Se connecterManuel and Azreal charged toward us, their faces a mix of rage and disappointment, every stride wider than the last until they finally stood in front of us, breathing heavily.“You caused this!” Manuel seethed, lunging at us, but Azreal stepped in, pulling him back and holding him there.“I’ll kill you all! I’ll make sure none of you have a place in the world we’re going to build! Just wait and see!” he yelled again, but Azreal tightened his grip, trying to shut him up as the other Alphas filed out of the room.“You should watch your mouth if you still have any dreams of getting on the council,” Damon said with a deep laugh—a laugh that shut Manuel up.His chest heaved up and down, the rage unmistakable, but currently there was nothing he could do—nothing they could do.We managed to stop them this time, and we would continue to do that until we got rid of them for good.“We should get out of here before they start asking more questions,” Azreal called, already pulling a seething Manu
My heart pounded even harder as every second filled with silence went by. We could barely hear anything now, save for the scrambling behind the door and the shuffling of papers, like everyone was thinking their decision through. This was the only chance we had to stop those men, at least from taking this position, so if by any slight chance it failed, things would only get worse from here. The tension even from out here was intense, so I could imagine just how it was inside. I felt Robin slip his hands into mine naturally, squeezing them gently as he reached out through our bond. Everything is going to be fine, so stop worrying so much, he said. I exhaled before responding. But what if it isn’t fine? Then what? How do we even begin to recover from that? We have just a few more minutes before they start counting the votes, Julian. Let’s trust Lucian’s skills and have some confidence. I tried my best to cling onto his words just as Lucian spoke up. “Guys, they’re about to start
We got to the venue and were able to position ourselves out of sight without a hitch. The plan was to stay hidden, at least for now, and so far, it was working. Lucian and I stood at the gate, waiting for the Alphas to arrive so we could get to work, while Robin and Raven scanned the area to make sure nothing else had been planted around by the men of the shadows. Everything started the moment I sighted Orion walking in with two other men. “The men of the shadows are here,” I whispered softly to Lucian, and his head snapped in their direction. “So they’re the ones responsible for all we had to go through,” he started with a frown. “They look so ordinary… save for the energy that follows them.” I gave a small nod. “I’ll inform Robin through our link so they can keep an eye out as well.” I projected my view to him. “Watch out for their guards,” I added before closing the link. We remained there for a few more minutes before we saw other Alphas begin to arrive. “I guess it’s ti
Manuel’s POV The meeting with the rest of the council members went just as easily as we predicted. No one had the guts to say no to us. They were just as weak as they were when they asked us for help, which shows exactly why we had to take over and make things better—make everyone stronger… our way. We hadn’t heard a word from the Beta and his crew, but I knew the moment we sent out the invitation for the voting, they would do something—anything—to stop us. Especially now that Levon was no longer on our side. The space he left in our plans was smoothly filled by the others on the council. But for sure, he would regret making an enemy of us. We had a bit of a soft spot for him because he helped us start up, but that was no more. We had bigger things to achieve. “Have you talked to all the Alphas we have on our contact?” I asked as I walked into the office where Azreal was seated. “Their loyalty is guaranteed, so we have nothing to worry about,” he said, and I nodded calmly as I t
The sound of the door creaking was what woke me up. My eyes were immediately drawn to where the light bled through, and they softened as they landed on Robin. I was going to call his name, but I stopped myself when I heard another voice—Lucian’s. Instead, I listened in on their conversation.“The men of the shadows—what?” I heard Robin yell, and that was enough for me to sit up.“They took over the council!” Lucian yelled, and my eyes widened.“What??” I shouted, unable to stay silent any longer.Both their eyes snapped over to me immediately.“When did you wake up?” Robin asked as I slipped a shirt over my head and jumped out of the bed, meeting them at the door.“That’s not important, love,” I said, my eyes on Lucian instead. “What do you mean they took over the council? When? How?”“Yesterday. They had a meeting with the others on the council without anyone knowing, and that’s how it happened.”“But,” Robin cut in, “as far as I know, new council heads cannot be appointed without al
Robin’s POVI let myself be led as Julian dragged me toward the room that Damon had specifically—and quite explicitly—asked Alpha Levon for. I had no idea what game they were playing by demanding a soundproof room, but as long as I was with Julian, I didn’t think I’d mind whatever they had in store.When we finally stopped, Julian pushed the door open with his foot, still refusing to let go of my hands. We stepped into the warmth of the room, and I unconsciously let out a long breath. It looked cozy, almost like a real home—a feeling we hadn’t been graced with for a long while.We walked toward the bed in the center of the room, and Julian pushed me down gently until I was seated."What’s going on?" I asked, looking up at him as he rubbed his palms together nervously. "Did something happen?""Are you okay?" he started, his eyes searching mine. "I mean, okay okay. With everything that’s happened... I know I haven’t had the time to actually check in on you, and it was eating away at me.
“Mate?” Lucian’s voice cut through my thoughts, dragging me back to reality. I shook my head immediately, my voice dropping against my will as Robin’s face flashed in my mind. “He isn’t my mate,” I said quietly. “It’s… complicated.” I lifted my head to meet their gazes. “I thought you saw mos
To say I was baffled would be an understatement. I never imagined I would come close to smiling, much less actually do it—ever since I was dragged in here. My smile, my joy, my life… all of it felt like it ended the moment I was taken from my pack. So believing that the tiny chuckle that echoed th
Lucian’s POV Getting into his head was the hardest thing I’ve tried in over a decade, but the moment he collapsed and we all rushed forward with worry, even Damon seemed shocked at Julian’s condition. I knew what Damon had attempted to do, even if I could almost never get into his head, I could
Frozen. That was how I stood for, I don’t even know how long. I couldn’t face that memory again. I just couldn’t. My mind drifted to Lucian, who had just been here. They were trying to save me —me, a stranger to them. And here I was, unable to even face what I’d done. “I’m sorry,” I whispered i







