All Chapters of FORBIDDEN BLOOM : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

83 Chapters

22 — BINGO!

THE JESTERThe drive to my home normally takes four hours but because of the urgency of the lives attached to it, we make it in two. I pay no attention to my surroundings as all melts into a meaningless haze behind me. When I get to the entrance of my study, I turn to the small group who follow me to this point. “Kaelen, go get yourself stitched up and return here as soon as you can. Amari, come with me.” The blonde pipes up. “I-I can help Beta Kaelen with his injury.” I wave a hand to dismiss them while Ares walks by my side as we file inside the large room. Amari wastes no time in heading toward the first stack of scrolls and ancient tomes. That has always been her specialty.Ares paces restlessly, throwing intermittent looks her way just in case she has found what we’re looking for. “What are we even looking for?” Ares finally bellows, his wolf peeking closely behind his dark eyes. “She’s been thumbing through that stack for forever.” “It’s the only clue we have. We cannot

23 — HIS LIFE DEPENDS ON ME

KAELITHThe mystery man slips back into the shadows, leaving me to stew in anger at his new revelation. Two Alphas. Ferdinand being nothing but a tool who used and degraded me. All of it buzzes around in my head like a swarm of angry wasps, stealing the breath from my lungs until the room starts to swim.A cold hand clasping around my arm jolts me back to earth and steadies me. I turn my neck to see Diandra whose initial anger has melted to sympathy.“Are you okay?” she whispers, studying my face despite the dimness.I nod, then let out a steady exhale. “No…yes.” When the door opens somewhere behind us, I grab her fingers. “Later.” Later because this is something better discussed in private. I refuse to believe my best friend could be keeping important detail from me. Mystery man seated in the darkness grunts. “Here comes my able henchman.”As the sound of booted feet accompanies the lifeless scrape of barefeet against the floor, at my stomach churns with dread. But when I see who

24 — COMPLIANCE IS THE ONLY WAY

KAELITHI am sick of being holed up in this luxurious room and neither of us have touched a single thing despite the maids saying they were arranged for our coming. The frown on Diandra’s face hasn’t faded off since we entered here. Now, she is seated at the window sill six hours later. Just staring out. I bet her thoughts revolve around her mate now. The way mine aches for Jay. His absence affects me way more than I want to admit and I find myself thinking…What is he doing now?Has he realized our abduction? Of course, he must have.Did he even make it out alive?A large ball of emotion forms in my throat at the thought. He should. He ought to. I’ve never met a man as resilient as he is, whether as a scheming jester or as a—There is a short rap on the door which draws me out of my reverie. Diandra and I turn our heads toward it at the same time.“Who is it?” I ask, fingernails digging into the soft flesh of my palms in quiet tension.“My Lord requests your presence at the dinn

25 — STRIKING A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL

KAELITHWhat the fuck have we gotten ourselves into?Only in the books and the movies have I seen vampires. But to be sitting across one a few feet away from me, chilled every single drop of blood in my body.An even bigger smile breaks out on his face as he says, “I thought we werewolves loved jokes? You think I go about drinking raw blood like some cursed Alpha?” “Not really.” I chuckle, but it is filled with deep sated relief.Relief that of all the ways I picture myself dying some day, being bled dry by a vampire won’t be on my list anymore. “What is the real reason you went through all that trouble to have us brought here? Surely, it’s not for telling jokes. Afterall, you seem to have a lot of servants for that purpose. You know, burn them if they do not laugh.” “Diandra, please,” I’m forced to call her out before she pushes it too far.She purses her lips like she’s about to say something in protest but thankfully does not. Yet, it is no indicator that she’s out of words in

26 — A RISK WORTH TAKING

KAELITH“YOU WHAT?!”I wince as Diandra’s shriek of horror pierces through my eardrums, possibly bursting them in the process.I just filled her in with every detail of Valerian's story including my promise to help him.“Calm down.” Even though I’m also spiraling on the inside. “It was the only out, I had to take it.”“DO YOU—” she begins but blows out a harsh exhale as though it has a calming effect on her. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?!”“I tried to save both our lives. There was no other choice in sight!” I whisper harshly, equally frustrated. “Of course there was!” she yells back. “There was. We should have waited for Ares to make his way to us.”“When?” A tiny feeling of jealousy bites at me. “It’s not like he has one of us injected with a tracker so he can know our exact location. Instead of waiting for them to show up, I made an actual move albeit a risky one.” “So therefore our lives are fucked because he told you one little whiny story about his mate who died

27 — A SICK FEELING IN MY STOMACH

THE JESTER“So what now?” I ask Kaelen who’s the mastermind of this foolhardy plan.The pack is on the edge of the old map Amari showed us. Almost invisible. But with what I see, the place is a fortress and is by no means somewhere that can be hidden.Except the recent maps had been altered to keep it out of sight.Somehow we manage to evade the guards at the entrance but with the way they are armed, something feels wrong.It feels too easy to walk right into a place we have no insider knowledge of and be able to bypass security. One of two things are involved.He’s either extremely careless about his welfare or…“Greetings, my friends.” Ice slithers down my spine at the sound of a male whose voice I don’t recognize. “Shit,” Kaelen says. “He knows we’re here.” Tension lines Ares shoulders as he steps forward first. “This bastard.” I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “We are in his territory. You have to trust Diandra is fine like Kaelen said.” According to my beta, the ly

28 — THE PRICE OF SALVATION

DIANDRAThe door closes, keeping Ares out of sight but not out of mind. For some reason, the look on his face causes an all-too familiar ache to bloom in my chest. I know it is not the right time but I want to tell Kaelith ‘I told you so’. Before I can carry it out, the sketchy werewolf calls our attention.“Come now, you two. Let us begin,” Valerian says as he leads us through another door which takes us down several stairs below. The further we descend, the more wariness seeps into my bones. The place goes darker and darker, I have to reach behind for Kaelith’s hand to lead her.Despite how every bone in my body yells at me to flee, it is too late to take back the promise we made.In the gap of silence, Valerian’s coughs fill in the space at intervals.Finally, tiny lights line up the passageway in front of us, almost bringing the place to life. We stop in front of giant doors that look like they haven’t been opened in a century.Valerian mutters some words under his breath. It

29 — THE REDHEAD’S GAMBLE

KAELITH“Diandra, please wait!” I call out after her. Someone grabs my hand right before I can touch her. Fury lashes hotly within me when I see who it is. “Let go of me!” But Jay’s hold tightens around my wrist. “Not in this state. Give her some space to calm down and then you both can talk some other time.” Although so many emotions swirl through me at the same time, I decide that he’s right. Diandra and I had an argument when I tried to convince her to help Valerian and now…I turn to look at the main culprit, keeping only him in the line of my vision as I walk back inside where he leans against his cane, staring in horror at his fingers. “You crook! You lied to me! Do you know what you’ve just done?” I yell, my voice bouncing back in the quiet place.Slowly, his head raises but his eyes travel past me. “You want to blame a desperate man? Have a go at it.” My face contorts in disgust. “The gods did have a righteous reason for putting you in this sorry state you’re in. I riske

30 — A TASTE OF FREEDOM

KAELITHWe climb back up the long flight of stairs, leaving Amari and Valerian inside the ancient temple. Both of them being mates will never not be the most shocking thing that’s happened today. Jay’s arm stays around me to keep me steady as we ascend until the sounds of voices begin to filter in from above. By the time I reach the top, the air is warmer and the darkness gives way to the familiar glow of the mansion above.My knees scream in protest but I don’t stop, knowing I still have an unfinished conversation with Diandra after everything that happened. “I’m going to find her now,” I turn to Jay. His eyes sweep over my face before he nods. “Be careful.”“Ares?” There is a faraway look on his face before he sighs, “I don’t think that’s a good idea right now. She still doesn’t want to see anyone. Maybe I’ll go talk to her myself.”I try not to let my face betray my emotions. “Could you…could you let her know that I’m sorry? I was wrong in thinking that…you know…” He simply

31 — A DRUG-LOADED KISS

KAELITH Until recently, my life always follows a carefully arranged sequence of events, none of which ever threatens to throw everything off balance. College, internship, graduation, then a job at the firm where I did my internship. Simple and straight to the point. Until everything goes to hell. First, there’s Ferdinand. Then Jay comes along with the countless disasters which follow. Valerian, although short-lived, would have proven to be the height of it all. For some reason, it isn’t. “What do you mean you’re…” a mirthless laugh forces out of me. “the Alpha of Greystorm pack?” Not a crack in his serious expression reveals it is a joke and the lingering smile around my mouth flattens. “I’m sorry.” But I’m done with hearing his apologies. “I don’t fucking want to hear that word. I want to know why you would lie to me? Why couldn’t you have told me the truth?” “Because I didn’t want to compromise my position while I was in Ferdinand’s pack. Hell, I hadn’t been pl

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