Selena's POV. After our visit to Alpha Ezra our next stop is to the areas I've been dedicated to helping for the past few weeks. As usual my arrival there is met with a mixture of joy and awe from the villagers, the younger kids crowd around me, covered in dirt but smiling brightly at me and waving, the adults stay further away, happy to see me but weary of the looming figure that is Zander standing behind me. My first stop is the old woman I was healing up last week, she was crippled and on the verge of dying of starvation when I'd last seen but she was doing a lot better an the little meals I've been sneaking out of the kitchen was going a long way in making her feel better. "Hello ma'am," I saw in a low voice as I crouched in front of her, most of the children had run off to play with their toys and Zander was standing not too far away watching me interact with the woman. I always tried to explain he didn't need to follow me around to protect me in times like this but he brushes
Selena's POV. Nazeera slips into my room as I pace about sorting clothes and worrying about Zander, he did tell me yesterday when he'd finally peeled his face away from between my legs that he had something to take care of tonight, the details I obviously missed because I was much too spent and already slipping into sleep. I'd wone up here alone, covered in the heavy duvet I'd insisted on when he'd started sleeping here, his scent was all over me and on the sheets but he himself was nowhere to be found, I'd assumed he'd be back in two hours, but it'd been five hours now, the sky was dark and I was fretting again.I turn to her the moment she walks in noticing Ana scurrying in behind her, I stare at her in shock for a moment before running over and throwing my hands around her, happy to see my friend out of the hospital bed after two weeks of barely being able to move. "Awwn if I'd knew you'd be like this I'd have gotten hurt more often," she coos patting my head, I jerk back and sm
Laleh's POV. Everything was gone. I tipped my head back and shut my eyes tightly, trying to contain the insane amount of the rage roaring through me. Zander Morgenstein.Zander fucking Morgenstein. Another burst of rage passes through me, hotter and far more dangerous than anything I've ever felt, my anger twisted and roared within me, eager to be tossed out, eager to destroy as recklessly as my own place had been destroyed. But I couldn't… I couldn't meltdown here. I reopen my eyes and with pure pain on my expression I take in the sight of my burned down greenhouse. The outside was totally fine, the glass hidden by the trees, near and polished,but the inside. The plants I'd spent hours working on, planting and caring and meticulously pruning… they were gone. All gone. I shut my eyes again trying not to scream, and tug my hair out, trying even harder to suppress the burning urge to find Zander and wrap my hands around his neck, tighter and tigter until the life slowly drain from
Laleh's POV. After visiting the greenhouse that Zander destroyed in his fit, I took a walk, a long one, past the packs borders and into rogue territory. The sex didn't work long in tampering my mood, once the high of an intense orgasm faded off all that was left was that uncontrollable rage that flared a bit more when I took in my greenhouse again. Of course the sentinel had scurried off the moment we were done, though he was unaware of what I was the anger in my eyes and the dark shade my face usually defaults to when I'm upset would be anough to scare off any person. I'd watched the child run off, eyes hooded as I tried to tamper down the hot rage rising in my chest and the urge to wrap my hand around Zander Morgenstein's neck and squeeze, squeeze hard enough that even with the immortality his curse granted him the lack of oxygen would kill him.Or I could set him on fire the way he did the plants in my greenhouse. I continue my walk, each step tense and exuading the darkness of
Selena's POV. From how warm the other side of the bed was I knew Zander had come back to me room last night, but by the time I'd woken up this morning he was gone again leaving nothing but his scent and the warmth on his side of the bed behind as an indication of his presence here and even though somewhere in my mind I'm aware that he did return I'm still left with a huge hole in my chest. I've become so used to waking up with his arm wrapped around me, tucking me into him and making me feel safe again. Waking up to an empty bed wasn't something I was used to anymore and his presence was something I was beginning to realise I couldn't live without. I sigh tiredly and sit up, stretching and yawning. I glance down to the foot of the bed where Ana and Naz had fallen asleep yesterday, obviously they're gone now and I have a faint memory of Naz dragging Ana out of the room, the both of them saying a drowsy goodbye while I nod and him before slipping back into sleep. Last night was fun,
Zander's POV. Selena was trembling in my arms and I could smell Tristan on her. I felt my heart drop and for the first time in my life I felt genuine fear and rage, fear at what Tristan might have said or done to her and rage at his guts. He touched her.He fucking touched her. And now she was trembling in my arms, shaking, sobbing and from how unresponsive she was to Naz's prodding she was out of it, probably lost in the memories of the horrible things Tristan has done to her over the past two months, the disgrace, the burns, the hitting her … I could see it all over her face as she replayed those memories over and over again, sobbing and shaking as I clutched even closer to me. Both to comfort her and to keep myself rooted, otherwise I'd go after Tristan and I would fuck up the plan of spent months crafting, I would kill him, I'd make sure I give the bloodiest death I could ever give a person. And if I could I'd bring him back and kill him all over again. I look down at the weepy
Tristan's POV. Maybe I was as twisted as my brother, because for a moment in the hallway I'd enjoyed the smell of her fear, I'd enjoyed the way she'd cowered away from me, I'd enjoyed everything about being my own mate's worst nightmare. To Be honest, I hadn't gone looking for her, I just needed to slip out of my room for a minute and then I'd scented her coming towards me. Flowery and soft, my wolf couldn't resist her scent and a part of me had hated to find out that I couldn't either. Even though I found her face absolutely repugnant, I still wanted to see her. The mate bond in me was screaming at me to mate with her, begging me to grab her that moment and fuck her brains out, make her mine. But I couldn and I wouldn't. She'd rejected me, she'd disgraced me, only a fool would go back to their object of disgrace. So I'd decided to mess with her a little bit, remind her that I was someone to fear, even though deep down I had no intention of hurting her, hell I still don't remember
Selena's POV. Once again I woke up to an empty bed. But not an empty room, because I felt the tingles in my stomach and I'd opened my eyes to see Zander standing on the other end of the room, staring out the window with an expressionless face.I blink tiredly at him, suddenly filled with an urge to reach for him and have him hold me. At this same time I was too scared to move, too embarrassed to call him to me when earlier today I'd shooed him away lost somewhere in memories of Tristan ripping my clothes away before the greedy eyes of his pack's males, disgracing me completely. So instead of reaching out to him I stay as still as possible and watching as he watches the view outside my window. There really was nothing to see, the sun had gone down a couple hours ago judging by how dark the night sky was, meaning most of the pack was cast into darkness, the border was lit up by the watchlights stationed around there and on this side of the world we weren't exactly blessed with a glit
Zander's POV. I'd planned several times how I'd kill my brother. It's a sick thing to think about one's own twin, but I'd hated Tristan from the very moment we'd come out of my mother's womb together. I'd planned a slow death for him, I wanted him to watch as I took over the pack, I wanted him to see me take down every single thing he'd put in place, I wanted him to watch me make him obsolete once more. But I'd brushed all that away the moment Selena's body fell limply against mine. I could feel the few borders I'd kept up collapse in one instant and before Tristan had the chance to move I was on him, my hand was at his neck and my teeth were buried onto the other side. He screams under me, scratching at me, hitting in the eye nose and trying to break my teeth, but that barely worked on a regular wolf talkless of me, so undaunted by his little attacks I buy down and before he can react even further I rip a huge chunk of flesh out of his neck. His screams increase as I tear into his
Zander's POV. If not for the fact that her scent was everywhere. It wouldn't be the first time I'd dreamt of her, gliding into my office like that, saying that she has decided to forgive me, then she kisses me and I touch her and she moans and then I wake up. Sometimes I just dream of her walking into my office to talk to me, to laugh with me again, to slip her hand into mine and smile at me that bright way only she knows how to, I felt happy once again at peace and then I'd wake up… back to my miserable reality where she couldn't even look me in the eye. I hate it, I hate it. I hate not having her around, I hate having her so mad at me, I hate knowing I'm the reason she cried so pitifully that day. I miss her so fucking much.But in the midst of all the chaos happening in my mind, in the midst of all that turmoil and pain I was still planning, searching for ways to finally bring my brother down once and for all. While I knew Selena's current grudge with me was all on me I knew tha
Selena's POV. I was never a particularly cruel person. My mother raised me to be many things, strong, uncompromising when need be, tactical when making decisions, kind and many many other things that she crafted to make me the next great leader. But cruelty, I was unused to turning eyes away from people if they needed help, I was uneasy when it came to making decisions about execution or anything that had to do with murder and now even with everything I knew about him, I was still hesitating to make the decision that would get me the revenge that my family and I rightfully deserved. I had no trust for Tristan. Just because he suddenly woke up and told me about Zander's secrets doesn't mean we were suddenly friends. I wasn't stupid, telling me was more for his benefit, even though I wasn't sure how it was possible for me to kill a whole ass cursed Prince, getting Zander out of his way would benefit him a lot more than it would me. Two sides of me were conflicting here, one part of m
Selena's POV. Not even Ana's arms around me can comfort me at this point. I'm beyond distraught. The only thing going through my mind is an image of Zander standing over my mother, covered in blood smiling that same unhinged smile that was on his face when he came to rescue me that day in the woods. He was a monster, a violent bastard. He'd not only killed everyone I'd cared about he had the guts to fuck me afterwards and touch me with the very same hands he'd used to tear into my pack mates. These are the types of thoughts that are constantly making rounds about my brain. The majority of them were curses thrown in Zander's direction, others were shards of glass piercing into me as punishment for sleeping with the man that had killed my family. I was stupid, very stupid I'd let lust and infatuation drive me into the arms of a monster. Why? All because he'd shown me a little bit of kindness while I suffered in this pack. A nagging part of my brain feeds me with the thought that may
Laleh's POV. I could only laugh. Watching Selena in a state of clear turmoil might be one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my life. Prompting Tristan to tell her about what really happened to her family was the right choice after all.I can't say I was surprised to find out Zander was behind it, though we'd chosen to rule their death as suicide it was obviously not. Their bodies were ripped about brutally and purposely and savagely enough that even I was disgusted. Digging into their deaths though was more for curiously reasons than anything else, a creature that could easily murder a whole pack of healers like needed to be assessed, I needed to know if I had a friend or a foe on my hands and guess what, the fee sources that I'd had all painted back to Zander, a little while before he made his return known he'd slaughtered every last person in that pack.Of course the information was secret and extremely hard to gather, but there was nothing a couple of charms and a good han
Zander's POV. Fucking Tristan. I shift back and tug on a pair of trousers as fast as possible, ignoring the pointed stares that are tossed my way as I run up the stairs in search of my mate. I can't even imagine the state Selena is in and only the goddess knows what he told her. I burst into her room to see her on the floor, her hair is a mess, one side of her face is swollen and very bruised, and her eyes are distant. Horror rushes through me as I remember her last encounter with Tristan, the way she'd pushed me away and shut me out for weeks, she'd barely eaten and was just a teary mess, all because he'd spoken to her, I wonder what he'd said now.I kneel in front of her trying to get her eyes to follow me. But it remains fixed on something very far away, cold and closed off to me. Second only to the time she was kidnapped I've never been so scared in my life. "Selena, Selena please talk to me," I say stroking her face and trying to get her eyes to settle on me.She blinks and
Selena's POV. The first few days since I woke up were odd, I spent them walking about the mansion in a haze and trying to regain my bearings, obviously that took a lot of time and Zander was there through it all, holding my hand and muttering encouraging words to me as I sweated out the last of the drugs. But even with my torturously slow recovery I wasn't blind or dumb or weak, I still noticed everything, for example the clear absence of Naz and Callum, Zander's distracted nature and the tension radiating from everyone in the pack I'm guessing it's because the time for the coup was drawing nearer but I don't understand Zander's sudden tension with his friends, not that he'd answer me if I'd asked him about it, rather he'd dodge the question and disappear for hours to 'work', I wasn't buying it I knew something was wrong but I was much too tired to even fight him on this. Instead I bent to his prodding and his gentle touches, I basked in the feelings and sparks that danced about us
Zander's POV. I've never felt such a deep sense of relief before. Watching Selena's eyes flutter open must have been the most comforting thing I've ever seen, because I could have melted at the sight of those lovely brown yes meeting mine again, yes they were hazy, but I'll settle for that after watching her just drop to the floor in a dead faint in that forest and after haring Naz say that she was drugged heavily and make might not wake up for weeks. That was five days ago and she was awake now. I could feel the relief in my bones, even Aziel was calm for the first time in weeks, he was the main reason I wasn't able to fall asleep really. When Naz would pry me away from her bedside and forcee to get some rest all I could har was Aziel's voice in my ear screaming at me to do something or he would himself, and honestly I was much too tired to control him so for once I bent to his will and actually do something. I went to the dungeons and hit that rogue as many times as I could, I tor
Selena's POV. This time I woke up in my room to the sound of people speaking in hused tones about something that sounded extremely important, in the sleepy haze I was in recognized Zander's voice, tight and commanding as he spoke to who I assumed was Callum, my limbs feel heavy and my tongue is limp in my mouth, but at last this time I woke up on a soft bed instead of the cold hard floor.I struggle to open my eyes and when I do it's barely a crack. I squint at the brightness of the room around me, used to opening my eyes to a piercing darkness for the past few days. My head isn't pounding this time but the glare of the light is working up a headache low-key. The voices around me come into more of a focus now and I can hear the distress in Zander's tone. I hold my breath for a minute to enjoy the smooth, easy baritone of his voice. I never thought I'd miss the sound of someone's voice this much, I shift and try to lift myself up but my limbs are too weak and my head is much too heav