It was too late for Cassius. Whatever plans he put together now would barely have any effect on the plans I had had underway for a while now. He would be swept away by a tide before he knew what hit him and phase one of my revenge would be complete.The next stage would be easy. Dealing with Cassius after reducing him to a pauper would be a piece of cake compared to what I had had to endure so far.“How can she show her face like this?” Whispers followed me as I walked through the temple.“She is truly a shameless woman. If I were in her shoes, I would not be able to come out of my room for at least ten years.”“She pretended to be hurt about Alpha Raven finding his mate but she was nothing but a loose woman going after powerful men.”“I am certain Alpha Raven knew. No wonder he did not want to get engaged to her in the first place.”“Good day.” I stopped in front of the women gossiping about me without enough courtesy to lower their voices.“Argh – goddess, where did you come from!?”
KOA’S POVOne thing I have learnt is that one cannot play by the rules with people who do not care about the rules. As I stared at Carl’s lifeless body, I understood this fact anew. He was only a young lad, full of life and dreams, only nineteen and his cold corpse had been delivered to my doorstep in the early hours of the day.This was the boy, who no matter the task assigned to him, would comply with eagerness and eyes that sparkled with a determination to do a good job. He was full of life, one of the few people who mattered to me. His father had fallen many several rogues with me and that was how I came to know him. Carl was only a child and I sent that child to a war zone. When I asked him if he was clever enough to fool the Luna Queen and work beside the Alpha King to monitor him, he had nodded his head, full of life and energy but now, his lips were blue, his neck covered with scars that made it clear he had struggled in his final moments.“He was poisoned,” Faris said from be
“No, no!” I screamed, fighting the iron grip on my biceps. “No, you have to believe me. I never – Cass, please, you have to believe me!” I screamed, looking at my mate.I heard a whoosh. My heart went into free fall before my world went still. He didn’t believe me. I looked around at all the eyes fixated on me. No one did. No one believed me. The silence in the room rang in my ears. It was loud. Deafening.“Cass, I – I would never –“ The silence still rang in my ears. My voice sounded like it belonged to another woman. It couldn’t have been mine. “I would never poison April.” The silence shattered with the glass in my mate’s palm.“You dare – How dare you speak her name?” My mate hissed at me. His red eyes glowed in the dimly lit hall. They brimmed with hatred.“Cass –“ I looked around a second time. I did not want to believe it. How could I? How could I believe that everyone turned their backs on me when I needed them the most?“You will address me as Alpha Cassius Raven.” He stepped
“Goddess, no!” I swatted at the blinding white light filling my vision.“Miss Persephone, please calm down!” A muffled voice sounded in my ringing ears. Pins pricked all parts of my skin, making me moan in pain. “Miss–“ The voice calling out my name faded as darkness embraced me.“Anastacia,” an ethereal voice wrapped around me in the darkness.Anastacia.It was my middle name which no one addressed me by except my aunt who died over a decade ago. It was what my mother called me before she died but my father preferred Persephone, a name fitting for a bringer of death to his beloved mate.“Is she awake?”“Miss Persephone?” Blinding white light filled my vision again. My eyes opened to see what the afterlife had waiting for me. It was dark, quiet, mournful, and somewhat angst-ridden.“Where – Where am I?” I looked around me, turning back to the white light. I flinched when I realized the ‘white light’ was actually Doctor Lorenzo’s salty white hair. “Ha, did he get you too?” Light floode
Two years after Cassius became an Alpha, his pack demanded a Luna and I thought he would choose me. I was stupid to think that. To him, I was his best friend but my heart stuttered in his presence. Cassius didn’t see me as a romantic partner. He had no interest in romance, actually.I made my father propose the idea of linking our families. Cassius revered my father too much to say no to his face, so he came to me. He told me he didn’t want to mate with me as he only saw me as a friend. It broke my heart but I was persistent. I sent my father back with an ultimatum. If Cassius did not mate with me, the Adelard family would find another pack to support. He had no choice.His pack had their reservations. My father’s name was the only good thing about me. I had a bad temper. I was vain and rude. How could I lead as the Luna when I behaved like a surly sixteen-year-old even at twenty? No one opposed me to my face because I had Cassius and my father backing me but I heard all the bad thing
“The – The Alpha is in a meeting right now.” My father’s secretary shivered in his boots when I arrived. “If the Missus had made an appointment, perhaps –““An appointment to see my father? Does it sound right in your ears for a daughter to schedule an appointment to visit her father?” I asked Mr. Kim, my father’s secretary.“My lady, the Alpha is an important person who one can’t –““I shall wait for him,” I cut him off but he kept going.“You cannot barge in – What?” His mouth fell open. “I mean – You will wait for him?” His voice shook with disbelief as he asked.“Yes. I would like a cup of tea while I wait.” I saw myself to the waiting room.“Is that really Lady Persephone?”“She will wait rather than barge in on the Alpha?”“It seems she knows the relevance of this meeting.”“Doesn’t she seem a bit – off?”I zoned out of the whispers exploding around my father’s office. Wolves had great senses. Some could smell things hundreds of metres away while others had enviable night vision
“Sorry for keeping you waiting.” Cassius came out with a smile on his lips. It was a smile I came to call ‘my special smile’ because Cassius never smiled.Born to an omega single mother, he lived as the pack runt for the better part of his life. When his mother died from a mysterious disease that degenerated our kingdom’s omega population, his Alpha took him in, only to mistreat him. He served as the Alpha’s steward, his knight, and a vessel for unleashing his anger until he killed him. He lived a tough life that toughened him.“It’s no problem.” I adjusted myself in my seat. My mission here was tricky and might fail but I had to try. “How are you?” I cleared my throat. My words had no emotions in them, sounding as if I did not care about his well-being.“Why does it sound as if you don’t care about that?” He chuckled. “I have a meeting in twenty minutes so let’s cut to the chase. Why did you request an audience with me so early in the day?” He was in the best mood during the mornings
“This won’t do.”Back in my room, I stared at myself in the mirror. My eyes were hollow and red and my skin was shockingly pale. My head hurt, my body hurt and my mind hurt. Knowing the past or the future, I suppose, I could not afford to mate with Cassius but I also could not annul the engagement on my own, not without Cassius’ consent. The only other way was for my father to step in and I had vowed to keep him out of all this.This was the mess I created and the last time he tried to clean up my mess, he had his throat cut. I swallowed through my dry throat. “No, this won’t do,” I muttered to myself.“Miss Persephone?” Sylvia knocked on my door. “Emma is here for the final dress fitting.”“Send her in. Have someone prepare tea and some snacks. She must have set out without breakfast to arrive here this early.” My fingers drummed against my chair handle.This would not do.Cassius was one of the most powerful men in the Deimos kingdom now and I made him. I built him with my hands fr