Ember’s POV: “You still up?” he asked me in a deep, sleepy voice. My eyes shifted to our intertwined hands. Something told me I should free my hand from his hold for the conversation we were about to have but for some weird reason, I didn’t want to. I wanted to relish his warmth a bit longer. He followed my line of vision and stared at our joined hands but made no attempt to unclasp them. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, “I was here…” “…for the last five nights,” I said in a blank voice. His eyes widened a little as he rasped out, “You knew?” It was my time to swallow, “Yes, I knew every time you entered the room after the lights were off, checked my fever, held my hand, and slept by my side only to vanish early the next morning before I could wake up.” I shifted my gaze to the ceiling and asked aloud, “Why have you been doing that, Nicholus?” He seemed to be at a loss for words as his eyes widened a bit more. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly clamp
Ember's POV:My heart instantly picked a beat as soon as my eyes landed on a black rose and a folded piece of paper. There was no doubt who left them there. It was his answer. To everything I'd said last night. Remembering his expressions before he left the room, I dreaded reading whatever was written in there.Last night, he went away without saying a word, leaving me with thousands of questions and chaotic thoughts that kept me awake till dawn.Slowly, I lifted my trembling fingers and moved them toward the bedside table. But it wasn't in me to read what mysteries were waiting for me.Not willing to admit that I actually dreaded reading his words, I told myself that I just needed some time to compose myself before indulging in that.Right on cue, the door flung open and the nurse tiptoed into the room. Contrary to the storm raging inside me, there was a bright smile on her face when she greeted cheerfully, "Good Morning, how are you feeling today?"How was I feeling? Like a wreck af
Ember's POV: My eyes were stuck to the last words, boring holes in the page. I stared for so long and so hard that my vision became blurry, and I lost my focus. As I tried to process the words I had just read, my mind denied their existence because coming that from Alpha Nicholus was impossible—absolutely impossible. Snapping out of the confusing haze, I read the letter again. This time, more slowly and assessed each and every word in detail. The picture played in my mind, and for the first time, I viewed our story from his perspective, and I was shocked to see how different it was from mine. I didn't fail to notice how concisely he had summarized all that and still included all the important details while relaying his feelings. I exhaled heavily and placed the letter on my lap beside the black rose. Lifting my gaze, I started staring at the wall in front of me and could literally see the words painted on it, that’s how much they were embedded in me. I still found it hard to bel
Ember's POV: For the rest of the day, I kept waiting for Nicholus. Every time the door creaked open, my heart picked a beat, anticipating his appearance. And every time, a nurse or maid popped their heads through the door, my shoulders slouched. With every passing hour, I was getting more and more restless. How much time did he exactly mean when he said he wanted to give me time to decide? The night came. I had my dinner, medicines, and physiotherapy but my mate was still nowhere to be found. After 9 pm, the nurse bid me farewell for the day and moved toward the door. Her fingers were on the switchboard to turn off the lights and I was about to close my eyes when the door flung open. My head whipped in its direction and my breath got stuck in my lungs as I saw a 6-foot tall, broad, and bulky frame filling the doorway. His gaze was fixated on me for a whole minute before he finally stepped inside and closed the door behind him. While he was conversing with the nurse, I let my eyes
Ember’s POV:As his words embedded into my brain, another question popped into my mind. A question whose answer I wanted from his perspective.Still staring down at the bloomed petals of the black rose in my hand, I asked with a slight frown between my brows, “And which rose do you think depicts me the best?”He didn’t take any time to think. Instead, he answered instantly as if the words were already waiting on the tip of his tongue, “White rose, for sure.”My frown deepened as I turned my gaze to him, “White rose? Why? What does that signify?” Now I was really curious to know.His gaze softened and the smallest of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he opened his mouth, “A white rose symbolizes purity and innocence and you are absolutely free of any wickedness or darkness. It is also a symbol of love, reverence, and admiration and is used to express deep feelings of respect and devotion, all the things that you deserve in your life.”He paused, his mouth hung open for a momen
Ember's POV:The next morning, I blinked my eyes open and was surprised to see a pair of black and white roses on my bedside table. A smile crept over my lips at the sight of fresh roses.I was amazed at how Nicholus put detail into everything. Even now, the combination of black and white roses, each portraying our different personalities.Rubbing the sleep off my eyes, I pressed the button to slide the upper half of my bed upward. Reaching over to the table, I was about to grab the roses when I noticed a small note placed under them.Sliding it out, I unfolded a piece of paper. A smile instantly bloomed on my lips as I read the words scribbled in my mate's wavy handwriting:"Good Morning, beautiful."I never thought such a day would come when I'd be smiling at a little note left by him. What was even more unbelievable was the fact that the King of the North was even capable of writing it. I mean, what were we? Teenagers?Well, the wide grin plastered on my face was the living proof o
Ember’s POV:The next morning, I again woke up to an empty chair and a pair of black and white roses in the vase with a little note of good morning that brought a wide smile to my sleepy face.After breakfast, the nurse and the maid bid their farewell and I groaned heavily. It was the most boring time of the day when I was left alone to rest. How could they expect me to stay still for weeks?My foot was all healed now but due to the broken ribs, I couldn’t get up or walk around or do any activity. After all, I was on a fucking bedrest which only gave me more time to overthink everything and that's exactly what I'd been doing lately.Right then, I heard a knock on the door. I had no idea who it was because no one had ever come at this hour of the day.As I said to come in, the door slid open and I watched in confusion as a servant strolled a cart inside the room. Padding straight in my direction, he set the cart beside my bed.As I looked closely, I frowned. It was actually a book cart
Ember's POV: For the better part of the day, Nicholus stayed on the couch, went through the files, and signed a few. And me? Well, I had nothing better to do than stare at the hotness lingering before my eyes.To save myself from the embarrassment of getting caught red-handed while gawking at him, I fetched a book from the cart and opened it before me. Trust me, I'm not all pervert. I did try to read the book but even after reading the first sentence ten times, my mind couldn't register what the author was saying when every ounce of my attention was fixated on him.It was later in the day that he got up, stretched his body, and informed me, "It's time for me to hit the gym." What? No! I didn't want him to go just yet. But of course, I'd kill myself before saying that aloud. So, to appear nonchalant, I flipped the page and drawled, "Bring those machines here and create a mini gym like you did with the office." His lips tugged into a devilish smirk and I knew a witty remark was on its
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