CherieI am sitting in a stretch limo with six other women as we make our way to the Volkov cabin. Rebecca and Nova I know, but I only met four of them this morning - they’re Creed’s aunts, cousin, and older sister.Lily, the mysterious older aunt. Arya is a famous artist who travels the world. Kaia, Lily’s only daughter, and a wolf-turned-succubus who is married to a vampire? I didn’t ask because it seems weird. And Kira, Creed’s beautiful sister and the one I saw embracing him that time.“I know this is sudden, but Creed said if we told you about our surprise sooner, then you would have bolted!” Kira says as she pours us all our glasses of champagne. My face heats up at this. “I guess he knows me well!” I say, hiding a grin behind my hand and shaking my head. “It’s just that I’m not used to this… to any of this.”“Trust me, I know the feeling,” Nova says as she slings an arm around my shoulders. “I was out of my depth when Caterina and Lily did this for me!”I see Lily shudder. “Ug

CherieHow can happiness be so fleeting? From being happy and content one second, to terrified the next.The beast in front of me snarls, its golden eyes pinning me with a look that sends bile rising up to my throat. I don’t know how one would describe the scent of death perfectly, but this monster is the embodiment of the word.It’s incredibly taller, even taller than Creed or Alpha Kai, covered in black fur, and standing on two legs. With claws the size of a grown man’s full hand, sickly yellow eyes, and scars littered all over its body, I know this is Creed’s Lycan.With Creed’s warning to run, I call on Zhen and shift before running away. The beast isn’t following me, which is a win but why is it here?!/“We need to warn the others, Zhen!”/ I cry out. /“He’s coming for us!”//“Cherie?”/ Alpha Kai’s voice sounds in my head. /“What is going… FUCK! Did Creed shift into his Lycan form?”//“Yes! He looked terrified when it happened!”/ I exclaim. /“He screamed out for me to run before t

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. The five stages of grief are usually an ongoing journey, but I feel like I have gone through it all in one day. That unbelievable pain I felt yesterday has lessened, and I think it had to do with the dream I have just woken up from. I saw my mother meeting my father after his death. He was so happy to see her that he broke down in her arms and sobbed. As it turned out, the reason he didn’t Ascend with her was that the Volkov Transfer of Power needed to happen. It is an age-old Volkov tradition where the next Alpha in line needs to devour the heart of the previous Alpha. He didn’t want to put his children through that but knew it needed to be done. Somehow he knew if I did it, that our combined strength would force Haze’s submission. So he let the enemy think they won, and in turn, it weeded out Luka’s betrayal. I didn’t expect to wake up with a clear head this morning, but a sense of peace invaded my heart even as a tear slipped

RebeccaWhen I arrived in New York dead set on taking down Sage Volkov, I didn’t expect this plot twist to reveal itself to me. Apart from Sage taking everything I have ever held dear, now I am forced to take him back to my home.I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to rely on him for a darn thing, but since he let me speak to my mother and I know my Court is safe… Let's just say things have changed.Now I’m stuck on this fancy private jet on my way to New Orleans and hoping he isn’t hiding something from me.“Once we get there, we can take an SUV to your lands,” he says with his head down staring at his cell phone. “Unless you need to make a stop first.”“Heading there first sounds good. The less time I’m stuck with you, the better,” I say and catch the smirk on his face at my words.“Please, you love spending time with me, I can tell,” he says in a voice dripping with sarcasm.“I love spending time with you as much as I love swallowing glass, don’t get ahead of yourself, Heartless,” I

SageLast night I had the same dream I had after I walked out of Volkov forest stripped of my emotions. It had the same beautiful dark-haired woman luring me back to the forest, only to fuck me senseless. She told me I belonged to her, that everything I was doing was for her and I believed her. It was the first time in years I woke up hard as a fucking rock with no relief to be found. I still don’t know who this woman is or why she says I’m hers. “So, what exactly made you so heartless?” Rebecca asks on our third day of nothing, snapping me out of my thoughts. I glance up at her as I page through a spell book. “When you say heartless, what exactly do you mean?” I know exactly what she means, but I want to hear her say it.She closes the drawer she’d been rifling through and breathes out a sigh before leaning back in the chair. “You; everything that you are. Everyone who has met you says the exact same thing. You’re cold, nonchalant, you don’t care about anyone else but yourself-”“