The night that she had hoped would be the best in her life, had now been messed up. Kain had not gotten a good glance at her appearance and now, before they were even face to face, it was ruined. Dismayed, Denise pursed her lips and lifted her hand, gently swiping away the droplets on her skin. “Kira…stop this…” She looked up at her sister, her eyes practically begging her to let it end there. But Kira did no such thing. “Oh my…” Kira covered her smirking mouth, gasping. “By any chance, are you angry? Do you want to punch your dear sister? Do you want to rip me apart like you did mother? Tell me, what exactly is that crazy wolf of yours telling you to do?” Denise remained silent, clenched hands at her side. “That aside, aren’t you going to greet me and Justin? Or are we not worth bowing to?”“Kira, that’s enough.” Justin spoke up for the first time and grabbed Kira’s hand in his, yanking her to his side. “I didn’t come here for this foolishness. You’re like a child.”“He’s right.”
Denise’s eyes fluttered open, greeted by the faces of multiple people who looked down at her, two of which she recognized as both Aiden and Hailey. Before anything else, she quickly sat up on the floor and whilst ignoring how everyone suddenly backed away, she swept her gaze over the crowded hall, dreadfully searching for any signs that her wolf had hurt anyone. Thankfully for her, there was no blood around or amputated limbs, and that was a good thing, but…her family were nowhere to be seen. She looked to Aiden, grabbing his hand desperately, “W-What happened to them? My f-family?” “They left with all limbs intact…unfortunately. Only a bruise on the girl’s neck, that’s it.” Aiden answered. He had a frown on his face. “Get off the floor. I was gonna move you somewhere else but you’re already awake.” Hailey grabbed her other hand and they both pulled her to her feet. “A b-bruise?” Denise stammered, feeling guilt rise to her chest. Hailey scowled as she brushed off the back of Denis
The sudden turn of events confused her as much as it frightened her. As her heart picked up it’s speed, Denise held her arm up, the same one West was holding a while ago. Then, she looked over it, searching for whatever ‘mark’ she spoke of. When she found none, her confusion dipped even deeper. She was certain that she suddenly got weird after she glanced at her arm, but…there was nothing there. And that was what she couldn’t understand. The crowd was also confused and the few that seemed to know what was happening, whispered amongst themselves. She recognized them as members of Kain’s pack. “Did she smell his scent on her?” “No. She must’ve found the mating mark.” “I knew it was going to cause problems!” “What happens now? Is the deal off?”“The princess wants her dead. I’m all for it.”“Did she reall---”“Shut the hell up.” Their lips clamped shut instantly when Kain’s annoyed voice split through the air. “And you, West…stop this foolishness. You’re embarrassing the royal famil
Kain had pinned her close to his body and held her tight, as if he was telling the world that she was his. Why did he bear her mark, but he didn’t belong to her? Even when they were entangled in bed, she could not touch him. She could not hold him like West did. He was her mate, but she couldn’t have him. And the whole crowd knew it all, the pack members, family, strangers, Hailey, Aiden, everyone…She was the only one who had no idea.That made her chest ache even worse. “Den…?” Aiden and Hailey inched across the hall, looking over her figure pitifully, “What’s wrong? Why did you even try to go up there?! Are you oka----you’re bleeding again!” She whisper-yelled. “That wench!”Sighing, Aiden picked her up by the hand before using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe the blood from her forehead. “Luckily, there’s not too much blood.” He pushed her hair behind her ear and wrapped his arm around her waist, holding her close to his side so he could whisper, “You’re becoming pale. Is it beca
Kain sat at his desk, his fingers tapping against the wood as he reclined in his chair, sighing for the umpteenth time. He had been sitting in the same position for hours and yet, he hadn’t gotten anything done…he hadn’t even touched a single paper. He couldn’t focus because of one specific thing that kept riling him up…Denise. The image of her back retreating through the crowd had replayed in his mind at least a thousand times over, and coupled with the look on her face, it was all eating away his restraints. How dare she walk away? It was an act deserving of punishment, death even! Suddenly disobeying his command…what exactly did it mean? Was she attempting to anger him like this?Or perhaps she felt the position he gave her was not enough? That was ridiculous. A lowlife shouldn’t covet anything. She was simply too greedy. What exactly could she give him in return anyway? Aside from the spot between her legs and her wolf, she had nothing to offer. Instead of running around aski
“Kile.” Kain started a mind-link, “Search every inch of the pack lands.” “Who am I searching for?” Kile replied almost instantly. “Denise. Bring her to me.” “Yes, Alpha.”Closing the link, Kain's palms began to sweat inside his pockets. His jaws clenched and his golden eyes grew darker as the presence of his wolf slowly emerged. She was truly gone. He never expected it, because there was not a doubt in his mind that she’d have been crying herself to sleep in his room. But…he was wrong. That night, walking out like that…could it be…that she had been gone since then? How? Where did she go? How far? Who was she with?The more he thought, the more the world around him dimmed as he succumbed to anger. Unless his permission was given, her foot must never touch another pack’s lands except for his own. How dare she? Kain couldn’t control the rage she had drawn out of him, and along with that pooling anger, memories of the past naturally rose to the surface. *****Some years ago*A
Denise sat on top of a boulder near a small river close to Kain’s pack borders. Her back was hunched over as she picked at a small flower she held in her hands. Before now, she had clearly heard it when Kain entered his house. Without a second thought, she immediately climbed out of the closet and made a dash for the woods. She figured he couldn’t smell her since she used Kile's scent spray and she made sure to be extra careful that he didn’t hear her leave through the window. She really did not want to see him, at least not in that moment…even her wolf had curled herself up at the back of her mind and hadn’t risen at all since then. They both knew what awaited them and their heart wasn’t ready for it…the rejection. Surely that was what he came for. If he was marrying another and naming her his Luna, it only meant he needed to get rid of the woman who had marked him. Now, she finally knew the reason why he was angry when they mated. It was never supposed to happen, was it? Not with h
From what she could gather, West was deliberately hiding the fact that she could shift, but Denise didn’t quite understand why. Her first thought was that it was because she clearly didn’t carry the curse of the royals but that was only an assumption. Shrugging off the bad feeling that rose up her spine, she eased up and pushed herself to her feet. She needed to get back before it got any darker. A bath would be nice. And something to eat. Hailey could help her with that. With that thought, she patted down her flying strands and wrapped her arms around herself as she moved off. But unfortunately, she barely got to take a few steps before she heard something thundering in her direction or rather someone. She stiffened. She could practically smell its anger as a large black wolf came into her line of vision, it’s golden eyes trained on her unmoving figure like a predator watching it’s prey. Instinctively taking a deep breath, she sucked in the scent of the newcomer and immediately kn