Damian's POV"This is going too far!" I lost my cool and yelled at Hazel. Alpha King Hazel. I had to remind myself he was more the weak prince I had known, and easily manipulated to turn dark. He was now the alpha king, with all the authority to do whatever he wanted. I could still remember how I had manipulated him into turning into the worst version of himself. That day he declared his luna and finally became a bona fide alpha king. When I had spoken to him that way, it was for the purpose of using him for the greater purpose of the Silver Hands. I had planned to use him as our tool for conquest, and to further our ideals. But Hazel had quickly gotten out of hand, and not even his father seemed to be able to reign him in. He had gone about, inciting the commoners against himself. I hadn't wanted him to be kind to the commoners in the first place, but he was supposed to be able to control their fear of him, use it to our advantage. Instead, he seemed intent on just creating ch
Mia's POVThe first sensation I felt when I woke up was the excruciating pain in my fingers. I winced and tightened my lips, stopping a scream from erupting just in time. Gingerly, I sat up, taking care to avoid leaning on my fingers while pushing myself up with my palms. I walked out of the room and opened the door across mine, where Maya and Mason stayed. Standing at the door, I could see Maya where she was still sleeping peacefully at the other end of the room. I felt pain burn in my heart. There were scratches on her face and other visible parts of her body, and a shallow gash on her forehead. Even as I watched, she turned in her sleep and her eyes tightened in a wince. She must have pressed on one of the many deep scratches that filled her back."Sorry," I muttered to her, though she couldn't hear me. If she hadn't been trying to protect me as she fought the Corrupted, she wouldn't have ended up in this state. When she turned and winced again, I walked across the room and l
Mia's POVMason looked down at me in surprise. "Really?" he asked, disbelieving. I couldn't blame him. Mabel had pressed on me many times to take The Oath, but I had always shied away. "Yes," I replied firmly. He looked into my eyes for a long time, as if trying to determine if I was joking. I held his gaze, trying to let him see how desperately I needed The Oath to be my strength now. "Have you thought this through?" He asked me. I nodded firmly, and he sighed. "Oh, well. I can't discourage you. It's what we've always wanted. If you're sure about it…" his voice trailed off. I nodded. "I'm sure about it," I said in a firm voice. He sighed again. "Well, we need to wait for Mabel to return then. She went to her shack, you know that's where she keeps some of her more precious potions. She sent me on to administer these ones in the meantime…" he waved the bunch of herbs in his hand. "You can help me do that while we wait for her," he finished. I was a little bit disappointed that
Unknown POVAs I walked to the city's edge, I felt as if I was being followed. I looked back several times, but couldn't find the source. So, I transformed into my wolf form and started running. But still, the feeling persisted. I knew better than to distrust my feelings. As the alpha had told me, if I had trusted my feelings ten months ago, that thing wouldn't have happened. It would be a putting I distrusted my feelings again this time and led the Silver Hands to the lair of the Sulfur Hands in this pack. I would never be able to forgive myself, and I don't think any other Sulfur Hand would be able to either. It would be such a catastrophe. So I decided to turn back and walk to the pack. Perhaps, I will go watch the execution and try to do something for those poor souls. Perhaps, I would lose whoever might be trailing me there, if indeed, there was anyone. Or, they might get tired and decide to leave me alone. So thinking, I turned back and without shifting back into my human f
Mia's POV "Claws?" Mabel asked, disbelieving."I want to see them," As she spoke, she came out of the room and stood hands akimbo, looking at my fingers with curiosity. "My fingers hurt," I replied before I could stop myself. Then my hands shot up to cover my mouth. Mabel just stared at me, the disbelief on her face and the curiosity have given way to an expression of I-knew-it-could't-be. Without a word, she turned to walk back inside. Somehow, it hurt more than her usual tart comments. I had never really tried to get the claws out after they slid back inside, so I didn't really know how it works. How do I slide it out? I thought frantically. My fingers burned when I looked, the claws were there. Without pausing to wonder how I did it, I stopped Mabel from entering the room. "Hey, look," I called out. She turned, and satisfaction washed over me as an expression of shock came over her face. She turned to face me fully, and inspected the claws, tapping her fingers against them.
Unknown POVAs I ran, I peeked my senses for any signs of being followed, but I saw none. Soon, I was in the forest. I knew for a fact that there was a Sulfur Hands lair somewhere here, and that finding it would be very difficult. If it was so easy to find it, the Silver Hands would have put a stop to their disruptive activities a long time ago and Alpha King Hazel wouldn't need to execute anyone. Luckily, I don't need to go searching through the whole forest by myself. The number of wild beasts in here alone was enough to make sure one never reached one's destination if one ever derailed from the footpaths. To find each other around an area they know, Sulfur Hands always used the environment to form special signs and symbols that would easily be misunderstood by another Sulfur Hand. The symbols always pointed to a particular safe location where they could meet. He would scatter the signs, what we call "signposts" around a wide area to increase the chances of them finding it, then
Mia's POVA boy emerged from the tunnel, and I froze in my tracks. It didn't take much to guess this was the same guy Mabel had just sent me to go aid Mason in misleading. How did he get here then? Did he somehow encounter Mason and forced him to reveal our location? That seemed likely, especially as I couldn't see Mason anywhere around. I wasn't ready to lose another person, trying to protect me. Anger exploded in me and I rushed forward, determined to end him before he took another step. But just as I started rushing towards him, howls sounded from the tunnel entrance and a horde or Corrupted emerged. They were in all forms; wolves, humans, and everything in between. Their very pale skin, and their red eyes with black pupils identified them as more dangerous than the ones locked in the chamber underground. These are intelligent Corrupted, able to fight cooperatively and follow orders to the letter, as far as the orders were specific enough. I froze in my tracks, my heart poundi
Selena's POV"You are failing us," my mother said, disappointment in her voice. The words stabbed into my heart, causing me more pain than she cared to know. "I am really trying. Believe me, I am. He's just too stubborn nowadays," I told my mother, trying to stop the irritation from leaking into my voice. "Or maybe, you're losing your edge," my mother replied tartly. "You're losing favour in his eyes. Do you give him…" She leaned close and whispered some obscene words. Then she leaned back and looked at me knowingly. "You do know alphas have high libido, don't you? It won't bode well for your relationship with him if you keep denying him that,"I almost couldn't keep the irritation down. Whoever told her my bed activities with my husband was her concern? And how dare she insinuate that I was subjugating my alpha? "You keep your nose where it is in your face, and out of my business," I replied coolly and stood to go. I mean, if this was the reason she summoned me all the way from