LAUREL’s POV “Stop.” A voice speaks and the hands that were tearing at my blouse, violating me quickly stop and drop to their sides. I blink away my tears to see an outline of someone moving towards us. It is only an outline but the voice that spoke sounded devoid of life. The shadow pauses. The person finally steps out of the shadows and my heart all but stops a beat. Jamie. Never in my life have ever been so happy to see her. She is green from head to toe and naked as a newborn but she walks seemingly without shame. “What are you doing here?” Marty whirls around and growls at her. “Is this how you treat your one true mate?” Jamie asks him again, her voice remains flat and monotone. “It’s none of your concern woman. Leave before I whip you again.” Jamie considers her answer for ages. “No.” Then, she looks in my direction and directs the question to Marty bitterly, “Are you trying to fuck her?” Marty loses his patience and slaps her across the face. But to my surprise, Jamie
LAUREL’s POVIn the darkened room, I stand guard against the door with the stool in my hands.But Marty does not come. No one comes.One day passes, and then the next and by the third…at least I think it is the third, I am weakened from starvation and severe dehydration.And just when I think I will die in this Goddess-forsaken room, a knock comes at the door.“I’m coming in, darling.”Whatever is left in my blood freezes. He is here. My hands grip the legs of the stool and with all my strength, I lift it above my head, ready to strike Marty when he enters.There is a single click on the door and it swings open with a bang. Light from the hallway pours in, momentarily blinding me.“Did you miss me?” his voice rings out and I run forward to smash the stool on his head, hoping to distract him enough for me to run. Surprisingly, Marty does not dodge. He must
HELIOS’ POV SOMETIME BEFORE HIS ‘DEATH’ “Alpha, we’re lost,” Ares reports as he cuts down the branches of trees and wild bushes that block our path. A frown fleets across my face and I stare down at the pendant that hangs off a golden chain around my neck. “We’re getting closer.” Ares comes to an abrupt stop in front of me and turns around, pouting. “I don’t think so.” I cock my head to look past him. “No, we’re not...ohh….” I stare ahead to see the broken branches ahead of us. Ares is right, we are going around in circles. My grip on the pendant becomes tighter and a look of pure disgust fills my face. “Then why is it shining so brightly? She has to be near.” The pendant pulsates a dull red, I can even feel it’s phantom hum. Once, as a child, before mother met her mate, I had asked to play with her pendant to which father said no. And when I started to cry, he had picked me up, sat me on his lap and began to tell me a story, “Son, this pendant that I gave your mother is very sp
HELIOS’ POV I had waited for this moment all my life. Every time the full moon came to torture me, I would curse her name. And with every single waking moment, I would plot how to take her life, in return for robbing father’s. I had lived for this moment, I had lived to avenge father and all that I held dear. With my strength and speed, I should have been able to kill her in a blink of an eye. It should have been easy. But not once did I expect it to be this hard. Even after all the pain she had caused, a part of me, my inner child still longs for his mother. She stares back at me in the rain. It is up to me to make a conversation. “I have come to kill you,” I say. Not exactly a heartwarming greeting. She merely nods. “I know.” Lightning cracks once more but she remains standing motionlessly in the rain. Why is she not getting ready to fight? I raise an eyebrow. “Did you leave the pendant at Crimsonhill on purpose?” She nods again. She smiles a little and poses a question of he
HELIOS’ POV The sun burns bright on our journey home; a stark contrast to the torrent of rain from the night before. I let out a howl that echoes all around the forest as I tear through the woods and trees. I do not know whether it is out of frustration or discontent, but one thing I do know; it feels liberating to let everything out, as if I am letting go of the past and running towards my future. Ares’ wolf follows closely from behind. He asks through our mind link, “So…um..how are you feeling?” He is trying to cheer me up but I would rather he keep his mouth shut. Giving him a side glance, I shoot daggers out of my eyes and Ares quickly shrinks back a few paces. We continue running through the forest, wild and free, back to the way we had come from. We are going home. “Alpha, should we shift back? We’re almost at the border. It’ll be awkward if we shift right at the gates of the pack. Everyone will stare at our assets,” Ares begins again and I have to roll my eyes to which Are
HELIOS’ POV“Yukon!” I call out in a hoarse whisper as he walks away and his rogues close in on me.He pauses. “Yes?”“It’s…not over.”“For you, it is,” he laughs mockingly. Someone smacks my head with a rock and my vision darkens. But right before I lose consciousness, I see Yukon turn towards where Ares is now pinned down. He fights valiantly, throwing them off him only to have more clamour on him.Too late I realize what Yukon plans to do. He raises the dagger over his head and lets it fly.The dagger hits Ares. No, my Gamma, my friend….“Ares….”And then I know no more.*****My eyes open to see a labyrinth of smoke filling the night sky and the first thought that crosses my mind is, “I’m alive.”But not for long.I am lying on my back with a
HELIOS’ POV When I was young, my father taught me many things. But the one thing that I embody the most is this; Until you are home, leave no man behind. Father's teaching was simple and clear, it is the basic principle that I have engraved in both my heart and soul. In battle and on foreign soil, I, the Alpha of Morningstar am to take care of my pack. I am not to be concerned with my own welfare, but only on the welfare of my fellow warriors. “We are a pack that looks after its own in every way. Those who stand by you are your family and it is my hope that you, my son will never leave your men’s side when the time comes.” Those were the very words father told me the day before he died. I still remember them. It is easier said than done though. Especially with Ares. He is heavy. And he is drooling all over my chest. “We should just dump him here,” Apollo suggests. I grunt. “It's not funny.” “I'm serious, I've never met anyone who drools as much as he does,” my wolf points out.
HELIOS’ POVI stare at the Sorceress, struggling to hold back my laughter. “You want the heart of my fated mate?”She nods, all serious and wiping away the stains on her dress. The strange thing is, as she wipes away the blood with the palm of her hand, the blood disappears into thin air, returning her dress into its pristine white condition once more.Perhaps it is a good thing I did not laugh out loud. One wrong move and Ares and I might end up like the bird.“Sorceress, I do not have a mate.”She raises an eyebrow at me and cocks her head. “You do. You just do not realize it yet.”She is speaking in riddles. Does she mean to say that I will meet my mate soon? My thought goes to Laurel. I do not know what will happen in the future but right now, at this point in time, she is my everything.Even so, I cannot simply hand over an innocent life to the Sorceress. No