Kol“I was busy attending to you and your new guests. I don’t think I noticed anything strange or unusual, my Alpha.” One of the maids said.“I visited the restroom for a while and then I came back, grounded to my position. I shouldn’t have left. I’m sorry my Alpha.” One of the guards, stationed at Lira’s dungeon explained remorsefully.“I’ve been gardening for a while now, I didn’t notice any sign of someone escaping.” The old gardener explained.I went into my study, locked the doors and screamed at the top of my lungs. What the hell was happening? Why now? The estate was in lockdown. Guards were at every corner. Barricades raised. The gates chained and laced. And still, she was gone. Gone.The one person I had vowed would never walk free again. The one mistake I should have never made, leaving her breathing, speaking, scheming.Lira.“She couldn’t have gotten far,” I muttered, pacing my study with fists clenched and anger boiling deep within me. Every second she was out there was
KolAria and I walked briskly through the corridor. She wasn’t panicking, not yet, but the urgency in her tone was impossible to ignore.“When Lira killed Jeremy,” she said with her eyes flicking between the tiles ahead and my face, “she told me she’d take care of his body. She said she’d give him a proper burial.” Her voice was lowered and tense. “Now his pack has shown up out of nowhere asking for a meeting.”My jaw clenched. “And you think it’s connected?”“It has to be.” She didn’t hesitate.I swallowed a groan as we reached the turn leading to the staircase. “Of course it is.”She touched my arm gently, slowing her pace. “What are we going to tell them?”I didn’t look at her. “The truth. That Jeremy came to see you and left a few days later. Nothing about secret meetings. Nothing about the hotel. And especially nothing about Lira.”She fell silent.“If they push,” I added, “Lira goes on the line. I won’t protect her anymore.”Aria didn’t respond right away. Then, with a sharp nod
Aria I could feel Kol steadily breathing beside me, but then again, I could tell sleep still hadn’t come easy. Even with his arm around my waist and his warm body against my back, I could feel the tension rolling off him. And the silence wasn’t helping matters.I turned under the sheets and traced my finger gently across his chest. “Did she say anything?”He didn’t look at me at first, he just kept staring at the ceiling.“No,” he said finally. “Nothing useful. Just riddles. She said we’ll know when it happens.”I could hear the anger in his voice, even though he had tried to restrain it. I pressed a kiss to his shoulder. “It’s going to be okay.”He finally looked down at me, and for a moment, I saw this fragile hope. One I hoped would be there, cause it seemed like this was only the beginning.“I don’t know how to be okay,” he whispered.“You don’t have to be. You just have to be strong. And I’ll be right there with you.”He didn’t respond. He just held me tighter.The next morning
KolI looked at Liam as if he wasn’t real. He looked as if he had been dragged through the gutter and left to rot. There was mud to his knees, his clothes in tatters, the side of his neck was stained with dried blood. His eyes were caved in like he hadn’t slept for days.“Upstairs.” I said to him, flatly.Then he trailed me saying nothing.I opened the door of my study, stepped in and waited until he walked in before I banged the door shut. Then I turned.“Give me one reason I shouldn’t slit your fucking throat.”Liam dropped to his knees instantly. He didn’t beg. Didn’t even look up at me. He just stayed there like a penitent knight who’d failed his king.“I deserve it,” he said, quietly.The words did nothing for my anger.“You were my Beta,” I hissed. “My second. You held the lives of this pack in your hands. You knew my weaknesses. My faults. And you handed them to her.”His voice cracked. “I know.”I walked towards him, grabbing him by the collar and yanking him to his feet.“Wha
KolBy the time I got back from the hospital, dusk had come. I’d left feeling a bit lighter, Agatha was going to make a full recovery, and that meant one less shadow over my already overcast mind.But the moment I opened the bedroom door and saw Aria curled up on the edge of the bed and her shoulders trembling, that weight came crashing back.“Aria,” I said quietly. She didn’t turn.I crossed the room, kneeling beside her. Her hands were curled into fists against the sheets, and she was crying, silently, like she was afraid of making a sound.“What happened?” I asked.She shook her head, wiping at her eyes quickly. “Nothing. I’m fine.”“You’re not,” I said firmly, reaching for her hand. “Tell me.”There was a moment of silence. Then, finally, she whispered, “They hate me.”I blinked. “Who?”“The staff. The guards. Everyone in the dining hall. Kathy. They all look at me like I’m filth. Like I was the one who put you in chains. Just because I’m related to Lira.”My fists clenched slowly
AriaKol had left early for the hospital. I’d woken to the sound of him putting on his shoes. His movements were quiet but precise, like he didn’t want to wake me, but not quiet enough. I asked where he was going, and when he said “Agatha,” I understood. I didn’t fight him on it.But it left a strange emptiness in the room once he was gone.With my stomach grumbling, I figured I’d find something to eat downstairs. The estate was oddly quiet for midmorning. I went down the stairs and the moment I reached the first floor, I felt it. Eyes. Cold eyes, judging me.I passed two maids in the corridor. One stopped sweeping entirely, her broom leaning against her leg. They both froze like they didn’t expect me to catch them staring. They didn’t say anything, but they didn’t have to. Their silence was thicker than any insult.As I stepped into the dining hall, it got worse. The staff behind the food counter whispered into each other’s ears. A warrior sitting in the corner lifted his head just e