BEATRICEI groaned as I opened my eyes. They felt difficult to open, just as my body felt difficult to move. Everything hurts and they hurt pretty bad.For a second, I was too disoriented to think of anything else as the pain clouded my thoughts. I tried adjusting my body to a better position but nothing worked. Every single part of me exploded with terrible pain.It felt incredibly difficult to simply open my eyes."Beatrice?" A voice called and slowly turned my head to see Alex seated beside me with a relieved smile on his face. "You finally woke up.""What... happened?" I tried asking but my voice was hoarse and came out barely louder than a whisper."You will be fine, Beatrice," he smiled. "I will tell you all about the later when you are better.""N-No," I shook my head slowly as I fought the pain. "What happened to me, Alex? Where is the Alpha? Where are the children?"He stared at me for a few minutes and then sighed in defeat."I don't know, Beatrice. I have no answers to any
ALEXI walked out of the Beatrice's hospital ward with a frown on my face."I'm gonna kill that bitch," I muttered as I stormed towards the main mansion which was situated a little distance from the hospital.Once inside, I made my way to the Alpha's office where Jace was sure to be and opened the door without bothering to knock."I heard that Beatrice woke up," he said without looking at me. "Judging by your mood, I assume it came with some bad news.""Well, our suspicions have been confirmed at least," I said. "Your Luna was responsible for the attack and is in custody of my Alpha's kids. Now that we have a witness, I assume we can take this as an opportunity to go after her.""That really is good news," Jace replied. "What's the bad news?""That bitch used enough wolfsbane to kill Beatrice," I fumed. "The doctor said it was a miracle that she survived it.""I assume there are adverse effects that accompany that," he said. "No one just survives enough wolfsbane to kill without reper
JACE"Is everything ready?" I asked the the chief maid for the umpteenth time as I inspected the mansion."Yes, sir," she nodded. "I made sure of it. I've made sure of all the preparations and the mansion is in pristine condition.""Do you really need to do all this for one man's visit?" Alex asked as he walked beside me. He's been following me around all morning."Well, Rafael is... a peculiar guy," I said as I looked around the mansion. "He is extremely competitive over literally everything. One time, he slept with about 15 women in a day and got himself hospitalised just to prove to my Alpha that he had better libido. Even worse, my Alpha wasn't even competing with him.""I see," Alex said, obviously perplexed by that revelation. "If he comes here, he is gonna look around the mansion and examine every nook and cranny of it, looking for some reason to prove that he is superior.""I see," Alex nodded. "I never knew you guys behaved like that around here.""Not us," I corrected. "Raf
ALEXI perked up at Rafael's confirmation. We've tried everything we could to get that information for the better part of two weeks now and we always came up empty. The Bloodless Pack seemed to be as tight-lipped as they were suspicious. "How do you know that?" I couldn't help but ask. "We've been trying for weeks now and no one agreed to seeing them."The eccentric man that is Alpha Rafael grinned proudly."I have my sources," he winked. "But, I am more than willing to share them with you in more... intimate conditions.""Stop being shameless, Rafael," Jace said as he looked at me. "If Rafael says he got it then he did get it. He is quite reliable despite how he may seem. Now, the question remains, what do we do? Even with Rafael's confirmation, Alpha Grey wouldn't admit to it.""That's the beauty of it, isn't it?" Rafael smiled. "Alphas are bad liars, you see. We don't have to lie much because there simply isn't a reason to. We can't be questioned within our packs and we are usuall
MARCYI laid breathless on the ground as I heaved deep breaths. Cayden was in a better condition than I was but not by much. We have been digging for about two days now and we are both exhausted. It was difficult to make significant progress quickly as we had to refill the holes we made with loose earth whenever a guard walks by or we are brought our food. Digging up a whole which we just dug was both mentally and physically exhausting. Everytime, we try to dig as fast as we possibly can so that we could at least break the hard earth before we needed to cover it up again. That has exhausted us even faster than the poisoned bars did. "We are never gonna make it at this rate," I sighed once I had recovered enough to speak. "We're not even halfway through and we still haven't decided what to do with the loose earth when we start digging upwards to the surface.""We would cross that bridge when we get there?" Cayden replied."If," I added. "I don't know how long we can keep this up."
JACEWe soon arrived at Alpha Grey's mansion, the seat of power of the Bloodless Pack, and the inheritance that was stolen from me.I stood for a few minutes as we got out, staring at the home I had been forced to flee from in my childhood. "It looks so different from what I remember," I muttered. For my sake, Cayden had made sure I never accompanied him to meet Grey in the Bloodless Pack. In fact, he doesn't even let me see Grey unless necessary."Do you have a history with this pack?" Alex asked. "I heard what you said.""My Luna is the daughter of this pack's Alpha," I replied. "Of course, I have a history with it."He stared at me for a few seconds and shook his head."You're a man of many secrets. I know you're lying and I'm curious why.""Well, that isn't the reason we're here, is it?" I retorted. "Let's focus on the task at hand.""Of course," I nodded just as the whirring sounds of the helicopter blades drowned out all the sounds around us as it landed.Rafael waited until t
ALEXAlpha Grey's eyes widened at the threat in Rafael's voice. His eyes darted to us as if looking for an out but finding none."They put you up to this, didn't they?" he asked as he pointed at us. "Those bastards told you I kidnapped their Alphas and you came running like a lap dog! How dare you challenge me in my own pack?!""I already told you," Rafael smiled. "They are my friends. Besides, I'm not even accusing you anymore. I wanna see the design of your tunnel so I can replicate it in my pack. We are on friendly terms, aren't we? Or, do you have something to hide, Alpha Grey?" "You know what," Grey sighed. "I'm not showing you shit. You don't get to order me in my own pack! Get out! All of you!""Now, you are acting really suspicious, Alpha Grey," Rafael said with a frown. "You don't want to start a war, do you?" "Yes, I fucking do!" Grey retorted. "If a war is what it would fucking take then I want a fucking war! You are not getting anything from my tunnels without getting th
MARCY"Do you hear that?" I asked as I stared at the roof of the tunnel, listening intently.Cayden who had been digging stopped and looked up as well."You mean the occasional thuds? Yes, I do.""No, there's more," I said. "I can faintly hear a commotion and those aren't simple thuds."I point at the ceiling from which sa d particles were drizzling."Simple thuds wouldn't do that," I added "What could it be then?" he asked. "A fight?""I think so too," I replied. "A pretty rowdy one that seems to feature powerful contenders. The intensity shows that this is not a normal spar. I can feel an incredible amount of bloodlust too.""Do you think the Bloodless Pack is at war?" He asked. "It seems like that to me.""The question though, is why they are fighting. Who would even challenge Alpha Grey to a fight. He's a pretty powerful Alpha and rules a pretty powerful pack as well.""Only few packs would even think to challenge them," Cayden affirmed. "It's too much of a risk even for my pack.
CAYDENI gave them a puzzled look as the all stares at me. "What?" I asked. "How do you expect me to lure him out? The guy hates my guts. He's basically starting this whole war simply to ruin me.""That's exactly the reason why you are the best person to lure him out," Marcy replied. "He seems to be holding a deep and terrible grudge for you. All you have to do is tug on that grudge.""What?" I asked, confused. "I don't understand.""I'll be straightforward with it then," she said. "We can't win against that guy when his brain and mind are functioning properly. He is incredibly smart, cunning and overly cautious. He might make a mistake in battle but not one that we can exploit. He might also have a vast army by now considering all of the deaths he's caused. He's even had time to turn them into his minions. There's no telling the amount of abominations he can unleash on us.""I still don't understand what any of that has to do with me and how it helps me anger him," I replied, lookin
CAYDENI stared at Marcy, at her beautiful eyes as they stare back at me."You're right," I nodded. "He must going around and talking to anyone he believes would be strong enough to be a threat to him.""He won't be simply convincing them either," Rafael added. "He threated me with death when I refused. I believe the others would be getting the same offer I got, both the good and bad aspects of it. He gave up on killing me for reasons I wouldn't disclose but I don't think the others will get that luxury."We pondered it for a bit and Marcy started to speak."What do yo-""Switch," Raphael suddenly said, looking beside him. It took me a while to figure out that he was talking to one of the women he was sleeping with. "Oh, and pass the gag as well. I'm still having a meeting.""Oh, so you remember you are in a meeting," I hissed. "Couldn't you do this at a more convenient time?""You know me, Cayden," Rafael smiled. "I'm actually showing a bit of decorum here. At least give me some cred
MARCYFor goddess' sake, these two would never stop bickering. I couldn't help but sigh at Cayden's blatant response to her name, obviously angering Beatrice who stared back at him with resolute indignation."And I couldn't be bothered that this bastard is an Alpha," she retorted."Okay, that's it," I said. "Beatrice, you would have to excuse us for this conversation.""The Beta too," he added as Alex silently perused the documents, choosing not to involve himself in their conflict.Ever since Cayden accepted Bella back for the sake of my children, Alex had developed a form of respect for him. He still hates him with a passion but just like me, he has learned to tolerate him as well."I don't think it would be a good idea for Alex to not be present," I replied. "If this is about nobody, that is. He's been doing a lot of research on him and the kind of creature he is. I believe he would have some important information to share."Cayden seemed... displeased?It might just be my imagina
CAYDEN"What was I thinking?" I chastised myself under my breath, mentally facepalming at my impulsiveness. "This is all Jace's fault. That bastard."Jace's words had plagued me after he said them. He wasn't wrong. All I needed to do hear from Marcy was call her. It was as easy as that.But that was incredibly tough for me. I don't think I've spoken to Marcy since we started walking together. In fact, we've never talked on the phone from the day I knew her. Calling her now would not only put of character, but it'll be awkward as well.I couldn't bring myself to do it.I also couldn't deny the fact that I missed her presence in the pack. Hateful as she may be of me, she brightened up my mood when I saw her. This only increased after our imprisonment in the Bloodless Pack. She had grown to tolerate me and at least give me a chance to talk to her without it divulging into an argument about my horribly stupid past mistakes. She even allowed me interact with her children who strangely ca
MARCYHectic.That's the only word that best describes my return to the pack.It turns out having a competent Beta cam only make your work harder when you leave for a long time. Alex handled everything and being the man that he is, decided that there are some decisions that require my exclusive input and they were too sensitive to be discussed while I was in the Blue Heart Pack because of the possibility that we were being watched.That has only served to complicate my life more now that I'm back as I had a plethora of meetings, hours of perusing documents and even more hours of signing such that my wrists hurt.Knowing I would be going back, Alex was making sure I did all that could be done before leaving.I groaned audibly as I read through yet another document. Alex is in the chair opposite me as he silently read and sorted out other documents. We've been at this for five hours now and I am both exhausted and bored.A knock on the door attracts our attention and I hope against all
CAYDEN"Jace!" I yelled as I rummaged through my office in search of a particular document. "Jace!"Jace calmly walked in on my second call with his usual expressionless face. "You know, you could easily call me through the mind link. You didn't have to yell.""I do what I want," I retorted as I continued to rummage through my shelves while Jace stood there calmly, watching me.After a few minutes of fruitless effort, I turned to look at him. "Well?" I said with annoyance in my eyes. "Help me out, will you?!""You still haven't told me what you are searching for, Alpha?" He replied calmly. "I can't find it if I don't know it.""The contract we drew up with the Nightwalker Pack. I want that contract," I replied as I continued to check through numerous files and documents."May I ask why?" I looked up at him again, this time my annoyance turning into anger."No, you may not! Just fucking find it!""That's why I said you could have just asked me through the mind link instead of going
CAYDENJace's words bit deep. All I could do was stare at my Beta as he quite calmly admonished me for my foolish mistakes. I had no words for him as I stared at my table, unable to even look at his face."Well, who am I to chastise you," he shrugged. "I don't know what it's like to be Alpha and I've never ruled a pack. You probably were desperate at the time and I can understand that desperate times call for desperate solutions.""Jace," I sighed after a few seconds of silence between us. "What do I do to get out of this mess?"He didn't reply for a few minutes before taking a deep breath."Solve it."I finally got the courage to look up at him."What?" "First of all, get that weird sorry look off your face," he said. "An Alpha must never falter. You know that better than I do."I continued to stare at him, puzzled."I've never been in your situation before because I've never had to kill a woman I impregnated, so I don't have a set path I could advise you to follow," he continued. "
yCAYDENI tapped my fingers restlessly on my table as I sat at on my office. The atmosphere is quite relaxing with rays of sunlight illuminating the office through the window and a tranquil silence that would easily put anyone to sleep.Yet, I was restless.The door opened and Alex walked in distractedly as he eyes were glued to a few papers in his hand."Good day, Alpha," he greeted, still distracted. "You called for me.""Yeah," I nodded. "Take a seat."He promptly obeyed but still didn't look up from his papers. They seem to have him entranced."Eyes up ahead, Jace," I said as I tapped louder on the table to get his attention.He finally looked up at me with a question in his eyes, obviously displeased for having to look up from whatever he is reading."What do you have there?" I asked out of curiosity."Documents of our expenditure and a few other observations the scouts and administrators reported about the pack. Apparently, we might have neglected quite a bit in the past year."
MARCYThe atmosphere was tense in my office. I was on high alert and I scanned my surroundings carefully for any sign of his invisible minions. He knew they couldn't escape my eye so he brought none. Even still, I wasn't exactly at peace around him.There was something inherently wrong about his entire presence. Except for the obvious scent of death surrounding him, I can feel there was something else but can't quite place my hand on it.I don't want to admit it but he gives me the chills."A warning, huh?" I asked coldly as I tapped my fingers on my desk. "Are you gonna threaten me in my own pack?""I wouldn't be dumb enough to do that, would I?" He chuckled. "I'm hoping not," I replied."So, if I do warn or threaten you," he said as he leaned forward. "It's because I am confident that I can."I stared at him for a few minutes and leaned forward as well."Then you must be the most foolish being on earth, whatever you are."He chuckled for a bit and then leaned back."I like you, Al