MasukThe drive wasn't anything but twisting in a certain way, bringing back sad, dark past and nostalgic feelings I didn't even want to dwell on.Also, that piece of information Pascal delivered was just so unexpected. I still remembered that piece of information from ten years ago, while I was still out of my pack for my strategic training, when the news of her parents’ execution got to me.It wasn't one piece of information I enjoyed, especially when I learnt they had a daughter Alpha Philip wasn't aware of.He was so mean and rude to have passed that judgment for a crime as simple as what they committed.I had felt a deep, lingering pity for the poor child. No one, absolutely no one, let alone a child, deserved to endure such cruelty.The judgment passed on her parents had been harsh, unnecessarily so, for a crime that hardly warranted such severity. It spoke of a man who ruled without restraint.When I eventually returned to check out affairs regarding my pack and then returned back to
Marvin“Far from it. Must she be my mate for me to care that much? Isn’t she also a living being who deserved the slightest bit of compassion?”Renz asked, and something in my chest tightened painfully as I turned towards the drawer, pulling it open to select my clothes, a simple dark shirt and grey pants. At least she wasn’t his mate. Because if she had been, I would have been pacing off the walls by now, restless, violent, until the bones in my palms cracked under the pressure.“She was a living soul, and I don’t find it settling that things turned out that way. Besides, she brought it upon herself when she plotted with that guard to help Rita escape, which you know the punishment wasn’t meant to be any lighter.”“And yet, the same Rita you so much despised even after everything, the same one you had punished brutally without closer investigation and accused wrongly, is the same one you left in your room all night. Don’t you think you aren’t doing these things correctly? Don’t you t
MarvinI returned to the office after that encounter with Rita, my chest rising and falling with restrained fury, the kind that clawed at my insides yet refused to find release, no matter how hard I tried to let it loose.“How dare she speak to me like that? I’m certain of it now,” I muttered under my breath, my jaw tightening as heat coursed through my veins. The night dragged endlessly, stretching into something unbearable, and for reasons I couldn’t quite place, Kendrick remained unusually silent.Silly wolf.The silence pressed harder than any words could have. The hours crept by with me barely holding onto control, clinging to that thin thread of restraint, forcing myself not to storm back into that room and make her pay for every single word she had dared to throw at me.Did the words reach me… yeah.Was I afraid she was going to do me any harm by staying close, as I had instructed?... No.And why did I even want her to always stay within the confines of that room?... That I wou
RitaMarvin closed the distance between us in a heartbeat, his hands snapping around my throat. I twisted beneath his grip, breath catching.“You dare speak to me like that?” His voice dropped, dangerous. “What gave you the audacity?”“I did nothing, Alpha Marvin.”“And yet you still speak?”A sharp breath left me, but I didn’t look away. He was the Alpha… yes. My mate… yes. But there comes a moment when fear loses its power, when consequences no longer matter.“I see I’ve been far too lenient with you,” Marvin snarled, his eyes blazing as his hold tightened. “The excuse you’ve grown has given you the nerve to address me however you please.”His fingers pressed harder against my neck, but I didn’t try to pull away. I didn’t fight him.My hands curled into the couch beneath me, gripping it instead, my gaze locked onto his steady, unblinking. I braced myself for whatever came next.Wasn’t it better for it to end all at once than to keep living in uncertainty… in cruelty?“My only crime,
RitaI'm still pissed with my thoughts, confused about what this woman truly wanted from me, and why she had been standing right there with me, interrupting that fragile, emotional moment with Kate, when suddenly, I felt a warmth wrap around me, something oddly too familiar, something that settled over my body without warning.I stirred only slightly, trying to ground myself in that moment, trying to steady the chaos swirling inside me, but almost immediately, a sharp pain shot through the back of my neck, spreading downwards, and then my arms registered the sensation of being pressed firmly against something solid.“Ahh…mm,” I whimpered under my breath, my body reacting before my mind could catch up, pulling myself just a little when that familiar mint-citrus scent flooded my nostrils, instantly jolting my senses awake, my eyes blinking repeatedly as they struggled to adjust to the dimness that now cloaked the room.In my hurried attempt to gather myself, I was unaware of the positi
RitaA certain kind of chill enveloped me as I dropped down on that couch. It felt familiar in a way, but oddly strange. I couldn't tell what that feeling was, just as I couldn't yet tell what all the other emotions I’ve been experiencing ever since the marking ceremony were either.I remained curled up, my knees pressed tightly together, my arms wrapped firmly across my chest, as my entire body coursed with that cold sensation, one that felt exhausting, yet deeply, unnaturally freezing.It tugged at me with a kind of determination I still couldn't comprehend. Every single day, something mysterious kept happening, unfolding without answers, without clarity. I ducked my head into my crossed arms, trying desperately to ground myself, to steady the storm of emotions threatening to consume me.*****“What's the issue? Why are you suddenly sad?” I asked Kate as she sat beside me, her gaze locked onto mine with an intensity I couldn't ignore.She didn't respond. Instead, she slowly turned a







