Allistor Grundy. A man people say could convince a mother to hand over her child. A man Helena had once witnessed deceive a pack into surrendering to Rigel, despite it not being in their favour.A man Helena had once trusted and thought she knew better than anyone else. But it was all a lie.He was Orion Damon's uncle and Beta of Blood Moon pack, a fact Allistor had not thought to share with her when he had whispered sweet nothings and daring promises to her.Helena knew shouldn't be surprised at this bombshell of a revelation because It was hard truly knowing a person who had been a spy most of their life, but it did not in any way lessen the hurt and betrayal.If he could lie about his identity, and convince he was just as trapped under Rigel's thumb and a trusted confident, what else had he lied about and how much of the person she had loved with a guilty heart was real?"Helena," Orion whispered, drawing her away from her thoughts and she suddenly felt sick. It was one thing to
A hand on her elbow drew Helena away from her thoughts and she turned to look at the silver-eyed Alpha staring at her in concern. "Are you alright, darling?" Her father asked from across the table, drawing her attention to their empty plates and her half full one."Yeah," she responded, weakly, the hurricane of thoughts that had been swirling around in her head, still lurking at the corners of her mind. "I just have a lot on my mind."Charon made a sound with a teasing smirk on his lips and her Father gave him a scandalised look, his cheeks turning red.Helena rolled her eyes at the older man's bashfulness and began gathering the empty dishes."Let me," Orion offered, as he followed her to the sink, his small stool groaning in thanks for being relieved of its burden."Don't worry about them," she said, her eyes unconsciously staring into the moonlit forest just beyond the window. "Charon will handle them." "But Orion and I had planned to go hunting tonight," he argued with a bit of
"Here you go." Octavius handed a bottle of water to Helena as he settled down beside her on the grass. They were both covered in a thin layer of sweat from the short training they had just finished and Helena felt like she had been run over by a truck.The silver-eyed Alpha was fast and did not hold back, forcing Helena to use every trick up her sleeve and still end up on her back with him smiling above her."Are you alright?" He asked, his nose twitching as he read her scent. "I hope I didn't hurt you too badly?" His eyebrows tightened and she smiled."I'm just thinking.""Would you like to talk about it?"She drew in a breath and released it in a great sigh. "It's complicated. Maybe even too complicated."And it was. There was no way of explaining herself to him without looking crazy and while she knew he would humour her 'insane ramblings' like he had done last night, telling of the death and destruction to come might not be met with the same amount of patience.Orion hummed with
Helena was left on her own when they stepped into the house. Orion being led away by one of his stone-faced men.She watched him disappear out of sight then sighed, deeply, feeling frustrated by how everything was going.When she had first travelled back in time, Helena had not given much thought to what could go wrong, having assumed that the goddess would create a straightforward path and she would get her revenge.But now, it was clear that there was no guarantee of her success and it left her feeling insecure and worst of all, frightened.If, in her time here, she had accomplished nothing and already lost all of her motivation, then maybe she was the failure people often tagged her as."Hello, Helena," Greeted a familiar voice."Allistor," she greeted the older man, embarrassed that she had been too caught up in her thoughts to notice she had walked all the way to his office."How are you?" She added, awkwardly, her eyes roaming over his well-dressed figure.The grey-eyed man had
Fury bubbled in Helena's gut as she flung open the doors to the room the meeting was taking place, her magic causing the air around her to crackle."Wh-, What is the meaning of this?" Stuttered one of the gathered Weres, as he tried and failed, by his wide-eye stare, to appear unaffected by her presence.Helena prowled deeper in, ignoring his question, the sound of her soles tapping against the wooden floorboards echoing in the quiet room.Purple eyes surveyed everyone present, each person squirming as her piercing gaze roamed over them until her eyes landed on her chosen mate."Orion," she called out in a deceptively calm voice, her head cocking to the side, "What's going on?""My council and some of the elders in my pack are not pleased with our mateship. They summoned me to suggest ways to rectify this," he turned to one woman in particular, eyes pinning her tense form in place, "mistake.""Alpha Orion," exclaimed another man standing next to him, his eyes wide in aghast.Orion str
Rigel had always been a clumsy, straight-to-the-point writer, and while that was good for a quick message during battle, it made a stressful affair for Helena as she tried to decipher his many letters for clues."What's your obsession with this Alpha, anyway?" Charon complained as he dropped the letter he had just finished pouring over on top of the growing pile to the side."I'm not obsessed," she corrected, distractedly, brows furrowed as she studied every word for a double meaning. "I just think he's suspicious and needs to be monitored closely."Charon's responding silence was worth a hundred words and Helena glanced up at her brother's face, eyes narrowing at the teasing smile on his lips."What?" She hissed, defensively, straightening up from her bend to face him."You like him," he declared in a sing-song voice and burst into hysterical laughter."Over my dead, rotting body," Helena rebuked with a disgusted curl of her lips."Oh my Goddess," he gasped, wiping the tears from the
Orion stirred as the first streaks of morning light poured in through the open window that Helena had forgotten to close.Her scent, covering evry inch of the room and now him made him purr, which caused the bed to tremble and ushered the witch into consciousness."Morning," he mumbled drowsily, his large hand gently kneading at her waist, as if he needed extra reassurance that she really was there."Good morning," Helena responded with a small huff, patting him on his back and freezing when her hand came into contact with his naked flesh."Um...""You're like a drug," Orion whispered, drawing a shudder from the brunette as he began pressing soft kisses into her skin. "I haven't slept as well as I do with you since I was a pup.""I'm happy to be of service, really, but your..."She made a small sound when he suddenly draped himself over her, his arms bracketing her head to keep his weight off, and then began rubbing his cheek against hers with a soft purr."T-This is too intimate. We
The night sky was filled with screams and cries for help, heart-wrenching sounds that would move even the cruellest of people except the ones causing it.Helena hung limply in the hands of her captors, her head swaying as blood dripped down her swollen and bruised face.Her feet dragged against the rough earth, pulling on grasses and scraping her delicate skin on rocks but the two men holding her were unbothered by her injuries. She was in more pain than she had ever experienced but the anguished screams of her people numbed her of it as she silently wept for them. The shackles that had been placed around her neck, wrists and ankles, dug painfully into her flesh, the sharp edges of it cutting her skin and creating large wounds. Helena knew that if she managed to escape and live to see another day, she would leave with horrifying scars that she would have to carry for the rest of her life.But she did not want to live because she deserved to die with her people in the land they had a