Leah's POVI lowered my head and saw black blood trickling down my face, dripping onto the floor. I tried to stand, but my limbs felt leaden, and my head was growing heavy."What... what have you done?!" I screamed, struggling to rise, only to collapse back onto the cold ground."It's wolfsbane, Leah..." the old king hacked, black blood spewing from his mouth as he smirked wickedly. "I hid it in my nails...""Father!" Lucian shifted rapidly into his human form, rushing forwa
Leah's POVWhen I woke up, I was enveloped in warmth. Blinking against the light, I realized Lucas was holding me from behind. I cherished moments like this, moments that never happened when we were married. My head still felt foggy, and the tubes in my arms itched, making me impulsively pull them out. The machine beside me erupted in beeps, and a flustered nurse rushed in, her hand flying to her mouth in shock. Lucas sprang off the bed."I'm sorry, Sir. You can't be in here," she insisted, staring at him."I just want to be with my wife," Lucas shrugged,
Leah's POVI reached for the phone on my nightstand and dialed Darren's number. It rang for a while before going to voicemail. I paused, formulating my thoughts, then said, "Darren, it's me..."Suddenly, the phone was answered. "Leah?" Darren's voice sounded shaky."Yes, Darren. It's me."He let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Where have you been? I was so worried...""What's going
Leah's POV"What's the hurry?" A voice echoed from the doorway.Mick Toussaint?!What on earth was he doing here?"Ah, we've crossed paths again, Miss Lewyn." Mick's gaze locked onto mine, his eyes narrowing with intent. "Allow me to introduce you to my Luna and wife. I assure you, this reunion will be nothing short of spectacular."Clara's face materialized next to his.It was as though my worst nightmare had clawed its way into reality. They stood together, each an abomination that had finally found its twisted match."Leah, you conniving wench! At last!" Her lips curled into a cold, vindictive smirk as she slammed the door shut. "We're going to have such a delightful time.""Get out of my room!" I shouted, desperation hitching my voice. My legs were numb, unwilling to obey, while I knew exactly what this deranged pair had in mind."You look like one of the Swanson boys." Clara purred, flicking her gaze to Darren. "The Swansons have always been so... delectable. Care to join us?"D
Darren's POV"What's happening...? What the hell?!" Josephine gasped, her eyes widening as she saw Leah cradled in my arms."Leah's in danger. We need a doctor," I murmured, laying Leah gently on the sofa."If you need a doctor, you’ll have to go to a clinic! Not to me!" Josephine snapped."I can't take her there. There are soldiers everywhere," I replied urgently. "She's dying, Jo. The blood won't stop."Josephine's face twisted with hysteria. "What do you expect me to do? We can't help her! Didn't you see those soldiers on the street? They're hunting for her! If they find her, we're both dead!"Ignoring her, I tore through the linen closet, grabbing anything that could help staunch Leah's wound. Josephine tried to pull me back."Darren! Are you listening to me?!""I hear you, Jo," I said softly, but firmly. "But I have to save Leah. She took a bullet meant for me. If it weren’t for her, I’d be the one bleeding out."
Darren's POVJosephine's stern gaze pierced through me. I clenched my fists, feeling the weight of the decision I had to make. The life of Leah's unborn baby was in my hands. If I gave the go-ahead, the baby wouldn't survive, and Leah would never forgive me. But if I didn't, Leah would die.“Continue,” I instructed the doctor, my voice steady.“Are you sure...?” he questioned, hesitant.Josephine covered her mouth to stifle a scream. “Do it. Now,” I repeated firmly."I can't watch this," Josephine said, her voice breaking as she stormed out of the room.I was left alone to face the grim reality. Dr. Jafar bent back over Leah, resuming the delicate operation. After what felt like an eternity, he finally removed the last fragment and collapsed into a chair, utterly spent."Is she going to be okay?" I asked, desperation creeping into my voice."She's in critical condition. I’ve done everything I can. The
Lucian's POV“I am here to express our condolences to Your Highness on His Majesty’s passing…"“We are deeply sorry…"Their voices blurred and faded to a distant echo in my mind. I couldn’t focus on anything. The only thing consuming my thoughts was Leah.Where is she now? If Lucas’s plan had succeeded, she would be with Darren, fleeing to the north.The plan involved enhanced Darren killing Mick and secretly sending Leah to the north. Publicly, we’d claim that Leah, grief-stricken by my father’s death, had taken her own life. In this way, I’d eliminate Mick and seize the throne simultaneously.When Lucas first proposed the plan, I thought he was mad. No one had ever schemed like this before. No one had ever dared to deceive the Moon Goddess. Since yesterday, a troubling unease had crept over me. I didn’t like it one bit. It was the same bitter taste I’d fe
Lucian's POVSurrounded by mournful faces, I felt completely isolated and helpless. My father had spent his life punishing, manipulating, or killing these very people. Yet, they were the only ones who showed up for his funeral."Where is your Beta? Jalin, is it? Such an admirable young man. I haven't seen him lately," Alpha Siluria of the Ocean Howler Pack leaned towards me and inquired.He was almost as old as time itself, having served three kings in a row. Now, he was about to serve me. I wondered if he would live to see my funeral."Alpha Siluria, it's always a pleasure to talk with a loyal subject like you," I responded curtly.Just then, chaos erupted in the crowd. People stepped back, revealing Alpha Mick striding into the graveyard, carrying a severely mutilated woman’s body in his arms. For a heart-stopping moment, I thought he was holding Leah, and I nearly leaped from my chair. But as Mick laid the body on the ground, the woman's head lolled
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