AntiopeI look at the dress that is hanging on the door of my closet and I rub my hands together awkwardly. It is a simple, long blood red dress, with long flowing sleeves adorned with colorful designs at the hem, the same ones it has around the elegant neckline. Per my request, I got a pair of red ballerinas to match. I need to be ready and meet Magnus downstairs in half an hour.To say that last night dinner and today’s breakfast were awkward would be the understatement of the century. I didn’t even dare look at him but I could feel that he had no problem looking at me all the time.I thought I was all logic and mind, my wolf with me on this path. No extravagant emotions, no passionate stupidity, just a goal-driven Beta. But with Magnus... it is getting hard to listen to my logic. And mind you, my logic has a strong case. He is the asshole that forced me here, has my sister captive and is treating all this as a game. Still, my body has an opinion of its own and it’s that of protesti
MagnusI barely slept last night. I stayed up with the images of her. She hates Thane and yet she was unwilling to see him hurt. Behind that hard exterior, she hides a kind soul. Would she ever find it in her to forgive me?I shake my head and bury it in my hands. I can’t be forgiven. The Goddess herself does not cast her eyes on me. What I have done is unforgivable. She may be a kind heart deep down but deep down I am a monster. A monster that has fallen for her. That is my last, ultimate punishment.After the fights, Thane was carried away by his fellow warriors and all the pack paraded in front of us, showing their respect to the Alpha couple. In their eyes I saw acceptance. And even more than that I saw hope. They approve of the new Luna.That last look on those eyes was the one that floored me. All of the pack looked at her with the same expectancy that it was more than waiting to pop out a pup. The look they laid on her was that of love and respect.The sun has just rose above t
AntiopeAfter this morning’s encounter, I am fuming. The first order of business is to avoid going out that damn balcony on early mornings. The second is dispel in some way the effect he has on me. Yes, I know, it is ridiculous to be a virgin at my age and that my own fingers are less and less satisfying even for me, let alone for Maximo. But that doesn’t mean that I have to kneel and salivate before the first male that dared come in my personal space."But he is not any male,” Maximo whines. ”He is our mate and he is freaking hot! Please, Antiope?”"Shut up, Max! It’s all your fault.”“Yeah, like you find him hideous,” my own wolf is mocking me now.I don’t find him hideous, that’s a given. A blind female would find him... But he is holding me and my sister here against our will. And one way to overcome this Stockholm Syndrome is to see my sister, to set a clear path of freeing both of us. My sister’s sight tortured in silver chains is enough to make him a monster in my eyes.I get u
MagnusEgil is talking to me but I don’t think I have paid any attention to what he is saying. Something about the visit to Gunnar but I can’t bother. I am standing by the window, looking out at the lake like I have one a thousand times before. But this time the view is different.Antiope is out there, running on the shore, in her wolf form. Her black fur is shining under the sun, her strong legs are pounding on the earth. She moves so flawlessly, so gracefully. I have never seen a more beautiful she-wolf."Go to her!” Henrar demands.I look down and see her run with Thane. Seeing Antiope with another male even if it is her bodyguard is making my wolf angry and taking me on edge. I want to be with her all the time, just to look upon her, talk to her. When I leave home, all I can think of is when the time to go back to her will come. Before her, I slept here, on my couch. I couldn’t go back there, but now... I can’t wait to go back to her and cook for her.“Magnus?” Egil chuckles right
AntiopeIt’s been days since that encounter in the lake and things have been weird. I am angry and freaking confused. He had no right to do what he did, to kiss me like that, to look at me with those eyes of his so deeply and lure me in. He has no right to treat the situation we are in as a normal one, as if I am not here because he holds my sister in silver chains all this time.And yet, I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. I can’t stop reliving it and dreaming about it. And in my dreams, I don’t stop, I am not ready to slap him, I don’t run away from him. In my dreams, I come closer, I kiss deeper, I claim more. And, goddess, does he give me more. Enough to wake me up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat, with shaking knees and an abysmal, hot need between my legs. Cold showers have been the norm these last days. Thankfully, all that talk about sleeping with me remained just talk.“I will be leaving in the morning,” Magnus says over his plate. “Before sunrise.”I don’t lo
AntiopeI enter Magnus’s office and I am hit by his scent. I take a deep breath and calm Max down that is bugging me to run after him. Imagine what she would do if Magnus was our true mate. I take my place at the desk and I look at the stack of papers. I sigh. This is going to be tough.I don’t even know how much time has passed when I hear a soft knock on the door. Thane is standing guard outside and he is the one that comes in when I give the leave.“Astrid wants to see you.”I frown. I have no idea who Astrid is but the playful smile on Thane’s lips gives me an idea. If she is who I suspect she is... I bite my jaw down and I nod to Thane. I go back to my paperwork when I hear the shuffling of a dress in the office. Yep, I know that smell.“Luna,”"Whore,” Maximo has made up her mind on her.I lift my eyes and I regard her coldly. She is beautiful, with that long blonde hair and that lithe body. Her eyes are blue and her lips are full. Magnus sure has bizarre tastes. I look nothing
AntiopeI am looking at the phone every other second and I am getting more and more pissed. Why the Hell do I long to hear his voice? And most importantly, why the Hell he hasn’t called yet? Yesterday he called. Twice. One during breakfast and we practically talked for almost an hour and then he called by the end of the day, here at the office. But today it’s almost lunch time and he hasn’t...“Luna?” I hear a knock on the door.“Come in,” I recognize Astrid’s voice.“Am I interrupting, Luna?”“No,” I actually smile at her. “Is everything ready for Sonja’s party?”“Yes, I was thinking if you would...”“Of course, I will,” I say and get up.I am their Luna and this is an orphan who lost her father because he defended his pack. The least I can do is be at her birthday party.“We are what now?" Max purrs in delight.Shit. I did acknowledge myself as Luna. This is bad. And combined with the fact I actually miss Magnus for some mysterious reason that is beyond the grasp of reason this is r
MagnusI can’t take my eyes off Antiope and I don’t want to. If the goddess would grant me a wish, I would never have to stop looking at the woman talking to my pack members. But deep down I know I probably fucked this up with her.If I were the man I am now, after she brought life into my lifeless body and colorless routine, I would have handled it better. And by better, I simply mean not dragging her sister into this and threatening her.But before the Mating Hunt I have forgotten how to be a man and not an Alpha. I have forgotten how I enjoyed cooking for others, how it is to have someone you respect to talk with. And more than anything I forgot how it was to be a male, to be intoxicated by a female’s scent, to feel my wolf stir by need.I am sipping on my beer when Antiope turns and as if by instinct finds me. I go on fire instantly and Henrar growls in my head, practically ordering me to drag her out of here and take her as I have been dreaming since I left her behind.“Do I need