AMELIA’S P.O.V

I didn’t want to jump to conclusions but I believed that Clara had something to do with Ian’s busy schedule. I wasn’t able to see him for the next two weeks and it was the loneliest I had ever been in a long time. Kaden spent most of his time at the hospital and I could barely see him. I tried visiting him twice but on both occasions he spent most of his time watching over Nadine who still hadn’t moved since that day. It was almost as if Kaden had become a different person. He was completely consumed by this issue with Nadine.


I couldn’t remember the last time Kaden and I had a decent conversation with each other. The only person I spoke to was Ian who made sure to check in with me whenever he could. He didn’t know exactly what was going on but he could tell that I was lonely. It felt good to have a friend who wasn’t tied to Kaden in any way. I loved Clara and Caleb but they were Kaden’s friends too and there were things I couldn’t talk to them about.

I finished school for the day in a blur and ignored the many whispers that followed me as I made my way towards the car. I had gotten used to them and it didn’t hurt as much as it did before. All they could do was speculate, no one had the real answers and unless I gave it to them, it would remain that way. Serena remained my faithful friend by my side and didn’t hesitate to tell anyone off who came to close. That was exactly what she did when a guy with round glasses and a leery smile came over.

“Amelia, hey, I am part of the student paper and I wanted to take a statement from you for a piece that we are working on,” he was in my face with a small mic before I could even figure out what was happening. “Why has the Alpha been in the hospital for the past month? Is everything okay with the pack? The people have so many questions.”


I blanched from having a phone pressed into my face. I could see that he was eager for the next piece of gossip so I just took a step to the side and made to walk by him but he grabbed my upper arm.

“I have nothing to say,” I told him and tried to make a quick getaway but he wasn’t having it. He rushed to stand in front of me and shoved the phone so close to my face that I had to take a step back and bumped into Serena.


“You need to make a comment. You are the Alpha’s girlfriend, or are you not? Is your relationship on rocky ground? Is there a breakup coming?”

“Here is a statement for you,” Serena cut in as she stood in front of me protectively. She had her hands crossed over her chest and a scowl on her face. “You can take your news and shove it up your ass. You should know better than to bother people like this. What the fuck is your problem anyway?”

He raised his hand in mock surrender. “I am only asking questions. It is my right as an independent journalist. There is no need to get violent.”

“if you point that phone or mic in our directions again, I will break it and you can bank on that as a promise.”

His eyes widened when he realized she wasn’t bluffing. He muttered a few explicits under his breath before storming off. I was relieved that she had helped me but I knew it was only the beginning. They were becoming more brazen and I knew it was only a matter of time before I was caught unaware or my words were misconstrued and twisted to fit their narrative. Everyone wanted answers and if they couldn’t get it, they were going to make up some for themselves.

“Thank you,” was what I said and all she did was squeeze my shoulder in solidarity. “You don’t have to walk me to my car though.”

“Of course I do,” she shot back immediately and gave me an incredulous look. “Did you really think I would leave you to the wolves to fend for yourself? Besides, I need help with the history assignment. I don’t think I can do it myself. You can see it as payment for being your personal bodyguard.”

I couldn’t stop the small smile that grew on my lips. She smiled back and got into the passenger seat. I couldn’t say it out loud but I was secretly grateful that she had agreed to come with me. I couldn’t imagine being alone for one more day. The walls of the house bad begun to feel like they were closing in on me and I could have sworn that if I had to spend even an extra minute in there alone, I was going to lose my darn mind.

Serena was wide eyed when we got to the house. She looked from me to the house and back to me. “You live in a fucking palace.”

I couldn’t hold back my laughter at that. “I don’t think this classifies as a palace. It is a fairly large place, I will admit to that.”

She scoffed. “Are you kidding? This house could fit two of mine inside of it.” She got out of the car slowly. The awe struck expression on her face didn’t wipe once. “Are you sure the Alpha won’t mind me being here? He seems like a very private person and I don’t want to intrude.”

I almost rolled my eyes. Kaden would have to be here in order to mind and he wasn’t. He hadn’t stepped foot in his own house in over three days and the last time he did, he only got a clean change of clothes and left before we could have a decent conversation. Instead of saying all of this to Serena, I just shrugged.

“He has never told me not to have friends over. Besides, it isn’t like we are throwing a party and inviting half of the palace.”

Although as I thought about it, it seemed like a very appealing idea if it would bring him home. I couldn’t help but ponder more on it and file it away for possible future use. If Kaden wouldn’t come home on his own then I would do everything possible to ensure that he did.

Serena and I got into the house and I made some sandwiches for us. I thought she was joking about the assignment but she really needed help with it. We sat in the living room poring over the books and it took us over an hour to get it done. By the time we were finished with it, we were exhausted and I ordered a pizza for us.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would choose a stuffy hospital over a place like this,” Serena mused aloud when the pizza came. She still didn’t know exactly what was happening and I had chosen not to tell her about it.

All she knew was that there was a new girl in the hospital and Kaden was spending most of his time there watching over her. I could tell that she had questions but she chose to keep them to herself and for that, I was grateful. It wasn’t something I was interested in talking about.

“I guess some work just pulls us away from home,” I shrugged dismissively in response to her question and she snorted.

“There is electricity, food and you are here. I don’t think anything could pull me away from here,” she leaned back into the couch and exhaled deeply. “I could spend the rest of my life here and not be bothered. This is paradise.”

I didn’t know what to say and thankfully, I was saved from responding when my phone rang. I wanted to get out of the conversation so badly that I didn’t look at the caller ID before I picked up.

“Hello?” I asked hesitantly and when I heard the voice on the other end I froze.

“Did you miss me?”

BLAKE’S P.O.V

Gregory had been taking the potion courtesy of Samantha for two weeks and I could see the decline in his health. He tried to hide it by staying indoors more often and seeing different physicians but little did he know that it wasn’t something that would turn up on toxicology reports. All the physicians and doctors told him was to rest and his strength would return but it didn’t- it wouldn’t.

I originally planned to wait for a month so that he would be too weak to fight back but there was so much that needed to be done and I didn’t have enough time. When I heard that he was staying in today, I decided that it would be the best time to attack. I called Jamal and the others to our usual meeting point and told them my plan. By the time I was done speaking, Jamal just stood there staring at me blankly.

“That wasn’t what he planned,” he said finally after a moment of deliberation. “This is going against everything that we have made provisions for.”

“I know that, but I think it is the best thing to do. If we do it the old way, we risk turning the entire pack into mayhem. This way, we are guaranteed to gain stability. You have to trust me on this one.”

“Let us vote on it,” he decided and I barely managed to hdie my smile.

I knew Jamal and I knew that he had a penchant for keeping the rules. I knew that if it came down to it, he would ask for us to vote so I already planned for that outcome by talking to the others before. Jamal didn’t know he was walking right into my trap. By the time the voting had finished, it was unanimous. I could tell that he suspected foul play because he was frowning.

“Do whatever you want,” he said finally before turning on his heels and storming off.

I ignored him and took the two guards with me. We walked right past the guards at the door of the palace and towards Gregory’s room. His guards were standing in front of it and when they saw me, they bound tighter.

“The Alpha doesn’t want to receive visitors,” they said in unison and I glanced back at the man flanking me. In a flash, they withdrew their weapons and slit the throats of the guards at the door. I watched them crumple to the ground and stepped over their dead bodies.

Gregory was lying on the bed with Samantha by his side. She was topless and he was running his hands over her. When she saw me, she let out a sigh of relief but I ignored her. I snapped my fingers at her and pointed at the door behind me. She wasted no time in running off.

“What rubbish is this?” Gregory asked as he tried to sit up. His eyes caught on the blood on the ground behind me and understanding dawned on his features. “I always knew there was something off about you, boy. I tried to tell Brittany to get rid of you.”

“I’ve had control of your daughter for longer than you would imagine,” I took the seat in front of him. “Let me make this simple for you. I don’t want to kill you but if you make me do it, I will. I will keep you alive but barely. You will tell your pack that I will rule in your stead while you heal. You will announce me as heir.”

“What happens if I don’t?”

“You will die here and I will take over anyway. The choice is yours.”