LOGINDebraThe loud voices of my parents echoed through the long, empty hallway of our home. I stood near the door of my room, listening to them yell at each other. My mother was crying, her voice cracking, and my father was shouting, kicking the furniture in the living room. It had been like this for days.Our pack was in deep trouble.I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes, the fear in my chest was heavy and suffocating. Our enemies were closing in, our resources were drying up, and our pack warriors were losing hope. If care was not taken, we were going to lose everything we had. We were going to be wiped out completely. If we lose this pack, my parents will turn into nobodies. They might even end up dead and everything I had enjoyed my whole life… the fine dresses, the warm food, the respect from the servants would be gone in a blink of an eye.I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands, they were trembling. I couldn't believe my life had turned into this nightmare.Ju
Keith"Try me... I actually want you to try me and see what I can do."Her words hung in the air of my room. My chest tightened so hard I felt like I couldn't breathe, I stared at her, my heart hammering against my ribs. I watched her hand rest on the handle of my door, waiting for her to push it down, to walk out into the hallway, and to destroy my life.But she didn't open the door.She let go of the handle, slowly turned back around to face me. The dark, wicked smirk on her face grew even wider. "What is the matter, Keith?" Nyles asked softly. Her voice sounded like sweet poison. "Did you suddenly lose your voice? You had so much to say just a few minutes ago.""Nyles, wait," I finally managed to say, my voice cracked. I hated how weak and small I sounded in my own room. I gripped the wheels of my chair to stop my hands from shaking. "Let us just talk about this, you don't have to do this."She let out a soft, mocking laugh. She took a step toward me, then another. Her hips swayed
Nyles "Plainly? Fine. Let's speak plainly," I snapped, dropping my arms and stepping right up to his wheelchair. "For the past ten years, Keith, I tried my best, I practically threw myself at you. I wanted you to sleep with me, I wanted us to be together like a real couple but what did you do? You always pushed me away. You always made excuses. You said you were broken, you said you needed time, you said your body wasn't ready."I leaned down so my face was level with his. "But then, this random girl comes into the palace, a girl you didn't even know, and just a few months later, you are sleeping with her! You took her to your bed without a second thought!"Keith looked away, his jaw clenching tight. He didn't deny it, which only made me angrier. "And now," I continued, my voice rising, "because you had a little fun with her, you think you can just dispose of me! After everything I did, you think you can just throw me in the trash and keep her!"Keith finally looked back at me. His e
Nyles A loud, bitter laugh burst out of my mouth, echoing off the walls of my room. I clamped a hand over my mouth, trying to keep quiet, but another wave of laughter ripped through me. I just couldn't believe it. I paced across the wooden floor, shaking my head.After everything, after all the empty promises Keith made to me, he actually had the nerve to go around and fall in love with another woman!I had seen the look in his eyes earlier today, I saw the fire in him when he shouted to defend Heather. I saw the way he looked at her, the way he panicked when she was hurt. He was really in love with her. Keith, the man who swore he only needed me, was completely wrapped around that little girl's finger.I stopped pacing and stared at my reflection in the window, he must think I am a complete fool.Ten years ago, when the palace was in chaos and Keith was left for dead, I took it upon myself to see that he was okay. I fed him, I cleaned his wounds, I sat by his bedside when everyone e
HeatherI opened my eyes, and the first thing I felt was a sharp, biting pain in my head. The morning light was shining through the gap in my curtains, but I hated it. I didn't want the sun to be up, I didn't want a new day to start. My head throbbed, I had been crying. I cried until my throat was sore, until my tears dried up, and my eyes were completely swollen.I pulled the blanket up to my chin, I felt dirty. The memory of Keith's hands on my body, his lips on my skin, his whispers in my ear in the shower and on his bed all made my stomach turn right now.How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let my guard down so easily?I rolled over in bed and hugged my pillow tightly. I should have known better. I should have guarded my heart. I gave myself to him completely, thinking that the walls between us were finally gone. I thought he really cared about me but the truth was right there, I was just a replacement until Nyles finally came back to the palace.He didn't care abou
Prince Keith’s POV The jarring screech of my wheelchair's wheels against the polished marble floor echoed in the suffocating silence of the corridor. I knew I had messed up terribly. Heather's face, etched with a pain I had inflicted, burned behind my eyelids. Her quiet anger, far more potent than any shouted word weighs in my chest. She never raised her voice, not at me, not ever and I, the supposed Prince, the man who claimed to care for her, had unleashed my frustration and misdirected rage at her.Just overwhelmed was my pathetic excuse. Overwhelmed by the sudden shift in the palace Nyles's sudden return. I should have known this was how she would act. Nyles always had a way of asserting her claim, of disrupting any semblance of peace, and Heather, my gentle, steady Heather, was caught in the crossfire.My chair whirred, carrying me away from the guilt-ridden silence of her room and back towards my own chambers. I didn't need to look behind me to know Nyles was there, her footste
Heather's POV The next morning, I woke up feeling worse than I did before. My whole body was hot and I could have sworn that it could boil a bowl of water. There was a rapt knocking on my door and I wondered if that was what had made me wake up early. Slowly I crawled out of the bed and went to t
Heather's POV"You can really walk?" I asked him, the words tumbling off my tongue just as the alarms were. I backed up to the wall and he walked up to me, not stopping until he was towering over me and breathing on my face. "I guess I should be expecting you to swoon over me now?" He said, a misc
Devontae KingdomHeather's POVEveryone in the hallway watched us quietly with their head bowed. Ella was sweating buckets. Was the prince that scary? I willed myself to speak up. I needed to clear up whatever misunderstanding this was."That wasn't what happened. This woman suddenly walked up to m
Devontae KingdomHeather's POVThis was definitely not how I envisioned my life to be. Being shipped off to some prince I knew nothing about was not what I wanted. It wasn't like anybody ever cared about what I wanted. It has always been me, I had learned to fend for myself from a very young age. I







