Alyssa's POVI took a deep breath as I stopped just outside of Prince Kai’s room. As he promised yesterday, one of his attendants called on me and brought me to the prince’s palace. It wasn’t as grand as the Alpha King’s, which was to be expected, but it had a nice quaint feeling to it, the kind of place someone could run away to in order to get away from everything.The attendant brought me to the door before he excused himself. I was to go in alone. To anyone watching it was normal for a wife-to-be to see her husband and his home before they were married, but just standing outside his door felt too intimate.I’d never had a partner before. I was thirteen when I was sent to the Red Maple Camp and the people I was imprisoned with weren’t the type of people I wanted to form romantic relationships with. With Alexander, I’d barely spent a minute with him before he rejected me and shattered my heart and soul to pieces.Slowly, I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but just as I was abou
Kai's POVThere were multiple reasons why I never told anyone who gave me this scar and why. One of those reasons was that I didn’t want to show any kind of weakness to my enemies, and in the palaces there were too many enemies to count.Another reason was that it was simply embarrassing. If people knew I’d been distracted by love and pretty words I’d never hear the end of it and my reputation as the General of the Skeleton Army would become non-existent.But the real, honest-to-goddess reason was that I hated it whenever people looked at me with pity. Pity was the worst kind of emotion possible because people looked down on you as if it was someone else’s fault.So when I finally told Alyssa, a woman whose mate had broken her heart and spirit only minutes after meeting him, I expected her to look at me with nothing but pity and was prepared to throw her out of my palace without a second thought on whether I truly needed her or not.I was shocked to find her nodding, a hint of empathy
Alyssa's POVI was quickly taken to The Colosseum where I had been only the day before, but it was different knowing that I was going there to fight. It wasn’t going to be a fight to the death, the king had promised that.Well, it was more like he threatened us regarding it. If Taylor or I were to kill the other, we’d spend the rest of our lives locked up in the Red Maple Camp. This battle was to let us air our frustrations and anger out on one another, but the Alpha King wouldn't let us kill us, not when it would cause a rift between two of his most powerful packs.I had no intention of killing Taylor, even though the idea of it wasn’t terrible to me, but I saw the fear suddenly flash in his eyes as he looked at me as if that's exactly what he wanted to do now that he knew that I wasn't going to be 'returned' to him.I couldn’t help but feel smug. I’d been through the horrors of the Red Maple Camp, he’d only heard of them. I could handle going back. It would break me after this brief
Kai’s POVI thought this fight was going to bore me. Though I was beginning to stop assuming that Alyssa was weak, fragile and timid, I still expected her to cower. I’d seen enough battles and men, trained and untrained, cower at the mere thought of battle, let alone be in a real fight.So when Alyssa transformed, her giant silver wolf almost rivalling Carter inside and the feathery wings sprouting from her back, and made the first move to attack Taylor, I was pleasantly surprised. But when she took flight, diving towards her ex-fiance with a fiery anger that burned around her like a flame, my mouth was agape.This was what a warrior looked like, nothing but resolve in her eyes as she knew how this fight was going to end and was going to ensure that she was the one that was going to come out on top. Alyssa spiralled like an arrow towards Taylor, not giving him a chance to summon his fire as she knocked him off balance. He was brutally thrown to the floor, unable to steady himself wi
Alyssa's POVI didn’t get much of a chance to rest after my fight with Taylor. I was taken back to the room that the Alpha King had placed me in and immediately flopped on my bed, burying my face in the soft pillows and blankets.My heart was still racing from the fight even though all the energy in my body faded. I stared up at the canopy of my bed and took in a deep breath. The fight had barely lasted for ten minutes but with how I was feeling it felt like it had been going on forever as all the anger and fury in me took over. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep the rest of the day away, my bones and joints aching and I could feel Carys resting in the recesses of my mind, but only an hour after I returned to my room, there was a knock at the door.I was half tempted to ignore it and sleep, but the door knocked again, more incessantly. With a groan I stood and walked towards it, opening it slightly. Prince Kai was standing at my door with a servant carrying a box behind him, giving
Kai's POVI was half tempted to punch the living daylights out of my younger brother for the stunt he tried to pull. Not only had he tried to gift Alyssa a dress, which was a clear invitation to the ball when he already had a fiance, but he also wanted to gift her a golden one! If I didn’t think he had a brain in that head of his this certainly proved it.Did he have any idea the kind of chaos he could’ve caused if Alyssa accepted that damned gown? No, he didn’t, because he’d always been a stupid, spineless punk who got everything handed to him.But this time he didn’t, because Alyssa had rejected his dress and accepted mine. A thrill went through my body as I remembered that and a smile brought itself to my face. Rarely was I the first choice, and even if it was because we’d made a deal or not, she’d chosen me, not the mate who rejected her.Just as I was planning to leave my father’s own to return to my own, I ran into my pathetic excuse for a brother who looked positively pissed.
Alyssa’s POVThe Red Maple Camp was not a kind place. It was created to imprison criminals and dangerous wolves. I certainly didn’t belong there, I was surprised I had lived this long. For the past five years, every breath I took and every word I muttered resulted in pain and punishment. It was my turn to clean the floors as part of my daily chores and I pulled at the wound on my back from the countless beatings and whippings I’d taken. I let out a hiss of pain, the wound and hunger making me dizzy. I took a deep breath, leaning on my hands to take a small break.My wolf, Carys, whimpered in warning, but it was too late when my watcher walked in. His eyes moved to the floor as he saw I wasn’t finished before his gaze roamed my body, making me shiver in disgust.I expected him to beat me for slacking off, but instead, he said, “It’s your lucky day Alyssa. Alpha Henry has come to collect you.”That couldn’t be right, could it? Had my father truly come to take me away from this place?T
Alyssa’s POVThe first face I saw when I returned home was Vivian, smiling innocently at me as she opened her arms, pulling me into a hug, “Welcome home, Alyssa.”I didn’t return her hug, just gave her a sharp nod and stepped back, I didn’t want to address her at all, let alone have her touching me. It was then I noticed the amount of wolves gathered, watching this reunion. I spotted faces I hadn’t seen since I was little, so many alphas and lunas that it was hard to keep track.“I wasn’t aware we were to have an audience, love,” My father spoke to Vivian.Vivian looked around in mock shock as she placed a hand on her heart, “Honey, don’t you think today is a special day? It’s not every day an alpha’s daughter turns eighteen! And I’m sure it’s tradition for the birthday girl to have a shifting ceremony.”My father opened his mouth to speak, quickly looking between Vivian and me. It was only my thirteenth birthday that Vivian had sacrificed her child and my father lost his true heir.
Kai's POVI was half tempted to punch the living daylights out of my younger brother for the stunt he tried to pull. Not only had he tried to gift Alyssa a dress, which was a clear invitation to the ball when he already had a fiance, but he also wanted to gift her a golden one! If I didn’t think he had a brain in that head of his this certainly proved it.Did he have any idea the kind of chaos he could’ve caused if Alyssa accepted that damned gown? No, he didn’t, because he’d always been a stupid, spineless punk who got everything handed to him.But this time he didn’t, because Alyssa had rejected his dress and accepted mine. A thrill went through my body as I remembered that and a smile brought itself to my face. Rarely was I the first choice, and even if it was because we’d made a deal or not, she’d chosen me, not the mate who rejected her.Just as I was planning to leave my father’s own to return to my own, I ran into my pathetic excuse for a brother who looked positively pissed.
Alyssa's POVI didn’t get much of a chance to rest after my fight with Taylor. I was taken back to the room that the Alpha King had placed me in and immediately flopped on my bed, burying my face in the soft pillows and blankets.My heart was still racing from the fight even though all the energy in my body faded. I stared up at the canopy of my bed and took in a deep breath. The fight had barely lasted for ten minutes but with how I was feeling it felt like it had been going on forever as all the anger and fury in me took over. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep the rest of the day away, my bones and joints aching and I could feel Carys resting in the recesses of my mind, but only an hour after I returned to my room, there was a knock at the door.I was half tempted to ignore it and sleep, but the door knocked again, more incessantly. With a groan I stood and walked towards it, opening it slightly. Prince Kai was standing at my door with a servant carrying a box behind him, giving
Kai’s POVI thought this fight was going to bore me. Though I was beginning to stop assuming that Alyssa was weak, fragile and timid, I still expected her to cower. I’d seen enough battles and men, trained and untrained, cower at the mere thought of battle, let alone be in a real fight.So when Alyssa transformed, her giant silver wolf almost rivalling Carter inside and the feathery wings sprouting from her back, and made the first move to attack Taylor, I was pleasantly surprised. But when she took flight, diving towards her ex-fiance with a fiery anger that burned around her like a flame, my mouth was agape.This was what a warrior looked like, nothing but resolve in her eyes as she knew how this fight was going to end and was going to ensure that she was the one that was going to come out on top. Alyssa spiralled like an arrow towards Taylor, not giving him a chance to summon his fire as she knocked him off balance. He was brutally thrown to the floor, unable to steady himself wi
Alyssa's POVI was quickly taken to The Colosseum where I had been only the day before, but it was different knowing that I was going there to fight. It wasn’t going to be a fight to the death, the king had promised that.Well, it was more like he threatened us regarding it. If Taylor or I were to kill the other, we’d spend the rest of our lives locked up in the Red Maple Camp. This battle was to let us air our frustrations and anger out on one another, but the Alpha King wouldn't let us kill us, not when it would cause a rift between two of his most powerful packs.I had no intention of killing Taylor, even though the idea of it wasn’t terrible to me, but I saw the fear suddenly flash in his eyes as he looked at me as if that's exactly what he wanted to do now that he knew that I wasn't going to be 'returned' to him.I couldn’t help but feel smug. I’d been through the horrors of the Red Maple Camp, he’d only heard of them. I could handle going back. It would break me after this brief
Kai's POVThere were multiple reasons why I never told anyone who gave me this scar and why. One of those reasons was that I didn’t want to show any kind of weakness to my enemies, and in the palaces there were too many enemies to count.Another reason was that it was simply embarrassing. If people knew I’d been distracted by love and pretty words I’d never hear the end of it and my reputation as the General of the Skeleton Army would become non-existent.But the real, honest-to-goddess reason was that I hated it whenever people looked at me with pity. Pity was the worst kind of emotion possible because people looked down on you as if it was someone else’s fault.So when I finally told Alyssa, a woman whose mate had broken her heart and spirit only minutes after meeting him, I expected her to look at me with nothing but pity and was prepared to throw her out of my palace without a second thought on whether I truly needed her or not.I was shocked to find her nodding, a hint of empathy
Alyssa's POVI took a deep breath as I stopped just outside of Prince Kai’s room. As he promised yesterday, one of his attendants called on me and brought me to the prince’s palace. It wasn’t as grand as the Alpha King’s, which was to be expected, but it had a nice quaint feeling to it, the kind of place someone could run away to in order to get away from everything.The attendant brought me to the door before he excused himself. I was to go in alone. To anyone watching it was normal for a wife-to-be to see her husband and his home before they were married, but just standing outside his door felt too intimate.I’d never had a partner before. I was thirteen when I was sent to the Red Maple Camp and the people I was imprisoned with weren’t the type of people I wanted to form romantic relationships with. With Alexander, I’d barely spent a minute with him before he rejected me and shattered my heart and soul to pieces.Slowly, I lifted my hand to knock on the door, but just as I was abou
Alyssa's POVEveryone was silent as the Alpha King returned to the throne room, the princes following quickly behind him. Alexander and Kai stopped behind me once again. Kai gave me a quick once-over, to check if anything had been done to me. Once he was satisfied there was nothing wrong, he simply nodded and looked at his father who now sat on his throne again.Alexander as a quiet, “Are you okay?”I just nodded at him stiffly, also turning my attention back on the Alpha King.“It’s a shame I can’t leave some of my most trusted Alphas alone without it almost descending into a fight,” The Alpha King scolded and my father and Alpha Thomas looked ashamed of themselves.With a heavy sigh, as if this meeting had taken too much energy out of him. I didn’t know why, all he had to do was sit on a throne and make a decision. Though, I supposed he did just have to entertain Prince Kai for a few minutes and that was enough to take a lot out of anyone.I looked at Prince Kai, trying to gauge wha
Alyssa's POVI didn’t know it was possible to feel more vulnerable and alone than I’d felt, even before the Alpha King and the princes exited the throne room for whatever discussion or scolding was needed to be done behind closed doors. Even with Carter and Caspian still with me, I felt the animosity grow from the others left in the room like any protection I previously had just vanished. The Luna Queen was still there, looking at me with disdain as if she wondered what was so special about me.But it wasn’t just her that frightened me. Now that there were no princes to act as my shields, Freya’s demeanour changed massively. It didn’t help that she was favoured by the Luna Queen and it was doubtful anyone would stop her if she decided to act.She charged towards me even as Carter and Caspian growled at her. With the princes and the Alpha King no longer there, she knew that she was not in any real danger.“What do you think you’re playing at?” She hissed, her eyes glowing with an ange
Kai's POVMy father, the great Alpha King decided to take a recess in our courtroom and pulled Alexander and me into his study. I rolled my eyes, expecting to be scolded for my careless comments but I didn’t regret them. It was his fault I didn’t know my mother so I took the opportunity to take the jab at him.I'd known that I was a bastard since I was old enough to understand the word. I'd never been held by the Luna Queen, even as a pup, only by her maidservant who did it out of duty more than anything. Then when Alexander was born and people spoiled him rotten, I finally understood where I stood in the hierarchy they called family.Alexander was pathetic. He hung his head low as soon as we were out of the audience’s view to offer respect to his father and try to show his submission, hoping father wouldn’t be too angry at him.By the Goddess, he was like a child.My father’s room was old and dusty like an antique store. It had been the study of who knows how many Alpha Kings over th