VIOLETTE.
After casting a curse on the villagers, which was only a bluff, I walked aimlessly in the forest. From the daylight of the sky until it turned beautiful tangerine. Each turn I made only trapped me deeper in the unfamiliar forest. The strong blow of wind mixed with snow didn’t help to smoothen my journey.My face started to feel stiff; the snow adorned my lashes, so the cold pierced my skin each time I blinked. Every breath I took produced a smoke. I rubbed my palm together and put them on my icy cheeks. I wondered whether the beasts caused the harsh winter in this land since they had furs. I clasped my red cloak, hoping it could feed me the warmth I sought the most. My steps got slower and slower as my consciousness began slipping away. If I were to pass out at this moment, there was no doubt that I would die alone. And the beast who found my body would chew my almost rotten flesh. The thought of it gave me the will to force my body to march forward. Maybe just a little more, I would meet a shelter. Around five minutes later, a dangerous howl erupted in the forest. Sending a chilling sensation all over my body. My heart thumped wildly against my ribcage. If what I read in the book about the beast were true, then it must be able to hear my heart singing in fear and feel the terror in me. The scary howl from the beast didn’t stop; it grew louder, closer even. The ground shook as if several horses were galloping toward me. I turned my head in slow motion. There I saw the scariest living beings looking at me. The beast—Lycan, the human said, was bigger than in the book and my imagination. I had seen a similar creature, big dogs, in human land, but they were pale in comparison. The beast was almost as tall as me, its golden eyes glowed dangerously, and the teeth looked sharper than a butcher’s knife. I held my breath and took several steps back, but the moment twigs broke under my feet, the beast let out an angry roar, and I ran for my dear life. My survival instinct was so strong that I completely forgot how cold I was. All I knew was I had to run until the beast, lycan or whatever it was, lost my track. I could hear the beast’s heavy breathing and its claws scraping the pavement as it followed my trail. The beast growled again; this time, it was way louder than before. I didn’t know the difference, but if they worked as humans did, then the beast must be calling for another to hunt me. “Please, please, please, please, I want to live.” Tears fell from my eyes, blurring my line of sight. Yet, I didn’t stop. I had to stay alive to find my mother, find a husband, and give birth to adorable children. Perhaps God did pity me because I could finally see a cave. Hope bloomed in my chest as I set my goal. However, my happiness cracked when I stumbled on the rod. Then, my body free-falling into the soil. “Argh!” I screamed as I felt something sharp poke my skin. I looked down and saw that a sharp stone pierced my legs. “Please, why is this happening to me? Just why!” I bellowed in frustration and agony. I noticed the beast stopped right before me. Its eyes gleamed, seeing me quiver in cold and trepidation. I gripped the sharp stone and bravely threw it into the beast’s eyes. Then I fled away when the beast took one step back. I dragged my wounded leg to the cave without looking back. The beast was still behind me, not running this time, almost seeming hesitant to follow me. That made my brows arch in question. “Why did it stop hunting me?” That question was running around in my mind, yet it didn’t hinder me from marching toward the cave. The cave was the only place that could save me from beasts and cold. “Just a little more, hang in there, Vio,” I murmured as the view of the cave got bigger with every step I took. The beast had stopped entirely moving toward me. But, instead, the beast turned its back and ran in the opposite direction, then drowned in the sea of trees. The tension left my body as I noticed I was finally alone. I heaved a sigh of relief, then continued to walk. Two minutes later, I arrived at the front of the cave and entered it without hesitation. The light from the outside got small as I ventured deeper. The temperature also turned warmer, which motivated me to go even further. I channeled my energy to focus on making a small fire in my palm but failed. So I tried again, twice, thrice, and it was still fruitless. “What a useless witch am I,” I grunted. This was why being a witch was the same as being an average human; I couldn’t use it as I pleased. I finally succeeded on my fifth try; the flame was extremely small, probably similar to a candle. I strode farther, but my breath grew heavier the longer I walked, and the contact between my trousers and my fresh wound kept making me hiss. “Okay, Violette, this is the sign for you to rest,” I told myself, then let myself fall flatly on the hard ground. I reached for my bag and took out the potion bottle labeled ‘Healing potion.’ I let the potion drop on my leg and groaned when it finally worked on my wound. Then I leaned on the hard stone of the cave and rested my exhausted body. After a few hours of sleep, I could hear the sound of screams reverberating through the entire cave. At first, I tried to ignore it and force myself to keep sleeping; however, the scream came again. And I snapped. “God, I can’t even sleep peacefully in this place!” I screamed back, hoping whoever was disturbing me get irritated after hearing my voice. I adjusted my sleeping position, ready to jump back to dreamland. “Who’s there?”I jumped from my position. Sitting rigidly because I couldn’t believe I had just heard another voice speak the same language as me, not just some growl that couldn’t be deciphered. I wanted to reply but held myself back just in case everything was in my head. “Come here.” The voice came again, lulling me to follow its instruction. The voice, I wasn’t wrong, should belong to a man. It was low and husky, as if he had not drunk water for a very long time. I tried to lid the fire again on my palm, and fortunately, I succeeded on my first try. So, I began ambling my way.“Come to me.” The voice was like an anchor in my situation, and as if getting compelled, I followed without thinking. I extended my hand, trying to feel what was in front of me, but to no avail. I could only touch the air and the hard stone on the cave wall. “Hello, can you hear me?” “Come closer.”The voice sounded more dangerous than before to me. I could detect the hidden growl following after his words, making the hair on my nape stand rigidly. I knew I should be scared and turn around to leave this strange place and slip away to human land, but the problem was I wasn’t scared. Not at all. Curiosity took over me, so I kept marching in the direction of the voice despite the alarm ringing like crazy in my head. Then suddenly, my body hit something hard and almost fell miserably. But I felt a muscular arm circling around my waist, strong and almost seemed possessive. And what followed the incident was a ferocious growl and a chant of ‘Mine.’NOAH. The scent of jasmine mixed with tuberose was so potent in the air. The rich sweetness of it seduced me to snap my eyes open. My head was hung lower, now raised in alert as the aroma kept assassinating my sense like a wave of flash food. My eyes wandered around the dark and empty area, searching for who or what might be the source of the smell that woke me up from my long slumber. Out of instinct, I took a giant step forward, but my movement was restrained by a chain that glowed on my neck. And before I knew it, I was pulled back with robust force until I could feel the piercing stone marring my bare torso."Fucking hell!" I hissed. I touched the chain and noticed how long my hair and beard had grown. Gone was my shoulder-length hair as now it cascaded to the ground. "Shit, how long have I been here?" I rubbed my face and bellowed in frustration.I don't remember why I was caged here. The last thing I could recall was how I cried for my late father, then my wolf suddenly lost
VIOLETTE.I eyed my bleeding hand. Realization finally sank in me that I had just made a deal with a stranger. A Lycan. I had wanted to refuse him, knowing that every word he used to convince me wasn't that good. But, I was aware with my current weak state, I held no chance to fight against him. "Tell me, Violette, how do you get in the cave?" He suddenly asked me when I was busy trying to tear the hem of my shirt to bandage my wound. "I walked, of course," I replied lazily, tying the cloth with my right hand and teeth. I noticed he stared at me like I was some sort of fascinating creature. Maybe I was. After all, I was a witch, and he never saw one. Lucky him, I suppose. "Are you telling the truth?" I looked at him, giving him the most irritating look I had. "Did you expect me to crawl? I dragged both my foot." His gaze turned dark as if I had just made a grave mistake when I only answered his question. He might think that I was raised poorly by my family. "Lead the way." He
NOAH. "Jealous much?" Kasha teased as we sauntered to his residence. Kasha had been my best friend since I was a child. He usually love to annoy me and would jump of joy if I gave him the reaction he wanted. So this time, I chose to ignore his comment. "How is the current situation?" "You are no fun." He said and punched me on the back, then added seriously, "You've gone for too long, Noah. It has been nineteen years since Nash got the throne. Smaller pack lives in misery as their fund and ratio for food often come late. The tax rate is also crazy. So only my pack and the two other big packs flourished in the past years." Kasha pushed the door to his enormous house, and she was greeted by a red-haired woman, which I was sure Kasha had just fucked a while ago. "Nineteen years. It's been that long, huh." I muttered and peeked at the woman who threw a playful wink at Kasha, asking to be eaten right there and then. "Nineteen years, and your taste haven't changed." It was my turn to m
VIOLETTE. "What are you doing?" I whispered to him when I noticed the collective gasp from the spectators. I also peered to see the expression of the king. The king's face appeared shocked beyond words, but he managed to mask it as soon as it appeared. "I told you to lower your eyes, Violette!" Upon hearing his harsh tone, I immediately dropped my head far lower until my chin almost touched my suprasternal notch. Painful silence fell upon us; none dared to open their mouth. I screamed inwardly for someone to man up and voice their mind. But seconds passed into a minute, and we were still trapped in the stillness. Using my elbow, I nudged at Noah, forcing him to speak or move, and I noticed from my peripheral view that his jaw hardened as he looked straight at the king. "Noah." The king finally spoke, making everyone, including me, finally could breathe out. "Fancy seeing you here to celebrate the anniversary of my coronation day. Are you done grieving?" I didn't know which par
NOAH.When the door was finally closed, Violette yanked her hand free. She glared at me with intense hatred in her eyes. Lifting my hands up, I said, "Calm down.""Calm down, you said. Calm down! Hahahah." Violette's body trembled tremendously out of rage. "How dare you ask me to calm down after betraying my trust like that?!" She prowled at me without hesitancy and kept pointing at my chest with her index finger. I would have laughed at how she tried to intimidate me if this weren't a serious situation. But, right now, she was close to exploding. "You are mistaken. I am not—""Which part of it did I mistake? The part where you said I am your slave or the one where you said you'd toss me to your brother? Tell me, which part, Noah?!" Violette's chest moved up and down frantically, and I could her heart thumping wildly.'She is upset because you called her slave.' my wolf told me. Of course, she would be. But I couldn't admit to Nash that Violette was my mate. It would put her in da
VIOLETTE.He kissed me. He kissed me.My brain froze as my pupils grew larger when Noah moved his lips against mine. Slowly licking every inch of my lips as if he wanted to savor the taste. "Hmmphm." I tried to heft my hands, pushing him away from me. However, he engulfed me in his arms instead of letting me go. Caging me in between his hard body. I didn't know how we went from screaming at each other to this situation. Everything moved so fast that I didn't have enough time to comprehend. So, I tried to break free again. However, the more I attempted to flee, the more aggressive he became. The gentle kiss suddenly became heated as he bit my lower lips."Argh!" I yelped in surprise, and then I felt something; soft and sticky invade my mouth. When I sensed it stroked my tongue tenderly and softly, I clenched and unclenched my fist as a strange sensation filled my belly. As if what he didn't wasn't enough, I noticed he grew wilder and impatient. His tongue kept on grazing mine as i
NOAH. Even until I got my release, I still couldn’t erase Violette’s face and moan from my mind. The minutes I spent instructing and listening to her pleasure herself were both heaven and hell. I loved hearing her sensual voice, and I could perfectly picture her in my head while she pumped her finger in and out of herself. The potent scent of her arousal, mixed with her sweet taste, drove me mad. I wanted nothing more than to push myself inside her, feeling as her pussy swallowed my hard cock. It took all of my self-control not to turn back and take her. But when she came and screamed my name. I lost. I couldn’t be in the same room as her. So, I acted like a gentleman and went out to the next room and gave myself pleasure while imagining she was sucking my cock enthusiastically. Honestly, I couldn’t believe we moved this fast. The kiss was wrong on my part. I did it out of desperation, and I wasn’t even hoping for Violette to kiss me back. I had intended to let go of her when I was
VIOLETTE. “And the one beside you is Lady Flora Barlow. She is the mate I choose for you.”My head instantly rose. I was confused beyond words. I always thought that Lycan only mated to their fated ones and that they had no say in that matter. But Nash ultimately proved that I was wrong. What would happen to me if Noah were to be mated with someone else? Would he abandon me or keep me as his mistress and follow Nash’s words? Maybe I’d be happy if he abandoned me because I might be able to escape without a scratch. However, he was likely to choose the second option since he would gain both ways. Keeping me to his side and getting on Nash’s good grace.None dared to open their mouth afterward, and I held my breath, waiting for Noah to say something.“With all due respect, My King. I shall reject your good intention. For now, I have no plan to take a mate.”“Why? Are you waiting for your fated mate?” I sensed hostility in Nash’s tone, making me question why he was against Noah finding