Azura
His lips linger over my ear for longer than they should, awakening the butterflies in my stomach. He pulls himself away and lets go of my elbows. I swallow hard when his words sink into my mind and I realize that he has recognized me. My ex, Ryker Lockwood, the most arrogant and cold-hearted Alpha and half-brother of my mate has saved me from falling.
I peer into his brown eyes and my gaze falls on his lips. My wolf is smitten by his handsome face, she liked him a lot. I hadn’t expected her to like him after having our fated mate but I guess my wolf is shameless and crazy. She growls at me and I ignore her tantrums. I frown when I see his lips twitching into a nasty smirk. I follow his gaze and realize that my hands are still resting on his chest.
“Arrogant asshole,” I mutter to myself, immediately pushing him away and heading toward the lobby but he grips my hand and drags me along with him.
I subtly clear my throat, masking my natural tone with a deeper, more masculine resonance. “Where are you taking me? Let go of my hand.”
“For real?” He breaks into a fit of laughter but continues walking toward the medical facilities which is the most secluded area currently as the students are enjoying their vacation in their packs and the Alphas who have come to attend the training have reached today only so probably no one will be there and it makes my heart race wildly.
Why is he dragging me there? I’m still not able to understand how he recognized me when Jack couldn’t.
“What? Are you deaf or something? Let me go.” I struggle to get rid of his tight grip around my wrist but fail to even budge his finger from my skin.
“Stop speaking in that fake accent. You’re sounding cute and foolish,” he remarked, chuckling again.
I pull my hand closer to my mouth and sink my teeth into his hand, using all my strength to break free. He turns and scrutinizes me with a furious face.
“Did you really think that this little pain will make me scream and I will let go of your hand?” He asks coldly. “The side-effect of living with a stupid husband,” he shrugs casually. “The smart girl I knew is now nothing but a stupid girl who has come back to the Academy to get his husband’s attention again because she can’t spend a minute without him, let alone three months.”
His taunts make my nostrils flare and I look at him sharply, gritting my teeth in annoyance. Ryker hates Nicholas and everyone is aware of the hatred between these half-brothers but now, he is getting on my nerves. Although he is right, I knew that Alphas had a high pain tolerance but the desperation and fear have turned my mind off.
Only if he knew about my purpose behind coming here and what his asshole brother did to me. I’m not going to tell him anything about my life. I will not let his words get to me, I’m gonna pretend as if nothing happened.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let me go or I will report you to the officers,” I threaten him.
He leans closer to my neck and sniffs. “Hmm, I’m smelling fear here. Go ahead and report me. I will tell them who you are and reveal your true identity.”
No. My wolf jumps restlessly and tells me to do anything to stop him. We can’t afford that right now. If I want to reach out to the Alpha King, it is my only chance and I can’t lose it because of this asshole.
“Fine,” I sigh defeatedly and let my shoulders loose. “What do you want from me, Ryker?”
“Hmm, now, I can see the glimpse of my ex,” he says, standing dangerously closer to me. “I like your real voice more, ex-girlfriend.” He mocks me and I lose my mind.
“Stop calling me that, asshole,” I mutter through gritted teeth, clenching my jaw.
“Careful, Zuzu. I can spill your little secret and you don’t even know the consequences of what will happen to you if the Alpha King gets to know about this,” Ryker warns me and I purse my lips, balling my fists tightly by my side to restrain my anger.
“If you want me to respect you, then, don’t call me Zuzu,” I tell him calmly. I look around and feel relieved after finding no one around us. I can’t let anyone overhear about any of this and gain one more enemy who can threaten me.
Ryker observes me with his narrowed eyes and folds his hands across his chest. “If you don’t want me to reveal your secret, then, be my roommate.”
“No fucking way,” I reply too quickly. I can’t even breathe the same air as him, he annoys the shit out of me.
“Why? Are you afraid that you will fall for me and cheat on your bastard husband with me?” He smirks.
“Fuck off, Ryker. I can’t fall for an arrogant asshole. Besides, the officer told me to find my room and roommate on the board. You can’t swap your roommate,” I tell him coldly, rolling my eyes.
“Nothing is impossible for me, little Kitten,” he says arrogantly.
I don’t doubt that. He has connections and power, everyone fears him so swapping roommates won’t be a big deal for him.
“Be my roommate and my lips will be sealed.” Ryker throws his hands in his pockets and watches me keenly, waiting for my reply.
My wolf forces me to agree with his condition and I shut her up. She will throw herself at him if I let her but I don’t have any other choice.
“You don’t have any other choice, Zuzu,” he reminds me as if I have forgotten it.
“Stop calling me that and I will agree,” I tell him icily, crossing my arms across my chest.
“Okay, deal.” Ryker smiles, putting his dimples on the display. He rarely smiles but whenever he smiles, his dimples make him look ten times more gorgeous.
I don’t know how far my little secret will take me but I’m not the one who will back off.
Don't forget to drop your reviews and those precious gems. It will help my book get the promotion and exposure. Have a great day/night, lovelies. Xoxo, J Bella
Ryker The officer asks me to have a seat and even orders a cup of americano for me as he prepares the new list. “Remove the old list and stick it on the board right now,” I say and he nods his head in understanding. Someone has deliberately picked that bastard as my roommate for me. We didn’t keep our hatred for each other hidden. Everyone knows that I don’t even prefer breathing the same air as him. “Any speculation… um, who could do this?” Ethan, the officer, asks meekly. My jaw clenches as I try to remember my enemies and there are plenty but no one can dare to do this. They fear me and know very well what will happen to them if I find out who did it which I’m going to find out eventually anyway. “No.” I give a curt reply and get up to go back to the dormitory. “I will let you know if I find any lead,” he says and stands up with the new list in his hand. We head to the dormitory together and part our ways from the lobby. I head to my room after seeing the new list on t
Azura Fuck. Everything is going opposite of what I had planned. I’m not ready yet to face my husband and to make the scenario worse, they start arguing. I hear Nicholas provoking Ryker as always from the outside and I immediately go to the small dressing mirror. Thanks to the Goddess, I had kept all the things in the drawer safely before taking the shower. I start getting dressed but I feel gross as I don't have any other option than to wear the clothes I had on again. Ryker’s growl makes my heart leap into my chest, fearing the worst. If Nicholas manages to prod him enough to make him lose his self-control, Ryker will lose the chance of even participating in the final battle, let alone becoming the Alpha King. I get out of the bathroom after making sure that my wig is in place and my scent is disguised. My jaw drops to the floor, seeing Ryker seizing Nicholas’s neck furiously. When he threatened that asshole to kill him, it wasn’t a mere threat. His wolf has taken control over
RykerI look at her in awe, she is acting like a stranger in front of her husband for Goddess knows why. Nevertheless, it makes me happy and worried at the same time. Azura loved that bastard so much. The whole Academy knew that but Nicholas didn’t even bother to glance at her until he saw her with me. The only reason she dated me was to get the attention of my half-brother who changed girlfriends like clothes. Despite me trying to explain to her how he was and she was bound to get hurt by that asshole, she didn’t pay any heed to my warnings. She was blindly in love with him but the she-wolf standing in front of me isn’t a teen girl anymore. Azura has turned into the most beautiful woman and her actions are forcing me to wonder what happened between them that she isn’t even ready to disclose her true identity to him. He was such a foolish man, I chuckled inwardly. How can he not recognize her despite being his mate? “You will pay for this, fucker,” Nicholas seethes in anger and s
Azura“What?” I look at him with my jaw dropped to the floor. “For real?” I scoff, shaking my head in disbelief. He showed his faith in me when no one else did. Even he could figure out that I couldn’t kill my father but my mate refused to believe me. It hurts me more to admit that my mate doesn’t trust me when the man whom I fake-dated for a few months trusts me. Ryker steps toward me and sits beside me on the bed with a frown etched on his face. “Do I have to repeat myself?” Of course, the big bad Alpha hated repeating himself. “I can’t believe that you’re offering to help me find the true culprit behind my father’s murder,” I tell him, narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously. He rolls his beautiful amber-brown eyes and looks at me with a perplexed look on his face. “Why is it that hard to believe?” I sneer and shrug casually, stealing a glance at him. “Can you blame me for your cold-hearted Alpha reputation?” He waves his hand off and frowns. “I’m still cold-hearted but I thin
Ryker She gets ready in fifteen minutes and gets out of the bathroom after wearing her wig and lenses. I stifle a chuckle, she looks cute in a male’s attire. “Let’s go, Alpha Elias,” I sneer and open the door for her. “Thank you, Alpha Ryker,” she replies in her thick and deep voice, sounding absolutely funny. I heap my plate with apple cider cheesecake cookies, porridge, and scrambled eggs for protein. My eyes wander to the stall of bagels with smoked salmon, cream cheese, sliced tomatoes, and onions, my lips curl up in a smirk when I find Azura filling her plate with three bagels. It’s her favorite food, she used to do the same when we were studying in this Academy. She even prefers bagels for a hangover, she’s crazy for food. Assholes around her stare at her with a mocking glare because she is petite and slim to eat this much but they will be surprised when she will eat more after finishing her bagels. Azura walks to me after grabbing two bottles of juice and smiles at me.
Azura As the rain falls relentlessly from the somber clouds above, my feet carry me through the quiet rows of headstones in the cemetery. Each droplet seems to echo the rhythm of my heart, heavy with sorrow and longing as my own teardrops stream down my cheeks. I stand before my father's grave, the damp earth beneath my shoes reminding me of the fragility of the situation I was in. With a trembling hand, I trace the letters of his name engraved on the weathered stone, feeling the weight of loss settle upon my shoulders once more. Amidst the downpour and chaos that my life has become, I find solace in the quiet solitude of the cemetery, a sacred space where memories linger like shadows in the rain. Still, that solace doesn’t last long as his pale face covered in blood flashes in front of my eyes and I ball my fists, restraining the boiling fury that empowers my emotions and threatens to consume me whole. My wolf is also in despair, but she tries to comfort me. It isn’t the righ
Azura I sigh and inhale a deep breath to calm my racing heart. “I will take a shower and join the gathering soon,” I tell him with a small smile on my face and he pecks a kiss on my forehead before letting me go. Finally, I will catch the culprit and rip his fucking heart out for murdering my father who had never hurt a single soul in his entire life. My wolf howls in my mind, ready to mangle the culprit. I take a quick shower to get the smell of sweat off my body and dress in a black A-line dress that reaches below my knee. I had to change my entire wardrobe and fill it with the dresses that Nicholas preferred as he didn’t like me showing off my skin. He liked modest and sophisticated dresses that would suit a Luna and I didn’t care much about my dressing style so I went with whatever he chose for me. After combing my long honey-blonde hair and pulling it into a bun, I cast one final look into the mirror to make sure I’m looking presentable enough and exhale loudly, preparing
Azura “You’re a murderer. Why will we believe you?” Becky, Aria’s best friend speaks up and the pack members resume their verbal assaults against me. “Enough,” Nicholas raises his hand and commands in his Alpha voice. “Silence, everyone.” The power of his Alpha command makes everyone bow to him except me. I don’t know why but his Alpha command never worked on me, not even Alpha Lucius’s but out of respect, I always obeyed. Well, not anymore. With a defiant stance and a piercing gaze, I face him squarely, my eyes refusing to waver under the fiery contempt emanating from his brown orbs. His jaw clenches as he glares at me with disdain, his Alpha ego is wounded when I don’t submit to him. “Father will return by this weekend. Till then, keep her locked in the dungeon,” my mate ordered in his glacial tone, turning his back on me. Despite the agony gnawing at my heart and my wolf howling in anguish, I presented a facade of indifference as the Gamma locked my hands with shackles.