Nicholas’s POV:It all started a few days ago when I was having a meeting with Ethan and Darius barged into the office with an unbelieving yet dreadful news, “I’ve investigated. Seems like Damon is building an army of rogue wolves.”Ethan flipped his head toward Darius and blurted out in confusion, “Army of rogues? How is that possible?”Darius only shrugged in response whereas I planted my elbows on the desk and leaned closer, “It means that he has found a way to tame them.” That was the only valid explanation I could think of.Darius frowned in confusion, “Is that even possible? Aren’t rogues the ones who have lost all hope of coming back to the light?”I mulled over his words before answering their questions to the best of my knowledge and understanding, “We must not forget that rogues are rogues because they’ve lost purpose in life.” I tilted my head to the side, “I’m not surprised that he has found a way to tame them. The fucker was always interested in them.”Ethan rubbed his fo
Nicholas’s POV:That night, we were all cooped up in my office. Me, my Beta, Gamma, and a few other commanders were all gathered around the map sprawled over my desk.Darius pointed at the map, “According to my sources, the South-North border is heavily guarded by the rogues.”Ethan quirked his eyebrow, “Damon must have stationed them there since they would be expecting us to retaliate after the attack.”Liam, a military commander, chimed in, “Well, we can unleash our army on them. We weren't expecting it last time when they attacked us, but now we are prepared.”Ethan nodded confidently, “Yes, we can easily take them down.”I shook my head once as a smirk formed on my face, “But that would alert Alexander’s forces in the castle and just ruin my surprise, no?”At that, Darius flipped his head in my direction, “What are you planning, Nicholus?”I planted my elbows on the desk and leaned forward, “I’m planning to kill two birds with one stone. First, I’m going to retrieve my mate but…” I
Nicholus’s POV:The night before the wedding ceremony, we received the news that Damon had reached the North-South border with more of his bloody rogues but by that time, I, along with my forces, had already reached the West-South border.After hearing the news, Xoro just wanted to leave everything behind and cross the border to wrap his hands around Damon's neck and strangle him until his face turned red. And then, I’d look into his horror-filled eyes and right before snapping his neck, I’d ask him how dared he lay hands on my mate.I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself and my raging wolf. There was a possibility that Damon had no idea that she was my mate but then, maybe she had confided him in. Fuck, even if he knew, it wouldn’t have stopped him from doing what he did.At that, a deep and dark chuckle escaped out of me. The two people who should have been standing by me as my strength are playing behind my back. I was being betrayed by those I was supposed to trust
Ember’s POV:I was pushed into the car by my mate. A moment later, the car shifted as his huge and bulky frame settled inside. He was so big that even the spacious car felt much smaller in his presence.I squirmed toward the door but there wasn’t enough space to put between us. I saw the flare of my dress touching his leg and I quickly collected it to move it away from him.He saw me doing that vainly and shifted his leg away from my dress.A moment later, the engine rumbled. I sucked in a sharp breath as I glanced out the window and took in the castle I’d spent my whole life in.Even after spending all my life there, I couldn’t come to call it a home. Maybe that’s why while going away from it, I just wanted to take one thing with me. Sophie, my best friend.But it didn’t mean that it hurt me any less to part ways with it. It felt like someone had stabbed a sharp knife deep within my heart and was continuously moving it sideways to rip it open. Yes, it was my mate. He was doing that t
Ember's POV: I had no idea how much time passed, but it felt like an eternity, flying through the night sky in utter silence. I spent every second of that rolling in my misery, missing the life I had left behind, and dreading what fate had in store for me. Since the start of the journey, my mate had his head glued toward the window, without sparing so much as a glance in my direction. Darius, on the other hand, seemed bored and tried to make small talk with me frequently, to which I paid no heed and totally ignored him. He also brought me food more than once and even though my stomach was grumbling with hunger, I made no move to eat anything offered by him. It felt like anything down my throat would only nauseate me and the last thing I wanted was to humiliate myself by emptying my guts in front of these men. A new wave of panic coursed through me as the pilot announced our entrance into the North territory. I closed my eyes and my gut coiled as the flashbacks of my first night in
Ember’s POV:The last time I was in the dungeons, I had a mission to free the prisoners but this time, I was going to be one of them. Ignoring the panic swirling in the pit of my stomach, I focused all my attention on my surroundings.Darius walked deeper into the dark dungeons and I followed him briskly. My eyes were all over the place, remembering every nook and corner. Anything, any minute detail could prove to be very helpful while running away, that’s what my years of training had taught me.While passing through the cells, I took in the space within them. It was dark and gloomy. Other than sunrays and moonlight, there was no other source of illumination and besides a tiny window at the top corner, there was no other source of ventilation.Behind the thick and heavy silver bars, there were prisoners. In the utter darkness, I could only make out their silhouettes. By their heavy and ragged breathing and moaning, I knew how badly they were being tortured.All of a sudden, a fearsom
Ember's POV:"Anyhow, I'd love to chitter chatter with you and bond over the dark tales of the North but I just received a mindlink from Alpha, so gotta go," he turned around, "See you soon, sister-in-law."I listened to the last of his retreating footsteps and a minute later, I heard ancient, rusty doors creaking and locked.What followed was an utter and horrifying silence. Wherever my gaze traveled, I only saw pitch-black darkness, so very similar to the eyes of my mate. The dark, demonic, devilish eyes of my mate.Turning away from the bars, I tilted my head toward the window in the upper corner of the wall. It was large enough for me to squeeze through but the silver bars won’t let me.Sighing in disappointment, I dragged my feet to the corner of the cell. Pressing my back against the cold wall, I slid down to the hard-stoned floor, collected my bridal dress, and wrapped my arms around my knees, huddling myself together.All of a sudden, emotions, that I’d been tightly holding in
Ember's POV:I tried my best to brace myself against the darkness of my mate but at one point, the painful wails, agony, and cries for help became so much that I started to correlate it with my own people when he massacred them.I couldn't help placing my hands on my ears to drown out the cries of tortured ones and hid my head in my knees. My vision blurred with my tears and I quickly wiped them away before anyone could spot them streaking down my face.After what seemed like an eternity, the cries finally died down.I lifted my head just in time to see my mate passing through my cell. This time, he neither stopped nor spared a glance at me.Suddenly, my breath stuck in my lungs and my eyes widened in fear and disbelief. What followed the ruthless alpha was the evidence of his brutality.Bile rose up my throat as I took in two guards holding a prisoner whose wails I'd been hearing all morning. They were literally dragging him like a sack of potatoes.Shiver ran down my spine and blood
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
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