ALEXANDER LANNISTERI always knew it. I fucking knew it. That one day that hot-blooded brother of mine was going to be the death of all of us. I was seething with rage, hell, I swear I was going to murder him myself once I saw him.I marched into the mansion, with the only seemingly reasonable brother of mine, Devoss, stalking straight to my office. It'd been weeks since I last walked these hallways. I had urgent matters to tend to so I had to travel South to meet Devoss leaving Arnold in charge of the pack. And that was a fucking mistake. Given his anger issues and unstable history, I should have known he was a fucking time bomb waiting to blow off. Unfortunately, this time he planned on taking us all with him.As I reached my office, I dismissed the two witches guarding the doors. They belonged to the coven in the Iron Claw Pack, the same coven my maternal witch grandmother led during her time.Once we stepped in, I found the fucking brother of mine pacing through the large office,
AYLA BAILOREMy brows crinkled. Frankly, I was completely lost, as I scrambled my brain trying to figure out who this man was. I had never met him before, and the look Lucian was giving me told me I should at least know him.“Apologies for coming late. You have the wrong culprit behind bars. Ayla Bailore, she's innocent,” He said, and my heart skipped a beat only for a moment. At least someone else also believed I didn't do it.Lucian pulled up from his chair, his eyes were dark, and not one of the emotions he had shown me earlier was on his face as he turned to face the man. I could feel the palpable tension that crackled in the air, even Lucian's men that had entered with the man were on high alert. It made me wonder just who he was.“Alpha Alexander,” Lucian almost growled out as he called the unfamiliar man's name and that was when it hit me. He was the Alpha of the Iron Claw Pack. Had Arnold sent him here? I wasn't sure what his being here meant for me. I had heard stories from W
TRISS LANNISTER It'd been hours. Long frustrating hours I locked myself in the spell room in the witches’ quarters. I have tried every spell, and gone through every book of witches. But nothing. There was no possible way to figure out what the colorless, tasteless poison was.I had extracted a few drops of whatever poison was found in Lucian's spilled drink, and the little glass bottle found in Ayla's room with my magic. It also matched what I extracted from the bodies of our warriors who were murdered. It was no doubt the same poison.But what I couldn't figure out was what poison it was exactly. There were many poisons out there, and it was almost impossible to not discover their roots or origin, especially through magic, but this one was an exception. All the more reason I did not believe Ayla had anything to do with the murders.Yes, she may have laced something in the King's drink. According to Lucian, she confessed to that much, although Lucian had kept that confession between
TRISS LANNISTER “Hello, sister,”I drew in a shuddery breath as my hand flew to my lips in disbelief.“Devoss?” I whispered as a series of emotions rammed through me. It'd been years since I laid eyes on him. He'd never been one to stay in one place, especially not here in the North, always on the move from one region to the other. It didn't matter as long as there was even a fraction of hope that he could find our little sister or at least prove she was still alive.“It's good to see you again, Triss,” At his words, I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around him and I wasn't surprised he leaned in. Devoss had taken my decision to join Lucian's coven quite better than the others.“It's good to see too, brother,” We took solace in his warmth even if it was just for a minute before we pulled apart and my eyes locked with those gray eyes. “What are you doing here?”“Our brother played himself right into another's plans. What he gave Ayla wasn't poison. But someone took advantage of it, a
LUCIAN BLACKTHORNI groaned. The merciless pain rippling through me was intense, much worse than I'd felt before. Even with Nero taking on as much pain as he could, it still hurt. I could feel the darkness spreading from my right hand, even with my bracelet still firmly secure around my wrist.I took off my jacket and T-shirt, collapsing on the edge of the sofa in my room. I could see the dark lines that snaked like vines in my veins, inflicting me with deathly pain. “I need Triss,” I mindlinked my cousin Dane. “Hurry,”A shot of pain rippled through my arm, and went straight to my chest, bringing me to my knees. I could barely keep my vision straight as darkness had begun to seep within and neither could I feel Nero anymore, instead echoes of dark whispers filled my mind.Thank the goddess I heard the doors open at that moment, and hasty footfalls hurried closer. In the next second, I felt the warmth of magic seeping through my bones, relieving me of the pain that stalked my veins,
LUCIAN BLACKTHORN “What is the matter?” I asked as Soren rushed closer to us. “It's the inner court. Jeremy and the pack's court are seeking permission to mobilize some warriors that'll accompany Ayla after the trial to the pack's dungeon,”At Soren's words, an inferno of anger bubbled up within me. “What the heck is going on through his head,” I growled. Jeremy was my uncle from my father's side and Dane's father. But I swear to the goddess these uncles of mine were seriously pushing for their deaths. I stormed out of my bedroom, heading straight to the Grand hall. My immediate presence halted the subtle whispers at once. Everywhere went absolutely silent, without a single noise stalking the air. Everyone had their gaze directed my way.Ayla had been brought in and was standing in the middle of the large Court with her wrists bound together by silver cuffs.Nero growled in anger at the sight. And I felt the same anger pumping in my veins but all I wished for was to get this trial
AYLA BAILOREI felt the hot tears that rolled down my eyes, and my fingers tightened around the leather gloves. Hesitantly, I turned around. My trembling fingers lifted to my lips, as my gaze met Lucian's dark ones. Was he shocked that I found the bloody gloves he used to hurt my sister with? Or was he wondering how he could hurt me tooWatching me, he took a predatory step forward with nothing but a white towel around his waist. “What are you doing here, Ayla,” His voice darkened once his eyes dropped on his gloves in my hand. He attempted to rip it out of my hand, but I took a step backward, holding the gloves up in the air. “Whose blood is this, Lucian?”He arched a brow, and a furious streak flashed in his eyes. “What the hell is this now, Ayla. Did Alexander put you up to this again? You should have learned from your past mistakes—”“Just answer the question, Lucian. Tell me that this isn't… that you couldn't have…” Tears pooled from my eyes. “Is this your way of punishing me? E
AYLA BAILORE“A fucking Grishan witch,” She bit out, confusing me.I stepped forward. “You're saying a Grishan witch took my sister?” It was ridiculous, but the look on Lucian and Triss told me that was exactly what they thought.“How did you know? Did you see a face?” Lucian asked.“I felt the magic. It was dark and identical to the one used on the dead warriors,” Triss hurried to one of the shelves in the room, bringing a small glass container where she swept the ashes from the picture inside.“This is insane, why would a Grishan witch take my sister? It doesn't make sense,”Triss paused what she was doing, and glanced briefly at Lucian. I followed her gaze to him, and he looked like he was lost in his own thoughts.“Frankly, I don't know. But this just answered the question that had plagued me the last two days,” She dropped the glass container. “And now I'm positive Lucian's attempted murder and the murders of the warriors wasn't an attack on Lucian. I believe you were the target,
AYLA BAILORE I felt the hairs on my skin stand up in alert as I felt a presence behind me. I didn't need to move my head to realize who that was; my body always seemed to recognize him. "Is there any progress yet?" Killian asked. I turned to my side, my eyes dwelling on his godlike body. His piercing stare met mine. I shook my head, moving my gaze from him to the witches who were still at work. "No. They just started," I said, feeling his heavy stare on me. I folded my hands around my chest, watching as Valerie brought out a small white orb, and as they kept chanting, the orb kept glowing. It was as if I was lost in whatever the witches were doing. I really didn't notice when Killian moved closer. I turned my gaze to him, sensing a disturbing shift in the air. His amber eyes were foggy; he was being mindlinked. His eyes kept growing deadly. I waited for him to be done, and his amber eyes met mine. "Stay here!" he ordered. "Why? What's happening? " I asked in a rush. His ga
LUCIAN BLACKTHORN “It did, but the Supreme witches’ believe it has resurfaced again, along with the goddess-blessed wolf. “The powerful Moon Wolf,” I picked up some of the papers given by the witches and handed it over to Ayla. I honestly couldn't believe it but last night the Grishan witches had attacked the Supreme Fortress in search of the moonstone. They had come in large numbers, but were only able to tear down the fir.st line of enchantments and spells protecting the fortress. It had alerted the Frangilla and the other Supreme head witches, so they were able to respond quickly and wiped out the "The pack is under another attack." Killian was quick to speak, his eyes holding a cautious fear. "It's the Dark Circle. They are here for the stone," "The stone?" I repeated, my eyes traveling to the witches. I didn't know every detail of it, but I'm aware the Dark Circle is desperate to have the phoenix stone. They want all four for some reason, and so far they only have two. Ki
AYLA BAILORE I couldn't believe my eyes. Nor could I recognize the anger beating through me. I crossed over her dress, heading to the bathroom door when Lucian's angry growl rippled through the bathroom. “Get the fuck out, Serena,”I stopped instantly, impaled by another wave of shock. She was Serena. His Serena. The door suddenly burst open and a woman with black hair, and big brown eyes, in nothing but her undies scampered out of the bathroom. Fear imprinted in every inch of her face, one of her hands holding her neck as she rushed out. She stopped when she noticed me, the shock was only briefly before she snatched her dress from the floor and I noticed the burn of a handprint around her neck.Another growl rippled from the bathroom, and the door slammed shut, making her body tremble and she hurried with haste out of the room.What the hell was going on?I hurried closer, at the shattering sound of glass coming from the bathroom. “Lucian?” I tried the door but it was locked. Anothe
AYLA BAILORE I couldn't sleep the remainder of the night, I kept turning and tossing on the massive king-sized bed until the morning light soared in. Lucian had left with Soren last night and hadn't returned. It was still so early but I got out of bed and showered. I picked one of the dresses from the walk-in closet to wear and it was my exact size. I left my room and took the stairs. Lucian's mansion was huge. And it wasn't like the typical Packhouse I was accustomed to. The only people I'd seen so far were the helpers, cleaning around. Thankfully some didn't know who I was, despite the curious stares and whispers that kept coming my way. My throat felt awfully dry, so I looked around for the kitchen.“Good morning,” I said to the group of helpers that were bustling around in the kitchen, some cleaning while the rest were cooking.“Morning,” One of them replied, as she wiped the counter, her attention just like the others was on the young girl chopping some vegetables.“So did you
AYLA BAILOREI had packed just a few things I'd initially come with into small luggage that came to inform me I'd be moving into the pack tonight. King orders. Willow had told me Lucian spent more of his time at the pack than in the palace. I couldn't say, I wasn't ecstatic, or I hadn't been expecting that. I leaned forward on my leather seat as the car sped through the road in-between the woods. No doubt the same wood Emily's scarf and blood were found.“Ayla, are you okay?” I felt Marilyn's hand on me, as the car pulled up in front of a massive black gate. I nodded, keeping my eyes on the figures sitting on top of the walls, and huge wolves at either side of the gates.One of the big bulky guys jumped down with ease from the gate, his chest was bare but at least he was wearing some shorts. He approached the car, as the driver rolled down the windows.“Marilyn?” He called the woman sitting next to me. “This is odd. Why are you coming through the northern borders?”Marilyn rolled her
AYLA BAILOREInstinctively, I rose up slowly from my chair. My gaze was still locked on Lucian, as his was on me. I had no inkling as to what was going on beneath that black storm that swirled in his eyes. He took a step forward, but Dane appeared from his side, stopping him. Holding him back. For the first time in my life, I wished I had heightened hearing like the others. I was desperate to know what Dane was whispering to Lucian above the music with his eyes still stuck on me. His gaze wanted to kill. My heart was drumming hard in my chest, and slowly his eyes shifted back to Arnold who I'd forgotten was still standing next to me. Without saying a word, Lucian stormed away.Something in my gut told me to quietly stay put. I'd never seen that kind of look in Lucian's eyes. The dark storm that brewed at the back of his eyes, the gaze that wanted to kill, and his anger that had licked the surface of my skin and almost burned me. Strangely, it didn't just confuse me, it affected me so
AYLA BAILORE “What?” I blurted out in a whisper, almost frightened at the way Lucian's voice had sounded in my mind. “What about my eyes?” I cocked my head to one side.His brows furrowed in deep thought, and I almost urged him to say something when the crowd suddenly burst into cheers and applause.“We'll talk later,” Lucian's voice penetrated my mind. I bit my lips in an attempt to stop the abrupt gasp that almost left my lips at the sparks that zapped across my skin as Lucian held my hand, turning to the large crowd.It has gotten more intense than I had ever felt. I wasn't sure if this was what happened when one took a chosen mate, or if it was because of the fact that despite not officially bearing his mark yet, Lucian and I had in every way marked each other by drinking each other's blood. That must be the reason I felt so intensely for him now, other than the usual attraction I'd always felt. This was dangerous.I looked away from his penetrating eyes, which attempted to pry i
AYLA BAILORE As I walked through the portal at the northern gates, I could already feel the shift in the air. Something was wrong. And it felt really bad. Three warriors were waiting for me there, along with a witch who was usually with Triss and also Dane. “Ayla!” He rushed over to me, as soon as he saw me, surprising me by pulling me in for a hug. He let out a quick sigh scanning my body for any injuries before glancing back at the portal gates. His sharp questioning eyes returned back to me. “Where's Lucian?” I shook my head. “He left me at the northern gates. I think he went back to hunt the wolves who had somehow gotten into the woods,” “Fuck!” Dane cursed under his breath. “I'm glad you're at least fine,” I looked around, the place was almost in a chaotic mess. “What happened here?” Dane held my arm, leading me away. “Some packs and a few kingdoms were attacked in the West. Some of its survivors fled here seeking asylum,” He informed me, and my lips parted in shock. Dane l
AYLA BAILORE I groaned, almost in satisfaction, from the tingling flutters that ignited throughout my body. It was dark. I could hear owls hooting and the faint sounds of distant howls. I snuggled deeper into the warm, soothing feeling that blanketed my body. I wanted to stay like this forever, but a small whisper at the back of my mind kept telling me to wake up.I was surrounded by darkness the instant I snapped my eyes open. I could barely see a thing, and couldn't move either. It took me a second before the last few hours kept rushing back. The grey creatures. The fight… and I fell.I attempted to jerk up but that was impossible. I was being cocooned in a tight, warm grip by Lucian. He had me pressed into his chest and arms wrapped protectively around me. He must have jumped after me when I fell off the cliff.“Lucian…” I called, but there was no response. No movement. My chest constricted in fear when I couldn't hear his heartbeat.With great effort, I untangled myself from his