ADALYN Ada. How long had it been since I’d heard that name? My parents had never referred to me as Ada. They had never given me a single nickname or pet name. Mother had always said it was improper to call a child by anything other than their name and Father had never given me enough affection to bother. There were only two people in this world who had ever called me Ada. Asher. And Cora. I tensed as I tried to understand how Cassandra knew this. Had Asher told her about our close friendships when we were young? No, there was no way. Suddenly, I was hit with a realization, one I couldn’t ignore. I stared at Cassandra and studied her carefully. I searched her features, scrutinizing her nose, her mouth, the shape of her eyes. None were familiar, but as I stared at her deep emerald green irises and recognized the hue of them, it all began to make sense. I’d never understood how Asher could fall in love with a common healer. Cassandra wasn’t ugly by any means but to care so deepl
BECKYAfter our conversation with Oliver Moses, Dickson and I had been seized by the Moses guards and taken into a room that appeared to be used for interrogation. The door was crafted from iron and there were no windows, so the room was dim and quiet. There were only a pair of chairs, each a little rickety and old-looking. It was a pathetic, desolate sort of place, which was surely on purpose.Time didn’t make much sense in there and I soon couldn’t figure out how long we’d been locked in. My body ached and my mind was spinning out with a million thoughts as I absorbed all of the information I’d heard in the past couple of days.I had thought Oliver Moses would quickly find out the truth or ask me to confront Adalyn again, but Dickson thought the opposite when I presented the idea to him.“Look at this place, Becky,” he said, his voice gloomy and negative. “No one is going to visit us any time soon.”Sadly, he appeared to be correct, and his point was only proven as time went on. Tho
ASHERIt had been a while since Cassandra entered the building, and with every passing minute, my nervousness and anxiety grew stronger. While I knew she was capable of handling herself, I didn’t like the idea of her being in the House of Moses without me.I began to feel restless. It was a mistake to let her leave with Adalyn alone.I pondered my options for a minute and then decided I couldn’t wait out on the grounds any longer, not when my mate could be in danger. I started to walk toward the building, but before I could get too far, the soldiers guarding us stopped me.At first, they were polite but quickly, they became rude. They shouted and told me to back up. I wasn’t allowed in, not until Lady Adalyn said so.I considered pushing past them but didn’t want to escalate the situation, so I nodded and retreated ever so slightly. All around me, the councilors grew restless. They too, wanted to leave, only they desired to go back to Merliscire. However, when a group of them tried to
CASSANDRAIt was a sunny day, the first one in a long time.After the long winter and cold spring, summer eventually came, and it was hotter than it had been in forever.Sunlight streamed in through the clinic window, and I was a little distracted as I stared out at the window at the kids in the yard.Finnick, Lila, Marley’s boys Eric and Adrian, and Dominic were all chasing each other, playing a game of tag with one another. Marco was out there with them too, but he was sitting on a bench alone, meters away from the rest of the kids. He looked lonely and didn’t move as the others played around him.It had been a month since the chaos in Merliscire and Adalyn’s death. I supposed it was still hard for Marco to accept the fact that his mother was gone. She had killed herself right in front of him after holding him hostage and threatening to hurt him. The poor little boy had endured so much trauma in such a short amount of time.He wasn’t a bad kid. He had a mean disposition at times, bu
CASSANDRA“For the glory of Wegalla Empire, you must die!” Intruders snarled at me as I knelt on the floor.“Please let me see Asher. Please…” I begged.“How dare you speak the name of our king!” The soldiers growled and grabbed my hair, forcing me to raise my head. They were like shadows towering over me.“Please. I need to talk to him. I’m pregnant. I have his baby!” I cried.The head soldier snorted. “Baby? You think you’d be qualified to deliver a baby for our king? Filthy whore! He won’t come to you anymore. Don’t you understand? He’s with Lady Adalyn. Now drink it!”“No!”He pulled me harshly, gripped my face and pried my mouth open. Mysterious liquid flew down my throat.Burning. I began to gag.“Die! You wretched moron.” They spat at me before slamming the door. And I heard the click of the lock.I struggled to move, but my eyes felt swollen, and my legs were strengthless. The smell of smoke quickly filled the room.Fire engulfed me.*****My mind wandered as I stared out the
CASSANDRA“Cassandra?” Marley mudged me back into reality. Her pretty eyes were wide with concern. “Are you okay?”I gulped, and then nodded as I pushed away my memories of Anemond. “Yes.”I managed to pull myself together. I needed to be level-headed if we were going to heal this patient.It didn’t take us long to reach the Pack House. The enormous mansion wasn’t far from the clinic.When we crossed through the doors, we were surprised to see a crowd of people hustling around. The Pack House seemed to be in a huge commotion, and I had to duck to avoid bumping into anyone around me. This was the most activity I’d seen here in a while.“Wow,” Marley remarked as Jasper led us down the hall. “This must be serious. Everyone seems so upset.” She tugged at Jasper’s sleeve. “Can you tell us what’s going on?”“The Alpha will tell you once we find him,” Jasper remarked.“Oh,” Marley replied, and she let out a sigh. “So much secrecy.I wanted to ask follow-up questions, but Jasper’s tone was so
CASSANDRA“Well, then you’ll have to tell them to hurry up and find the beast,” Marley remarked beside me, and she rolled her pretty eyes in annoyance. “The sooner the better.”The room suddenly grew heavy and my eyes widened.While part of me agreed with her sentiment, I couldn’t believe she’d been so bold as to say that to the Alpha King. Of course, I wasn’t fully convinced that my friend knew that’s who she’d been addressing. If she had, I doubt she’d have spoken so tersely.“Marley!” Sofia exclaimed. The Luna looked shocked and embarrassed at my assistant’s outburst, and her cheeks flushed scarlet.Asher’s eyes narrowed, and the room fell silent.“Your Majesty, please excuse her,” Sofia begged, and she offered the Alpha King an apologetic expression and a small bow. “We-”Asher raised his hand, and the Luna immediately froze in place and shut her mouth.“Wait, ‘Your Majesty’?” Marley whispered. “Oh, holy shit.”Her expression was awestruck. Clearly, she’d realized who had been add
CASSANDRAThe next few hours passed by laboriously. As we waited for the guards to return with some sort of news about the viper, Marley and I did all we could to keep the boy comfortable. We took his temperature, monitored his heart rate, and continued to apply cold compresses to keep his fever from rising any higher.Meanwhile, it took all of my concentration to remain perfectly focused on the boy. My mind was trying to wander to different places, and Asher Collins wasn’t helping. The Alpha King remained close to us as we attended to his son, and it was unclear if he was monitoring our treatment or just studying me.The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up as chills continuously ran down my spine. I wasn’t the kind of woman who got nervous easily, but the Alpha King’s very presence set every inch of my body on edge.Of all of the people to be here, he was the last one I’d ever have expected, and my emotions were running wild. I wasn’t sure whether to cry or be relieved to