Raven
"What!!!
My hands trembled as I caught sight of the scene before me, my eyes stung with unshed tears.
This must be a nightmare that I need to wake up from. Matt was saying the wedding vows with another woman. The man who once gazed at me with love now stood before another, his eyes shining with adoration.
At that moment, I wanted to scream, to run away, but my legs had turned jelly, making my feet rooted to the spot.
Matt was the Alpha of a neighbouring pack. We had been lovers since we were teenagers, and we'd officially dated for 5 years, but just last month, he announced that he would be marrying me. I couldn't help but smile when he proposed because Matt was the true definition of a good man, he was caring and very loving. What more could I want?
I was happy that I was finally getting married to the man that I had loved for years, there was no better joy than that.
He would marry me and make me his Luna and mate, or so I thought.
I opened my eyes, hoping to wake from this horror, just in time to see them lock lips after the Priest had pronounced them husband and wife.
My mind reeled in utter shock; my eyes scanned the scene, searching for a hidden camera, anything to explain this nightmare.
The elegant decorations and smiling faces seemed to mock me, their soft murmurs of congratulations a cruel reminder of my despair.
My emotions consumed me and I suddenly rushed towards them.
Ma..tt? Is that...you? I stammered, my voice trembling and tears welling up my eyes.
I just wanted to hear whatever explanation he has for this betrayal.
But a smirk twisted his face, heartless and cruel.
"Are you blind?" he asked, his voice full of malice.
I lunged at him, my fists clenched as I grasped his collar.
"No. No. This can't be happening; today is supposed to be our wedding day, Matt; tell me this is a prank, please." I begged, desperation settling in.
My wolf's sorrowful yip echoed within me and I gave way to tears.
Matt's new wife pushed me angrily from his chest. 'And who the hell are you?' She barked, her voice echoing like a slap.
I dropped weakly to the ground, the chatter of the wedding reception fading into chaos.
My mother's scream pierced the air as she rushed towards me to help me get up, her arms enveloping me like a shield.
I had thought my parents would be against the fact that I couldn't wait to find my fated mate before getting married but they had surprised me.
They were happy with my decision to finally get married without having to find my fated mate. Some wolves get to meet their mate, luckily for them, but we who didn't get to meet ours on time were left with no choice but to take up a chosen mate.
Now, Matt has ruined my only chance of being happy
Exhaustion weighed on me as I cried out, "Matt? Why? Today is our wedding day." tears pooled down my face.
"What wedding? Do you think that an Alpha like me would get married to a weak Omega like you?" He spat out, hugging his new wife. I stared at him in disbelief.
"What in the world are you saying, Matt"?
"I have been with you right from the start, and you chose to call me a weakling?"
"Does this sound like kind of a mistake?" I asked, moving towards him again.
"Hey, stay right there. Take one more step and I'll have the guards throw you out of my wedding." His wife spat at me, causing me to freeze.
Matt remained silent, he stood there, his lips locked on hers.
"Matt, please say something. What about us? We've been together for a long time and you can't end us like this." I screamed, collapsing to the floor.
The betrayal sliced through me like a knife, agony engulfed me, leaving an open wound.
He had ruined my one chance of being happy in life or so I thought.
My mum sat beside me on the floor, weeping, "It's okay, Raven. You'll be fine." She tried to console me but even that could not mend my shattered heart.
I looked up to see Matt still locking lips with his shameless wife and my heart broke in a thousand pieces.
I needed to be alone, I peeled off my heels and rose, my feet shaking like leaves.
"May you never know peace for the pains you've caused me. I wish you two good luck as you rot in hell." I spat, my voice venomous
I was overwhelmed with pain and anger, that I wasn't thinking straight. It was as though my emotions were wrestling for dominance, leaving me in a toxic, breathless mode.
Every muscle in me vibrated with rage as if my very foundation was crumbling, my heart racing. "What was happening to me?"
I could feel severe pain and wrath running through me, something was wrong.
Ara, my wolf stirred, her powers unfolding like a volcano.
"I think she's shifting." I heard someone say.
What? My wolf was ready to come out after all these years of being trapped within me.
I could hear the cracks of my bones, my body reshaping itself, and my senses reeled as my wolf took full dominance.
I dashed out of the hall as her wild power coursed through me.
Fuck!!!
Out in the woods, lonely and scared.
My heart raced as fear crept in, making my bones chill. We'd been running for hours, Ara was finally calm. But as dusk fell, I realized I was lost.
My mind link wasn't working, it was as if my access was blocked out.
"Where was I?" I muttered. Ara, who was never so quiet, was still, the silence deafening with each passing second.
I sat confused on the forest ground and tried to call out to her to take us back the same way she brought us here, but she remained still, hurting from the betrayal.
Suddenly, a tantalizing scent wrapped my nostrils like a warm embrace. I breathed in deeply, longing to hold that intoxicating scent in my lungs forever.
Ara jumped up, yipping happily. I followed the direction of the scent as though pulled by an invisible force. An unseen pull, impossible to resist.
"Could it be?" She snarled excitedly in my head.
"Calm down, girl,' I shot back as I hastened my steps towards the scent.
After a few more steps, I got to the lake, and the scent was now stronger, driving me crazy. Every cell in my body reached out, seeking connection from whoever the scent belonged to.
Just then, under the moonlight, my eyes landed on a masculine figure. Instantly, the scent overwhelmed me.
"Mates." Ara's joyful howl ignited a spark within me.
My mind reeled, and I struggled to comprehend what was happening
As I drew closer to see who it was, I noticed something and my excitement faded away.
"He was not alone."
"Not just one but three, three mates."
I shifted into my human form as the three men approached. Our eyes met, and it was instantly filled with a deep connection.
"Was it true?" I wondered. "Fated to be with three men?" "What would happen now?”
My heart raced as they approached me together at the same time and pace.
One of them spoke, his voice husky and low "We've been searching for you."
As they surrounded me, their combined essence enveloped me, intoxicating and irres
istible.
“How can I trust them after what Matt did to me?” I feel a connection, but is it just my imagination? My heart was racing.
Loira POVI released a breath I didn’t know I was holding when I saw Raven today.Guilt clung to me like a second skin, heavy and cold. I couldn’t help but feel like it was my fault. We almost lost her. I should have seen it coming, should have done more, been more careful.Still… the way she returned, still fierce, standing tall even after everything…reminded me just how strong she truly is. Though I don’t know if I can say the same for her heart or her mind.She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. And I wonder what kind of scars lie beneath that calm.I stood outside, leaning on the old stone railing, watching the stars blink slowly into the night sky when a voice broke my thoughts.“What are you doing on your own out here?”I turned.I turned and saw Kael standing just a few steps away, his arms crossed loosely over his chest, eyes flickering with concern beneath the fading twilight.“Kael?” I said, a little surprised. “What are you doing out here?”He gave a small shru
Raven POV “Rowan, I want to talk to you.”He turned toward me, his eyes soft despite the surrounding chaos. “Are you okay?”“Yeah, I just need to talk.”He took my hand and led me away from the others, down the dim corridor to the balcony overlooking the forest. The cool breeze brushed against my skin as if trying to soothe the storm of emotions inside me.Leaning on the railing, he kept his gaze fixed on me. “You said you needed to talk. So talk to me, Raven.”Before he could speak, I closed the distance and kissed him. His hands moved to the back of my neck, pulling me closer until I was completely enveloped by his warmth. His mouth claimed mine with a fierce tenderness, and I lost myself in him.Tears began to fall before I even realized it.“Raven, what’s wrong? Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, concern threading his voice.Rowan’s arms tightened around me, and I clung to him like he was the last solid thing in a world that kept trying to pull me apart.He whispered in my ear,
Raven POV I was overwhelmed.The room blurred around me, voices fading into static as I closed my eyes and tried to understand it all. Selene. Morgan. The dark thing beneath the Veil. Me—a key to something I never asked to open.I took a deep breath, grounding myself in the memory of Rowan’s voice, Gwen’s touch on my arm, and the flicker of firelight on the walls.“When Kelvin helped us escape,” I said quietly, opening my eyes, “I ripped her heart out. I saw it turn to ash in my hand. But…”Everyone turned to me.“I have a feeling she’s still alive.”No one spoke for a beat. Then the Priestess nodded slowly, her face grim. “Yes. That won’t be enough to kill her. Not completely. Not with the part of protecting her soul.”“So what did we do?” Ansel asked. “We just bought ourselves time?”“Exactly,” I said. “That’s all it was. A pause in the storm. And now we need to use it—plan, prepare.”“There’s something else you should know,” I said, drawing their attention once again. My voice w
Rowan’s POVThe room had quieted, but my mind hadn’t.“So… what about Kelvin?” I asked, breaking the silence smoke. “What was that? Why did he help us?”Raven looked up from where she sat, wrapped in a blanket that seemed far too thin for the weight on her shoulders.“Honestly… I don’t know,” she said quietly. “He is now… different. Not like before.”I frowned. “Not cruel?”She shook her head. “Not as cruel. He wasn’t the same man who locked me in chains, who stood there while I screamed. I’ll never forgive him for what he did, but this time—he helped. And I don’t know why.”That unsettled me.Kelvin was never the type to act without motive. Whatever his reason was, it couldn’t be simple mercy.Ansel leaned forward, eyes on me now. “Then what do we do about the Priestess, Rowan?”I didn’t answer right away. I looked toward the dagger on the table. The ashes still faintly marked the wood beneath it. The Queen may be gone—or worse, not gone—but the Priestess deceived us.“She fooled
Raven POV “What the f**k just happened?” I asked, finally breaking the silence, my voice sharp and trembling. “Did we just…?”The words died before they could form. Nothing I could say would fit what we’d just been through.I looked around at all of them—alive, bloodied, shaken. “How did you guys even find me?”“It’s a long story,” Gwen muttered, still catching her breath.“But that bitch betrayed us again,” Ansel added, venom in his voice. “And like a fool, I followed her.”“It’s not your fault,” Rowan said, placing a hand on Ansel’s shoulder. “We all fell for her tricks. But next time I see her…” His voice dropped into something colder. “Her head would roll. I promise.”Gwen shivered. “Was that… enough to kill her?” she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.“I don’t know,” I said slowly.Then I looked down at my hand.I hadn’t even noticed it until now.But I was still holding something.Her heart.Still slick with blood.Still warm.Still… beating.My own breath caught.Everyo
Raven POV “Let them go,” I said—only, it didn’t sound like me. My voice was deeper, layered with something primal and ancient. My wolf had risen, and she was speaking through me now.“Let my mates and friends go!” I screamed, lunging at Morgan, no longer willing to play along with her twisted mind games.My claws burst from my fingertips, sharp and gleaming, just the way Rowan had taught me. The memory of his firm grip on my hands, his calm voice guiding me through every strike and stance, it all surged forward now, weaponized by rage.Morgan laughed again, but this time it was tighter, less amused.She moved with the elegance of someone who had lived for centuries. Graceful, swift, infuriatingly calm. She leaped back, avoiding my strike with ease, her cloak swirling like smoke around her. But I didn’t stop. I refused to stop.I slashed again. Missed. Again. Came closer.“You think you’re ready for this?” she sneered, her voice like velvet laced with venom. “You think you’re stro
Raven POV Something told me that getting those ashes would be the end of the road for us all.Queen Morgan was already far too powerful, and I had learned that what we had seen so far was just a fraction of her strength. She had been using the earth, manipulating others, draining what she needed to stay alive through the centuries.Breathing hard, I tried to steady myself. She didn’t have the Moon Stone yet. That was our only sliver of hope—that if she didn’t possess it, we still had time to prepare.Loira had hidden it well.I forced myself to focus.“How do I get the ashes?” I asked, my voice betraying me with a slight tremor I couldn’t hide.“We have to go to the exact place where the Pact was made,” Morgan said. “And I’ll remake it—with you.”“You carry the blood of the goddess. That alone will be enough. Once the bond is reforged, I’ll be able to claim and wield the ashes.”“And if I say no?” I asked before I could stop myself.It seemed I’d developed a reckless habit of flirt
Rowan POV It had been two days since we set out for Hallow Valley, and if the map was to be trusted, we were only a few hours away.In those two days, exhaustion had clawed bones, but I kept Raven in my mind. She was the only thread tethering me to reality now.We kept walking until the path led us to a towering hill...three massive rocks jutting upward to form a jagged, steep peak. They were beautiful in a brutal kind of way, but climbing over them looked damn near impossible.“What do we do now?” Alpha Markus asked, turning to look at Ansel.“There should be a path we can follow,” Laura said, biting her lip.I turned to glance at her. In the past two days, she’d barely spoken except only when necessary. The rest of the time, she drifted through the journey like a ghost. She wasn’t the same woman who had stayed with us before. Something in her had shifted.But I can’t afford to think about her right now.Elisha stepped forward, sniffing the wind. “This place is wrong,” he mutte
Raven POV “I can’t choose either of them,” I said, my voice trembling as I looked up at her.“I’d rather die instead.”Morgan’s eyes blazed with cruel amusement. “So you’d choose your death over that of a stranger?”“Yes,” I whispered, swallowing hard. “Please… just let them go.”“Do you know how I found your dear mother, Raven?” she asked, voice soft and venom-laced.My heart dropped. “What?”“It was your beloved ex-fiancé—Matthew.”I turned to him slowly, waiting, hoping, begging for him to deny it.He didn’t.Morgan’s smile widened. “He offered me your life and your mother’s in exchange for his own. Told me exactly where to find you—in the Silver Crescent Pack.”She turned her gaze to me like a cat toying with a wounded bird.“So tell me now, would you rather I kill him instead?”I shook my head, my chest rising and falling so hard it felt like my lungs might split.“I don’t want anyone to die,” I whispered. “Please. Just stop this.”Morgan sighed dramatically as if I were a tir