MERIDA Despite the thick blankets I had wrapped around myself the cold was still in the room when I woke up and getting into my skin. Even with the heating on, the morning air still had an icy bite to it as winter quickly approached. Instinctively I reached out to feel Lukans warmth but my hand found a cold empty sheet instead. . . My heart skipped a beat. . . Lukan? I yelled softly my voice heavy with sleep.. There was no answer. I sat up massaging my arms to produce heat. There was a spooky silence in the room the kind that made me uneasy. His habit of leaving without saying anything was unusual. Still struggling with the uneasiness that was tearing at my chest I slipped my feet into my slippers and put on a cardigan. As I left our room I had the feeling that the house was empty. The corridors were deserted and the dim winter sunlight streaming in through the windows cast shadows on the floor. Though there were traces of last nights celebrations in the air like the faint scen
MERIDA " Meridaaaaa!!!" Someone yelled my name from upstairs and I gave a silent groan as my head pounded not from the scream but from lack of sleep and hunger." Where is that ostrich called Merida?" The voice said again as I struggled to my feet and my stomach rumbled.I didn't need a seer to tell me who it was. It was no other person but my Aunt Ophelia. I could hear her loud footsteps coming down the stairs. Just as I tried to steady myself, I fell back on the box I had been sitting on. " Goodness me." She gasped." I just hope I'm blind and not seeing you sitting like the mate to a powerful Alpha."she said to me. I opened my mouth to say something and only air poured out and, before I could blink, her hands flew through the air and made slices of slaps on my cheeks, sending me reeling backwards."What have you been doing here? You have been busy doing nothing, I guess." She said again to me and I kept mute. Enough experience had told me that trying to defend myself would only
MERIDAMy eyes were spinning in my head, and they dropped on my feet.My tongue felt so limp and dry that I couldn't utter a single word.Shhhh, I said to myself.Don't say a word. Don't even breathe. I could feel the hot intensity of their eyes, I was almost burning under their gaze and I wished the ground would open and swallow me up. My cheeks were burning up, already turning red with embarrassment and I felt so scared I could feel the Alpha's eyes on me. "Why did you do it?"he asked suddenly, making me glance up and look away quickly. He sat back on the chair and gulped down the contents in the tumbler and set it back on the table."It was my birthday. My sixth birthday party." I forced myself to speak." I wanted to give my parents a treat, so I added the Nightshade fern.""The Nightshade fern is of two types," Alpha Lukan said, rubbing his jaw slightly."the one with green leaves is extinct now, and I presume you are speaking about the one with blue petals."Aunt Ophelia and her
LUKAN" So she is the 13th bride, yeah?" Dean asked as the Mercedes-Benz glided towards the pack." I forgot she is the 15th and not a bride, right?" Dean asked again but got no response from me.I have so many things to think of than to give him a reply.From my mind's eyes I could envision a sly smile creeping up his lips." Be quiet Dean." Lemuel shushed him in a small voice."I was just thinking aloud, that's all." Dean continued, and my face turned red. "I'll be forced to clip your lips together." I said to him, my voice kind of low as the car pulled up in front of the Packhouse of Frostclaw Ever since I had met her, something had gone off in me, not that she was the first woman I met or more beautiful than the others, but there was something different about her which I just couldn't place.The connection was just too strong. Dean was so correct. She was the 15th girl I met and deep down I was kind of anxious. I was hoping that she would be The One whom I have been searching fo
LUKAN" Oh, I'm so sorry." Rosita said quickly, composing herself and looking kind of embarrassed." I was kind of lost in thought."" Fine if you say so." I replied, not wanting to push it, but I knew I saw a kind of recognition in her eyes. I was staring at Merida, it was now that I looked at her. She was probably thinner and looking frail than before, and she was always trying to avoid my gaze."You have to take her measurement Rosita for her new dresses."" Yes, Alpha Lukan," Rosita replied and proceeded to take Merida's measurement, who was looking kind of frightened. I peered at her, and it seemed there were a lot of things she wanted to say. "What is it, Merida? Speak." Merida shook her head."No, it's nothing."I stared at her for a while, living with her aunt and uncle must have molded her into someone who is silently headstrong and stubborn."If you have something to say, then spill it out, don't get me angry. As my mate, you should learn to be outspoken, and also I will m
MERIDA"I don't know anything about the Nightshade fern,"I said in a very small voice hesitantly. He was staring at me now, and I could see a glint of concern in his eyes. The way he had shouted minutes ago proved just one thing. It meant that he cared about me.This was the first time anyone was going to show me so much care. " I thought you knew the difference between both flowers, though they kind of look alike."" I- I don't know," I stammered.He exhaled." But your aunt and uncle said you knew the difference, like I explained before, the Nightshade fern is of two types. The first is extinct and the one they said you added to your parents' drink is very difficult to find. But I know that something about the story isn't adding up."I glanced up at him as he continued."Your fingers are supposed to be stained if indeed you pluck one of the flowers."" Oh." That was the only thing I could say. " I will make them pay for making you suffer." He said to me and walked through the wind
LUKAN"What do you mean by her injuries won't heal easily."I said bursting into the room and from the corner of my eyes I could see Merida flinched.My fist rolled into a ball by my sides and my eyes were blazing. I was so angry that I was even surprised. This was the kind of anger that came because one cared so much about someone.I shook my head , I was only doing it because I felt pity towards her, I said to myself.Julietta's head shot up quickly and she gave me a sidelong look which I recognized immediately and turned away. I knew something terrible was going on."You will have to apply the Willows Tears on the injury." She said in a very small voice her eyes fixed on mine as she walked to her desk." Come Merida, let me take you upstairs." I said, taking her hand .Upstairs in our bedroom ,I made her lift her shirt up and unscrewed the small bottle , the greenish paste-like substance stared back at me, it had no smell .I scoped just a little amount and placed it on the injury
CHAPTER 7MERIDAI watched him as he walked out of the room with an air of a nonchalant attitude around him. He was the Alpha so what was I even expecting from him. Rosita felt hurt by his words but I guess she was already used to it. I felt so small that I wanted to sink. I never expected him to speak that way. Well he was funny actually for me to get along with him I have to do my very best not to get him angry. I was still staring at the door when Rosita called my attention. "Do you want me to escort you to the dinning?"she asked and I blinked several times to understand what she was saying. Back home at Frostclaw pack, no one escorted me anywhere except when I was about to be given some lashes. I could count how many times I ate in a week.she must have seen how surprised and flushed my cheeks were and she smiled at me. "I can show you to the dining room if you don't want me to go with you." Rosita said again in a very small voice.I struggled to my feet and managed a smile
MERIDA Despite the thick blankets I had wrapped around myself the cold was still in the room when I woke up and getting into my skin. Even with the heating on, the morning air still had an icy bite to it as winter quickly approached. Instinctively I reached out to feel Lukans warmth but my hand found a cold empty sheet instead. . . My heart skipped a beat. . . Lukan? I yelled softly my voice heavy with sleep.. There was no answer. I sat up massaging my arms to produce heat. There was a spooky silence in the room the kind that made me uneasy. His habit of leaving without saying anything was unusual. Still struggling with the uneasiness that was tearing at my chest I slipped my feet into my slippers and put on a cardigan. As I left our room I had the feeling that the house was empty. The corridors were deserted and the dim winter sunlight streaming in through the windows cast shadows on the floor. Though there were traces of last nights celebrations in the air like the faint scen
MERIDA I stood at the balcony of our room, the sky was without a moon tonight but I wasn't thinking about how beautiful the night was or about Lemuel because it made me feel sad. My mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about something entirely different. In this room, my thoughts and my world were centered around him. Lukan I was thinking about us. But Lukan's calming voice brought me back. "You've been looking out there for some time. What's on your mind?" I looked over and saw him standing by the door, his tie loose and shirt unbuttoned a bit. A wife smile on his thin sensual lips that made me want to kiss him. He appeared like the perfect dream I never thought could come true. There was a way he looked like me. Like I was the most important person in the world. "I was ... thinking about something. About us." I said in a small voice which was barely above a whisper. "I love talking about 'us'," he said, moving closer. "It's what I enjoy the most." I grinned, and h
MERIDAThe waves crashing against the shore was just a beautiful sight to behold. The sun was already going down in the horizon and the orange glow was pretty to watch, but nothing could beat the feeling of Lukan holding me close. That tender feeling of love made my heart soar.We had spent the evening laughing and walking around the beach and at some point he wanted us to dive in and swim but I suck at swimming and i had laughed."I wish we could stay like this forever." I whispered feeling the cool breeze brush past my cheeks as I rested my head on his shoulders."Me too." He agreed with a low, relaxed voice." To stay here for eternity." I smiled when I thought about it. "I feel the same way." Everything stopped for a moment, and it felt like time stood still. The gentle smell of salt and hope for the future was brought by the sea breeze, the waves crashing softly making a second that matched our heartbeat." Time wasn't important in this place. It was only us, the sea, and the
The ride to the restaurant was quiet, save for the low hum of the car's engine. Lukan sat beside me, his hand confidently gripping the wheel, his jaw set as if he was wrestling with some unspoken thoughts. There was so many things he wanted to say and I had things to say too but the silence was better The air was thick and carried the weight of the funeral and and the memory of Lemuel's haunted eye, the memories kept comings even though I try to push it back. I felt so sad for him, he had lost someone close to him even though the love they had wasn't deep and genuine.Lemuel had decided to go home straightaway and I didn't blame him though there was some grief which was better borne in solitude But Lukan had seen how quiet I was and he had suggested we go to a restaurant. " Let's go somewhere nice,"he had said." Somewhere better, you need it. We both do."And here we were heading to a fancy restaurant that drove back the somber hiding at behind us. It was better , we were glad t
MERIDA It's been three days since Zayna'sdeath, and today was the day we buried her. The funeral felt heavy in the air, like the weight of everything that happened over the past few weeks was pressing down on me. Everything was in order now, but it felt wrong-wrong that she's gone, wrong that her father was the reason she's dead, and wrong that so many things wereleft unsaid.I stood near the edge of the clearing, the wind tugging at my hair as I look over the gathering of people. There were few of us-those who truly care, I suppose.Zayna's father, a once proud man, had committed suicide in his cell. The betrayal he caused to our pack, the treason, was too.much for him to bear, and he ended it all before facing the consequences. It's a strange feeling, standing here knowing the death of his daughter had led to his end.Queen Luna Julietta refused to attend. She hasn't spoken to anyone since that day, still angry overeverything that has happened. It'shard for me to blame her. Za
MERIDAI hadn't expected tonight to change anything. But then again, I hadn't expected him to change my life either."You're quiet tonight," he said, hisvoice low and rough. I looked up sharply, startled by the way his gaze pierced through me. There was no anger in his tone, no impatience-justcuriosity."l... I was thinking," I replied, my voice barely above a whisper. He raised an eyebrow, leaning back on his elbows with an ease that belied the tension in the air."About what?"About you. About how you've become my everything. But the words wouldn't come. How couldI possibly express what he meantto me when even my own thoughts felt inadequate?Instead, I hesitated, the silence stretching between us. Finally, Ilet out a shaky breath. "Lukan, doyou ever feel like... ike you're living a life that doesn't belong to you?"His expression softened, and hesat up, his focus solely on menow. "I did. For a long time."That simple admission caught me off guard. Alpha Lukan wasn't the kin
MERIDAAfter dinner, I made my way to our room. The grand halls were eerily quiet, the only sound the soft echo of my footsteps. My mind was racing, replaying every moment of the evening. Lukan's sudden silence during dinner had been unsettling, his gaze distant and his posture tense. Whatever he had to say, it was heavy. I could feel it in my heart. The evening had been filled with so much suspense.Too much of it.When I pushed the door open, I saw him standing by the window, bathed in moonlight. He stood so still, his hands behind him and I wondered what was going through his mind.At first, I was just watching him. There was something about the way he held himself that made me hesitate.Perhaps he just wasn't ready to say anything yet. Maybe I should just let him be but I felt I needed to speak to him."Lukan?" I called softly, steppinginto the room and closing the door slowly behind me.He turned slowly, his sharp features showed signs of worry andsomething else I couldn't pl
LUKANThe ballroom emptied in chaos,voices whispering and eyes watching as Merida and I made our way to the car. I kept my face blank, my emotion locked away. I had done what I wanted to do and now I felt at ease .Kara and Zayna were gone, their betrayal had been exposed, and the rest of the pack that weren't present would hear every detail by morning.The air inside the car felt heavy.Merida sat quietly beside me, her gaze fixed out the window. For amoment, I wanted to speak, to say something that would lighten the weight pressing on us. But what could I say? She was in shock, everyone was in shock.Behind us, Lemuel, Dean, and Julietta followed in another car.The convoy moved through the streets to the packhouse , the soft hum of the engine the only sound. My mind was far from the quiet road, replaying the night's events.In few minutes , we arrived at the Packhouse, the scene before us was shocking. The everywhere buzzed with activity. Guards whispered among themselves, and mai
LUKANThe atmosphere in the room felt so thick and stifling.Everything had happened so fast and sudden and the worst part was that Zayna was dead Her lifeless body lay sprawled on the icy, blood-soaked floor, her face calm in death was the stark reminder of the happiness she once had. The heavy weight of shock and grief hung heavily in every corner of the hall. Some women were already beginning to sob a d some were too scared to leave the hall.My wolf stirred restlessly within me, a mix of fury, sorrow, and an urgent desire for revenge, to have Beta Thedeus punished for all the nonsense he had caused. Something in me wanted to find the culprit myself and deal with them. They tried to kill me and because of that Zayna was dead even though she didn't deserve any of this.Even though I was feeling really angry, I knew I had to stay calm. There was a big problem coming, and it wasn't too far from where I was but I had to stop it.“You!” Beta Thaddeus's angry voice shattered the ten