NYXION
“Am I the only one who thinks she has some kind of history with Alpha Talon? I mean, an ordinary person wouldn't cuss him out like that?” Aeron uttered, and I yawned, rocking my seat in different directions while flipping through papers I wasn't even reading.
I just hoped that drowning myself in pack matters would help me take my mind off the silly little mate I had brought down here.
“It sure did look that way, but that's not even the issue on the ground. She's our mate, guys. How do we deal with this?” Varek questioned, and I slammed the file I was holding shut in anger.
Harems were outlawed by the lycanthropy, and we were on our way to becoming Lycan, so why does she have to be a stumbling block?
If the elders and council get to hear of it before I'm able to figure out what to do, then it's safe to say I'm doomed.
“You know, I think it is really ridiculous and totally insensitive that the moon goddess would even think of mating me with the same person as you guys. And she's an omega, and under the leadership of the same man who killed my first mate. This is all shades wrong, I feel like I might lose my mind and gut that girl from the inside out.” I finally blurted out as I hadn't spoken another word after ordering for her to be thrown in the dungeon.
“Dear Bailey. Bless her soul.” Aeron muttered, and I gritted my teeth.
Bailey was my first mate, the absolute love of my life. She was the only one I ever truly felt comfortable with outside of my brothers; she was the sweetest, and she was going to be my Luna.
I knew in every fibre of my being that I wanted her to be mine and my Luna.
She was even pregnant with my pup, and yet all my head could replay now was how Talon had sunk his sword into her stomach, and she fell onto the floor, blood gushing out of the place she was stabbed. She had died in my hands, and I had vowed there and then that I would return the favour.
“I understand we're all a little pissed but the girl doesn't seem to be a fan of Talon instead. Didn't anyone hear what she told Talon? She said, “You killed them.” What does that mean?” Aeron questioned, and I slammed my hands on the table.
I hated it when he was like this. All soft and trying to understand everyone, it was honestly really annoying.
“I don't care,” I grunted my teeth when I suddenly scented her, and I looked up. She was supposed to be in the dungeon, not here.
When Varek and Aeron looked towards the door, I realized they had scented the same thing.
“What are you doing here? How did you get out?” I questioned gruffly, standing on my feet, and she shrugged.
“I'm not escaping. I don't have anywhere to go anyway, I just wanted to know if there was another spot that gives off more rays of light. I tend to get panic attacks in the dark.” She answered, rubbing her shoulders softly.
From the looks in her eyes, you could already tell that she didn't even mean to end up here. She might have lost her way.
“That wasn't the answer to my question,” I asked, walking closer to her as I wrapped my hands over her neck.
All my wolf could echo in my head was to break her neck into bits right there and then.
“Oh, you mean, how I got out of the dungeon? I'm a maid, I should know basic things like escaping prisons and getting around with the guards.” She answered, not looking the least bit scared, even as my hands were on her neck.
Aeron chuckled a bit, and I turned to glare at him, and he immediately pursed his lips.
“You're a maid, and you should know when to keep your mouth shut,” I warned.
“1 year and four months.” She uttered, and I raised a brow in confusion, tightening the pressure of my hands around her neck, and she coughed.
“What?”
“1 year and four months, I kept my mouth shut as a maid. I let my defiant part die. Because? I was a maid, not just a maid but the daughter of a traitor. Every single move I made could mean ‘death by the gallows’ 1 year and four months, I yearned to speak the same way I always have.”
“And today, I talked to Talon that way. The way I always wanted to but couldn't.” She chuckled a bit as I stared at her.
“I've been tossed and will continue to be tossed. You imprisoned me because, apparently, all of you hate that a weak omega is mated to you. But I can't change that. And I'm done trying to be who I'm not. I'm loud, I speak, I question things I don't understand, and I wouldn't continue doing that.”
“I'll take her back to the dungeon.” Aeron offered, and I let go of her immediately so I don't end up strangling her to death.
“Please, please take me to another dungeon. I really am scared of the dark. It would kill me faster than any of you will.” She pleaded, and I walked towards the window.
Something about her reminded me of Bailey, but I just can't even place my hands on it.
“Take her back.” I nodded, and Varek grabbed her by the arm.
“Don't think that because you're mated to any of us gives you the entitlement to act crazy. You are apparently really lucky that you are still alive and breathing.” Varek muttered as he dragged her along.
“I'm crazy. Yeah, I am. How is that so wrong?” She yelled, and I felt something tug on my chest. My eyes turned pitch black as I could see in my head that my wolf was giving me a visual representation of how she would look undressed.
The stupid mate bond. I tried to withhold myself, but it wasn't working as I dragged my feet over to where Varek had her pinned against the wall.
“What are y'all doing?” She asked, looking visibly horrified as Aeron snapped her shirt buttons and began trailing lines over her body.
Her body looked so beautiful, delicate even, and it was so hard to stop myself as I placed my hands onto her skin and felt shivers down my spine.
Grabbing her jaw, I locked her lips in a really urgent and passionate kiss like a wolf that had been starved all his life, and she let out a soft moan.
Damn it! That was it for me, as it seemed like every other thing in my head was wiped away, and all I could see was her
If she moans one more time, I won't be able to restrain myself, and I doubt my brothers are even trying with the way they were probing all over her.
“Aww.” She moaned yet again and fuck!
Just then, there was a knock on the door, snapping me out of the daze that the mate bond had put me into, and I gasped, taking steps away from her.
“Nyxion, are you in there?” Aerila’s voice came in abruptly. Shit! Shit! Shit!
Nyxion I still hated how slow my body felt. A week had passed since the council room mess, but the damn poison still had its claws in me. The healers called it “steady recovery.” I called it pathetic. I could walk, talk, even lift my sword for a few minutes before my muscles started trembling like a pup in the snow. Every time I tried to train, my body reminded me it wasn’t mine to command yet. I’d take a few swings, feel the fire in my arms turn to water, and have to stop before my pride cracked in front of whoever was watching. It wasn’t the kind of weakness I was used to. Pain I could handle, fatigue I could push through, but this was slow, stubborn—like it enjoyed mocking me. It made me feel caged inside my own skin. Aerila hadn’t spoken to me much since that day. She hadn’t stormed into my room demanding answers. She hadn’t given me her icy, cutting glares. She just… stayed away. Which should have been a relief. It wasn’t. Not because I missed her—at least, that’s what I
Naeris's POV The moment the council room doors shut behind me, I let out the breath I’d been holding. My palms were still warm from gripping my skirt too tightly, my chest tight from Varek’s smug “good girl,” and Nyxion’s unreadable golden eyes. I kept walking, my boots clicking against the polished stone floor, telling myself I wasn’t running away. I just needed air. “Going somewhere without me?” The voice was lazy, smooth, and already smiling before I even turned my head. Aeron was leaning against the corridor wall, hands shoved in his pockets, as if he’d been waiting there for hours. His dark hair was perfectly messy, the kind of mess that looked like it had been done on purpose. “I thought you were in there,” I said, keeping my voice neutral. “I was,” he said, pushing off the wall and falling into step beside me. “But then I saw you leave, and I thought—why sit in there talking war strategies when I could follow you?” I rolled my eyes. “You’re supposed to be helping them.
Naeris's POV I held her hand midair, forcing my wolf back down with every ounce of restraint I could muster. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath, tossing her hand to the side where it belonged. Then I stared her straight in the eye. “I have done nothing to warrant your violence, and I would appreciate it if you stayed within your boundaries, just as I have been.” The room was silent. I could feel all three alpha triplets' eyes on me, and instead of feeling nervous or jittery, I actually felt….excited. No, that was my wolf. She was already going haywire. A fleeting expression passed Aerila’s face. She narrowed her eyes, gritting her teeth loudly. Then, she laughed. It wasn’t a normal laugh. It was the kind that sounded maniacal, like she would let me go now and strangle me in my sleep. Without warning, she pointed a finger at me, her sharp nails catching the light in the room. “You have just begun what you can’t finish, peasant,” she spat. I cocked my head an
Nyxion's POV A week. That’s how long it took to stand without feeling like my legs were made of stone. The poison had left my muscles stiff, my chest sore, but I’d be damned if I stayed in bed another day. I was Alpha, not some fragile old wolf waiting for the end. So yes, I pushed myself out of bed and started my duty before mutiny happened. The council room smelled of parchment, ink, and the faint musk of wolves who’d been in meetings too long. Varek stood near the far table, leaning over the map of Talon’s territory. Aeron was on his right, arms crossed, his jaw locked in that way that told me he was either uninterested in what was going on here, or just tired. Draven, of course, looked the same as always; unreadable yet slightly intrigued. “We’ve discussed this before. I don’t get why we’re still at it. We hit from the middle,” Varek said, tapping a spot on the map with his finger. “It’s their weakest point. The flanks are guarded, but the center—” “—is a chokehold,”
NAERIS I didn’t realize how fast I was walking until I nearly slammed into one of the castle guards turning the corner. “Sorry,” I murmured quickly, ducking my head and picking up my pace. My hands were trembling. My heart hadn’t settled since I left the room. Nyxion. He looked like death had brushed its lips against his mouth and only barely let him go. And yet… he still looked at me like he could burn me alive with just a glance. I needed air. I needed to get far away from whatever I felt brewing in that room. The silence had been unbearable. The way Aerila held him was like she was clinging to the last breath in her lungs. And the way he— I blinked hard. No. I wouldn’t think about the way his eyes had softened when he saw me. That wasn’t mine to hold onto. I shoved open the back doors leading out to the east garden. The moment I stepped out into the evening breeze, my lungs expanded. Flowers I couldn’t name drooped lazily in the dying light, their perfume soft and heady.
Nyxion's POV The room fell heavily silent after she left. Avery, Varek, and Aerila were still in the room, all staring at me with concerned eyes. “I’m alive. You guys can rest easy now,” I muttered. I felt a bit too uncomfortable with how they were paying all their attention to me. Aerila still had her hands wrapped around my head, cradling me like I was an egg about to crack. “We need to find out what this stupid poison is. I can’t lose you, Nyxion,” she whispered brokenly, running her slender fingers through my hair. For a second, I allowed myself to lean into it. For another, I wanted to forget about her. And for the third, I realized I couldn’t, and this was pointless. The hallucinations I had seen were strange, but not abnormal. What I didn’t understand was why they looked similar to Naeris. Or was it my wolf being annoyed that I refused to reach out to her? I couldn’t tell. But the second it seemed like I saw her in the room, I pushed myself to get up. She didn’t acc