AVARA

"Who does he think he is, coming back after 15 years and acting like he owns the place?"

Julian is rambling beside me but I can barely hear him, walking so fast that it is difficult to keep up with him. His jaw is hard, and cold anger is radiating off him.

"I'm just as surprised as you are that he is back. I thought that he would never come back."

"Of course he does. Spends 15 years wasting away his life, neglecting the pack, the people, then waltzes back in talking about how he is ready for the succession. He shouldn't have come back. He had become a ghost. Everybody had forgotten about him. Damn it."

I hadn't. When Silas took me, brought me to him, I was scared, destabilized, terrified, my mind hazy, thoughts blurry. It was two days after that night, that night...

I try to think again of that night and give up trying to recollect more than I know. Julian says it's a trauma response, remembering so little of the night when my actual parents died. Silas, my adopted father, gave me a bunch of books on the effects of trauma, on how trauma can make certain thoughts fade to the back of the memory because the brain desperately wishes never to recollect them ever again.

Anyways, Silas had always been harsh, cold, standoffish, right from the very first day. Sometimes I wonder whether it is love that made him adopt me or something else because, the way he acts sometimes...

But Kaeden had been the light in those dark, scary days, for the whole of the thirty minutes that he spoke to me. That night, when I was brought into a whole new territory that I could already sense would be dangerous, he had hugged me, smiled at me, told me not to be afraid, made me laugh, made me feel warm and welcome and happy.

Then he had disappeared. For 15 fucking years.

So no, I had not forgotten Kaeden Vane.

For many years after, I had waited for my big brother to come back for me. I had stared at his portrait hanging over the mantelpiece in one of the living rooms for so long, I developed a little childish innocent crush for my brother. I craved that hug, craved the way that he made me feel that dark, scary night, missed him so badly that one would not believe that we had only met for less than an hour.

And then, when I realized that he was not coming back anytime soon, I grew resentful of him.

Maybe my feelings were not justified. I mean, he never said that he was coming back for me. He never made any promises. But I felt betrayed. l felt hurt. I felt abandoned.

And now he is back. And I don't know how to react. I don't know why my breath hitched and goosebumps ravaged my body when we touched. I don't know why he moved from looking at me like a distant memory he had barely thought about to looking at me so intensely, I felt that I might melt under his gaze.

I don't know why it bothers me so much.

"So what now?" Julian is still snarling. "He shows up now and just takes the throne? Just like that?"

I shrug. "I mean, he is the true heir. It's his birthright."

Julian hisses. "That's bullshit. What happens to everyone who has been toiling to preserve and enrich the park? What happens to me? I've spent years slaving after your father, basically working as his second right hand man."

"Three years." I roll my eyes, knowing exactly where the conversation is heading.

"It doesn't matter the time. I've spent years looking after the pack, looking after you."

"And that makes you more deserving of the throne than the son of the Alpha?"

Julian turns to me with a snarl on his face. "How can you not be bothered by this, Avara? I'm the son of the Beta. You're the legitimized daughter of the Alpha."

"And?"

His voice gets lower but sharper. "Don't act stupid. If he had never come back, we could have had a chance to lead the pack together, you as Luna and I as the Alpha. Once Silas stepped down, there would have been no one to challenge us."

I stare at him blankly. He has never been open with his intentions but I have always suspected that I was just a means, a ticket to what he truly desired, to be Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. Not that it bothers me so much that he came to me with other intentions other than love, I mean, I don't even know whether I am fond of him and his suffocating nature. The only reason I am with him is because father desires so, and I have seen enough of how Silas reacts when he does not get his way to be foolish enough to disobey him.

"When you talk like this, you sound like a gold digger." I tell him bluntly.

Julian's expression shifts instantly. He reaches out his hands, his fingers tracing my jawline possessively. "No, no. Why are you talking like this, Avara? I love you, you know I do. I mean, I am always at your side."

Yes, always at my side, suffocating me, always wanting to know what I am doing, where I am going, what I am up to. Monitoring me, pestering me. As if I am not already controlled enough by my father.

"But we cannot deny that this was an option for us," he continues. "Until he came back. And we deserve that power, Avara. You know how much we have done for the pack."

"I never wanted to rule the pack. I'm human, Julian. I don't even deserve to."

"Maybe alone, but with me by your side, you do." He sighs. "I'm sure there has to be a way to get rid of him. Send him back to wherever he came from."

That night, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, still trying to process my feelings towards Kaeden's return. My eyes trail onto a little necklace, one that I had on my neck as a little girl when I was... rescued.

Kaeden had toyed with the necklace the night they met, put it on his nose and made funny faces. That had made her laugh.

I smile and feel led to toy with it the way he did. I lift it and place it on my nose.

As soon as I do, I feel a sharp pain across the centre of my forehead, one that makes me to stumble an almost fall.

Then I hear a voice, clear, one that I swear I used to know, used to love.

"Hide her! Hide the spark!"

I crumple to my knees and instantly feel rough hands on my waist. I turn to see Kaeden's worried face. I realize that he is holding me, breathing heavily, like he had sprinted towards me.

SILAS

Fuck.

I stand by the floor-to-ceiling window of my study, watching the moonlight, my wolf, Alaric, howling, desperate to break out, run, kill, hunt, anything to deal with the deep anger brewing inside of us.

Kaeden, that idiot son of mine, is back.

The boy I had spent years trying to break and mold into my malleable weapon, and who decided to turn his back on me and run away 15 years ago, leaving me with nothing but a miserable note informing me that he was going away, and that he was not coming back anytime soon, has decided to spring back with eyes hungry for a throne he does not deserve.

At age 33, the perfect age to ascend to the throne.

And the idiot thinks that I will give it to him as I should. As I am expected to.

Well, it has been a long time since I did anything that anyone expected me to do. And I am not about to change. Especially given my plans to rule forever.

When Kaeden left, I must admit that I felt hurt at first, well, to be honest, very disrespected by his decision. So disrespected, that I judged his decision and decided that he deserved death. In fact, I embraced the thought of his death, wondered why I had not thought of it before he gave me a reason to. With him gone, I would have no resistance. Any other person daring to go up would only be allowed to ascend the throne on the basis of my benevolence, one that I was not willing to give.

So, whilst I maintained the image of the benevolent widower, the lonely, perfect Alpha whose selfish son decided to abandon regardless of his having lost his wife only two years prior, I secretly sent several assassins after him over the course of at least 10 years.

None returned. Which meant that he had either killed them, or they had failed to locate him and feared my anger.

I was tempted to go on my own several times, but I did have an image to maintain.

Eventually, I gave up, assumed him dead, decided that I was losing too many men in the pursuit for him.

And now he has returned.

I really shouldn't be as worried as I am. Most of the pack despise him, despise his decision to leave, view it as treason. It would be difficult for him to get the pack on his side.

But...

When he came close to me as we met, he towered over me. His face, hands, hard eyes, all indicated that he had gone through a very harsh life and had emerged stronger for it. Much stronger. And with his mother's blood running through his veins...

Damn it. Why did I never consider that he might be back just in time to take the throne? Why did I waste time dillydallying in amassing wealth instead of pursuing the true thing that would guarantee my everlasting power?

Immortality.

I down the glass of scotch in my hands and close my eyes. I was going to wait, to take my time to get the conduit ready so as to set the course of my attaining immortality gradually and carefully. But time is no longer on my side. So, I have to begin.

Avara.

My harvest that I have been painstakingly and patiently watering, waiting to bloom.

Why the heavens had decided to make a squeamish, stupid, fragile little girl a Nyxarel, I might never be able to guess. But she is. And for that she holds the most powerful key towards my immortality.

It is time she begins paying her debt for my years of benevolence.

KAEDEN

I hate that I immediately notice how soft her skin is, how good it feels against mine. Especially as she is still lying, eyes dazed, breathing heavily, my hands placed gently on the back of her head and on her waist. I had just managed to catch her before her head hit the ground.

I'm not sure exactly why I was following her, watching her, noticing things about her that I should not be noticing. This afternoon, I swore to ensure that all contact with her would be minimal, until I could force my wolf to change its mind and find a more, less abominable mate... even though I was fully aware that it was virtually impossible for a wolf to do so. But the look that she gave me, the way I felt when our hands met, it drove me restless and unstable. Without realizing it enough to get a hold on myself, I found myself hunting for her, and have been essentially stalking her for the past hour. Like an idiot.

Damn. I know I already have a hard nut to crack convincing the pack that my decision to leave for 15 years was out of loyalty to them and for their best interests, not because I am a selfish, prodigal son, as I have heard through inside sources that my father has painted me to be. What on earth could I use to possibly justify bonding with my own sister, regardless that she is adopted?

Speaking of which... what happened to her? She was fine, basically stomped the way to her room, before jumping to her bed. Then she was up, headed to her cabinet and next thing I knew, I was flying towards her body as it crumpled to the ground. Did she touch something? Eat something?

I look around for a clue but all I can see is a little silver necklace beside her. Could that be? No. What could a little necklace do?

She had glanced up at me for a fraction of a second before her eyes closed but I can see that her eyes are beginning to flutter open again.

"Avara."

She immediately disengages from my body once she opens her eyes and clutches her head.

"Are you alright?"

She gives me a look and rolls her eyes.

I chuckle. "Yes, that was a stupidly obvious question. What happened to you?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. What were you doing in my room?"

And she is a bit brazen. I don't know why a smile is hinting at the corners of my lips at the thought of that.

"I wasn't inside your room. I was just around." I look her straight in the eyes, hoping that my attempt to establish dominance will prevent any further questions.

It doesn't.

"These are my quarters."

"And I have the right to go wherever the fuck I want to go."

A hard and last hit tactic. I know that will not rub in well on her. But I am stalking you because you are my mate and I cannot seem to keep away from you would have rubbed worse on her.

She stands. "Of course. The only the almighty Alpha-heir has the audacity to disappear from home for 15 years to return at just the right time to lay claim to the throne and immediately start acting like he owns the place and the right to invade in everyone's privacy. Well, brother, I don't give a shit who you are. I don't ever want to see you in my quarters again."

She hates me. Now that look makes sense. It was a look of pure resentment. And for what exactly? She barely even knows me.

Silas.

Of course he poisoned her mind against me. Of course.

"Listen, I do not know what my father has told you about me."

"He didn't need to tell me anything."

"Well then, I find it insulting that you have gone ahead to make assumptions about someone who you don't even know."

"Assumptions?" She hisses. "Is the fact that you ran away from home for 15 years an assumption?"

"No, what the assumption is, is whatever you have painted in your mind as the reason for my departure."

"There's no possible justifiable reason for disappearing for 15 years only to arrive just when you are at the right age to take the throne."

I find my irritation building. "Then you have a small mind. And I am not going to give my little ignorant sister the honour of explaining myself."

She glares at me for a second, and then opens a cabinet and takes out a bottle. Once she opens it, a smell that immediately ticks me off fills the room.

"What is that?"

I see her shoulders tighten. But just as I am certain she has chosen to ignore me, she speaks up.

"My medication. It's comprised of several vitamins. They keep me stable."

Those don't smell like vitamins.

"Who gave you the medication?"

"What are you still doing here, Kaeden? Thank you for breaking my fall, but please leave me alone."

"I'm just concerned for you."

She laughs as she fills the cap of the bottle and takes a swig. "No, you fucking aren't. Don't even try to convince me again that you are. I'm not the naïve little girl I used to be."

"I don't understand."

"Good night, Kaeden. Shut the door behind you."