Olivia POVI was standing in the alley, waiting impatiently for Gabriel to come back. When I called and told him about Linnea, he agreed immediately and went to get some food for her. My heart skipped a beat when I saw him come running with a bag in his hand. “Here.” He said and handed it to me. “I can’t go in there. My wolf will lose it if I smell her. Just tell her that I said hi and that I’m sorry.”“Thank you.” I whispered and kissed his cheek. Gabriel’s eyes softened and I turned to run back inside the house. I ran up the stairs to my room and started rummaging through the bag. Ayesha was sitting on the edge of my bed where Linnea was still out cold. “We need to wake her up.” Ayesha muttered. She tried shaking Linnea carefully to see if she responded, but Linnea still didn’t move. I looked in the bag again and I smiled when I held up a package of smelling salts.“This will do the trick.” I chirped. I tore the package open and held it under Linnea’s nose. Linnea started
Linnea POVI walked down the steps with Olivia and I saw the warmth in Gabriel’s eyes when he looked at Olivia. I remembered the coldness Alessandro was showing off when doing business and I tried to mimic that to make myself more intimidating when facing Gabriel. “Does Harald know that I’m here?” I asked. Gabriel shook his head. “No.” He replied. “He would take extreme measures to get you back, and I don’t want to risk anything happening to Olivia, or to you for that matter.”I kept a stone cold glare on my face when I scrutinized his facial expressions, looking for any kind of lie. “And my father?” I asked. “Is he alive?”“Yes.” Gabriel replied. “He’s in the dungeon along with the head Omega. She helped you fake your death, right?”I stared at him. “It was Wanda?” I gasped. “Are they okay?”Gabriel looked uncomfortable.“For now, they are unharmed.” He said. “But I don’t know for how long. Alpha Harald has been on edge since you disappeared and he might execute them to get you
Linnea POVWe went to a small store that was selling burner phones and bought one for me. Olivia was unusually quiet while we walked, and I would almost figure out what she was thinking about. “Are you okay?” I asked. Olivia glanced at me and sighed. “Please don’t be mad at me.” She groaned. I frowned. “Why would I be mad at you?” I asked. She looked down, but I could still see the tears forming in her eyes. I stopped walking and hugged her tightly. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “When you take back your pack, what will you do about Gabriel?” She sobbed. “He betrayed the pack, that can’t go unpunished, right?”I was stunned by her question for a moment. “You’re right.” I sighed. “He will probably have to face some kind of punishment for betraying his pack like that.”“What’s the punishment for that?” She asked. My heart sank. “It’s either death or banishment depending on the severity of the crime.” I whispered.Olivia took a step back. “So he was right?” She asked in disbelief
Olivia POVWhen Gabriel closed the door to my room, I cleared my throat awkwardly. “So, how do you want to do this?” I asked. Honestly I didn’t really know what it was that he wanted from me. He said that he wanted to be mates with me for a week, but what the fuck does that even mean?He walked up to me and cupped my cheek, sparks firing along my skin.“That depends entirely on you.” He replied. “I want to touch you and…”“Fuck me.” I finished the sentence for him.He shook his head. “A mate bond isn’t just about sex.” He frowned. “I want to get to know you. I want to love you in every way possible.”I shrugged. “There’s nothing to know about me.” I replied. “I’m just another boring vampire who’s out at night and drinks blood.”Gabriel chuckled. “You said that you were over four hundred years old.” He said. “Somehow I doubt that your life has been boring.”I looked down. “What if you don’t like what I tell you?” I asked quietly.I felt his fingers lightly grip my chin and force
Linnea POVI was so nervous before the meeting with Alessandro that I couldn’t sleep. It was early in the morning and I had been up all night. I had effectively become a night owl after hanging out with Olivia these past few days. I went through millions of scenarios in my head, wondering what he was going to say and how I should reply, but deep down I knew that it was not going to go as I planned either way. After a few hours of tossing and turning anxiously, I decided that I should dress to kill. If I was about to be rejected, I should at least do it in style. So I locked myself in the bathroom and started to get ready. I rummaged through Olivia’s things and found a new razor to take care of all my problem areas. Then I spent about an hour going through her makeup. I had to admit that I wasn’t all that good with makeup, so when Olivia knocked on the door and asked what I was doing, I heaved a sigh of relief, opened the door and begged her to help me. Once again, Olivia came t
Alessandro POVLinnea walked in calmly, smiling softly at Harley and I who were gaping in disbelief at her. She was wearing a tight burgundy dress that showed off her every curve along with a pair of silver stiletto heels. A silver bag hung from her shoulder and her blonde curls cascaded down her back. “Hello.” She said. “What are you doing here?” I asked. Her beauty made me feel like the wind was knocked out of me and I struggled to keep my composure as my wolf wanted to tear through the surface and claim our mate on the spot. “I found your weapons.” She stated matter of factly. “I think we have some things to discuss.”I glanced at Harley.“Leave us.” I commanded. Harley excused himself and walked out of the room, but not before he stopped and touched Linnea’s arm. “It’s good to see you.” He mumbled and Linnea smiled at him. “It’s good to see you too, Harley.” She replied. I had to force myself not to growl at their brief interaction. I didn’t want any other man touching her
Linnea POVWait what?I stared at Alessandro in disbelief, completely stunned by his words. “I thought you didn’t want me?” I whispered and frowned in confusion.He took my hand and sparks fired along my arm. “I’m so sorry about that.” He replied.I looked down in my lap and fidgeted with my fingers. “Olivia was certain there was something else going on that made you want to reject me.” I mumbled softly.I looked up and saw Alessandro nodding. “Come.” He said. He got up and reached out his hand to me. Sparks tingled in my palm when I took his hand and he helped me up. Alessandro led me to a lounge and we sat down on the couch. He took a deep breath and looked at me with a tormented expression in his eyes that made my heart clench. “I left Italy six years ago.” He started. “I was an Alpha heir, destined to take the title after my father. Just before my eighteenth birthday, Harley had overheard that someone was planning an attack on us to take over the pack.”Alessandro shivere
Alessandro POVI stared at Linnea in shock. “I was in heat for three days.” Linnea whispered and sat up.A frown creased her forehead. “Does that make you mad that I had my heat already?” She asked.I quickly composed myself and cupped her cheeks.“You went through a heat by yourself?” I whispered, feeling concerned. Linnea nodded and tears welled up in her eyes. “I didn’t know what else to do.” She croaked out and looked away. “You should have come to me.” I blurted. “I could have made you better.”Linnea got up from the couch and glared at me. “Really?” She snarled. “So what, you make me feel better and then reject me when it’s finished?”A sob escaped her lips and she turned her back to me. “I thought that you didn’t want me.” She whispered. “So I took care of it myself.”I got up and wrapped my arms around her from behind. “I’m sorry.” I whispered. “I’m so sorry that I left you alone like that with a rejection hanging over your head. If I could take it back, I definitely w
Rocco POVI knew that I wasn’t supposed to be in this part of the packhouse at this time of night, but I didn’t have a choice. I crept closer to the basement, where faint screams were heard. My hair was standing on end and I shivered at the horrifying sound. Being careful not to draw attention to myself, I snuck closer and peered inside the interrogation room. A man was sitting in a chair, his wrists duct taped to the arm rests. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and several cuts and bruises littered his body. I stifled a gasp when I saw Mia standing behind him. “Please.” The man whimpered. “I’ve told you everything I know.”Mia turned around, her body dressed in a tight leather bodysuit. “Oh, I know.” She purred. “But I’m not done having my fun just yet.”With that, she took out a knife and carved something on the man’s shoulder. He shook and rocked the chair trying to get away from her, but the chair was bolted to the floor. His screams gave me chills and Mia laughed at his anguish. “
Alessandro POVGabriel’s hands trembled as he walked up the steps, his head lowered. I would never admit it to Linnea, but I was going to enjoy this. Gabriel deserved it, and I loved getting my hands dirty. My father had trained me in hurting people the right way to extract information, and I had become really good at it. I took off the cuffs and instructed Gabriel to take off his shirt and face the crowd. Then, I turned to Linnea and made her back away a bit. I didn’t want to risk hitting her. Linnea looked at me questioningly, as if she was trying to see through me. Maybe she was seeing the excitement?I turned my face away and picked up the whip. “I’m going to count to twenty.” I said. “You should probably get down on your knees in case you pass out before then.”Gabriel nodded stiffly and sat down, refusing to look at the crowd in front of him. I unfolded the whip, the silver tip glimmering in the light as it came down on his back. Gabriel cried out from the pain, his hands b
Linnea POVAlessandro sat down behind the desk and I perched myself on his lap when there was a knock at the door. “Come in.” Alessandro called out. Wanda opened the door and showed a man inside. “Dante.” Alessandro smiled. “Thank you for coming.”“Do you know what’s going on?” Dante asked. “Soraya has been missing. I have no idea where she is. When you called, I guessed that this is what you wanted to talk about.”Alessandro nodded. “The council was here and took a lot of the people responsible into custody.” He replied. “I just wanted you to hear it from me first. Soraya contacted Alpha Harald in an attempt for him to claim my Luna as his. It backfired and the council deemed her an accessory to the crimes that had taken place in this pack.”I smiled apologetically when Dante stared at Alessandro in shock. “I’m really sorry about the trouble that she has caused.” He said after a while. “I’ll talk to the council since she is a member of my pack. I just never thought that she woul
Gabriel POVI didn’t know how long I had been in the cell, but I was starting to feel stressed. My mother was locked in the cell beside mine and she hadn’t stopped glaring at me. “Was it worth it?” She asked. “Selling out your family?”I shrugged. “We should never have gone along with this in the first place.” I replied. “Now we lost everything.”“Yes, because of you!” Mom screamed, making the other prisoners throw annoyed looks at her. “You did this to us. You would have been Alpha by now.”“Would I?” I asked. “I want to be Alpha because I earned it, not because I got a pack handed to me that wasn’t even mine in the first place.”Mom sneered at me. “It’s because of your mate, isn’t it?” She asked. “Maybe I should have asked more questions earlier, but let’s do this now instead, since she seems to be the reason for this.”I growled at her. “It’s none of your business.” I replied. Before my mom could reply, a group of MoonStone warriors walked in. “You are being transported.” One
Linnea POVThe council took two days to sort out the information they had gathered. In the meantime, we decided to clean up the Red Rock pack. The pack was very well off generally, but the ranked members were sitting on all the money while the lower ranked members were struggling to make ends meet. When we arrived, I located the kitchen to talk to the Omegas. One thing I had learned from being an Omega in Alessandro’s pack was that the Omegas heard a lot more than they would let on and if there were anyone to ask about what was going on inside the pack, it was them. I managed to find my way to the kitchen and found a group of twenty Omegas hard at work making lunch. The door to the kitchen was slightly ajar so I stayed outside to observe their dynamic for a moment.“Hurry up, the new Alpha will be here soon.”I peeked in through the door and saw a woman who seemed to be the head Omega barking out orders to the girls that scrambled to fix the last things. Taking a deep breath and
Linnea POV“You know, if I’m going to be living with you and share a bedroom with you, we might need to make a few changes.” I teased as we got dressed the next morning.Alessandro raised an eyebrow. “Really?” He said. “You don’t like my bedroom?”I gestured to my room and chuckled. “Do I look like the kind of person that would be totally fine with having a room as dark and gloomy as yours?” I asked. Alessandro chuckled too. “I guess not.” He said. “We’ll get to work on that once things have settled down.”We left the bedroom and descended the stairs to the dining room. “So how would you want to decorate the room?” Alessandro asked. I shrugged. “I want it a little lighter.” I said. “It’s a little intimidating, you know.”“Can we keep the pillars by the bed?” Alessandro asked. I smiled seductively.“Maybe.” I replied. “That depends.”Alessandro pulled me closer to him.“On what?” He whispered, his voice husky.“It depends on if you are planning on using them?” I whispered back.
When the car stopped, three men and a woman stepped out and made their way over to us. They were all dressed in black suits and their faces all looked stern and cold. The dominating auras that emanated from them made them feel so intimidating and I shivered a little. “Alpha Alessandro, I presume.” A man with dark hair that reached his shoulders spoke. “Yes.” Alessandro asked. They quickly introduced themselves as Councilman Jonathan, Tore, Isac and Councilwoman Carina.“Thank you for coming so quickly.” Alessandro said and shook hands with the man who appeared to be their boss. “We’ve been aware of the situation for a while.” Councilman Jonathan replied. “We reached out to Alpha Harald, but he reassured us that everything was by the book and he was going to leave the pack in the capable hands of the Alpha’s stepson.”Alessandro shook his head. “The takeover was done without a challenge to the Alpha.” He said. “My Luna can testify to that.”He gestured to me and Councilman Jonat
Linnea POVWhen we got back to the packhouse, everything was in complete chaos. Our warriors were leading Red Rock warriors into the dungeons. “Where’s Antonia?” I asked Gabriel.“In the dungeon.” He replied. “I locked her in there and went to help you.”“Right.” Alessandro said. “I need to go call the council and get them here ASAP.”I nodded. “Yeah, we need to sort out a lot of things around here.” I agreed. Every region in Sweden had its own council. The Skåne council was located in a small town called Höör, that was in the middle of the region. It would probably not take more than an hour for them to get here once Alessandro called. A group of warriors approached me and Gabriel when Alessandro left. “Where do you want us, Luna?” They asked. I glanced at Gabriel and he nodded. “I should probably get to the dungeon too.” He whispered. “I’m sorry.” I croaked out. “I’ll do everything I can.”Gabriel smiled softly and I turned to the warriors. “Give him his own cell.” I said.
Alessandro POVI had no idea why she was here, but she seemed to be on our side, so I decided to let it go for now and smelled the air to pick up Alpha Harald’s scent. “Go.” The witch said. “I’ll take care of the last of these idiots.”With that, she threw a ball of lightning towards the wolves. I looked over at David, who nodded reassuringly. We took off together towards the forest. Two Alphas against a coward that relied more on his money and armies than his own strength. Easy.I forced myself not to think that this was a piece of cake. If I did, I might underestimate him when the time came. He took over this whole pack in a matter of hours. He might have some more tricks up his sleeve. I spotted a running wolf at the edge of the forest and quickened my pace. The wounds from the previous fight were healing pretty well and I was starting to feel stronger with every stride. Alpha Harald raced out into a meadow when we caught up with him. David ran past me and was just about to po