(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
“A WEEK?” Every muscle in my body tensed up as pain burned through me. I couldn’t even last a day without seeing Katriona and here was my friend, casually telling me this bullshit? I stood up, pacing the living room back and forth. “No fucking way! There has to be another solution, Clyde. I can inject her with my blood. What do you think? A vampire’s blood is different. You are aware of that. Since we are mates, maybe it can help-““Only if Katriona wants it,” Clyde answered. “The main problem is her body has been rejecting any food and drinks. You said so yourself. She will certainly reject your blood too. I personally don’t recommend it. It’s too risky. It can make her situation worse. If she is a vampire or a human, it would work. No doubt about that. But she isn’t like that.”“Then what the hell am I supposed to do now?” I shook my head. “I can’t let her go, Clyde. I don’t know how!”That was suicide.Just the mere thought of it was already sucking the air out of me. I had lived w
GRAY had become the only color I knew for years until Katriona splashed other colors into my life. Now, those colors were everywhere around me. If she were to leave this place, I might revert to my old self, knowing just one color.Beautiful women were everywhere but women who possessed a heart and soul as tender as hers were rare.Goddamn it. This was harder than going to war. I just started living again. And now, I would have to go back to being a breathing corpse again.But Clyde’s word’s made sense. No matter how I denied it.Katriona will live.That was the only thing that should matter. She was too young to wither away like this just because she fell in love with a bastard like me. She was only twenty-three. There was so much about life and about the world waiting for her to experience.I raised Katriona’s chin and stroked her cheeks with my fingers. “Princess, do you want to return to the city?”She blinked. That was the first reaction I got from her for days.I smiled even if
“THERE are troops on both borders! They have broken down the barrier and are marching towards us, Alpha!”The alarm all over the North rang. My warriors stood in formation while the rogues came running in their wolf forms, encircling me and Katriona to keep us safe.I threw a swift glance at Clyde who seemed startled upon seeing the woman who broke his barrier. For a split second, I saw pain cross his eyes. It was obvious that he knew her but I don’t give a fuck.“Clyde! Come to your fucking senses!” Duke and I yelled before the latter departed, leading some of the warriors to face the invaders in the East.“I’m sorry,” he said in a low voice, still looking shaken.The mage cussed for the first time before casting another spell. The woman got hurt. Her body flew miles away from Clyde’s attack. Anger rose inside me. I didn’t care who she was, whether she was Clyde’s ‘the one who got away’. Right now, she was an enemy. Once I guaranteed Katriona’s safety, I would bury her and all of he