was to be to him what her father had been to his—commander of his army, even if he hadn’t bestowed th
RYKER I made it my point of duty to skillfully and completely avoid Elora. Perhaps, it’s for all the reasons you’re thinking. Perhaps it’s not. I had intended to weaken her by the dark room challenge, but when she walked out with her head held high, barely looking at me, I could tell something in her had shifted. And it almost…almost shifted something in me too. I delegated her training to Hagar, who also trained Anya whenever Kiara was busy with the male warriors. Elora spent more time with the two ladies, and they were beginning to become fond of her. I would catch them smiling at each other, exchanging knowing looks whenever something funny or strange happened. They were practically inseparable. Anya and Elora were almost the same age, and Hagar was slightly older than both. No matter how hard I tried to act as though she didn’t exist, she did. And she plagued my every waking thought. Not even allowing me an iota of peace in my sleep. She haunted me. And it became worse on
ELORA THE GODS BE DAMNED. Peering into Ryker’s eyes, my skin tingled from being so close to him. It was the closest we had ever been. I could smell him. Earth, leather, chamomile leaves, and something that made my teeth ache with need. Sierra stirred within me, restless. She pressed against the fragile walls of my control. She was desperate for her mate, I knew it. But I had to fight her. I had to fight her and win if I was going to survive Ryker Veylard.He seemed as though he had no intention to move. His gaze was locked on mine with equal intensity. I should have known there was a reason Sierra had been so restless, itching for a run, and towards the river at that. At the tent, the heat of the night refused to let me sleep. Sweat poured out from every single pore in my body. I took a bath almost three times, but it didn’t stop the heat in my insides. That was the one that tortured me the most. A strange fire had spread low in my body. It was sharp, and made my bones ache. R
ELORA When he seized my lips with his, I didn’t fight him. I was shocked, believe me. Still, I didn’t fight him. My lips parted to give him an easy entrance, allowing his tongue to ravage my mouth as his hands fondled my breasts and my ass, sending cold shivers down my spine, and heat to the pool in my stomach. Without a word, he lifted me up and placed me gently on the ground. Breathless, I searched his gaze for any sign of regret or disgust. There was none. Just pure, unfiltered need for me. I smiled with relief. Thank the goddess, because I wanted him too. He promised he was going to do really bad things to me, and I wanted…no, NEEDED him to. Ryker wedged himself between my thighs as he captured my lips in a feverish kiss. A moan of pleasure escaped my lips as he pulled on them with his teeth, his tongue swirling and sucking on mine. "Ryker," I moaned, my hands finding their way to his back as I clawed at the muscles of his bare back. My desire for him was slowly killing
KaelMy father had his mistress with him on the night I sought to talk about my nightmares. It had become a part of his daily routine to bring his foreign whores into his bed. Now that he no longer had responsibilities to the pack, and I had taken over his throne. I returned to my room and made sure to visit him when he was interested in dealing with real world affairs. Thank the goddess, he was finally caught in his smoking room, where he loved to polish his weapons and smoke. It was no surprise to me that the room smelled of steel and smoke.Still, I hated it.The heavy stone walls pressed in on me as I stood before my father, Kranos, and his beta, Varek. Varek Valewind still functioned as the grand commander of my father’s army. They were tied up in a conversation when I stormed in. My father looked up from his table with a raised brow. “Son.” “Father,” I turned to Varek. “General.” He gave me a courtesy bow, which I returned. “My dreams have worsened,” I said, voice rou
AUTHOR In the former beta’s quarters in the Stormrider pack, the heavy oak doors slammed open with a crash that shook the stone walls. Athlea, his wife and mother of the Luna, stormed into the great hall, her blood red robe clung to her curvy body like a second skin. By the hearth, Varek sat slouched in a carved chair, swirling a goblet of dark wine lazily between his fingers as he stared outside the window. He didn’t notice her step in. He should have heard from the leader of the mercenaries by now. They were yet to return with Elora’s head to claim their reward money. “Old man!” Athlea roared, but Varek didn’t flinch at his wife’s rude entrance. In fact, he barely looked up.It was typical of her. Athlea’s lip curled in disgust as she crossed the room, her boots striking sharp against the cold floor.In her hand, she clutched a bloodied scroll. “You sit here and drink,” she hissed, throwing the scroll at his feet, “while everything falls to pieces at our feet, and under our
RYKERI had never seen anything like it. In all my years, it was the most powerful thing I had ever seen. Elora cried out for the power of the moon goddess, just as I was told she would be able to, and the goddess wasted no time in answering. She sent lightning from the heavens, and the moment the lightning struck her, everything stopped.Time itself seemed to fold in on us, suspended between one heartbeat and the next.Elora was at the center of it all. She glowed with the lightning coursing through her skin. Her eyes beamed with a dangerous red glow. I stepped back in awe of her. She was terrifying, quick, unstoppable. When she moved, she moved with a force faster than light, faster than my thoughts. The rogues didn’t stand a chance.One by one, she tore through them, snapping their necks with her teeth. Heads rolled, she broke their limbs with ease, leaving them bleeding out on the ground.Torn apart by wind blades so sharp the air itself screamed. She wasn’t fighting alone,
ELORA Both our gazes snapped in the direction of the cry. Across the fire, a figure crumpled to the ground. Everyone around the fire screamed and scattered into several parts as the figure became even clearer. He had blood pouring from the gash in his gut. Behind him, shadows poured from the darkness as rogues, snarling and howling like demons unleashed from the deepest, darkest parts of hell. In the blink of an eye, Ryker was gone. He rushed to the center, summoning his warriors behind him. “we’re under attack! Warriors, fall behind me now!” I watched him turn to Odessa.“Take the women and children into the woods, now! Hide them, make sure they would not be seen! They must not be found no matter what,” his voice cracked as he sniffed in. Was that a tear from the great Ryker Veylard? “Please. They all have to survive. Please.” She nodded and called on the women and children to gather around her. Ophelia offered to stay back to make sure she could heal the wounded soldiers w
ELORA Sun rise met the South in very high spirits. I had woken up to find myself in my tent. My right hand brushed my cheeks gently, feeling the heat on them. I couldn’t help the smile that plastered itself on my face. Had Ryker carried me all the way here? “He did, didn’t he?” Sierra whispered softly in my ear. She had also been stretched out by Ryker’s wolf after all. “It smells like joy out there.”I nodded, flipping the sheets away from my body and planting my feet on the ground. It was the festival of the South’s rebirth, almost two decades since they all lost everything and had to start afresh. Anya had said this festival meant a lot to them. They honored their fallen heroes, welcomed their spirits to speak to their children, their wives and husbands, and bid them farewell after. Odessa and Ophelia had told me all about it before. If a spirit stayed too long with the living, it could begin to harbor evil intentions. Regardless, there’s nothing I wouldn’t have given to be
KaelMy father had his mistress with him on the night I sought to talk about my nightmares. It had become a part of his daily routine to bring his foreign whores into his bed. Now that he no longer had responsibilities to the pack, and I had taken over his throne. I returned to my room and made sure to visit him when he was interested in dealing with real world affairs. Thank the goddess, he was finally caught in his smoking room, where he loved to polish his weapons and smoke. It was no surprise to me that the room smelled of steel and smoke.Still, I hated it.The heavy stone walls pressed in on me as I stood before my father, Kranos, and his beta, Varek. Varek Valewind still functioned as the grand commander of my father’s army. They were tied up in a conversation when I stormed in. My father looked up from his table with a raised brow. “Son.” “Father,” I turned to Varek. “General.” He gave me a courtesy bow, which I returned. “My dreams have worsened,” I said, voice rou
ELORA When he seized my lips with his, I didn’t fight him. I was shocked, believe me. Still, I didn’t fight him. My lips parted to give him an easy entrance, allowing his tongue to ravage my mouth as his hands fondled my breasts and my ass, sending cold shivers down my spine, and heat to the pool in my stomach. Without a word, he lifted me up and placed me gently on the ground. Breathless, I searched his gaze for any sign of regret or disgust. There was none. Just pure, unfiltered need for me. I smiled with relief. Thank the goddess, because I wanted him too. He promised he was going to do really bad things to me, and I wanted…no, NEEDED him to. Ryker wedged himself between my thighs as he captured my lips in a feverish kiss. A moan of pleasure escaped my lips as he pulled on them with his teeth, his tongue swirling and sucking on mine. "Ryker," I moaned, my hands finding their way to his back as I clawed at the muscles of his bare back. My desire for him was slowly killing
ELORA THE GODS BE DAMNED. Peering into Ryker’s eyes, my skin tingled from being so close to him. It was the closest we had ever been. I could smell him. Earth, leather, chamomile leaves, and something that made my teeth ache with need. Sierra stirred within me, restless. She pressed against the fragile walls of my control. She was desperate for her mate, I knew it. But I had to fight her. I had to fight her and win if I was going to survive Ryker Veylard.He seemed as though he had no intention to move. His gaze was locked on mine with equal intensity. I should have known there was a reason Sierra had been so restless, itching for a run, and towards the river at that. At the tent, the heat of the night refused to let me sleep. Sweat poured out from every single pore in my body. I took a bath almost three times, but it didn’t stop the heat in my insides. That was the one that tortured me the most. A strange fire had spread low in my body. It was sharp, and made my bones ache. R
RYKER I made it my point of duty to skillfully and completely avoid Elora. Perhaps, it’s for all the reasons you’re thinking. Perhaps it’s not. I had intended to weaken her by the dark room challenge, but when she walked out with her head held high, barely looking at me, I could tell something in her had shifted. And it almost…almost shifted something in me too. I delegated her training to Hagar, who also trained Anya whenever Kiara was busy with the male warriors. Elora spent more time with the two ladies, and they were beginning to become fond of her. I would catch them smiling at each other, exchanging knowing looks whenever something funny or strange happened. They were practically inseparable. Anya and Elora were almost the same age, and Hagar was slightly older than both. No matter how hard I tried to act as though she didn’t exist, she did. And she plagued my every waking thought. Not even allowing me an iota of peace in my sleep. She haunted me. And it became worse on
AUTHOR’S POVSelene watched the door slam shut with a resounding bang that seemed to shake the very pillars of the room, including her soul. Her lean fingers clenched the tangled sheets at her waist, while her fury twisted inside her like a blade in the stomach. To think her husband was still dreaming of her! Her mute, good for nothing, step sister! She hadn’t worked her entire life to be Kael Stormrider’s Luna only to have her sister haunt his very essence. Selene’s jaw tightened. No. This had to stop. She swung her legs out of bed, snatching up the nearest robe and yanking it around herself with quick motions. Kael hadn’t even spared her a second glance. He hadn’t seen the hurt flashing across her face or the way her fists had trembled with the urge to slap sense back into him. If only she could slap him without being at risk of losing her head. She was his wife after all, and was to be to him what her father had been to his—commander of his army, even if he hadn’t bestowed th