I don’t even have time to grieve, because something else appears on the screen and I frown when I see an adult Creed running through the forest. He’s a complete copy of Kai now - blonde hair, blue eyes, large as fuck build, and a menacing aura. But he’s naked as he sprints through the forest, old scars and tattoos covering his chest and arms. He comes to a stop abruptly and falls to his knees sobbing. “No…I refuse to believe this,” he murmurs, shaking his head and emitting a growl filled to the brim with pain. “You can’t be dying!” Oh, fuck. He found out about Cat. But he looks about, what, twenty-something now? Twenty-three, twenty-five? Damn, I cannot see this ending well for anyone, especially with what Cat has just told me. Fisting the soil in his hands, he growls and looks up, deadly intent all over his scent as his eyes shimmer crimson. Then he shifts into his wolf form, but what I see makes me nearly fall onto my ass in shock. All shifters with Volkov blood have pitch-blac
I unwind the wrist wraps from my bloodied fists and breathe out a long, strained sigh. It took even more out of me this time; controlling Haze is proving to me more and more difficult. He waits until I’m too exhausted or angry to hold back. That itself is dangerous already. As I watch my fists heal, I catch chatter of conversation around the room, chatter I am trying to block out. But the second I hear my father’s name, I’m on edge again. “He’s Alpha Kai’s son, what did you expect?”“It’s an unfair advantage; he’s the son of a God! Anyone pitted against him will die!”“Agreed; maybe we should bring it up with the fight committee. Creed Volkov shouldn’t be here. He doesn’t belong here.” They don’t know I’m on this side of the locker room, that’s why they’re so fucking brave to speak loudly about me. I grit my teeth and wrap my wrists again, ready to get out there and get lost in the work out, when another voice stops me. “Uh, you assholes are forgetting that whoever fights Creed is
I still remember the moment I died. The feeling of betrayal as I looked into my uncle’s eyes laced thick with anger, his fist slamming into my chest and pulling out my heart. I heard my brother, Kai, calling me just as I fell to the ground.The last thing I remembered was his anguished roar as he stumbled upon my lifeless body.I dug into the wrong places, asked the wrong questions, and put suspicion on myself. I got too close to the truth, and the enemy saw fit to eliminate me. Who would have thought that enemy would be the one the Moon Goddess blessed me with?Now I’m sitting here, wherever here is, watching them and being the only one privy to the danger so close to them. How do I warn them? Is it even possible to tell them?When I arrived in The Other, I was so confused. I felt a hand on my shoulder and when I turned my head, my heart completely shattered. She still looked the same as she did when I last saw her; long blonde hair, piercing blue Volkova eyes, and a touch as gentle
I sift through my memories, and when I see the place I end up in, I let out a big sigh. Of all the places to end up in, it’s 13-year-old Viktor’s memories.A loud crash from downstairs woke me from my sleep, and when I opened my eyes, and strained my ears. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not. I’ve always been the cautious one out of my brothers; the ‘think first, act later’ type. Konstantin always mocked me for this, but then again, he’s the hot-headed one. So, me being me, I got out of bed to make sure it truly was a dream.We usually live in the mansion at the estate, but because of Kai’s ceremony that night, our parents had us sleeping here at the penthouse for the evening. Back then, I wasn’t sure what the ceremony was about, but I would come to learn its importance later on. I watched as 13-year-old Viktor cleared his throat and straightened his back before walking downstairs, then I let out a laugh at how stiff I truly looked back then. No wonder Konstantin always used to t
When the bright light disappears, I find myself still in my bedroom, but this time I lined my shelves with thick books, there are accounting papers and textbooks all over my desk and my room is incredibly neat.From the old Nokia cell phone laying on top of my textbooks, I chuckle as I remember this phase of my life - Boring Viktor. I was a stickler for rules, never bending them for anyone, and had finished high school the day before I turned sixteen. My uncle, Dominik, advised me to go in the accounting direction since it would be an asset to the Bratva side of our family. I didn’t mind since crunching numbers was quite easy for me and I enjoyed it.But as I watch myself pace the floor in worry, I realize that it’s the day before I turned sixteen - the day before my Mate Bond Sighting clicked. “Why bring me here?!” I exclaim, but of course, no one answers me. The last thing I want to see is the look on my face when I see Ilya or the way he faked his feelings for me.I sigh and sit
When I blink again, I notice that I’m in the forest behind the Volkov mansion. In the distance I can see lit torches and chanting; someone walks past me and I see sixteen-year-old Viktor following close behind his brothers Kon and Dimitri.We’re all dressed in black cargo shorts and no t-shirts while wearing somber expressions.I swallow hard, knowing what’s happening tonight and the backlash it caused. Kai’s becoming Alpha and naming Kon as his Beta, Dimitri as his Gamma and me as his Delta. He mentioned naming Nikolai the Epsilon when he comes of age, too. This is where the rift with Dominik truly started because he expected to be named Beta, not Kon.I follow them and lean against a tree to get a better view of everyone gathered here. My brothers, Dominik, three members of the council back home, and the newly formed BloodCrest witches.The blind witch, Kaede, is about Kai’s age here; she left with Kai and Kon for Russia under training to take over from our deceased parents. It’s a
I find myself walking into Kon’s club, Fang, and suck in a breath when I see my brothers as I remember them. Kai and Kon are covered in tattoos, they’ve bulked up incredibly and are laughing like they used to. I watch the door as 20-year-old Viktor walks in with a stack of envelopes. “We’ve been granted the spaces - the strip will be under complete Volkov control,” he says as he hands the papers over to Kai, who grins.“It’s about fucking time,” he says, opening the envelopes and looking up at me. “Good job, Viktor. You know one of these will be yours, right?”Younger me blanches. “What? I don’t know anything about running a nightclub, Kai,” he says, looking to Kon for help but my brother only shrugs his shoulders. “Apparently we’re all getting a club, even Nikolai when he’s old enough,” Kon says, grabbing one of the envelopes to open and look at.I remember fighting with Kai not to place the responsibility on me, but he was adamant I would do well. I hated being relied upon, think
When the light clears from my eyes, I thought I would be in another memory but I found myself back in what I call The Other. Only this time, things were different…this time there was no darkness surrounding me. Instead, it was as if I was in a wall of one-way mirrors.And I am currently seeing Caterina curled up in bed, crying. “Why am I seeing this? It’s no memory of mine!” I call out, only to be ignored again. This isn’t the first time I am questioning the Goddess and her decisions, and I doubt this is the last time. I swipe a hand over my face and breathe out a sigh before facing the weeping mess of a woman I grew so close to in such a short amount of time. She’s alone in what seems like Kai’s bedroom and she’s curled up in the fetal position, whimpering. My heart constricts as I can feel her absolute misery from here. Why is she crying? What happened? I can’t enter her space, it seems, so I’m just watching from what seems like the other side of a window. The bedroom door opens