Scott’s povThe door swung open, and the maid walked in, Darian in her arms. His bright eyes sparkled as he gazed up at me, his face freshly bathed and dressed in new clothes. The sweet scent of baby powder filled the air, and I couldn't help but smile."All ready to go, beta Scott," the maid said with a warm smile, her eyes darting between Marvela and me. For a moment, she seemed taken aback by the presence of a strange woman in my room, but she quickly composed herself.As she handed Darian to me, Marvela intercepted, gently taking him from the maid's arms. "Let me," she said, her voice soft and soothing as she cradled Darian in her arms.Darian giggled and cooed, seemingly comfortable in Marvela's arms. The sight was unexpected, yet somehow natural. Marvela's eyes met mine, and my heart skipped a beat.After the maid left, we headed to the training grounds, the sun beating down on us as we walked. I apologized to the soldiers for my sudden absence when we got there, explaining tha
Scott’s POVI sat on the edge of my bed, rubbing my tired eyes. The memories of that day still lingered in my mind, but it was the dreams that had kept me awake. Dreams of her, the mysterious woman with brown eyes.As the man in charge of the soldiers, I knew my duties were clear: protect the pack, uphold the laws, and train to defend our territory. But the truth was, I didn't want to go to the training grounds today. I didn't want to face her. I recalled our brief yet heartwarming conversation in the forest, the way she made the world stop when I looked in her eyes.I just couldn’t face her, and the reason was simple: she had changed everything. The way I felt about my duties, even the way I saw myself. I couldn’t give her false hope; there was no way I could accommodate a mate after all I had been through. For the first time in my life, I felt like running away from my responsibilities because of a woman.It was a cowardly thing to do, and I knew it.As I sat there, trying to gather
Lucy's POVFinally, Ken allowed me into his chambers and offered me a seat. He was still rubbing his neck in the spot where I had almost injured him, and even though I was well aware of his discomfort, I told myself that I wasn't going to apologize. It was his fault, after all. There was no need for violence in the first place. His chambers were small, for lack of a better word, but it was in surprisingly good shape for a room with little space. The floors looked freshly cleaned and the single chair by the entrance door looked freshly furnished. I sat down, and folded my hands on my thighs. I released a deep breath because I had been standing for so long that my legs were almost numb. “Thank you,”I muttered, making myself more comfortable in the chair. For something made completely out of wood, it had a nice feel to it.“It was made from one of the oldest trees in the territory,” Ken said, watching me from the other side of the room where he stood. There was a flame at the centre of
Lucy's POVWith a harsh growl, I grabbed him by the arm and pulled his arm off my throat before he could start applying pressure. It wasn't unexpected for people to think I was weak because of my slim posture, but they were more than wrong.Ken's eyes widened, and he stumbled back, baring his own maw of sharp teeth. He looked to be on the verge of transforming, but was trying his best to keep it together.“Is this how you treat people who come to see you? It's no wonder this pack hasn't even started growing as it should have.”“Us having to rebuild in the first place wasn't our fault. If only certain people had gotten their facts right from the very beginning, then innocents wouldn't have had to be enslaved for so many years.” He spat the words like they were poison burning inside his throat and they were enough to make me feel remorseful. I looked at him closely, taking note of his distinct nose and short dark hair. I wanted to place my finger on where I had seen him before, but the
Lucy's POVI stepped out of the carriage, and gave orders to the rider for him to return in a week. I had told Shaun that I was merely going to be staying for a few days, but the closer I got to Bloodbath territory, the more my thoughts started to change. I hoped that seven days was even going to be sufficient for the work I was about to do.As I stepped down, people moving around doing their daily business stopped to look at me. Obviously they had likely not seen visitors in a very long time. The fact that they didn't even have Warriors at the borders was a worrisome thing. It meant that they were incredibly vulnerable.One young woman dropped the logs of wood she was carrying and came over to me, holding her dirty skirts in her coal covered hands as she moved over to me. Without even saying a word, she started to sniff me, lifting my arm here, lightly touching my hair there. “Oy, Dinah, stop that!” A thick, rounded woman emerged from one of the surrounding huts. Her tanned skin glo
Lucy's POVAlthough Shaun was very reluctant to let me leave without him, he couldn't deny that I had good points in my arguments. “You'll be all alone there, what if they try something like that Flora woman that came here the other time?” he had said to me after I told him of my plans.“Nothing will happen, Shaun. I'm not going there to do anything drastic, I'm just going to fulfil my family's wishes.”“By offering yourself up as a leader for them?”“No, by helping them choose their new path to a new future. They need to let go of the past in order to truly embrace the future, don't you see? They have this . . . made up belief that because my family was the one in power when they got enslaved, it means that we're still the ones that are destined to truly free them. Which isn't true.”“So what do you plan on doing?’ His gaze turned softer. He always tried to make sure that I was heard, and never had to feel misunderstood when it came to him. He always put in so much effort into tryin