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
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. 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. 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
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
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
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
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