It felt like a thousand bags of cement were tied around Olive's body when she woke up. She couldn't even move her neck to look around because it felt so heavy and painful. She however knew she wasn't outside anymore. She was still on the bare floor, but under a roof. Olive didn't stay for long before someone realized she was awake. Maybe they all came to check up on her turn by turn.
“She's awake,” a man announced. Fear skittered through her heart. She was going to face another torture again.
Two strong arms pulled her up and she cried in pain. Her injuries hadn't healed at all despite the healing ability of the body of wolf shifters. Dry and fresh blood were still all over her but her hair and clothes were already dry.
She was dragged into a room and pushed to the floor roughly. She screamed and hugged the floor while crying. Oh, her life would have been roses if she had found her parents instead of running into the arms of a strange man who turned her life into a living hell. She hated him. She hated The Vrek Cult. She hated her life.
“I'm really disappointed in The Vrek Cult. They sent you? Seriously? You? Is that how badly they wanted you dead?” Olive heard the woman's mocking voice.
She opened her swollen eyelids and peered at the blurry image of Cynthia. She was the daughter of the man who made her what she was, the man who forced her to join the cult at 14. She hated both Cynthia and her father. She however couldn't believe she was with Alpha Knight. How was that possible? She was a part of their cult…she must have pledged her allegiance. How did she free herself from the blood oath? Did she find her mate?
Wait—
Was Alpha Knight her mate? If so, then Olive was doomed. Cynthia hated her as much as she hated both her and her father. No wonder she whipped her mercilessly. She wouldn't let her mate, the BBA, spare her. God! Why did she run into Cynthia here?
“She's so weak. When you said The Vrek Cult was coming after The BBA, I thought we were in for a bloody fight. Too bad, they sent a clumsy she-wolf,” another man mocked and they laughed. By the sound of the laughter, Olive could tell that they were about four or more in the room.
“I'm-not-weak,” Olive managed to croak. Cynthia kicked her hard in the face and her lips and nose bursted out blood. Of course, they laughed at her.
Cynthia bent down and pulled her by the hair as tight as she could that Olive felt strands of hair pulling out of her scalp. She closed her eyes in pain.
“You are a pathetic weakling, Olive. Just because you succeeded in all other stupid missions you embarked on doesn't make you a heroine. You just haven't seen a mission too strong for you. Oh! You already have and it is going to be the end of you,” she spat directly into her face then pushed her head with so much force that it hit the floor hard and blood began to ooze out.
Olive prayed she'd die because of that hit so she could escape seeing The Big Bad Alpha himself.
“Tell the Alpha she's conscious enough to feel pain now,” Cynthia ordered like she was the lady boss. Well, she was most likely the Alpha's mate and their Luna.
A man walked out of the room to call Alpha Knight and Olive's heartbeat increased drastically. This was it. Her death…without ever feeling the love and comfort in having a mate. She remembered her prayer to the moon earlier and her tears fell.
She opened her eyes wide so she could see a bit clearer. The men's faces were visible now even though her vision got blurred at several intervals. Her eyes were fixed at the door, ignoring all the wicked and mocking looks staged on her by the people in the room—especially Cynthia.
Finally, he walked in. He was a tall man—really tall. He was well built and looked like a soldier. But other than his terrifying stature, Wayne Knight was a very handsome man. His light brown hair was in a fancy haircut and long curled strands fell slightly over his face. His eyebrows were thick and straight, giving him a terrifying yet sexy stare. He had thick eyelashes over his medium sized eyes. His whole face was a masterpiece and Olive wouldn't mind analyzing that work of art if it wasn't for the situation she was in.
Wayne's scent filled the room and it was like the scent of rain on a dusty forest floor. Which was the scent she loved so much. It filled her head and for a second, she inhaled it deeply. Cynthia smirked at her and walked up to him.
“Hey, Wayne,” she called him by his first name, showing Olive that she and him were on first name terms. Olive got the message pretty well.
“Hey,” he said in the coolest and sexiest voice Olive had ever heard. It was like smoothing butter over cake.
Cynthia wrapped her arms over his neck and made him face her by the right—giving Olive a clear view. She raised her head, tiptoed and planted a soft kiss on his lips. Then she nibbled on the lower one until he took hold of her and kissed her back. She moaned softly and he unlocked from her.
Olive's already fragile heart shattered. Sure, she suspected they were mates. But seeing them kiss so passionately killed her on the inside.
Wayne's eyes moved over to Olive and settled on her face. Their gaze locked and none of them looked away for what seemed like an eternity. It wasn't like she didn't want to look away, she just couldn't. It was like her eyes were glued to his permanently. She felt like she was seeing through his glassy brown eyeballs. Like she was entering a whole new world.
Suddenly, her wolf stood on all fours inside of her and her furs raised. She felt agitated, like she wanted to jump out after finding a way out of a prison. Olive could feel her trying hard to jump out.
Cynthia brought out a gun and showed it to Wayne, even though he hadn't broken his eye contact with Olive.
“I suggest you give her a quick death. Don't want you to waste your energy when you could use it for me in bed,” she whined and arranged his messy hair from his face. Olive's wolf growled angrily inside her at the mention of Wayne being in bed with Cynthia. And why was she touching his hair? How dare she touch his hair!
A muscle flicked in Wayne's face and his jaw clenched tightly. Everyone in the room knew Olive was done for. Cynthia just wanted to parade the fact that she was sleeping with him by saying what she said earlier. She wanted him to actually give her a slow death.
Olive gulped and finally lowered her eyes from his. He exhaled and looked at his men.
“Out,” he ordered and they all didn't waste a minute in scampering out of the room. Cynthia placed her hand on his shoulder and stood beside him like an equal. He slowly looked down at her fingers sprawled on his shoulder then at her face…he was looking annoyed.
“You too, Cynthia,” he said and her eyes widened.
“What?” she mumbled.
“Out,” he ordered coldly and she exhaled angrily. She glanced at Olive and gave her a deathly look before leaving the room.
Wayne stared at Olive again. He looked all over her battered body and his fists clenched inadvertently. Her face was a terrible mess. Blood was flowing thickly from her nose down her chin and her eyes were swollen. He could hear her heart beating too fast and too loud. She was terrified.
He took a step closer to her and she whimpered and shifted back in fear. His muscles tensed with anger. He turned around and walked out of the room, banging the door behind him. Olive's heart thudded and she crawled into a ball. Wayne Knight was terrifying…but why was her heart also wishing he was still staring at her?
Olive tried to calm down but her wolf was still at alert, savoring Wayne's smell. What was wrong with that furry creature of hers? Her wolf heard her and growled the answer to her questions…“Mate.”
“I half expected you'd not give me back my dagger,” King Xandros joked as soon as he stepped out of the forest, the way he had done two days before. Only Wayne and Olive were standing there to meet him. The others had mostly returned to Balendin Pack earlier. “I just finished one war with a vampire, I'm not quite ready to start another,” Alpha Knight joked in the same light.The vampire king laughed. It was so soft and innocent a stranger could fall for it. If he didn't see the fangs that is.“Wise of you. Very wise. Well, thank you for bringing it back.”He lifted his hand and the dagger lying on the soil rose to meet it. King Xandros looked it over, examining every crystal on it and the way the moon's glow bounced off the sharp blade.“It's not a fake. It's the very same knife,” Olive declared. King Xandros smirked.“If it wasn't the same knife, I'd have known the moment I stepped foot on the ground. I'm just... wondering how it felt like to have plunged into Prince Valerik's hea
Olive woke up abruptly after a nightmare. She saw The Baron touching her again and her Firewolf hadn't damned the bloody dampeners this time. She exhaled and rubbed her neck, right over her physically hidden mark. She looked around her and realized she was in a very cosy tent. The walls were icy. Literally icey and as she looked around with compression, she realized her mate had iced the entire tent.Why?“Burning hot you were. So hot you could have barbecued us all from fifty metres away.”Olive looked up to see Mufasa threading carefully towards her on the ice ground. She smiled brightly but couldn't bring herself to hug him. She had no strength.“Beautiful to see you back with us, my dear. Believe me, life without you is not worth living. Especially as your mate took it upon himself to personally see to our premature deaths.”Olive laughed at this. “Here. Drink this all up. It's the Ethe Orbs but for a different purpose for you. You need strength.”Olive gulped it all down but ma
The Baron smirked and Olive would have given anything in the world to just smack it off his face. “That one is very dear to me. He came in two days ago, two days after you came. You both are very dear,” he drawled. “Let him go. Don't you dare hurt him. Or any one of them!”“Sssh now. I said I wouldn't keep them if you complied. I'll free them if you strip.”“Never.”He shrugged.“Well then. I'm very sure this suit doesn't stop them from getting a brain rush. They can stay upside down for as long as it takes for them to choke on their own blood.”Olive exhaled and shut her eyes. She tried to summon something, anyone, anything. But she was blank on the inside. She looked at the manacles around her ankle and gritted her teeth. She knew what they were. Special Vrek Cult punishing tools. “I see you recognize the dampeners. Good. You will remain helpless for as long as it would take to get you to cooperate.”With this, The Baron flicked his hand and darkness clothed the cave again. His c
The safety edge was drawn up again for the third time in two weeks of nonstop fighting. This time, however, the Unbidden Army seemed to be dwindling in their numbers. Hopefully, they would soon run out of all unbidden warriors and The Baron would show himself for the final battle.Alpha Knight's hair was chin length now and he had it tied to the back of his head in a small ponytail. The effect of using his powers was shown in the growth rate of his hair.He was now standing in one of the tents, receiving reports of the war and how the people enclosed in their safety facilities were faring. A huge frown was on his face as he listened to a new report.Some of his soldiers were missing and they had last been sighted while fighting.“It's extremely strange. Even their mind links have been silenced. Nothing from them, as if they are dead,” one of the commanders revealed.Alpha Knight shut his eyes and traced them. He felt their auras and followed the trail. It kept going and going and goin
The suits were ready in two days. They were this full-body, extremely fitting like-a-second-skin, midnight blue, superhero-like suits. They clung to the bodies of the soldiers like wet polyester and were as tough as metal when struck from the outside. However, they weren't heavy neither did the soldiers feel like they were wearing the toughest and strongest uniform on earth. Impenetrable. After training with the new uniforms and suits for a whole day, Alpha Knight called the next day a day of partial rest then the following day they would move out to war. A pathway had been created from their park to the hideout location of The Baron by the joint work of Ami, Lutz and more Alchemists. All they had to do was march through the massive pathway only the Alpha family could control and they would wage war on the side out of the blue. The partial rest day had already begun, soldiers were milling around fully dressed, weapons strapped in and ready for war. But they were laughing and jesting
The hustle and bustle in the pack was evident even to a napping baby. The entire pack had more tension than the electrical tension wires around the pack. Pack members were growing nervous and fearful, with all the rumours of war and vampires flying around. Some were trying to leave the pack but Alpha Knight ordered that no one left. At first, it seemed like a tyrant command. But it soon became clear to them that if they had left the pack and were attacked, what would they do? None of the packs had the security that Balendin Pack had, and surely they wouldn't even accept them in. The human world was out of the question for those who had never left their realm. If they fled Balendin Pack at the moment, they would just be rogues—not accepted in any pack and not able to return to their own pack. There was also that fear surrounding the rumours of disappearing rogues. It could be anything. Alpha Knight had summoned his generals and commanders, ordering them to get troops ready to be depl