bNyssa /bpov

bIt /bbwas /bhimb. /b

Standing bbefore /bbme /bbwas /bone of the rogues that had been bthe /bbreason /bfor my bdeath /bin my bpast /blife. He had been with the others who had killed Serena and was about to kill me too.

The breason /bI recognized him bwas /bonly bbecause /bhe had been the more outspoken one bbetween /bball /bof them. bHe /bbwas /bthe one who had told me that someone more powerful had sent them to kill me.

Now as I stared at him, my heart couldn’t help but race, fear rooting me in bce as /bI remembered everything, everything before my death.

The man’s eyes narrowed and his lips curled up into a sickening smirk as he watched me in amusement, probably sensing the fear that raidated off meb. /b

He leaned in and took a quick sniff of my neck before leaning back with a smirk.

“Why do you smell really good,dy?” He asked, tilting his head slightly. “You smell so much better than any other femalesb, /bbI /blove the scent on you, fuck!”

A whimper escaped me as he tightened his grip around my neck, blocking my airway.

“You, what is your name-b” /b

He began to speak again, but before he could finish, another voice cut in. I watched as another rogue from my past life stepped into view and smacked the first man on the back.

“Oh,e on, ude. This isn’t the time to be horny. We’ve been sent to kill that cursed king, we should hurry. You know he can’t be underestimated.”

The man said, and ude chuckled, not once taking his eyes off me. He murmured under his breath, clearly amused.

“Oh, Jake, stop being such a bore. The rest of our brothers are already tracking the king as we speak. I say we have a little fun with this she–wolf before we do anything. Come on, scent her, she smells really good for some reason.”

My heartbeat quickened at his words, and tears stung my eyes as the air in my lungs began to thin. No matter how much I thrashed or tried ito /iescape his grip, it was useless.

He was strongerb, /bjust like he had been in the past life.

Oh, Goddessb… /bwhat was happening? None of this had happened before. Something told me it was because of Darius. They bwere /bafter him, and with my cursed luck, I’d somehow gotten pulled into it.

I squeezed my eyes shut bas /bthe second man leaned in to sniff me, and my heart dropped to the pit of my stomach in disgust.

“You’re right! She smells amazing. Is it because she’s in heat?” Jake said with amusement, and ude chuckled, shrugging nonchntly.

“Who bcares/bb? /bbAs /blong bas /bwe bget /ba btaste /bof her-”

bBefore /bhe could finish, I exhaled sharply and wrapped my legs tightly around his waistb, /bcatching him off guard and forcing him to loosen his grip on my bneck/b.

b53 /b

bChapter /bb59 /b

“bOh/bb? /bLooks blike /bbthe /bbshe/bb–/bbwolf /bbcan’t /bbwait /bto bhave /bfun btoo-/bb” /bbJake’s /bwords bdied /bon his lips bas /bbude /blet bout /bba /bbsharp /bbscream/bb, /bbhis /bhead bsnapping /bbback /bwhen I mmed mine into his, hard.

bUsing /bthe moment to my badvantage/b, bI /bbdrew /bon every bounce /bbof /bbstrength /band hurled my body forward, mming him bagainst /bthe bground /bwith all the force bI /bcould muster.

ude hit the ground bwith /bba /bbheavy /bthud, and without thinking btwice/b, bI /bpunched him hard in the bface /bbefore scrambling boff /bhim. Without sparing a bnce /bat the other rogue, I bolted toward the bexit/b, running bas /bbfast /bbas /bbI /bcould bto /bbescape /bthe men behind me.

“Damn it! What are you staring at? Go after herb!/b” I heard ude broar/b.

The sound of bheavy /bfootsteps thundered behind me bas /bbI /bquickly sent a mindlink to my fatherb, /bwarning him about the rogues. A heartbeatter, his voice rang in my head.

“Nyssa! Where are you? The guards said you’re not in your room!”

I didn’t have time to respond. I barely managed to dodge as one of the roguesb, /bJake lunged forward, reaching bout /bto bgrab /bollimeb. /b/li/ol

I pulled myself out of the way and took a sharp turn just as he was about to catch me. He cursed and chased after me, bjust /bbas /bude started catching up.

Damn it, where were all the guards? Why wasn’t anyone in sight?

“Where are you right now, Nyssa? The rogues are everywhere in the packhouse, attacking and-”

Before my father could finish his words, a scream tore from my throat as someone yanked my hair from behind. The grip was bso /bstrong it jerked my whole body backward, and before I could even take my next breath, a sharp wave of pain shot through my bones. I whimpered and shut my eyes as I was thrown to the ground.

“Fuck! How could she run that fast?” Jake panted heavily, standing just inches away from me.

“Fucking bitch,” I heard ude growl as he stormed toward me, and before I could react, his boot came crashing into me, sending a fresh wave of pain ripping through my body as I cried out.

“How dare you throw me to the ground like that?!” he roared, and my vision blurred as I bit down on my bottom lip, holding bback /bthe whimper threatening to escape while he continued mming his feet into my body. I weakly reached out, wrapping my arms over my head as my body trembled.

I wanted to stand up. I wanted to fight them off and escape. But with every blow, I grew weaker- too weak to move.

“bNyssa/bb!/b” I heard my father scream, and with thest of my strength, I sent a message to him with only two words.

The kitchen.

I bwasn’t /bfar from it. Before anyone could reach the kitchen, they’d have to pass through where I currently was.

“bHey /bman, I thought you wanted us to enjoy her. You’re going to beat the girl to death,” the rogueughed in amusement, but ude didn’t seem to hear him. He kept hitting me, lost in his rage, and I knew–he wasn’t going to stop until I was bdead/b.

The thing about rogues was that they couldn’t control their emotions. Once they snapped, bthere /bwas no return, not until they got what bthey /bwanted. And what this man wanted… was my life.

“Nyssab…/bb” /bI heard She’s broken voice in my head, trembling bas /bif she was close bto /bbtears/bb. /b“You need to shift now. If you don’t,

bwe’ll /bdieb./bb” /b

But I couldn’t answer bher/b. It bwasn’t /bthat I didn’t want to shift, it bwas /bthat I couldn’t.

“Nyssa….” Her bvoice /bsounded farther baway /bnowb, /bfading bas /bmy bconsciousness /bslipped. My heartbeat slowed, my body ready to bgive /bout.

“Someoneb…. /bhelp me” I muttered under my breath and at that moment, my wrist began to burn, my bdagger /btattoo heating up and before Ipletely lost consciousness, the beating stopped.

Screams bof /bpain pierced the air, followed by the gentle touch of a hand brushing the hair from my face.

From the moment he appeared, I knew it was him, because of his scent.

It was my mate, the Lycan King, Darius.

“Hm, you really want to die, don’t you?” His cold voice was thest thing I heard as my eyes fluttered close and the world went still around me.