I wondered why Bruce had kept the truth to himself all these years. Now it did make sense why he left us and just maybe, he deserved my forgiveness. My mother never did know anything about the man she fell in love with; she didn't know he was a warlock several years older than he looked. She knew nothing, and he shouldn't have left her in the dark, but still I could understand why he did that; maybe he believed he was protecting her.The members of the Nightshade pack paid their respect to Daisy. Many wept over her death; of course, they didn't know the truth about her betrayal. Thane, on the other hand, didn't like this idea; he didn't think she deserved to be buried with honor after what she did."You don't have to watch all these." Thane said to me, he believed me being here at Daisy's burial was just an act, a simple cover up."You know, I don't blame her for anything she did; she was not in her right senses. Daemon messed with her, just as he always does, and so it's him I blam
"I feel so guilty... I didn't want any of it, but still it happened, and I can't help but think that I don't deserve you. I feel tainted...""Don't say that. He forced you; that was not your fault, so don't you blame yourself for anything. Maybe I do know a way to make you feel better and we will do this together. We are going to replace those memories of him with new ones. I will make you forget about him; you don't have to be afraid."...Thane kept to his promise; when he was done making love to me, he was all I could feel down there, all I could think about.He lay beside me. It was already night time but we were both very much awake."What is your biggest fear?" I asked him, in the mood for a conversation after being away from him for so long."Can you guess?""Easy, the Lycan's Curse.""That is one. When you were away with Daemon, I was afraid; I had an idea of what he would do, and I felt so restless, but my biggest fear is losing you.""I will always be here; I am not going a
Regnux walked into my office, escorted by one of my soldiers."Alpha, the woman named Isabella is back here, she says she has very important information for you.""I believe I made myself clear earlier. Do not let her in.”"There’s someone else with her. The man’s name is Logan, and he’s been here before."Since Logan's last visit, I hadn't heard anything from him; he might be my half brother, but that didn't mean I trusted him."Let the man in, alone” I said to the soldier. “Regnux, go get the Luna."This time I wanted Riley present; I wanted her to know she would always be a part of my decisions.Riley walked in; she was in a tight pink dress, looking all innocent. For a moment, I wondered how long it would take Logan to get here; the thought of throwing her against the table and claiming her once again clouded my mind."Thane?" she called, and I snapped out of it."Logan is here. I'm inviting him in, and I want you by my side."I didn't mention Isabella, things were getting better
RILEYMy day couldn't get any stranger.I saw Logan for the first time, and he did look a lot like Thane. It was clear that they were related; more to that, I could feel the power he emitted. Having two powerful people in the same room was never the best idea.I did notice Logan's eyes roaming down my body and how enraged that made Thane; for a moment I thought he would lunge at him for staring. Any other day, I would have been irritated at that, but I couldn't bring myself to care now. He had the cure, and that's all we needed from him.I couldn't deny that I was impressed by Thane's action, the fact that he kept Isabella out of the pack gave me some level of satisfaction, I would always be first in his heart.Isabella came in, and I noticed how sickly she looked. She had always been tiny, but now she was all bones, her skin even paler than it had ever been."I thought whatever sickness that had brought me to my 'first' death was over. I was wrong. After I left the pack, I began noti
THANEI had flown by my private jet before; I rarely used it. I do believe technology has done more harm than good, and as werewolves we had less need for it. While the humans relied fully on the use of technology for almost... everything.Logan had left me with Isabella. She hadn't uttered a single word to me but things were better that way, as long as she was able to communicate the directions to Simon, my pilot, I was fine with the silence. The flight stretched on for a full day, and I didn't enjoy a minute of it; I would prefer Bruce ‘Shifting Spell’ anytime to this.“This is the only landing space closest to the mountains.” Simon informed us from the cockpit.“It will have to do.” I responded.Finally, the jet lowered down on a natural clearing. It was snowing lightly but I didn't need to worry about the cold; my body could maintain the heat.Isabella was the first to get out; it seemed like she had been counting the minutes and seconds till she could finally get out of the air
"The scrolls didn't say anything about how it's been used." Isabella said to me. I took the flower from her hand and tore it open; it immediately turned black. Its inside stored a strange blackish liquid. I had this weird feeling like I had seen this before. "Maybe I'm supposed to drink this," she muttered. I gave a shrug. She took it back from my hand, and I watched her drink of its sap. This was even weirder than I thought it would be. "How do you feel?" I asked. She stared down her body like she hoped to see some kind of instant change. "Nothing. I feel the same." "That means it isn't quite it. Let's get going." "No, we didn't come all this way to leave with nothing." "What do you suggest we do? Drink of all the flower's sap till we find the 'chosen' flower that cures?" "That is a smart plan." "I meant it as a joke." Just then she coughed. She bent over and threw up dark blood. "Are you alright?" I asked; she shook her head. "I don't know what is happening," she cried.
I awoke with a start. It was already morning.Gods, it had only been a dream.The tears falling down my eyes were tears of relief. I wasn't alone — I realized; slowly, I turned to see the other person on the bed, it was Thane, and he was very much awake."You seem to be having a nightmare," he said, but there was something different about him."You scared me. When did you return from your trip with Isabella?" I asked, watching him; I couldn't push away the strange feeling, like something was very wrong and yet his scent hadn't changed."A few hours ago. I didn't want to wake you," he explained."Did you... did you get the cure?" I asked him, and he nodded."Yes, I did.""So Isabella was right; there is a cure.""She is, and now you don't have to worry about me losing control; I have been cured completely.""That was...""Fast?" The word on my mind was unbelievable, but I nodded, with a smile on my face."You know I am really glad to hear this." I say, rising to my feet and heading t
THANE I woke up on the cold ground, my surroundings dim and unfamiliar—was this... a cave? I hadn't been chained; there was no need for that; I couldn't move. Everything flooded back, Isabella's betrayal—I shouldn't have trusted her. "You are awake," the voice called. Speak about the little devil. "It isn't wise to be this close to me, don't you think?" "You can't harm me; at this state, you can't even hurt a fly." "Did Logan keep you here to babysit me?" "Ah, you figured that out too; of course he is in on this too." "I guess this is revenge for sending you away from the pack?" "No. I would never do that, but that action did change everything." "I guess this is where the big revelation comes in?" "Yes, it is and there is a lot to be revealed. I didn't lose my memories. I knew who awoke me, and it was Slade, your father." "Slade?" I asked, surprised. "I think I'm done with your lies; you can keep your little explanations to yourself." "Do you really think that ghosts are r
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