I must have fallen asleep at some point of tossing and turning in my bed because I had seen the black wolf from the woods again. This was an odd dream. I wouldn't call it a nightmare, but it was... disturbing.
The beast stood among the trees, looking at me the way he was back then when I had seen him first. He came closer but kept a safe distance between us as if he didn't want to frighten me. Then he howled and cried, lowering his large head before me. Something inside me knew he was trying to warn me, I only didn't know what he was trying to warn me from.
I woke up with a sharp gasp, shivering from the intensity of what I had just seen. Everything in the vision I had was strangely vivid—too vivid to be called a simple dream. Groaning, I glanced through the window at the lazily rising sun and crawled out of bed.
Unsurprisingly, Ellaria and my father were still asleep, but they hardly ever got up early in the morning, especially my father. Never even once had he gotten up before noon after his battle wound turned him into a cripple.
Quietly, I cleaned up the house and prepared breakfast just as my sister's head, adorned by a mass of red curls, leaned out the bedroom door. “Do I smell frying eggs and bacon?” She grinned at me.
I chuckled and nodded. “They'll be ready in a moment.”
She stepped out to the corridor and glanced at the door at the end of it—Father's bedroom. “He'll be pissed he didn't get breakfast.”
I rolled my eyes. “I'll make him breakfast when he finally wakes up, like I always do.”
She sat down by the table and gave me a sympathetic smile. “I'm older than you. I should take care of the house, not you.”
“You're a soon-to-be warrior, Ellaria. You are the elite. You can't take care of Father while you train.” I gave her a wry smile. “Taking care of house chores and food is my job.”
“Not for long now.” Her lips curved into a knowing smirk. “As soon as you'll be acknowledged as Kylar's mate…” She trailed off and narrowed her eyes at me. “Did you two fight again?”
I sighed and placed her eggs and bacon on the table. “He wanted to have sex in that abandoned hut. I refused and…”
That sympathetic smile appeared again. “He didn't react well when you did, didn't he?”
“He just stormed out, leaving me there, and now”—I sat beside her and sucked in a shaky breath—“I'm scared.”
“Scared of what?” Ellaria frowned before grabbing a slice of bacon and shoving it into her mouth.
My shoulders moved in a tense shrug. “What if he rejects me?”
She barely swallowed the food in her mouth. “And why the hell would he do that?!”
“Because I'm basically an omega?” A wry smile tugged at my lips.
She shook her head. “He cares about you. He would never do such a thing. He protects you from others.”
“Does he?” A bitter chuckle broke free as I thought about last night, and Sloan's words rang in my head. He had said that Kylar wouldn't have minded if they—
I didn't let myself finish that thought, but my stomach twisted into knots anyway. I didn't know what had happened overnight, but it seemed like I had begun to see things clearly as if I no longer had this girl-in-love filter.
“Kylar cannot reject you,” Ellaria convinced. “He must be aware of what will happen if he does. He might be a selfish prick at times, but he is not soulless.”
I squeezed her hand and let my lips curve in a bright smile. I wanted to trust her words, Goddess knew I did, but the truth was that I was risking a lot. In this love game, I was risking my life.
The elders used to say that the Fates created the mate bond to complement the mates' powers and strength. It usually made the mated ones stronger together, but on rare occasions, the strength of one mate was reduced to strengthen the other. That was why omegas were often rejected when it turned out their mate was either a warrior or a ranked wolf.
The sole rejection also wouldn't have been that terrifying if it hadn't been for the agony that the snapping bond triggered. It was said that nearly no mortal body could survive that pain. Only the wolf spirits were powerful enough to shield their owners from the rejection's consequences, but for those without wolf spirits—or shadow wolves like me—rejection was a death sentence.
“Don't worry, little sister.” Ellaria pulled me out of bewilderment. “Once he feels the power of the mate bond, he'll know that he cannot reject you.”
I drew an uneven breath. “I hope you're right.”
“I am.” She grinned, rising from her seat and grabbing my hand. “Now let me show you the dress I bought you for the ball.”
My eyes widened. “You bought me a dress?!”
“Of course I did. It's your first ball. You need to look stunning.” She chuckled. “Now let's go. Let the big sister take care of you for once.”
***
As the Blood Moon slowly rose in the sky, I became more and more restless. My feet were wobbling as Ellaria and I climbed the stairs of the castle—the place where Alpha's family and all other ranked families lived.
This place was huge and filled with the luxury I had never dared dream of. It was yet another example of how huge the gap between the ranked wolves and the rest of the pack was. The warriors were respected and rewarded with money and gold, but even the greatest ones could never climb to the ranked wolves' level. You either had to be born into a ranked family or be mated to a member of such.
I fisted the fabric on the side of my dress, lifting it slightly while I walked the stairs. I wouldn't dare get the dress Ellaria bought for me dirty, especially since it surely was the most beautiful thing I had ever worn. It was simple yet elegant, made of a delicate white fabric that gently shimmered in the light. It hugged my curves perfectly, as if the seamstress had made it knowing all my measurements. The skirt waved back and forth as I moved, making me seem like I glided through the corridor. Ellaria said that with my pale blue eyes and light blond hair, I looked like a Moon Goddess. I laughed at that, but I couldn't help but feel... beautiful, and it might have been the first time I felt this way.
We entered the ballroom, and my eyes began to search for Kylar. I knew that we would feel our mate bonds in less than an hour, and I wanted to be near him when it happened. Ellaria left my side as soon as she found Vidarr. I couldn't blame her for it. Vidarr was her childhood friend who had now become an excellent warrior. He had been gone for almost a year. Now, my sister hoped that he would turn out to be her mate, and I also hoped for that to happen.
Other pack members eyed me with confusion and shock written on their faces. They must have been wondering if I had a death wish. No omega came to Mating Balls. No one in their right mind would have risked rejection that could lead to their death. Well… no one except for me.
Seeking quiet, I strode off, entering one of the long corridors with white marble flooring and walls ornamented with gold. I wasn't sure why I chose to go there, but I kept walking until I entered a dark part of the corridor with cracked open doors at the end of it.
“I don't know where this Alpha came from, but this beast was huge and fucking lethal!” I heard Sloan's voice and my breath caught in my throat. I wasn't sure if I was relieved or not that he had somehow survived the attack. Fine, I was sure it was the latter.
“And you are saying that Asena somehow... what? Summoned the beast?” Kylar chuckled.
My heart lurched. Sloan, who was alive, was one thing. Sloan telling Kylar some bullshit about what had happened last night was something completely different. My restlessness slowly turned into a bubble of panic. I sucked in a sharp breath and stepped closer to the doors.
“I don't know how your little bitch did it, but he came there for her,” Sloan snarled.
I swallowed and shook my head. This was nonsense! I had never even seen that beast before! Besides, how was I even supposed to know some huge-ass rogue Alpha?!
Kylar huffed. “Maybe that was the real reason she didn't want me to fuck her. She said that I would be her first, but maybe she already spread her legs before another Alpha.”
His words were like a blade piercing my heart. I placed my hand on my chest, pressing the aching spot while my eyes filled with tears. He should have known that I would have never betrayed him! I believed that he was my destined one—the only one I could ever have feelings for!
“I told you she's a traitorous whore,” Sloan hissed.
“Well, it doesn't matter anymore, does it? It all ends tonight.” Kylar breathed out a cold chuckle. “If I find a mate worthy of my attention, things between Asena and me will solve themselves without me doing anything. If she turns out to be my mate… I will reject her.”
My heart stopped.
I stood numbly and stared at the thin stream of light coming through the door crack. My heart had just broken into pieces. Had I been wise enough to listen to my survival instincts, I should have run the hell out of that castle or out of this pack's territory. Yet I stayed still, refusing to acknowledge that what I heard was true.“I'll gladly watch that bitch squirm in pain and die.” Sloan clasped his hands together and laughed.“Actually, if that's Asena, I'm hoping for a bigger audience,” Kylar said coldly. “I'm planning to do that in the ballroom, in front of everyone.”Something within me snapped. The pain of betrayal faded, and rage surfaced. My hands fisted into balls as I slowly dragged myself out of my stupor. A wave of heat washed over my senses, and I knew that I was running out of time. As much as I wanted to barge into that room, I was still wise enough to know I couldn't fight them. Grinding my teeth, I turned around and started running, the further from Kylar, the bette
For a moment, everything turned silent, still... I stared into Kylar's gray eyes, awaiting the pain.“No!” I heard a heart-tearing cry coming from the side of the ballroom. It was my sister. My head slowly turned toward the sound, and I saw her pushing through the crowd and running to the dais. “How could you reject her?! She will die!”I looked at my sister and gave her a weak smile. And then I felt it—the searing ache in my chest that slowly spread through every vein in my body. I raised my eyes to Kylar and saw nothing more than a faint wince twisting his features. Surely, he didn't feel the ounce of pain that began to consume me.Every inch of me began to rattle, and I collapsed to the floor. “She's in pain!” Ellaria screamed. “Help her! Silas, help her!”“I'm sorry, Ellaria,” came Silas's mournful voice. “The consequences of the broken bond cannot be healed.”The fire that started inside me slowly drifted to the surface, making the wolfsbane poisoning seem like a gentle rash. The
I had become a wolf without a pack—or rather, a shadow wolf without a pack. I was also kind of… homeless… and dead. Well, maybe not in an unalive-dead way, but in the dead-to-the-world kind of sense.This was frustrating. I thought that living in a pack where everyone thought I was a nuisance had been difficult, but this? This was like building my life back from scratch. Of course, I had enough common sense to know I couldn't have survived another day in my old pack, even if Ellaria hadn't proclaimed me dead. Here in the mountains, at least I could live and be free. Unfortunately, I had yet to figure out what this new life and freedom could mean…“Think about it as a unique opportunity.” Riona smiled warmly as we sat in her hut, drinking herbal tea. “You can start over. You can be who you always wanted to be.”My lips twitched into a wry smile as I turned my head to the window overlooking the narrow path leading down the mountain and toward Eastern Valley Pack's territory. Ellaria and
Three Years LaterI stared at the two all-muscled guys in front of me and smirked. The audience had already gathered around us, forming a large circle in the middle of the training grounds. Since it hadn't rained in more than a week, the ground beneath my feet turned dry, forming a fine layer of loose sand—yet another weapon within my reach.The two men before me sneered, their eyes running up and down through the length of my body. “Are you sure you want to do this, princess?” One of them, Efrain, chuckled. He ran his hand over his bald head and then rolled back his broad shoulders.“Scream if you want us to stop.” Efrain's friend, one with curly brown hair, Demir, gave me a wicked grin, and a wave of laughs and snorts spread around the circle—a short and faint wave. Unluckily for Demir, he hadn't noticed that the majority didn't find his words funny. He gaped at my tight leather jacket, enforced with a tailor-made bustier, and dragged his tongue over his bottom lip. “I'll free your
The wolf slowly stepped forward, his red eyes fixed on mine. Another low growl rumbled in his chest, and my palms began to sweat. Why was this wolf here? He couldn't have—My breath caught as I noticed the thick drops of blood staining his onyx fur. I stepped back, corrected my stance, and swallowed. “You… You killed them,” I croaked as tears fell down my cheek.The wolf's lips peeled back, exposing a row of sharp, still-bloodied teeth. A cold-blooded killer—that was who he was. He raised one paw and stepped toward me as if ignoring the fact that I was aiming at him with a wolfsbane arrow. Still, he didn't attack.I sucked in a breath and shifted my fingers around the bowstring. I knew that I had to kill him. He was one of those who murdered the villagers. “Attack me,” I strained through my teeth. “What are you waiting for?!”The wolf snarled but didn't move. Why the hell didn't he attack?! He had no problems with killing the innocent, so why hesitate now?! “Attack me!” I yelled hoars
I shifted in my bed, lying on the side. Drawing deep breaths, I hoped to relax my muscles. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth. I repeated it once… twice… Citruses. I smelled citruses. I had no idea where this scent was coming from, but I found it oddly soothing. Someone's strong hand slid through my side under my resting arm and stopped on my stomach. Fingers splayed on the thin fabric of my nightgown in a sensual caress. The stranger's touch should have terrified me, but it didn't, although I couldn't explain why. Then the hand on my stomach moved to the other side of my waist, and I was pressed against the body lying behind me—the definitely male and definitely firm body.I bit my lip at the feel of the stranger's chest against my back and a certain bulge rubbing against my buttocks. I could feel his body shift, and I shivered as his lips kissed the crook of my neck. I gasped as more kisses followed on his way up my neck. Goddess… I wanted those lips on mine.I s
Three hours later, our forces crossed the Moonshine River Pack's borders. No one stopped us. Those who survived were either severely wounded or too terrified to leave their shelters. Another massacre. I had seen the villages or even bigger towns burned to the ground within those three years, but this seemed different. It looked like the gods of death laid their fury upon this land…Many of the wolves living in this pack were scumbags and Kylar-type bastards, but there had to be innocents living here as well. Now those jerks and innocents shared the same fate...“Are you OK?” Aeron asked when I let out a slow, ragged breath.I shook my head. “I'm not. Actually, I'm terrified. If the same happens to Eastern Valley Pack, I—”“Your sister will live,” he said, and my eyes widened.“How can you say that? You don't know—”“She and you have this all-badassness running in your veins.” He looked at me and winked. “She'll find a way to survive this.”I wanted to believe him, even if it was highl
I had been trying to convince Aeron of my plan for over an hour. I almost pulled the authority card and told him that was an order. Luckily, he finally agreed that I had a better chance not to be seen and to do this quietly if I went alone. Let's face it, compared to me, he was a red-haired giant. That pretty much disqualified him from sneaking in anywhere. I found him a different, equally important task. I needed him to lead those terrified people out through the tunnels. They would have better chances of surviving outside the Eastern Valley Pack's territory than here, where the General's soldiers could kill them at will. “I'm not OK with us separating, Asena,” Aeron grunted, shaking his head as I put more daggers into the sheaths of my leather jacket. “I'm a badass, remember?” I winked at him. “I can take care of a few guards.” “These aren't some regular shifters,” he argued. “Most of them have been training their entire lives.” I drew a deep breath and locked my eyes on him. “I