~Xyana~
'PIG, FAT, and UGLY' have become names I'm now accustomed to. I used to think myself beautiful until recently. All thanks to our Alpha's rumored mate, Oksana. Ever since she started deriving pleasure in dehumanizing and abusing me because she thinks I'm too fat for her liking, my life got enveloped in an endless stream of never-ending chores. She'll call me 'Pig' over and over again and I'll always answer her with a 'yes ma'am.' She makes sure I don't get to enjoy a moment of rest during the day. I work at the farms, at the pack daycare, the kitchen, I scrub the floors; I literally do everything. Yet she's never satisfied. ** Today, Mrs. Sal, the pack's Matron, assigned my best friend, Jiya, and me to clean the Alpha's living room. She must have taken pity on me and decided to give me an easy task that I'd spend most of my day doing. As Jiya and I focus on our assigned task for the day. I suddenly feel the hairs on my neck prickle. A dull pull follows, drawing me towards the large private balcony outside the room where rumor has it that the Alpha plunges in his stick into readily available holes in the pack. Since the strange pull won't stop, I let it guide me. Jiya frowns when she sees me moving towards the entrance of the balcony. "I'll be right back," I whisper and she nods. Getting to the entrance, I peek out through the corner of my eyes and see Alpha Kedar's back. The pull still won't stop. So, I step out to get a clearer view. Excitement shoots through my veins. I feel my wolf's excitement. She’s ecstatic. After many years, I feel her again; how is that even possible? My wolf is demanding. 'Him, him, him. He's ours!' I raise my eyes to Alpha Kedar and meet his gaze as he turns to see who is behind. I'm supposed to look down, 'You don't meet an Alpha's eyes.' That would be seen as a challenge. He's going to have them hang me outside the pack house because I just challenged him. But I can’t help it. 'Mine, mine, mine.' Juno, my wolf, mewls. She paws at my ribs, wanting to come out. But I don’t even know how to let her anymore, and that is crazy. 'Mate,' Juno whines louder pleading with me to let her out. How is Alpha Kedar, my mate? Isn't he rumored to be mates with Oksana? Kedar turns slowly, offering me his face first, and his body follows. Then I see Oksana, standing up from in-between his legs. She was sucking him off in a barely secluded balcony. 'Such an irresponsible man!' The balcony might be shielded with large carved balustrades that might prevent one from getting a clear view of whatever they might be doing, yet it doesn't change the fact that they're being irresponsible by making out here. People from downstairs can still see their upper body. Let's not talk about the steps connecting the balcony down. 'This man cannot be my mate.' Oksana stands up and glares at me, placing her arm around Kedar; she calls me, "Pig, what do you want?" She kisses Kedar on his mouth. 'No. Ours!' Juno lets out an inhuman wail that fills my ears from inside my skull. Suddenly, I'm shifting. My spine rips out of my skin. Pain explodes over me at the splintering bone and shredding muscles. I'm getting torn apart. I scream, collapsing to the ground. And I lay powerless on the floor, staring unblinkingly at them. Oksana's jaw dropped. Kedar is raging; his fists are clenched as if he’s straining to control himself. My vision is now sharp and focused. I can hear voices far and near, murmurings, sounds... I can smell everything. Semen, Blood, stale food, even Oksana's perfume, and she's rubbing it all over my mate. Enraged, I leap, baring my fangs. Whatever made me think I could attack Oksana? I lunge at her and she dodges me so easily, mocking me with her laughter. I hear gasps and whispers around the stairs connecting the balcony down and realize we now have an audience. Yet, I can’t seem to be able to stop. 'Fuck this mate bond.' Oksana laughs again and kicks me in the ribs. Then she snarls. Suddenly, she shifts so quickly that I'm not prepared one bit to meet her wolf, a beautiful, off-white, big she-wolf. She instantly goes for my throat. Her fangs sink into my collarbone, ripping a chunk of my skin. The pain is blinding and I instantly slump to the floor. "Enough!" Alpha Kedar yells. I’m losing blood, I'm fading by the second and none of them is doing anything about it. They are willing to just stand there and watch me bleed to death? Oh no! "Shift," Kedar commands. My bones instantly obey, cracking again, even the broken ones, snapping back into place, and I'm back to my human form. Naked and exposed, I curl into a ball and watch as Oksana slips into a free dress someone brings for her. But nobody gives me any clothing. Oksana smirks, licking my blood from her lips. I draw my knees close to my chest as I tremble. I dare to look at Kedar's face, he's glaring down at me. My stupid wolf mewls for him. She can't seem to understand the situation of things. "Stand up," Kedar snarls, his voice low. But I can’t, everyone will see everything... my body. "What's the meaning of this nonsense you just did?" I swallow a thick saliva and muster the courage to say it since he's pretending like he has no idea. "You're my mate," I whisper back. Oksana laughs like she's raving mad. Kedar stares at me like I've gone nuts. He squats down to meet me. "The Moon goddess won't mate me to a spineless, defenseless, weak, and worthless Elephant like you." He says and even with his cruel words, my wolf whines and cries out to him. "I have a mate and a type. Clearly, you're neither of both. Someone like you can never be this pack's Luna." I start to cry. Nothing hurts more than this. Not even the pains Oksana has been subjecting me to all these years. Juno cries with me. 'Why is he rejecting us?' She cries in my head and I shake my head as the tears slip down. I don't know why he would reject us. Kedar signals to his Gamma, who seems to be blocking our little audience from coming closer. When he approaches, Alpha Kedar points at me, anger evident in his voice. "Get this fat, shapeless Cow out of my presence. She attacked Oksana. Have her punished from now till dusk. She deserves nothing but death for what she just did." Gamma Reeder nods and turns to me, "stand up, or I'll drag you up," he says to me. I finally stagger to my feet, struggling to cover my nakedness as much as I can. As we climb down the stairs, squeezing ourselves among the crowd at the stairs, the males leer and smirk. Some of the females, too. A few of the elders present are staring at me, disapprovingly. Mrs. Sal and Jiya are standing very far away, horror on their faces. They don’t dare come closer. When we climb down, more crowd are gathered downstairs. I take my walk of shame. As I walk, my love handles flap, my thighs juggle, and the shame is unbearable. Everyone sees everything, and no one, no one stretches out a piece of clothing to me.~Xyana~ I stumble behind Gamma Reeder, shame oozing through me with every step. My mind is still reeling from Alpha Kedar’s words, the disgust in his voice, the name-calling, and the humiliation that burns deeper than the wounds Oksana physically inflicted on me. My wolf "Juno," whimpers in my head, confused and heartbroken. 'He's ours,' she repeats weakly, but I can feel her spirit gradually dying down as if she too is beginning to accept the harsh reality. The pack members whisper as I pass, their eyes filled with cruel amusement. I catch glimpses of mocking smirks, and knowing looks exchanged between them. They revel in my humiliation, every single one of them. "Pathetic," someone scoffs. "How can this fat thing try to fight a real wolf?" Another voice says. "She attacked our soon-to-be Luna." I hear someone else accuse me from the crowd. I clench my teeth, swallowing the lump in my throat. I will not cry in front of them. I refuse to give them that satisfaction. We f
~Gaston~The pain I'm feeling is excruciating; my head is spinning uncontrollably as my chauffeur, Killian, keeps driving farther away from the source of my pain."Pull over," I tell Killian.The car hitches to a stop almost immediately and he stares at me through the rearview mirror, his face lined with worry.I groan into my palms painfully as my veins go through bouts of painful constrictions. "What can I do, Alpha?" Killian asks."Turn the car around," I tell him, "and drive until I ask you to stop."He nods and kicks the car into gear, pulling it into reverse. We started heading back to the same route we were coming from. A few minutes into the ride, the maddening pain starts to fade gradually, getting replaced by an unbearable intense pull that is almost pulling me out of the car."Killian, stop the car." I groan. The car halts instantly. I push outside, staggering towards the nearby woods; the exact direction of the unbearable pull. I don't have the time to tell Killian what
~Xyana~ Slowly, consciousness comes to me in painful waves. My body feels heavy like it’s been weighed down by thick rocks, and my mind is foggy, struggling to piece together the last thing I remember. My eyelids feel like they’re glued shut by an external force, causing me to force it open. The first thing I see is a high, vaulted ceiling made of dark wood. I try to sit up, but a sharp pain shoots through my ribs, forcing me back down. A gentle hand presses against my shoulder, and I turn to see a man with kind eyes and a stethoscope around his neck. A doctor, I presume. “You have to take it easy,” he says softly. “Your body is still recovering." He places two fingers on my wrist to get my pulse reading. "What's your name?" "Xyana." I reply. "You're welcome to Gurreo-Valley pack, Xyana." He offers that comforting smile one can easily find amongst health workers in hospitals. "Do you recall how you got here?" He adds. Firstly, this man said that I'm at the Gurreo-Valley pack.
~Xyana~Two days later, I wake up feeling better than I did a couple of days ago. The memory of my first day here is still fresh in my mind.'Is any of this really happening or is this just the Moon goddess trying to play tricks on me?'Alpha Kedar denied me almost a week ago and now I have three men fighting over me. The only word to describe any of this is 'surreal.''You think you're special now?' Juno laughs at me, 'keep being stupid.'"Whatever did I do to you, Juno? I'm not the reason Alpha Kedar refused to acknowledge us. He just didn't want to."'He told you why.' Juno insists."He said I'm worthless, and I'm not!" I yell. "It's okay if he chooses Oksana as his real mate. But I'm not worthless, neither am I spineless."'But you're an Elephant, a Pig, fat...' "Don't say those words to me, please." I plead with my wolf.She snorts and starts sinking back inside, 'suit yourself, Pig.'I shut my eyes as the pain of her words hit me. She's waiting, watching, hoping that I'll count
~Xyana~"I can't feel my mates," I say out loud, the distress in my voice, evident as I pace the room I'm assigned to.Breakfast was hectic and I don't even blame any of my mates if they're upset. If the Moon goddess deemed it fit to give me second chance mates, that only means she understands perfectly that right now, I'm so alone with no one in the world to turn to.But I'm failing them; I'm failing my mates; I'm failing the Moon goddess, and it's all because of Juno, my wolf, who has refused to do her job."How long do you plan on shutting out our mates, Juno?" I ask her. She yawns and stretches out a bit, acting unconcerned. "Juno?"'As long as I wish.' she snaps."You're pushing them away. Their wolves are trying to connect with you and you're shutting them out."'So? What should I do with that information?.'"But you're a part of me for crying out loud. We ought to be working together, hand in hand." I try to make her see things from my own perspective.'The Moon goddess forbid
~Xyana~"You're winning," Oona says grumpily. I wasn't so eager to play chess with a pup her age, but her Nanny reassured me that Oona always plays and is good."She's good at the game," Declan says from the door. "She truly is," I reply to him. I may be winning the game, but Oona isn't making it easy for me either. He walks into Oona's game room and takes a seat, all smiles. "I've been meaning to spend quality time with you, Pretty. But the pack is preparing for the annual mating ceremony which happens yearly for us. So, we're working harder on getting more warrior recruits to toughen security." He explains."An annual mating ceremony? When will that be?""You would be surprised, because it's still a few months away. About three months and a couple of days.""And the warriors are already taking their training seriously?" I ask him."Yeah. Can't remember that stuff they say about powerful preparation." He winks at me as Oona packs up the chess board.She walks past me with the boa
~Xyana~"You have to answer me," Clifton says, climbing on the bed and pinning my arms above my head while his frame towers above me. "Your wolf called me an Abomination, didn't she?""I'm going to scream." I let out the only words that came to my mind."And you think that would stop me? Was it your wolf, Xyana?" He presses on."Gaston says to follow my cue and not to overwhelm me," I tell him instead. "It looks like your presence..." "I'm not playing this game with you." He growls, cutting me short. He lowers his body and whispers in my ear. "You are my fucking mate. I have the right to know."My heart skips a beat as I feel his breath in my ear, making me mewl softly. "And you, mine," I say, panting inaudibly."You believe so?" I nod. "So as your mate, can you listen to me by letting me go?" I try another approach.He chuckles, "nice try, Baby. In case you have no idea, it's going to take a while before my brothers finds us. So, I have all the time in the world."Alarm bells ring
~Declan~All my life I've longed for my mate. The one-woman created to be my everything. Love has never meant a thing to me until the day I set my eyes on Xyana.I thought my heart would explode. Everything about her is perfect and I decided while she was still recovering that there is nothing I won't do to protect and keep her safe.My joy was in excess because I'd found my mate. Not until Diony said she was his mate, and Clif said the same. I've never been mad at the Moon goddess like I was that day.But after taking my time to think about it, I realized I was neither ready nor willing to give her up. My Wolf Lucas was smitten as I was and nothing in this world would have made him agree to rejecting our mate.Even when he couldn't reach Xyana's Wolf, he didn't give up. We've been waiting for this all our lives, and at that point, I was willing to accept my brothers being with my mate as long as I got to be with her, too.As long as she doesn't reject me, and she lets me do right by
~Zegulf~I let Xyana spend the rest of her day in my room sulking.She had thought I would finally agree to let her go, but If only she knew that she was asking for the impossible. Letting her go isn't a sentence I want to be associated with. Not when the Moon Goddess gave her to me on a platter. I have a woman any Alpha would die to mark. A woman who can easily bring even the most powerful Alpha to his knees. It's sad that she has no idea who or what she is and how much power she holds.Towards the evening, the Alpha's Cabal, Roldolf, Ezra, and Thaddeus, arrived at my private chamber. I had the guards set up the room with a round table that would bring all of us together because I asked them to bring Xyana over as I wanted to introduce her to them.Xyana stops at the door, confusion shrouding her face as she stares from me to the three other men in the room."Come on in, Firefly," I call her fondly, waving at her.Slowly, she pushes her b
~Zegulf~The next morning, I have the maids bring Xyana downstairs to the dining room to join me for breakfast. She looks well rested, and even far better than yesterday. The wound on her arm looks better, too, and I have no doubt it will take just a few more days or a week to heal perfectly.She is wearing a very pretty dress I believe to be part of the ones delivered yesterday by the personal shopper.When she sees me across the dining room, she smiles and greets me. Then I quickly pull out a seat for her. I can feel her cheerfulness surge through me."You seem well rested.""Yes, I am. My wounds are healing pretty well too. Thank you so much for your hospitality and kindness.""Oh, it's nothing really," I reply.Then I snap my fingers. The maids quickly started serving us breakfasts of boiled eggs, coffee, and wheat bread. Since Xyana came into my life, I made it known to the butler that our meals should always be healthy.Watching her ea
••PRESENT DAY••~Gaston~I'm seated in my private chamber with Rhen seated across the table from me. "Is it done yet?" I ask her checking my wristwatch for the time.She told me that Kadila was trying to unbound Clifton's and Xyana's souls as she could feel the gradual neutralization of the magic she used.So we agreed that it was best to let the soul-unbounding ritual go on, and at the peak of it, I will be able to connect to Xyana, just to see if I can pass a message to her in her dreams."Not yet," Rhenat replies. "But any moment now."I scowl as the image of a happy Zegulf appears in my head. He must be super elated and proud of himself. Does he even think that I won't know what he's trying to do and what he's really up to? Only a fool would assume that I'm clueless and Zegulf is no fool.So I have no doubt he's suspicious of my silence. Why wouldn't he be? If I were him, I would be suspicious too."Xyana is going to survive this, r
••A WEEK AGO••~Gaston~There are lots of things I need answers to. And I've tried getting these answers from elsewhere. But there are still lots of empty spaces that need to be filled.The answers aren't as explanatory as I wanted, I need more. I needed to hear them as they were. If there was a prophecy about this new Moon-made, Xyana, I needed to hear it word for word, not as hearsay, but as the absolute truth.The only person with the answer to my question is Rhenat the Witch. And even though I've tried to avoid going to her for help by exploring every other option available to me, I still have to say that she holds the complete information I'm after.So I had no other option than to get Callum to set up a private meeting with Rhenat without anyone's knowledge. I left the pack after midnight with Killian, my most trusted man, with me, we shifted to our wolves and ran all the way to Callum's pack. He was already waiting for us with a clean change
~Zegulf~Xyana and I had a beautiful day touring my pack. She did feel on edge for a while, but eventually, I was able to get her to relax and enjoy the tour.We had lunch under a cabana at the private pool behind the pack house. The view was beautiful and I had no doubt she loved it but would rather not say.After lunch, we visited a few more places within the pack before retiring for the evening. I took her back to my room and left her with a few of the maids who had already been briefed on serving her a spiked drink to put her to sleep in preparation for Kadila's visit.**Barely two hours later, I brought Kadila into my room after making sure she was properly covered.Kadila was dressed in one of those colorful outfits of hers that tells me she is in such a great mood. As usual, she attended to Xyana's wounds before taking a seat on a side stool at the center of the room."Will you mark her tonight, Alpha?" Kadila asks, rubbing a dark-c
~Zegulf~I didn't expect Xyana to smile at me when I told her that I had a hand in the death of Gaston's parents. I expected to see the fear in her eyes, not her running away from me. If this would make her run, then what exactly would she do when she realizes how deep the feud between my pack and Gurreo-Valley has gone?How would she react if I told her some or all the things Gaston Howling and I have had to do against each other behind closed doors because of our hatred towards each other?Maybe she will hate me. But then she will get to understand that Gaston Howling is anything but an Angel. And he's no better than me. The only difference between us is that I wear my evil name comfortably like a crown while he disguises a lot until you step on his toe or step close enough to draw out a reaction from him.That makes me wonder why he hasn't come for Xyana yet. Kadila will be here in the evening to complete the soul-unbounding ritual, and I'm expected to m
~Xyana~Days rolled by. I had access to the television where I kept checking all the news channels. Nothing about my disappearance was being mentioned and none of my mates came for me.Maybe I should wonder why they would come for me when it's obvious they don't know where I'm being held currently.But I'm out here without my phone, and I'm unable to reach out to any of them. All I have access to is the television, where I keep skimming through channels every day in the hope that I'll see something that could convince me that my mates are out there, looking for me.But there's nothing. By the third day, I'd already given up. Maybe they've all moved on without me. Maybe I think too highly of myself.Is it possible that they don't want me as their mate? Even if others don't, what about my Dion? Surely he will want me as much as I want him.I'm still in deep thought when a hand touches my arm so gently."Hi," I greeted Zegulf with a sad smile. "Bea
~Declan~It's been three days, yet we haven't made any headway. All the attempts we've made to get information on Xyana's whereabouts have been futile.Even the informants we sent out to gather information from the Crimson pack came back with absolutely nothing. Rhen was clueless as well. Even with Gaston's help, both of them are still no match for Kadila who is by far the cruelest witch I've ever had a personal encounter with.The fact that Kadila played a major role in the death of my parents still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, and I want so hard to rip her apart. But even I know that I can't do that so easily when she is everything diabolical.Maybe if Gaston had embraced his gift of wizardry earlier and not pushed it away only to use it when he deemed fit which is rarely by the way. Maybe, just maybe, he would have gained more power over time.Being from a rare bloodline of witches is a good thing. But practicing continuously would have helped hi
~Xyana~"That doesn't make sense." I refused to accept that the video I just watched was real. "Is that video doctored, Alpha Zegulf?" The man's right eyebrow shot up. Then his mouth curved in a smile. "Your defence is that the video was probably doctored?" He asks, pinning me with his gaze."So what do you want me to believe? You suddenly found a hidden camera, and luckily, the camera caught everything that happened. Are you kidding me?"Alpha Zegulf shakes his head, "you look so cute when you try to make your point known.""You've not answered any of my questions yet." I remind him, and he takes a deep calming breath before he replies in his usual jovial tone."The video is not doctored, Firefly. And it didn't miraculously fly into my hands. I sought for it. I needed the proof too."I slide him a cautious glare and he reciprocates with a sweet smile. "So what are you trying to prove with all of this then? That Gideon wanted to have me killed?"