I ran.I've been through a lot in my life. Humiliating things, failed plans, broken ideals; perhaps more mistakes than successes. But even so, when Gregor looked into my eyes and proclaimed his contempt for me, it was as if my whole body shattered.Things hadn't been going very well. For a while, maybe."You're pathetic," he told me. I felt pathetic too. For lowering my head to him, for always letting him have his way with me.I don't know where it all went wrong.The next thing I knew, one day, he was no longer who I thought he was.Gregor was my predestined mate from childhood. We've lived through generations like that, with the Alphas of the pack choosing the prettiest girls for their sons, testing how the combination would look.I grew up with an idealization of what a mate meant anyway.My mother used to bring human literature home in secret. I'm not sure how she got hold of those books, but they fascinated me: they all described men who were strong and respectful, powerful but f
When I was eighteen, my clan performed the ascension ritual for Gregor to take his father's place as alpha. We were the same age, and I remember how excited my mother was that I had been chosen as his partner, and that, until then, nothing had proved otherwise.Gregor and I got along as well as we could. I never thought that one day I would run away from him and that, for a millisecond, would rather that rival alpha just put an end to it.I took another step back. The heavy shadows of the trees stopped covering my body, and I felt exposed, bathed in moonlight, trying to hide my arms as if they were too intimate.He took another step towards me. I closed my eyes. Of course, this was the moment he would attack me. I wouldn't survive an aggressive bite from an alpha.His eyes, a war-yellow, shone with some kind of curiosity as he analyzed my body. From head to toe, he judged me mutely, his eyes lingering on the marks on my skin.The other wolves were getting closer. I could hear their fo
The walk was silent and awkward.The Frostbites surrounded me as if I were a prisoner, which I feared I really was. Gregor could sniff me out if I was in danger, but as much as I wanted to deceive myself and tell myself it wasn't true, I knew deep down that he wouldn't come after me. Maybe he'd be relieved that I'd gone off on my own, maybe it'd be the highlight of his day. I don't know.In any case, they didn't seem aggressive.Viktor's companions whispered among themselves. They watched me, attentive to any movement on my part, as if I were planning to plunge a knife into their alpha's neck at any moment. I understood the caution. I would also be wary if I met a Frostbite in my condition; I would think it was a trap, a set-up.One of them was in her wolf form. It looked like a female. She walked beside Viktor, and I wondered if she could be his mate from the way they communicated non-verbally, and how his fingers brushed against her hair at times.She and he were the only ones who d
There wasn't much to do there.There was nothing in the drawers, the windows were closed and the door remained locked for a long time until the woman at reception delivered a plate of food.She just slid it into the room and closed the door, but I could still see her shadow in the gap underneath.I took the plate and sat down on the floor, placing it on my lap. I stared at the door."What are you planning to do to me?" I asked, doing my best to keep my voice steady knowing that she was listening.The shadow moved away. I couldn't even be offended at being ignored, considering my situation.I sighed, staring at the plate. It was kind of them to feed a prisoner (or as kind as one could be to keep a prisoner in the first place), especially with such well-made food. It must have been the same dinner served to the other guests of what I was assuming was a hotel.Why would Viktor care about my comfort, knowing who I was? Knowing that I, an Ashenfur, bore Gregor's mark on my skin?I picked u
VIKTORIt didn't make sense. Gregor was a disappointing guy. This was something everyone knew in a way that set aside the difference between our banners—this wasn’t about clan rivalry when it came to Gregor, not entirely. All the Frostbite knew it was impossible to fit him into a single positive adjective.First, I thought it might be an ambush, but it didn't seem like it. The bruises, her behavior... the way we found her, with blue lips, alone. Gregor should have noticed her absence by now, but perhaps he didn't know that she was distancing herself from him on purpose. He certainly had no way of knowing that she was with the enemy."We reinforced the main gate," Pandora said, crossing her arms and leaning against the thin wooden boards of the trim. I had spent the whole day answering worried questions from the panicked villagers, questioning what was on my mind to bring an Ashenfur like that straight to our quarters."Thanks, Pan," I said without looking back at her. Even so, I could
LENABeing so far from Gregor for so long physically hurt. It no longer seemed like a good idea, and it embarrassed me that, even after everything, I couldn't completely turn my feelings into hatred as I wanted.Being in this room wasn't so bad, on the other hand. The blankets were warm, they gave me food and provided me with new, albeit makeshift, clothes. Only the boredom remained a hindrance as I lay down and stared at the ceiling, especially in a moment where my head was too full and proving too terrible for me to be left alone with just my thoughts.At first, I tried to latch onto the external noises. Some dialogue that could entertain me and take my mind off all the shit going on with Gregor and the rest of the clan, but it seemed that the closer to my hotel room (prison), the less people talked.It was understandable. They were still wary of me, I understood that. But they could also be planning other things. Although Viktor seemed kind enough and the protection he offered was g
That must have been the strangest scene of my life.I didn’t understand. What exactly happened? I knew I was the one who killed those hunters, but it happened so suddenly that my head hurt just trying to understand it. Why? Where did this power come from? Have I always had it? Why didn’t I use it before?I looked at all those Frostbites, bowing. They didn’t dare to look me in the eyes, as if I were… some kind of entity, a superior creature.The reddish glow still faintly radiated from my body, gradually fading. There was no transformation, my body didn’t take its wolf form… that ball of power just bubbled up, as if it had been suppressed for a long time.The scene before me was grotesque. The bodies, the blood, and those people bowing to me, even while injured.I stared at Viktor. He seemed displeased, having bowed only at someone else’s request, breathing heavily. The arrows were lodged in his back, and I saw blood dripping from his body, but no one did anything. They were just on the
We walked in silence.She led me to what looked like an empty garden. We sat at a table under the shade of a tree, with Pandora giving orders to some of the others to bring water.Some of them were looking at me in awe, and others with nothing but pure fear, with their mouths shut and their heads down. I didn't feel that powerful, not after seeing them like that.The tension didn't come only from the wounded alpha that might be dying for aiding me. Pandora, worried for her probable mate, looked at me, and I sensed something boiling beneath."We are sorry," she said. I was certain that she didn’t really want to say that, and that it came from somewhere else that I couldn’t identify yet. I frowned. "What?" "We’re sorry." She paused, her eyes lowering to nothing. "We didn’t know about you. Why did you keep it a secret?" "Keep what a secret?" Her knuckles were pale. She clenched her fists tightly, perhaps irritated or impatient. I wasn’t sure where this conversation was heading, a