The disappointment in his voice was even harder to bear than the betrayal I had suffered from people I once called friends."I should have told you, but I knew you would’ve kept assuring me you were fine—even when we both knew you were dying inside. She said you were going to die, whether you stopped or continued with the doses. I just… couldn’t lose you.""Who is this ‘she’ you are referring to?” he asked, and I immediately realized my slip."I… it doesn’t matter. You’re alive, and that’s what’s important."Slowly, he let go of me, and I instantly missed his warmth. “How does it feel?”“What?”“To be so close to achieving your dreams?” he asked. I wanted to tell him I didn’t care anymore about the goddamn title; all I wanted was to have him by my side. I wanted him, but before I could tell him just that, he spoke on. “I hope it was worth it.”Those final words had felt like some kind of goodbye.“I, Ethan Alexander Darkwood, reject you, Kaida Dawn, as my fated mate.” He said.Seeing
The bond was gone, leaving a void in my chest. But what I felt for him didn’t change. Despite the fact that we were no longer mates, I still loved him. I was right—what we had was beyond the mate bond.I had given up far too quickly, I realized. I wasn’t willing to let him go just yet.The crowd was gone by the time I returned to the healing room. I stood by the door of the room where Alexander had been kept, contemplating what to say. I could apologize again, but something told me it wouldn’t be enough. He believed I could ‘move on,’ but he needed to see that I never would—that I could never love another. My heart belonged to him, mate bond or not. Nothing had changed. And maybe, if he saw that, he would change his mind.Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door. No response. I lifted my hand to try again when the door creaked open.I pushed it fully open—only to find the bed empty.His scent in the room was still strong, enough to tell me he hadn’t been gone for long. I walked int
Austin helped me back to the pack house. I was filthy, covered in mud—but I didn’t care.“Gather the council of advisors.” I instructed him.“Now?” he asked, surprised. “You should rest, Luna. You are in no condition…”“I gave you an order.” I said and that seemed to surprise him too, he nodded before turning away.I stripped off my filthy clothes, took a quick bath, and stepped into another leather outfit—identical to the one before. My hair, still damp, was twisted into a bun before I headed to the meeting room.I had expected to be bombarded with questions from the advisors; I had expected some of them with frowns on their faces. I was ready to take all the disappointed looks casted at me, but what I wasn’t ready for was to find all the seats unoccupied—all except two.Austin and Phil.“Where are the others?” I questioned.“Erh… Luna, I really don’t think this is the right time…”I cut Austin off for the second time. “Where are the others?” I repeated.“They left.”“What do you mea
"Is there anything else I should be aware of?" I questioned my advisors. Once again, they seemed to be holding something back—I could tell."We worry about what will happen when the news reaches the other packs," Austin says, giving me a look that suggests I read between the lines and figure out what he isn't saying. When he realizes I’m not catching on, he speaks up. "There has never been a female Alpha before. There will be a lot of opinions—especially with you being the… Alpha Queen. The others might not accept this change,"“We should be ready for anything. The other packs might see this change as a sign of weakness and think it’s the best time to attack. The Nightshade pack might have been enjoying peace for years, but it would be foolish to think that that would continue.”“When they attack, we will be ready, we will go to war and I will take the front lines and prove to them how wrong they are.”Phil nodded, and with that, I dismissed them.As I stepped out of the meeting room,
ALIYA’S POVDaemon had kept his distance, reminding me once again of the times back at the castle when he would withdraw into himself. He had a lot on his mind, none of which he was willing to share with me.I didn’t miss the fact that he seemed to enjoy my company, even though he never made a move on me—and I wasn’t sure how that made me feel. As the days went by, I found myself settling into this ‘new life.’ It didn’t seem so… bad, now that I knew Daemon wasn’t about to end my life anytime soon. But there was still one problem—Tasha.It didn’t take a genius to see that she was jealous. Daemon fed from her, but beyond that, she was just another person living in his house. He never seemed to look at her twice, despite her efforts. The twins were nicer, but they mostly kept to themselves. Tasha had no interest in making friends with them—or with me, for that matter.Today, something changed.Lying on the bed in Daemon's room, I felt trapped. It shouldn’t have bothered me—I had lived my
The mist disappeared, giving way to a completely different location. Daemon’s hand steadied me.“Are you alright?” he asked. I could only nod. Our ‘travel’ had been one of the strangest experiences I had ever encountered.“Where are we?” I asked, scanning the unfamiliar surroundings.“In a museum.”I glanced around, noting the towering dinosaur skeleton, the paintings, and the sculptures. The more I observed, the more I appreciated the beauty of each piece. This museum was unlike anything I had ever seen, it fascinated me.“That painting… it’s so beautiful,” I said to Daemon.“Yes, it is,” he agreed. Daemon had his hands shoved in his pockets, standing still while I moved around, gushing over the beautiful artifacts. “Humans have this obsession with preserving things from the past.”I paused.“Humans?” I repeated. He nodded.“If you haven’t noticed, we’ve traveled far from home.” He took my hands in his and led me to the door. A guard sat in a small booth, his posture relaxed—until h
I had never seen anything like this place; it felt more… alive. This had been all I wanted, and here I was. Free of the castle and out in the open. The world was far bigger than I could ever know—far more diverse too. I didn’t realize I was smiling until I noticed his eyes on me. His attention was no longer on the road ahead of us. "It's beautiful," I said after a moment.“I would have done this sooner if I knew how happy it would make you.”"Daemon, thank you for doing this," I said, and for a moment, our eyes locked. I reddened and looked away. "Where are we going?" I asked to fill the silence."To watch a movie. It’s a rewrite of Romeo and Juliet," he said.For some reason, I couldn’t help but laugh."What?" he questioned."Who would have thought? The Demon Overlord watches movies.""I like to see myself as a normal person at times.""But there is nothing normal about you.""I've been good since we arrived here. That should win me some points in normality, shouldn't it?"“Yes, I gu
On our way out, more women stared. It was getting unnerving—I wanted to snap at them.I was tempted to show them he was mine by wrapping my arms around his torso, but I wasn’t sure he would like that. He had never been one for such close contact, so I kept my hands to myself. But as if he could read my mind, he wrapped his arm around me—possessively.I stared up at him in surprise."I’m on my best behavior, but if those guys don’t stop undressing you with their eyes, I might have to reconsider," he said. I followed his line of sight, and sure enough, about five guys stood there, watching me. The moment Daemon’s gaze fell on them, they quickly walked away.“You don’t seem to be noticing how almost every female in the building is checking you out.” I said, and his eyes met mine again, making me realize that he truly hadn’t noticed them. How was that even possible? Some had walked past him multiple times just to get a single look from him, I couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for t
3ALEXANDER POVI watched her sleep. I couldn’t say exactly when the insecurities set in, but lately she kept talking about how she’d gotten “fat.” She wasn’t—she was pregnant, strong and healthy for an expectant mother.I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. I’d spend eternity reminding her of her beauty if that’s what it took.It was time for work, but I didn’t want to leave Kaida alone—not with her due date only weeks away. Before heading out, I went to check on Alexa and found she was already awake.“Daddy, take me to Uncle D, pleeeease,” she begged.She was too adorable to refuse, but it was far too early.“It’s still sleeping time; he’s resting,” I said gently.“But Uncle D don’t sleep. He a vampire,” she whispered, as though sharing a top secret. I could have asked where she’d learned that word, but I already knew the answer.Then Kaida’s cry rang out from the next room: “Alexander! It’s coming—the baby…”My heart jolted. I raced back to our room and found her leaning against t
1.***PHIL POVTwo Years Later…I had never felt so nervous.The day had finally come — Selene had turned twenty-one two days ago, and soon everything between us was about to change."Good luck, friend," Austin said to me."You got this," Ruth, Austin’s mate, added, and I nodded.A year ago, Ruth had finally said goodbye to the Winter Pack and joined her mate, Austin. Their reunion had been beautiful, and the pair had been inseparable ever since.I wanted something like that too — though I hadn’t realized how badly until I met Selene.At many points, I had thought about canceling the plan of waiting, but this time, Selene had been the one against it. I refused to think too deeply about the reason behind that.Now I stood by the door to her house and knocked.I waited a few moments; there was no response, so I knocked again.A woman answered — a complete stranger."I’m looking for Selene. Selene Ashford?" I asked."Oh, the Ashfords don’t live here anymore," she said — and my heart drop
“The others are very angry,” Kyiv said to me. “They think I’m on your side, and that’s why I killed Skale. It’s no secret they don’t like me very much, so they’ve requested something from me—to make clear where my loyalty lies.”“And I’m guessing this thing they requested of you somehow involves me.”“That’s right. Let’s look at the pros of this operation. You’d get to leave the cell for a short while—after days of being locked up, that has to mean something. But then the cons: you’d be paraded naked in front of thousands of rogues, bound, and many would want to… touch.”“I have nothing to be ashamed of, but I’m more worried about your little plan with the plane crash. Aren’t you worried the news that I’m alive will leak out?”“I too believe this is a bad idea. Even if I stand to benefit in many ways — I’d finally prove myself a capable leader to the rogues, and the other rogue leaders would have nothing on me. But I still don’t trust their promises to keep the rogues silent, so the n
I stared at the water in the wooden bowl. I was so thirsty.Could anything be worse than this?At least I would have one less thing to worry about—thirst.I reached for it. It was far enough to cause some strain on my already bruised wrist as I stretched for it, and then I took hold of it.Just before I could lift it up, the bowl slipped from my bloody grasp and fell to the floor, the contents splashing across the ground.Fuck.Well,I guess I really have no option now.Something captured my attention — a blackish smoke swirling in the air, growing thicker with every second.Then, through the smoke, Daemon stepped out.“There you are, about damn time. I was starting to wonder if I was at the wrong place,” he muttered.“How did you find me?”“I made a very wild guess.” “Kaida — how is she?”He tapped on the transparent glass, as if testing its strength.“She’s perfectly fine, and she knows you’re not dead. But she might not be too happy about the fact that I didn’t let her come with m
“There’s a slight chance we aren’t dealing with a pack,” Daemon said. “Thank you for this information.”“Wait, you’re leaving me here? I just proved how important I could be.”“Yes, indeed. If you get any other information, just reach out,” he said, then turned around. He was really leaving.“Fuck you.” I muttered beneath my breath.“I heard that,” he called out. “I intended for you to hear that!” I said, but of course he was already gone.My gaze fell on Sebastian, still standing on the other side of the wall. He raised both hands in surrender before backing away. Frustrated, I stomped off..Kate arrived at the pack a few hours later. This time, she brought along her luggage.“You won’t really need all those for a few days.”“No, I won’t. But I’m not planning to stay for just a few days,” she said, walking into her room. I followed with two more of her luggage. “I’m moving into this pack,” she said finally, and I couldn’t deny how surprised I was at that.“Really?”“Yes,” she said,
I walked past the patrolling soldier and Phil, who followed after me.“I thought you said you were leaving? I was worried you’d do something rash, so I came after you.”Good thing he and the other patrollers hadn’t witnessed what happened earlier.“Plans changed. Guess I was about to make a rash decision — but I changed my mind.”“Are you okay?” Phil asked, inspecting me.I knew I didn’t exactly look my best — I’d spent god-knows-how-long in the healing room, then ran straight to pack my bags, dressed in nothing but the white gown the healing wardens had supplied. My eyes must have been red from crying. But every other person in the pack looked the same, if not worse.They were all mourning Alexander—I realized.Many cast pitiful glances at me.“Why did he have to go?”, “He was too young to die,” “He ‘was’ the best Alpha the pack had ever had.”Everyone had something to say about Alexander.I could hardly believe I’d run past all these people without noticing a single thing. On the wa
KADIA’S POVI woke up in the healing room.A pair of blue eyes watched me — Daemon. He looked… different, and it wasn’t just the new haircut. There was something about him that made him seem more human."Daemon," I called; my throat felt so dry.He seemed to have already prepared for that. He passed me a glass of water, which I quickly emptied.Everything came flooding back — the news about the plane crash. It became harder to breathe.“Kaida. Calm down.”"He's gone — he was in the plane when it crashed."I yanked out the tubes attached to my arm and rose to my feet. The movement had been too abrupt; the room seemed to spin.I felt hands guiding me back to the bed. I couldn’t hold in the tears.“He shouldn’t have been there. I made him go, and now…”“Stop.” Daemon said, cutting me off. “He is not dead. I visited the site; I didn’t find anything that indicated he was among the ones that died.”“You were at the site?” I asked, my heart speeding up with renewed hope.“Yes. The moment I h
ALEXANDER’S POVMy blurred vision slowly cleared, and I realized I was in what looked like a small, empty room.The wall facing me was made of thick, transparent glass.I couldn’t tell how they managed to get me in here—there was no window or door, only a narrow slot likely meant for passing food and letting in just enough air to keep the ‘prisoner’ alive.I could only assume there was some kind of hidden entrance.My hands and ankles were bound with thick silver chains.The chains felt excessive—I could barely move a muscle.More wolfsbane than I’d ever consumed in my entire life had been pumped into my system, completely immobilizing me and filling me with this nauseating, sickly feeling. I hadn’t realized I was shivering until I noticed the tremble in my fingers.The room was chillingly cold, and with the wolfsbane suppressing my werewolf abilities, I was no exception to the cold. I tried to summon flames. Nothing.Maybe I was just too weak to summon the flames. The crushing feeli
1KADIA’S POVWhen I discovered the news of my pregnancy, I had been so happy. But I knew a lot would have to change.I had to be more cautious—for the baby. That meant I wouldn’t be able to keep training the pack soldiers for much longer. Of course, I’d have to give up that duty eventually and it had become a part of my life. I would have to watch my diet, too. And then there were other things. Like the fact that I would grow big, and I might not look the same. My toned stomach which I had spent years working on would be no more.This had been the type of life I once abhorred, but everything was different now—I wanted this. I could see a future with Alexander, filled with laughter and little kids running around, and the thought made me smile.Lara was the first person to find out I was pregnant.After I discovered the pregnancy test was unmistakably positive, I was as scared as I was excited.Lara happened to be visiting the pack, and we kind of bumped into each other. She was all s