I’ve killed at least half a dozen people today, let’s leave it there. The mantra I repeat as Corina flutters after me. People fly about, the corridors bustling with activity as every survivor tries to prove their worth, each Rogue watching them like a hawk. Leaning against the doorway, studying me as I rummage through the first of the ex-Alphas rooms, she acts the queen. The bedsheet has been abandoned. Instead the red silk gown has been tied at her shoulder, only just keeping her heaving tits concealed. “Checking through my fathers possessions Declan? Maybe I can help?'' Her voice is light and sickeningly friendly. Disguising her nature like a snake in the grass. That breathy, gaspy little thing women do to sound weak and vulnerable annoys the hell out of me. However I may need her. If the tattooed Ronan has no good information it may come down to her to get us through the Freeze. With a surly growl, “I am checking every room in this entire place.” “Well, let me know when you com
I'm still the queen of this hellhole. The past two weeks have been a tightrope walk. The Rogues appear to be telling the truth about being non-violent. There have been no beatings, no floggings conducted. I think they’re fools. The Freeze arrived the same night they came and murdered my father. I pretend not to care but the metal doors clanking shut for the last time always makes my heart sink. It is so…final. We are now entombed under tonnes of ice and snow. You know it has hit the severest depths when the wailing wind of the storms above falls silent. Like a submarine, if shit goes down underneath the surface, there is absolutely no way out. Fire, starvation, flooding. Even if you got the bunker doors open you can’t get through the metres of ice. So I say a few floggings, maybe a throat slitting of a few slaves is justifiable to keep peace. Especially since I have no fucking idea where my father kept the safe codes for the back end of the stint. Ronan is the only one alive wh
Striding away from Corina I am distracted and irritated. Losing my stash of monk pepper flowers has left me vulnerable. I have to avoid succumbing to the Black Hall. I am afraid if I let go, lose control everything will fall apart. I will crumble and fail Or sass Corina. The temptation to put the bucket on her head was so strong I could taste it. It only quenched when Declan appeared. Then a whole other form of temptation reared its head. How can someone possibly ooze fear and safety at the same time? His broad body, clad in a dark charcoal top is terrifyingly strong. He could kill me without blinking, those brown eyes dragging me into a willing trance. At night I still replay the memory of him stroking my cheek. Then I scold myself for being pathetic. After all, he did nothing to protect me today. He let Corina banish me to the laundry. Frustrated at how easily I let me guard down around him, I didn’t notice her following me. “Lyra.” I stop in my tracks, head bowed, braced f
I stand by everything I said. Lyra bristled with anger, not that she looked at me. Howen simply raised his eyebrow and strode away. I replayed my words, perhaps a bit brutal but still the truth. It wouldn't matter if she was my damned mate from the Moon Goddess herself. To yield again would be a betrayal of everything my family suffered. I repeated that same thought as her footsteps reappeared. Yet my gaze flew to her anyway. Her shapely, slim legs. The in and out of her hips on show in that purple dress, carrying a box too wide for her arms. Her long black hair was still damp, loosely trailing past her shoulder blades. It gave me unwanted visions of her in the shower. Soapy, dripping, yielding to my presence. My cock jumped to attention, my wolf gnawing at me to say something. “Do you need any help?” She either doesn’t hear, or is too pissed off with me to answer. She vanished round the corner instead. Ignoring the irritation from my wolf I remind myself some distance would be
How dare he. Declaring me scum, tainted goods and then offering to help! I just kept walking, the words forming in my mouth not fit to speak. Declan is no different to Valdis. He is cruel in a different way. My wolf whimpers in disagreement but I ignore the sensation. As a teenager, Valdis whipped me for every complaint Corina made. As soon as my curves and womanly shape arrived she noticed, or invented every error. My rations dropped, my chores increased. I felt the same whip crack slice of pain across my chest when I overheard that conversation. Back at the lonely dorm I brewed the tea too harshly, the murky liquid tasting extra foul. I’ve spent so many years compressed. My heart, every thought, etched down to nothing but making it to the next day without punishment. It's kept me alive, but now Valdis is gone, what is to keep me from collapsing like a broken dam? I want to march back up to Declan and scream. New, unearthed energy pulses inside. I want to explode in rage, fury
I was wide awake when Mara then eventually Elvie finally got back. They had towels wrapped around their bodies, showering after hours in the Black Hall. No words were exchanged, snoring contentedly within seconds of hitting the thin, grey mattresses.It’s now almost a day off after the Full Moon. A basic rota is issued for those who need recovery time. Seeing as I had done nothing but frazzle my brain, I walked the corridors hours earlier than everyone else. It wasn’t like a summer morning, basking in the sunrise, Unrelenting grey and red concrete, except now the lights blindingly bright.I don’t know what to do about Viktor. Sense says I should just confess to Declan. I believe he isn’t a psychopath like Valdis, so perhaps he will just imprison him? What’s really holding me back is the fact Declan will recognise his scent and make assumptions.I’m not a fool. I know Viktor is flattering me for his own gains. He wants me to feed him, he wants someone to screw on the Full Moon. Even s
I don’t know how it’s even possible but somehow I haven’t bumped into, seen or heard Lyra for almost four weeks. She’s avoiding me. She heard what I said about the bloodline of Valdis being tainted and damaged and she hates me.I’m not sure why but it’s pissing me off. I should be grateful that the distraction of those emerald eyes and black hair is removed from my work. I have shit to do. The ration safes still aren’t open. The heating pumps constantly have me slamming metal pipes with a mallet. We have another two full moons then the food runs out with potentially another two to go.I know Corina is stringing me along. Every time I ask her she turns on the waterworks. Breaks down and claims it is traumatising for her to search the study with so many precious trinkets and memories of her father. Then I showed her some of the sick shit her papa was stashing in the drawers and her face paled.Dressed in crimson silk, a red fox fur pelt cape around her shoulders her red lips pouted in
I've been hiding out with Viktor. Just a few hours a day. It's a win-win. I don’t have to see Declan and have my heart ripped out and Corina can’t get me either. She hardly has any chores right now anyway. Then the rest of the time I’m in the dorm, in the back rooms of corridor nine. Anywhere where he doesn’t tend to go.I just tell Mara and Elvie I’m heading to read a book, get some headspace. I’ve done it before. Maybe not this often but everything is changing under the new rules. I know it’s foolish but it’s easier than seeing him and knowing he hates me.Being in here made me feel like a naughty child, being cheeky. In the first week of hiding out I had to ask one of the questions burning away at me. “What do you know about Rogues then?” I said, keeping my eyes on my hands as they toyed with a paper bun wrapper. “Escaped them, joined them, fought with them?”“No I’m a lover, not a bitter twisted murdering fighter,” he grinned, those hazel eyes always catching mine. “Have you ever