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 him, I’m terrified by the predator look on his face.
Nonetheless, I rush to his side and put my hand on his back. Whenever I did that in the past, it calmed down his beast though I’m not sure if it will still work or not.
“Leave him, Ryker,” I tell him and he turns to look at him. His fiery eyes turn back to their natural amber-brown color.
“You have come to protect your-” I know what he is gonna say before even he says that so I pinch his back and indicate him to stop saying anything further.
“Why?” He asks through gritted teeth, not loosening his grip on Nicholas’s throat.
I facepalm myself inwardly. I shouldn’t have come out to help him and remind him of the rules of the Alpha battle.
“Are you stupid?” I frown. “He is clearly trying to provoke you so you can draw blood out of his body and then, voila. You’re out of the battle and academy, too. Have you forgotten the ‘No bloodshed’ rule of the Academy?”
I hated saying it in front of Nicholas, even when I didn’t spare him any glance, I could feel his piercing gaze on me. I wish we had mind-link but for that, I should have been either his mate or his pack member.
Ryker closes his eyes and curses under his breath before letting go of that asshole’s neck. Nicholas begins coughing violently, gripping the edges of the table firmly. With each cough, Nicholas's hands tense around the table's edges, his body racked by the force of his coughing. Had I been a minute late, he would have definitely died.
My wolf starts howling as she is worried for our mate and feels bad for him. I can’t believe she can be so stupid to still want him. She snaps at me saying that she is my wolf so she feels the mate bond intensely and can’t help but still long for our mate.
I don’t have time for this so I simply ignore her and walk toward the table to grab the glass of water and offer it to Nicholas. Although I hate him, I have to make sure that he doesn’t complain about this to the management, or else, they will kick Ryker out before even the training begins.
Ryker might be the most arrogant and cold-hearted Alpha, but he is the right person to be my roommate since he already knows my secret and I don’t have to pretend at least in my room so it will be hard for me if my roommate gets replaced.
Nicholas gulps down the water and narrows his eyes at me. “Who the fuck are you?”
He has the nerve to ask me that instead of thanking me for saving his fucking life. I can’t help but scowl and his gaze checks me out from head to toe, his eyes suspicious and his expressions wary as his expressions stiffen.
Goddess. What I have gotten myself into. If he recognized me…
“You should thank me for saving your life,” I snap, turning my back on him and going to my bed. Thankfully, there are two beds in the room. It would have been really awkward to sleep beside Ryker who was practically my brother-in-law.
“Get out of my room, bastard,” Ryker growls and I rush to his side to rub his back gently.
He closes his eyes and sniffs my scent, frowning slightly.
“For now, I’m leaving but be prepared to get out of this Academy because I’m going to show this to the officer,” Nicholas smirks, pointing his finger at his neck where blood had popped out from his flesh.
Ryker had put too much pressure on his throat. Short-tempered Alpha.
“Don’t bother doing that. It will only waste your time and efforts. I will be there to tell them the truth as I have witnessed everything,” I warn him but I know that it’s not going to stop him so I saunter toward the little tea-table.
“The rule is the rule, motherfucker. And once it’s broken, one has to face the consequences,” he snarls at me.
I grab the jar and break it by colliding it with the corners of the table. I walk back to Ryker with the remaining piece of the jar in my hand and press it slightly into his arm, drawing the blood out.
“Let’s do it your way, then,” I smirk and throw the leftover piece of the jar on the floor, close to his feet.
“I’m still the witness but now, I’m changing what I saw,” I tell him. “I saw that you broke into our room and attacked Alpha Ryker so he grabbed your neck and tried to push you away in self-defense.”
The color drains from his face, he hadn’t expected that. A hurt woman is the most dangerous person.
Team Nicholas or Team Azura?
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.
Azura I tell the guards on the borders my name and he mind-links his Alpha to get his permission to let me enter. The cold expression on his face soon vanishes as he smiles at me and leads me to the pack house where Alpha Theo lives. My mother’s parents had two daughters so Aunt Gina’s mate, Alpha Theo, took over the pack as he was the Crimson Moon pack’s Alpha’s second son and my father wanted to serve his pack as the Beta. “Zura,” Elias smirks, teasing me by calling me Zura just like he used to do when we were kids. We often played together as Dad let me come to the Black Cliff pack to bond with my mother’s side family and Aunt Gina treated me like her own daughter. Elias and I were close, he knew about my crush on Nicholas but he never liked him. Contrarily, he was glad when I dated Ryker in the academy. Ryker and Nicholas were roommates and had become best friends, that’s how I came to know about the most arrogant and ruthless Ryker’s existence. The cold-hearted Alpha. I r
Azura “You want to disguise yourself as Alpha Elias and participate in the combat?” He asks as if confirming if he heard right. “Yes. I want to go to the Lunar Academy to train instead of your place,” I reply and he gives me a puzzled look. “And why? Why do you want to do that? Do you even have any idea what will happen to you if you get caught?” Elias bombards me with his questions, playing my big brother’s role. I can’t help but roll my eyes. “You know, I’m more powerful than you,” I smirk and continue, “Besides, I’m capable of fighting any Alpha and I want to have a chance to speak to the Alpha King. This Alpha combat is my only chance.” “Because you think that no one else can bring justice to you and your father except the Alpha King, right?” Elias says, reading my mind and my jaw drops in amazement. He is getting smart, I would give him that. “I know that even if I want, I can’t fight against the Dark Shadow pack as the situation in my pack is not good and no other Alpha ca