F O U R .
Dahlia. “Earth to Dahlia!” She practically shrieks in my ear, making me stumble and almost fall face-first to the ground. “What?” Before I knew it, Lola was walking beside me. “What has gotten into you? Why did you run off?” Lola stared at me, her eyes demanding answers. “And what were you talking about with those guys?” she asks with a raised brow. I mime zipping my lips and she narrows her eyes at me. She clearly wasn’t satisfied, so I was about to tell her when someone brushed hard against me. This time, I really felt like falling face-first. Thankfully, Lola snatched me up and pulled me back to my feet. “Watch it, Lisa.” Lola hissed. Uh-oh. This is so not good. “Oops, my bad. Didn’t see you there, virgin.” She snorts, her eyes mocking me as she places her hands on her hips. Her two minions posed behind her. One on each side. They giggled at the name Lisa called me. My cheeks heat. “Can you believe it? My mate’s sister is a freak. The bitch is holding onto her virginity for what?” She taunts, making my fists clench. Freak. That’s what they called me ever since they found out I was still a virgin. In Jackson High, you either fuck or get fucked. There’s no other way around it. Apparently, I broke that rule. “That’s none of your fucking business,” Lola defended. “I wasn’t talking to you, whore,” she spits and my teeth gritted. My hand shot out and I slapped her across the face. Hard enough to make her head tilt to the side. A chain of gasps rang through the air instantly, letting me know I had turned all attention on me now. But I don’t care. “Call me whatever the fuck you want, but leave Lola out of it.” I snarl. Her eyes narrow on me. “You…” she raises a trembling hand and points a finger at me. “I’m going to make your life miserable, you fucki—” “Enough!” My brother’s voice boomed, resonating through the crowd gathered around us. My eyes snap up, meeting Atlas’ furious gaze as the crowd made way for him, and those guys. Reminding me they’re still here. Hades and Valerian are watching me now with an amused look in their eyes. I could hear other girls talking about them. I’m not surprised that they had them all swooning the moment they stepped into the picture. Still, I can’t help but think of places where I can have them both to myself. What on earth am I thinking? Goddess, Dahlia, get a grip! “Go to class, Lisa.” “But baby—” “I said now!” Everyone either gasped or took a subconscious step back when he growled. Everyone except Lola. Lisa suddenly looks like she is about to burst into tears as she turns around and scurries off. Obviously, no one bought it. Except maybe for her two minions who quickly dashes right after their drama queen. Atlas steps in front of Lola, staring her down. “I guess this makes us even now?” Lola cocks her eyebrows. Oh, god. I know that look. She is going to bullshit him even more and it’s only going to make things worse. I throw her a pleading look, which she notices, thank the goddess. She sighs and rolls her eyes. “Fine.” Atlas smirks and walks away with a triumphant smile on his face. On the other hand, Hades and Valerian swoosh past me with meaningful looks in their eyes. Did I mention how Valerian’s gaze flicked to my breast for a second? Right. My bag. Lola glances down at her wristwatch, “Shit. We gotta go.” I move to open my bag when the bell rings and Lola grabs my wrist before we sprint to class. I guess that can wait until later.Chapter 123 Hades’ POV: Three weeks later. Everything was revealed later that night. The dead bodies piled up in the room, Scarlet’s origin, and the rogues he’d been keeping in that private house Damien apparently gave to him after he’d been crowned prince. King Damien had been furious. Despite what he did, we chose to give him and the others a proper funeral, which will be coming up in the next few days. Hopefully by then, Dahlia will wake up, and accept the mark I’d given to her as my chosen mate. “How long has it been now?” Val asks, leaning against the door frame in my office. I shrug, “A few weeks. Three tops,” I reply and sigh. Val nods, and I look at him. “How’s Cathy?” I ask. “She’s fine, been trying to get her to take her supplements,” “Well, is she?” “Not without a bribe,” he chuckles, and I shake my head. Of course, he can get his woman to make love to him despite being pregnant. But then, it begs the question. “And what about Lola?” “Well, she doesn’t really
Chapter 122Hades’ POV:“Can we really trust her?” I groan. My beta insists a rogue shouldn’t be trusted, but I have a feeling I should.“Right now, she’s the only lead we got. If she is lying, I’ll give you a go signal. Kill her.” I tell him just so he could shut up already. He nods, but I know the reason he’s acting suspicious is because the last thing he trusts would be damn rogues leading us the way. Our pack is no stranger to rogue attacks, and for his account, he lost both his parents in one.We are currently moving in a large group with my warriors in my front, following Scarlet’s lead. She looks over her shoulder at me, when suddenly she skids to a stop.Because we are not connected to pack link, she has no choice but to communicate to us through gestures. She whines and proceeds to point her nuzzle to a wall.She’s shitting me, right?“What am I looking at?” I ask when I realize I have delivered the question directly to the mind-link.“She tricked us!” My beta snarls, and jus
Chapter 121Dahlia’s POVHis eyes widen and he instantly grabs the handle of the knife, only for me to push it in harder. Blood spews from his mouth, letting me know I have a chance. Diana comes forward when he tries to get up, lending me her strength to pin him down while he’s currently caught off guard. He growls, his eyes locked onto me in surprise, confusion, and wrath, but I don’t let go. Instead, I grip the knife tighter, pushing as much as I could before I twist. Suddenly, his mouth opens and more blood trickles from his lips. Then he makes a gurgling sound, and I watch him, my heart racing in my chest as I stare into his wide eyes.One minute turned to two as I held the knife buried deep in his heart while he constantly fights. His breathing becomes weaker and weaker by the second, and his inability to utter a word, I figured, is what prevented him from casting any spell. Then, he surprises me when he grabs my neck, yanking me forward. I shriek, holding onto the knife as he
Dahlia’s POV:I look at him watching me with lust and desire as he roams his eyes over my body. It heats and squirms underneath his gaze, yet I was certain it was none other than the bond making me feel such things. What else would make me look past whatever sick thoughts were going through his head, and everything he’d done up to present?Tatum leans forward, letting me know that somehow grabbed his attention. So I try to keep it by licking my lips seductively, placing my palms on the mattress before I begin crawling to him, stopping at the edge to spread my legs wide open.He growls, his eyes going to my center and I take this as a chance to put my arms around his neck as I pull him towards me. Thankfully, he obliges, but then he stands, shoving me back on the bed.Pushing my elbows against the mattress, I move my body further up the bed where the knife is. But Tatum doesn’t follow. He remains standing at the foot of the bed, staring at me with hooded eyes. My eyes move down to his
Chapter 119Dahlia’s POVIt took me a few seconds to realize how many boxes were stacked in this one room. Sixteen. The only thing that gave me a little comfort was that I only recognized one of the scents. Thalia’s, which means recently, he’d only killed one of the women though I have yet to see proof of Scar’s. That woman is tough as gold. I’ve been holding on to small hope that maybe, she escaped. I also noticed how Tatum disclosed so little information about her, that strengthens my resolve to believe he is lying.As long as I have hope, I can hold out a little longer. I have to.It’s taking longer than expected for me to reject the effects of wolfsbane, leaving me still in a paralytic state though my mind is conscious. Tatum turned his back for a second, when I felt the mind-link open up.‘Dahlia!’ A deep voice boomed in my head, and there was no mistaking it.‘Hades,’ Relief would have flooded me right in this instant, if only Tatum haven’t somewhat sensed it as he strode towa
Chapter 118Dahlia’s POV:I wake up groggily and groan, a loud ringing in my head as I try to gather my bearings. My head is pounding, and I try to lift my hand to massage my temple only to find it is useless; I can’t move, not just my hand, but my whole body seems paralyzed. Although I can feel my lips and tongue, meaning I can only speak but not move for the next couple of hours, or more.As I come to, I hear my wolf groaning subtly in the back of my mind. That’s when I remembered, Tatum. I stepped outside my room for a while to check on the shouting when I bumped on him out of nowhere. Then, he pulled out a syringe and injected me with wolfsbane.Wolfsbane! I gasp to myself.Relief floods me to know that the wolfsbane hasn’t gotten to Diana, at least not yet. Wolfsbane, when injected directly to werewolves, could damage us in unimaginable ways, damage our wolf. “You’re awake,” a loud voice rips me out of my thoughts as I try to look in the direction it came from. My blood runs co