There was a crash, turbulence like a rushing wind, and then darkness. After the darkness came a blinding light. I woke up in a hospital room with someone clutching my hands. The room was stifling. The hand holding mine was unwelcome and the light hurt my eyes. I pulled my hand from the ones holding me but they held me tighter. "You are awake." I'd never seen Valens look as relieved as he did then. "Oh, goddess –" He paused and changed the direction of the conversation. "I'll get the doctor." He pressed a button on a strange-looking device, still holding me. A man came in wearing a white coat, a woman in blue scrubs following behind him. They gave me water that wasn't plain water and the doctor checked my vitals. "How do you feel?" He asked as he wrote something down on his file. "Like I got hit by a truck," I answered and I suppose I was right. I did get hit by a truck. Before the darkness, I'd been trying to get out of a car because I suspected the driver and then from nowhere,

"Are you hungry?" Valens asked when we got to the penthouse. It was exactly how I left it before going to the hospital. It felt so surreal to know that some things remained the same while my life had changed forever. "No," I answered Valens' question, getting into bed. I burrowed my face into a pillow and closed my eyes, blocking out everything. "Turn off the lights," I muttered. "All of them," I added when he left one light on. He turned it off and the place became pitch black. "You should have lunch before you sleep off." "I am not sleeping off," I muttered, turning my face. "Okay." There was silence after that but it didn't last as long as I would like. "Do you need anything?" I needed him to leave me alone but I wouldn't say that. "Who trained you?" I raised my head from the pillow. "In combat, that is.""The head of my father's knights. Why do you ask?" He perched on the bed and I got the wild feeling that he was afraid of me. No, he was uncertain. Not afraid. "Was he curs

Preparing to hear from the goddess was a lot of work. It intrigued me at first but after three hours of cleaning and meditation, I soon lost my intrigue. I had to be 'clean' both in my mind and body hence the washing and meditation. I had to empty my mind of everything that disturbed me, which was easier said than done. Everyone in the room excused me so I sat alone in the room, trying to clear my mind enough to accommodate the divine words of a goddess. "Aysel." I heard the voice. It was more intimate than my wolf's and at first, I assumed I was conjuring it but it called again. "Aysel, my child." I was so startled that I opened my eyes. "My child, it has been tough, hasn't it?""Is it – is it really the goddess?" I could have hallucinated her. I felt as if she wasn't really there because when I looked around, I saw nobody. Her voice was too calm, too human. It sounded intimate, like the voice of a mother, rather than a divine being. Yet, I felt the presence of something ethereal

*VALENS*'Valens – he – When Redville needed an Alpha, when I needed an Alpha, when my baby needed an Alpha, he wasn't there. He is the Alpha that abandoned his pack.' Those words played in my head as I sat outside of the inner shrine. The oracle sat facing me, her eyes closed and head lifted to the ceiling as if she was in a trance or asleep. I was reaping the fruits of my lack of foresight. 'Is it just a lack of foresight?' Zino asked, yawning. I ignored him. He didn't get to feel the brunt of her anger so I didn't expect him to fully understand. I, on the other hand, felt the anger simmering just beneath her skin. And it was more than the anger; there was also resignation, sadness and an obvious lack of trust. 'You subconsciously wanted to punish me!' She'd yelled at me and I knew that was what she believed. I searched my heart, my mind, and even tried to see into my soul. No part of me wanted to punish my mate when I saw those pictures. I'd been hurt and betrayed. I didn't tr

There was no point telling him anything if he thought like that. The goddess wouldn't lie to me so I could pretend I didn't know that he was searching for my mother and he would never find out. I felt I wouldn't care if he hated me but just imagining him looking at me in disgust changed my mind. "Marcus and Balthazar were my parent's good friends. They were nobodies before my father picked them up from the gutter, brushed them up and made them a part of his table. Filth favoured by the king. My father respected their intellect and they screwed him over with it at the end of the day," he laughed, then he pinched his nose. "Nothing of them remained when I was done but Andromeda, that bitch." He left his statement hanging there. "What did she do?" He'd never willingly spoken about his past before. "She accused my father of dishonouring his words to the magic folks so she used that to justify her involvement in his betrayal. When I took vengeance into my hands for her clan's involvemen