Feyre’s POVI lay quietly on my bed, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. Mishka snored lightly from the bed next to mine. She’d come back much later than I had and called out to me. I’d pretended to be asleep though, unable to face anybody just yet. I didn’t think I could form a coherent sentence without dissolving into pathetic tears and I was sure Mishka had her own woes to tend to considering she was coming back almost seven hours later after being called away first. I’d been awake all night, unable to get a wink of sleep. Every sudden sound made me jump, ever terrified that it was the Lycan King coming to vandalize me again. The one time I’d fallen asleep, Xaden’s arms and one good eye had jerked me awake with a choked scream. I was lucky Mishka had been deeply asleep, pulled underneath by her own exhaustion. Ever since then, I remained awake, the jarring memories of the event replaying over and over again in my head. I’d showered after limping back to my room, but I still
Feyre’s POVI tried to hold the pose steady, paying close attention to my form as we’d been instructed by the yoga teacher. My muscles trembled with the effort but I held strong, not wanting her little plastic cane to land on my back again. I envied Mishka beside me, who moved with a grace and effort that I couldn’t dream of managing with my panting lungs and quaking limbs. It was clear that she’d been doing this a while and she very was well toned for it. The instructor moved us through several more poses which I valiantly attempted. It was only on the last one that my muscles gave out with thirty seconds still to go in the allotted time. To my gratitude, she let me have it without any swing of her cane. I panted while the rest of the girls held through until the bell rang. It took a few minutes for me to feel okay enough to rise. Mishka sat for a few minutes as well, but I had a feeling it was more for my benefit than hers. “You okay?” She asked and I nodded with a smile
Feyre’s POVI was lying on my bed, flipping through my second book two days later when a knock came at my door.Mishka was out getting her laundry so I was alone inside. I sat up on my bed with a frown. “Come in.” The door creaked open to reveal a maid. “You’ve been summoned to the reception, Miss. You are to dress presentably and be there in five minutes.” My hackles rose. “Summoned by who?” I asked but she didn’t reply to me, closing the door with a click now that her message had been delivered. I stared after her, my anxiety, an all too familiar companion these days, rising instantly. I got out of bed, washed my face, and ran a brush through my black tresses before dressing in some sort of red lace teddy that made me blush to even look at. It had garters on the thigh with more straps around my back and waist. It came with a matching robe that didn’t do much for my modesty, as small and thin as it was. Still, I wrapped it around my body as best as I could. It wo
Feyre’s POVAll in all, my last encounter with the Lycan King wasn’t nearly as terrible as my first or as scarring as the second. All that had been required of me was to serve the King and his guests. Even though I had to do it in what was pretty much erotic underwear and high heels, I’d managed to finish and escape without so much as a brush of skin with anyone else. Apart from aching feet and understanding the extent of Xaden’s ambition, I was left with little to traumatize me. I hadn’t relaxed until Garrick escorted me back to the Harem and even then I’d had a little bit of anxiety. It had been two days since then and I was much calmer. I flipped through another page of my book, not particularly engrossed in what was going on inside it. Mishka slept in her bed having been out with a patron particularly late last night. It was nearly noon and she was yet to stir from the slumber she’d fallen into when she stumbled over here by six AM this morning. I was a tad worried
Feyre’s POVI remained kneeling at Xaden’s feet for the rest of the day, numbed by this new realization while the men laughed and drank, some even smoking all around me. Others trickled it, more girls being fetched to serve as party favors. There were mostly nobles and a few retired generals, all brimming with excitement at the disaster they had wreaked on yet another innocent werewolf kingdom. I was ignored for the most part where I was on the floor and I was grateful for it. The first girl I’d met here had long been made topless, the three others who had later joined all sitting or laying across the lap of one man or the other, being pawed relentlessly by multiple hands. Occasionally, I was asked to get up and serve something or fetch another. “To King Xaden! Ruler of the northern straits and soon to the emperor of Lycans and wolves alike!” One of his guests raised in toast and a boisterous cheer rang around the room. “To our brave warriors who keep conquering us territo
CHAPTER SEVENTEENFeyre’s POVI shut the book in my lap and dumped it with the rest of my finished pile with two pages to go. I couldn’t suffer through it anymore, my consciousness and will overwhelmed by the barrage of memories that assaulted my every waking moment. I’d spent the last two days after the gruesome execution of Alpha Landon trying my best to forget. I was having no such luck. I’d been allowed back to my room, Xaden releasing me from my torture and calling for one of his favored girls before the end of the night. As incredibly traumatizing as it was, I’d had the best outcome out of all the girls. I could only thank the goddess that I wasn’t yet ‘experienced’ because I would have bore the same fate as them otherwise staying up with the men until early the next morning and doing god knew what sort of debauchery before dragging their exhausted selves back. Every time I thought about it, my stomach churned. Every time I remembered that soon that would be my own
Feyre’s POVI tried not to breathe too loudly. Tried not to move. Tried not to let my heart beat too fast or any of the other things that would alert a highly sensitive lycan or wolf shifter to my presence behind the wall. I had no such luck because the voices seized all of a sudden, footsteps speeding up. “Who’s there?” I heard a moment later and I immediately turned, trying to run. I had barely made it three steps when they caught me. Hands wrapped around my waist from behind, drawing me into a hard, tall body. I struggled uselessly, squirming and kicking the air as I tried to escape that vice-like grip. The other man came around to face me, a delighted smile that made my skin crawl breaking out on his face at the sight of me. “Well, well well. What do we have here?” He drawled. The man behind me lifted me up, my kicking less now that I was suspended off the floor. “A runaway slave?” Fear lanced through me. “No! I wasn’t trying to run away!” “Oh, you weren’
Feyre’s POVWe met the guard who had escorted me to the library outside the door. He’d been about to enter just as we were leaving. He startled seeing Garrick, then at my disheveled look. “M─My Lord─” “You’re fired. Get your things and get the hell out of the palace. Now.” Garrick said flatly, his tone leaving no room for argument. He turned and kept walking towards the direction of the harem. I followed behind, glancing back to see the guard frozen in place, staring after us in shock. Garrick stomped all the way over to the women’s wing with me in tow. At the reception, he demanded to see Madame Esmelda but was told she was out. He fumed at the receptionist as if she was the one who had made the Madame leave the premises. “Garrick. Please. Let’s not make it a bigger deal than it is.” Perhaps it was the subtle warnings and acts of kindness he’d shown me since I got into this hell of a place, but I felt comfortable enough to speak plainly to him. To my relief, he d
Feyre’s POVMy eyes closed, pain and shock emanating from my heart. Something was digging into my chest and closing around my already constricted heart. It was going to kill me—“Dymon stop! He’s tied himself with her! She’ll die if you kill him!” I heard someone— Possibly Garrick— scream.There was a moment of hesitation before the pain regressed as suddenly as it came and I started to heal, a dull ache left in its place.I heard a gleeful, maniacal laugh that could only be Xaden’s but it was far away. Dymon was near instead, cradling me into his arms with all the gentleness in the world, a look of worry on his face.“Are you okay?” He said anxiously. Xaden’s growled, cutting off any answer I might have had.“Keep your hands off my mate you filthy blood-sucker!”Dymon gaze flicked to him for a moment, dismissive as ever. One moment we were on the floor of Xaden’s odd shrine, the next he rose with me in his arms, moving with insane speed to another part of the castle.I didn't recogni
Feyre’s POVRetribution came hard and fast, a slap cracking across my cheek. I stumbled backward, clutching one side of my face, saved from tumbling to the floor by the wall that backed me. Xaden looked enraged as he glared down at me.“What right have you to refuse me whore?” He growled, his entire demeanor changing within the twinkle of an eye.“I don't—” A loud, rapid knock interrupted whatever it was I’d been going to say. A good thing too because I certainly would have gotten myself killed if I leaned into this anger. All the spite I felt kept bubbling up to my lips and spilling forth from them. A dangerous thing considering who I was talking to. For the first time since I’d felt it, I tried to control some of that boldness and anger that surged through me. It immediately quietened.Xaden noticed my sudden quiescence enough that his golden eye flicked over to me, a curious glint in them, before turning back to the person who had burst in on us without his permission.It was Garri
Feyre’s POVMy father barely had me for a full hour before I was bundled into a black bulletproof van and whipped away from my childhood home. I hadn’t seen any of my step-siblings and I hadn’t wanted to. Hell, I hadn’t even wanted to see my father. I’d spent the entire time in his custody with my eyes firmly shut, praying to wake up from the horrible dream I was in. He hadn’t said much to me, my father. He’d gruffly asked me if I’d had my first shift now that the curse was lifted. I’d given him a look but hadn’t deigned to respond and after several uneventful tries, he’d left it, and me, well alone.I hadn’t been told but I knew where I was being taken and I dreaded it. I didn’t need to overhear my captors or try to map the direction we were going in. I knew who had made my father kidnap me and give me away immediately without even trying to exploit my newfound powers himself first. I knew whose power and wealth extended through all wolven territories, enough that even the remote isl
Dymon's POVI should never have listened to Golran. In the weeks that followed my return to Drusden, that one regret was at the forefront of my mind.I had previously thought myself above such petty inclinations, but as day after without Feyre’s presence passed, I couldn't help but think how much I missed her. I fell into a petulant gloom, spending most of my days brooding in my office, thinking about her all the time in between a few productive hours when I got things done.Centuries of a life lived made it easy to put things out of mind especially once they were out of sight. Yet, I found myself indulging in memories, not to mention fantasies, all revolving around this one person.She was a slip of a girl. Barely twenty-one and yet had a wariness to her that belied pain lasting a century. Of course, she hadn’t been so wary the last night we’d spent together. No— then she had been confident and bold, brimming with passion and oozing a desire she’d eventually drowned me with.By the g
Feyre’s POVIt had been two weeks since Dymon left the island and it wasn't any easier to accept. I tried, for the most part, to act as normally as possible. I went to meals with my family and got to know them. I went for walks through the garden with my grandfather and heard more tales— not just of my mother— but of the island and dire wolves even.I spoke to Dymon, but only sometimes, on the phone he got me. He sent text messages and I would stare at them for hours, days even, before I replied.I was angry, I think, although I did not dare say it. I didn’t think it my place or right to ask why, to tell him not to go. So I remained silent and occasionally told him I was fine whenever he checked in.That he would run so suddenly, without any explanation after the night we shared threw me off entirely. For a moment, I’d thought there was something between us.Something past the desire that was keeping us going.He hadn't even let us entertain the thought, or really talk about it all be
Dymon’s POVI wasn’t surprised when barely an hour after breakfast, a maid came to request my presence at Golran’s office. The exchange between Feyre and I couldn’t have lasted more than seconds, but it was enough for his sharp eyes to notice and now I suspected I was going to be cross-examined on my intentions or any actions I’d taken on his granddaughter so far. I wasn’t at all ready for it, I had yet to examine my feelings on the drastic way my relationship with Feyre had suddenly… evolved. Still, while I was here, I preferred to sow seeds of goodwill and keep the peace by doing as requested. It would make things easier, not just for me, but for Feyre.With that in mind, I swallowed my longsuffering sigh and followed the maid, allowing her to lead me once again to Golran’s office.He was waiting for me to arrive, his eyes snapping to the door the moment I knocked and opened it. The maid didn’t enter with me and I closed the door behind me before taking one of the seats he silently
Feyre POVI was in a much clearer head space when I woke up the next morning. I sat up feeling better than I could remember feeling in years and blinked at the half-naked vampire standing a few meters beside the bed, murmuring into a phone. A rush of memories from the night before came tumbling into my mind, resulting a rose tinge on my cheeks. There was a dull ache in my limbs, a pleased tingle between my thighs which hinted that a repeat performance would not be out of place.He turned then, crimson eyes catching my gaze and he paused for a moment as we stared at each other.It took a few more moments, but he rounded up his call, staring at me the entire time until he finally hung up. Even then he didn’t look away. He stalked towards me, an appreciative glint in his eyes that made me shiver. It wasn’t until that heated gaze swept down my body and back, the desire in them thickening, that I realized I was naked. Arousal quickened my pulse and puckered my nipples and I shivered again
Feyre’s POVThere was a need in me that I couldn’t put my finger on. I didn’t understand it at first, but it had consumed my every thought since I set my eyes on Dymon again, after returning to consciousness. I didn’t know if it was a side-effect of the spell or if it was something else entirely, but I had been inordinately pleased by him and now, I itched with a desire to make him mine.His lips moved over my own, gentle yet firm and I drank greedily, the flames of need fanning ever so higher. Such exquisite pleasure was foreign to me, yet I embraced it with eagerness and glee that I could hardly believe. Dymon himself was very careful, but then, he always was. His hands rested lightly on my shoulders as if he was doing his best to keep me at bay even as we kissed. Discontent licked at my insides, along with that fiercely burning need again and I did the first thing I was sure would assuage it. I pressed closer against him and the action seemed to please him as much as it did me beca
Dymon’s POVOnce Feyre clung to me, she didn’t want to let go. I couldn’t claim to dislike it, so being the hedonistic creature I was, I eagerly indulged her, slipping my arm around her waist so I could draw her even closer— as close as I could get away with in polite company like this.I ignored the dirty looks the half-breed Elvin witch sent my way, glancing down at Feyre instead. Her purple eyes, brighter and richer somehow, neigh pulsed back at me.“It worked?” She asked, disbelief clear in her voice and a smile tugged at my lips, relief washing through me as the realization hit.She pulled away from me to stare down at her own body and left me mourning the loss of her closeness. Her warmth. Her face held a mixture of wonder and disbelief, even as the realization slowly dawned.“Something feels a little different, but not too much to be honest. I feel… normal.” She said inclining her head as she regarded me. My breath caught in my throat seeing the way her eyes glittered, the unde