Farren's Point of ViewFuck Phaedra. Fuck Tristan. Fuck Dominique. Fuck them all. That was all I could think of as they spoke in front of me. Spoke over me and about me as if I wasn't even in the room. This had turned into something that went beyond Lupitum and Dominique's urge to take over the business.They wanted to gain favor with the royal family. Wanted to send me with Phaedra willingly, knowing that I would be a cow to the slaughter. Except if what she had said was true. That she wanted me by her side as her sister. To help her overthrow the monarchy and place herself on the throne instead. That Reginald had grown too drunk on power and was proving himself to be an unfit king.The snide remark about how Nerezza being a mad woman didn't seem to help her cause at all. Only angered me to the point that I wanted to rip out of my ties and strangle her myself. Although, I settled on growling back at her. Let my eyes do the talking. Showed her the clear disdain I had for her."Take th

Farren's Point of ViewI was terrified. And it wasn't just for my own safety. He had a look in his eyes that told me I wasn't going to talk him out of this. Or even try to convince him that it was a bad idea. Oh no. I had said horrible things to Quintez. Called him a coward. Now the bastard wanted to prove otherwise and would likely get us killed in the process.At least my death would be mourned but I doubted his would.There was a difference between bravery and stupidity. I feared this to be the latter instead of the former. Even my little stunt with falling over couldn't help me out of it. Not that I wanted to go with Phaedra. The bitch could burn down with the rest of Makatza. But I didn't want one of my mates in a grave before me.This felt oddly like he would. Quintez's pocket knife worked tirelessly against the restraints. Sawed more than cut at the rope fibers. A bead of sweat had formed on his brow from the concentration. After another moment or two, he wiped it away with th

Farren's Point of ViewI ran to the road as fast as I could. Looked back once or twice to see Quintez hot on my heels. Slobber ran down the sides of his muzzle as he came at me. Kept enough distance between us to keep the men following us at bay. Some had shifted fully. Others were only halfway. Most of them had guns. Shot at the air all around me. I swallowed down the urge to fall to the ground. Forced my legs to keep moving. There was a screaming pain in my side now. Stung like a thousand bees never could. Being fit and being skinny was not mutually inclusive, I had just realized. Just because I weighed closer to a brick than a person didn't mean I could run any faster.One thing that kept echoing inside my mind was the man who had helped us this far. Who had fallen. Died right beside me. There was no time to thank him for what he had done. For all the help he had been. He had given up his life for me. For Alejandro. Roberto Ramirez was nothing like his father.At least now he coul

Alejandro's Point of View Her voice sounded like heaven to me. Marred only by the fact that she had to endure hell to get here. Throw in the fact that my guards didn't recognize her and you have one pissed-off wolf that wanted heads to roll. He had nearly shown her away. Sent her back into a world that wanted to do nothing but harm her. Maim her. Take her from us. I would have had his head on a spike if he had done it. Camilo would have skinned him before I got the chance. Camilo was in our office when I barged in on him. His eyes were pits. Hair messy and clothes unkempt. He looked like a shell of himself. Blamed every action we took for getting Farren into this mess. I understood the suffering. Knew that she was the only bright point we had left and she had been stolen from right beneath our noses. But a pity party wasn't going to help. We had been blind to the storm brewing with Dominique. Maybe if we had paid more attention to what was going on around us we would have noticed

Farren's Point of View It was clear that I had caught him off guard. His knuckles went bone white on the backrest of the couch. Eyes widened slightly. But his jaw had fallen open. There was a long moment of silence before he tried to speak again. Stuttered, instead of speaking as fluently as he always did. "Where?" It was all he could get out and I felt my heart break for him. For the family Dominique had destroyed. The man had poisoned his brother against him. Killed his mother. Now he claimed the life of the youngest Ramirez. All in cold blood. All to make a mad grab for power that was never meant to be his. This reminded me of how futile and fragile life could be. I swallowed down the acid in my throat. Recalled the events as best I could. The simple answer was that Roberto had died beside me in a field somewhere heading for his escape. The more complicated answer was that he had died with his mother and the bullet had just finished him off. "We were heading for the road to tr