Aurora’s POVAs the oldest of my mother’s twelve children, everyone expects me to be responsible. And as the first lycan born to my father, everyone looks to me to continue the lycan race.That’s a lot of pressure to put on an eighteen-year-old. Don’t get me wrong, as the future luna and heir to my father’s throne. I get where the pressure is coming from. Not that I particularly enjoy it.At the moment, I was hiding in the garden. I had many happy memories of this space, and on many days when I needed to think for myself or to get away from my many siblings, particularly my twin brother, I snuck out here and hid. Luke was way too over-protective of me, and it got annoying.When I was small, I used to make forts in the hedges surrounding the rose garden. I’d carved my hiding spot out into a hidden alcove that nestled inside the hedge behind a veil of ivy. Sunlight could dapple through the vines and illuminate the inside.And as long as I kept it free of cobwebs, it was a nice space to
Luke’s POV I knew my sister had run off to hide again after I heard her arguing with Dad. I wanted to find her and make sure she wasn’t sulking. Aurora liked to do that when things didn’t go exactly her way.But it seemed I wasn’t the only one who had that idea because halfway to her so-called “secret” place in the garden, I caught sight of her current boyfriend, Jay, sneaking out there, too. Jealousy prickled at my stomach.Aurora was my twin. I was the closest one to her. If she needed cheering up, it should be me doing it, not some random guy. What could he ever offer her that her twin couldn’t?Besides, Jay wasn’t worthy of her. He was a single-color coated wolf, the son of some gamma in my father’s ranks. If she was going to date and seriously consider finding a mate, I didn’t think Jay was anywhere near worthy of her.Jay was a consolation prize, at best. Some poor lady wolf could end up with him, but not my sister. Still, if she was just killing time by fooling around with him
The Lycan was a wall of masculine muscle behind me. His body heat scorched me even through my wedding dress; his breath seared the shell of my ear as he leaned closer and whispered, "Mate..." If the last Lycan was The Devil, I thought I might want to go to Hell. ________________ Helen POV The Devil's Lair "You have to wake up now! C'mon, c'mon!" I forced my eyelids to open. They felt so heavy I thought I would have better luck lifting the world. My head hurt badly and I could feel bruises forming on one side of my body where I'd evidently been thrown down to the ground by whoever had abducted me. "Wha---?" I struggled to ask, my tongue feeling thick and too heavy the way my eyelids did. My cheek felt as if it were bruised. I suddenly remembered being slapped and my eyes sprang open as adrenaline flooded my system, telling me to get up, to run, to fight. The girl at my side gripped my arms tightly. She shook me a little while shaking her own head 'no' at the same time.
Justin POV Heat raced through his veins with every beat of his heart; Alpha Justin of Lone Wolf Pack, known as 'The Devil' and as The Last Lycan, fought for control inside the chains binding him. His father -Alpha King Juden- had kept him in chains since he was a boy beginning to age into adolescence. His body was scarred from years of bondage, years of whips and chains and cuffs meant to subdue the monster inside of him. Every full moon brought more torture as the Alpha King insisted she-wolf virgins be offered to Justin. His body wanted the she-wolf virgins. His body craved their tender flesh and soft, wet sex, but his beast rejected their fear as unworthy of his interest. Justin had no name for the beast inside himself. The Lycan part of his mind was pure animal instinct rather than a coherent consciousness of its own. He never wanted to hurt the she-wolves offered to him, but the beast couldn't tolerate their tears, their screams, their fear which was as bad as a slap to
Helen POV The Devil's Lair Alpha Justin had not said a word to me since I'd been pushed back inside his room. He hadn't done more than snarl at me every time I tried to speak to him. Unable to see almost anything in the darkness, I couldn't tell if Justin was even looking at me. My wolf -called Joy since I was a child- encouraged me to try my luck at appealing to The Devil's gentler side. He had to have a human side, right? Even Lycans were still human most of the time. My tears were fake though my fear and sadness were both real. I focused on trying to let out every bit of misery in me through my voice, my actions, my presence in the small room which now served as a cage for both The Devil and me. "I was rejected, you know?" Honesty might earn me some favor with the Alpha. I couldn't offer anything else unless I wanted to risk getting closer to him and his angry growls scared me too much to risk closing the gap between us. Rubbing the fabric of my skirt between my fing
Helen POV"You're bleeding!"The smell of blood washed over me in a hot copper rush which made me feel sick to my stomach, dizzy, confused because I could almost feel the pain of Justin's wounds myself yet we weren't bonded."It isn't important," Justin offered, throwing my own words back at me, "My father fears the beast will overpower me completely so he works hard to tame it. The creature responds best to pain. He finds the whip effective.""It's important to me."I echoed Justin's words through numb lips, struggling to my feet before shaking my skirt out to make walking easier.If he used pain to control his Lycan, then there should be first aid supplies in his rooms. I couldn't imagine the Alpha King would leave his only son without medicine to treat his wounds---but I also couldn't imagine the refined Alpha King whipping his heir bloody either. What did I know?I stumbled around until I found a dresser, but the drawers seemed to only hold clothes. I hadn't gotten a good look at
Helen POVNeed swept over me with the force of a hurricane. Sweat beaded on my skin and my scent was amplified ten times as my body used every advantage it had to entice my mate to me."Justin---no," I panted, letting my head fall back as another wave of lust blew through me, "I'm going into heat. You should get back in the bathroom. Close the door. Keep the water running. You won't be able to smell me. I won't ruin you."I would ruin him, too.If my mate lost his Lycan abilities, he'd be left as a human with all a human's weaknesses and frailties.I didn't want to think of my strong, monstrous mate reduced in any way much less made into a human.Justin would lose his birthright, his place in wolfen society, his connection with his wolf---or was it his Lycan? He called his other half his beast. Was that how his inner voice spoke to him? As a monster out of myth?Looking at him across the dark bedroom, my heat emphasized his size, his strength, his scent until I released the towel I'd
Helen POVI realized it as soon as I said it out loud: I was free the way Justin was now free. There were no chains to bind me. No rope around my ankles or zip ties around my wrists. The door was wide open with no guard to stop me.I could run out the door and keep running until I blended back in with the pack who I had left behind. No one here would likely come looking for me after what I'd done to Justin. His father, Alpha King Juden, had only threatened my life if I didn't seduce him---and I had done it."I'm free."Justin was still breathing. He seemed to just be in a very, very deep sleep. What if I left him here for his father to take care of him? Was there any way he could find me again?I hadn't even told him my real name. He thought I was my sister. Diana. No one would go running their mouth about me to him either because I was overlooked completely in my own pack as a mixed coat Tiger Lily no one wanted.My own fated mate had thrown me over for my sister.I focused on my shi