Writers POV

"I came here to practice, but you've taken my spot." He looked startled for a moment as she responded with a straight face.

"I was unaware that anyone practiced here, My Lady."

"Evidently, I do. So, could you please move?"

"Of course." He bowed and stepped back from the ring. She cinched her ponytail and began lightly stretching her hands. The Beta began to move toward an exercycle. She could feel his gaze on her, which creeped her out a little. She concentrated on the large blue sand-filled bag and began working on her kicks. The gym had several boxing areas, but this one was her favorite. Through a glass window, it provided a view of the beautiful forest outside. She could also see the training grounds around the corner from there. Her kicks landed flat on the bag, and she let out soft grunts as she worked harder. Kicks were followed by punches, and her thoughts wandered to a possible lurking danger and him. Her thoughts wandered back to the argument they had the other day.

After a long day at work, he had just returned to their chamber. She was seated near the window. He had attempted to strike up a conversation, but things had gone awry. She said something, he said something, and the usual evening conversation devolved into a full-fledged heated argument. She remembered telling him how much she despised the Goddess for pairing her with someone like him and seeing the hurt in his striking blue eyes. She kicked harder, but it landed flat on the bag and bounced back toward her, causing her to flinch.

"Are you okay, Your Highness?" She remembered she wasn't alone when she heard the Beta's concerned voice.

"I'm all right." She grumbled as she felt the Beta approach her.

"You shouldn't kick like that because it will hurt you. Let me demonstrate how you should go about it." He came up behind her and put his hand on her waist. She pushed his hand away from her waist and turned around moving further away.

"I don't recall asking for your assistance, Beta..."

"Robinson, Your Highness."

"Beta Robinson, now please excuse me."

She turned around and resumed her kicks and punches. She quickly spaced out, lost in the world of her punches and kicks. She came to a halt when something clicked in her mind.

"I'm so dumb!" She murmured to herself and hurriedly removed the hand binds and stormed out of the gym.

The afternoon was as peaceful as it could be when he's stuck behind his desk with a stack of papers in front of him. He'd been working nonstop, getting through everything that needed to be done. All of sudden an explosion shook the entire building in which his office was situated. His hands gripped the wooden table tightly, attempting to balance his falling body. When he looked out the window, he noticed black smoke and fire brewing from the west side of the building. Soon, the entire area was filled with terrified wolves screams and wailing. He dashed out of the office in the corridor after the impact of the explosion dissipated. The corridor was deserted, so he dashed down the stairs to the first floor. The floor was swarming with panicked wolves rushing around in a frenzy. He looked around and attempted to mind-link Nick, but his barrier was up. He couldn't reach him, so he dashed into the corridor in search of warriors.

"Warrior!" he summoned a young panicked warrior with a commanding voice. The warrior rushed up to him and bowed in fear, staring at him.

"Don't worry, we'll make it through. But first, I need you to find as many other guards and warriors as you can. Inform them that the building must be evacuated. And if you come across my Beta, tell him to mind-link me."

He instructed him by placing his hand on his shoulder. The warrior stared at him in a daze, his eyes filled with fear. Aiden shook him and roared once more.

"Did you understand? Stir it off and do your duties and responsibilities, warrior. You understand?"

"Y-yes Alpha." He rushed away, nodding his head.

Aiden dashed down the corridor, checking each door to make sure the rooms were empty. A few warriors were now on the corridors evacuating the wolves.

The building was soon completely evacuated, and he stood on the ground floor entrance hall, making certain that no one remained inside. He couldn't find his Beta, but he hoped he was safe. He turned to leave, but then he remembered, Ariel.

"Oh fuck!" He cursed vigorously and leaped out of the manor, looking for her. He looked and asked around but couldn't find her. That could only mean one thing! She was still inside somewhere.

As he ran into the house toward the bedroom they shared, the fire was still small but growing quickly. He slammed the door open and dashed into the room, which was empty. He looked in the bathroom and closet, but there was no sign of her. He looked around the manor but couldn't find her. He was once again standing in the entrance hall trying to figure out where she could be. He had a very bad feeling about the current situation. His beast was pacing inside, making him even more agitated. A sudden sound of shattered glasses drew his attention, and to his dismay, it came from the west side of the building. He ran inhumanely towards the west, not wasting a single second there.

He was soon in the massive kitchen and storage area when he abruptly came to a halt. Everything was broken and burned, and the place was completely destroyed. Somewhere in that vicinity, an explosion erupted. The sound of low grunting drew his attention once more. He sniffed the air, hoping to catch a whiff of something, but it felt strangely empty. He followed the and was led through a narrow hallway to a dimly lit room. It was clean, like the impact of the explosion or the fire had never touched this place. When he opened the cracked door, what he saw terrified and enraged him to the core. His beast advanced, and their growl shook the earth, attracting the attention of the beasts within. A fully shifted wolf stood in front of him, its eyes deep red. The wolf snapped its canines at him as Sylvia dripped from its muzzle. His precious mate, battered and bleeding, knelt in front of the wolf on the hard floor.

A few hours earlier;

She dashed to her bedroom and changed into dark-washed jeans and a black t-shirt before making her way down the stairs to the ground floor. The packhouse was usually fairly empty at this time of day. A few wolves brushed past her, not acknowledging her and going about their business, for which she was grateful. She entered the kitchen and proceeded down a narrow hallway to a room. She was about to walk in when she heard shouting from the dimly lit room. She pressed up against the wall by the door, her attention fixed on the verbal exchange.

"Don't even pretend to be fucking innocent!" A male voice shouted, and she immediately recognized it as the Beta Nicholas.

"Please, Your Grace! I really don't know what you're talking about." She could hear a small female voice whimpering and pleading.

"Then how do you explain this?" Nicholas yelled once more, and the she-wolf gasped.

"Come on, answer me!" Nicholas yelled in a stern commanding tone. She was about to peek inside when she heard something breaking and Nicholas grunting.

"I'd been wanting to do that for a long time." A deep, unknown voice spoke up.

"I should have realized!" Nicholas snarled. The sound of blows and grunts could be heard. Clearly, Nicholas was battling someone on the inside. Someone was thrown into the wall in a matter of seconds, landing with a loud thud.

"How did you become the Beta again?" When the man inquired, she knew who was on the losing end of the fight. She slammed the doors open with such force that the door was dangling from its hinges. The eyes were drawn to her, and while Nicholas appeared surprised, the rest of them seemed to be expecting her.

"I expected you to be here way before."

"You!" She growled taking a step inside the rooms

"How dare you even lay a finger on my Beta!" "She growled, and the man laughed. "How dare I? Just wait until I get my hands on you!" He said this while licking his lips and gawking at her body. The Beta was on his feet, growling at the man.

"Shift!" The man took a few steps back and issued a command. At his command, the svelte female, the one who had brought the letter to Ariel that morning started shifting. Four more mysterious men emerged from the room's dark corners, and just by looking at them, she knew they were the same creatures from the other day. She snatched the creatures one by one, ripping out their throats and tossing their bodies away. The man just stood there staring at what was going on in front of him. Her eyes were glowing red as she looked him in the eyes. He flinched for a split second before resuming his composed demeanor. She took a strong step forward, and the wolf whimpered and lowered its head.

"What were you saying again?" She snarled.

"Supplicium!" A burning pain flared up from the back of her neck and crawled up to her head the instant the word left his lips. She collapsed on her knees, screaming in agony. Her hands were bound by the curse as she started struggling to get up.

"Luna!" The Beta, who had been silently watching everything, exclaimed, but the wolf attacked him before he could reach her. She noticed his eyes flitting to the Beta for a brief moment, and that was her cue. She made him stumble back to his feet with a sharp uppercut, and the curse wore off of her. She rose to her feet and was pinned down on the ground by the wolf in the blink of an eye. Its sharp claws were digging into her shoulder, making it difficult for her to move. The wolf snapped its canines at her, and she grabbed its snout with one hand, pushing its face upwards, and with the other, pushing its front legs up, eventually overpowering the wolf and throwing it back down. The wolf rose to its four legs growling at her, while Beta Nicholas came stood by Ariel.

"You're my Luna, and I'm not going to question you, but you have a lot of explaining to do." He said casually, not glancing at her, and she raised her brows at him,

"You want an explanation now?" She inquired, perplexed.

"Obviously not. After we've finished with them." He responded with a shake of his head and a puzzled expression.

"And take this," he said as he handed her a dagger, his gaze fixed on the opponents in front of them.

"You saw how I snatched their throats right?" She scoffed as she took the dagger.

"I did Your Highness. However, they did not have swords, whereas he does." He motioned to the man, and she looked at him, seeing a shining sword in his hand. "What's a dagger in front of a sword?" she rolled her eyes.

"As much as I would love to see you sword fight, I can't possibly run to the armory to get you one."

"Well, true that. Now, let's start shall we, I want some food after this. I haven't eaten anything since last night, and let me tell you, I'm starving."

"Yeah, me too. I would kill for some chicken fries and waffles."

"Woah, that's what I was planning on having. Let's get some chicken fries and waffle after this together."

"I know an amazing dinner not too far away from here. You would love their waffle and chicken. I could eat those all my life every day and never get tired."

"Sounds like a plan then."

"Of course of course." Nicholas nodded and they bumped their fists with grinning faces finalizing their deal.

"You know we are here to kill you guys right?" They turned around to see a bewildered man and a wolf. They cleared their throats putting their mean cold and professional faces on.

"We'll see about that." She smirked darkly, her beautiful face obscured by a dark five o'clock shadow. They charged, the wolf charging at Nick and the man charging at her with his sword. They fought, and they fought valiantly. Her dagger clashed with his sword as the Beta fought the wolf. He was strong, he had to be as he was the second in command of the Royal Pack but still, the wolf was somehow overpowering him. He tried but was unable to shift, forcing him to fight in his human form. After sparring for a few moments, she threw the man to the hardwood floor and advanced toward him, casually swinging the dagger in her hand.

"You filthy, filthy rat. How could you possibly do this to your own pack?" She sneered.

"Says the one who slaughtered her own warriors." She stiffened as he smirked evilly at her.

"What!" Nicholas growled, his gaze shifting from the wolf pinning him on the ground to his Luna. They exchanged a quick glance, she saw betrayal flashing in his eyes, his defense dropped and the wolf slashed his stomach.

"No! Nick!!" She screamed in terror, and at that moment, the earth was shaken by a massive explosion. She stumbled to her feet, clawing her way towards the Beta until she came to a halt in front of his limp body. She was grabbed by the neck and violently thrown to the ground. The man walked towards her and said the curse word second time that day.

"Supplicium!"

She screamed and thrashed around in agony, while he just stood there watching as if it were his only source of entertainment in the dull world. Time passed as she writhed in agony. He drew closer to her, grabbing a handful of her hair and yanking it painfully, drawing her gaze to him.

"I told you, Your Highness, I'd get my hands on you."

"I dare you to bound my hand free and I swear I will claw your dick with your sack of balls out." She growled and he thumped her head with the hardwood floor, breaking her nose, making her bleed. He stepped back into the shadows, and the wolf approached her. She sat on her knees, all of her energy drained out of her body from the torture. She waited for whatever was coming her way. But her world came to a halt when the doors were flung open and he walked in. His powerful growl shook the whole room and a delightful shiver run down her spine. She glanced at him and his eyes were filled with so much pain, anger, hurt, and love that she shivered in fear of the unknown. The last thing she before darkness consumed was the thirst for blood in his beautiful blue orbs.

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Hello hello hello, here is another update! A pretty long chapter at that. Things are about to get nasty, let me tell you! So anyway, let me know how you liked the chapter. My whole life is in chaos, not going into the details! A lot of things are going on and I don't know where to focus or what to do. But trying to figure everything out. Not stopping writing though, it's almost a year now that I have started writing this book. And I hold it dear to my heart, so I'm going to finish it. I'm probably blabbering. Anyways, stay safe. And don't forget to

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