Honestly, I thought I would finish this book this month but it's the last day of the month and we are not there yet. Thank you for your support and patience. Love always, Kiki.
ALPHA KING XALEN~~Of course, there was nothing I could do to help. Or at least, that was what I assumed until Haylee muttered, “Do everything you can to make me stronger, using our mate bond. Please share your strength with me, Xalen. I can’t lose her.”At first, I didn’t know what to do other than send my strength to her through our bond, but even I could tell that wasn’t enough.Then it came to me, or more appropriately, Theo gave me an idea by saying, “The best way to strengthen her as her mate is to use the mate mark. Mark her again, Xalen.”Fortunately, Wyatt entered the basement at that moment, and I asked him to restrain Richard, even though he wouldn’t be waking up anytime soon, and also to send the signal to the warriors that came with us so they could capture all the treacherous warriors who chose to stay and side with Richard when they could have rat him out to me…As their King, their loyalty was to me, not to a crazy Alpha like Richard, even though he was their Alpha.
ALPHA KING XALEN~~“I'm here, Nerina. Oh, thank you for staying alive.”The relief that slammed into me when I finally accessed Jaylee’s mind after searching through Richard’s home quietly was overwhelming. I breathed those words into her mind even before I acknowledged Richard’s presence and obvious confusion.It killed me that I had to be quiet and cautious, even though I could have made my presence known and stopped Haylee’s suffering sooner. However, knocking out all thirty of Richard’s home guards without alerting anyone to my presence in the pack was the best way to handle this hostage situation.Although no one would be able to tell it was me, as they were seeing a different person because of the—“Who the hell are you?” Richard asked as his eyes scanned the bloody uniform that I had snatched from one of his decapitated warriors. Seeing me in that uniform assured Richard that I was one of his own, but still, he asked, “Why are you even here?”Rather than answer his question,
HAYLEE~~“How on earth?” Richard exclaimed when he realized that nothing could penetrate my skin.And that reminded me of the day Xalen marked me. I came to understand that everything that had happened to me was to prepare me for this present moment. I would have loved to explore every detail of my past and connect it to the present, but this wasn’t the time.My anger was the only thing fueling this energy, and I had to keep it burning.“She’s my daughter, but she is also the Chosen One, Richard. How dare you think you can kill her that easily?” Ardaia’s voice reverberated, bouncing off the walls around us. “And she isn’t alone. She has never been alone.”Richard’s eyes widened, and he quickly tried to take steps away from me, but he was too close to escape getting burned by the fire I was wearing like armor. I grabbed him by the neck in a chokehold before he could escape.I could have easily broken his neck and put an end to all of this, but what was the fun in that? I thought to
HAYLEE~~If they had known the toll that news would take on me, they might have kept it to themselves. But it was too late to take those words back.The initial wave of pain and shock that swept over me as Evan’s words sank in shattered my heart, yet it soon faded. It faded unbelievably fast. Before Richard and Evan could react, rage overtook me. An electric current coursed through my veins, crackling and tingling like an unstoppable force.The energy I had spent months trying to understand swelled within, and I relinquished myself to it. I welcomed the surge, even as it overwhelmed me, trapping my consciousness and wresting control out of my grasp.Still, I embraced it because I didn’t know what else to feel. I pictured Xalen taking Allson as his wife—an image that burned deeply. I couldn’t understand why our bond hadn’t broken, even though he was already married to Allison. Nor did I know what I was supposed to do next, especially with this energy and fury.“You fool!” Alpha Rich
HAYLEE~~“What do you think you are doing?” Liya asked me, her voice firm for the first time since we got here.Whatever Aradia did was to help and heal me. I could feel my energy core once again, but I also felt terror as Richard tried to wrap his mind around my claims.His long silence gave me the chance to think about how to save Aradia and myself from him. I knew Xalen must have married Allison by now, but I didn’t think about that. I couldn't be distracted right now.I believed my mate would do what was best to keep me alive and fight this battle from his own end, and I had to do the same.“That's impossible. Victoria can't have a biological child who is a red wolf.” Richard started, obviously convinced that I was a red wolf, even though Aradia had stopped the shifting process. “Heck, her womb is as good as a broken oven. Trust me when I say I have tried to get her pregnant a few times in hopes that she will birth a red wolf like herself, just like the prophecy says.”He knew
HAYLEE~~It was her.One look at her face, after Richard brought me to the big space in his basement, was enough to recognize her. However, she wasn’t the captivating woman I was used to seeing in my sleep. Her radiating beauty that I was used to couldn’t be seen as I stared at her tangled hair, the same one that glowed silkily during our secret meetings.The tears brimming in my eyes trickled down, pouring out of me as I felt the intense urge to look into her eyes… as if to search for the woman I believed I knew.However, her eyes were closed, and she was completely still, even though she was hooked up to the same machines in the torture room. The machines were bigger, and from her reddish skin, I could tell she was poked daily to keep her in that state.How long has she been here?For how long has she lain on that uncomfortable bed and been fed toxins while her powers are drained?“She’s truly on her deathbed,” Liya choked on her emotions when she said those words to me, looking