“Are you both all right?” Brennan didn't want to sound too concerned, because the anger he felt towards his Alpha hadn't worn off yet, but he couldn't help it.Yes, Aidan was a jerk of epic proportions, but there was more courage and loyalty in him than what came out of his stupid mouth from time to time.“Yeah, she fell asleep,” Aidan whispered, getting up carefully so as not to wake Rhiannon.Brennan held the door to the stairway for him to pass through with the girl in his arms. They reached the attic, but instead of heading for the cell, Aidan took her to his bedroom and laid her gently on the bed, covering her with a blanket.“Did an alien just possess you?” Brennan asked, watching.The Alpha left the room, closing the door gently behind him.“Kind of,” he replied. “Listen, about what I said before, I'm sorry. I was out of control.”Brennan lifted his chin in surprise, for few things were as rare in the world as seeing Aidan Casthiel offer apologies.“Are you dying?” he joked.“T

“Rhiannon... Rhiannon!” Raksha's call jolted her awake, sitting up in bed and looking around, disoriented. “Rhiannon...”“Don't talk to me!” the girl retorted angrily as she got up.She paced the room she was in. She could see the ocean through the glass walls more than four inches wide, but the platinum sheen of the glass made it quite clear what the glass was mixed with. She hit it several times, hit it with fury, with despair, with bitterness, but a wolf wouldn't break through it.“We could have escaped; by this time we would be free!” she shouted to Raksha, full of frustration.“I couldn't let them hurt him, Rhiannon, you saw his wolf...”“And did you feel it? Could you feel it? No! Couldn't you?” she retorted. “Because it wasn't his wolf, Raksha, it's just the form he takes of it, nothing more!”“But they were going to hurt him...”“And you really think we'll be able to escape from here without hurting him? What did you think I meant when I said 'fight'? To pull his tail affectio

“What do you think you're doing?” Aidan's angry voice snapped Brennan out of his reverie as he wiped the sweat from his brow with a towel. He'd had to train alone because Rhiannon hadn't come down to join him that day.“I'm trying to stay sane, because, in case you haven't noticed, your mate isn't the only one who's a prisoner. Apparently we are too,” his Beta replied with a shrug. Aidan snorted in annoyance.“I'm doing this to protect her...”“Keep thinking that if it lets you sleep at night,” Brennan replied. “But the reality is that this circus you've put together has an expiration date. You can't use the excuse that you want to protect her forever; we can't be locked up forever and more importantly, I'm not so sure she's willing to stay with you forever.” “What are you talking about? She's my mate!” Aidan was annoyed.“So what? I would bet my right arm that she'd be a thousand miles away from you by now if you'd opened that door for her a month ago.”Aidan growled in frustration

Aidan's eyes flashed as a smirk revealed the whiteness of his fangs. He felt good, he felt confident and satisfied because that she-wolf had saved his life, that she-wolf couldn't help but defend him, she was her destined mate, he was her mate, so it was unthinkable that she could attack him.He only had to concentrate on subduing Rhiannon.He lunged at her with a precise movement, but his body collided with Raksha's in midair... Or rather, it didn't collide, the she-wolf's jaws closed on one of his shoulders and threw him to the ground with a dull growl.He barely had time to free himself from the she-wolf to face Rhiannon. The closest thing he had was a piece of wood and that's where the ringed daggers ended up piercing, so hard that they went all the way through, and went to break the polished marble floor on the other side.He took the opportunity to kick the girl's side, throwing her away, but he didn't manage to turn before Raksha pushed him against a Rhiannon who was again read

Brennan lunged to reach her before she fell completely to the ground, and cursed under his breath, for now he had two unconscious and wounded fools.He carried Rhiannon into the main room first, then carried Aidan upstairs and laid him down beside her. He couldn't be running from room to room so they were going to have to suck it up. If they woke up and killed each other for sleeping in the same bed, he won’t be the one to blame.He cleaned and disinfected their cuts, and bandaged them as best he could. Although the wounds were not fatal, the situation was still serious. Serious and very strange.“Your eyes are going to pop out from looking at him,” he heard Rhiannon's soft voice said and came to her side of the bed. “But he's not going to heal any faster just because you look at him.”“He doesn't look like he is healing at all,” Brennan murmured with a sigh.“How long has it been?”“Two days, and just so you know, if you're going to run away you'd better do it now, because I'm about

The footsteps sounded soft and steady around the cell, as if the prisoner had been given an exercise routine. However, the high-heeled boots of Queen Erea grew increasingly louder as she walked the tiled floor of the dark building.“Congratulations,” she said, opening the cell door and taking two steps back. “I didn't think you would make it on the first try, but there is no doubt that the bond between two mates has been blessed by the Goddess. I just hope that same bond doesn't lead you to do anything stupid,” she warned him.Captain Dugan emerged from the cell with a mischievous grin.“So it's official? Is my job done?” he asked.“Perfectly done,” replied the queen. “By now I'm pretty sure you know why I locked you up in here, and it's not because of what you've done but because of who you are.”“Who I am will never be a problem for the queen mother,” the lycan assured her, bowing his head in respect.“Well, you are free. You can leave or stay. It's your choice.”Those words from Qu

Aidan sat up slowly, trying not to hurt himself any more than he already was, and turned to face Rhiannon as Brennan made a silent, negative gesture to her.“I asked why you carry the spear that ended Isrion's bloodline,” the Alpha repeated.“Because I was one of their guardians,” Rhiannon said, heeding the Beta's veiled advice. She wasn't sure how much Brennan knew about her, but it appeared Aidan wasn't supposed to know about her identity. At least, not yet. “My whole family and I were the guardians of Isrion's bloodline for generations.”That made a lot of sense. Maybe that was why she had been a prisoner since the Sacred War, instead of just serving a fifty-year sentence like the rest of the children of parents who opposed the crown.“What is your last name?” he asked curiously.“I don't have one, I never had one. We didn't need it.”“Did you fight against Casthiel's lineage?”“With every ounce of the strength I had!” Rhiannon hissed and her irises turned flashing white. “But it w

The first thing Rhiannon was aware of, was her right hand, it was on something hard and warm. Then her left cheek, and then, her arm felt numb. She opened her eyes with difficulty and waited for them to adjust to the darkness of the room. She didn't want to disturb Raksha for something as simple as orienting herself, when the smell was more than enough to know who she had next to her.She was curled up against Aidan’s body, one leg tangled between his and her head on his chest. She outlined the shape of his pecs and stopped when she felt his hand open over her lower back and caress her there.“Be careful or you'll wake him,” she heard Raksha’s voice. “He’s resting, but his wolf is alert.”“Were you able to communicate with him?”“No... but I can sense him and I know you can too,” the she-wolf assured her.“Yes, Raksha, I felt him. And it was... painful. I don't know if I have the strength to accept someone like that.”Raksha stirred uneasily inside her.“His wolf is different, Rhianno

Aidan felt the soft brush of her lips and dared at last to calm himself down. Never in six centuries had he felt this way, and at the moment, all he felt was fear, a deep, visceral fear because he, the lycan, would have never forgiven being forced to feel this way for six centuries, so it was very likely that his wolf wouldn’t forgive him either.“Who do I have to meet?”Rhiannon stepped out of the circle of his arms and watched him frown with concern.“Relax, I’m not going anywhere, I’m just here. See?She backed off a little and stayed on her knees in front of him. Aidan could see the she-wolf’s spirit glowing on her skin. Rhiannon’s body leaned forward, resting her hands on the ground, her eyes flashed with a frosty white and Raksha began to slowly emerge and materialize. Aidan stepped back, sitting on the ground, watching in wonder as that beautiful white she-wolf emerged from his mate’s small body.“Aidan, this is Raksha.”The Alpha did not move, impressed.“She’s beautiful,” he

Rhiannon stroked Aidan's face and brushed his hair back from his forehead. It had been two days since he'd been out of the bed.“I know you're awake. I can perfectly feel you are awake. You can’t hide behind a pair of closed eyes forever,” she scolded him gently.Aidan opened his eyes but said nothing.“You have to eat something. You can't go on like this.”“I'm not hungry.”Rhiannon snorted impatiently. She'd gone from being a prisoner to being a babysitter. Nice change!“You're not just hurting yourself. You're hurting Akela, too!” she exclaimed to make him react. “If your body gets weak, he’ll feel miserable; so stop throwing a tantrum like a little kid and get o—”“Help me get him out,” those words interrupted her, and Rhiannon fell silent, dumbfounded.Maybe it was too selfish to think like that, but she was sure that wasn't a good idea.“Aidan, you're not ready to let Akela out,” she assured him gently, sitting down beside him. “If you let him out now, you're likely to lose him.