Ember's POV:Two days before the wedding, Father invited Alpha Arnold Pierce for dinner. It was a formal meeting between Father, me, and Arnold where we disclosed to him how things would be after this marriage.Father relayed to him the plans for my coronation right after the wedding. Furthermore, he informed Arnold that his pack would be resolved and join with our pack. Arnold himself would lose the title and rank of Alpha.As he didn't belong to the Royal Family, he wouldn't be given the title and rank of King even after our marriage. He would only be bestowed with the title of Baron, the least one in the monarchy. It was necessary to make sure that he wouldn't have any significant power to cause any ruckus in my reign.Father made it clear to him that he wouldn't have any direct connection to the throne and wouldn't have any direct say in the political as well as social matters of the Empire. After Father, I would be the sole authority to make the decisions I deemed fit.To say in
Ember’s POV:Rooting his feet on the ground, Damon leaned forward until he reached my eye level. Refusing to look him in the eyes, I jerked my head in the other direction because I still remembered how he insulted me and somehow forgot to apologize.Of course, the man didn't care about any of that.Tilting his head to the side, Damon said in a mocking tone, “Had a nice chitchat with your Prince Charming?”Tilting my head, I took in the gray clouds covering the sky, and huffed a loud sigh, “As usual, none of your business but of course, you never get that, right?”Damon clicked his tongue, “As your POTENTIAL friend, lemme tell you just for the record. He can promise you his sheer respect, loyalty, and affection but when it comes to ardent love and passionate devotion, he isn’t capable of that.”At that, my head flung toward him and I glared into his eyes, “You were eavesdropping,” I squinted my eyes, "You really have no concept of boundaries, right?"Straightening up, he simply shrugge
Ember’s POV:My throat clogged at his confession and I swallowed the lump in my throat. I bit my bottom lip and wrapped my arms around me in a protective manner, “Why are you making things so complicated?” I asked in a small voice.His eyebrows drooped lower and his shoulders slouched as he whispered helplessly, “Is it that impossible for you to love me back? Do you really despise me to the point that you can’t even consider such a thing? What exactly have I ever done to deserve this much hatred from you?”Tears prickled at the back of my eyes, “I don’t hate you, Damon." I paused and took a shuddering breath, " I don't wanna hurt you but…” I shook my head vigorously, “But I…I can’t do it. It's impossible.”Another thunder growled in the sky, depicting Damon’s feelings and my turmoil. And then, all of a sudden, it started raining. Big, fat raindrops pattered on the ground.Stealing one last glance at him, I turned around and started sprinting toward the castle. My mind was a chaotic mes
Ember’s POV:Suffocation was a small word. I was feeling so constricted in my own body that it felt like the whole world was crashing into me.I was grateful that Damon did not follow me this time or I would have exploded with rage. Maybe he too was too shocked at the revelation to show any other reaction.Entering the main door, I sped past the hall and whipped around the corner. Reaching the staircase, I took two at a time. If Ms. Tacy had been there she must have scolded me that such manners didn’t belong to a Princess let alone the future Queen but at that moment, her validation was the least of my concerns.Keeping my pace fast, I ran through the corridors and didn’t slow down until I got to my private wing. It was only when I reached my bedroom did I stop.I was panting heavily as I grabbed the doorknob and kicked it open. Slamming the door behind me, I sauntered to the table and gulped down the glass of water in one sip.Flopping on the couch, I grabbed my head and took deep br
Ember's POV:Damon already had his eyes glued to me, assessing me with careful eyes, maybe wondering what was going on in my mind.Now that I knew who he really was, my gaze couldn't stop roaming all over his face, taking in the familiar features of my mate. Sleek nose, high cheekbones, full lips...why didn't I catch it before?We kept staring at each other for the next few minutes, lost in our thoughts.And for the first time ever, Damon was the one to break the eye contact. Sliding his head to the other side, he stared at the distance.His eyes narrowed and the muscles in his jaw clenched. His face hardened but hurt flashed in his eyes as he stated tightly in a low voice, "You are his mate."There. He said it. And now the words were hanging between us like a thick barrier. His face contorted into disgust as he processed his own words, making them real.It wasn't a question. It was a statement. He was always of a sharp mind so I wasn't surprised that he put two and two together after
Ember’s POV:Damon turned on his heels to face me and leaned his back against the pole. He heaved a heavy breath, “It wasn’t always like this. There was a time, long ago when we used to be close.” His lips pressed in a thin line as he shared what seemed to be a valuable memory, “My brother used to be my best friend.”I gave him the time he needed to process his feelings and waited patiently even though I was curious to know what could possibly go wrong for them to become bloodsworn enemies.Damon tilted his face to the other side and stared at the distance. I could see that recalling the past events was kind of hurtful to him.Swallowing the lump in his throat, he revealed another secret to me reluctantly, “Nicholus and I…we are half brothers.” Turning his head back to me, he sucked in a sharp breath, “We share the same father, the late King of the North, Arnold Dicaprio. But our mothers are different.”He took a small pause before continuing, “Nicholus is the child of King Arnold Dica
Ember’s POV:The air was thick with heavy silence. As Damon relived the pain of his past, I thought about how tormenting it must have been for him to lose his mate right in front of his eyes.I swallowed the growing lump in my throat and inhaled sharply, “I’m so sorry, you didn’t deserve any of that.”The corner of his lips stretched into a sad smile, “It’s okay. I’ve learned to live with it.”No wonder he always seemed lonely. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Opening them, I looked at him with evaluating eyes and a frown appeared between my eyebrows, “But all this rage and hatred…it’s consuming you, Damon.”I understood that the revenge he wanted was valid in his eyes, but he was giving himself away to evil. As he stayed quiet, I got curious about how exactly he was planning to go against the most ruthless alpha alive.Tilting my head to the side, I inquired, “By the way, how exactly are you planning to take him down?”Lifting his head, Damon met my eyes and thought about it
Ember’s POV:Standing on my wobbly legs, I composed myself and sauntered toward my bedroom door. I was expecting Ms. Tacy or some other maid, so I stretched a huge smile on my face and flung the door open.But the smile quickly vanished as I took in Damon standing on the other side. His hair was ruffled and his eyes were dimmed, it was apparent he was barely holding himself together.My eyes traveled to his slouched shoulders and I spotted the strap of a backpack there. I frowned at that, “Where are you going?”His voice was blank and tired as he stated, “I’m leaving.”My frown deepened as I blurted out, “Leaving? Where? And why?”Pressing his lips in a thin line, he said tightly curtly, “You don’t expect me to stand by and witness you being someone else’s bride, do you?”I raised my hand and pointed at his bag, “So, this is what you want to do?”His eyes steeled as he hissed at me, “No, what I actually want is to take you with me, either by force or by kidnapping you.” His gaze darke
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
Ember's POV:Knowing that I had a long day ahead, I hit the bed earlier than usual. I just wanted to restore my energy to appear fresh and energetic while making my first public appearance.But despite everything from lighting the candles with soothing aromas to drinking the herbal tea, I was unable to find sleep. Hours passed and I still found myself tossing and turning on the bed as restlessness zinged inside me.There was a ball of nervousness inflating inside my belly as I thought about tomorrow. Even though after careful consideration, we've shortlisted the smallest and most welcoming pack for our first visit I just couldn't help thinking about the worst outcome.I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the door creaking open. I glanced over my shoulder to find Nicholus closing the door behind him.As he turned around, a slight frown appeared between his brows, "Why are you still up? Is everything okay?" I caught a hint of worry in his voice as his eyes roamed over all over
Ember's POV:The next day after breakfast, we all gathered in the conference room to discuss the plan and schedule of coming days.I was sitting on a chair next to Nicholus's head chair with a file of pack names and descriptions opened in front of me.Darius, who was sitting accross from me, inquired curiously, "So, what pack are we going to visit first?"My eyes scanned the contents of the file while my mind was busy making a strategy.Just when I opened my mouth to answer him, a breath got stuck in my lungs. I felt electricity rushing through my veins as Nicholus sprawled his hand over my thigh.Slowly, I clamped my mouth shut and swallowed hard as his thumb stroked my thigh. Why a mere movement felt so damn sensual was beyond my understanding.Darius who was still waiting for an answer raised his eyebrow, "Well?"I swallowed again and huffed out a huge breath, "First, we'll..."Once again, my mouth clamped shut as Nicholus's hand started moving up my thigh, letting tingles break al