OCTAVIA ADLER.What was he going to say?My throat itched with the urge to ask him what he was going to say, I hated being put on the edge, I hated the fact that he didn’t get to complete that sentence before Brittney announced the arrival of the pack doctor.Why did he even have to come at this time? Why couldn’t he have delayed his arrival a little bit?Sighing, I lowered my head, my mind roaring with all of the things that he might have wanted to say without actually settling on one single thing.Ah, I wish I could just ask but now it feels as though that moment had passed.“I’ll take a look at her now, Overlord.” I heard the pack doctor say and I lifted my gaze to see him walking in my direction with Aidan behind him.He, Aidan, wasn’t moving, he just stood with his arms crossed as his eyes bore holes into the back of the anxious doctor that was trying to examine me.Or maybe he wasn’t looking at the doctor, maybe he was looking at me.“Have you felt any pain since you woke up?” T
OCTAVIA ADLER.I felt him before I saw him. The moment the door opened, his presence had already entered the room like a very strong force, an aura that not a single werewolf could contend with.Normally, at a time like this, I’d feel my wolf but I couldn’t feel her. It was almost as though she was gone and guilt ate up at me, I couldn’t lift my gaze, nor could I look back at Brittney.“I’ll leave now.” Brittney said, her voice was low, her head lowered as she walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Aidan and I felt something shift in the air.His presence tugged at something deep inside me, something primal and my eyes shut tight, I knew at some point I would have to look at him, have to confront what I’d done.I’d killed some of his men, made a mess of his house and even now, I’d bled into his bed so much that I knew he would have to throw the bed out.Why did I go that far? What came over me?I didn’t open my eyes. I wasn’t ready to see the look on his face… or worse, not see
AIDAN NIGHTINGALE.My vision turned white, I could barely see anything in front of me as I struggled with my wolf that was still insistent on marking Octavia. I felt like I was losing the fight, like I was going crazy.My legs shook, my knees had never gone weak in all my years of living but it went weak today and I could feel my own control slipping through my fingers as my knees finally buckled.I kneeled beside Octavia, the subtle rush of her blood resounded in my head and I could perceive the tantalizing, welcoming scent of her blood as my wolf went wild.My blurry eyes landed on her neck and my whole muscles tensed up as I moved my mouth closer and closer despite the fight I was putting up, despite the face that I didn’t want to. ‘FUCKING STOP!’ I screamed, my hand fisting into the sheets as I pressed my forehead into the bed, trying my hardest to keep my wolf on a leash but it was as though the more he smelled Octavia, the stronger he got. ‘WE ARE MARKING HER!’ H
AIDAN NIGHTINGALE.My stomach was clenched tight and my heart hasn’t stopped pounding so hard since that day. The silence was the only extremely loud thing in the room.I knew my second in command had done things exactly how I’d asked him: No noise. I didn’t want anything that would be both disturbing and triggering for Octavia but seeing her lay in bed like that was disturbing for me.It’s been two days. Two whole days. Forty-Nine fucking hours and she still hadn’t woken up. She hadn’t even done as little as fluttering her eyes open and then shut.She just laid there, completely still. Too fragile and her skin was too pale and I watched as her cheeks rose and fell in agonizingly slow rhythm as she breathed and even that was shallow.“Overlord,” the girl whose name I’ve come to learn was Brittney called, her voice jolting me out of my thoughts as I turned around to see her waiting at the other end of the room.Her hands were shaking, her fingers trembled as she carried the basin with
MAEVE HAWTHORN.We settled in nicely and by the time we were— I was— done unpacking, it was already evening and Enzo insisted that he was going to do the cooking.I watched as he stood in the kitchen shirtless, chopping vegetables with terrifying precision, muscles flexing as he moved while I sat on the table that was right in the middle of the kitchen and just helped myself to the free meal in front of me, smiling stupidly as I stared.When he was done chopping, Enzo walked towards the stove and stood there, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, the soft glow of the early evening slipping in through the wide windows and brushing over his shoulders, giving me more to look at.“He’s so fucking hot.” I said to myself, in my head, as my breath grew shallow, my heart thrumming really hard against my chest.“Ahh. I have a number of things for us to do tomorrow,” Enzo said, his voice jolting me out of my thoughts but I immediately slipped back into it.His voice sounded like music to my ears an
AIDAN NIGHTINGALE.I hated myself for leaving her alone, for walking past her like it was nothing, for underestimating the intensity of our bond and how much it affected her.My legs felt heavy even though Octavia felt like paper in my arms, I hated how much pain I was bringing to her and the fact that I’d convinced myself I could control everything.The fact that I thought an artificial scent or something as stupid and unheard of as partially cutting off the mate bond was going to control everything— her pain, her shift, her desires, her safety.I was a fucking fool. A fool for leaving her to herself when it was painfully clear that she needed me the most at that moment.Her blood gushed hotter against my wrist, and I almost stumbled. I could feel her pain, the agony that coursed through her, the guilt she was going to be ridden with by the time she woke up….I felt every damn thing.“Focus.” I muttered to myself as I walked and each step felt like I was sinking through wet concrete.