The shredded organ landed with a sick plop on the floor next to my feet, and I rushed to the toilet to throw up. What have I done? What have I done?‘He deserved it. We are not his to touch.’ The wolf howled in my head.Sticky dark blood covered my body, my face. Revulsion pulsed through me. No, no, I didn’t want to do this. I never wanted this to happen again.‘There was no choice,’ the wolf justified the horror. ‘Find the key.’I stepped over the guard’s mutilated body on shaking legs that threatened to give in. The chain around my ankle caught on his leg, and I nearly toppled over onto the blood pooling around him.“God… this is awful. Fritz will kill me for this.” I stood under the icy spray to wash away the blood and gore. I cried for my innocence lost, for the monster I’d become. The girl who never wanted to hurt a living thing was gone.The wolf was silent.I didn’t even dry myself. Fleeing into the room, I found the guard’s clothes scattered across the bedroom floor. On my kne
Erina“Please believe me, Elise. He’s playing you.” What would it take for her to trust me? I was in tears on my knees. “How was I to know that would happen when I marked Magnus? I just wanted him to love me, to belong to me.” It was the truth. It hurt her to hear me say it. But she needed to hear it. “I was jealous of his love for you and the others. To be his slave wasn’t enough. Surely you can understand it. Being his mistress wasn’t enough for you either.”My words lit a fire under her. Her face contorted into an ugly mask, lips pulled back to reveal her canines. A cry of rage escaped her as she rushed forward. Her palm collided with my cheek. The slap made me see stars, and it stung, but I let her be. If hurting me would make her believe me, then so be it. I fell back onto my elbows; a sob caught in my throat.Anger and resentment made her brave. She grabbed me by my hair and punched me in the face, once, twice, harder this time. Bitter blood filled my mouth.“How could you! Do y
MagnusThere were some drugs in the food she forced on me, because I fell asleep, but it was more like a coma. And I dreamed like never before. So real. The smell, the taste, the feel of her soft skin against mine. It was like she was right there in my arms, my Erina.“If this is just a dream, I never want to wake up, my love.” I stroked her hair. It was long again, covering her like a blanket. “My beautiful mate. Tell me this is real.” I kissed her soft lips, but they tasted different, not as sweet.Her fingers tugged at my hair, scraping against my scalp. “Shh… Don’t overthink it. I am here with you. I’ve missed you so much.” Her lips skimmed over the mate mark, and it lit up every nerve in my body.This was too good not to be real. I opened my eyes, but didn’t recognize our surroundings. “Where are we?”“In a place that doesn’t exist, my king.” She took my hand and placed it on her breast. “Make love to me. I need you.” Firm hands wrapped around my cock, stroking it to life. I gr
ErinaIt was impossible not to despair. Sitting there in the dark on the hard dirt floor of the cell, surrounded by the stench of dust and excrement, I never felt more desperate. I saw no way out for me, and I would go insane if I had to stay there for six months. Elise refused my attempts to reach her, blocking the link. And I had exhausted myself pacing the floor, thinking of ways to escape. I curled up in a corner and struggled to sleep.‘We wait,’ said the wolf inside my head.“Wait for what?” I sneered. “I am a prisoner. Magnus won’t come for us. He could be dead for all we know.” I am cursed.‘He is alive,’ replied the wolf. ‘We will go to him soon.’“You’re insane.” I tried to shut my mind off, shut her up, but the wolf just mocked me.When I finally drifted off into restless sleep, dreams haunted me. I was in Magnus’ arms, and he held me close. Whispered words of love in my ear. I woke up crying.***Two muscled guards came the next morning and opened the cell door. Their broa
MagnusI fell into darkness, unending night. No matter how I tried to stop myself, grabbing onto passing things, images that had no substance, flitting like smoke through my fingers, I kept on falling further. I screamed out, and it was her name that was repeated on my lips. Erina. Erina. My salvation.A sound, a laugh… It echoed through my mind. “Nothing but a lost puppy…”I crashed to the bottom of whatever hell it was. Breath left my body in a painful gasp, like I’d been drowning and abruptly pulled out by my hair.“Gaah!” My eyes flew open, searching for focus. I tried to sit up, but my body might as well have been stone. I couldn’t move.“Welcome back. Did you enjoy your little trip?” I heard her voice, the Dark Witch, but couldn’t see her.“Where are you, you demon bitch? What have you done to me?” Fritz was a dead wolf. I will end his entire pack. He will pay for his disloyalty, but if he touches Erina, I will flay him alive.“Tut, tut, Lycan. No use exhausting yourself with th
The horrified screams. Desperate cries. It all floated down to me where I crouched in the cell. My lips moved in silent prayer, hoping that Elise was somewhere safe. That she would come rushing down the stairs and free me. “Magnus, if you could hear me… please be alive. Please…” If only I could shift into my wolf.Patience, the wolf snarled at me. We await our time. “We don’t have time! They will kill us.” I was close to losing my mind. Was this the end for us?So this was the prophecy come true then? I was the instrument of death for the Lycan. God, I didn’t want this. No matter how much I sometimes hated him. He was mine, and I was his. Was this love? This conflicted emotion. The fine line between love and hate. I didn't understand it, but I knew I couldn't live without him. “I don’t want to live in a world without you.” That’s what he said a long time ago. Only now it was I that felt this way.We wait, the wolf insisted.Praying was useless. Crying even more so. I wiped my cheek