AMELIA The next day, I received a bouquet of roses, though, and I burned it to ashes when the initial on the card was L instead of R. He probably expected to meet me tonight. I still couldn’t get him out of my head even before going to bed. I didn’t know why. My stomach twisted in knots, but every time I thought of his face, it made my heart flutter. Another beautiful morning. I supposed it was another beautiful morning, bright sun streaming through the opened curtain window, blue clear sky, and another breakfast I missed— intended to miss if I were to be honest. I ghosted everyone because I couldn’t even look them in the eye. I couldn’t even look Ryden in the eye without feeling the knife sink and twist in my chest. It was the guilt that taunted me from stabbing him and meeting a man behind his back. I mean, who stabbed a mate twice? The reason may be valid, but the trauma was real. And it broke my heart thinking that it left me no other way to save him. The word save seemed ab
RYDEN “Wanna take a break?” I couldn’t help but be proud of myself when Ren told me that I made a lot of progress. If you put a lot of effort and time into something, it always gave you a lot of satisfaction when it ended up with success. “I’m good.” We’d trained since sunrise, and my wounds were healing fast. Not as my heart though. I hadn’t seen Amelia since that day. I missed her, and my wolf was anxious and desperate to feel her, but I gave her enough time to heal herself, and I knew she was not going anywhere. “Let’s take a break.” I didn’t insist on continuing, so I bowed. “Sensei.” “You don’t have to call me that.” He chuckled. I liked the sword he lent me, one of his family’s heirlooms. I didn’t realize what he meant when he asked if I wanted to take a break. I was too focused on the training until my wolf purred, and the scent brought in the air verified it. My heart started hammering as I turned to find her. The moment our gazes locked, all those worries faded away.
AMELIA “So this guy is an asshole,” he muttered. His gaze was glued to the movie we were watching. I glared at him as I pointed at his laptop screen on the bed table. “He’s a good guy, Alpha. Okay, I admit, I found him overbearing, arrogant, overconfident, cocky, self-centered—” “That’s a lot, ladybug. And I told you he’s an asshole.” I groaned as I stuffed a few french fries into my mouth. It was unladylike but I was hungry, and he saw me. “Shut up,” I said with my mouthful. “As I was saying.” “Chew what’s in your mouth, Amelia.” He was making fun of me, and he didn’t even try to hide it. “As I was saying, yes. He’s a grade-A asshole, but later on, he saved his brother and a lot of people. He’s kinda a handsome anti-hero and later on becomes a hero.” “You just like his face.” I smiled as I looked at his face. “You’re more handsome than him. And I like your eyes better.” I dipped the fries into the ketchup and offered it to him. He bit and ate it. “Thanks.” “Now, let’s watc
RYDEN Amelia was still curled into a ball when I left to get our dinner in the kitchen. The only food we had was our lunch from the fast food we ordered. I took the tray inside her room and shut the door slowly when a gasp came from her. Growling, her eyes glowed golden, and the sword in her grip was aiming at me. “Amelia, it’s me.” I held the food with one hand and flicked the light open. She blew a breath and shut her eyes close, putting away the sword. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sneaked in like that.” I went to the side of the bed and put the tray on the bedside table. “I’m sorry.” She took a seat and pulled her knees to her chest. “We can say sorry all we want or I thought you might be hungry.” I pressed my lips against her forehead. “Were you having nightmares since you stayed here?” “Nope. Never had.” There was something in the way she looked at me that it felt like she wasn’t telling me. “Before we fought the wraiths, you told me, you wanted to tell me something.”
AMELIA “I’ve sworn an oath to the people who trained me that I would bring the secrets to my grave. If it’s the only way to earn your trust, then so be it. I’ll pay for the consequences of my actions from now on.” “What are you talking about?” Kailin asked. “We’ll pay it together,” Ren backed her up. “Wait. Wait.” Theia raised her hand. “If this secret will put your lives in danger then no need. Our lives are already in danger, and I’m sure we can figure out how to find the bitch and the bastard just fine.” “It’s not their lives will be in danger, Theia. It’s ours,” Ryden told her which made her face ashen. “Because we’re close to them. We are the collaterals.” “Very well. We’ll find another way,” Zarah agreed. She finally calmed down. “There’s another way but he might ask something rare in return,” Ren told Zarah. “And you may not like it,” I added. “We don’t care as long as we can locate that bastard,” Theia said. “I agree. As long as he won’t ask for a barbecue unicorn.”
AMELIA“Dane needs our help.” “Go. I’ll inform you when I get a reply. Let me know if you need help,” Zarah said. After we packed some weapons, Zarah sent us to the coordinates that Dane texted me. “I know he cares about my mate and Dane owes him a lot, but I swear, Victor is gonna get Dane killed,” Kailin said angrily. “We’ll have his back, Kailin.” I gripped her hand, trying to comfort her, but I could feel she was really worried about him.The coordinates sent us to the Mexico desert outside the US border. “Great. Now we’re going to be in great trouble against Mexican authority,” Theia reacted. “I’m more concerned about snakes and scorpions than the authority.” My forehead was instantly sweating. I grabbed my phone and sent Dane a message. “We should have packed sunscreen,” Theia was still complaining. “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Kailin asked. “Let’s take cover.” Ryden pointed at the slightly elevated area.“Where? Behind the cactus? I don’t see anyone here,”
RYDEN Those assholes Alec paid to kill the faceless guy and his men were humans. They fell for the money Alec offered, and they couldn’t tell a shit about the man they were meeting with. Amelia and Dane were beyond furious. Dane punctured every tire of the vehicle left working. “No. They go by foot to the borders,” Amelia grunted as she set the vehicles on fire. Then she went to the terrified men. “Next time, choose your employer wisely. Haven’t even occurred to all of you why did you get a job with suspicious big cash, Assholes?” “Wait. We can’t walk to the border.” The guy with a busted face riding the first car that went off the road raised his hand. “We’re gonna die of dehydration.” “Not my problem.” Amelia walked away. “You’re worried about dehydration than getting shredded by wild wolves?” Theia snorted.“Who are you people?” While this guy talked, the rest just sat there. “You don’t wanna know unless you tell us something,” I tried tricking them. Desperation was always t
AMELIA We arrived back at the pack house. Everyone seemed down. We’d been tracking Alec for months now, and every time we had leads, he always managed to escape. It became utterly frustrating. “That son of a bitch is so slippery,” Dane grunted in anger as he sat down on the couch. “He’ll run out of luck, babe.” Kailin ran her fingers through Dane’s hair. “We’ll catch him. This time we all do the recon. We don’t need help from the council. Maybe they leaked the plan to Alec so he could escape.” “That makes perfect sense.” He was still pissed off, and he looked scarier with his deadly icy blue eyes. “Or maybe they were working together or Alec has something to blackmail Victor.” “Dane, you go clean up. We’ll do this in the morning. You need to rest.” “How can I rest when everyone around us is either under Alec’s payroll or scared of him? When I thought I could trust my team, the council let me down again.” He picked up his phone and stood up. “What are you doing?” Kailin asked.
AMELIAThree years laterEnochian Institute “Okay, bud. Are you ready?” Ryden towered at his son as he tried to prepare him for his first day of school. “No, Dad. Please, don’t call me buddy or bud anymore. I’m six years old. Alex is fine.” I looked at them and tried hard not to grin. When Ryden saw my smile, I looked away. “You will always be my boy, so I can call you bud or buddy until you get a girlfriend or have kids on your own.” “Mom, I need help here. I want to be like every kid at the institute.” When he gave me this puppy-eyes look, the same look he gave me when he wanted to be with his Uncle Ren or Uncle Drak. I knelt before him as I fixed his coat. Alex was carrying a blue backpack. I looked right into his blue-green eyes. Every time I looked at him, he always reminded me of his father. “My love, listen to me. You grow up so fast. Me and your dad still see you like our two-year-old boy. That’s why Dad still calls you buddy, and it’s actually cool that you and Dad ar
AMELIA I still cried whenever I felt alone. I still cried to sleep knowing he was gone because he wanted me to live. The feeling of losing someone I loved hit differently. It felt like I lost a part of me, a part of my soul. I woke up to the blinding light streaming from the opened window. Or at least I felt like I just woke up when the image of my father appeared before me. “Dad?” I sat up on the bed. I was still sleeping in the same bed I shared with Lucius. “Why did you let it happen? Why did you accept his deal? Now I’m all alone.” “You’re not alone, Amelia.” I wiped the first tear that fell on my cheek. “I died twice. You should have let me die. I can’t. I can’t take it anymore. Lucius was a good man. He had a lot of things to live for.” “And you don’t?” he asked me calmly. “I know life isn’t fair, but I don’t deserve another chance. I would have swapped places with him. These people need their alpha.” “Amelia.” He stood before me. “He accomplished his mission in life. H
RYDEN The moment I received a call from Drak, I knew something terrible had happened. He couldn’t hide the sadness in his voice. I quickly asked help from Zarah to send me to the Blood Moon Pack. Every last member of Lucius’ pack was around. His compound was crowded with the people who loved him, who believed in his cause, and the people he saved and had given a second chance. As I entered the house, a howl of mourning echoed from the forest. It was heart-wrenching. I didn’t only feel extremely sad about losing a great alpha, but he was also a savior and a hero, and I was proud to call him a friend. “This is so unfair.” Amelia ran into me. She looked like she’d been crying. She really looked like a mess, with wet cheeks, and red eyes and nose. “This can’t be happening.” “I’m so sorry, my love.” I took her in my arms. I knew my presence wouldn’t help the fact that Lucius was gone, but I was hoping I could somehow help ease the pain in her chest. “He’s gone, Ryden. He’s gone.” She
AMELIAIf this was the last day we had together, then I would make the best of it. I couldn’t fathom a life without him, my hero, who sacrificed everything so I could live another day. He was the true savior, not me. He was the true leader, the greatest alpha I’d ever met. He deserved that recognition, yet, here he was, waiting until he let go of his last breath and succumbed to death.It was unfair. Life was so fucked up and unfair. “Maybe you should give me an heir. I wanna have a mini you, please?” I wiped my tears away. “For that, I might be able to forgive myself. Then I’m going to tell him the story of how amazing and brave his father was, his sacrifices for this world, and how much we love each other, and show him our photos together.” “I will give you everything, my love. If we have a son, I want you to teach him to be a good man and respect and treat Ryden as his father. If we have a girl, tell her, that her father will always be watching her. Tell them their father loves t
AMELIA Lucius pulled away, looking right into my eyes. “We’re not doing it again, Amelia. I’ve accepted my fate.” “Well, I’m not! You should have told me. I could have done something other than keeping me in the dark. I have every right to know, Lucius. Have you forgotten that?” “I know that, my love, and I’m so sorry.” “Save it,” I said as I faced Ryden and pointed a finger at his face. “You, I trusted you. Are you happy now? Lucius had sacrificed his life twice for me so I could be with you. And I only asked one thing. Just one thing from you, and you couldn’t do it. You can’t be honest with me. Why should I stay with you if you don’t value honesty?” Ryden looked away as pain and agony laced in his eyes. “Amelia, don’t say that,” Lucius said. “Oh, so now you’re his best friend because you’re peas in a pod?” “Amelia, I know this is hard, but Lucius made his decision. You would have been dead by now and the rest of the werewolves who had fallen that day.” Shit. Zarah was right
AMELIA It had been three months since that war against The Director ended, and our lives had finally returned back to normal. The pack was going strong. No more sightings of demons and wraiths. No more threats other than rogues on occasion. The mother and son Ryden took in, and some werewolves had become the new pack members. Theia and Bryan were still like cat and mouse, but I could feel how much their relationship had developed, especially when it was built with trust. The two elemental werewolves had begun their training at Elysian. We still talked over the phone, especially with Ryden, since he was one of them. Margaret finally woke up a few days after I went back home. Zarah, Samarah, and her had never been closer, and that made me happy. My Relationship with Ryden had never been strong. I told him everything, and he forgave me. He and Lucius seemed to have formed a friendship, which was weird. Since the day I left the hotel room, I stayed close to Lucius, not as a mate or
AMELIA I joined him in bed and kissed him on the lips, and he scooped me so I could rest on top of him. I curled into a fetal position as he wrapped his arms around me, his fingers tracing my spine. I felt tiny and fragile when I was with him, but powerful at the same time. He sighed again as if something was bothering him. “How did you find me?” “Your mate gave me your letter. I supposed you went back from where you started. Did you mean what you said?” He was talking about the letter. “All of it.” “Hmm.” He kissed the top of my head. “He came to me. He’s worried about you, sweetheart. You should go back.” “What about you?” I lifted my head and looked him in the eye. “I always trust what you do that you know what’s best for you. Like always, I won’t control you.” He smiled as he tucked my hair behind my ear. “But of course, I get worried all the time even though I know you can take care of yourself.” “How’s everyone?” “I’m not telling you anything, Amelia. It’s about time y
AMELIA “I want you right now, Alexander.” The moment those words left my mouth, he carried me to the bed in my hotel room. He ripped my clothes from my body until I was naked and exposed. Then he spread my legs wide, and one thing led to another. My ovary was throwing a party as he dipped his head between my legs. A gasp escaped my lips as he pressed the softest kisses on my foot, my leg, and my inner thighs, nipping my skin. Then captured my entire pussy with his hot mouth. “Ah!” My hips bucked, hand came to his head to grab a handful of his hair, shamelessly pushing his mouth to my sex. Then he dragged his tongue from my folds upward to my clit, making my head spin. Tingles ran down my spine as I shuddered in delight. “Goddess!” I panted, rocking into his talented tongue, stroking my clit. Every muscle in my body clenched, and my legs trembled. Then he glided it in my entrance, thrusting in and out, alternately sucking my sensitive hard nub. Tension instantly coiled in my lowe
AMELIA “So where are you going?” Gaia asked. She’d been spending some time with Ren and Theia while Nora was trying to fix the broken relationship she had with her father. With Victor in the council jail, there was no threat to Alec anymore. “I don’t know yet.” I looked at the three of them. “Please, take care of each other. The greater demon might be gone, but there are still a lot of bad people out there. Maybe the good citizens could use your help.” “I’m gonna miss you.” Theia hugged me. “Don’t be gone too long, okay?” “I won’t, but you should go and be with the Caltech dropout.” “I will. Ren doesn’t need a driver anymore. He’s the monkey king after all.” She got a groan from Ren. “Gaia and he will start a new adventure anyway.” “I have to go.” I hugged Ren tight. “Thanks for not giving up on me. You always have a place in the pack. I love you, Ren. I’ll see you soon.” “I love you, too, Amelia. Don’t be a stranger. Visit the Raito house once in a while.” “Once I figure out