Everyone stiffened. Jeremy looked in the direction of the arrogant speaker. It was him. The naked werewolf. The man who had taken down their Alpha. Jeremy furrowed his brows. He knew Byron was a very skilled fighter, and it would take an extraordinary opponent to defeat him. The man was young, and he stood naked as the day he was born. But he didn't seem bothered by his nakedness. Nor did he care about his pack losing. He sounded like he was the one winning. Jeremy didn't know him, but he knew the naked man should not be underestimated. The naked man should be the Alpha of the enemies. The idea seemed ridiculous judging by how careless the man looked. But when Jeremy saw hatred and determination deep and unsurpassed in his eyes, he understood. But Jeremy was equally confused. What had they done? What had the pack done to ignite such hatred from the man? "If you don't want your Alpha dead, let my wolves go," the naked man repeated in an equally confident tone. Although
Celeste had been unconscious for three long days. She hadn't shown a single sign of waking up since that horrible night when she got seriously injured. They stopped the bleeding from her wounds. And the next day, she had a severe fever. Thankfully, the fever was finally gone. But Celeste was still unresponsive. Jeremy spent almost every moment by her bedside. He had barely slept since everything happened. With such injuries, it was a miracle that Celeste was still alive. But the constant frown on her face showed she was going through a lot of pain. The slightest noise might jolt her back to consciousness, but she remains motionless, like a fragile porcelain doll. Jeremy grimaced as the memories resurfaced. He couldn't help but remember how despaired he had been that night at the sight of Celeste lying helplessly on the ground. After the enemies were gone, he frantically returned to her. But at that time, her skin was cold, and her breath was too shallow. He whispered her n
Celeste felt like she had a long, long dream. She remembered hearing Jeremy's voice before she was consumed by the darkness. Her shoulder and chest hurt, and her head was throbbing with stabbing pain. So when enticed by the grasp of the still, peaceful darkness, she closed her eyes to welcome it. Everything fell into silence. Time passed in a blur. Celeste couldn't recall how long it had been, perhaps it was only a few seconds, but a voice sounded in her head. A mysterious, strange, yet somehow familiar voice. It was as if it had been a part of her thoughts for years. But the voice was so muffled. It was like someone was trying to speak to her from under the water. She couldn't make out the words being spoken but could somehow sense the urgency and desperation in the tone. With sheer exhaustion clouding her senses, she wished nothing more than herself being consumed by the darkness. But the anguish and distress in the mysterious voice broke her heart. She shook her hea
Mate?! How was that possible? How could Jeremy possibly be her mate? Was she still in her dream? Celeste's eyes widened in horror. She must have heard it wrong. She must have! Her heart raced like thunder in her chest, the sound drowning out even the howling of the wolves in her ears. The silence around her was suddenly too eerie. Mixed emotions of fear and confusion crept into her bones as she was left with silence and the thunderous cry for her mate ringing in her ears. She couldn't believe it. No matter how much she denied it, Celeste could feel a strong pull bringing her to him. Deep down, she had an inkling about this. She had thought about Jeremy's strange behavior after his first shift. She forbade herself to think more about it, but she guessed she always had a theory hidden behind the back of her mind. The deafening thump of her heart threatened to wake Jeremy from his peaceful slumber next to her, but miraculously he remained sound asleep. She couldn't help
It was late at night, and Nancy's unexpected visit to Jeremy only raised more questions in Celeste's mind. What was she doing here? Were they always meeting this late? "Nancy? What are you doing here?" Jeremy asked icily. Okay, maybe not icily. It was just her imagination. Jeremy's voice was neutral with an unmistakable hint of confusion. "I… I had a nightmare. Can't sleep. I still haven't recovered from the vicious attack. Whenever I dream of those horrific scenes, I wake up terrified," Nancy's voice was frail as if seeking comfort and compassion. What?! Celeste stifled a gasp. She didn't believe a word from Nancy's mouth! The last time she checked, Nancy didn't look "terrified" at all in the "vicious attack". Celeste gritted her teeth. The urge to expose Nancy's deceitful act was almost too much to bear. She knew exactly what Nancy was up to. It was crystal clear to everyone in the pack that Nancy had a massive crush on Jeremy. And this was obviously a perfect opportun
Celeste was glad that Nancy was finally gone. Her patience was hanging by a thread. She wouldn't know what she was going to do had Nancy stayed for one more second. She thought Jeremy was going after Nancy, but she was glad when hearing the click of the lock. Turned out he just went to lock the door. And now… she and Jeremy were alone again. The heat of her anger had been scorching Celeste, but now it fizzled out entirely, leaving her feeling empty and hollow like a deflated balloon. She could feel Jeremy walking back toward her. Then, suddenly as a clap of thunder, realization struck her again. Jeremy was her mate. She wished she could just shrink and disappear from under the quilt. She calmed her breathing to maintain the illusion of her still being in a coma. Shame went through Celeste as she realized she was just a coward who ran away from her problems. But damn it! She just couldn't bear the thought of talking to Jeremy right now. Her mind raced as she recalled th
The still and peaceful night was broken by the rumble of her stomach. The rumble echoed in the room like thunder during one of those wild summer storms. Great job there! Perfect timing. Jeremy was silent and still. Celeste was silent and still, too. In contrast to the thunderous rumble of her stomach, now the death of silence was almost unbearable. Celeste froze on the bed. The air around her was squeezing oxygen out of her lungs, and time seemed to have paused for eternity. The moonlight crept through the window into the room. It felt as if the moon's light had turned solid and trapped them all in its grasp, suspending the air around them. Suddenly, without warning, Jeremy burst out laughing. The hearty laughter echoed through the empty room and filled the space, bringing life back to Celeste's paralyzed bodies. Caught up in the infectious laugh, Celeste's lips curled upwards despite her attempts to feign slumber. In the end, her laughter escaped from her lips, as
Time seemed to stretch out to Celeste. It felt like an eternity since Jeremy walked out of that door. But in reality, probably only a few minutes had passed since he left the room. She had never been so clingy. She had never felt such a need to be close to Jeremy. She guessed her wolf had quite a lot to do with what she was feeling. Her wolf within her had become restless for Jeremy. But she couldn't help with it. She didn't know if Jeremy was feeling the same, though. But when he turned back to look at her before leaving, she could sense his wolf wanting the same as hers did. The memory of Jeremy's first shift flashed in her mind. She remembered Jeremy's wolf frozen when she tried to touch him. And she remembered herself standing in front of Jeremy's room, with just a thin door separating the two of them. If he had known they were mates, how much had he gone through to keep himself locked away from her? How on earth did he manage to control his inner beast? Her wolf yearned