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“...Liam?” I choked out, my head starting to spin. “You’re sending me... back to Liam?”How did he even know I was here? How could he possibly have found that out? All the people here who knew me by the name of Scarlett would have no reason to speak to Liam and divulge that information. Unless—Oh, God... it was that man.The sketchy one from the market. Liam must have sent scouts out to track me down, reporting my whereabouts back to him. But... why? Why go to all that trouble just to drag me back to Easthaven? As far as I knew, he never sent spies after Aurora in the book. Though I suppose Aurora’s location was public knowledge early on, her relationship with Victor being news that spread quickly throughout the Empire.I guess I hadn’t given Liam enough credit for how dangerous he really was. He’d barely even crossed my mind since coming here. Due to the fact he didn’t develop his immediate obsession with Aurora, like he had in the book, I’d wrongly thought that there wouldn’t be an
Things didn’t feel the same after that day.Another week had passed since the parade, and the people quickly fell back into their normal routines as the royals returned home. They’d only left for a few days, barely enough time to notice their absence. But I never got the chance to enjoy it, as I had originally hoped to.Something had been shaken within me.No longer was I only navigating my survival around Aurora’s storyline, but now there was something else out there, something unknown, which felt as if it could come for me at any moment. Maybe right when I least expected it. Aurora was dangerous, sure, but she was a danger I was at least aware of, someone I knew almost as well as she knew herself.But this...? This mysterious entity who was looking for me...?Just who were they? What did they want?Those questions would keep me awake at night, only able to distract myself when I poured my energy into working at the tavern or drawing. The escapes were small, but I was grateful for wha
I winced as the man’s strength held me, still healing from the injuries the week prior. The place he restrained was where a larger gash had been torn along my arm during the fight, now only showing as a nasty bruise in the area. Truthfully, I’d mostly forgotten about it, but as he grabbed me firmly now, I was painfully reminded just how fragile I still was.“Scarlett Azalea, right? From Easthaven?”“Let me go.”I tried to pull my arm away, ignoring the pain of my injury as I did so, but he only held me tighter in his grip.“Why are you being so difficult? Just answer the question.”“I don’t know who you’re talking about. I’m not Scarlett,” I lied, still attempting to free myself.He was getting frustrated now, his expression darkening. Clearly my attempts at dismissing his questions weren’t what he expected. But I was no longer interested in being polite or avoiding a public scene. Something inside was telling me to do whatever it took to survive.“Why lie to—”“—Let me go right now o
To literally no one’s surprise, he clearly still didn’t care for me.Those few seconds our eyes met, it felt like a thousand thoughts and feelings were conveyed. His initial surprise of seeing me was first, his features softening for the first time, but it was quickly followed by that same cold gaze I’d seen back when we’d originally met.That same expression that made me feel sick.My hands were shaking as I watched him, my breath catching in my throat. The stupid matebond was reacting as though he was going to run over and kiss me the moment he saw me, sending those persistent thoughts through my head to reach out to him... to touch him... to feel his warm skin under my fingers.Did he suffer from the same problem as me?...Did he also fantasise about what it would be like to kiss me?Well, if he did, he sure did a great job of ignoring those thoughts, staying adamant on his stance that I wasn’t worthy of being his mate. Which I still couldn’t entirely blame him for thinking that, g
“Ah, thank you, Natalie,” the man said as I placed his ale on the table in front of him. “I’ve missed having a drink here after a hard day’s work. You’re truly a gift from the Goddess herself.”I beamed my best customer service smile at him. His face was becoming familiar, recognising him from the few times he’d visited over the past week that I’d been working at Hazel’s tavern. Even though it had been a short period of time, the regulars were already starting to know me by name, all of whom had been really lovely in welcoming me.“Not a problem!” I replied cheerily, taking the coins from his hand. “Give me a yell if you need anything else.”With that, I went back to the counter to deposit the money into the register.“They’re really starting to warm up to you, aye?” Hazel asked, walking out from the kitchen to lean against the counter. She was drying her hands with a towel as she gave me a small smile.“I hope so,” I replied, closing the draw.Hazel had been supervising me, helping m
“So, how do you both know the Alpha King?” I asked as we finished up eating. I’d noticed how they referred to him by his first name, and Thaddeus himself had claimed they were old friends.The two exchanged a glance, as if recalling fonder years of their youth, and a mischievous smile twitched across their lips. “Well... it was when we were all much younger. As children, really,” Hazel started. “Thaddeus would sneak out of the palace and play with us in the street, getting up to all sorts of no good. This was well before we found out he was the heir to the throne, of course. As kids, we didn’t care about showing up to the public appearances the royals would do.”“No, the Capital is so large that we didn’t learn his real identity until he was well into his teen years, unable to hide his aura from us anymore,” Rubeus added.Hazel nodded. “He just wanted to be a normal child, I think. A break from his royal duties and responsibilities. But he fooled us for many years – not that we would







