ATHENA'S POV“Are you sure about this, Lia?” I asked for the umpteenth time as I stared at my reflection in the mirror. The red thong and matching bra my bestie bought for me to wear on my upcoming Moonday, was not my style at all. I turned to get a better look at my rear. I shifted the phone from one ear to the other, frowning at my appearance. “I look like I belong in a Playboy centerfold,” I declared with a snort as I shook my butt cheeks and watched them eat up the bow that settled at my crack. “I am not wearing this,” I finally stated.Lia heaved an annoyed sigh. “I’m just trying to be your friend, Athena,” she let out, and I already knew what was coming next. Throughout the two years I’d been dating Nate, Lia had been urging me to sleep with him. So we’d been through this conversation more times than I could count. “Nathan is every she-wolf’s dream guy. He’s handsome and wealthy. Plus, he’s from a prominent family, being a beta’s son and all.”Though I’d heard her tired argument

XAVIER'S POVI lay in a cave surrounded by a dozen beautiful, naked she-wolves. Each had pledged herself to me when I saved them from vampires who had used them as blood whores. The cave used to belong to the vampires, too, but I took it over after exterminating the bloodsuckers. I called it the Wolf’s Den, and it had become the place I went to blow off steam with the she-wolves—something that had been their idea.Initially, I’d refused their offer, happy just to provide them with comfort and protection. But after spending time with them, attachments developed and our sexual relationship began. I cared for each of them, too, but made it clear early on that I didn't want a luna because of circumstances of the heart. They understood and provided me with sex regardless.Though I never slept with just one or two. No, no. It was always a group endeavor. That was their rule—so I couldn't pick favorites. And who was I to complain when so many she-wolves made themselves so readily available?

ATHENA'S POVXavier left, and the red-headed she-wolf stood in the sitting room across from me, watching me with her burning, scornful gaze. Her expression and obvious negative intentions toward me sent terror up my spine.“You’re lucky he found you first,” she said, then cackled in the most sinister manner.My insides churned, and my breathing became ragged.A gruesome grin spread across her face. “I would be having you for supper right about now,” she stated, obviously assuming I was human.I wished I had my wolf. With my alpha blood and my wolf, she would have been no threat to me. As it was, though, I was no match for her.Part of me thought I should have told Xavier what had happened. But I had to heed my parents' advice not to trust anyone, which was why I went along with the handsome wolf’s assumption that I was mute. I had to feel him out first.My tummy rumbled, and I swore if I didn't get something to eat, I would perish before the next sunrise.“The dumb girl is hungry?” Sc

AUTHO'S POVAthena's everything hurt.The pain was like fire burning her limbs. She winced. It blew up in her head with a terrifying blankness. It was nauseating. She quivered. The pain felt like a hot, sharp knife, covered in salt, slicing through her skin and into her muscles and bones, as though her legs had been frozen and a bolt of lightning had struck her body from head to toe.Her wound was throbbing, and her fingers were numb. She coiled them unknowingly to ease the painful rigidness. She curled up next to the tree trunk closest to her and decided to wait for Maggie there. Her feet couldn't go any further, and she wasn't sure about this plan that Maggie had. Alpha Pureblood was said to be a very ruthless and unforgiving Alpha. She just didn't think he would take time out of his murderous schedule to help a weak little orphan like herself. He was probably feeding on Maggie's intestines right about now. She pondered.She was so tired. A yawn escaped her lips. She just needed to

AUTHOR'S POVXavier's heart was pounding at a mile a minute in his chest, while he stood there listening to Athena relaying the vile and disturbing things that happened on that fated night when her parents got murdered.What made it worse was that she witnessed it. Xavier hated that this sweet girl had to see that evil bastard, Cyrus, infiltrate her home and take everything away from her.Exodus was frozen in the back of Xavier's mind, rooted to the spot. His insides bubbled with rage as he fantasized about ripping Cyrus to smithereens.Athena was a crying wreck now, clutching her pendant with trembling hands while describing how she held her parents' wounded bodies until their life forces ascended to the Moon Goddess. Her recollection of their deaths cleaved open Xavier's heart, reopening the old wounds that his parents' deaths caused.Athena shook as she cried, squinting her eyes tightly as the salty liquid ran down her face in streaming lines.“Oh, Athena. I'm so sorry." Xavier qui