MasukI lay there for what felt like hours, staring at the dark stone wall, ignoring Eric’s silent presence by the door. My neck still stung from the witch’s paste, but the ache in my chest from Eric’s rejection was far worse. Suddenly a sharp, sudden knock broke the suffocating silence. Eric didn't break his stance, but his hand instantly dropped to the hilt of his sword. "Enter," he commanded coldly. The door creaked open and a young female servant stepped into the room, keeping her head low. She wore a simple gray maid’s dress and carried a silver tray with a bowl of steaming broth and a cup of water. "The King ordered that the prisoner be fed, Beta Eric," she said, her voice soft, timid, and entirely normal. She walked past him, heading straight toward the bedside table. But as she got closer, my assassin instincts, the survival traits drilled into my brain through years of torture and war began to scream. Something was completely wrong. Her steps were too light.
••• Genevieve••• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I sat on the edge of the large bed, my chained hands resting in my lap staring at Eric who sat completely still beside me, staring down at his palms. The hard, untouchable mask of the supreme Beta was completely gone and In its place was a broken boy who looked like he was still trapped in that freezing bloody alleyway in Scorpio. Hearing his story lessened whatever hate and anger I had for him. The horror of what he had suffered at thirteen years old would break anyone and the one who had saved him from the horror was the devil himself. It explained why he was so loyal to that monster. I wanted to stay angry at him. I wanted to keep up my shield of sarcasm and sharp words but my throat felt incredibly tight. I knew that kind of pain. I knew what it felt like to watch your world get violently ripped away while you were completely helpless to stop it. "Eric," I said softly, my voice losing every bit of its biting edge. "I'm sorry
TWENTY YEARS AGO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It rained heavily in the village of Scorpio, I was thirteen years old, small for my age, and I hadn't shifted yet, In our world, a wolf who hasn't shifted is nothing. Just meat for predators. My mother was a prostitute and although it was what the neighborhood called her, to me, she was all I had and did what she had to do to keep a roof over our heads and a scrap of bread in my stomach. But in a world ruled by wolves, an Omega wolf, the weakest of our kind could never survive. That night, the door to our wooden hut was shattered off its hinges as three rogue wolves, their eyes a feral malicious yellow, stepped into the room. "Where is it, Elena?" the biggest one growled, his voice a low, rumbling vibration that rattled my bones. "You thought you could whisper our territory coordinates to that client of yours? Thought you could sell us out to the Alphas you stupid whore?" "We are going to have a lot of fun with your boy after we
•••Eric••• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One thing was for certain: Genevieve definitely knew how to get under my skin. I wasn't a man of many words. Usually, a grunt, a glare, or a well timed flex of the jaw did the trick for me. But with her? With her, I found myself talking more than I did my entire life. "You're stupid if you think you can kill Vergil or escape this place," I said, taking a slow step closer to her. I tried to make my voice sound deep, dangerous, and commanding. The kind of voice that makes people tremble. "Don't think you're special just because you survived a night with him. Vergil plays with his food before he eats it." Genevieve let out a loud, dramatic gasp, putting a delicate hand over her heart like a theater queen. "Oh, stop it, you’re making me blush," she chuckled, her blue eyes dancing with pure mischief. "And please, don't tell me this is your twisted way of showing concern for me. Careful now, Eric. If you keep caring this much, that witch girlfri
•••Genevieve•••~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The next thing I knew, I was lying on a soft mattress in a massive guest room. Every breath I took made the wound on my neck throb with a sharp, burning pain. "Stop moving," a cold, sharp voice snapped. I opened my eyes and looked up. Lucinda was standing over me, her green eyes were still swimming with jealousy and hatred. She held a cloth soaked in a glowing green paste, pressing it roughly against my neck. I winced, gritting my teeth to keep from screaming. "You know, for a professional healer, your bedside manner is completely pathetic." Lucinda let out a nasty, bitter laugh applying even more pressure to the wound. "You are lucky I am healing you at all bitch. If it were up to me, I would pour wolfsbane into your veins and watch you slowly burn to ashes." "How cute...but it isn't up to you, is it?" I rasped, forcing a mocking smirk into my face despite the blinding pain. "Your master told you to fix my neck, or he’d feed your hear
I stood over Genevieve, watching the slow steady rise and fall of her chest as well as the crescent moon mark on her neck burned into her flesh. My mark My mate. A dark victorious smile spread across my face as I called for my beta "Eric!" The doors immediately flew open and Eric stepped inside, his hand already resting on the hilt of his sword. "You called, Alpha?" Eric said, his voice tense waiting to see a corpse. He was waiting to see another stone statue to add to my collection. But this this it wasn't some random wolf, it would be his mate. "Look up, Eric," I commanded softly, stepping away from the bed. "Look at the tribute you brought me." Eric hesitated for a fraction of a second before lifting his gaze. His eyes scrambled across the room until they landed on the bed and the moment he saw Genevieve breathing, the aristocratic mask he always wore completely shattered. His breath hitched and he took a sudden step forward, his eyes widening in pure sho
•••Genevieve•••~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "I'm going to kill you brother," I swore lifting my gaze, staring into the face that matched my own, the same blue eyes, the same shade of blonde and the same blood "Even if it's the last thing I do on this wretched earth, I swear it to you." "I’m doing th
The moment my bare fingers clamped around her throat I waited for her skin to whiten, for her pulse to freeze, and for her flesh to harden into cold, lifeless rock. That was the rule of my curse. That was what happened to every fragile, useless creature that I touched. But nothing happened
•••Vergil•••THREE HUNDRED YEARS AGO~~~~~~~~~~~ I sat on a throne carved from the bones of the Alphas I had slaughtered. Below me, the elders of the conquered packs knelt in the dirt, their hands bound in silver chains. "Please, King Vergil," one of them pleaded shouting at the top of his lu
Eric averted his gaze as he handed my chains to two massive soldiers wearing black armor. He had made his choice. He had chosen his master over his mate. "Move," one of the guards barked shoving me hard from behind. I didn't look back at the other girls but I could hear their soft collect







