“Walk with me,” Alexander said to me.Many curious gazes followed us.“Where to?” I inquired.“To the Dining Room.”“I’m not hungry.”“But I am, so come with me.”I clenched my teeth, following after him.“How do you feel?” he asked.“Really? You are going to ask me that question?”“Last night, you felt it, didn’t you?”“I’m sure you were so happy and satisfied knowing I was in pain.” He passed me a vial filled with a clear, thick liquid. “What is this?”“Something I should have given you earlier. You should take it; while it won’t completely take the pain away, you would barely feel it.” he explained.“I don’t need it.”“You don’t have to be stubborn, Kaida; it will do you no good. Tormenting yourself is not fearlessness; it’s stupidity.”“If I can endure being with you, then no amount of torment is too grave to endure.” With that I walked past him, heading back to my room. I had lost my appetite.…I stood at the balcony, all I could think about was my father. He was all alone—I sh
The moment Alexander was gone, I wolfed down the food he had brought as I was starving.I began my daily exercises. I had been slacking off for the past few days, so I started with 100 push-ups, 50 sit-ups, and then resumed my squat routine. The hours passed by in a blur; I hadn’t even realized how long I took exercising; the sun had gone down, giving way to dusk.I was covered in sweat. I had to take a quick shower; I was in no mood for long baths and I wasn’t expecting Alexander back anytime soon; I guessed he would spend the night with his whores, and I will once again have the room all to myself.The cold water was just what I needed.I paused, turning off the shower.I thought I heard a sound. I listened in harder, but there was nothing. I must have been mistaken. I stepped out of the shower stall; only then did I notice him. Alexander stood by the door, his eyes trailing down my very naked body.“Get out!”“You are my mate; you don’t need to be shy.”There was something slightly
He was right. I was not as fearless as I made people believe I was.He took another swig of his liquor. That was good; I needed him as drunk as he could be for the question I was about to ask.“Tell me… did you ever plan on telling me what happened to your parents?”“Do you want to know, little mate?”“Yes, I do.”“And you will, only if you tell me how you got those scars.”A frown formed on my face; I had my back to him so he wouldn’t notice it. I had told nobody about my scars, no other person but Aric. Not even my father knew the full story.Alexander was curious about my scars, just as much as I was curious to know what happened to his own parents, and while I would have never told him the truth of how I got these scars, there was no harm in telling him now; he was drunk, and he would probably forget it all, but I would get the truth out of him.“I had a friend. A female friend. Her name was Cassandra, but I called her Cas, and she called me Kai. We were best friends, though she w
I knew something was wrong the moment I set my eyes on the boy named Eli.Maybe it was because he seemed so… nervous. The car came to an abrupt stop before a tiny building that didn’t look anything like a romantic spot. My hands wrapped around the dagger I had carried along with me.Eli was quick to open the door and Cas walked out.“Wait!” I called out, but it was too late. There was a man behind her, he placed a brown rag to her nose and she immediately fell into his arms. She had been drugged.“Come, come. Child.” The man cooed, but I moved backwards. He let out a growl. Something about him didn’t feel right and I could finally place it, it was his scent, he didn’t scent like a wolf and yet he was one.A rogue.He was a rogue.The man reached out to pull me out, but I slashed at him with my dagger; I got him across the eyes, and he let out a snarl. More men appeared; there were about six of them. The other door was pulled open, and I had no place to hide. One of the men picked me o
**TRIGGER WARNING: The following chapters contain themes of trauma and abuse. Read with caution!**The man placed a blade over the green flames.“I have a question; I need an answer, else…” he motioned to the blade. I understood his threat. “Our brother, Mason, was taken by your father; where was he kept?”“I—I don’t know.”“Well, too bad.” He picked the blade from the flames; the iron shone purple, instead of red.“No!” Cas cried out.“You said you would only ask questions!” the fool, Eli, screamed above his lungs. I looked away.Father told me sometimes fear contributes to the pain.The smell of burnt flesh filled the room and a single tear escaped my eyes.“A strong one we have here,” the man said. The leader with the one eye didn’t look impressed.“She would break with time.”He was right. I did break, just about when the iron met my skin for the seventh time. I called for my father, for my late mother, for the moon goddess, and every supernatural creature I knew.“Where did he ke
“You will – forgive me?” Eli asked, his eyes wide.“Yes, no one would know anything – I promise you, I’ll tell the Alpha I never did see her, all you have to do is free me.” “But they will kill me.”“I will have my father kill them all. He is an Alpha, a powerful man.”Eli nodded and walked up to me; he unlocked the chains and took them off. I spotted my dagger tucked in his belt.“Thank you,” I whispered.“Do you forgive me?”I drew closer to him, close enough to reach for the dagger, I pulled it out and in a fluid motion, I stabbed it into his chest.“You will rot in hell. You killed her; you did this, and you will pay.” I said to him, and I pulled out the dagger and stabbed it into his stomach. He cried out. “She loved you; she was innocent.” I pulled it out and stabbed it into his chest again. “You destroyed her… all for what? Money!” I growled, stabbing him over and over again, tearing through his body.That was my first ever kill.I rose, covered in blood, and I walked out of t
I took the bottle of vodka from his hands and lifted it to his lips.“Have a drink.” I encouraged, and with his eyes on me, he did take a drink, a rather long one. I watched the movement of his adam’s apple as the drink went down.“If the man still lives—the one with the scar.”“He doesn’t. I had searched for him for years, but there was no trace of him.”“Had you tried inquiring about their secret hideout from his brother, the one who was in your father’s custody?”“I couldn’t. I killed him the moment I had the chance. But as I said, he is most likely dead, Aric was a good tracker, he could have found him if he still lived.”“The amount of time you mention your Beta’s name is sickening.”“Is it?”“Very.” He said drawing closer.His eyes seemed to have darkened, it wasn’t lust, I could tell, it was something… scarier.“Drink some more.” I encouraged.“Are you trying to get me drunk, little mate?”I stilled.“You are already drunk… A little more wouldn’t be so bad, would it?”“I guess
ALEXANDER’S POVMy stubborn little mate slept on the couch, I watched her. One would think being the daughter of an Alpha meant she was to be protected. She should have been protected.I also thought her story was a bit similar to one I had heard before.As dawn broke, I rose from my bed. Her eyes snapped open; she was very sensitive to sounds and also a light sleeper.“I’ll be back early today.” I informed her.“Whatever.” She muttered before rolling over; I had a fine view of her ass, which was considerably bigger than many girls I had been with or… noticed. I remembered exactly how she had looked naked. Scars marked her body: one across her chest, another extending to her hip, two on her back, and one tracing up her collarbone. I was furious seeing those scars; I didn’t think they were repulsive to look at, but I hated the fact that someone had put her through pain. I looked away, heading to the bathroom.My type—what exactly was my type?Once I had thought she wasn’t that, I thoug
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