Leah's POVAfter hanging up on Leo, I tried to focus on steering the wheel toward the south.If we kept heading south, we would get to Huffner Bridge. After passing that bridge, we would bid goodbye to all the chaos in Mediland and go back to civilization. Darren leaned against the mast. He intentionally kept a distance from me, which made me mad at him.I thought he would want to say something, but he didn't, which made me even madder."Don't you have to go back to the cabin and hold Josephine's hand? If she woke up and you're not there, she might cry her eyes out before killing someone again," I scorned. Darren stared into my eyes with passion and said, "Leah, you don't have to act like this. Jo's my mate. I don't have a choice but to follow the will of the Moon Goddess.""Stop looking at me like that." I turned my head away, avoiding making eye contact with him. I couldn't stay mad at him when he stared at me. "Leah..." Darren approached me and said in a soft voice. I didn't l
Jalin's POV"I hate you!" Leah climbed into the helicopter by herself, ignoring my stretching-out helpful hand.I took the blame obediently and unapologetically as always and withdrew my hand. Before I followed her into the helicopter, I looked back and saw that kid named Darren standing on the deck, wrapping a blanket around a trembling blonde girl.That must be the reason why Leah is mad. I thought to myself. She is throwing a tantrum because that sapphire-eye young man finds a new girlfriend."And I want to fire him! I don't ever want to see him again!" Leah put on a set of headsets while shouting out loud at me.I saw sparks in her eyes. She wanted to pretend to be cruel and heartless. But as always, she failed.She was just such a sweet and innocent girl that she could never be able to hurt anyone.That's why people like me exist. You know, people like me are friendly and polite all the time, but that doesn't stop
Leah's POVAs I walked into the Redwood Mansion, the first thing I noticed was the big ox head hanging at the center of the wall.I stared at the ox's head and frowned.That was the ox that took away my great-grandfather's life. I didn't know why an 83-year-old werewolf would want to fight an ox with bare hands. But I didn't know anything about our family history. My Father wouldn't tell me anything, neither did my brother Lucian."Sarcastic, isn't it?" A deep, mellow voice appeared behind me.I turned back and saw a tall, handsome man standing behind me.I hadn't seen Leo for so many years and I couldn't even recognize him.In the dimly lit corridors of the mansion, amidst the vast shelves of ancient tomes and the whispers of the ages, there strode a figure that exuded an aura of both brilliance and skepticism.Draped in a pristine white coat, Leo cut a striking figure. A pair of spectacles perched upon his
Leah's POV"What have you done to Finn?" I stood up and approached Leo. "His DNA was modified before he was even born. Are you out of your mind?!"I tried to suppress the anger in my chest, but it was pounding so hard that my chest was almost about to explode.Leo didn't avoid confronting me. He sat there, looking up straight into my eyes. I saw a mysterious smirk on the corner of his mouth."Now you're interested in my story," he said in a plain voice."I don't want to know anything about you and your sorry, miserable past, Leo. If you have really done what I thought you had done, you're nothing but a sick bastard!" I shouted at him."Keep the volume down, Leah. You can't rule this Kingdom with a hot temper like this," he said. "If the prophecy is true, you'll be the next Queen of the entire Kingdom. The first true she-wolf leader in the thousands of years of werewolf history.""What are you talking about?!" I asked in a pr
Leah's POV"The enhancement project had started even before I was born. But not until I took charge of it did it make substantial progress. Lester is my first lab toy. He somehow managed to survive our tests, so now he was following you everywhere you go. Do you remember the shadows lurking behind you from time to time in your life? That was Lester. He was trying to kill you for revenge, but his brother Darren managed to stop him every time he was trying to attack you."What? Darren was trying to protect me all this time from his brother.I closed my eyes and saw Darren's piercing blue eyes in my mind.I heard his trembling voice in my memory -"I've done everything for you, Leah. But sometimes, I can't help but feel that nothing that I've done is good enough for you."I wanted to cry, but I knew the liquids dropping from my eyes were nothing but my own blood."My second lab toy is Finn. His mother was a whore and she was strangle
Leah's POVNo one ever told me what death feels like. Being a Lycan, we expect to live to a hundred years without a second thought about our mortality. But I tasted the bitter sting of death that fateful day.As the world spiraled into a chaotic blur, Jalin's face contorted, his voice echoing in my mind. "Do. What. You. Are. Told," he chanted, and then darkness consumed me.The next thing I knew, a deafening bang jolted me awake. Light pierced my eyes as I struggled to regain my senses. Tears blurred my vision as I gasped desperately for air, feeling the grip of enormous hands lifting me up."Leah, I'm here. You're safe with me now," a familiar voice reassured."Lu... Lucas?" I reached out, my voice weak."Yes, Leah. It's me." He held my hand, pressing a gentle kiss to it."What happened?" I asked, shaking my head, trying to piece together the fragments of my memory. As my vision cleared, I saw soldiers filling the room."Why are there soldiers on my grandfather's carpet, Lucas?" My v
Leo's POV"Be a loving, obedient boy. Do what your father asks you to do." Those were my mother's parting words to me, her golden rule for surviving the court's jealousy and menace. They were her curse, the source of her miserable fate as the mistress of a Lycan King. And she passed that curse onto me.I heard the heavy doors creak open, footsteps echoing closer. I recognized the familiar cadence of my father's stride. He’s here, I thought. And he's come to end my life.Emerging from the shadows, my father’s imposing figure loomed, flanked by my sister Leah and her ex-husband, Lucas Farrow. Despite everything, Lucas looked undeniably captivating in his army suit.I couldn’t decipher the expression on my father’s face. Emotions and feelings had always been a mystery to me; I never grasped the connection between what people showed and what they felt. The Lycan King, my father, had never revealed his true feelings to anyone, except me. But I was the defective one, incapable of responding
Leah's POV"His Majesty has already left," the soldier informed me.I wanted to speak with my father, but it was clear he didn’t want to engage. In my silence, the soldier continued, "His Majesty mentioned something to Alpha Lucas about a guy named Lester Swanson."Darren's brother? Why would my father mention him?"What did he say?" I asked, dreading the answer."He said Leo did something to him, so he would have to kill his brother Darren Swanson," the soldier replied, looking confused.What?!"Where’s Lucas now?" I demanded."Alpha has already gone to the airport to stop Lester Swanson. He didn’t want you to know. He wants you to go back to the lake house and wait for him.""Go fetch me a car right now," I commanded."Where are you going, Miss Lewyn?" the soldier asked, perplexed."I need to get to the airport before everyone gets killed," I said, urgency in my voice.As I arrived at the airport, a barricade manned by soldiers greeted me."What’s going on?" I asked one of them, my
Lycidas' POVA pause, heavy with his worry. "Lycidas, don't let anyone hurt her. Protect her. The ritual has to be done."Finn's pace quickened, his throat tightening around me, and I gripped his hair harder, forcing him to take more. "Don't worry, brother. I miss you. I'll be back soon. Put Jalin on, will you?"The line shifted, and Jalin's cold "What?" slithered through.My voice turned razor-sharp. "If you dare touch my brother again, I'll pump you full of suppressant, make you a fuck toy, and toss you to the slave market. Every hole in your body will be stuffed with cocks for the every minute in the rest of your fucking life. Do you understand?"Silence. Finn gagged, his throat spasming, and the pleasure spiked through me. "I'm talking to you," I snarled into the phone."I understand, Your Highness," Jalin muttered, subdued at last. I hung up, tossing the phone aside, and turned my full attention to Finn. He sucked harder, desperate to p
Lycidas' POVThe lazy afternoon sunlight in Miami pressed against me like a lover's claw, the moon long gone but its bloody echo still staining the sky. I stepped out of the limousine, and the red carpet unfurled before me like a tongue, wet with the flash of cameras and the screams of the crowd. The hotel loomed, a glittering beast of glass and steel, its jaws wide with fans clawing at the barriers, their voices a feral hymn to my name. I was Lycidas, the Lycan Prince, a Hollywood god carved from hunger and shadow, and they worshipped me with every ragged breath.I strode forward, my boots sinking into the plush scarlet, and the air thickened with their adoration. The paparazzi swarmed, lenses glinting like predatory eyes, but I owned them all. My lips curled into a smile, sharp and deliberate, as I waved - a king acknowledging his court. The noise swelled, a tidal wave of sound, and then a voice cut through it, high and desperate."Lycidas! Lycidas!" A female
Leah's POVThe clock on my wrist ticked like a smug little bastard, each second a jab at my nerves as I stood there, plotting culinary carnage. Six hours until the Miami Mayor's Annual Seafood Charity Dinner, and I was about to turn a fancy gala into a symphony of gurgles and groans. The TV blared in the background, some chipper anchor rattling on about celebrity cars rolling up to the hotel—shiny Bentleys and Teslas, all ferrying the rich and famous to their doom. I smirked, imagining them clutching their pearls and their stomachs by night's end.I glanced over at Seth, who was practically hypnotized by Sharbo's lazy laps in the shark tank. The kid's mop of hair flopped over his eyes, and he looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here, plotting with me. I gave his shoulder a solid pat, jolting him back to reality. "It's time, Seth."He blinked at me, all wide-eyed and twitchy, then fumbled for his laptop like it was his security blanket. His fingers danc
Leah's POVThe moonlight was pouring down from the sky like cascade.I stood there, rooted, facing Darren, his eyes blazing with a storm of rage and grief that pinned me where I stood. The air hung heavy, thick with unspoken venom, prickling my scarred skin—the brands of the slave market I'd never outrun."Why are you asking this question?" Darren's voice cut through the stillness, sharp as a blade, edged with accusation.I didn't answer. Couldn't. My throat clenched tight, strangling the words beneath the weight of all we'd left unsaid.He stepped closer, his emotions bursting free like blood from a fresh wound. "Are you asking this to hurt me, Leah? Haven't I done enough for you all these years to earn your trust?"Tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and relentless, carving trails through the grime on my face. I felt nothing - no sting, no release - just the hollow rush of them falling, a betrayal of the numbness gnawing my bones.
Leah's POVI remained silent. Father killed his son. Justice was almost done.Al Cosa continued, "And my son Tommy... He was burned alive in an elevator. Forensic team said his charred, deformed body burned so badly that... they needed tweezers to collect him."Two fat tears carved paths through his ashen stubble. I mirrored his grief - shoulders curling inward, breath catching - as the incinerator roared to life behind him. Its hunger vibrated in my molars."They found nail marks," he whispered. "Inside the elevator door. My boy...my Tommy clawed iron hot metal until his fingers..." A wet choke. "You know what fire does to lungs before death comes?"I let my own eyes glisten. "Mr. Cosa, I...""You're about to find out."I pretended to be horrified. "Mr. Cosa, I'm...""Sorry?" The wheelchair lurched forward. "You shoved my Tony off a balcony! Trapped Tommy in that metal coffin!" Spittle hit my cheek. "And now you're standing he
Leah's POVThe neon sign above the night club buzzed like a dying wasp, its crimson glow pooling on the asphalt as I shoved through the club's sticky doors. Smoke clung to the air—cheap cigars and cheaper desperation - and there he was, slumped at the bar like a discarded marionette. Liam's fingers curled around a whiskey glass, his knuckles whitening with each swallow as if he could drown the words we'd never said.I slid onto the stool beside him, the leather sighing under my weight. "You look like someone pissed in your bourbon," I said, nodding at the bartender for my usual gin.Liam didn't turn. "Would've improved the taste." His voice was sandpaper rough, but the corner of his mouth twitched. Classic Liam - even half-drunk and brooding, he couldn't resist the bait.We drank in silence for three songs, the bass thumping like a defective heartbeat. When he finally spoke, it was to the smudged mirror behind the bar. "You shouldn't be here. You do
Leah's POVI turned my head, meeting Darren's gaze, those eyes still hungry, still pleading. "I know," I said, quiet, a sad twist to my lips.But knowing wasn't enough. Love wasn't enough - not when the howls kept calling, not when my scars ran deeper than my skin. I rolled onto my side, facing the window, the moon's bloody glow spilling over us both.The full moon hung there, swollen and silver, its light bleeding through the broken window and washing over the bed. I stared at it, unblinking, the pale glow clawing at something inside me - something feral, something I couldn't bury no matter how hard I tried. The air thickened, heavy with the salt of the sea and the weight of the night, and then I heard it - a low, guttural sound drifting through the dark. A howl. Distant, but unmistakable. Then another, and another, until the night was alive with their calls, a chorus of primal hunger that sent a shiver down my spine.My heart kicked against my ribs, the
Leah's POVThe sun bled out over the coastal city as Darren gunned the motorcycle through the weaving crowds, the traffic shuttling around us like a frantic pulse. I clung to him, my helmet pressing into his back, my arms locked tight around his waist, feeling the heat of his body sear through me. The sky was a mess of red and orange, spilling over the buildings like a wound, and the sea's salty stink mixed with the exhaust choking the air. Last night clawed at my mind—his hands, his mouth, his desperation sinking into me after years of waiting. We'd fucked all night, a brutal, beautiful collision that tore past every fantasy I'd nursed in the dark. It played over and over in my head, a sad, desperate reel I couldn't stop watching—every thrust, every whispered curse, every moment I'd surrendered to him. Thinking of it, I tightened my grip, my fingers digging into his leather jacket like I could claw the memory into permanence.He pulled the bike to a stop by the sea, t
Liam's POVSeth caught it and sighed, theatrical as ever. "Look, we're pros here. Employers aren't people - they're NPCs in a game. Whenever I approach her, I get a new task alert. I walk up, get a quest, finish it, cash out. Done. Sure, late nights, when I'm beat, I might jerk off while looking at her before crashing - but it's all business. Nothing more, Liam."I blinked, thrown. "Wait, you jerk off over the survaillance video?"He shrugged, casual as if we were discussing the weather. "Who wouldn't? Look at her! She's a goddamn knockout. Any guy with a pulse would twitch. Doesn't mean I'd act on it."He scratched his head, squinting at the screen. "Come to think of it, I barely see her sleep. She's always on, like she doesn't need rest."That hit me like a spark. "That's exactly what I wanted to ask about," I said, leaning in, my voice low. "She's not normal, Seth. She took down two thugs with one hand - barely blinked. She's too confident, too