Rhode sighed as he watched Megan sink tiredly into her bed with a sigh of relief as her hand went to clutch at her forehead. He knew such stress and excitement could not possibly be good for the child she was carrying, but for some reason, his court had been very stirred up lately.“What is going through that pretty head of yours?” Megan asked with a laugh, and Rhode jolted to reality with a guilty expression, he had no idea he had zoned out.“Why?” He laughed along with her, and he could tell his eyes were twinkling mischievously. “Are you curious?” He asked and she nodded eagerly as she stared at him right in the eyes, and Rhode grinned again. He had always loved it when she smiled at him and looked at him straight in the eyes with zero inhibitions.He knew that it would probably be a long time before she could completely trust him given her past, but he was willing to work for it.“Yes!” Megan laughed again. “A penny for your thoughts?” Before opening his mouth to speak, Rhode mad
Lord Fuhler was trying to force breath into his lungs as he stood in his ancestral castle belonging to the Fuhlers name and tried to swallow the urge to scream.Rhode had somehow managed to smash all his wonderful plans to shreds and Lord Fuhler was in shock.He had planned it well, so well that there was even a safety net to catch him should the already immaculate plan fail, but Rhode had somehow managed to smash both the plan and the net to smithereens.“Argh!”Lord Fuhler finally pointed the middle finger to decorum and screamed his lungs out in frustration. He felt like putting a bounty on Rhode's and Megan's head. A million dollars for anyone who brings me the head of the Alpha, or his bitch! But unfortunately, some fantasies tended to remain fantasies.“My Lord, your daughter is here.” A servant announced and Fuhler nodded as his eyes burned with a vengeful rage. He would not be surprised if his own daughter had been the one to screw him over. Not surprised at all.“Send her in.
Aspen's life was going to shit. Firstly, Richardson confirmed her worst fears by saying to her face that he never had the intention to make her queen. Then proceeded to make it clear how much he hated her. Something that was rapidly becoming vice versa.And then there was Rudolph. The strange reporter that had barged into her chambers and pointed all five of his fingers at her accusingly, and claimed he knew where her son, the son that had been sired by that barbarian was. Confirming one of Aspen’s worst fears in a few seconds.After that incident, she had been unable to breathe because she believed that when she let her guard down, then that damned reporter would start publishing articles about the life she had led up in the north.That was frankly what kept her up many nights, but to her surprise, she heard nothing from Rudolph after that night. And the border guards she had bribed for information told her that they had indeed seen a person with Rudolph's exact description leaving t
Megan surveyed the table as she sat down gracefully, all the while wondering why Rhode had summoned herself, Brianna, Rosetta, Brian and Lord Rosebud in a very secluded room with trusted guards placed at the door. But she would let him speak first. Whatever had happened in the council room today was something that had raised his hackles high and on alert.“You all must be wondering why you are all here.” He started, and Megan nodded with the rest. Turning to Rosetta and Brianna, it was obvious that he was shocked to see them standing behind him.“Take a seat. Go on.” He encouraged. Now Megan was even more suspicious. Rosetta and Brianna sitting in the same room with Lords and ladies? It was almost unheard of.Sure, she allowed and even encouraged it, she had to look around to see if everybody else was on board with this. She would hate to see them uncomfortable. To her relief though, they all looked alright.“Rhode?” She interrupted softly. And he turned to her as she called him. “Wh
Her friends leaned forward anxiously. Each waiting to see the bomb she was going to drop any second. And Megan twisted from discomfort. She knew she was being unfair to Rhode, but she simply could not help but think about it. Especially now that her stomach was already bulging and could only be covered by the heavy garments she made sure to wear on a daily basis.“My lady?” Brianna reminded, and Megan jolted. She just had to get it out after all. If anyone could understand, then it would be her friends. They were incredibly loyal after all.“Well, you see…” still she hesitated, knowing that after she spoke, she would not be able to take it back. And Megan was not one to speak lightly.“Yes?” They urged, exchanging concerned looks as they undoubtedly wondered if something crucial had happened to her under their noses and they had no idea?“Ok, here it goes!” Megan suddenly yelled, before taking a deep breath and rushing to sit beside her Ladies.“Yes?” They urged again. The concern is
Rhode paced as he looked outside. He was feeling very uneasy. He knew he was probably being unreasonable, but he could not help it and could not help but entertain the voices in his head.“You should probably sit down.” Brian suggested helpfully from where he sat, but Rhode ignored him, he was too consumed by his troubles to listen properly.“What exactly is bothering you?” Brian asked again. Now, if he had sounded sincerely and truly interested with a hint of sympathy, then Rhode might have confided in him, but Brian was sprawled nonchalantly on his sofa and his eyes had a very amused look in them. Because of this, Rhode ignored him again.“So, I guess you don't want to talk about it?” Bryan asked again, but Rhode only answered with a groan. As he stared at the window, he heard a feminine laugh flutter through the trees in his garden outside, and straining his neck, his eyes were pleasantly surprised to see Megan and Brianna strolling through the garden.Unbeknownst to Rhode, a year
Richardson gritted his teeth as he sat in his courtroom again. It was really becoming monotonous, day after day he sat to receive a word lash where he was too timid to say a word in his defense.Funny thing was he had never really noticed just how outnumbered he was, but suddenly it was all he could see. And the elders had obviously smelt the new found weakness in him, and God forbid that they did not exploit it.And as usual they had started their pressure on getting him to marry Aspen, the mother of his unborn child to secure the throne, and it really caused a bitter taste to flood his mouth. Marry Aspen? Hell! He had sooner married a tree. It would be better even. A tree would at least be silent, which was more than he could say for his lady.He could feel Aspen fidgeting besides him, he had finally threatened her to attend the morning assembly, and she had, her face sullen beside him. Heavens! She was sulking next to the king! Richardson realized how bad this made him look in the
“Oh my God!” Aspen could only groan as she looked at the soldiers in armors walking around the castle with a grim face. And her heart shrank as she realized that she had caused this. The men were going to go to war, and she was going to leave her and Richardson's life endangered, not to talk of her baby! All because of one tiny rookie mistake.“When are they leaving?!” She asked as she burst into Richardson's office and he turned to give her an irritated glance, causing her to flinch. He never used to look at her like that.“Ok. I know I made a mistake. A rookie mistake. Are you really going to blame me for it?” Aspen asked, her eyes wide open as she tried to plead with Richardson to see her side of the story. But if anything, his glare only intensified.“Look. I am busy trying to prolong the departure, I don't need this from you.” He told her, and Aspen signed again. She did not wish to die. And definitely not with a baby in her belly. That would be one horribly bloated corpse. She
Rhode stared at the happy faces of his men under the moonlight. They were all at home right then, even if they were miles away from their families and loved ones. Being civilized was the price they all had to pay for the life they had, but at times they were all overcome by a deep and dark sense of nostalgia that urged them to throw everything away and become one with the moon and the untamed creature within.It was something every wolf experienced as they were often forced to suppress their primal nature in order to live as civilized men. But it was more prevalent in men, so he knew every man under the sound of his voice could feel what he felt.He turned to look at Brian and noticed the light finally coming back to his features after days and weeks of endless court intrigues.He could only hope that Megan was alright back in the palace. He felt selfish for enjoying such a feeling of freedom without her but knew that he shouldn't. It was not what she would want, he could tell.He had
Rhode was already exhausted as he could feel his thighs chapping with every move of the horse he was on. He was not a novice rider by any chance, in fact he had learned how to handle a saddle before he could even shift into the creature that resided inside of him, but even the most seasoned horse rider would have gotten sick of being on top of the beast by now.He knew that if he was feeling this tired, and yet shockingly restless, then his men must be having it worse. They had been on the saddle for three days and three nights with no breaks in between after all.“How are you holding up?” Rhode turned to ask the surprisingly young man that rode by his left hand side. The young man was responsible for holding on to his armor, and by rights should not be able to keep up with his men, but Rhode was shocked by the dogged determination the boy had been exhibiting.“I am alright, alpha.” The boy answered, his voice tight with strain, and Rhode had to smile at this. They could converse now
Richardson could not help but gloat at the sight of the left state counselor's triumphant face. The man believed he had won, believing that with a few well placed strikes he had managed to disarm Richardson, which almost caused the alpha to gloat at his beady face.“We are going to squash the Faes!” Right stare counselor yelled, his eyes alight with a fierce light, and Richardson could not help but grin at the sight before him.He knew why they were so happy, knew that it had nothing to do with submerging the Faes and everything to do with the planned coup they planned on carrying out against him, and he could not help but grin bitterly.“Alpha, this could only mean one thing.” His trusted advisor Roderick murmured in his ear. But Richardson was unmoved, Roderick was not telling him anything he did not already know, so it kind of dampened the whole dramatics.“It will be alright.” Richardson shrugged, his expression carefully blank, trying to give nothing away.He knew that any slight
It felt like Aspen had been travelling on the rocky roads for days. Some days they strayed towards civilization, but her scruffy companion for some reason insisted that they kept closer to the swamp. A fact that never failed to rouse Aspen’s ire. She was with child, and more filthy and disgusting than she had ever been, and what was worse? She was expected to be okay with it! She had once tried to voice her concerns, but her scruffy companion simply stared at her with beady unsympathetic eyes that were void of any true desire to make her life more comfortable.“Wait! Slow down you bumble head!” Aspen yelled out raspily. Her voice was gone from serious dehydration. At this point she was seriously beginning to fear for the health of her poor baby.“Look, you could dawdle here all you want and wait for our captors to catch up with you, but I'm not going to do that with you, so I think we should part ways here.” Rudolph said firmly, his eyes unwavering, and Aspen gulped. She had no idea
Megan watched as Rhode and his army of about five hundred soldiers mount their horses they were intending to ride to the west. A lot of petitions were made for him to increase the number of warriors going with him, especially from Megan herself, but he did not take heed. Megan knew he did not wish to leave her defenseless so he was going without the appropriate amount of protection, and her love for him grew.Be safe out there.She nodded as he turned to find her in the crowd, he heard her, and he showed her by returning her firm nod.I will.It was an exchange of trust, so Megan tried to bite down on her anxiety as she wished she was not pregnant at the moment. It rendered her vulnerable, and Vulnerability was not entertained in the East.“He is really leaving.” Brianna whispered from where she stood behind Megan, and Rosetta nodded, her face lacking its usual cheer and awash with somberity.Megan could not help but wonder what caused such expression to overcome someone like Rosetta
Rhode glanced at Brian sideways, and he was immediately suspicious. There was a grin his friend was now sporting a glow that he did not have on a few hours ago. But he could say the same thing for himself, he thought, as he looked at Megan standing beside him, her back straight and her eyes firmly set on the Council members below. He could not be sure if he was putting her at risk by doing what he was doing, but he knew that it was a risk he had to take. He could not leave her and the rest of his family powerless. He had to protect Brianna as well, Brian was counting on him, so Rhode straightened his back as well.“As you all were previously informed, Lord Rosebud is going to be acting as regent in my absence, but there have been a few changes.” Rhode announced, and the entire council shuffled, not liking what they were hearing, but he couldn't care less. Rosebud was on board and that was all that mattered to Rhode.“What's this change about, alpha?” Lord Aldrien asked, his eyes shi
Aspen frowned as she was led outside to do her routine for the thousandth time since her kidnapping. It was the baby pressing on her bladder, and she tried to make that fact known, but they were not only not listening but were also rapidly losing patience with her.“May I request a female guard?” She murmured for the hundredth time since she got into their capture. She knew they had female guards, but for some reason she was constantly surrounded by males.“No. Move.” Was the eloquent reply she got as she was roughly prodded forward from behind, and Aspen frowned. She could not believe she was being forced to endure such indignities during her pregnancy with an Alpha.“I can take it from here.” Aspen muttered stiffly as they neared the approaching bush. She had to swallow down the approaching bile down her throat.“She said she'll take it from here.” The pack leader grunted, and Aspen turned her nose forward as she marched towards the bush with all the dignity she could muster.As soo
Brian hurried through the palace in his futile search for Brianna, but no matter how much he tried, he just could not find her. She was not with Megan in the sun drawing room, nor was she with Rosetta as he watched the bubbly woman interact with some maids, not even caring that they were below her station. The sight almost made him smile before he cleared his throat abruptly, and the room full of women turned towards him. Immediately he could see them straighten out their hair and clothes, and a few even did a quick swipe of lipstick across their lips at the sight of him, and Brian frowned as he wondered if they found his presence that imposing and unpleasant, so he hurried towards Rosetta.“I need to talk to you.” He told her urgently, before spurning on his heels to stride out, but as he left, he heard what sounded like protests behind and frowned. Women, he just could not understand them.“Sir Brian?” Rosetta gasped as she finally caught up to his uneasy figure pacing underneath
“Why did you take this decision without informing me about it?” Brian asked angrily as he bursted into Rhode's office, his wolf almost rising to the surface as he snarled, but Rhode simply smiled. He was expecting Brian after all, he knew that after his announcement in the council meeting about his decision to personally oversee the mission to the west, Brian would barge in on him, demanding an explanation.Everyone had been shocked when he dropped the bomb and announced his decision to follow the soldiers to the rescue of his rival, the western alpha, but he was determined.He knew the council were trying to domesticate him, he could sense it in the way they tried their best to put a stop to every and any activity that warranted leaving the four walls of his kingdom. They were trying to drive him insane with longing and rage, then introduce Lord Fuhler to him as a savior. He could see right through them that it was almost hilarious. Almost.But he would not be Rhode If he allowed t