I would stab Conrad straight in the heart.Deimos’ words played on loop in the back of my mind. Earn Conrad’s trust, give Deimos information on Conrad, stab Conrad.After everything I had come to learn that Conrad did to me, the whole idea should have appealed to me. I searched inside myself for the elation from the image of holding a knife right above Conrad’s chest, the look of shock on his face followed by realization.Nothing.I was not a murderer.Even when Frazier died by my hands, I still found it hard to believe. Besides, I was out of it when it happened. It may have been my last resort and it was out of self-defense.What excuse could I come up with if I succeeded in killing Conrad? It would be more of an act of revenge more than it was an act of self-defense.Was revenge worth killing a person over?For his revenge, he exiled me. He didn’t hold a knife to my throat for killing his Beta. Then again, he called for a fight to the death match so exiling me for winning a
I had watched a lot of movies with different depictions and descriptions of what heaven looked and felt like. Some said it was a long, endless path of gold. Others said it was nothing but white with angels and your loved ones all around you.Now, I believed everyone had a different experience of heaven. My heaven was far different from white clouds and golden gates.My heaven was the coolness of my being the minute Conrad kissed me. It was the little sounds of approval he made whenever I did something right, like lightly tugging at his hair and pulling him closer.The heat within my bones was replaced by the rush of immense pleasure flowing through my veins in response to him.This was my heaven.“Athena,” he gasped as our lips finally disconnected. “We can’t go any further. I don’t want you doing things you’ll regret later.”“I won’t regret a thing, Conrad,” I assured, but he wasn’t convinced.“When you’re ready. For now, I want you to tell me everything Deimos did to you in f
For some reason, Ferra’s words were not registering properly in my head. I was aware of what she had said, but the disbelief clung to me like a parasite. My mind was rejecting it, begging for it to be untrue.Ferra couldn’t be pregnant.I felt a kick in my stomach, queasiness following. I felt sick. Was I heaving? I was heaving.“Athena—”“You’re pregnant?” I cut Conrad off, staring at Ferra. I knew she was not lying. She would not lie about something like that, right?“Over six weeks gone,” she confirmed, never taking her eyes off Conrad as she said it as if daring him to say anything in his defence. “Since you know how fast werewolves give birth, you should know the heir to the pack is arriving soon. I advice you to return to wherever it was you came from.”I dropped the brush in my hand, taking shaky breaths in and out as I looked out through the window at the scene whose beauty they had destroyed for me.This was supposed to be a good thing. I was supposed to take this news
It was time for me to see Selena.I had told Conrad where I was headed, another submissive ploy at getting him to trust me.“Are you sure you’re ready to see her after all this while? After you left, she was heartbroken. She barely left the house. I had to send some of the soldiers to check in on her.”Ever since I left? Of course he would word it like that. He would refuse to take responsibility. At least he had the decency to see Selena through it. I wondered how angry she must have been at him.“I’ll be fine, Conrad.” I nodded, waving him goodbye as I walked out into the street.It was almost as easy to shake everyone’s stares and whispers as it was before. The only thing I found uncomfortable was not knowing what they were saying, this time. The announcement of the mating ceremony had been passed two days ago, right after Conrad had proposed.I now had three days to make my mark in Conrad’s heart and head, enough for him to not change his mind about the ceremony. I also had
I was out of the bed before Ferra could reach me, but that didn’t stop her acceleration. She swung once at me, which I dodged before Conrad could restrain her.“WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?” she screamed at me as Conrad tried to talk her out of it, pulling her as far away from me as possible.“Ferra, I need you to take a deep breath. This isn’t healthy for—”“I don’t care, Conrad! Now you act like you care!?” She thrashed roughly in his arms, futilely attempting to escape from his hold. “How dare you tell me what’s healthy and what’s not healthy when you go ahead and announce to the whole pack that you’re having a mating ceremony with her!?”A slight feeling of triumph crossed me. I never paid much mind to how Ferra would react to the news, but her reaction in that moment was playing out in my favor. She would try to scratch at me and hunt me and I would stand there, shaking with my tail between my legs because I didn’t mean to hurt her.Just perfect.“Ferra, I don’t—”“You don’t g
“RUN!” My wolf howled at me, her voice almost splitting my head in half from the inside. I wanted to oblige. I mean, who wouldn’t want to run when an Alpha’s wolf was running toward them, ready to tear them apart?My feet were glued to the ground as I watched my mate approach me, a murderous intent in his eyes. Today would be the day he’d kill me. It was all my fault. I deserved it. I couldn’t run.I was a murderer, after all. A traitor.A crushing force had me on my back, the air knocked out of my lungs. I didn’t want to make an attempt at breathing, but an instinctive gasp escaped my lips.It took everything in me to stop myself from struggling as he sat on me, suffocating me. That was the easiest way he could kill his mate, and I accepted it.Tears flowed out of my eyes. Maybe I deserved to die, but not our child. He didn’t know he was killing his child, as well. Would that change a thing if he knew? Would he even want the child?To test the theory, I pushed through our mind
One Year Ago. “Athena!” Selena’s voice pierced through the thin walls of our home. I would never understand why she yelled when even the sound of a pin-drop could be heard from anywhere. “Yes, Selena?” I called out softly. I heard her marching up to the attic, where I did most of my sketches and paintings. The attic had the best view of the stream behind our house, so I figured it would be the best place for motivation. It was. She climbed up the ladder leading to the attic and shook her head with a sigh as she sighted me. I was huddled up in front of the window. It was cold, but I was making a sketch of the stream. I wasn’t done just yet. “What are you doing here, all by yourself?” Her voice was soft and smooth, like velvet, when she didn’t yell. She had the kindest eyes I had ever seen. Take it from me, since not a lot of people looked at me kindly. “I’m always here, all by myself,” I giggled as she sat beside me. She shut the window, eliciting a frown from me. “I was sketchin
“Do you even know what you’re talking about? The Alpha’s birthday party? Absolutely not!” I heard the finality. She was never letting me go. I expelled a sigh and nodded. “I understand.” Her eyes softened. “I’m doing this for your own good. You don’t know what happens at those kinds of places. They’ll talk down on you.” “You’re not going, are you?” I questioned, making sure. I didn’t want to have a run-in with her when I snuck out. “I don’t want to.” She shook her head. “I won’t go, then.” I smiled at her, making sure to hide any sign of deceit.We spent the entire day binge-watching the Twilight series, just how I liked to spend birthdays. Selena always complained about how the werewolf didn’t get the girl, but it didn’t matter to me. It was Bella’s choice. “Aw, come on. I bet she wouldn’t have suffered this much—” “If she had ended up with Jacob, you say that every single time we reach the birth scene.” I giggled, kissing her cheeks. I held her tighter each time there was a