AS soon as the clock ticked at seven, I rose and turned to the warriors. “I’ll get off work first. Great job, gentlemen. I will see you all again tomorrow.” Clyde and Duke joined me in the elevator. Clyde stood in our center. He had a blank expression on his face since that was one of the very few expressions he had in his system while my uncle was back to being grumpy. He had been like that ever since the last phone call we had which was three days ago. This was a progress to our relationship since I’d never seen him act like this. I felt like our roles had been reversed. “Clyde, will you please tell the alpha over there that the person temporarily residing in his house is not a child? She is old enough, for heaven’s sake. She can manage staying there by herself. He doesn’t need to rush home every fucking day just to check if she’s breathing,” Duke stated, clearly emphasizing the word ‘temporarily’. Clyde yawned and glanced at me. “You heard him. He said you’re being an idiot.”
(Katriona)“NEVER MIND. Don’t answer that. I think I know what you are going to say next,” Alexander said after a few seconds of silence between us. He withdrew his hands and started walking away. Wait. Was it tension and nerves that I detected in his voice?But I shook my head.Alexander McCain being nervous? That was like saying that the earth was square. A supreme alpha like him would never be anxious because of me.He was already at the door when he noticed that I was not following him. He stopped but he didn’t turn around.“What are you waiting for?” His voice was a shade rougher than usual. “A goddamn miracle?”I shrugged. “Sort of. I’m waiting for you to turn around for me.”“Enough. Just get the fuck in.”“Look at me, Alexander.”“Don’t push it, princess.”Instead of listening to him, I looked up at the sky, at the moon to be specific. Before this moody man came home, I was asking for a sign. But after seeing him, after I landed in his arms, I realized that there were no more
RELIEF washed over me upon seeing Mikael unscathed. After a few days of trying to convince Alexander through kisses, he finally granted me the permission to visit the warrior in his cell. He looked well-fed. His wounds from last time were all healed now.I caught him sitting on his bed with his hands fisting on his hair as if he was in a deep thought that despite hearing the footsteps, he didn’t raise his head. “Please stop!” I heard him say after a while, his voice was begging. And when I looked at him, he was crying. But then his eyes suddenly looked vicious as he screamed, “Get out of my head, you lying son of a bitch!”“Mikael,” I called out but he didn’t answer. “Mikael, look at me!”He kept spewing something like he was lost in his own world. No matter how loud my voice was, it was not getting through him.I turned to the warden; my forehead creased. “What’s wrong with him?”He shrugged. “He’s been like that since he was caught. The others who attacked the North with him ended
(Alexander)‘I’M about to do something I might regret but I’m doing it anyway.’I saw the wild anxiety rising in Katriona’s chest while I was absorbing what she said.‘I’m losing time. I need your help, Alexander.’That was seven days ago, after our first exchange of our secret code. During the past week, I witnessed her desperately try to morph herself into something. Katriona trained with my warriors. She had excellent fighting skills. She was a princess who didn’t need a knight. She was a knight herself.Katriona fights with natural grace which is hard to possess these days. I witnessed her take down three of my top-ranking men. The first one was via knife combat and the remaining two was a duel in the ring.Frankly, what Katriona truly needed to work on was her confidence, her belief that she could do anything she put her mind into but that might take a while since it was her own family who shaped her thoughts that way her whole life.We still have the usual conversation although
(Katriona)‘McCain got you good, didn’t he?’ Bernard laughed despite the blood dripping in his mouth. He had fallen on the marbled floor but that smug smile on his face was telling me that I didn’t exactly win against him. It’s as if it was the other way around.‘Well, newsflash, dear. The Northern Beast is only using you,’ he taunted.‘The same way you used my sister? The way you are being used by the Queen like a pathetic loser that you are? Alexander is nothing like you, Bernard! You’re a snake!’Every smell of a person was distinct. That was how wolves identify people even from a mile away. And if only I was not smelling Bernard’s blood scent right now, I would have a hard time believing that it was really him doing this to me.Bernard was there for every occasion in our family. The estate was strict with visitors but we welcomed him. We opened our gates for him.Dad didn’t like him at first for Chantal because he was a half-breed. Although his father was a pure-blooded werewolf,
“THEY cannot be disturbed. That is the Alpha’s order. Once the trio are together, no one is supposed to interrupt them. The last one who tried was sent flying out of the house, barely alive. I’m sorry, Katriona. I hope you understand,” Jace said apologetically after seeing Valerie and I in front of an old house. “Once they are done with their business inside, I will inform the Alpha that you paid a visit. For the meantime, please go back to his house.” The trio Jace was talking about were Clyde, Duke, and Alexander. They were called ‘the indestructible trio in the North’. “The one you are keeping hostage inside is related to me. There are still many important things I need to clear with him, things related to my life that your alpha doesn’t know about,” I reasoned out without plans of backing out. “This is about me, too, Jace. I have the right to be there and interrogate him myself. If I wait until later, knowing your alpha’s temper, he might kill Bernard before I get the answers.”
THE CONFIDENCE and strength Alexander had instilled in me last night all came crashing today. The very man who had built me up so high was the same man who dropped me down mercilessly.And just like how Chantal had pushed me off the stairs, I fell again with nothing to hold onto to save myself. The damage was bigger this time.It was like there were several invisible hands killing me through squeezing my heart.The laughter in Alexander’s voice as he talked about me, the cruel glimmer in his eyes as he compared me to Alison as if I was worth nothing compared to his mate, the savage words he just uttered, kept playing in my head along with Chantal’s voice and the look in her eyes when she talked about me to her lover.I didn’t know how I was able to crawl out of the basement.The next thing I knew, I was already at the gate. Valerie was still there and was chatting with Jace.“That was quick. Did the Alpha send you away?” Jace asked in a teasing tone.I wished it was as simple as sendi
MY HEARTBEAT thudded in my head. I would rather hear Katriona raise her voice at me just like before. I would rather see her lose control or at least, see her try to reveal those little claws to hurt me than see her this quiet.It was like I was looking at a ghost or at Katriona’s empty shell. Gone were the familiar warmth and glow in her eyes.She was not just shattered. She was… ruined.Did she unlock all of her memories while she was gone?“Baby…” I uttered in a pained voice.Heck, I had fought against the bravest and strongest wolves in the past. I always knew what to do. I had rebuilt the North into what it was now. I conquered the rogues. I conquered their demons. Now, they were on the hills, working for me.I had ruled and dealt with thousands of people with confidence and certainty.But tonight, I didn’t know what to do. For the first time after so many goddamn years, this helplessness snuck its way back to my heart, rendering me motionless.When Katriona saw me try to reach o