Chapter 13

• DEVIN
• Valentine. A feisty creature she was. It was cruel for the goddess to give something so precious to me. In truth, my wolf believed it was only previous because it was unattainable. That alone seemed to excite it. I had found out two years ago. I was at the ripe age of twenty-two and seething with unbridled rage to avenge my parent. Valentine's parent had played their parts to make sure the late rulers of the Crow never returned and it was only fair to do the same. My brother and I were not aware they had a daughter. I doubted anyone knew excluding those closest to them. Valentine had been the Monarch pack's well-kept secret. I had blood on my hands when I stumbled upon her. Her parent's blood was on my hands and judging by the horrified look she had on her face when I bumped into her, she knew I was their killer. She was a loose end. A part of me knew it was only right to take away her suffering by ensuring she ended up with her parents but I couldn't bring myself to do it. She was beautiful. I only meant to try to pacify her. All I wanted was for that look on her face to disappear. I wanted to see a smile. She had backtracked when I tried to reach out to her. I stopped too. It was not the blood on my hands that stopped me. Neither was it the way she looked at me. A foreign scent had stopped me dead in my tracks and beckoned to me like the call of the Sirens. My wolf seemed to be conditioned to the sensation as it instantly screamed mate. Pure testosterone flooded my body and by the goddess, the only thing I wanted to do right at that moment was take her and make her mine. That scent was sweet. It smelled like it belonged to me. My wolf screamed the word repeatedly into my soul and for a moment, I dared to bask in it. The rude awakening was when her delicate lips opened.
• "I don't want to be your mate," She begged. "Reject me and finish what you came here to do."