Lor “Alpha Lor!” Emma’s voice stops me and I look back to see her hurrying towards me. “What are you doing?” I ask, immediately concerned and not sure how safe it is for her to be running around like this. “You should be with Dan, resting.” I grab her shoulders to bring her to a stop when she nearly plows into me. She’s obviously not yet herself. “I should be saying the same to you.” She says, catching her breath. “You should be in bed with me, so what in the name of the goddess are you doing running around instead?” Ice spreads over my demeanour and my concern cools. “In bed with you?” Unbelievable. “Do you think I have been in your bed for my pleasure? You are carrying my son, and the last two weeks were a sacrifice I made for him.” She flinches like I slapped her, and I grit my teeth with frustration. “Is being with me such a sacrifice?” She asks in a horrified whisper. “Am I now so repulsive to you?” It is such a stupid question that I don’t bother to grace it with an a
LorThe next knock sounds on the double doors of the meeting room and the doors are thrown open. Two males approach me, two of the guards that rotated duty in that apartment with Emma. “May you prosper, Alpha.” The first of them says. “Liam, What news do you bring?”“We heard you are looking for your mate, Alpha, and we believe we might have been one of the last people to see her.” “Did you? Tell me everything.” I command. It will be the first concrete news I get about her, not the sickening rumours. “She was at the apartment.” He says. “She was what?!” My voice rises and they flinch collectively. “What the hell was she doing there?”“She came to see you sir.”My mind reels. Is this before or after she sent her letter? She must have known what was going on inside that building, and she sought me out anyway. Why? What did she have to say that couldn’t wait? Did she fear for her safety? Did she foresee her disappearance? I have a thousand questions and no goddamn answers. I refus
CelineI’m submerged under, or that’s what it feels like. I hear voices, faint and indistinctive. There is a scent in the air that is both familiar and strange and it tickles my memory. I know for certain I have been here before, but I didn’t remember before now. The last thing I remember is the fear of the hunt, the screech of pain and then nothing. It dawns on me, I’m in the place where I go to every time I disappear. Dreading what I will find, I try to pull myself up, to open my eyes, to do anything at all but I’m immobilised. Not again. I fight harder to get free. Whispering voices flutter closer and I stop my struggling, ear straining and heart pounding. I can’t make out their words but they are talking about me. When I try to call out to them, I am silent. All I can do is lie down like the dead. And then there is the touching. I flinch but I cannot reject the touch. I feel a poke here, a shift there, almost like I am being checked up by a physician. The touch retreats and then
LorI made the promise to find her a day ago, and a day later I have nothing to show for it. The entire pack suffers for my terrible mood and gloom lives and breathes in the air. With every hour without the slightest idea who could have taken her, I could run mad with my apprehension. A part of me wait for a demand for ransom, something. I would give anything. The rumours are terrible, and they’ve grown as her disappearance drags out. Some say she was too haunted and she killed herself, that her body is deep in the ground and her soul lingers on in the pack to torment her mate. I ferreted out the source of the rumour and made a spectacle of her in front of the others. Buried in the ground, right. There is nothing that my nose can not detect, not even if it is fifteen feet into the ground. Though poorly constructed and only for salacious satisfaction, the useless rumour achieved its objective of doubling my fear, and feeding my imagination. That was before this morning, when the sun
Lor“I told him you’ll call him back when you’re able, that you’re busy but he insisted. He says it’s about Celine’s disappearance.”I’m angry that it has already gotten to him I’m but of course it did. By now, the entire werewolf community must know I’m searching for a female. “Fuck.”I head into the meeting room with a dark scowl on my lips. “Put him on the call.”I’m bloody from my last fight and my temper is shorter than a fuse, not the most ideal situation to meet with my mate’s father but I will not waste any more time I could be searching for her. Alpha Dontellar fills the screen and he observes my bloody visage. By the tightness around his eyes, I am sure he does know Celine is the missing emissary. “I take it Celine has disappeared again.” He says finally, heavily. I’m about to reassure him I have my best men on it but his words puzzle me. “What do you mean by ‘again’?”He stares at me with unreadable eyes and I feel my patience bend. “I don’t have time to spare. My m
Celine I snap awake into darkness, utter and complete darkness. Where is this? I sit up on what feels hard as stone. I blink, again and again expecting my eyes to chase the the darkness away but it clings to my vision and obscures it. I throw my legs off the stony bed, and land on bare feet on floor colder than ice. I hiss and raise a feet gingerly, and when the other burns with icy pain, I end up hop-scotching on the spot. “Hello?” I open my mouth to say that but my voice is a whisper. I try again and when I only end up sounding hoarse as a frog, I stop, scared. I’m not home, that much is obvious. Suddenly, I have a vision of several other timelines of myself, taking the same step as I do now, trying to call out the same way as I do now and I’m not sure which one is real. Is this real? Am I stuck in the realm of dreaming? “Go back!” The wretchedly familiar voice commands and I flinch and take a step back. My heel hits the stone bed hard and I cry out silently as my ass falls ba
CelineEveryone stares as I walk, all the way to the pack house and I know it is because of my disappearance. The way they look like they might be seeing a ghost makes me wonder how many days it was this time, and if they hoped I would remain dead. At the pack house, the guards startle on seeing me and the first voice finally cries out. “She’s back!”By the time I enter the great building, there are wolves gawking at me in rows. “She’s really back!” A female whispers. “Look at that, she’s just strolling in.”“I thought they said she was abducted.”“How is she still alive?”Annie slides in front of me, blocking my path and looking down at me from flinty eyes. “Celine darling. What a pleasant surprise to see you! Rumours had the worst things to say about you.”“Rumours always do.” I say and move around her. She slides in front of me again. “Oho! Do you want to leave us with no explanations whatsoever where you have been and why you are only now strolling back in?”I glance around
NeemI creep through the palace towards where I’m sure the library is. My chance is finally here, to have access to the castle library’s vast records. The king and the prince have been away since yesterday and the castle appears to feel it. It feels like the pressing noose of formality is gone and there are even a few casual laughters in the hallway. I wondered briefly what could be so important as to require both of their attention, along with the The Whisperer but I wasn’t going to turn down the brilliant opportunity. Finally, I come across the double doors and eagerly go in. It is brilliantly lit, enormous with a roof so high I would have to be thirty foot tall to reach the tallest shelf. It is an entire world in here, a world captured by ink and paper. Captivated, I pad forward, running my fingers down the rows of books and I smile when my hand comes away without even a speck of dirt. They take good care of this place... but I notice I’m the only one here. How can they have suc
Neem "I thought you would be done dressing up. We are going to be late." I tell Aden. "These buttons are hell." He mutters. "There should be about a hundred buttons on here.""Hardly." I say, amused. "There are only fifteen."Our clothes in Lyria never had buttons and it's always amusing that something so simple always gives him so much trouble. "Might as well be a hundred." He mutters and shaking my head, I go to help. He stares down at me as I work one button to the next. "You are staring.""I can't help it, you're beautiful." He says and I smile. "One would think you were only seeing me for the first time.""It feels like that sometimes." He says. "Sometimes I wake up amazed to have you by my side.""Only sometimes?" I tease him and he laughs. "Come here." He pulls my lips to his and kisses me and I forget about the buttons as I hold on, revelling in the movement of his lips on mine. I moan when his tongue darts in to taste me and his hands clench conclusively on my ass. "D
EmmaOne of the creatures runs at us, foaming at the mouth and bleeding from a dozen cuts. Celine intercepts him and kills him and I stare at her. “They said you controlled these creatures. Control them and end this wretched war.”She shakes her head. “It’s not that easy anymore. I was able to control them when my cat was dominant, when they absorbed my wolf. Someone donated her energy to bring back my wolf, but she neglected to mention that I would lose control of the soldiers when she is restored. I wouldn’t have it any other way anyway.”I sneer. “How pathetic. Of what use are you with your wolf then? You should sacrifice her to save hundreds of lives if need be but you are nothing but selfish as ever.”Her brows rise. “I’m not receiving a lecture on selflessness from you, am I? Now I have seen it all.”Behind us, Lor finally rips the king’s heart out with a roar. The war seems to stop for a second, everyone watching as he twists his head off his throat and sends it flying. And t
Celine They are unending. It is as if the entire world has moved against the Island. My soldiers are not enough, and so people of Lyria have joined, fighting against the enemy but they are lacking in spirit. Perhaps because they have been broken down by the economy but they fall like corn stalk against the enemy. I keep soldiers on their leader constantly, but he is not the only one to be worried about. My soldiers tear into most of the soldiers before they have a chance to defend themselves but too many of them are experienced killers, cutting through our numbers in swaths. I glance behind me but the king and the Whisperer are now gone from their perch, and then finally the harpies are released. Terrible terrible creatures that can ice the blood in your veins with a touch. Where they go, death follows, immortals shrivelling up and dying in numbers. And yet more of their army comes. There are about ten of the harpies and I’m surprised when one of them streams from the ground right i
CelineI feel it when Ismir dies, like a lance directly into my heart. I scream in pain and my attack falters. No. I look back, knowing I will not find him at he balcony he once occupied with his father and the Whisperer. My eyes meet his father’s and I wonder if he knows. My distraction costs me. Strong arms wrap around me from behind and I’m plastered hard against a male chest. “Stand back.” He orders the creatures, keeping them in front of us and me as a shield between them. They angle and pace, the front liners reluctant to attack and skewer me. “What do you think you are doing?” I grit out, trying to break out of his grip but he’s too strong. “You’re coming back with me.” He says, shuffling back. I burst into laughter, a little hysterical. “Are you daft as fuck? You want to leap through the barrier to freedom? The both of us will die before our next breath.”“I passed through the barrier to get here.” He says, his voice resolved. “By some freak accident. You will not be so
EmmaHe has grown so much in three days alone, this baby that has become my last surviving shield.“Dan!” I snap, heading to the balcony. “Yes, Emma.” She says from where she balances precariously on the ledge, not even bothering to look up. I thought the female stuck to my side because she had grown a soft side for me, as I have worked hard to lower her guard. I should have known better, she is an omega herself, an emotional fortress. Since the end of the three days that we raised Alaric, she has completely withdrawn, not even bothering to stand for any other person but the little brat. ”You said the three days were all we needed to ensure his survival.”“Yes. Your boy is stronger than a horse.” She says, raising her face to the sun. “Mama!” The culprit comes toddling out, holding chubby little hands out to me with a grin. I stare at him, my face going sour. “So why the hell does he still follow me around everywhere?!” I ask in dismay. I can’t look across a room without finding h
Neem“You found the source.” He says. His voice is cold and the way he is looking at me scares me. I affect a light tone. “Prince Ismir-““I cannot allow you to live.” Chills race down my spine and I laugh awkwardly. “What are you talking about?” I say, my voice pleading. I always knew my inquisitiveness would land me in trouble one day. I cannot believe the day is finally here. “Why do you always have to go around snooping and putting yourself in situations you have no business being in?”“I’m sorry!” I say, taking a step forward. “I’m sorry okay? This will never happen again.”“You are right, it won’t.” He says and then he shifts. I scream and dive to the side as he leaps, coming up on my knee and watching him nearly crash into the crystals. He sidesteps them in a precarious move in the last second and spins around, furious. I’ve never seen him shift, and for good reason, I realise. That is no wolf, he looks like he belongs amongst the deformities on the front line. He is thre
NeemI burst into the library, unconcerned about the racket I’m making as I race through the shelves to the back. Maria is reading a book and doesn’t bother to put it down. “Ordinarily, you should be banned from coming into the library.” She says placidly. “Outside.” I say urgently. “They are engaged in a fight. Celine and-““I know.” She cuts me off, not taking her eyes off the book. I gape at her. “You do? Then how can you be so calm?”“I am calm. I would recommend some to you too. What concern is it of mine if two idiots want to kill each other?”She’s right, she doesn’t give a fuck. She has said it enough times and yet she was the first person I thought of when I needed help.“I need your help.” I say and she finally puts the book down and pins with a stare piercing enough to make me squirm. “I see you got your tongue back.”“I need your help.” I say again, refusing to be redirected. “No.” She says, making me gape again. “No? But you don’t even know what I want to ask.”“I d
Prince Ismir“How did he come through the barrier?” Father snarls, finally thrown off his feet by the unexpected happening. “I don’t know.” The Whisperer says, my first time hearing him utter those words. “It should be impossible.”Apparently not, if he’s right there. “What do you know about him?” I ask. There is something about him that has my hair standing on end. It is simply my most primitive instincts recognising a threat, a major one.“Nothing,” The Whisperer says. “But judging by his power and the fact that he entered the barrier unscathed, there are only a few people that come to mind. I believe that is her mate, the one commonly known as the demon wolf.”“What?” I say, startled out of the blue. Is that where the sense of familiarity comes from? Am I feeling her familiarity with him? “She does not look like she recognises him.” I say, tracing her location.“Not with the the amount of poison we had to pump into her system.” He says. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t ev
LorFor the umpteenth time, I put a hand on the barrier and it goes straight through. My hand curls into a tight fist and I punch it hard. Nothing. It is just air. The demarcation that shows the island of Lyria, a slight shimmer in the air is quite obvious if you know what you are looking for. Otherwise, your eyes would probably skip right over it. We have besieged this perimeter for two days now and to my frustration, we have nothing to show for it. Not a soul has stepped out of it, and neither can we step inside either. If I didn’t have a strong gut feeling that she is behind that barrier, I would have believed that it is all a conjecture of my deranged mind.Maddilla comes to a stop beside me and peers into the barrier. It is not just Bloodbound pack but nearly every damn pack this side of the world out here. There are more than a hundred and fifty packs here, each one of them as eager and enthusiastic to pierce the barrier of the island as the next. I didn’t have much convincing