Chapter 4: Avalyn's POV
"Avalyn, have you checked on the cake?" My stepmother called from the living room.
I looked between my hands and the food still cooking. There was no way I could finish all of these and still have enough time to get to town and get the cake from the bakery before they closed.
"Avalyn... I am still waiting for a response! Or do you need me to get in there!?" She hissed and I squeezed my eyes shut, groaning silently.
I reduced the level of the gas and peeled off the apron from my chest before wiping my hand on my ragged blue dress. Then I went to join her in the living room.
"I'll go pick it up right now..." I said and made to move but she stopped with a loud shriek.
"You haven't gone to get the cake! Are you crazy? Have you lost your mind!?" She got up from the couch she had been occupying and approached me with fire in her eyes.
I cowered away from her but she stopped and motioned at me to get close.
Tears pricked at my eyes as my legs started shaking. "Mom, I am sorry, I was so busy in the kitchen... I thought you would go pick it up yourself..." I stuttered.
Her face brightened and the next thing I heard was the guttural sound coming from her as she erupted into a burst of bitter laughter.
"You thought I would go get it?! You ungrateful little whore!"
"I am sorry mom, it won't happen again—" I started to say but a felt a stinging slap across my face and it took me a few seconds for the pain to register.
I held my cheek and took a cautious step away from me.
"Now, before I scream at the top of my lungs. I want you to go out there and make sure you get that cake before showing your face again!" She screeched out launching the television remote at me.
I docked and ran outside. I wiped the tears from my face and tried to pull up a fake smile as I made my way to the bakery shop which wasn't so far away from my house.
She could have gotten it herself but my stepmother would rather die than do anything that was also going to benefit me.
As I walked, I heard the whispers and murmurs as they pointed fingers at my battered dress but I paid no attention to all of that. I was pretty much used to it by now. The entire town hated me. Everyone considered me a bad omen.
They said I killed my mother and placed a curse on my father.
When I was younger, I use to cry about my misfortune but as I grew older, I learned to swallow my pain and keep it within me.
In the world we lived in, everyone fought one sort of pain or the other. We were ruled by creatures of the night —werewolves. They called the shots and allocated everything to us.
We lived peacefully at the moment because our current chief regularly sent gifts of humans to the werewolf king —a man everyone considered to be a monster.
He was a merciless ruler and never took no for an answer. When he requested something, our chief had no choice but to oblige.
The people lived in fear and pain, yet they found fun in mocking me. It felt like I was their entertainment at a time when they only knew pain.
I was that one person, they could mess with without fear of getting punished.
"Look who stepped out to place a curse on the streets!" Someone said and I heard them laugh.
But I didn't as much as turn to even look at them. It was pointless.
I hastened my feet to the bakery shop and stepped. I walked to the counter and gave the man a small bow.
"Hello sir, I am here to pick up the cake my mother ordered," I said timidly.
The man raised his eyes to observe me. His eyes moved from my toes and slowly made their way to the strand of hair flying on my face.
"Step out, you are too dirty to be in here. Didn't anyone teach you how to take a shower?!" He growled with a thin voice.
My heart squeezed but I didn't let the pain get to me. I swallowed it down and slowly stepped back to the door.
"Good. Now, you say your mother sent you. Did you whore of a mother come back to life and request a cake?"
I raised my head and watched the scrawny man from under my lashes. His wife had been snatched by the chief. He was depressed and sad. So I didn't hate him for the cruel words he said to me.
I understood him.
"I am sorry, my stepmother. Catherine Howard," I said.
"Oh, Catherine..." He dragged the name over his tongue as he searched the cupboards like my stepmother's name was the beacon he needed to find the cake faster. "Aahh!" He exclaimed.
He straightened with the cake in his hand and walked up to me. He stretched it toward me and I quickly took it fearing that he might drop it.
"Thank you," I said with a bow before turning around to leave.
I heard him mumble something behind me but I couldn't hear him. Now that I had picked the cake, my mind was only focused on getting home before my father.
Besides, it was starting to get dark and that was the worst time to be found outside in my town. The werewolves had given us a time frame and anyone caught outside when it was dark, was going to be punished.
As I reached the last bend to approach my house, I felt eyes on me. It wasn't dark yet but the sun was low over the horizon. Chills ran up my spine and I made the mistake of turning only for me to catch red eyes between the trees.
My heart skipped and I picked up my pace at once. I started running, fearing that whoever was in the trees could come to get me.
I was running so fast that I no longer cared about the condition of the cake. My life was more important than a mere cake.
I got to the house and burst through the doors with such force, the sound made my stepmother shriek.
"Avalyn!" My father thundered and I stopped on my track.
His eyes were sparkling with anger and I wondered what had gotten him so worked up —well aside from the way I had entered the house.
"Where are you coming from?" He growled.
My hands started trembling as I knew exactly what he would do to me whenever he got this way.
"I— I went to get your birthday cake... From the —the bakery..." I stuttered.
My stepmother scoffed and walked to where I stood. She took the cake from my hands and walked back to the couch.
"George I have told you, this daughter of yours is completely useless. Look at the way she lies so effortlessly!" She hissed and my heart skipped another beat.
I looked between her and my father trying to understand what was going on.
"Avalyn, don't make me ask you for a second time..." My father warned and I felt dread clutch at my chest.
My eyes watered as I struggled to understand what he was actually asking me. I had told him where I was coming from, why would he think I hadn't responded yet
"Father, I am not lying. I went to the baker—" the sentence didn't completely leave my lips as a heavy blow landed on my face breaking the corner of my mouth in the process.
I fell to the floor and held my face in my hands as tears flowed freely down my cheeks.
"You want to burn my house! You leave your mother sleeping and you go out there to play with men?!" He thundered.
"What?" I gasped despite my pain. "Mother sent me father, I am not lying..." I cried but he descended on me with even more blows.
"Oh, George please don't kill the girl. There are a hundred and one things we could do with her. Please, honey, let her be..." She sneered and then everything made sense to me.
She set me up.
She hated me without a reason despite the love I showered on her. She was always looking for ways to make my father hit me or starve me.
My father continued hitting me and I tried my best to protect my face which was the only part of my body that had little bruises. The rest was in a terrible state.
"The werewolves would be coming to the market in a few days, you can make some good money with her... You don't have to kill her..." She drawled pulling him away.
My father gave me one final kick before moving along with her. I remained there on the floor curled up, waiting for them to leave. In my eighteen years in life, I learned that the worst way to anger my father and his wife was to get up right after they had finished beating me up.
"She can't be married off because she is obviously not a virgin. The only thing we can do is exploit her other more useful parts," my stepmother said as they got to the staircase that led to the bedrooms.
I waited till I could no longer hear their voices. When I was certain that they were gone, I unwrapped my arms around myself and sat up to access my injuries that were when I noticed that the front door had been opened all along. I never closed it when I got in.
It was completely dark outside and the cold air that seeped in wasn't the only thing that made me shudder.
I got the same dreadful feeling I had back on the road. Someone was watching me. I could have sworn I saw those red burning eyes again but as I blinked, they were gone.
I quickly got up and banged the door close at once.
Chapter 5: Talon's POV As I looked at the girl from a distance and my wolf chose her. She wasn't perfect but she would do. I had caught her scent earlier that evening as I made my run around the open fields of the castle. It was so strong that I couldn't ignore it. I reached the human town and watched from behind the trees as she walked with a box in her hand. She felt my gaze upon her and I watched as she foolishly ran off. "Humans..." I scoffed. They were so stupid most of the time. If I really wanted to take her at that very moment, she couldn't stop me. Not her run and even her willpower. They were all the same puppets and completely helpless. I suddenly felt rage build up in my core and at that moment I was overwhelmed with desire. I didn't know where it came from, but I decided it was going to feel amazing fucking her pathetic little body. I calmly traced her scent to the house she had gotten into. From my position in the tree line, I saw her cower into the wall and a fe
Chapter 6: Avalyn's POV The next morning, I was up before any of my parents did. I wanted to make up for the trouble I caused them the previous day. It was my father's birthday and I really didn't want to make them angry on a day like that. But it happened and there was nothing I could do except take the beating and clean myself up afterward. This morning, I planned to right the wrongs I made yesterday. I walked to the kitchen and started the coffee pot. Father always loved his coffee black first thing in the morning. My stepmother preferred her caramel. As the water started boiling, I scrubbed and cleaned all the pots and pans, I used the previous day. I couldn't remember when they ate but I found enough dishes on the sink to show that they did have some sort of feast without me. When I finished, I took a tray and placed two coffee mugs on it. I poured out the beverage into the mugs and stirred it to their specification. Satisfied with the way it looked, I took it up the stairs
Chapter 7: Avalyn's POV This time, I didn't just feel the vibration of his growl deep in my stomach, my heart rammed in my chest as my blood pumped five times faster. He wasn't human. I could tell that now. The aura eluding his being brought nothing but fear. I trembled like an abandoned leaf as my eyes slowly went up to peep at him. The early morning sun made it difficult for me to see him clearly at such an angle and I couldn't tell if I was grateful for this or not. My father greedily went over the bags and started going through the coins. The sound of the metal pieces kissing one another echoed in the room. On a good day, it could have been classified as a calming sound but at that point, it felt horrible. It felt like a death machine —my death machine. "You can have her!" My stepmother chirped pushing me towards the towering man. The push was so sudden that I lose my balance as I wavered toward him. He held me by the arm and his grey eyes lowered to meet mine. The world wen
Chapter 8: Talon's POV "The plants are getting infected at a rapid rate, I think we are cursed!" Thomas said in a loud voice that irritated my ears. "The plants shouldn't be our focus right now, the southern tribe has been complaining of rogue attacks!" The army commander hissed, glaring at Thomas. "Oh, that isn't even important! The humans are starting to rebel! Something needs to be done about them as well!" David, who was in charge of the human-werewolf relationship said. We were having a council meeting and I sat there glaring at each of them as they placed their problems forward. Usually, I would listen to each point and we will discuss it before moving to the next point but today, they forgot their manners in their houses as everyone wanted to be louder than the last person that spoke. Every one of them wanted the problem in their jurisdiction to be treated more urgently than the last person's issues. My eyes narrowed into slits as their voices only grew with each passing
Chapter 9: Talon's POV I closed my eyes enjoying the feel of her wet folds around my cock but Sully's stupid words played back into my head and for the first time since I got mated to Willow, I wondered why we were never able to make a baby. Was I not fucking her right? I grabbed her waist and started hitting harder than before. She grabbed the sheets and her eyes rolled as the pleasure hit her differently. "Yesss... More... Faster!" She moaned meeting each of my thrusts with one of hers. I shook my head trying to push the thoughts away but they refused to go away. Willow couldn't have any issues. Maybe I was the one with an issue... "Yesss... Oh, Talon! Yes!" She screamed enjoying the hard strokes I was giving her. I flipped her over so that her ass was in the air. She positioned herself perfectly, and my thick cock rammed into her from the back. I grabbed her breast and allow its softness to help clear my mind but it was to no avail. It was no longer lovemaking, we were just
Chapter 10: Avalyn's POV The cars parked in the large driveway of the castle. The first thing I saw as I looked out the window was a tall man carrying another who had blood dripping out of his eyes. The angle at which the head leaned to told me that the man was long dead. My stomach churned and I felt like gagging. I was right when I thought this place was my tomb. It was indeed going to be my beautiful tomb. "We are here!" Dawn chipped. She was excited but I couldn't bring myself to even plaster a fake smile on my face. There was death awaiting me out there and she expected me to be excited about it? I wanted to stay in that car forever. It was the only thing keeping me from the cruel hands of death. From the look of things, I knew that my death wasn't going to be a pleasant and calm one. It was going to be gruesome. The towering man stepped out first and tapped on Dawn's side of the window. She rolled it down and turned her head to him. "Take her to Sara, I need to see the al
Chapter 11: Avalyn's POV Sara and Dawn scurried out of the room, leaving me to face my doom in the hands of the beautifully evil woman. She moved with such grace my mouth was left open as I watched her take slow steps to the bed. Then ever so calmly, she lowered herself onto the bed. She brought her hands to her lap and then slightly turned her head to look at me. Every moment she made was done with such poise, I knew at once that she must have been royalty. "What's your name?" Her smooth voice whispered. I opened my mouth to respond but no words left my lips. My throat suddenly felt dry and I quickly gulped down my saliva. Then I tried to speak again. "I— I am Avalyn Howard," I stuttered. She corked her head to the side and then ever so slowly, she brought her hand to my hair. I flinched but I dared not move away from her touch. I sat there frozen in place like I was glued to the bed and watched her next move with hawk eyes. She let her well-manicured fingers run gently thro
Chapter 12: Avalyn's POV My heart resumed beating suddenly. Each pump caused an ache in my chest as her words replayed in my head. "By mate... Do you mean sex? I have to have sex with him?" My voice broke at the end and I hoped she would give a negative answer. I prayed to all the deities that existed in the world at least this once, I hoped they listened to me. I wished that the term mating in their world meant something entirely different. My stepmother had always accused me of sleeping around in town but I had been preserving myself for the one man who would truly love me. Out of all the misfortune that befell me, that was the one thing I thought truly belonged to me. I thought no one would take that away from me. My tears resumed falling down my cheeks as my heart thumped so loud in my chest, it was the only sound I heard. I kept my eyes fixed on Sara waiting for her to open her lips and tell me that I was being silly. I wished she could tell me that their king couldn't poss