LANDON
“Now, that’s a good girl,” I said, noting how she seethed from within at the condescending tone. In the shortest time I have seen her, I knew she hated being patronized. I smirked at that. “If only you were obedient enough to know that servants should not look at the Master directly unless permission is given. But since I am in a generous mood today, I’d allow this once. Next time, you will be punished accordingly.”
Her amber irises glowed brightly like the sun and I could see her wolf was raging to take over.
There was no way I would believe that this woman was anything less than an Alpha. My equal. But to have her admit her identity was another challenge I had stored for another day.
“I am not your fuc—” she paused, swallowing. “I am not your servant.”
“Good catch.” I smiled and then leaned down to grab her chin. “I have half a mind to drag you out of here and declare in front of my pack that you are the new slave, so little siren, don’t tempt me. My generosity will only last so much.”
Elea blinked, her human mind taking control of her uncontrolled beast. “I am sorry, Alpha,” she gritted low.
With my gaze fixated on her, I straightened up and barked, “Guard!”. One of my men appeared at the door and bowed. “Take her to the servant’s quarter and make sure she is clean and dressed before delivering her to my room.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I left that cell knowing that my order would be carried out to the letter because ever since I had assumed my position as the Alpha of the Crimson Moon Pack, every pack member, irrespective of their rank knew that my commands were to be carried out without fail.
I had half a mind to grab her by the neck and lock her in my room, but I needed to be away from her. Ever since I had walked to that cell and found her in chains, every cell in my body seemed to have awakened the dark beast in me. My wolf, Luke, howled and roared within me, wanting to get out.
Only I knew how I had scorched Earth to find her, to know her…but she was nowhere to be found. It was as if someone had appeared out of the blue and vanished into the air like a bad dream. Except she was no nightmare.
She was the fucking addiction I could not get rid of.
Over the years, I had lived every waking moment with a throbbing in my heart as if I was being pulled against gravity. Now I understand why.
The child.
She carried my son in her womb and hid it from me.
I did not need a fucking paternity test to know that the child was mine. Apart from the fact that he shared my genes so accurately and what a splitting image he was of me, I felt him in my bones as soon as I touched him. My senses sparked, filling my soul.
The hollow ache I had endured till now seemed to ease at the touch. Fuck. The feelings were beyond what I could ever put into words. This throb ached in every vein and vessel, soaking into my teeth and deep into the empty chambers of my long-dead heart.
And then there was her. The fated mate who had abandoned me without reason and beyond years. I did not care if she had rejected me that night, I was vexed because she lied to me. Her name. Her identity.
And for some reason beyond my understanding, my wolf craved her. By law, our rejection was never complete. I had always thought that it was the incomplete rejection of the mating bond that pulled me towards her, but now that I have seen her in my dominion, on her knees, I did not know if I would ever let her go.
She was everything a carnal desire could crave.
The need to sink my teeth into her pristine neck, to see my mark on that fucking slope of her shoulder was driving me insane.
Storming inside my room, I slammed closed the door until I breathed evenly.
ELEA
With utmost disdain and maltreatment, the guard took me to the servants’ quarter as he was ordered by the Alpha and issued a series of instructions that ended with the words ‘rogue bitch’. I had half a mind to turn around and slap him, but he was the least of my problems.
Never in my wildest nightmare did I imagine being in confrontation with Alpha Landon, and then Liam getting into the mix, but my reality was far greater than that. Liam was his son, the child he never knew of until he touched and felt him. Over the years, I had tried to steer clear from the Crimson Moon Pack territories, but Landon’s hatred of rogues and his ambitions brought him here.
As I had already realised many years ago the apple did not fall far from the tree.
“You have thirty minutes to do your business,” he instructed.
Nodding, I disappeared into the bathroom. When I came out, a white dress was laid out on the bed. The fabric was sheer, almost translucent, with the thinnest shoulder straps I have ever seen and the hem of the dress ended mid-thigh. I would be practically naked. Snarling, I held it up for the brute waiting on me.
“What the hell is this?” I asked.
His eyes narrowed in warning. “Alpha’s order. Now, change and hurry up because I don’t have all day for you.”
“I am not wearing this,” I declared.
He closed the distance between us, grinning into my face. “Then it will be my pleasure dragging you out of here naked. Not that you rogue bitches have any modesty, eh?”
I took a step back, clutching the dress to my chest as his sleazy eyes roamed all over my body. I did not doubt that this man would do exactly as he said; in fact, he would take great pleasure executing it and I had no intention of giving him a show.
Turning around, I pulled the bedsheets and stormed into the bathroom to change.
Landon wanted me to wear the dress, right? Fine. I would give him exactly what he wanted but on my terms.
Once I slid into the sheer white dress, the stitches hugged the curves in the right places, I used the bed sheet to fashion a boho dress to cover up my modesty. When I got out, the man gave me a once-over before muttering, ‘bloody bitch’ as I smiled and followed him into my death trap.
Alpha Landon’s orders were clear. I was to be brought before him with a blindfold on in the same manner they had transported me from the prison cell to the servants’ quarters. The brute grabbed my arm and roughly dragged me to be delivered to Alpha Landon. But when the blindfold was actually taken off my eyes, I could not believe the enormity of the place.
The bedroom boasted a minimalistic, sleek yet luxurious design with a huge bed placed in the centre of the room. On one side, there was a fireplace and a large wingback chair was placed in front of it.
And there sat the beast in whose hands my destiny was imprisoned.
He had changed out of his previous clothes, now donning a suit glimmering with wealth and perfection as he sat with his leg crossed over the other and held a glass of amber between his fingers. With a flick of his finger, he dismissed the guard and waited for the door to shut behind him and then summoned me closer with two of his fingers.
Biting down the urge to disobey, I advanced, stopping short a few feet from him.
“What am I doing here?” I demanded.
His eyes glazed over me, at the bedsheets I had fashioned like a dress, defying his orders. The fight was sitting at the tip of my tongue, but to my surprise, he did not say a word. His gaze met mine, hardening. “You are here to serve me. From this day on, you will serve as my personal maid,” he announced.
“I want to see Liam,” I countered.
“Two hours every day,” he said. “Your time for today is done with.”
My blood boiled with rage. “Excuse me?” I said, taking a step forward.
“I will allow you to spend two hours with Liam daily, provided your work is satisfied.” A slow, vicious smile played on his lips. “Also, you can be present during his meals. Let the chef know beforehand and he will prepare what he likes. The boy will be well-fed and taken care of as I have promised.”
“Are you so savage that you will separate a mother from her child?” I growled.
“As savage as the mother who separated a child from his father,” came his reply.
I shook my head in a desperate attempt. “Liam can’t fall asleep without me. He will cry and panic and…”
Landon cut me off. “He will have his father.”
My eyes narrowed in slits, challenging him, snarling, “Are you so delusional to believe that you are the only man I have slept with?”
“Careful now, little siren,” he warned, his voice laced with an underlying threat. Landon closed the small distance between us, grazing the tip of his forefinger along the slope of my neck, murmuring, “I know you are quite capable with that big mouth of yours, but unless you want me to put it to good use, you will choose your words carefully. Your free pass ends now. Do you want me to take away the privilege of seeing your son?”
Peering at him, into his tattered, soulless and black-riddled heart, I knew that Landon Knox was capable of doing that. And I was not ready to gamble on my son.
“Please, don’t do this. If you want me to be your fucking servant, I will do it. Please, don’t take Liam away from me.”
“You will be a part of his life,” he said and went on. “You will see him every day, be with him for meals but the boy has never seen the world beyond you. Don’t you think it’s about time he started his education like every other child? Or, are you so selfish of a mother to keep him to yourself and deprive him of a normal life?”
Frankly, I have not thought about so many things for the sole reason that I was hoping from one place to another in order to secure his life. I could not let my father’s pack get hold of him, and at the same time, I knew that Landon Knox should be far away from my son.
But the Moon Goddess had other plans.
Landon smirked. “That’s what I thought.” He stood straighter, sliding his hands into his pockets. “Now, let’s get onto the details of your servitude. Your focus should only be on me and nothing else. Every aspect of my well-being is your responsibility. If you falter, I will be very disappointed. And trust me, little siren, you do not want to disappoint me. Have I made myself clear?”
Biting the side of my cheeks, I nodded. I knew that I could not win every battle if I had to win the war.
“Good.”
“I want to see Liam. Please,” I implored in earnest. “Please, Alpha, make an exception for today.”
He paused, debating inside his head. Landon Knows, if not anything, was extremely calculative. “Thirty minutes,” he permitted. “That’s all you will get with him.”
“Thank you.”
I let out a sigh, knowing this would be the only chance I would get to escape this hellhole with my son. I knew the risk I was taking, almost equivalent to signing away my life because if Landon got a whiff of my plan, he would skin me alive.
But I did not care.
Liam was my son, and there was no way on God’s green earth I’d let anyone decide how long I could see my son.
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ELEA I was again being taken to another room, with my blindfold on, roughly being dragged to unknown hallways and three flights of stairs. I could sense that I was made to walk the same place twice because I caught a distinct scent several times, all thanks to my unique gift of Alpha genes. Our genetic characteristics were always superior to any other average shifters, giving us an edge over others. The idiot who was dutifully trudging me around had no idea that I was no ordinary rogue. I carried alpha genes in my veins, and it would probably take me a few good seconds to pin him down on the floor and beat the hell out of him. But I was no fool either. My energy was reserved for something better. After tedious long minutes of dwindling, I was delivered into a room and the blindfold was removed. “Liam!” I hollered, rushing over to the couch where my son happily played with noisy video games and whatnot. “Mama!” He screamed giddily, crashing into my arms. And everything in t
LANDONUnspoken emotions crackled like summer storms for the longest time until I slowly trained myself to breathe easier. As much as I would like to shift right now, to hunt, to maim and to kill, I knew I had to be somewhere. I have a son, a child who was such a splitting image as I was, I could not believe my eyes. My phone beeped with Alex’s message, informing me that my order had been well carried out and Liam was made comfortable in one of the guest rooms on the second floor. I looked down at the watch, knowing it would take Elea some time to be delivered to my room. And I could not tame the restlessness of seeing my boy. So, I headed down, marching towards the guest room and as soon as I cracked open the door, the boy turned around to face me. He was visibly strained for his age, with wide eyes looking over my shoulder, expecting his mother. And it broke my heart a little when he found out that I was alone. With a warm smile, I slowly approached and joined him on the couch.
LANDONLuke was no match for her wolf, I knew that. But she was proud, graceful and beautiful—just like her human. As soon as I intercepted her flawed escape plan and had her sedated by one of my trusted warriors, I handed Liam over to Alicia with strict instructions that no one enter his room apart from her.It was a little difficult to make Liam understand, all the more reason I avoided attacking Elea in front of Liam so that she could not pollute his mind any more than she already did. But Liam was smart enough to sense that he was being duped.Thankfully, Alicia was well-equipped to handle him. Soon, exhaustion and hunger consumed him. After his belly was full, the boy fell asleep.Striding back to my room, when I opened the door and saw her in the little bit of morning light that was streaming through the lace curtains, every rational thought slipped out. There was a certain sense of déjà vu having her in my bed after all these years. I took in her sleeping form, long cinnamon br
ELEAIf I could breathe fire, I would have burned down this whole bloody place to ashes. Instead, I was down on my knees and scrubbing a toilet. For Fate’s sake, I have Alpha blood running in my veins. I was most definitely not meant to clean a toilet. But I was not ready to give Landon the satisfaction to see me break. He had already humiliated me this morning once when he let the maid inside the bedroom after ripping off my clothes and rendering me naked to his eyes. So, I would not give him any more satisfaction than he already had. Flashback:The maid entered and her eyes fell on me, letting out an involuntary gasp. "Alpha, I am sorry, I can…I mean…come back later,” she said and, in an instant, turned around.Landon, as nonchalant as ever, said, “That won’t be necessary.”She nodded, flicking a glance at us as I struggled to cover myself with my hands. She strode across the room, gathering the tray and glass abandoned near the fireplace before bowing to him and advancing toward
ELEAI was growing impatient by the second. A day passed by, and I did not see Liam. Actually, I was not allowed to see Liam until the asshole thought he could trust me. And it was no easy feat to regain his trust after all that I had pulled. Looking back, I knew it was risky. But I should have known Landon was no fool. And now he was a man on a mission to make my life miserable. It was bad enough that I had deliberately hidden his son for years and denied him the identity of his heir, I had also rejected him and taken off. But five years ago, things were different. I could still endure his wrath and deal with his brutish behaviour as retribution for denying him, rather than letting him find out my identity. There was no idea I could tell him that I belonged to a pack he loathed his entire life, and that night was meant to be something else. Truth be told, my entire life changed the night I found out that I was pregnant. And deep down, I knew there was no going back. I was done b
ELEAAs much as I enjoyed spending time with Liam, his questions provoked some deep questions within me. Where will this end, I wondered. Now that Landon knew about Liam, will I ever be allowed to leave this place?And even if I manage to do that, maybe in years, Landon Knox would scorch Earth to find me. And his forgiveness would only be so much after all that had happened between us. Every moment in this place made me anxious and paranoid.After my time with Liam, I was delivered back to Landon’s room and was listed with detailed chores in his absence. Not wanting to go into another tussle, I began to clean and arrange the things in his bedroom as part of my duty. The man was fairly simple when it came to his things. He’d left most of the things uncovered, as if a man like him could hold no skeleton in his closet. But something caught my eye as I came near the chest of drawers. There was a decorative keyhole in the first drawer, far different than anything in the room, and out of
LANDONI shut the door and turned to face him. “Maximus. You are back early.”He has not changed in months in his absence from the pack. Almost as tall and muscular as me, my half-brother, Maximus, shared a few genes with our father. But all his charming looks were inherited from his mother, a woman my father met in a chance encounter. It took my mother years to forgive him, but she has always treated Maximus as her own. Bastard children were never welcomed in any pack and often destined to be rogues, but my mother, being the strongest Luna I knew of, made sure that the identity of Maximus remained hidden. It was not to protect my father from scandal but to protect him as a boy. Growing up, I had always known that he was a loyal friend and family. It was not until I found my wolf and shifted that I learnt of his identity. Even then, it did not make a difference to me. He was my brother, and he would always be. “Did I cause a little inconvenience for you?” he smirked, throwing hims
ELEA “I hope you know what to do.” I looked up at the reflection in the mirror. My father, Alpha Dalton, was standing behind me while I was putting on the diamond earrings, followed by fixing the crimson-red colour on my lips. “I know what to do.” “Good.” He nodded, though a little unsure, as always. “Do not fail me, Elea.” I snapped up my gaze for a comeback, but he had already turned around to leave. Long ago, I read somewhere where it said: when you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. I did not know the true meaning of those words until the night followed. The night that forever altered my life and possibly the life of my enemy — Landon Knox. XXX The Blood Moon celebration night of the Crimson Pack was one of the biggest carnivals the West Lands has ever seen, with drinks flowing like water and every male and female werewolf of the pack was intoxicated and high in celebration. It was the ideal night to infiltrate. My family, especially my father, had