BLADE. “Enough, Althea.” I tilted my head to the side, avoiding kissing her more as I shut my eyes so I wouldn’t see her, which was a wrong move. Because even with my eyes closed, all I saw was her. All of her, and I felt more of the way she was grinding against my bulge.But I knew I couldn’t take this any further. Althea was young, and I was probably the first male she had around her, so there was no doubt that she felt attached to me. But we both knew this was leading nowhere. I didn’t want her. I was okay with being alone. I just wanted her to be safe. Althea’s body stiffened before she climbed out from top of me and settled on her side of the bed, with her back on me. I wanted to console her, but it would just make leaving her harder. So I stayed still, not letting the feel of her back against my arm affect me, even if the sparks between us were giving me a pleasure I would never get tired of. I kept my eyes closed and tried to put Soledad’s face in my mind. I had a ma

SEVEN MONTHS LATER. BLADE. The season changed, as did everything in my life. I looked at the vast land before me and thought of my territory. The Silver Crest — the territory that had been witness to all the lows in my life. I left it so I could move on from the death of Soledad, only to return upon another death. My brother’s death. When I abandoned my pack, Fabian, my younger brother, took over as the Alpha of the Silver Crest. He had no aspiration to be one — no training, no preparation — and yet my irresponsible self left without any warning, turning over the Alpha post to him without his approval. Despite that, he stepped up to the challenge. But there was never an instance where he didn’t ask me to take it back from him whenever we would meet. I kept refusing. For five years, Fabian struggled to survive this pack. He did his best, but it kept getting weaker. And then an Alpha asshole saw that as an opportunity and attacked, seizing the territory and killing him an

BLADE. “Suck it clean, baby…” I said in a raspy voice. I was having a raging erection. I wanted to fuck Althea. Marking her, plus her clawing my neck with her nails, was too sensual and intimate that it was taking too much of me not to push further. But I knew I was no gentleman in bed. After Soledad died, I spent the next couple of months fucking every female I could get my hands on. I was not gentle. With anger in my blood, I couldn’t get satisfaction with simple sex. I fucked hard and nasty — night after night, day after day. But the lust eventually faded out. I became numb when it came to physical sex that even the wildest partner could never make me want more. Until I realized I was not engaging in it anymore. And I was okay with that. I survived five years of abstinence. And then Althea came, and her innocence had drawn me back to the raging desire within me. I couldn’t stop the filthy thoughts in my head about all the ways I wanted to take her. But I knew I would

ALTHEA. Blade and I went to the dining room after I freshened up. I met Dalton again, and I was introduced to his female, Thalia, and to their next Gamma, Aldrin. In the beginning, the table was tense, as Blade was just quiet. But Dalton started talking, and I realized he didn’t hate me. I thought he was holding a grudge against me because Blade killed one of his men who was affected by my heat previously. But when he, as well as Thalia, began talking and asking questions, I felt at ease. The dinner went well, and I called it a night after as I was tired and wanted to rest. But Blade stayed at his office because, as he said, he needed to finish some of his paperwork. I went to sleep without seeing him, and if he ever checked on me before he went to his bed, I had no idea, as I slept nicely the whole night. And I woke up late the next morning. I didn’t even put an enchantment on me. I just slept and felt fresh when I woke up. When I went down, they had already had their breakf

ALTHEA. “I said, apologizing is not enough. What you did requires some punishment, Althea.” Blade’s breath fanned against the side of my head, his lips brushing against my skin. I felt a goosebump rise on my skin as my stomach churned. Did he mean that? I’d been thinking about this even a couple of hours later. After he said this, he gave me a kiss on my forehead and told me he needed more time with his warriors, so I was left with Thalia, who then showed me around the places just near the packhouse. I wanted to ask questions about the punishment, yet I was too embarrassed to do so, but after dinner, I couldn’t keep it anymore. “So, tell me, does the Alpha punish people when they violate rules?” I asked Thalia. We were seated in one of the rooms of the packhouse, where there was a beautiful fireplace, as we drank our evening tea. “Alpha Blade? He does. All Alphas do it to keep everyone on the line.” She answered. “Does he punish them in public?” “Public punishments are reser