Alexander’s POV
I knew it was her from the second I saw her.
Five years had grown and matured her with her silky chocolate hair cascading down the small of her back. Her blue eyes shined with defiance and will and it almost made me smile, proud to see the woman she had grown into. Our Mate, Caspian whispered to me in pride. Quickly, I shut him out as I reminded myself of why I was here.
I hid around a corner after my glimpse of her. My mother had instructed me to wait until after Alyssa’s shift to make my appearance. It didn’t matter what her wolf was like, whether it was small and weak or strong and powerful, I was here to reject my mate, not accept her.
“Alex, my dear boy, Frey is who I have chosen for you,” My mother, the Luna Queen Lina, reminded me before I set off for the ceremony, “This marriage will give you the support of both the Fire Bone pack as Vivian’s daughter and the Ice Heart pack as the future Alpha’s sister. You need every advantage if you want your father to pass the throne to you instead of Kai.”
She said my half-brother’s name with such disdain it reminded me that she hated him so deeply. She would never speak this way in front of my father, but with me, she didn’t need to hide her true feelings.
My mother had always pushed me to be better than him, though I was the true-blooded heir, I was still only the second prince. My father favoured Kai, but even the Alpha King could not put a bastard on the throne without the support of the other four packs. With this alliance, it would split the kingdom down the middle.
In our kingdom, the Imperial City was surrounded by four major packs. The Alpha family of these packs had power in their blood, unique to their pack:
The Ice Heart Pack had the ability to manipulate ice and snow.
The Fire Bone Pack had the ability to manipulate fire.
The Star Forest Pack had the ability to talk to plants and animals
And the Feather Wing Pack had the ability to grow wings, presenting them in both their wolf and human form.
What made the Royal Family special though, was our ability to manipulate the spirits of other wolves and for our own wolves to take a form outside of our body, we were two souls and two bodies.
The four backs surrounding us used to have equal power, but as the Feather Wing Pack began to lose the power in their wings, they were gradually dismissed by the other packs.
I was shocked at the sight of those beautiful wings on Alyssa’s wolf, but I had to suppress her, had to hurt her to get her under control
Caspian, my wolf, roared at me to stop hurting her, banging against my mental shield to keep him at bay. He had begged me so many times to visit her in the Red Maple Camp that I almost caved.
Be quiet! I commanded him.
Alex you’re going to regret this, he roared again, still fighting me.
Alyssa’s wolf groaned in pain but she was still standing. I was impressed and hated myself for putting her through this pain. She was unwilling to give up and unrelenting. That feeling of pride flowed through me again.
But enough was enough, I couldn’t allow this to continue and with another press of my magic against her spirit, her wolf slumped to the ground and Alyssa shifted.
You bastard! Caspian growled, but I ignored him, looking at my beautiful mate, her eyes filling with tears and naked with only her wings to cover her.
I felt a protective growl rumble in my throat as I saw the way some of the others looked at her and saw the marks and scars on her body. She was supposed to be mine to protect so I took of my cloak and threw it to her. She quickly covered herself, trembling.
The crowd quickly dispersed, even as Freya tried to cling to my arm desperately.
"I didn't-." She whimpered but I couldn’t let her finish her sentence out of fear that I would want to comfort her.
Alex, what are you doing? Caspian asked, feeling my intentions.
"You hate me."
Tell her it’s not true, Alex! TELL HER!
"I did not come for you,” was my response to her and it was getting harder and harder to keep Caspian at bay. So hard that I could barely hear my own thoughts.
I only want you
Caspian did everything he could to stop me from doing what I was going to do next.
"I, Alexander Lupus, the Second Prince of The Lunar Kingdom, reject you Alyssa Snow, as my mate."
"I, Alyssa Snow, daughter of the Alpha of Ice Heart Pack accept your rejection."
Feeling Caspian begin to overwhelm me, I quickly left Alyssa, still on the floor and heartbroken. Caspian finally broke free of me, my golden wolf glaring at me with hatred and pain. I hadn’t just denied myself a mate, I had denied him as well.
"You fucking bastard!” Caspian lunged for me, swiping at my face with his claws. Blood dripped onto the floor, but I didn’t so much as flinch, knowing that the wound would heal quickly.
"I did what I had to,” I responded coldly as if he didn’t realise I was hurting just as much as he was.
"You will regret this. I hope the throne makes you happy."
I growled at him, not willing to back down. I was an Alpha prince, I did not back down. The price for the throne was my mate, and it was one I was willing to live with.
Caspian growled back at me, roaring in my face in anger before he turned around and sprinted away, not wanting anything to do with me.
I shut off my heart, ignoring the piece of my soul that was ripped away because Alyssa wasn’t worth it, not for my crown.
Alyssa’s POVThere was a deathly quiet, only broken by the whispering whimpers of Freya’s breath, quick and calm, as if she breathed too loudly, the ghost would make her pay. She sat, quivering like a child as she stared at her father.“Why?” Evan repeated, a tad harsher than before, but it had an impact all the same.Freya squealed and pulled the blanket over her head, muttering and pleading that she wanted the ghost to go away, still trying to convince herself that it was all a dream.“What did I do to you that would warrant death, Freya?” Evan’s voice was sad, like he was remembering how much his brother cared for Freya. I remembered Alpha Aaron’s last few diary entries: The acknowledgement that his wife was unfaithful to him, that he would never get to see his daughter married, and that he only wanted to see her happy. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d be disappointed in the way she turned out.Despite everything, part of me felt the slightest bit of sympathy for Freya. It wasn’
Alyssa's POVThe plan was set. Alpha Evan and I were in Freya’s room in the palace, waiting for Alexander to fulfil his part of the plan of bringing Freya here. I’d managed to help Alpha Evan into some make-up so he looked paler and sicker, similar to how he said his brother looked in the final few days of his life. I had to admit, I did a good job. If I believed in ghosts, I would have thought he might have been one. But the important thing was that Freya believed in them.We scanned Freya’s room, looking for places to hide, places where I could listen to be a second witness to her and Vivian’s crimes. Maybe, just maybe, with Alpha Evan and my testimonies, we could put at least Vivian behind bars. All the better too if she would be sent to the Red Maple Camp. The irony would be so satisfying.“So you’re just going to be in the wardrobe, correct?”I nodded. The plan wouldn’t work if I was there in the room too, but I had to know for myself, once and for all what Vivan had done to A
Alexander's POV“She was so horrible to me, Alex!” Freya was crying her usual crocodile tears the second she spotted me. Once again, I was trapped in her arms as she buried her head in my chest, dampening my suit with tears and listening to her talk about all the things Alyssa had supposedly done to her.“She practically threatened us and then your brother got involved! Oh, Alex, I was so scared.”I brushed my fingers through her hair, trying to calm her down slightly. Once upon a time maybe I would’ve believed her, but I knew her better at this point.And obviously, Kai had told me what happened and the plan they had come up with, so I needed to follow through with my part of it.“I will absolutely have a talk with him and complain to my mother regarding it. They’ll both be punished. He has no right to insult you and Alyssa needs to watch herself since you will be the future Luna Queen.”She seemed to smile in relief, but I knew there was a scheming mind beneath that innocent-looking
Alyssa's POVI wasn’t too concerned when Alyssa disappeared with Nolan. Did I want to wring his scrawny little neck and bury his body so no one would ever find him? Yes. But I wasn’t worried about her safety. Alyssa could take care of herself and she seemed to trust Nolan (making me want to kill him more).Another reason was that I was able to keep an eye on Freya, Vivian, and my stepmother. It helped that the Luna Queen barely left her throne, I wouldn’t have been surprised if her royal ass was glued to that thing. She was ordering the servants so that they were rushing around the ballroom non-stop. I had a feeling that it had something to do with me taking Alyssa away from her for the night. The servants were going to hate her more than they already did, but after that night she would no longer be a servant and have to put up with their bullying.And I was going to make them all suffer for the way they treated her.Vivian was practically flirting with all the other Alphas and Freya
Alyssa's POVAlpha Evan was still standing where I last saw him so it wasn’t hard to find him with Nolan in tow. I made eye contact with him and gestured to the side entrance where the servants usually came and went so they didn’t disturb the rest of the party members.He got the message and within minutes the three of us were standing just by the exit so it didn’t seem too suspicious. If anyone asked it was a conversation between two Alphas and a serving girl who was attending to their needs.“Alpha Evan,” I lowered my head to him, “It’s good to see you again.”“Likewise Little Wolf. And I see you’ve brought a friend.”I smiled, gesturing to Nolan, “This is Alpha Nolan of the Star Forest Pack. He is a close friend and shares a common enemy with us.”Alpha Evan looked around cautiously before nodding in agreement, “It’s good to have allies. You never know how many enemies you have around the corner. But are you sure I can trust him?”I looked at Nolan. Alpha Evan had no reason to trus
Alyssa's POVIt wasn’t easy. Honestly, I had no idea how I managed to make it out. I waited until the next communal exercise before sneaking to a specific corner. It was walled off and covered by trees, broken bits and pieces from failed construction and there it was, a tunnel barely big enough for an average person to fit through. But I wasn’t an average person.From my time being stuck in the prison, I’d been half-starved so had become a lot smaller than I’d previously been. Quickly, I looked to make sure no one was watching me, I got down on my hands and knees and began to crawl through the tunnel.How Austin knew this was here was beyond me, but I didn’t have time to think about it as I army-crawled my way through the dirt and muck. I scratched myself on twigs and stones, feeling the sting of the scratches. I kept going.After what felt like an hour, I finally felt cool fresh air hit my face as I left my tunnel. Now I had another problem: I was in the middle of nowhere with no i