Romans de Esther Milly

Myles’s POVThe gun in Murphy’s hand never wavered. His grin was wide with his teeth yellow in the dim rooftop light. Serena pressed against me with her nails digging into my arm as if she could hold me up through sheer will. “Look at you, Voss. The fucking Reaper of Hellfangs. Crawling in your own blood. You did all the dirty work for me. Knox? Dead. nd me?” He tapped his chest with the gun, laughing. “Still standing. Still king. My dreams, Myles. They’re all coming true tonight. I’m the top dog now. The final fucking boss.”He puffed smoke from his cigarette, letting the ash fall near my face.“You trusted me, you dumb son of a bitch. You thought I’d ever let you live after this? Hell no. This is my story. My empire. My name in fire while your body rots in the gutter.”Serena shouted through her tears.“Murphy, stop this! You’ve got what you wanted..”“Shut the fuck up, doll,” Murphy snapped, swinging the gun toward her before pointing it back at me. “You’ll get passed around when

Myles’s POVBruno and Dean had their rifles pointed at me. My shoulder burned where Knox’s bullet had torn through with blood soaking my shirt. Serena was screaming as Knox dragged her toward the exit and my whole body shook with rage, but I forced my voice steady.“You don’t have to do this,” I said, low and calm. “There’s still time to stop it. Put the guns down. Walk away and I’ll let you live.”Dean laughed so hard he almost doubled over.“You? Let us live? Fuck you, Voss. You’re not the Reaper anymore. You’re a washed-up corpse. You were the boss once, but look at you now. Shot, bleeding, begging and so pathetic.”Bruno joined in with a sick grin.“Man, I used to fear your name. Myles Voss, the Reaper of Hellfangs. Every street whispered it but now? You’re nothing. A disgrace and a dog crawling back for scraps.”Their voices echoed in my head with Reaper. Disgrace and pathetic. They thought I was finished but that was their mistake.I let them rant, waiting. Then quickly, my hand

Myles’s POV“Are you sure this is the place?” Murphy asked with his voice rough with doubt. He stood beside me with smoke curling from the cigarette between his fingers. His eyes narrowed at the half-finished story building in front of us. Concrete walls stood bare, scaffolding still clinging to the sides, windows uncut and black like empty eye sockets.“Yeah,” I said. “This is it. Hellfangs’ headquarters. They were fixing it up before everything went to shit. Before I left.”Murphy spat on the ground. “If this is some kind of setup, Voss, I’ll have your ass on my wall as a trophy.”I gave him a sharp grin. “You don’t have a wall big enough for me, Ghost.”His men chuckled low, but his glare never softened.Ajax shifted closer to me. “So what’s the plan, boss?” he asked. He was itching for it with eyes alive and knuckles tight around the grip of his rifle.I crouched low, pointing toward the building. “There are three things you need to know. One, the front entrance is a suicide.

Serena's POVFootsteps suddenly pounded closer with voices yelling and the familiar sound of metal on concrete. Men were running, clearly alarmed, and I stayed still with my chest heaving and my hand slick around the broken ceramic. The other man’s scared breathing was all I could hear for a second.“Noise in her room!” someone yelled. “She’s trying to run!”Light flooded the doorway, harshly and brightly. Men crowded in with their faces frozen when they saw me. For a second, the room went quiet but for the wet sound of him on the floor, the man I’d stabbed. He writhed, clutching his throat with eyes wide and panicked. The other man who had been with him looked stunned, like he’d been hit by ice.“What the hell?” someone hissed.Knox shoved through them with his bulk, pushing bodies aside. He froze at the door, then stared at me. My whole face, my shirt, my chest and I knew it looked terrible. I was shaking, but my voice was steady when I heard myself speak.“He deserves what he got

Serena's POVI just stared with my mind racing. The last I’d heard, his house was blown to hell, and he was public enemy number one for trying to double-cross his boss, The Ghost.“I’m still on the run,” he whispered with his voice tight with fear and urgency. “I’m looking for Naomi. Murphy… The Ghost… he took her, and he’s holding her hostage. I heard they brought you to his main place first. I had to know… is she alive? Did you see her?”I couldn’t help it. A choked, disbelieving laugh escaped my lips. “What the fuck, Damian? You haven’t heard, have you?”He looked confused. “Heard what?”“Naomi,” I said with my voice low and harsh. “She’s not who you think she is. She played you.”“What are you talking about?” he hissed with his face hardening. “She’s in danger because of me!”“Open your eyes!” I whispered back fiercely. “She’s probably working with Murphy! Murphy himself told me he used her. He said she was the one who put all those stupid, noble ideas in your head. Pushing you

Serena's POVThe sting of Knox’s hand across my face was sharp and painful. My head snapped to the side with my cheek burning, and I could already taste the tang of blood in my mouth.“You little cunning bitch!” Knox snarled with his bushy beard twitching with rage.I didn’t even try to stop the laugh that bubbled up from my throat, and it sounded wild, even to me, a little bit crazy. “You think that hurts?” I spat a gob of blood onto the filthy floor between us. “You just signed your own death warrant, you old bastard. Your end is coming.”We weren’t in the warehouse anymore. My 911 call had sent them scrambling. This new place was a dump… a small, stinking room that smelled quite badly. The walls were stained, and the only furniture was a rusty metal bed frame with a thin, dirty mattress. A single bare bulb hung from the ceiling, swinging slightly and casting jumping shadows. Outside the one grimy window, I could hear the distant sound of sirens of patrolling police cars in the d

Selene's Point of view“Looks like you need help, Beta.” He asked calmly but with a blank face.“No, Alpha.” Beta, Gareth replied with that amused smile still playing on his lips.“Selene here was only testing our security, and before you came, she was just about to settle down. Weren't you? Selene?”I hesitated for a while and then pulled free from him. The door was still open, but I didn't dare to attack again. I could barely take on the old man. I knew it would be foolish to try it when the ash king was also there. If I could barely handle myself with the old man, I believe it was safe to assume that my chances against the Ash king were next to nothing.“Give us the room, Gareth.” The ash king spoke, no, he ordered, and Beta Gareth bowed before leaving the room.I slowly pushed back to the bed and sat on it, glaring angrily at the ash king as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He quietly began to walk forward, and my breath caught in my throat. What was he up

Selene's Point of viewI was close to him, like really, really close to him, and I would have swiftly stuck the poisoned dagger into his heart, but as much as I wanted to, I stopped myself before I could do so. I needed to, first of all, get the cure for my dying brother before anything else.I paced through the room where I was unceremoniously shoved with the door locked behind me. There was a bed and a table and some essentials too, but I wasn't stupid. I recognized it for the prison it was; that was exactly what I was, at this place, a prisoner and nothing more.I moved from corner to corner, exploring the room and searching for possible escape points, but just as I said, this was a prison, and even the windows were barred with thick iron made of what I suspected to be silver. There was just no way I would break through something like that.I was still inspecting my surroundings when I heard the lock click from the outside. I turned sharply to see the door open, and the old man wal

Logan’s point of viewThe moment my fingers closed around her throat, I braced for it, the welcoming scent of scorched flesh, her agonized scream, and the way her skin would blacken and peel beneath my cursed touch. But nothing happened. There was no sizzle. No pain. Just warm and unmarked skin beneath my palm.What exactly was happening? I couldn't believe it in the slightest!I recoiled as if I was suddenly struck, and my chest tightened with something dangerously close to hope.No. This was Impossible.The woman, Selene, the sharp-tongued heiress of Silverwood, scowled up at me with her defiant eyes flashing with amusement.“What? Did you forget how to strangle someone properly?” She sneered arrogantly.My hands flexed at my sides, and suddenly the leather of my gloves felt suffocating. Without thinking, I grabbed her wrist and I squeezed hard. Maybe I will get the results I wanted now. Maybe I'd hear that satisfying wail as flame engulf her body.There was still nothing, and waves

Selene’s Point of viewI woke with a start, and with my body drenched in sweat and my heart beating furiously against my rib cage. The remnants of my nightmare and Liam’s pained whimpers, as well as Father’s cold commands, still rang in my head. My fingers immediately found the poisoning dagger under my pillow, with its metallic body grounding me in reality.Today was the day, the day I would leave behind everything I knew to enter the wolf’s den.I clenched my jaw as I swung my legs over the edge of my bed. Father’s words from yesterday still echoed in my mind. End him and save your brother. The future of the pack depends on it. As if I needed the reminder.I dressed quickly and strapped the dagger to my thigh beneath my clothes before storming out of my chambers.The Silverwood Pack’s training grounds were already lively and yet. Yet the moment I stepped onto the field, an uneasy silence followed in my wake.“Who’s sparring with me?” I demanded as I rolled my shoulders, as I snatche

Selene's Point of view“You... you... You do not mean this, do you?” I gasped.“Yes, I do,” Father replied, without emotion.“I mean it. That's all you've ever wanted, right? So I'm giving you all of that. Get close to him, and do with him as you please!”My heart thumped loudly as I registered his words.“You will be doing your pack a favor. You will also be saving your brother's life,” Father said as he returned the dagger into its sheath and thrust the blade into my hands. “I'll give you time to think it through, Selene, but while you're at it, you should know this: the future of your pack and your brother's life hangs in the balance. Choose wisely.”With that, my father turned and exited the room, his robes flowing and sweeping the floor as he left.The moment he was out, the maids and servants returned quickly and began to tend to my brother again with the ointments and balms. This didn't heal him, but I could see it all had a cooling effect on him.I moved closer to him and slow

Selene's Point of viewOut of the many stupid things I was expecting my father to blurt out at me, I got to admit that was the stupidest one yet. I guess I hadn't seen that coming, not in the slightest.“A peace offering?” I hissed. “To the Ash king?”“That is correct.” My father replied with a straight face.This was the part where he was supposed to laugh and say it was all a joke, but no. Father was never the one to make jokes, and it would be very weird if he began making some in his old age.“Tell me you are joking!” I exclaimed. “Tell me you are not serious!”“Do I look like a clown to you?” He snapped, and his eyes glowed dangerously red with the fury of an Alpha. “You will be sent off to the Ash king as a permanent guest in his house.”“Why don't you just let it out?” I snapped, unable to keep my anger in check. “Why don't you just state the obvious here. You're clearly sending me off to the Ash king as a breeding mate for him!”“Watch it, Selene!” Father growled with his nost