HELIOS’ POVONE DAY BEFOREI close the door to my chamber and lean my back against it. A tiny smile fleets across my face and I chuckle at no one in particular.“Someone’s in a good mood,” Apollo teases me.And he’s right. I am. I had not intended on leading Laurel to the warehouse earlier, but I couldn’t help it. I cannot remember ever wanting anyone more than I want her.Laurel is so tempting, so divine and the memory of her sweet moans and soft wet curves has my cock twitching with renewed interest.Damnit.That woman is going to be the death of me. I had not expected things to become so intense, I had thought I could control myself but one look at her laughing and talking to another man had me going crazy.“You’re in love,” Apollo snorts.I run my hands through my hair and let out an exasperated sigh. “No, I’m not.”“Yes, you are.”I pinch the bridge of my nose and lean my head back against the door with a sigh, not liking the shift in my mood. And as if the skies mirror my feeling
LAUREL’s POVThe bed on which Jamie had been held captive is empty and all that is left is her lingering scent. My hand goes to the sheets and as my fingers touch the crusted blood, my eyes close for a moment.Marty.Why else would he leave without so much as a trace?
LAUREL’s POVThere is but a moment of silence before father’s shrill voice tears across the evening sky.“HELEN!!!!!” he screams, filling the valley beneath with a heartbreaking echo. His wife, his love and his mate has just died and he feels it with every fibre of his being.But he realizes his mistake too soon for his scream of pain had caught the attention of rogues and beasts who are in hiding and soon, I see shadowed figures with glowing yellow eyes emerge from their hiding places.His screaming was a fatal mistake. And he knows it. Immediately, he shifts into his wolf form and flees the scene, abandoning his dead mate’s body.I do not call out to him, nor do I jump down to help him. I merely stand rooted at the edge of the cliff and stare at his disappearing figure as predators chase after him. I think I am too shocked to move.What just happened? I blink and realise that the black mist is gone, it has disappeared just as it had suddenly appeared. It takes some time for me to c
HELIOS’ POV“Helios..let me stay with you. I don't care if our mates appear, please. Just let me stay by your side.”Laurel’s words burn me to the core. I knew the day would come, I knew she would crave something more than just a physical relationship but I did not expect that day to come so soon.My heart sinks and I pull back from the embrace to take a good look at her. She puts on her patient face, which at the moment is a mask of poorly concealed exasperation.She is lost, afraid and achingly lonely. and to deny her what she is asking for would be akin to killing her with a poisoned sword.But she simply does not understand the power of the mate bond. I do. I’ve been there. I’ve seen with my very own eyes the devastation that follows when a mate bond is severed. It is a living nightmare.I let go of her and turn my gaze towards the window where the moon is hidden by t
LAUREL’s POVI wake up to the first few minutes of sunrise and realise that Helios is long gone. A touch on the cool silken sheets next to me tells me so. I get up from his bed and in the privacy of Helios’ chamber, my eyes trail to the wooden trinket on his dark mahogany desk.The early morning light bathes the box in a faint half glow and even though no one is here, I make my way to the box cautiously. Unbeknownst to Helios, I had awoken from my slumber last night to catch a glimpse of him brooding over something he had taken out of the box, something that seemed to glow red in the dark.Reaching his desk, I take another quick glance at the chamber door. It remains closed.But as my hand touches the cool surface of the beautifully carved box, I stop and shake my head. This is wrong. I shouldn’t pry into Helios’ possession. The fact that he had inspected the inside of the box so discreetly last night tells me that he does not want me to know anything about it. And that is why I preten
LAUREL’s POVSomething flies towards me at lightning speed. It is a broken piece of ceramic plate with a jagged end and I catch it in between my fingers, inches from my eyes.“What is the meaning of this?” I flick the broken plate away and it lands next to my feet, on a pile of other broken plates.“Beta Laurel!” A gasp comes from the very end of the living room and I see the twins jump to their feet. They tremble at my sight and both quickly turn their heads away, but their eyes cannot escape mine.Slowly, I cross the once beautifully decorated room and one of the twins, Cici backs farther away. Lala’s lower lips trembles. They are afraid of me.Good."Please…don’t tell Alpha Helios about this!” Lala drops to her knees, rubbing her palms in a form of prayer. She crawls to me on her knees towards me and starts to cry.Cici joins her twin in the chorus of tears.“If you knew this day would come then why did you mistreat the servants and destroy everything in the house?” I ask, exaspera
LAUREL’s POVTime waits for no man and in a blink of an eye, another day has come and gone. I sit by a small campfire next to my house and wait for my chicken wing to roast on a makeshift skewer stand. As the wing cooks, I pull up my hair into a tight no-nonsense ponytail.I had spent the night back in the comforts of my own home, marinating chicken wings and baking a cake instead of staying in Helios’ chamber. And for the first time in many days, Helios did not call for me either. I try not to think about him or what the future may bring and instead, just focus on my meal. The chicken wing is cooking just nicely, I can smell the charred smell of the marinade and my stomach starts to growl. Gingerly, I pick up the skewer and blow at my breakfast. The steam swirls in the air before it evaporates into the early morning sky. Hmm…this is going to taste so good. I close my eyes and open my mouth, ready to -“BETA LAUREL!”My skewer drops to the ground. Damn. What now?Rhode suddenly comes
LAUREL’s POVOver the years, I have gotten used to Helios’ silent steps. The man always moves as if he is walking on clouds so it comes as no surprise that no one realized his arrival until he stepped through the swing door.“Why would anyone take their own mate’s lives? Why would anyone break the sacred bond?” Helios asks once more. His eyes are especially hard on goatee guy who trembles visibly.“Tell me,” his gravelly voice echoes in the silence of the café. Helios may be one of the youngest Alphas around, but something in his voice; the coolness of his expression and the echo of endless experience make people think that he is much older.And so, for the longest time, no one answers. The whole place becomes so quiet one can even hear a mosquito buzzing by. Then suddenly, a young boy, no more than fifteen steps up and answers, “Sir..it’s because Ariel–“But no sooner does he begin to speak than a group of older men quickly wrap their hands around the boy’s mouth and body, preventing