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.
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
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
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 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
Alyssa’s POVThe Red Maple Camp was not a kind place. It was created to imprison criminals and dangerous wolves. I certainly didn’t belong there, I was surprised I had lived this long. For the past five years, every breath I took and every word I muttered resulted in pain and punishment. It was my turn to clean the floors as part of my daily chores and I pulled at the wound on my back from the countless beatings and whippings I’d taken. I let out a hiss of pain, the wound and hunger making me dizzy. I took a deep breath, leaning on my hands to take a small break.My wolf, Carys, whimpered in warning, but it was too late when my watcher walked in. His eyes moved to the floor as he saw I wasn’t finished before his gaze roamed my body, making me shiver in disgust.I expected him to beat me for slacking off, but instead, he said, “It’s your lucky day Alyssa. Alpha Henry has come to collect you.”That couldn’t be right, could it? Had my father truly come to take me away from this place?T
Alyssa’s POVThe first face I saw when I returned home was Vivian, smiling innocently at me as she opened her arms, pulling me into a hug, “Welcome home, Alyssa.”I didn’t return her hug, just gave her a sharp nod and stepped back, I didn’t want to address her at all, let alone have her touching me. It was then I noticed the amount of wolves gathered, watching this reunion. I spotted faces I hadn’t seen since I was little, so many alphas and lunas that it was hard to keep track.“I wasn’t aware we were to have an audience, love,” My father spoke to Vivian.Vivian looked around in mock shock as she placed a hand on her heart, “Honey, don’t you think today is a special day? It’s not every day an alpha’s daughter turns eighteen! And I’m sure it’s tradition for the birthday girl to have a shifting ceremony.”My father opened his mouth to speak, quickly looking between Vivian and me. It was only my thirteenth birthday that Vivian had sacrificed her child and my father lost his true heir.
Alyssa’s POVMy father rarely mentioned my mother anymore, so hearing him say that, here in front of everyone made my heart ache.“Did mother have wings?” I asked softly through our pack’s mind speak. I had been so young I hardly remembered her.“She did, she was the only one in her family to have them. They were small, but they were a symbol of power, especially since the Feather Wing Pack had almost lost that magic entirely. Your mother was a very special woman and would be so proud to see this.”I wish she could see me too, I thought to myself. If she were here I wouldn’t have endured those years in Red Maple Camp.Whilst I was lost in my thoughts a my father’s praise, neither I nor Carys saw the stone flying towards us. The stone cracked against Carys’ face and she couldn’t help but let out a sharp growl.Caleb was glaring at us with more anger than a four-year-old should know, “Go away! Go away! You’re going to ruin my family!” He cried.He reached down, picking up another stone
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