When we regroup, half an hour later, I relate what my mom told me to the rest. And they seem equally confused."So he went mad." Diana lets out a discouraged laugh. "That pack is doomed. Just like the rest of them. Just like the entire war. We should just leave the country and chill on a beach in Thailand!""Goddess, Diana! You do this every time!" Robert rolls his eyes."And I am right every time. We didn't stop the war, we just bought some time.""We didn't. Before we got involved, there was a pack falling every year. Now, It's been only four since they couldn't manage to pass the Moonwalk pack." Damon ends their bickering. "Knowing my father, the problem now is that he became impatient. That also means he is prone to making mistakes.""I won't wait for him to make one. They may have wronged me, but that pack is my father's pack. He died to protect it and I will not let it fall." I intervene, all eyes turning on me. "Robert is right. Crazy or not Axel is my mate and he won't hurt me
"He stays here?" I ask, hand in hand with Damon as we approach the shady-looking building in the not-so good part of the city."As you said, he apparently really cared about his pack. I think he's the only Alpha that I know that didn't have a hefty private account stashed somewhere. He left the pack with nothing. He invested everything he had back in his people only to be stabbed in the back." Damon explains while looking around to make sure Kat did a good job at distracting the guards that Beta sent to supervise his former friend. I never liked the Alpha, but even I can admit he didn't deserve this."Then how does he pay for this place?""I assume someone sends him money. Axel maybe?" Damon asks and I shrug. I doubt it's him, but that would be better than the Beta playing on both sides.I take a deep breath before we knock on the door. I am so damn nervous that I feel my heartbeat in the tip of my fingers, adrenaline pumping my veins, ready to act if it doesn't go as planned. But bef
"Yeah, but how do I ask him to come without sounding like a trap? Last time, Damon almost killed him before threatening him." Diana smiles at the memory and I hit her arm. "Stop it. It's not a trap! We need to trust each other...""Well, you don't trust each other. That's the problem. We think Axel is insane, Damon would kill him just because, he would kill Damon for..." She looks at me up and down a few times. "... you know. And you and him are in a complicated situation. Have you decided if you are also going to ask him to break the bond?""Depends on how the conversation will go. I think it would be better for both of us, but I don't want to add that into the mix if the situation gets unstable. The priority is saving the pack.""Ha! If! You are so optimistic, Rose."I was optimistic to think this conversation would help me take my mind off things. That's what I was. Damon went to get Brad as we decided communing with Axel would be a bit too dangerous as I don’t know yet how to do i
"You should get some sleep. We don't know how long the discussion is going to be." Damon says for the fifth time as I roll around the sheets. I sneaked into his bed earlier because I couldn't sleep alone, and I just ended up keeping him awake too."There are a million things that could go wrong." I complain."If something goes wrong, it will be one of the million. That means you wasted your energy thinking about the rest.""Did you commune with the Moon Goddess? Diana said you kept trying today too." I ask and he gets a bit tense. She ghosted us two weeks ago and no matter how much any of us try, she seems to want to stay away. For Damon, that's the longest he has been without her guidance in the last few years and I know it stresses him out."I can feel her. So she didn't just vanish. But... There's something weird. There's a feeling of guilt that lingers every time I commune and I can't tell if it's mine or hers." He explains and a cold shiver runs down my spine. I cuddle closer to
"You told Caroline about this meeting..." I whisper more to myself than anything. The one thing I pleaded with him not to do. The one thing he knows would have hurted me, but he did it. He did it because he trusts her more than he ever cared about me. And I...I feel ok with that. It hurt for a second. The idea of it, but when I reached to that pain to grasp it, it was no longer there. Now it’s just the fear that I feel."For fuck's sake, Axel? Would you stop the theatrical half information and just say what you have to say?" the Alpha snaps, but Axel continues to look at me like it's just us in the world."Please... What happened since the ceremony?" I ask, forcing myself to sound like I used to when I cared about him. And that seems to be enough, because Axel starts explaining."After my father attacked you, I really wanted to kill him. If I didn't check the mate bond to make sure you're fine before jumping at him, I would have turned him to pieces. I was also pissed at Caroline bec
"Rose…” His voice, like fine whiskey, smooth with a slow burn that lit me up from the inside.My body is not mine to control anymore; my mind doesn’t belong to me. I try to turn around, I try to open my eyes, but in vain. The pressure of a body over me holds me prisoner between the soft sheets as a man touches me with a sense of pure adoration that makes me shiver. When I moan, unable to hold it in anymore, he growls in my ear, like the sound of my pleasure takes away all his human restrain, allowing him to become like the beast his is hiding under the skin.“Damon!” I find myself calling a name that I don’t recognize. But in fact, I can barely recognize my own voice now. So full of need, pleading for more and more until I melt entirely under his touch.“I’ve waited so long… Too long.” He whispers, his voice playful, yet so far from a joking now. “I don’t know how gentle I can manage to be, my dear mate.”“Then don’t be!” I didn’t know if the words come out as an order or a plea. “Clai
"Why? Why? Why?" I ask, tears running down my mud-stained face. "I am one of you too! I try my best! Even if you don’t like me, why do you have to be so mean?"Caroline stands in front of me. Only thirteen, but she’s already tall and beautiful, like a model. She’s also strong, the greatest pup in our group. She is everything I ever wanted to be, but I know I never will."Because you are not one of us!" She replies, her voice so cold it freezes the blood in my veins. "So do us a favor and just die already!"The rest of the group seems taken aback too. They were laughing a second ago as I guess, me being pushed into the mud was funny, but once the word "die" comes out of her mouth, the giggles and piggy noises stopped completely. That was a bit much… Even for the cruelest of them. And the worst part? She didn’t even sound like she was trying to be mean; she was sincere."Cut it out, Caroline. If you have time to make fun of others, you have time to train," Axel intervenes, coming towards
The morning finds me still awake. It was kind of foolish of me to think that I might go to sleep after what happened. Every time I tried to close my eyes, I saw Axel's eyes glowing with lust in my mind. I couldn't bear it. If I had stared at that image for too long, I would have thrown away the blankets and run to the pack house to finish what we started earlier.Mates… the word reverberates in my head over and over, like an echo of fate. But something still feels wrong, unnatural, and I can’t shake it off. And it’s not just our past. It’s like my body is burning for him, my soul is begging to be close to him, my heart wants him like it never wanted anything else, and yet, I feel like… like…"Rose? It's time to wake up. You are going to be late." My mom hesitantly whispers as she peeks inside my room. I shake off the confusing thoughts."I am awake..." I sighed and get up."How are you feeling, love? Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"When we arrived back home, I lock