Chapter 1: Blessings and cursesSelena's pov"Selena! Come downstairs, honey!" I heard my mother calling me from downstairs and I rolled my eyes and left Laticia, my pet cat, to go answer my mother.My eighteenth birthday was yesterday and suitors have been trouping in from all around our pack to see the rumoured prettiest girl the white moon pack had to offer. Sadly, that's me; Selena Castellan and unfortunately, my beauty is more of a curse than a blessing. My mother is Elena Castellan, revered matriarch of the White moon pack, a peaceful and majestic race of werewolves descended directly from the moon goddess and blessed with her life force. Our glowing fair skin, extraordinary beauty and healing abilities have made us popular over the decades and while we were blessed to have the goddess's blood flowing in our veins, we had one fatal flaw... We couldn't shift into wolf form. A small price to pay for our beauty and insane healing powers.Because of this weakness, we have been pl
Chapter 2: The exiled princeTristan's pov: "You're in a happy mood," Laleh murmured against my lips. "I want to know why."I smiled to myself and rolled out of bed, knotted my robes and walked to the mini bar in my room to pour myself a drink.Truly, I was in a splendid mood.I would be acquiring a maiden, a virgin at that, from the most prestigious pack on earth, blessed with the most beautiful shewolves any werewolf could ask for. The lovely princess of the white moon pack was my mate. What's not to be happy about?I grinned at Laleh, holding the glass to my lips and sipping some cognac. "It's a surprise."Her beautiful face twisted into a pout and she rolled out of bed, naked as the day she was born, and confidently sashayed up to me, without an ounce of shyness or insecurity.That was what I loved about Laleh. She was confident, beautiful, smart, nasty in bed and powerful. Left to me, she would be my luna, but that was unacceptable because for all that she was, Laleh was still
Chapter 3: The rejected mateSelena's pov(Few minutes earlier)I couldn't believe that I was finally here, in the grand home of the alpha. The mansion was bigger and grander than any building I've ever seen in my life and my heart pounded heavily as the reality of what I was about to do dawned on me.I was going to reject the alpha to his face and break our mating bond. Only then will I be completely free from the mad man. Tahila, my wolf, whined in protest, thrashing inside of me at the thought of losing her mate but I clamped down her thoughts blaring into my head. I was doing this for the both of us and she'll thank me later by the time all of this is over.I swallowed and timidly walked into the building, my heart climbing into my throat with each step.One of the sentinels walked beside me, remorse and understanding etched on his face. "Nervous?" He asked.I smiled and nodded. "I'm Roy," he introduced, guiding me through the house to where I was supposed to meet the alpha."I'
Chapter 4Selena's povFor the first time in my life, I knew the pain of being burned. It was indescribably the worst pain I have ever felt. I screamed and thrashed but the alpha held me tight by my hair, his fist, a hard grip. When he was finally done, he tossed me aside like a useless piece of rag.I was crying and heaving but my breathing stopped entirely when I heard his next orders to a random sentinel standing around the room."Get me some wolfsbane."His words sent a cold shiver through my skin and I was shaking and quaking when he walked back to me and squatted down before me.I shrinked away from him, scared and hurt. His hand darted out to grip my hair again, holding me in place, and his left hand caressed my right, unharmed cheek."I am aware of your pack's powers, Selena. How easily you all heal." One of the sentinels handed him a pouch. "I'll make sure to fix that too."Poison Fang was the strongest pack in existence because of their overall speed, strength and lethal b
Tristan's POV I shut my eyes and reclined back between Laleh's legs, letting the bubbling water, sweet smelling soaps, soothing balms and the feel of Laleh's skin be the remedy to my pain. I wasn't sure where the pain was coming from. My head, my heart, my body, everywhere ached. I wanted the soapy water to wash it all away. This had once been my father's room. The extravagant alpha of the proud poison fang pack went all out with his quarters. My mother and father lived in opulence and luxury as the luna and alpha of this esteemed pack.I was supposed to be here with her, my beautiful luna, Selena of the White moon pack. But that wench was no longer fit to rule by my side and until I can find myself a decent mate, Laleh will have to do. She doesn't complain. Doesn't talk back and she sure as fuck doesn't reject me.My knuckles fisted and I slapped the soapy water. Laleh gasped as I sat up and huffed out an angry breath.That stupid bitch! She dared to reject me!Laleh sighed and sat
Selena's POV I inhaled the beautiful scent of the flowers in the garden. Roses, lilies and tulips lined up in pretty rows in front of me and Ana and I took the pleasure of watering and caring for them every morning. The mansion, my new home, was pure hell but this garden gave me a feeling of heaven. I've always loved nature. The flowers, lush green grass, the bubbling brook and tranquil pond beautiful and an abandoned gazebo evoked a sense of peace and tranquility in me. This was my happy place. The only splash of colour in a muted gray and black background.I felt the grief I had been feeling since the sad news about the White moon pack massacre slowly washing down the drain.A huge part of me still wanted it to be an ugly dream. There was a part of me that wanted whoever was responsible for the massacre to be held accountable for it. I wanted someone to tell me that my mum and sister had hidden in an underground tunnel and survived the massacre, but another part of me knew that
TRISTAN'S POV Glaring down at the almost lifeless body of my mate, my head began to hurt and pound me immensely.It was painful. So painful. What was that immense pain in the back of my head?I squeezed my eyes shut and held my head to stop it from spinning. I heard the rustle of my sheets and opened my eyes to need to see Laleh staring at me. "What's wrong my Alpha?" she asked so full of concern, she was still gloriously naked, while I had picked up my robe and wore it before ensuing pain on my stupid bitch of a mate. The pain was excruciating. Almost unbearable."You deserve it," my wolf, Xylith growled bitterly at me."Shut up, you mutt!" I screamed. I was sweating profusely and my head aching me badly, it felt worst than a migraine. I wish I could emancipate myself from this damn thing.Angry with myself, I picked up the iron rod again to inflict more pain on her, unwilling to be the only one that suffers here."Don't beat her again," my wolf commanded."And who the fuck do y
ROY's POV How can a human be so unreasonably heartless and ruthless? And worse, to his own fucking mate?! To a mate as beautiful, kind and prestigious and Selena?If she was mine, I'd protect her. I'd never do anything to hurt her. Even if she rejects me. She was the most beautiful and kindest soul I've ever met and she probably doesn't remember me but I do. I'll always remember the angel that healed me of my life threatening illness. If she was mine, I'd treat her better than the alpha ever would.The alpha…Tristan wasn't human, he was almost a demigod but that isn't an excuse for him to act so cruel, he was relentless with his constant inflicting of pain on her.As I carried her on my arms and she shivered and murmured in distress I couldn't help but be empathetic towards her. She has gone through a lot in such a short period, it was almost likes since she turned eighteen it has been from one misfortune to the other.First, mated to a monster like Tristan, then the destruction o
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