Richard found me later, curled up on one of the couches in the library with a book in my hands. I had long since stopped paying attention to the story, but still needed a release from the hell I found myself in. Julian and Mikaela had taken the news better than I had thought they would. Better than I had taken it. This library had been my escape since I had first gotten here. Six years later and nothing had changed. Katherine was busy with her tutor and my mother, thus this was my only option. The only place I knew I could visit without someone interrupting me. Except Richard didn't care that he was interrupting me. Instead he bathed in my irritation at his disturbance.
A phone was ringing in his hand.
"Richard. I am glad that you weren't killed at war. How have you been? Still kissing ass?" I asked, never letting my eyes fall from the pages. Maybe if I ignored him long enough, he would get the picture and leave. He scoffed and replied.
"Still as bratty as si
Katharine hugged her stuffed bear closely to her chest. Tears pooled in the corner of her eyes. I hated knowing that I was the cause of her distress. She did not deserve such an absent mother. No child ever did. But one day when she is queen, she would understand all that I had sacrificed for her. "Mommy, don't go." The little girl pleaded and stepped closer to me. Squatting down, I pulled her into my arms. Her body shook with a sob. Small. Fragile. If the war spilled into our home, I would never forgive myself. She deserved more than this, by far, but war was an ugly thing. "I'm sorry my princess, but mommy has to go make everyone safe, okay?" I tried to make her understand. She might have been young, but she understood things far better than most people could. But this was no one of those things. My heart ached at her saddened face. This was horrible. This was the reason I couldn't come back as often as she wanted. Leaving her every time just became worse and worse
I stormed into the French castle, letting the double doors boom behind me. Staff scrambled in my wake, sensing the murder within my demeanour. "Someone get me a fucking whiskey!" I roared and strutted toward my office. By Now, Amelia would have stocked the room with all the essentials. Battle plans. Troop movements. Weapon developments. She was reliant in that sort of way. Shaking my head, I ambled to the office doors. There was an uninvited guest at one of my rallies. An Alpha, no less. If we hadn't intercepted him as soon as we did, fuck knows what could have happened. I growled again, quickening my pace to the office. "Luciana, calm down." Sophie pleaded from behind me, trying to keep pace with me. Safety was of utmost importance to me. Not just the safety of my family, but of everyone and that safety was breached today. Who had le
The house was silent when I stepped out of my office again. The Alpha's necklace dangled from my neck, a cold reminder of what I had threatened to do to him. After all, I owed him nothing but the brutality that he got. To come into my territory and threaten me would be his last shitty decision. Mikaela was taken and father had sent an Alpha to tell me this. War wasn't pretty, but dragging innocents into it was far beyond wicked. My wife was taken. My daughter. I would show no mercy in my pursuit of getting them to my side again. If even one hair is out of place when I do get them back, father was going to wish he had never procreated. To take my necklace from me was one thing, to take my wife and daughter was another. No mercy would ever be shown to him, blood be damned. They had my wife. They had my daughter. Our security's negligence would not go unpunished. We had a mole within our walls and that could lead to even more lives lost. That was our first priority. To find who
Julian had busied himself with paperwork whilst I sprawled out on the chaise, book in hand. For once my skills in deceit and cunning weren't needed. He had taken the reigns firmly in hand. Frankly, that suited me just fine. I was too busy worrying about Mikaela and Katharine anyway. Mikaela was carrying our second child, a boy, from what Julian had told me. That made me feel even worse. The last time we were expecting a child, I was in the hands of my father. History was repeating itself and it clawed at my heart to know my delicate wife was away from us in her condition. Had she started to prepare for the birth? To have another child on her arm? I flung myself deeper into my book, refusing to acknowledge the dread settling in my stomach. The Valkyrie was sent out early this morning to scout the area. No intruders would be allowed even close to our borders. Security was doubled and Sebastian hovered closer to Julian than ever before. Although Julian knew that I was not the s
When I was little, my father had wanted me to be mated to an Alpha. For obvious reasons. He had craved power my entire life long. Never being sated by just having the largest pack in South Africa. After a while, he had laid was to several other packs within the country, absorbing their members into our own pack. Father had never stopped pressing the issue of my mating with another Alpha. One, hopefully, from a larger and foreign pack. I would be the prized heifer he gave away in return for more power and a larger army. I had not only disappointed him but enraged him with my mating to Julian and Mikaela. He said he wanted the best for me, but I always knew he wanted what was best for himself. Change was a painful process, one he had refused to go through for as long as I could remember. Then he had realized what I would become. His worst fear. Mating with an Alpha was my father's dream, never my own. Now here I stood, fulfilling my father's wishes without me even realizing it
"We can't have him around the house! It's too dangerous! What if he runs off? Tells your father where we are? What we are doing? Fuck knows if he even wants you as his mate for the right reasons." Julian hollered and slammed my bedrooms door closed behind him. Rays of light danced through the sheer curtains, casting a halo around him as I turned around."What do you want us to do? Kill him? What if I lose my last chance at happiness? Or worse, lose my mind all together? You told me to do this. Made me believe it was the best decision. Well hell, we hadn't even asked him what he wanted! Now that you saw what he is like, now you don't want this anymore. Did you think it was going to be sunshine and roses the entire time?" I asked him and sat down on the edge of my bed. Today had gone down the drain faster than I had thought it would and I hated myself for it. I should have stopped what I was doing and assess what could happen afterwards. Now Julian wanted to kill Caspian all to
Even in a distant land, I found the moon to be my home. A constant reminder of where I came from and who I was. What blood still ran through my veins. Even if I found the wolves to be profoundly backwards, they were still, in essence, my people. Children of the moon goddess and all the glory that entailed her name. Being surrounded by war and violence brought out a new misery within me. So many people's blood stained my hands. All in the name of a better future. Honestly, I was no better than the humans. No better than the wolves who followed my father. Families were torn apart. Brothers. Sisters. Mother and fathers. All because some old woman had proclaimed it the righteous path. It was a never ending road, but one that would bring about peace. Hopefully.The humans spilt blood in the name of religion. I spilt blood in the name of equality and diversity. Everyone who fell beneath me were my pawns, even if they had families. During battle, I couldn't remind myself of that fac
Sophie lunged forward, teeth bared in a snarl. Sonja quickly side stepped her, grabbing her by the back of her uniform. But I knew this trick, taught it to her myself. Twist. Turn. Throw out your leg. Sonja fell to the floor as Sophie hit her hard. Before Sonja could recover, a knife was to her throat. Sophie looked up to me for approval and I smiled in reply. Sonja might have been my right hand, but Sophie was my sword. The rest my shield. I woke up this morning satisfied and happy next to Julian, but with a growing sense of urgency in my mind. Mikaela was still gone and Caspian expected more from me than I could give him. So I set about gathering the Valkyrie before dawn to train. A good training session would ease the tension within my shoulders. Besides, if I left them to their own vices, no one would train. "Excellent." I praised Sophie, crossing my arms over my chest. She had taken everything I had taught her and built upon it. Improved it with the years. She w