(Katriona)
ALEXANDER’S warriors, who seemed to be hiding behind the trees, appeared all of a sudden, blocking my mate and the rescue team. Their number was equivalent to the warriors sent by the city.
It was easy to spot Alexander’s subordinates. All of them had tattoos on their backs. Alexander also had tattoos on his chest and arms. They seemed to be symbols which were all unknown to me since no one had them in the city.
Alexander purposely commanded the driver to slow down. He was clearly taunting me and the rescue team. Letting me watch how Bradley and the knights shed so much blood just to save me was breaking me. I felt like my heart was being ripped out from my chest.
How could the most beautiful day of my life turn out like this? This was a day for me and Bradley, a day to celebrate our love and happiness.
By this time, we should be in the reception hall filled with flowers, drinking with our family and friends, and having our first dance as husband and wife with the guests who were cheering for us. We should not be in a snowy place like this. The suits the knights were supposed to wear for the wedding had been smeared by blood.
And when they shifted, it was chaos. I heard nonstop rumblings and whimpers.
I turned my gaze back to Alexander. I had never hated anyone this much in my entire life. How could someone be this vicious to his own family member? Was this what he wanted? To kill everyone?
There was a dark aura surrounding him, screaming how dangerous he was. I heard that even the Rogues submitted themselves to him and were now residing in the North which had made his domain the most frightening place in the entire kingdom.
Alexander had built his own kingdom from the ground up. Now, he was ruling over ten thousand wolves while instilling fear to those who knew his name.
And I could see why.
Alexander crossed his muscular arm and gazed back at me.
“It’s still not too late. We can still talk this out, alpha, I’m begging you,” I pleaded. My eyes welled up when I heard how the warriors wince, including Bradley. They did not deserve to be hurt like this. “I can convince them to forget all of this as if nothing ever happened. We will forgive you. You have my word, alpha. All of us can start again. Just please… let me go.”
“Let you go?” Alexander repeated in a low and dangerous voice as he leaned down. His hot breath was gusting over my ear as he whispered, “Never. And who the fuck wants the city’s forgiveness?” His words became harder and heavier when he added, “It’s definitely not me, Katriona.”
(Alexander)
TEARS sprung into Katriona’s eyes and I refused to be affected by them. She was nothing but a collateral damage in the game her groom started. I looked away and swung my head back to my brother’s direction who was currently leading his pack and the city warriors.
We had already reached the walls and passed through the Northerners’ crest on the iron gates. It was an image of a white wolf with the city flag in its mouth.
After a while, I saw the King himself rushing to the gates.
Blood rushed into my head. He was doing all the things he never did for me and my mate. If only we did not look alike in many goddamn ways, this gesture would have everyone wondering who his real son was.
This protection he was doing for Bradley’s sake had only made my anger intensify. That son of a bitch and his bride were lucky. No one had ever fought for me and Alison this way. Whoever said only the couple were breaking at this moment?
I… was breaking too, goddamn it. And once again, this man they referred to as my father was among the reasons why. Then and now, all he ever does is break me. Some things truly never changed.
“What do we do now, alpha? Your father has gotten involved,” Jace reported. “He looks exhausted.”
“Let him be. That old man needs exercise. He has been sitting on that useless throne for so long now that dealing with a couple of wolves had already made him pant like that.”
“How could you say that to your own father?” Katriona asked, her eyes wide from anger, disgust, and shock. “You have no shame!”
“What does a sheltered princess like you know?” I scoffed and turned to my warrior. “Stop the car.”
I went out and walked towards the King who stood outside the gate. There was blood in his majestic white and red uniform, a proof of how much he had fought for the happiness of the son he adopted.
What an award-winning performance from a loving father. If I knew he would be coming here as well, I would have prepared a darn trophy.
He clenched his hands and looked at me straight in the eye.
“As the King of this nation, I, Augustus McCain, commands you, Alexander McCain, to stop this madness at once!” his voice echoed in the snowy area.
Madness? That word made me laugh. I looked up at the dark sky. I wanted to scream. If mom was watching from wherever she was, I wanted her to look at the man she married, at the man she was willing to die for.
Goddess, she was so foolish. What did she ever see in this man? Augustus was nothing without that stupid crown on his head.
“Alexander!” he roared.
All of his men grabbed the iron gate but none of them could break through it. The North was no longer the same place they knew. No one cannot penetrate our walls anymore. No one can belittle our people anymore.
“Alpha Alexander McCain, kneel and accept the royal command,” Ulric, the king’s right hand man, ordered.
“Kneel? What a joke. In case you had forgotten, you are now in the North,” I replied in a rough voice. My smile faded as the color of my eyes changed into gold. “Your commands do not matter inside my territory because in this place, I am the King!”
“SON-““No! You do not get to call me that anymore! You have no fucking right to address me like that after the hell you put me through!” I interjected. Fury flashed in my eyes. “This is all on you now, Augustus. If you only became the kind of ‘king’ and ‘father’ that I needed four years ago, this would not have taken place!”“Behave yourself, Alpha Alexander! You are talking to the King!” Ulric exclaimed and pointed his finger at me. “This is treason, a crime punishable by death!”I felt the last bit of my patience reached its peak. Ulric, the Queen’s older brother, was still as arrogant as before. In a blink of an eye, I was already standing in front of him. I put my hands between the iron bars. I broke Ulric’s fingers, grabbed his neck, and lifted him in the air with one hand. His face and neck had turned red. He struggled to free himself but I did not let him.The ever merciful and compassionate king wanted to interfere but one look at him and his legs weakened.The same thing hap
(Jace)UPON receiving a text message, I linked with the alpha.“I had already ordered the servants to prepare the villa. I was told that everything is in order for our arrival,” I reported. “The chefs had already prepared dinner for all of us.”“No, Jace. The woman will be staying with me in my house.”I was taken aback. No woman had ever stepped foot inside Alpha Alexander’s house. Only the chef and the cleaner were allowed entry in his main house. Even those two were males. I was his beta but I had only been in the foyer each time there was something urgent I needed to report.Each time the Alpha would summon us, it was in his villa where meetings and parties were usually held. We were given access to every part of the North except for the area where he lived. That was how badly he required privacy. And we respected that. After all, he was mourning at that time.And he still is.Most of the citizens’ residences were close to each other except for the Alpha’s house which was miles aw
TONIGHT, Katriona was more than beautiful. Her round breasts looked perfect and proud. And those pinkish buds were demanding for attention, tempting me to close my mouth around one tip to know if it was as tasty as it looked.My throat went dry. Anyone who will see Katriona right now would feel corrupted.Even I could not help these twisted and dangerous thoughts running through my head while looking at her, which was making this hungry fire inside me grow stronger and wilder.Katriona, in her human form, looked delicate from head to toe.And yet, her eyes held strength, something which you would normally not see in women’s eyes these days. The last time I saw that in a woman was when… I shook my head.This was not the right time to reminisce.When I heard another wolf’s growl, anger suddenly streaked through me. But it was no longer because of the men camping outside the walls but because of the men around me who had seen her in this state.I pinned Jace and the guards with a hard st
(Alexander)“WHEN she sleeps, please turn on the lights. She has these nightmares. She’d panic if she woke up in the darkness. It might trigger her trauma. I’m begging you, Alexander. I know you are not going to do this for me but at least, do this for her and for her parents who are worried sick in the city.”I crumpled the letter Bradley had left behind and tossed it in the fireplace. The warrior guarding the gate handed it to my beta a while ago. There were traces of Bradley’s blood in the letter, reminding me of the blood I saw when I found Alison’s dead body.The people from the city retreated except for Bradley, the last city guy standing. I was told that most of them could not endure the snow any further. And to think they were only there for a couple of hours. I stood in front of the castle gates for seven straight days. Rain or shine, I was there, kneeling on the ground, screaming and begging for justice.I was neither seen nor heard.I was treated as if I was invisible by th
HE was insufferable! Just thinking about Alexander made my insides twist with so much irritation. He had no right to keep commanding and threatening me like that! I still had my pride!And yet, exactly five minutes after our conversation, I found myself standing in the dining area, eager to grab a knife and stab it deep in his chest.But once I held the knife, anxiety wormed its way into my heart. If not for the past that kept haunting me until this very day, I could have done better. This much wouldn’t have fazed me. I would have been stronger like Chantal, my sister. She was only three years older than me and yet, she was better than me in many aspects. She had already accomplished so much in the city unlike me who was constantly being held back by my inner demons.When I heard the door open, it put me on edge which made me drop the knife. It fell on the marbled floor and created a disturbing sound.Alexander raised his brow upon seeing the knife. He had put on a plain white shirt n
(Alexander)‘FROM this day forward, Alexander McCain will no longer have the right to the throne. I will no longer consider him as my son but as the enemy of the Crown,’ Augustus announced on national television. ‘Today, I am announcing Bradley McCain as this Kingdom’s crown prince. What the ruler of the North did was clearly a revolt. It was unforgivable. To the warriors, strengthen our army and prepare yourselves. Soon, I will order the attack to the North to rescue the soon-to-be crown princess from their claws.’‘This will be a bloody battle, your majesty, which could lead to the death of several people,’ one of the reporters stated. ‘If during the process, Alpha Alexander dies along with his mother’s relatives and-‘‘Then that would be their fate. Whatever happens next, that alpha wished for it. He is asking for this. Then I shall give it to him.’‘If Alpha Alexander is watching right now, is there anything you would like to say to him, your majesty?’Augustus’ dark, unforgiving
ASHAMED? This blood was what kept me apart from everyone in the city. It disconnected me from them. It burned all the bridges I could have had with them.Many times in my life, I hated this mixed blood within me. I questioned it. I thought if I didn’t have this, maybe the people in the city would have learned to accept me as part of their circle. But with Beatrice-the current Queen’s-arrival, I realized that my blood was only an excuse they made to distance themselves from me.Whether I was pure breed or not, people were still bound to toss me away because my mother was not the King’s mate. She held no solid ground in the kingdom. And in the royal system, they value the importance of mates. For others, Beatrice was the most suitable partner for Augustus. They believed that their bond would lengthen his life and would strengthen him and the kingdom. True enough, Augustus had been more powerful with his mate by his side. His wolf was in its best shape, it had become stronger than it was
IT WAS past eight in the evening when I returned home. All the lights were on, proof that there was a scaredy-cat living inside my house. Katriona was not that special, I recited that like a mantra over the past couple of hours.And yet, I assigned a female warrior to watch over her while I was away, something I had never done before.All the things she would have missed, from the luxurious jewels, clothing, and shoes, I had them delivered here. Her favorites were added to the menu which Chef Matthew prepared. The guest room was decorated according to her preference. Even I had no darn clue why I made such efforts.I ran a background search on Katriona before I went to the city. I was aware that she didn’t leave their estate until three years ago. The reason was still unknown though. Even the best spy in the North cannot uncover that. She was home-schooled. By the time Katriona came out of her comfort zone and faced the society, news about me had vanished into thin air as if I didn’t