Madeline’s POV“Will you be waiting here for the entire day?” Keiran asked as he leaned his head back against the wall.Since the doctor came out to share the news with us, he had been sitting beside me, waiting. I could see that he was already tired, but for some reason, he stayed.Looking at his drooping eyelids, I gave him a small smile. “Go on. You can go first. I can wait here alone. Helena isn’t just my trainer in the academy. She’s also my one and only friend.”“I never said I was tired.” After saying that in a mildly cold tone, he crossed his arms over his shoulders and closed his eyes, sleeping right there.Knowing how stubborn he was, I only shook my head and mimicked him.However, it hadn’t been half an hour yet when we heard footsteps coming in. Being the first one to open my eyes, I saw Tom approaching.He mouthed, “Sleeping?”I nodded in reply and shrugged my shoulders.He breathed a couple of times as if he was building up courage before he sighed and slightly tapped Ke
Madeline’s POVI stared at the dagger situated on the top of my dresser, feeling determination and anger fueling my veins.Glancing out my window, I watched as the sun set and the sky turned dark. Looking at the moon, I spoke, “Goddess, if you have any mercy left in me, help me. Let there be no more tragedy on my way.”With that, I decisively stood up and grabbed the dagger, clipping it in between my pants and back.Letting no fear weaken me, I stood in front of the forest and clenched my fist. “Are you ready, Andy?”“Ready as I’ll ever be…” My wolf replied, sharing her keen senses with me.Suddenly, I’m more aware of my surroundings.Walking in through the forest where I wasn’t aware of what kind of trap I’d walk into, I called out as I got nearer to the location. “Jason? Say what you want. I’m here!”Coming out of the shadows, his eyes glinted devilishly while a cruel grin spread across his lips. “Yeah… About that…”As soon as he finished, he slowly took a step back and in a matter
Madeline’s POVMy hands trembled beside me as I took long strides in the hallway, rushing towards who knew where. I let the pull of the bond follow my mate’s intoxicating scent, which made my wolf and me go crazy.It’s my 18th birthday. I expected to find my fated mate soon, but not this soon. It turned out he had always been around me.I should have been happy, ecstatic even… but I couldn’t help but feel the threatening tears in the corner of my eyes as I felt exactly who it was and where this hallway was leading me.With heavy breathing, I halted in front of a massive wooden door with engravement on it, feeling rejected even before I could see his face.With my hands holding the cold knob of my twin sister’s bedroom door, I heard muffled voices inside. Mixed with my sister, Amanda, was the voice of that man I thought I’d be with even before the mate bond told me he was my fated mate.“You need to reject her, Felix! She’s nothing compared to me. You know that.”My heart stopped cold
Madeline’s POVWhen I turned around, I gasped and was frozen to my place as I watched the massive brown wolf shift back into its human form, and Felix’s figure emerged before me, his clothes torn into pieces and his face tense.“Madeline…” he called out in between breaths.He tried to reach for my hand, but I stepped back in anger. “Get away from me!”“I’m not here to hurt you,” he sounded desperate as he extended his hand to hold my arm, but I snapped it away.Hearing that, I scoffed in disdain, looking at him in utter disbelief. “Oh really? Because you sure didn’t seem to have a problem with that when you promised Amanda, you’ll reject me tomorrow!”Guilt glinted in his eyes. Looking around in worry, he gritted his teeth, frustratedly saying, “I… I didn't know… they’d try to–”“She’s over there!” His words were cut off by a loud, furious voice, followed by several pairs of footsteps rushing in my direction.My breathing hitched.Looking at Felix with disbelief, I asked, “You lured t
Madeline’s POVFelix's hold on my wrist tightened as he nodded toward the cliff. “There’s a ledge. If we do it now, we can jump a few feet and climb down before they see us.”I threw a glare at him almost instantly, hissing, “If this kills me, I’m haunting you!”He managed a weak smile, eyes glinting with the same uncertainty as mine. Nonetheless, he confidently said, “Deal.”Taking my hand, we both jumped. But since the ground below was smooth and on the slope, it didn’t go as we planned. Instead, we slid down and tumbled through leaves and dirt, covering our clothes.Some small stones and twigs even caused bruises and cuts on our clothes and skin. It only happened for a while as I was slammed into a rock, giving us a full stop.But before I could register the pain it caused to my dislocated shoulder, Felix pulled me up, and we stumbled to our feet. “Come on! They’re still coming,” he groaned.And just as he said, I saw shadows following behind us. Some even shifted to make their ju
Madeline’s POV“I’ll ask you again, who are you?” I flinched from the sharpness of his words.Forcing calmness, I looked straight into his blazing eyes. “I told you… Adeline Hansford.”He let out a low growl, threatening, “And I believe I told you not to lie!”Clutching my injured shoulder, I bit my lip, staying on my ground. “I’m not lying. I swear.”He let out a cold smirk. “That’s funny because you know what I heard?”A chill ran down my spine. Was the news about me, a princess, already spread? That couldn’t be that fast. Could it?He crouched beside me, face leaning down. Tilting his head, he continued, “Because I heard someone went rogue and fled from the palace. And now, I find a suspicious little trespasser like you.”Relief rushed into me after learning he didn’t know about my real identity. Knowing that I could never be a Rogue because of my royal blood, a Lycan basically owns the entire werewolf kingdom, so I kept calm.Looking up, I dared him with a shaky voice, “Take a whi
Madeline’s POVNervously, I raised my hand and used my index fingertip to try to push the knife a little further from my neck and forced a terrible smile, “I said thanks… Thank you for letting me stay.”“Stay in this dangerous place where the word ruthless probably was born…” I added silently.Completely unimpressed, he put down the knife and threw it on the hidden sheath on his combat boots. “Don’t thank me yet. You haven’t seen what Demonmaw is really like.”With that, he turned and faced the two guards who sneaked earlier and was now immediately shut off with his mere stare. “See that she’s fed and has somewhere to rest.”Sitting properly, letting my legs on the ground, I quietly said, “I can take care of myself.”Instantly, a cold smile formed on his lips. “That’s funny when it’s coming from someone I just dragged out of the dirt.”My brows furrowed, and without thinking, I glared at him, forgetting every fear as it was covered with annoyance. “Well, I didn’t ask for your help and
Keiran’s POVThe moment I took a whiff, her scent hit me, letting it fill my senses as I loomed over her. I knew she wasn’t a rogue, just as she claimed.This made sense because Rogues wouldn’t be stumbling in my land unless they had a death wish.Her scent didn’t carry the wild bitterness and chaos most Rogues had, but it seemed a little bit off… No… in fact, a little bit familiar.It’s subtle, but it almost had a mix of the scent of chestnut and mint. I couldn’t point a finger at whether it was indeed the same scent I had been looking for three years, though because it was faint and a bit different.“Adeline… Adeline Hansford.”I kept my eyes on her. If she was lying, which I was damn sure she was, I’d find out soon enough. But the real question was why she was lying.I’d seen countless wolves hide before. Most of them were cowards running from debts, deserters feeling their Alpha’s wrath, and so many more, but they never ran to hide in the most dangerous pack, my pack.And even if
Madeline’s POVI stared at the dagger situated on the top of my dresser, feeling determination and anger fueling my veins.Glancing out my window, I watched as the sun set and the sky turned dark. Looking at the moon, I spoke, “Goddess, if you have any mercy left in me, help me. Let there be no more tragedy on my way.”With that, I decisively stood up and grabbed the dagger, clipping it in between my pants and back.Letting no fear weaken me, I stood in front of the forest and clenched my fist. “Are you ready, Andy?”“Ready as I’ll ever be…” My wolf replied, sharing her keen senses with me.Suddenly, I’m more aware of my surroundings.Walking in through the forest where I wasn’t aware of what kind of trap I’d walk into, I called out as I got nearer to the location. “Jason? Say what you want. I’m here!”Coming out of the shadows, his eyes glinted devilishly while a cruel grin spread across his lips. “Yeah… About that…”As soon as he finished, he slowly took a step back and in a matter
Madeline’s POV“Will you be waiting here for the entire day?” Keiran asked as he leaned his head back against the wall.Since the doctor came out to share the news with us, he had been sitting beside me, waiting. I could see that he was already tired, but for some reason, he stayed.Looking at his drooping eyelids, I gave him a small smile. “Go on. You can go first. I can wait here alone. Helena isn’t just my trainer in the academy. She’s also my one and only friend.”“I never said I was tired.” After saying that in a mildly cold tone, he crossed his arms over his shoulders and closed his eyes, sleeping right there.Knowing how stubborn he was, I only shook my head and mimicked him.However, it hadn’t been half an hour yet when we heard footsteps coming in. Being the first one to open my eyes, I saw Tom approaching.He mouthed, “Sleeping?”I nodded in reply and shrugged my shoulders.He breathed a couple of times as if he was building up courage before he sighed and slightly tapped Ke
Madeline’s POV“Under the floorboard… I… I found a… Lycan phone… A confidential phone….” My heart sank the moment the words left her lips. Even though I had known Jason was a spy for Mark, I stupidly assumed their communication methods were primitive—secret letters, hidden meetings deep in the forest. I never imagined they had something this direct, this dangerous.Stuttering, barely able to form the words, I asked, “Are you sure?”Helena gave a faint nod, her face pale and slick with cold sweat. “There’s a royal seal on it… I couldn’t be mistaken. I was… planning to bring it to Alpha…” She coughed again, blood staining her lips.“But then…” I started, my throat tightening as I pieced it together, “Someone caught you.” I swallowed hard. “Was it Jason?”She weakly shook her head. “No… But someone knew. Knew I found it... they tried to quiet things up. Attacked before I could leave…” Her voice was so faint I had to lean closer just to hear her.“Okay… okay… You’re gonna be fine.” My v
Madeline’s POVRight after Amanda and Felix left, I went straight to my room and stayed there. I didn’t want to risk bumping into Keiran—not when I knew he’d ask questions I didn’t have the answers for.As much as I hated to admit it, I was running out of time. Things had already gone on longer than they should have, and with Amanda and Felix showing up—something told me that wouldn’t be their last visit—I could feel the pressure closing in. Sooner or later, my identity would come out. I just didn’t expect “sooner” to feel so close.It’s been two days since then. Honestly, I thought avoiding Keiran would be hard… but surprisingly, it wasn’t. I hadn’t seen him at all. Not even at the academy.Even Tom wasn’t around.“Is something going on?” I asked Helena as we sat in the canteen having lunch. The peaceful atmosphere felt off, like something was coming but hadn’t landed yet.Helena bit into her bread and shrugged like it was just another day. “In this pack? Something’s always going on.
Keiran’s POV“We got a problem.”“Great!” I sarcastically thought.Just what I needed after dealing with Princess Amanda and Alpha Felix.The pile of documents in front of me was already tall enough to make me want to throw myself out the nearest window, and my inbox hadn’t stopped dinging all morning. I hadn’t even had five minutes of peace after they left before Tom showed up at my office door with that sentence.Irritably putting down the document I had in my hand and looking away from my computer, I swivelled my chair to face Tom, who was standing at my doorway with a serious expression.“What now?” I asked impatiently.Tom looked like he didn’t want to be the one to say it. His gaze shifted for a second before he sighed and admitted, “Princess Amanda and Alpha Felix decided to stay. She said she only needed to use the bathroom, but before I knew it, they were already staying in the academy and watching training.”I slammed my hands on my desk, sharply gazing at him. “And you’re o
Madeline’s POV“I thought you already left, Princess?” I looked up from my seat on the ground when I heard Keiran’s voice as he approached the training ground.Amanda, who was having fun taunting me, was seated on the other side of the room, elegantly leaning back on her seat with a smirk on her face.She didn’t even bother to glance at Keiran and smirked, her eyes staring at me. “And miss all this fun?”Shifting her gaze to him, she continued, “You have a great academy. I’m just really curious about their talents.”Keiran followed Amanda’s glance at me and narrowed his eyes. I swallowed in anxiousness, knowing that sooner or later, I’d be back in his office and being interrogated.He opened his lips and uttered more words to her, but I didn’t hear their conversation anymore when someone blocked my view of them. “Why didn’t you hide?”I looked up at him and gritted my teeth. “Why are you guys here? Why didn’t you warn me?”Felix, looking half dead, shrugged his shoulders. “Will it cha
Madeline’s POVTuned to my wolf’s presence, my sense of smell also heightened, especially in needed times. Despite being in the middle of sparring, I immediately caught the scent of Amanda and Felix as soon as they entered the academy.When I felt them getting near us, I immediately halted and pretended to be tired.“What’s the matter?” Helena asked.Shaking my head, I stretched my fist. “Nothing, just tired. Let’s wrap this up.”“I’ll go and change first,” I muttered as I nodded toward the locker room behind her.She let out a laugh between her pants. “That’s a new one. It’s our 10th round already, but you always push yourself to the limit before. What change?”With my eyes, I looked at my peripheral vision and caught shadows of Keiran and the others closing in. “I don’t like the air.”Looking behind me, she rolled her eyes and nodded. “I get what you mean.”I only smiled at her comment and let her think that the reason I was leaving was the same as hers - the hate for royal members.
Keiran’s POVFelix was jolted by my question, and his shoulders tensed before he subconsciously looked away. Clearing his throat, he shook his head and replied, “No.”Forcing a smile, he added, “Just... fascinated with their training, that’s all.”I narrowed my eyes, unconvinced. There was something off about him—too guarded, too rehearsed. My instincts prickled, warning me that something beneath the surface wasn’t right. Testing the waters, I tilted my head toward the training field.“Then maybe,” I said slowly, watching his expression closely, “we could stay and watch one of the sparring matches.”I pointed subtly in the direction of the field. “Those two over there—Helena and Adeline—they’re some of the best warriors in the academy. I’m sure it’ll be worth your while.”Felix flinched—just for a split second, but I caught it. He masked it quickly, but it was there. And before he could reply, Princess Amanda chimed in, her voice sugary-sweet.“Really?” she asked, tightening her grip
Keiran’s POV“What’s the plan?” Tom asked as we got inside the office, setting down the invitation on my table.I look at it with disdain and shake my head before leaning back on my seat. Shrugging, I nonchalantly replied, “Greet them is all. It’s just a meeting. There’s no need for a party or anything.”“But–”He tried to protest, but I gestured a zip motion with my finger and lips. “But nothing. It’s just the royal family being spoiled brats again.”Tom looked at me hesitantly. “But won’t they think we are being disrespectful? I mean, as powerful as our pack is, it’s still the kingdom.”Sighing, I pushed the invitation his way. “Then we’ll greet them with warriors and shit at their arrival make them feel important. Anything beyond that…”I pursed my lips and waved my hand in dismissal.Tom smirked at me and shook his head in both admiration and disbelief. “I really don’t know where you’re getting your guts.”With that, he turned and left.And just as I said, it’s what we did. Early