They say when you reach your lowest, you could only ever go up from there. The same people who said those words probably never reached their lowest. Memories flashed back in my mind. A horror movie I had lived through but couldn't help anyone within. Nightmare wasn't a harsh enough word to describe what I saw. People, my people, being hunted and ripped apart. Bullets grazing the air above my head. Mikaela and Julian nowhere in sight. Maybe that's why father had sent Andrew to my side, for when the memories do come back. Until the stark realization has set in that my mates were no longer with me. Neither was my necklace. Everything felt hollow and overwhelming. Except for the small miracle within my body. The one thing that reminded me of the time I had loved so fiercly it hurt.
I had lost track of how long I had been locked in this place. The cell they threw me in had no windows, no day
Mikaela's Point of View Julian and I hadn't spoken in days. No plans were good enough to get Luciana back. Every option we had would be too risky to pull off. People would die. We could die and so could our first child. She was lost to the hands of the enemy. People who had no problem harming her in the past. Lillian couldn't tell us when Luciana had conceived. Couldn't tell us when she was due. It had been nine days since they took her. Condemned her to whatever torture they wanted. To say I was burdened would be an understatement. She was gone and so was our child. Julian had locked himself within our room, refusing to speak with anyone. Refusing to plan for the impending war. This was what hell felt like and we all knew it. Risking my own life to get her back would only bring about more devastation. If things went wrong and I was also lost to the wolves, no one would be left to lead. Arjun and Amelia was deep in mourning. So was most of the other families
PART TWOFive brutal years had passed. Five years filled with turmoil and bloodshed. War had broken out across the planet. Humans screamed in outrage towards the supernaturals. Some screamed in outrage against the war. Allies turned on each other. Countries chose sides. Wolves defected from packs and Alphas grew stronger. No one was safe. Everything was at stake. Very few countries refused the war. Their people rose up in fear and overthrew them. Human children were sent off to die on distant battlefields. True soldiers were few and far inbetween. Old and battle hardened supernaturals came home in body bags. It was utter chaos.Six years ago, I was but a girl who had mated with a king. A vampire king meant for more in the world. And my best friend, whom i had loved for most of my life. Six years ago, I was thrown into a cell and had my love taken from me. Ripped from my arms before I had the chance to fully explore its depths. A miracle w
The battle had waged for what felt like hours. Blood had coated the field a while ago, dead eyes staring up at the crisp autumn sky. It was spring back home, blossoms already forming on long forgotten stems. The red from the blood paired nicely with the fallen leaves. Men kept charging fiercely towards me, screaming at the top of their lungs. They knew who I was. Knew that they were running to their deaths. But that didn't deter them for a single moment. For President! For Country! For honour! In the name of killing off those who were unknown to them. Straight into the embrace of death himself. Or in this case, herself. Smiling, I wiped the blood from my cheek and raised my swords. Beautiful katanas that held the names of my loves. Because with every kill that I counted, I was doing it in their names. For every man that I murdered, it was one less man to spill close to home. For the love so carelessly ripped from my embrace. Every drop of blood that fell to the earth, my ode
Confrontations with Sebastian had grown more frequent. As if he had grown more restless. Julian knew of my standing in life right now. Knew that I wasn't capable of loving anyone, much less myself. When my pendant had broken, I was hollowed out. Carved my heart from my chest and sent it up in flames. With the birth of Katharine, nothing changed, even when I had hoped it would. To say I felt like the worst person on earth was an understatement. Mikaela took to our daughter rather quickly and before I knew it, I had become the outsider in my own home. No joy found me and no love ever would. Everyone else around me seemed to move on, move forward, except for me. When I went home, it was just another reminder that I wasn't whole anymore. That, even though I wanted too more than anything, I couldn't bring myself to feel the love and happiness within their walls. That was why I banned all mating necklaces on missions. No one was to ever feel the way I had. I do. If even one of my Valkyrie
Soft satin fell over Amelia's exposed honey skin, leaving me a clear view of what I had just done. Hickeys and scratches lined her otherwise blemish free skin. She was a marvel. Someone who deserved far more than what was given to her. For the first time since our first encounter, we had gone at each other a second time. Like the goddess she was, she had brought me to my knees and I wasn't sorry for it one bit. I was in Italy, with a beautiful woman and I was feeling content. Never happy. Not truly, anyway.One night she had told me the story of her life. How Arjun wasn't her true mate, how they both lost their loves, but found each other. How no one knew they weren't true mates. Arjun told her that if someone were to suspect, they would strip both of them of their titles. Then came the story of how he had beat her to a pulp whenever something didn't go to his liking. Soon she had Selena. Whom Arjun also beat. Victim of circumstance. She loved Selena as every mother loved the
Everyone had settled into the main living room after we ate. Sonja had dared Fable to down an entire pint of blood, filling the girl to the brim. Contrary to pop culture beliefs, not all vampires could drain a human dry. Think of it this way, some people barely ate anything and some people ate a lot. Fable could barely hold everything in. We had laughed when she gagged a bit, but no one was laughing now. Staff members were cleaning the kitchen as we spoke. She had thrown up all over the counter. Great warrior, not so great at saying no to stupid dares. A comfortable silence had settled in around us, the television our only background noise. We all had our hobbies to keep us entertained once we returned from the field, although we would gladly do it together than far apart. Having their presence around me eased my mind. I may have been lonely, but I was never alone, not with them. Amelia had never joined us. Rather keeping to herself this evening. Maybe I had struck a chord s
A convoy of cars sat waiting on the airstrip when we landed. No one spoke as we climbed off. They all knew this would be my first trip home in three months. They all knew this was going to be taxing. Throw in the fact that I had another pendant and you had one volatile queen. I was on edge. Telling Mikaela and Julian about the pendant was going to be more difficult than I was ready for. There was no doubt in my mind that they would encourage me to go look for the person if it meant being with them again. But I wasn't sure I could do that. Not to them and certainly not to myself. I had seen forever in their eyes and I never wanted to look anywhere else but them. Amelia had opted out of our short vacation, insisting that there should be someone to speak with my generals and war council. Although I knew Jason wouldn't mind my absence.A Queen needs to be by her King's side,he once told me. After his father had passed, Julian had moulded him into a very fitti
"How is my wife doing?" Arjun asked from his perch at the breakfast nook. Newspapers were scattered before him whilst another was clutched in his hands. His attire was anything but formal. He almost looked to be of poor hygiene. Amelia's lack of speaking with him had brought him to his knees, it seemed. "She is flourishing by my side. The war had left her busy and happy. Sated even..." I trailed off, a nasty gloat in my throat. The bastard had bruised his wife more times than I could count. It wasn't wrong of me to have her the way I had. She deserved a whole lot more than he was ever willing to give her. Even though she wanted nothing more than to rub her new found freedom in his face, Amelia was also busy ensuring our troops were well fed and clothed. She didn't have time for petty things such as Arjun. "Your company suits her, I see." Arjun didn't even glance up from the paper as he spoke. Numbers appeared on the back of the pages. Body counts and losses garnered