I didn't sleep all night. Finally, when It was dawn, I rose from the bed and headed into the bathroom, rummaging through the closets for my clothes. They weren't here; I only found a robe, and so I put it on quickly before returning back into the room."Riley. What are you doing? Come back to bed, you need some more rest." Daemon muttered."I'm sorry." I said, and with that I threw the blinds open. He should have never told me about his newfound weakness. The sun burnt his skin, I didn't wait to watch him die. I raced down the stairs and out of the main entrance door, and I froze. The house was practically in the middle of nowhere; snow covered the ground. Where exactly was this place?The drugs he had used on me prevented me from using my wings, and so I ran on my feet; the wild wind blew through my hair, causing my eyes to water, but I couldn't stop running. After a few hours, I slowed down, I couldn't run anymore; My breaths were shallow and foggy, visible in the cold air. With e
ISABELLAEARLIER…I knew about Logan Diminitri’s visit; I also knew about their plan to find a cure.Thane didn't like the control I had over him, I knew it would come to this. I wondered what I would be to him when he had found the cure. I won't be of any use to him if that happened, he would have no reason to let me stay at the pack.Was it selfish that I didn't exactly want him to find a cure?I stared at him lying on the bed. It was still there, his feelings for me were still somewhere in there but he would never admit it because he loved her more.I was becoming a different version of myself, and I didn't like it one bit. Thane needed the cure; I knew this would only get worse if he didn't find it, yet a part of me didn't want him to find the cure, and then Riley—I had sent her away because I wanted to be alone with Thane; I wanted him to wake up to my presence; I wanted him to see that I would always be there for him. It was a selfish thing to do, and here I was, alone with him
RILEY"Change of plans." Daemon said, a frown etched to his face. "You will pay a visit to your pack.""What?" I questioned, this must be some kind of a trick."You heard me right. Maybe I underestimated Thane's feelings for you; I'd rather not take the risk, so it's time to end this off the right way.""End what?""You will say your last goodbyes to Thane, just so he will stop searching. He had involved Bruce, your father, in this, and now I have even more enemies, but it wouldn't be so if you told him how much you love me and how you plan to live the rest of your life with me.""You are going to force me into doing this too?" I asked."Yes, I will.""I will do as you said, but leave the people I care about and every other person out of this.""Of course," he promised. "I'll be back in an hour; I'll leave you to prepare a very convincing speech," he said before leaving me alone. I stared at Daisy's notebook. Could I be able to pass a secret message to Thane without Daemon finding ou
THANEMaybe it had been because this had happened once before, or maybe because despite her words, I still saw through her.She didn't mean any of it; she must have been forced. I wondered what Daemon could have over her.Riley would never move on without Ethan.I slipped my hands into my pocket, and I noticed a piece of paper. I was sure it hadn't been there a while ago. I pulled it out. Riley must have slipped it into my pocket, maybe at the time she hugged me. I couldn't help but smirk; that was a smart move. On the paper were written three words that seemed to be scrambled in a haste. 'Use the pendant.' ..."Thank you for coming." Bruce said, letting me in.The building was a perfect hideout; the outside made it seem like this was an abandoned space, but inside was completely… different."Did you bring the pendant along?" he asked, and I nodded, tossing the emerald pendant to him; he caught it.I spotted a mid aged woman, she stood by his side with a smile that looked too fake
RILEY "Was the hug really necessary?" Daemon asked. "You said I should make it convincing, and I did." "All those things you said back there... did you mean them?" he asked. "You mean when I said you make me happy? No, not really." "You know, you could have lied and said, ‘Yes’." "Did I hurt your feelings? Good, because that serves you right." Daemon's gaze drifted past me to the notebook on the table. "Did you touch the book?" he asked me, and I rolled my eyes at him. "Of course not." I lied. But he walked past me and picked the book up. He scrolled through the pages and paused. "This book is missing a page, Riley." "What do you mean?" "Where is it?" "I'm not in the mood for this..." My words were cut off when Daemon slammed me hard against the wall; my head collided against the wall, and for a moment I felt dizzy. "You little bitch, I did everything for you, and yet, this is how you repay me?" "I don't understand what you are talking about!" I cried out. "Don't play
ISABELLA'S POVI was worried about Riley; since she was gone, Thane refused to allow himself even a few minutes of sleep. He blamed himself for everything—but it wasn’t his fault; it was mine.I paced round the room, waiting for any update about Riley's whereabouts; just then, Thane walked in."Thane! Is she alright?" I asked him."She is alive," he responded. "What happened to her? Where is she?""I think we need to talk," Thane says."I know, I'm sorry about earlier; I had no clue she was in danger; I shouldn't have tried to stop you from going to her.""It's not about that, Bella," he said, and I couldn’t help but notice how he wouldn’t even look at me."Then what do you want us to talk about?""I want you out of this pack."For a moment I doubted if I heard the right words, but there it was, what he wanted to talk about."What... why? I am sorry if I did anything wrong. I just... I don't have anywhere to go.""You can't stay here anymore.""No, you need me; I can help you—I know
RILEY POV"Hello, Riley." The woman said, "Don't mind my newly acquired body. Thane did get your message and managed to free me from Hades."Daemon turned to me; I had never seen such hate in his eyes before and this time it was directed at me."Where is Thane?" I asked Jade."He should be here in a few minutes, assuming Bruce got the shifting spell right.""How did you find me?" Daemon asked her."It was easy; we are linked in a way."In a flash, Daemon appeared right before me, gripping me tightly as the black mist swirled around us. He was escaping, and he was taking me with him, I had no right to fight him.But something was wrong; I could see it on Daemon's face. He finally let go of me.It didn't work. We were both still in his room.Daemon let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground, clutching his ear; blood dripped down his nose. Jade seemed to be doing something to him; her eyes glowed, and her hands were outstretched. She didn't stop till the footsteps drew both our atte
"I once told you the difference between a sorcerer and a warlock: a sorcerer is born into magic while warlocks have to earn theirs. Our magic comes from a… dark source. All my life, I hungered for power. I believed I wasn't born to live an ordinary life and I wouldn't settle for less. I studied every supernatural creature, and that's how I knew about Vox.""Who is Vox?" I asked Bruce."He is the Demon Overlord, a powerful entity, and he saw me as useful. I went on missions for him—while I wasn’t skilled in the physical aspect, my knowledge and resourcefulness made up for it. I wanted to become his favorite, but with Vox, things don't work that way. You are only important to him when you are of use.I was able to complete all my tasks; I did really bad things, none of which I am proud of, and finally I was rewarded; he made me a warlock. Just as I had wanted.Still, I wanted more, and my greed got in the way.A warlock's magic never does die. If a warlock kills another, he gets a port
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