Ember’s POV:A shiver ran down my spine and my whole body shook with fear as the wolf dived his head. His canines were just about to dig into my flesh and shred me into pieces when, all of a sudden, something thudded into him so forcefully that his body flew in the opposite direction.Without waiting to process what just happened, my whole body jolted into action and I planted my elbows into the ground and shot up to my feet.A frightful sob escaped my throat and my hand flew to clutch my chest tightly. My heart was thundering in my ribcage maniacally as I panted heavily.I was out of my wits and was trying to process what had just happened when, suddenly, a painful screech pierced the air and my head whipped in its direction.There, a little distance away from me, I saw two wolves colliding with each other in a fierce fight.One of them was the one who had just nearly dragged me to my death while the other had dark gray fur and was slightly bigger than him. They roared and grunted wh
Ember’s POV:Darius's eyes widened as he enunciated firmly, “Neither look behind nor stop until you reach down the hill. Once there, no wolf will be able to harm you. Besides, I’ve sent a mindlink to Alpha. Help must be on its way. Meanwhile, I’ll fight these wolves and try to give you all the time I can.”“Darius, but…” I sniffled through tears, not ready to let him put his life in danger.Shaking his head, he wrapped his hands around me and gave me a quick hug while whispering in my ear, “All I want from you is to try to give Nicholus a chance. Forgive him for his wrongdoings and see him for what he truly is. Give this mate bond a chance. Trust me, you both deserve it.”With this, he broke the hug, immediately turned me around, and nudged to move forward and away from him.As soon as his touch on my back disappeared, I whirled around but he had already vanished in the thin air.I didn't like the fact he was willing to give up his life for me. But if he really was doing such a thing
Nicholus’s POV:I was cooped up in my office with a delegate from the East. Alpha Maddox had once again sent a proposal for a partnership.I was looking lazily at his Gamma as he tallied for the hundredth time about how giving them the rights to manufacture and distribute the BloodMoon Merlot was a good idea.And for the hundredth time, I answered the same as first, “The North respects its positive relations with the East but I won’t agree to any sort of partnership regarding the BloodMoon Merlot.”Gamma stayed quiet for a long minute. And then he leaned back in the chair and said slowly, “I’m afraid that doing so would really affect the relations between the East and the North.”I didn’t like the change in his tone and attitude. I was just a moment away from lunging across the desk and wrapping his crisp tie around his neck for talking to me like that when Ethan opened our mindlink, “Don’t lose your calm, Alpha.”Pretending to be unaffected by the Gamma, I shrugged boringly, “That’ll
Nicholus’s POV: Suddenly, out of nowhere, Darius appeared beside me and yelled over the howling wind, “What are you doing here?” I continued scanning the area wildly while screeching, “Looking for her. What else do you think?” Stepping in front of me, he frowned with confusion, “What…I mean…you really can’t catch her scent, Nicholus?” My eyes widened and my heart picked a beat as I whispered hopefully, “Can you?” Darius eyed me with concern. I knew what was going on in his head but I didn’t have the time for that conversation when my mate was still out there somewhere, lost and in God knows what condition. Good thing that Darius realized that too and turned around, “Come with me. I can catch her scent.” I took a shivering breath and rasped out, “That means we’re close.” He nodded tightly, “We’ll find her, Nicholus.” Like a lost puppy, I followed him as he sprinted through the rough patch in the woods. He took a few sharp turns before coming to an abrupt halt. I scanned the are
Nicholus's POV:Once again, I spiraled back into the state of unknowing and every fucking second of it was full of agony. I was continuously pacing the floor while the doctors examined my mate inside.It was an effort to control myself from bursting through the doors. After the night's horror, I didn't want to leave my mate alone even for a second. My mind was still stuck in the moment when I found her in the woods, wounded and unconscious. The image of her lifeless, pale, and limp body kept flashing in my mind.My jaw clenched and I gritted in agitation, "What the hell is taking so long?"Darius, sitting on the bench outside the ward, sighed aloud, "Calm down, Nicholus. Your fretting isn't doing anyone any good."I whipped my head toward him and screeched, "No, Darius. I can't fucking calm down when my mate is in there and I have no idea what's going on."I watched as the worry in his eyes turned into something similar to amusement and he drawled, "Worried enough? About your mate? Wh
Nicholus's POV: As soon as I was done with the shower, I made my way back to the clinic and found Darius outside the ward. Walking up to him, I suggested, "Now you should go and take a shower yourself." He squinted at me, "After your continuous nagging, I think I can really use one." As he walked away, I settled on the bench outside the ward and went to the waiting. I was getting restless, waiting for the doors to burst open at any moment and doctor coming out with a news, a good one actually. After about three minutes, Darius opened our mindlink, "Hey there, any update?" Annoyed at the interruption, I huffed out, "I'll let you know if there's any." He snickered, "Already getting frustrated? Remember I did that for over a dozen times." I retorted mockingly, "It's sad that you don't have the power to keep our mindlink shut...unlike me." He was about to say something when I snapped the mindlink shut. I could feel him trying to push it open but of course, that wasn't possible for
Ember’s POV:My head felt heavy and dizzy as I stepped back into consciousness. Every inch of my body ached brutally and it was an effort to open my eyes.A white ceiling came into view and when I tried to move my body to sit up, an excruciating pain rippled through my abdomen and traveled to every part of my body.That made me moan in agony and just a moment later, my mate’s face appeared over me. His forehead was creased with worry as he looked down at me. When he spoke, there was a hint of relief in his voice, “Finally, you’re up.”His eyes roamed all over my face as he inquired with caution, “How are you feeling now?”I stared at his face looming over me and willed my fingers to move and touch him but, for some unknown reason, I felt stuck in my body. I kept staring into his eyes filled with worry and my own eyebrows furrowed as I took in the horror lingering in those pitch-black orbs and then finally, the strings started connecting in my head.All of a sudden, the flashbacks of t
Ember's POV: We had been talking for about 15 minutes when the doors to the room flung open, and a 6'3" tall grumpy man appeared at the doorway. I didn't fail to notice how his broad shoulders and tall figure filled the whole doorframe. His eyes landed on Darius and he grumbled warningly, "Time up, little buddy." Darius rose to his feet and screeched dramatically, "But we were just about to start gossiping about you." My eyes widened as I protested, "No, we weren't." Darius smiled down at me wickedly, "Oh yeah, because we've already done that," he ended with a wink. I opened my mind to reprimand him when we heard my mate grumbling again at the poor soul, "Enough of this childish behavior." In a flash, he appeared before Darius. He thought I couldn't hear him but my ears picked up his exact words as he hissed in a low whisper, "You had your time with her. Now I want you out." Darius opened his mouth to say something but it suddenly clamped shut as his posture straightened and hi
Ember's POV:After Nicholus left so abruptly, I didn't have any appetite left to indulge in breakfast so after only a few bites, I grabbed my cup of coffee, stood up, and excused myself."You didn't each much today," Luna noticed.I scrunched up my nose, "I feel full. But don't worry, I'll have a snack later," I added before she got worried.With my fingers around the cup handle, I strode out of the castle and made my way into the lush green lawn to soak up a bit of the sun.Tilting my head toward the sky, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I relished the feel of fresh air rushing into my lungs but it did nothing to ease up the restlessness that was zinging inside me.Ever since yesterday, I have been feeling so restless. There was one thing, one particular moment during the attack yesterday, that was still stuck in my mind. No matter how hard I tried to nudge it to the back it was still there, replaying again and again."You felt it too, right?" even Aria couldn't ignore it any
Ember's POV: When my mind processed everything and I came back to my senses, the first instinct was to comfort him but I resisted the urge to go after him. He was very angry and I didn't want to add fuel to his rage. Deciding to give him some time to cool off, I took off the bathrobe and changed into PJs. With slouched shoulders and a foul mood, I walked into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed. After such a hectic day, sleep kicked in the moment my body touched the mattress. The spot beside me was cold and empty. I missed his presence. I missed how he'd either spoon me or hug me. I missed sleeping to the sound of his heartbeat beside me. I forced my eyes open and decided to wait for him. I kept glancing at the clock. It struck 12, then 1, and then 2 before my already tired body couldn't take it anymore. With the thought of waking up in his arms, I finally drifted off to sleep. The next morning, I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. As soon as my eyes open
Ember's POV: After showering, I tied the bathrobe around myself and tiptoed toward the closet room. I was going through my PJs when the hair on the back of my neck stood taller. That always happened when he was nearby. Would my body ever get used to his proximity? He was lingering at the doorway, waiting for me to acknowledge his presence and when I didn't, he let out a deep sigh, "For how long are you going to keep ignoring me?" Not making any attempt to answer him, I kept sifting through the clothes in the almirah, pretending to be busy deciding what to wear. All of a sudden, a chill ran down my spine as he came up beside me, too near that I could feel his hot breath on my cold skin as he said tightly, "I am talking to you, Ember." Yanking the random PJ set out, I snapped sharply, "And can't you see I'm not interested in talking to you?" Slamming the almirah door shut, I jerked around. Without bothering to cast him a glance, I just walked around him. But I had just taken a ste
Ember's POV: During the entire ride, I kept my face toward the window, staring at the night lights as the car sped on the road. I could feel his unwavering stare boring holes in my back but I did nothing to acknowledge his presence. Apparently, the silent treatment was just not sitting right with him because he finally ended up opening our mindlink, "Are you okay?" I kept my face fixated on the window, too angry to answer him. How dare he behave like that? Carrying me over his shoulder as if I was some stubborn kid? And that too in front of everyone? Ridiculous! He waited for a few minutes and when I still didn't answer, he tried again, this some more gently, "Will you let me see your wounds? I need to make sure they're healing properly. I don't want them to catch any infection." Again, he was met with only silence. Was he not going to talk about how inappropriately he behaved or how rudely he talked to me? Maybe I was exaggerating but considering I'd never imagined him talking t
Ember's POV: The world seemed to slow down around me but at the same time, everything felt to be happening in the fast motion, way too quick to process properly. In my peripheral vision, I saw a guard lunging forward but before he could even reach us, another rebel gripped him by the throat and yanked him away. I choked as the blood gushed out of my throat. With trembling hands, I managed to grip his wrist and tried to wriggle myself out of his death-like grip. But all my efforts were in vain. He was strong. Way too strong for me to take down. I tried to use my hypnotizing power on him but because of my weakening strength and loss of consciousness, I was unable to muster up the magic. Blood rushed to my ears and soon, all I could hear was a loud ringing and nothing else. Tears welled up in my eyes and my vision blurred. My eyes were fixated on the demonic, creepy smile stretched over his face as he relished in my misery. But the very next moment, I frowned slightly as I saw his
Ember's POV:My mind was too shocked to register the sudden turn of events. I and Darius jerked our heads toward each other at the same moment and the next thing I heard was his ear-piercing scream, "Protect the Queen!"All of a sudden, someone gripped my wrist in a death-like grip. My gaze shot down to see fingers clasping around my wrist. I was just about to lift my gaze when my head whirled toward the door as the loud banging erupted in the air before someone yelled from the other side, "Open the damn door, Samuel." Someone else screamed, "How dare you invite the daughter of the enemy into your pack house? Are you declaring a war against us?"Samuel turned to his wife. He was no longer looking like a sweet old man I had a great time chatting with earlier. Instead, he looked every bit of a deadly warrior as he commanded Luna, "Take Queen and the girls to the safety bunkers. You must protect her at every cost, Carolina."The hold around my wrist instantly tightened before suddenly ya
Ember's POV:Darius stayed by my side as we took a quick tour of the packhouse before settling in the living room. After a few minutes of talking about random things, a maid strolled inside with a rolling tray laden with a kettle, cups, and all sorts of desserts.“Aw, Carolina, you didn’t have to do so much. Only tea would have been enough,” I said with awe.She shook her head, “You requested us not to arrange for the lunch. Even though we wanted to but we decided to respect your request. So, please enjoy the tea.”Pouring the tea in the cup, the maid placed it on the table in front of me before picking a plate, “What desserts you want me to serve you, Your Highness?”Sliding forward, I grabbed the plate from her hand and smiled up at her, “It’s okay, dear. I’ll serve myself.”She went still for a moment before finally straightening up, “Sure, Your Highness.”My mouth watered as I greedily eyed all the pastries, donuts, custard pies, and fruit tarts. I was about to pick the chocolate
Ember’s POV:As soon as I stepped out of the castle, I came to a sudden halt while gasping aloud.With wide eyes and a shocking voice, I screeched, “What the hell is happening here?” while pointing at dozens of black SUVs parked outside with almost half of the North army standing guard beside them, ready to hop in at their Alpha’s command.Nicholus raised his eyebrow as if there was nothing ridiculous going on, “I only agreed to this plan of yours because you agreed to go with high security, remember?”I sucked in a sharp breath, “I definitely didn’t think you were talking about this ‘high security,’” I groaned while waving my hand toward the guards.Nicholus took a deep breath and twisted his neck, “You refused to take me along with you. If I’m not going, then they’d all go instead.”I rubbed the back of my neck, already tired of discussing the matter for infinite times, and gritted out through clenched teeth, “In case you forgot, let me remind you again of the purpose of my visit. I
Ember's POV: The next morning, I woke up with Nicholus's arm wrapped around me. As I tried to wriggle out of his hold, he squirmed in his sleep and tightened his hold, "Mmhmm, where are you going?" I glanced over my shoulder at his adorable, groggy eyes he was squinting at me with. "I have to go," I replied. He groaned, unhappy with the answer, "No, don't go anywhere. Just stay here and give me morning cuddles."At that, I burst out laughing loudly, "People would call me crazy if I'd ever tell them that the ruthless alpha of the North just said those cheesy words to me."Moving his hand to my bottom, he spanked my ass playfully, "You naughty, little princess, why would you tell anyone about what happens in our bedroom?"I giggled under my breath, "Good thing that the room is soundproof or otherwise I wouldn't need to 'tell' them about what exactly happens in our bedroom."Snuggling closer, he licked my earlobe and whispered roughly, "Yeah, because your loud screams and hot moans wou