Alexander's POVIt had been a day since I’d last seen Alyssa. A whole goddamn day and not even a glimpse! No one else had seen her either since she ran from Kai after rejecting his proposal. I knew I would regret not going after her when I had the chance, but I didn’t think it would be like this with so much uncertainty and fear.Had Kai done something to her? I knew my brother wasn’t the most gentlemanly and had a horrid temper, but he wouldn’t have killed her… would he?Panic coursed through my chest and I tried to concentrate on our broken mate bond, I would’ve been able to feel it if she were dead.What worried me the most was that no one seemed to care about it, especially after Freya had suggested that ‘they probably couldn’t wait until their wedding night’. I wanted to snap at her because I knew Alyssa wasn’t like that, but under my mother’s watchful eye, I said nothing.I always seemed to be doing nothing!Suddenly there was a knock at my door and hope flooded through me. Quic
Alyssa's POVThe assassination attempt, though it freaked me out badly, might have actually been a blessing in disguise. Once Kai and I had gotten back to his palace I began working on his wound. I breathed out a sigh of relief as I saw that what I had done in the cave had worked. Kai’s wounds had stopped bleeding and though he was still being poisoned at least that was one less thing to worry about. He was still too pale for my liking though.“Can we get food delivered to your room?” I asked since food was always good to keep the energy up.“No,” Kai stated as he grabbed my hand like he thought I would head straight to the door anyway, “We can’t give anyone any reason to be suspicious.”Though I disagreed, I nodded along.I knew that I didn’t have too long to mess around as the wolfsbane concoction was still running rampant through Kai’s body. The first prince was strong but I didn’t know how long he’d be able to endure the pain.Already he was panting and sweating as we got him to
Kai's POVI didn’t know how long I’d been asleep for, but it must’ve been one of the best nights of sleep of my life. I woke up, with no aching or soreness in my body even though I knew I should’ve still been in a lot of pain, even my scar didn't throb like it always did. I sat up and rolled my shoulder, surprised that there was no stiffness in it.Then I noticed my hands. Because of the poison, I’d gotten paler as my body tried to fight it off, but now my hands looked warmer like whatever was draining them had gone.I looked to my side, and there she was. Alyssa had her head placed on the bed, eyes closed tightly. She looked so calm and peaceful as she slept. How long had she been working on me?Not wanting to disturb her, I shifted to the other side of my bed and placed the blanket over her so that she would stay warm.As much as I wanted to stay in bed and recover some more, I had a lot of work to do, firstly with finding the bastard who attacked Alyssa in the first place. Quickly
Alexander's POVI couldn’t let it happen.Kai didn’t love anyone. He barely cared about someone unless they were useful to him and as soon as they stopped he’d discard them like trash. I couldn’t let that happen to Alyssa. I wouldn’t.I could picture my mother’s disapproving stare if I told her about my regrets about rejecting Alyssa.“It’s for the good of the crown, Alexander,” She would tell me, “What do you think Kai will do if he becomes king? You need the support of the packs.”She’d always wanted me to be better than Kai. She was very bitter about the fact he was older than me and even more so that he had so many accomplishments under his belt. Since the moment I could walk I was held to a higher standard so that one day I could surpass my brother for all the packs to see.But I was slowly finding that I didn’t care about that as much anymore. Let Kai have the throne, let him try to kill me if he became king. I’d realised it wasn’t worth it to lose Alyssa. I only wished I’d real
Alyssa's POVKai was gone by the time I woke up but one of his servants told me that he wanted to meet with me in the Royal Gardens. I found it odd that he wanted to meet me in the place we were attacked but it was daylight and there were guards everywhere. It was probably to discuss steps going forward but I already had a plan of my own. As far as I was aware from doing test after test, it looked like both poisons were gone.I didn't know how I’d managed it, but I’d done it.I followed the trail back to the Royal Gardens, enjoying the sun on my face since I’d spent the last few days in a cave or cooped up in a room, it was nice feeling the breeze brush against my skin.Then I saw him looking better than he had in days.Kai’s skin looked healthier, he was no longer sweating or grimacing in pain and his blonde hair had a healthy shine to it rather than being dull and sheer like it had been.Sensing my presence, he turned and smiled, nodding his head for me to come closer. I stood by hi
Alyssa’s POVIt didn’t take me too long to get back home to the Ice Heart Pack and when I did, my father was waiting for me with open arms which surprised me.“I’m so glad you’re alright, my dear,” He announced as he walked me inside of our home. I cringed as I saw the pictures of my father and Vivian as a happy couple and Freya as their loving daughter. As we walked to the family room there was a family portrait of the four of them: My father, Vivian, Freya, and the newest addition, Caleb. They really looked like the perfect family.I didn’t mention it to my father as we finally entered the dining room where the other members of my family were waiting. Vivian sat on my mother’s old chair, and Freya and Caleb sat patiently on the sofa. When Caleb saw me he whimpered and cuddled closer to Freya. It pained me to know that I might never get the chance to bond with my other brother.I chose to stay standing up, eyeing up Vivian wearily. I didn’t know anything about them from after the pa
Alexander's POV“How foolish can you be? Do you know what you have just cost us?” My mother’s shrill voice drifted through one of my ears and then out of the other. I was acting as if I wasn't even in the room with her.I stood still, looking past her so I wouldn’t have to focus on her, hands clasped in front of me as I pretended to listen to my mother’s repetitive words. She sat on a chair in one of the palace’s many meeting rooms, tapping the arm of the chair rhythmically.“Do you understand how much effort I put in to secure that match for you?”Another rhetorical question she repeated about five seconds ago. Ever since I’d rejected Freya’s offer of a date, I’d realised that I didn’t want her at all, not even to secure the crown because what I wanted now was far more important than any jewel or kingdom.It was my mate, and I was going to fight tooth and nail to be given a second chance, even if she truly was in love with my brother.The moment that solidified my resolve was seeing
Alyssa's POVOne of the things I learned from Kai during my time at the palace was that if I wanted to get something done, I had to be sneaky about it. It was even harder to do that with Vivian and Freya breathing down my neck every five minutes and tormenting me.I don't know how my father didn't notice, maybe he chose not to notice, but Vivian and Freya planned their moments for when my father was gone or distracted to plan their sick ploys.I’d found silver nails in my shoes, caught the faint scent of wolfsbane in my tea and who knows what else I’d missed, but one thing was for certain and it was that they were going to try to make my life a living hell.But I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I wasn't the same person from before and I wasn't going to take things lying down.As Luna, Vivian had responsibilities and expectations that she shared with my father and on one occasion of inspecting the quality of our warriors and Freya out with her friends, I took the opportunity to final
Alyssa's POVThough I told Alexander I would let him protect me, I did my best to avoid him after that day. I took on extra duties so I wouldn’t have the free time to bump into him because if anyone caught me alone with him again, I knew life in the palace would only get worse.Even after that one encounter, word spread around the other maids and servants. Lyra and Amelia would trip me in the halls, causing me to break glasses and tea-wear which Moira would punish me for. They would also throw any clean clothes I’d finished onto the floor so I had to do double the work.Moira no longer hurt me physically, but she definitely didn’t make life easier for me after she got in trouble with Alexander. Even though I volunteered to take on more work, she assigned harder tasks to me that I barely completed. For the tasks that I didn't complete in time, the punishment would be that I was locked out of my sleeping quarters and forced to finish my job and sleep in the area it was in. I never want
Alexander's POVI hadn’t even heard the woman approach before she had Alyssa’s hair in her grip, yanking her to the floor. Everything felt like it had gone in slow motion. One second I was doing my hardest to make Alyssa smile, the next I heard her yelp in pain before she was tossed onto the floor.“Who do you think you are!?” She screamed, “How dare you manipulate His Royal Highness!”I couldn’t recall a time that a singular voice had angered me to the core. My mother would upset me, my brother would piss me off and Freya was simply annoying, but this woman’s command, her assault on my mate, buried a deep hole of hatred into my soul.“And who the fuck do you think you are?” I growled, sounding like my brother as I stood to my full height.Caspian didn’t need my permission to leave my body this time as he ripped free, sending a menacing roar at the servant.“Y-your Highness-” She stammered, quickly pulling herself into a bow, but I didn’t give a shit because she still had her hands w
Alyssa's POV“You’ve got to be kidding, you can’t do that!” I asked, aghast that the prince would even suggest such a thing.For one, if Moira, let alone the Luna Queen, found out that the second prince was on his knees cleaning like a common maid and that I had let him, I would be punished beyond imagination.Secondly, if they found out I hadn’t done this by myself I would probably also be punished for that too. It wasn’t as if I had friends among the rest of the staff. Also if he messed anything up it would be deemed my fault.And thirdly, even if by some miracle Moira believed that I could do something like this by myself, she would probably increase my workload just out of spite.“What’s there to joke about?” Alexander asked, tilting his head in utter confusion.I inwardly sighed, he may have been a prince but he had no idea how the world truly worked. “Your Highness, look at our positions right now. You are a prince, I am a maid. It would be improper for you to help me do my job
Alyssa's POVI faced a smack to the face from the Luna Queen’s head maid. The blow took me by surprise. Even though I was currently a maid for the Luna Queen, I was still an Alpha’s daughter so I hadn’t expected physical abuse from the others.I held my hand to my cheek, looking at Moira, the head maid, with shock and confusion.Moira was a short, stocky kind of woman with a head full of grey hairs and wrinkles, she had been in service to the Royal Family for a long time, but her allegiance was with the Luna Queen more than anyone else, and by my association with Prince Kai and the ‘carnage’ I had caused between Alexander and FFreya, I was an enemy to her.I’d just been cleaning the Luna Queen’s shoes. Moira looked over the row I had cleaned and picked up one of the shoes before turning her furious hand onto me.“Is this what you’d call clean?” She hissed, shoving the shoe in my face, “This isn’t the Red Maple Camp, pup. You’re a servant of the Royal Household, act like it!”If the sh
Kai's POVThankfully, by the time I returned to my camp none of my men had noticed me missing and no one else had disappeared under Leon’s watch. It seemed I was correct in thinking that it was a diversion. The assassins hadn’t been able to find Alyssa and I hoped that she would be safe at home.We had to move further south and Mother Nature was on our side as the wet, muddy terrain was blessed by the sun and things became warmer. No more wringing socks out by the fire or having clumps of dirt caught in fur.But, even though conditions were better, I’d felt more uncomfortable than ever. I had a tarp instead of a cave floor, I had a tent over my head instead of spiders and a warm fire instead of shivering in blankets. But there was something I had then that I didn't have now.Alyssa.Her smile, her laughter, her voice, and her scent were all worth it.But at that moment instead of being with her, I was stuck with burly brutes who hardly knew how to bathe and clean up after themselves.
Alexander's POV I didn’t know what game my mother was playing but unfortunately, I had no choice but to go along with it if I wanted to ensure that Alyssa stayed safe. Regardless of whether my engagement with Freya was back on, she wouldn’t forgive Alyssa for supposedly coming between us.I was partly to blame for that, I hadn't exactly been subtle with my affection for Alyssa, no matter how much I tried to hide it and squash it into the ground.We sat together in the carriage. I was on one side with Freya holding me, her head on my shoulder as Alyssa sat on the opposite side, her gaze never moving away from the window.I’d give anything to know what thoughts were running around her head. I’d give anything to be able to fix the ones that made her frown.But I was part of the problem. All of this could’ve been avoided if I had just accepted her in the first place.“Aren’t you so excited for the wedding, Alex?” Freya asked, craning her face towards me so that her lips were only a few c
Alyssa's POVDespite the incident with Freya, the next few days passed peacefully, so much so that Vivian even smiled at me a couple of times. Genuine smiles.With Freya’s engagement to Alexander back on and being planned at the moment, and with Kai being stationed far away in the South for a who knows how long amount of time, Vivian didn’t see me as a threat anymore. She had everything she wanted.A powerful Alpha husband, an heir to inherit that title and her daughter to be a princess and possibly Luna Queen.With Vivian’s change in character, it was clear to me that Freya must’ve not mentioned any part of our conversation to her mother about Alpha Aaron. Either she thought it wasn’t worth the hassle or she was scared that if she told her mother and Vivian retaliated it would confirm whatever she thought I knew.So with the first bit of peace of mind I'd had for a long time, I relaxed.With the wedding preparations taking place, everyone had been neglectful of Caleb who was still on
Alyssa's POVAlexander was so convincing in his pleas that I almost believed it. If I hadn’t known any better I would’ve thought this display to be genuine and that he'd done this in front of me again just to spite me.I glanced up slightly, having looked away when Freya had launched herself at my mate. My heart stammered as I looked at the passionate kiss and saw Alexander looking right at me.I looked down again.Caleb tightened his grip on my hand. He was still so young that he didn’t understand what a mate bond was or felt like, he barely understood the concept. But even still, my younger brother must’ve sensed that there was a hollow space within my soul and the cause of that hollowness was the man kissing Freya. He squeezed again, letting me know that he was there.I squeezed his hand back and smiled at him.“We should give them some privacy, shouldn’t we?” I said, wanting to get Caleb away from whatever manipulation was happening there.Caleb smiled and pulled me towards the do
Alexander;s POVThe last time I was alone with Alyssa I’d made a right ass of myself. The last time we were alone I’d confessed to her and she rejected me so being alone with her now I couldn’t help but feel awkward and a sense of longing. I wanted to hold her and beg her to forgive me again, but it wasn't the time. What do you say to a girl you hurt and now are in love with?But I still wasn’t going to give up, not until she gave me a chance.Even if she didn’t I was going to protect her. And not because Kai told me to. I was going to make sure she was safe. We stood just outside of the Ice Heart Pack’s territory line and she gave me a small smile.I ran through the plan in my head again.The plan was that Alyssa would stealthily return to her room. Only two people in the Pack House knew that she had left the pack territory, those two people being a trusted maid and her brother. No one else should’ve expected that she would go anywhere else.She would make herself known and half an h