LOGINPenelope was halfway down the corridor when she nearly collided with someone turning the corner. Strong hands caught her shoulders before she could stumble. The familiar scent hit first it smelt like home Alex. “Whoa be careful my Luna “ “Sorry” she blushed The apology came out distracted. Her heart was still hammering against her ribs. Lara’s words kept replaying inside her head. It’s the same tattoo on that Zara’s body. The same tattoo. The same tattoo. The same tattoo. She grabbed Alex’s arm before he could say anything else. “It’s Zara.” The words left her immediately.. Just that. “It’s Zara. Lara remembered the tattoo. She saw it that night. Alex, it’s her.” She waited for surprise. For atleast some confusion. For questions Instead, Alex simply stared at her. Calm. Far too calm. Penelope narrowed her eyes. “…You know.” A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I know, baby.” Her breath caught. “You do?” “Mm.” Her
“If I said I didn’t dream of this moment, I would be lying. I mean, for such a lousy, disgusting pest, you sure do have privileges that protect you.” I looked at Davis tied to the chair, his face swollen from all the beating Liam had given him earlier. The council chamber beneath the castle had been repurposed for moments like this—thick stone walls, silence, and no witnesses. I had told Liam not to go too far, but restraint was never his strength when betrayal was involved. I removed the cloth gag from Davis’s mouth. He gagged and vomited onto the floor, coughing violently. The disgust flowing through my veins only brewed higher. “You—how dare you reduce me to this?” he shouted hoarsely. “You did this! This is a conspiracy. You faked that video, and all those hussies in the council just followed you. Get me out of here. I’m innocent—” I reached for the drilling gun resting on the metal table. “You know,” I said calmly, “I’m really curious how deep this can go. How deep the
The suspicion flowing through me was worse than ever. This time I wasn’t just suspicious — a part of me knew it. Me and Cherry knew it. But the fact that we don’t have any evidence, and a clove scent isn’t exactly an evidence fit enough to arrest someone… I sighed. “If you sigh one more time, your highness, I would like to think you find my presence boring,” Lara said, raising a brow like she was genuinely offended. “It’s not ‘your highness,’ Lara. I’m not a queen.” “But you live in a castle, don’t you?” she chuckled, light and teasing. I rolled my eyes and chuckled too, but my chest still felt heavy. The tension had been sitting there all morning, like a knot tightening and tightening. The room felt too quiet, the air too still. Even Cherry was pacing inside my head. “Tell me what’s wrong, your highness. A problem shared is half solved.” I sighed. What’s the use of hiding it anymore? She had been nothing but kind — and honestly, the secret was eating through me. So I
Do you know that feeling when you know something big is coming? That was what I felt as I sat down on Alex thighs in the council meeting. Today was the day. Alex didn’t tell me what was happening today but guessing by the look of everyone here, we got some evidence to take Davis down. The tension in the room was so thick it could choke someone. Well this will be fun. I finally get to see Davis get destroyed. Call me petty but the few period I took charge of the pack work the dude got on every last bit of my nerve. I could feel Zara gaze piercing through my skull and that made me smile. Go ahead and cry bitch you can’t do shit, and how dare you try to seduce my man in his office. I’ll deal with you after this. “What was the cause for this emergency meeting alpha Alex?” “Has something happened again?” “Good morning councilmen and sorry for this emergency meeting but it was needed. After all, to purge a virus you must first identify it,” Alex said. I saw some of the confused face
“How long is this going to take?” I stared down at the scruffy-looking guy sitting in front of the computer. The room smelled like dust and old wires, and his chair creaked every time he shifted. Apparently, he was the guy we needed to take down a scruffy weasel like Davis. Honestly, looking at him now, you wouldn’t think someone like him could pull off anything impressive—but desperate times call for desperate solutions and right now if I could find another word apart from desperate to describe what I’m feeling that would be it “I’m trying my best here. The person that did this legit wiped all traces possible ,well atleast this just increased my curiosity “ His fingers moved across the keyboard with surprising speed, screens flashing in front of him like he was dancing with the damn computer. “So there is nothing you can do about it?” “I can, I just need time.” I exhaled sharply. Time was something we barely had. Every second wasted was another second Davis stayed ahead
“Taking down a councilman like Davis won’t exactly be easy considering he is a councilman, a councilman that has been one since your Father Time ,and again you just had to burn the one witness you just had to burn him down how do you even know he isn’t lying He could have been sputtering nonsense; the man was dying for Christ's sake,” Freya said. This past week has been a ride, so I can say that after the lovely moment with my mate, I’ve been busy — which includes taking care of Alpha business. Freya has been in charge of the women, and Liam has been busy trying to find evidence. Liam claimed he had a guy who was good at hacking. I would admit I was a bit skeptical, considering Liam never keeps friends with good-ass people, but if it’ll help, I’m guessing it’s worth trying. And also, the only solution we have right now for taking him down is by finding evidence that he was somehow involved in the kidnapping of Penelope. The hacker’s job was to see if they could recover some of the C
"Oh, he definitely felt that," Cherry whispered in my head, smug as hell.I didn’t come out of that cabinet until I was sure he’d left. Which, honestly, felt like forever. My heart had been pounding like some kind of tribal drum in my chest, the rhythm wild and out of sync. I pressed a hand over it,
This wasn’t Shadowmoor.I reminded myself of that as I walked the corridors with a mop in one hand and a bucket swinging against my leg. No creaking floorboards here. No mildew-stained ceilings or flickering lights. This palace didn’t smell like blood and regret. It smelled like lemon oil, silk, an
The world around me was a blur of aching muscles and muffled voices."Wake up, bitch. Wake the hell up."For a moment, I wanted to let go. To sink back into the darkness where nothing hurt and no memories clawed at my skin."Goddamn it, I know we've been through hell, but don't you dare effing die
warning:there is an attempted rape scene so if this triggers you please skipThat’s how I ended up here — lost in the forest, empty-handed, surviving off bitter fruits and sheer will. No food. No water. No plan. Only instinct.The bullying, the endless fights... all those years had unknowingly trai







