The world must have gone crazy.
The shock she got from the conversations with Cory was so immense, Elena didn’t even feel sad anymore. Now she knew the reason why Cory didn’t call her in advance. He wanted both her and that dragon girl, but he didn’t have the guts to talk about it with her. So he let her through that ordeal in public and then came down here to push her. Because he didn’t want to admit that he was such a greedy and stupid coward!! Rage consumed Elena’s brain. But deep inside, at the bottom of her heart, relief, even a slight gladness were immersing her. Cory had just proved he still loved her. Even though he was engaged with that dragon girl, still, he couldn’t live without her. Elena knew it was stupid and wrong to feel glad about it, but she couldn’t help it. He was her mate. Their mate bond was too tight. Even if she tried, she couldn’t resist it. She just couldn’t stop feeling happy about confirming his love.But share her mate with Lennie? No. That’s the bottom line she would never cross. The idea alone disgusted her.Lying on the stone bed of the dark, narrow cell, Elena started to communicate with her wolf, Nyla. Nyla was this quiet big wolf who didn’t like to talk much. She only spoke when Elena asked for her opinions.And Elena asked, “Do you think Cory has gone crazy?” She frowned. “How could he ask us that?”Nyla opened her eyes slowly. She liked to take naps while she wasn’t needed. “It’s just man, Alphas,” she said. “They are always like that, wanting to own everything in the world.”“Did you know this before?” Elena was at a loss. “I'd never thought he would act like that. Does his wolf want this too?”“He enjoys power and domination,” Nyla commented in a rather distant tone. Elena took that as a “Yes”. For some reason, Nyla had never gone crazy about Cory’s wolf, Gable. On the contrary, Gable was obsessed with Nyla. He always tried desperately to please her. Elena used to enjoy that. Now she had finally learned her lesson. When a man tries his very best towards a girl, it doesn’t necessarily mean he will devote himself to her alone. But why? Elena wanted to ask. Betrayals and cheats happen among humans and non-mates, which she could understand. But she and Cory, they were fated and so in love with each other. Though Cory had brought that dragon girl back home, Elena still had faith in him. They had a mate bond. She just knew. He was still in love with her. Then why? And what should she do next?She would never agree to Cory’s request to be one of his mates. And she strongly doubted how Lennie would react to the same request. Lennie was the dragon princess, and Alpha’s Aubrey’s only daughter. How could she ever stand to share her mate with another woman?Exhausted and devastated, slowly, Elena closed her eyes. When she woke up, it was already the next morning, and she heard Nyla calling in her head, “Wake up, L, quickly, she came!”Elena frowned, “She? Who’s she?”“The Dragon!”Elena rolled up from her bed. She heard multiple footsteps coming from outside the iron door, which suggested there were many people. She quickly wiped her face with her hand and organized her hair. There was no mirror in the cell, but she hated to be lousy in front of that peacock dragon.Right after she swept all the dust off her dress, a group of people stopped outside her cell. Up front was Cory in a brand-new outfit Elena had never seen before. On his right arm was Lennie smiling in her fabulous green dress. Elene bit her teeth, but she didn’t show her contempt. Behind Cory and Lennie, except for Lennie’s exaggerated dragon entourage, were also her parents, Orion and Eleanor. Elena knew if she made the wrong move, she would get her parents into more trouble. That’s how things work when you live under power. “Hi, L…Elena,” Cory was the first one to speak. He stopped calling her nickname, but he was smiling at her. In fact, his whole person was glowing with obvious pleasure.Elena couldn’t understand. Last night when he was here, he was as desperate as her. And he showed guilt at least! What happened after he left? Did Lennie put some magic spell on him?“I hope you slept well last night,” he went on.Elena wanted to throw a pillow, even a stone on his stupid face, but there was nothing in the cell. She swallowed her anger. “I am doing great,” she said drily. “Thank you for asking, Alpha.”Cory felt relieved. He was glad to see her cooperate. Though reluctance and hatred were written all over her face, Cory was convinced that someday she would come around. Because they were mates and she loved him. She would understand him eventually.“Listen,” he said, “Princess Lennie has decided to forgive you, as long as you apologize to her.”Elena clutched the fabric of her dress. She would rather burn in hell than apologize to that b/itch. But her parents were there staring at her worriedly. Elena knew if she said No, they would defend her in front of Cory, and then give that dragon princess another excuse to lock her whole family up. Lennie was the Dragon Alpha’s daughter, in a superior position to her. That’s just the fact she had to live with.Sticking her nails into her palms until they drew blood, Elena squeezed that apology out of her teeth.“I am sorry, Princess,” she said in a hateful voice.Lennie rolled her eyes. Since she stepped into the prison, she hadn’t looked at Elena’s face even once.Hearing Elena’s apology, she huffed a loud snort and then turned her head to whisper to Cory. Elena failed to hear her because she was a dragon, but Cory looked embarrassed. “No, Lennie,” he said, “That’s not what we’ve talked about.”Lennie whispered to him again. This time it took a long time. Elena just wanted to shout at both of them, “What the fuck are you taking out?!”But No. She couldn’t. Even though she was the Beta’s daughter, in front of Alpha and Princess, she was not much better than Omegas. She knew the rules of the wolf kingdom.“Okay, that will do.”After the Moon Goddess knew for how long, Cory and his dragon fiancée finally ended their whisper.He agreed on something with Lennie, and Lennie curled her lips up into a satisfied smile. She stood up on her tiptoes and printed a kiss on Cory’s cheek, then turned and left the prison with her huge entourage. Before she left, she finally cast a cold and snooty glance at Elena.Elena was in such a rage. She wasn’t a person who liked to throw a temper. But all of this was outrageous.“You’re free to leave, L,” After Lennie’s figure disappeared at the exit, Cory let out a slight sigh, then stepped forward to unlock the cell by himself.Elena watched him act. Lennie’s kiss left a showy lipstick mark on his cheek. Elena knew she did it on purpose.Stepping out of the cell, Elena walked directly to her parents. She didn’t even look at Cory. But Cory followed her. “L,” he called at her back, “We need to talk.”Throwing herself into her mother’s arms, Elena replied to him with a hateful voice.“We have nothing to talk about,” she said. “But we have to,” Cory insisted. “It’s about our future.”Elena pressed her lips. She was too angry and hurtful to find the right thing to say. She wasn’t even sure if there was a future between them anymore.Her father, Orion, put his hand on her shoulder, “Let’s go back home first, dear.” He then bent his neck to Cory, “If you could excuse us, Alpha.”Orion’s face was stern, and so did his voice. Cory knew it wasn’t the right time. He didn’t stop them. He watched Elena leave with her parents and let out a heavy sigh in the corridor.His wolf Gable, couldn’t help but ask him, “Are you sure about this? Nyla would be furious.”Cory lifted his brows. He looked miserable but not regretful. “That’s the right thing to do, Gable,” he said, “We must find a way to have Lennie and L accept each other.”“I doubt if it could work,” Gable said. “Elena is a proud person and Nyla is a proud wolf.”Cory pressed his lips, “Proud or not, as long as we love each other, we will have to make sacrifices for one another, especially as the Alpha’s mate. I am sure she will see that.”After leaving the prison, Elena went straight home with her parents.Her mother Eleanor prepared her a warm bath. Elena sank herself into the water and cried for a long time.Too many betrayals and shocks in such a short time. She just didn’t know what to do next. Her head was in such a huge mess. And she couldn’t even talk about it with her parents. What Cory asked her was so humiliating. She couldn’t even say it out of her mouth. And her father might try to murder Cory after hearing it. She didn’t want to risk her parents’ lives for that.“Then what should we do now?” Nyla asked. “He will push us again, L. I assure you.”“You tell me,” Elena cried, hugging herself in the water. “I’ve never thought he would do this to me…never…never….” She couldn’t even come up with a full sentence.They went back to painful silence.After about an hour, her mother knocked on the door and called her, “Are you finished, sweetie? Jasper is here. Your father wants you to meet him.”Jasper was Cory’s Bet
Elena was stuck in her dreams. She knew she was dreaming, and she felt her body, but she was trapped inside of it, and she couldn’t find a way to get out of it. She heard someone speaking beside her bed, “She just experienced too many shocks in a short time. It stimulated her nerves. After some proper rest, she will be okay.”It sounded like the kingdom’s doctor, Dr. Todd, but she couldn’t understand what he was doing here. Another voice in the room whispered something to him, but Elena couldn’t make out who it was. And then there were footsteps going away. But the severe headache she was suffering started getting worse. It almost felt like someone had just split her head in half. She knitted her forehead and cried out of pain. Someone took her hand and whispered to her gently, “Are you okay, L?”Elena tried to open her eyes but failed. She then called the name she trusted most, “Cory…” Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes. Cory responded to her. He knelt beside her b
“Look around, L. We are not in our bedroom!!!”The moment she heard that, Elena suddenly sobered up from her devastating headache. She rolled up from the bed and observed, and then found that she was in a completely strange room. There were no lights on right now. She could only see some simple furniture vaguely. But she knew it wasn’t night outside. Because from the narrow window above her bed came dim daylight.“It’s a basement,” Nyla explained. “And there are silver bars blocking the window, and the door is iron. I bet we can’t open it from the inside.”Elena responded to her with nothing. She just got up from bed and then went to check the door. As Nyla had guessed, it was locked from the outside. She put her hand on the doorknob and pulled it. It wouldn’t open.“He locked us here, L,” Nyla cried. There was a rare trace of panic tinged her voice.Nyla was a competent wolf, always giving her mature advice and acting composedly. And when she started to panic, Elena knew they must ha
Cory had changed. The moment Elena saw that dangerous flash flicking through his eyes, she realized Cory had changed into a different person. Each time, when he showed up in front of her, he became more aggressive than before. Each day, the ego inside him grew bigger and bigger. His engagement with Lennie was like a demoniac key that unleashed this hidden beast inside him. Now he had gotten support from dragons. He had become powerful. He didn’t need to play by the rules anymore. And he didn’t need to pretend to be caring or ethical either.When you can get something by intimidation and threats, why bother to coax and act?The moment she saw that ice in Cory’s eyes, Elena knew she was doomed. She watched Cory walk out of the basement, and then heard him lock the door from outside. Her body went cold out of fear. Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes. She knew she might never find a way to get out of this, but she couldn’t just give up like that. She could never share he
After Cory said that, he bent over and scooped Elena up from the floor. He carried her in between his arms in the bridal style which was very familiar to Elena. Only this time, she wasn’t looking at him, but at his neck. The lights on the roof of the hallway were very bright. It clearly presented every vein and muscle on his neck. Cory kept his head high, looking straight to the front, which exposed his artery. Elena had this strong impulse to bite it. Cory was an Alpha, but his wolf wasn’t that strong, not even half as strong as his father. Which was the main reason why he had been amiable to everyone around him before Lennie came. It was kind of the elephant in the room, the truth no one was allowed to mention in this kingdom. Elena fought him a few times during the training back when they were still teenagers. She wasn’t a feisty warrior, but she had the confidence to give him a fatal strike. As long as she sank her teeth deep enough, and shredded his neck completely when no one
The next day, when Elena woke up, she felt she had fully recovered. The dragon’s cure was very effective. She didn’t feel sick and weak anymore.Aurora and Bella brought a maid's suit to her, which was very different from the colorful but thin dresses they were wearing. Bella comforted her, “Don’t take it too personally. You attacked Lennie and tore her face. Of course, she will pick on you. The thing is, Lennie never attaches to things, neither good nor bad. She moves on very easily. As long as you play along with her, don’t go against her will, she will get bored in literally three days and forget about you. What happens next will depend on you and your king. You know what I mean.”Elena nodded her head. She knew those dragon girls would be partial to Lennie, but it didn’t really matter. Like Bella had suggested, her true enemy was Cory, not Lennie. She must escape from the kingdom and cut the connection with him.“My parents,” Elena asked, “did you get in touch with them? What did
Following all those dragon girls downstairs, Elena surprisingly found that instead of the dining hall, they went directly to the garden outside from the side door.It was late spring. The weather just started getting hot, but the plants hadn’t decided to go green yet. Withered weeds were everywhere and half of those trees were still bald. Lennie somehow found herself a place for a huge sunshade.A red carpet decorated by golden threads was under her feet, and in front of her was a long dining table for more than a dozen people. Lennie was sitting in a big luxurious armchair like she was already the Queen. Several wolf maids wearing exactly the same uniform as Elena were standing behind her with their heads lowered, waiting humbly. Ashely was the first one to step forward and saluted Lennie.“Your Highness,” she came to the side of Lennie’s chair and lifted up her thin dress along with an elegant bow.Lennie then gave her hand to Ashely for her to kiss. When their eyes connected, Ele
“What second chance mate? What are you talking about?” That was a totally unexpected answer. Elena was stunned, “We haven’t rejected Cory yet. How could we ever find a second chance mate? That’s not how it works.”“I don’t know,” Nyla’s tone became a little anxious. “I just have this feeling, Okay? We are going to the Rogue’s land anyway. Our parents are there, remember? So why not let Lennie sell us? I am sure she can find a way to bypass Cory. It’s two birds with one stone. Why not give it a try?”“Because we are civilized persons with dignity. We don’t sell our peers and we don’t allow ourselves to be sold,” Elena couldn’t believe what she had just heard. “Don’t you know what happens to sold people? They got slave marks on their necks, chains and shackles on their limbs. They will never be free again. They will never belong to themselves. They will get masters to tell them what to do. They might spend the rest of their lives in cages. Do you really want that kind of life?! Do you