Novel-novel oleh J_Writes

Astrid’s POVThe morning began like any other until Aliya decided it would not.I stood near the entrance of the main courtyard while Xavier spoke with two senior warriors about the eastern patrols. The sun already warmed the stones. I kept my eyes down, trying not to draw notice.Aliya’s voice cut through the air.“Astrid. Come here.”Heads turned. I walked forward and stopped a short distance away, bowing my head.“Yes, Luna.”She held a delicate glass vial between her fingers. “This belonged to my mother. I asked you to clean the shelf it sat on yesterday. Now it is cracked. Explain.”I had not cleaned any shelf of hers. I had not even been near her private rooms. Before I could speak she raised her voice so more people could hear.“You have grown careless since the Alpha gave you special duties. Perhaps you need a reminder of your place.”Two of her attendants stepped forward. One carried a thin switch. My stomach dropped.Xavier’s voice came from behind me, calm and flat. “What i

Xavier’s POVThe summons came just after the morning meal.A young messenger stood at the door of my study, head bowed. “The elders request your presence in the Hall of Verdict, Alpha. They say the matter is urgent.”I dismissed him with a short nod and rose from my chair. The bite mark on my shoulder gave a slow, familiar throb as I moved. It had been doing that more often since the night before. Astrid’s presence had quieted the worst of the fever, but the hunger never fully left anymore. It only waited.Astrid stood near the wall the way she always did when I worked. I glanced at her.“Come.”She followed without question. The sound of her footsteps behind me had become something I expected now, almost needed. I still had not decided what that said about me.The Hall of Verdict was already full when we entered. The senior elders stood in a loose half-circle near the high table. Conversations stopped the moment they saw me. Every head bowed. I took my seat and gestured for Astrid to

Astrid’s PovI barely slept after leaving the Alpha’s chambers.Every time I closed my eyes I felt the grip of his hand on my wrist again. The heat of his skin. The way his eyes had changed when the hunger rose. I kept telling myself it was only fear. Fear and the strange pull that always seemed to appear when he stood too close. Nothing more. I did not understand it, and I did not want to understand it.Morning came too quickly. I washed, dressed, and made my way to his chambers as required. The guards let me through without comment. Inside, the outer room was empty. I waited near the wall the way I always did.Xavier stepped out of the bedroom a short while later, already dressed. Aliya was nowhere in sight. He looked at me for a long moment, then gestured for me to follow him into the smaller adjoining room where he sometimes reviewed papers.Once the door closed behind us he spoke.“When we are alone, you will call me Xavier.”I blinked. “Alpha?”“You heard me. In private, use my

Xavier’s PovThe fever returned not long after midnight.It started as a low heat under the skin of my left shoulder, right where her bite still marked me. Within the hour it had spread across my chest and down my arms. Sweat beaded on my forehead. My gums ached. The familiar dry hunger crawled up the back of my throat.Aliya slept beside me, one arm thrown across the sheets. I carefully moved her hand away and sat up. The room felt too small. The air felt too thin.I stood and walked to the outer chamber, closing the bedroom door quietly behind me. A guard waited in the corridor as always.“Bring Astrid,” I said. “Now. Tell no one else.”The man left at once. I paced the length of the outer room while I waited, jaw clenched against the rising burn. Erevos stirred restlessly inside me.She is the only thing that quiets it, my wolf muttered. You know this.I did not answer him.When the door opened again Astrid stepped inside, still tying the belt of a simple robe. Her hair was slightl

Astrid’s POVThe words hung in the air between us like a blade. “I can smell your arousal from here. Who is making you aroused, Astrid?”My heart slammed so hard I was sure he could hear it. I opened my mouth but nothing came out at first. The Hall of Verdict was empty now except for the two of us. The high table still held the papers from the elders’ meeting. Morning light cut across the floor in sharp lines.“I… I do not know what you mean, Alpha,” I said. My voice sounded thin even to my own ears.Xavier stayed seated, but his eyes never left my face. He tilted his head slightly, studying me the way a predator studies something that has already been caught.“Do not lie to me.” His tone stayed quiet, almost calm, which somehow made it worse. “I asked a simple question. Who is making you smell like this?”I took a small step back. “No one. Maybe it is just the stress of the morning. Or the potion. Sometimes it—”He stood up in one smooth motion. The chair scraped lightly against the

Astrid’s POVXavier’s mouth was on mine before I could even breathe. He kissed me hard and deep, like he had been starving for it. His tongue pushed past my lips and claimed every part of my mouth. I tried to pull back but his hand was already in my hair, holding me still.He broke the kiss only long enough to growl against my lips. “I have wanted this for so long.”Then he spun me around and pushed me against the cold stone wall. My back hit it with a soft thud. His hands were everywhere. He yanked my dress up around my waist and tore my undergarment down in one rough motion. I heard the fabric rip. His own clothes were already open. The thick head of his cock pressed against my entrance, hot and heavy.“Xavier, we should not—”He thrust into me in one deep stroke. The stretch burned and filled me completely. A broken sound left my throat. He did not give me time to adjust. He started fucking me hard against the wall, each thrust slamming me higher onto my toes. His hands gripped my

Teresa’s PovThe moment my eyes adjusted to the dim light, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.A figure was sitting on my bed.Calm. Too calm.Like he owned the room. Like he’d been waiting.I raised my hand to switch on the bedside lamp — and as the warm light hit his face, I felt my stomach twist.Ray.“W–what are you doing here?” I choked out. “Ray, what the hell are you doing here?”He smiled. Not a soft smile. Not a kind one.A smile that made every hair on my body stand up.“Is that how you welcome someone you once loved?”He stood slowly, walking toward me like he had all the time in the world.I took two quick steps back. “Stay back. I’m serious, Ray.”My fingers scrambled for the pepper spray on my table. I grabbed it and held it up, even though my hand was shaking.Ray raised an eyebrow. “Relax. I didn’t just stroll in. Caroline told me to come check on you.”“What? I’m not a baby, I don’t need to be checked on!” I snapped, but my voice broke a little. “You can leave. No

Teresa’s PovI swear the whole house probably heard me singing. I didn’t even care. I needed the noise. I needed the freedom.I stood in front of the mirror, curling my straight hair and screaming the lyrics of whatever song was playing. My voice was terrible, but today? I didn’t mind. Today was mine.My jean shorts hugged me perfectly, my crop top sat right where it should, and my black boots made me feel like I actually owned my life for once. Caroline’s makeup kit was open on the table, expensive powders she barely used. I tapped a little on my cheek, blended it, touched my lips with gloss… and smiled.I looked twenty-one.I felt twenty-one.I grabbed the money, the one she left, and the little stash I’d secretly saved — and headed out. First stop: the café I’d always admired from afar.The bell above the door jingled as I walked in. Soft music. Warm air. The smell of vanilla. I ordered a dark roast with vanilla swirl and a slice of toast they were famous for. I picked a window sea

Nolan's PovThe van smells like stale coffee and nerves. We’re parked two blocks out, eyes on the Stone residence: fortress disguised as a mansion, floodlights, Secret Service in the shadows, dogs that cost more than most people’s cars.Mason hasn’t stopped bitching since we crossed the district line.“This is the dumbest shit we’ve ever pulled. Vice president’s kid? They’ll hunt us to the ends of the earth. We’re thirty, not twenty-three. I’m too old for this ‘die young’ aesthetic.”“Shut up,” I say, not looking away from the monitors.He keeps going anyway. “Can’t we just fake our deaths and open a bar in Thailand? I’ve got a list of…”“Mason.” My voice cuts clean. “Close your mouth or I will.”He mimics zipping his lips, but his knee keeps bouncing.Jace’s voice crackles in our earpieces from the support van half a mile back. “Delivery record implanted. You’re expected in four minutes. Gate’s yours.”We roll forward in a plain white panel van that screams “nobody look at me.” Fake

Teresa’s Pov The whole day felt like a blur.I cleaned, swept, washed clothes, scrubbed the bathroom tiles again even though they weren’t dirty. My body was giving up on me, slowly, steadily. Every morning I woke up feeling weaker than the day before. Sometimes I wondered how I was still moving at all. I was just… tired. Tired of life. Tired of breathing. Tired of existing.After I finished bathing, I warmed the food Caroline left behind and forced myself to eat. My body needed it, even if my heart didn’t. Caroline had left very early for work today, and for that alone, I was grateful. After everything that happened yesterday, after everything she let happen, my whole body felt sore, violated, confused. It still hurt to sit properly.When I finished eating, I went into the kitchen, opened the drawer, and picked up a knife.My hand was shaking.My mind was louder than my heartbeat.Just do it. End it. End everything.But then the thought of the pain rushed in, the sharpness, the blood

Nolan's PovI should leave. I know I should leave. But my feet are glued to the wet grass, eyes locked on the slice of hell playing out ten feet away.Caroline is still bent over the couch, skirt around her waist, the stranger pounding into her like he’s trying to split her in half. Every slap of skin on skin is a gunshot in my skull. My therapist, my fucking savior, reduced to a moaning, drooling animal.But I can’t look at her anymore.My gaze drags itself to Teresa.She hasn’t moved. Not an inch. Naked, pale, red gingered hair hanging like a curtain she’s hiding behind. Her face is blank in the way only the truly broken can manage, like someone reached in and switched the lights off years ago.The man finishes with a grunt, pulls out, slaps Caroline’s ass like congratulations. Then he turns, still half-hard, and crooks a finger at Teresa.“Come here, sweetheart.”She walks over like she’s on rails. Sits on the ottoman in front of them. Knees together.He spreads his own legs, s

Nolan’s PovMason hasn’t shut up about this job for six straight hours.We’re down in the bunker, concrete walls, no windows, racks of rifles gleaming under LED strips, servers humming like angry bees. Mason hunched over his laptop, fingers flying, mouth running twice as fast.“This is suicide, Nolan. Straight-up insane. Vice president’s son? Secret Service crawling up his ass twenty-four seven? For what…some shadow donor’s election hard-on?”I don’t look up from cleaning the suppressor in my hands. “Six hundred grand, Mason. That’s what.”He snorts. “Yeah, and a closed-casket funeral with the flag folded real pretty. I haven’t even fucked a Vietnamese girl yet. Or an Italian guy. I have plans, man. Plans that don’t include a sniper round to the skull.”Asher kicks his boots up on a crate. “Stop whining. We scope, we hack, we ghost. Same dance, bigger stage.”Mason flips him off without looking. “Easy for you to say. Your brain isn’t ninety percent dick.”“Jealousy is ugly, brother.”