LUCIUS. I transported us to Lucija’s chamber, and I helped her put Stone in her bed. I knew she had many questions, but at the moment, she wasn’t asking any. She was busy attending to her mate and it was to my advantage. I didn’t want to tell her anything more at the moment than what she needed to know. "I have to go now. I have other things to do," I told her after a while of watching her clean up Stone’s body. He looked like he was fucking dead to me, but his chest was moving, which meant he was still alive. "But... what if I need you?" Lucija stood up from the bed and faced me. "Then reach out to me. I won’t block my mind." "Do you think Lucien will come back soon?" "I don’t think so. He wants to find the witch, so I’m sure he will search the whole North for her." "Will you let me know if he returns?" "Of course. But what are your plans? Will you return Stone to his cell?" "No. Definitely not. I just want to be prepared when he comes back because I’m sure he will raise he

ADAN STONE. I grunted in discomfort as my eyes snapped open. Pain coursed from my back to every corner of my body, and it rattled me for a second until I was able to make sure that my walls were still up. I didn’t want Lucy to feel even a tiny bit of the pain her father gave me. "Aargh…" I groaned. I couldn’t roll over and couldn’t lay on my back, but compared to the pain before I fell asleep or passed out, what I had at the moment was bearable. I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to steady my breathing, trying to process everything that had happened when Lucien walked into the dungeon and began to emotionally torture me. He kept telling me that Lucy was bound for greater things and that I would be her weakness. That my slightest pain and discomfort would eventually render Lucy incapable of doing her daily routine. He said Lucy would never do the same thing to me — that she would protect me by taking all the pain herself. Until it dawned on me, he wanted me to control my pain

LUCY. Tears trickled down my face as I tried to keep myself together. It was agonizing to see Adan chained and punished, but it was torture to hear his pleas. I hope one day he will forgive me for doing this to him. A loud crashing sound, like bricks exploding, erupted in the air as metals and chains clattered as they were dragged on the floor. And I knew Adan had broken free. My gaze darted to my father, who was left stunned in his place. Adan was soon on my back, his chained arms coiling around my body as he hugged me tightly. My father hissed, his eyes blazing red, as he stood up from his throne, but I was faster. I let fire engulf my whole body, including Adan. I knew my father had the possibility of penetrating my fire, but I was thankful that Lucius held his arm to block him from reaching us. If anything, it caused Father to pause and just stare at me, his chest heaving as I continued to sob and let myself be lost in Adan’s touch while Patrea continued her chant. "Lucy… Sto

ADAN STONE. I grunted loudly as I snapped my eyes open. Why the fuck did I forget to draw the curtains closed? The fucking sun was disrupting my sleep! Oh, fuck! The sun was up! I needed to get up. Sometimes I forget I am an Alpha and I have a whole pack to run. This is what happens when your day consists of the same thing over and over again, like a fucking routine, and you are just waiting for your life to end. I had a pounding headache, but this was strange. I had drunk too much previously but never had this kind of headache, but I might have overdone it last night. But fuck this! It felt like someone slapped a massive boulder on my head. I rolled over in bed only to realize it wasn’t my bed. This was a guest room. Why am I here? Shit! I probably brought home a female. I usually never bring anyone home, but if I did, we would end up in one of the guest rooms and not in my room. At least I still had some sense last night when I didn’t use my own bed. But I couldn’t remember a s

ADAN STONE. My mind still couldn’t wrap up everything that was presented to me during lunch. I had attempted to walk out three times during the conversation, but all the time my father and grandfather were using respect to restrain me from walking away. I had no idea what the fuck they were playing at by telling me I’d found my mate because I couldn’t remember her at all. And the worst thing, she was a part demon. Who the fuck on earth would believe me if I told anyone — friends or comrades — that my soon-to-be Luna is the spawn of a demon straight from the pits of hell? The fuck? I wanted to believe my family had totally lost their minds if my Beta and Gamma were not included in their games. I knew Collin and Kingston’s loyalty would always be on me so I just couldn’t disregard what they were telling. Yes, at this point I trusted my Beta and Gamma, but this was so hard to believe, and for a moment, I had to verify it was not April 1 and that anytime they would all jump out and sa