LOGINTheir words are muffled at first, only allowing me to pick up a few sentences until their voices become clear."I'm telling you, he has something to do with this. He isn't the first person to bear the eye since we took it. Many others in our bloodline have done so. Why during his time? There's no mate father. Why can't you see that?" Lucien's voice rang out, trying desperately to persuade his father."Your brother would never turn on this pack. I might not know fully what he is capable of, but I know that. He is loyal.""How can you call the person who took your mate, this pack's luna's life loyal? He's bad news, father."I hear a scuffle, grunts of pain and flesh landing on flesh before Alpha Damarus growled. "Never speak of her. Do you understand, you little mutt? If you cross me again, I'll scrape all your teeth out and shove them down your throat."The words sent a shiver down my spine. Alpha Damarus, who remained calm mostly, grew bored so easily at the mention of his mate.How w
Marcus remained silent for the rest of the night, not even touching me when we went to bed.The bedroom door slamming shut dragged me from sleep, my body up and alert from fear.Marcus didn't move though. He slapped a palm over his face, groaning. "What do you want, Haeleyna?"Sure enough, as the sleep left my eyes allowing them to focus, Haeleyna came clearly into view, staring down at us with a tight smile."Good morning to you too, Marcus." Her gaze shifted to me. "How did you sleep, dear?"I nodded. "I slept well. Did something happen?""No. Alpha Damarus demanded your presence in the council room. I'm here to escort you." She picked up a plush red robe from the wardrobe, handing it to me. "Get dressed. We have no time to waste."Even though she'd denied it, I still had a gnawing feeling that something had changed.Marcus and I followed behind her after dressing hastily, sharing worried glances until we finally reached the council room.It was designed quite similarly to the dinin
Chaos had already erupted before we got there. Our arrival only seemed to add to the panic, though, as the pack members rushed forward, gesturing frantically towards one of the main farm lands."The crops, it's all destroyed. What do we do? Winter is almost here and the stores are yet to be filled." A man spoke, his voice shaky despite his best attempt to be calm.I turned my attention to him, since he seemed to be the only one in the crowd level-headed enough to keep calm. "What happened?""We were just about to head back into town after working here all day. Then one of the shovel boys noticed some of the cabbages had turned black.""Black?"He nodded, eyes still wide in shock. "I've never seen anything like this. First our people are dying, and now the crops. What's going on, alpha?"My gaze shifted to the direction he'd pointed at, causing me to frown. "Show me."My father kept speaking to the rest, trying to calm them down.The man led me towards one of the farms, unlocking the g
You are both going to swear to keep each other's secrets. And to keep none from each other. Alpha Damarus declares. "In the lake, the goddess herself will hear this oath. She knows your true intention, so if you lie, or do not mean your words, the oath is void."I gulped, nodding attentively."Get into the lake from opposite ends. Say your vows as you walk to each other. For this to work you must meet each other in the lake."Marcus nudged me. Smiling wide. He still looked pale, though much better than before, but shaken up too. Scared even.Where had they gone to before coming back to get me?"Let's do this, Alexandra. Once this is done, no one will ever question your claim to the throne again." His words, even if he didn't know it, were the only source of encouragement I had."Typically both your parents should be here, but in the absence of yours and the death of my mate, I will stand as a witness to the bond." Alpha Damarus spoke, wincing right after. His words hurt both him and m
The room was filled with an awkward tension the second Alpha Damarus and Marcus walked out. Almost like he'd heard Marcus's parting threat, Lucien had been smart enough to stay away from me. That didn't stop him from running his mouth though. "Do you really think playing the good mate will keep you safe? Marcus is fooling all of you. I know he's behind all of this. And you have to know it too." His words felt like poison. I kept my expression neutral and unchanged, staring at him. "No, I don't know. I have no doubt in my mate either. He is not behind this. You did not see the things we saw and that is why you think you can utter such nonsense." His eyebrows drew down further, jaw clenched. "I don't buy into this story you're both trying to tell, even if my father does. He'll listen to me though, and once I can convince him that you and your demon mate are the ones behind the deaths, he'll banish you and I will get what was rightfully mine." My lips curved up into a smirk as a
My father gave no response till I'd climbed up the stairs to meet him, and even then his gaze was still fixed on the floor below like this was the first time he'd seen it.That couldn't have been true though, because my grandfather had brought him here and his father before that.It was a generational string of lies that had now been passed onto me."Why?" My voice came out more of a growl this time as I finally got back to the top floor.Whatever anger I'd felt towards this mage had dissolved into something I couldn't quite recognise. Maybe it was empathy.I couldn't imagine my life now without Alexandra by my side."Misleading as it is, the death of his mate was a necessary sacrifice. Her being alive made him too powerful. If he could turn on the whole werewolf race, it was only a matter of time before he betrayed our pack too."The way he said it, like it justified any of their actions. "So you murdered his mate. How did her life make him anymore powerful? How did it change anythin
The Ashclaw packhouse was exactly as the stories described.Large. So large one could get lost in the halls for days. The carriage had carried us past the outer gate where the town was, and stopped at the ancestral packhouse.“Welcome back, Alpha Damarus.” A woman stepped out of the large palace-li
My body recoiled as my father approached, along with the other members of the Ashclaw Pack who had come for Nathan’s ceremony.Mother followed a few feet behind, her face clouded with worry.“Alpha Damarus, I do apologize for my outburst earlier. I was simply shocked by what happened. Perhaps we co
My mate offered almost no struggle, following me out quietly. My father’s words occupied my mind like weeds, too stubborn to die down, but the bond chased off the echo quickly.We walked toward the edge of the grounds where the convoy of my pack was. In the harsh sunlight, the bruises that painted
“That’s Alpha Marcus, heir of the Ashclaw Pack!”“Did he just call that omega servant his mate?”The room erupted into loud murmurs, which only subsided when the man, Marcus, tore his gaze from me to the guests.The Ashclaw Pack. They were known for their large territory and merciless mentality. An







