Chapter 1 Three Evil Men
Ashley Taylor's Pov
"You don't mention this to Crystal,” Kyle murmured between my heaving boobs, his nose nuzzling my stiff tits as he drove his thick length into my drenched, clenching womanhood.
"Lying to my sister that her mate is fucking the wrong one?" I dug my fingers into his shoulders, trying to shove him back.
He seized my wrists and pinned them above my head on the bed, then thrust deeper until my tight walls stretched wide enough to take every inch of him.
“She must be the one.”
I heard a deep male voice whisper behind me in the woods.
I spun around, my chest rising and falling rapidly as fear gripped me.
A tall figure stood in the darkness, looming over me.
There was something terrifying about him, something that made every instinct in me scream to run.
“Who… who are you?” My lips wobbled as I shouted into the darkness.
“Help me, Ashley! Help me out of this storm!” His voice came out dry and strained as he dropped heavily to his knees in the darkness.
I took three steps back, my heart pounding hard against my chest. I watched him fall to the ground, convulsing and mumbling words I could not understand.
“What do you want? Who are you? How can I help you?” My voice came out low this time, almost a whisper, as I slowly went down on my knees beside him.
I reached out to touch him, my fingers gently brushing across his forehead.
He suddenly sprang up like a wildfire wolf, his eyes glowing faintly in the darkness.
I jerked back, ready to run, but he grabbed me with such force that he slammed me against his chest.
I screamed for help until my voice grew weak in the darkness…
♡
I woke up gasping for air, drenched in sweat on my small student bed.
Another night of the nightmare that always brought me back to reality screaming, sweating, and breathing as though I were about to lose my life.
I quickly sat up, wondering what it could mean.
Ever since I was sixteen, until I turned twenty-one yesterday, I had always dreamed about this stranger.
His face was always hidden. Sometimes, he was covered in blood. Sometimes, he was in chains, struggling for his life.
Other times, he was simply weak and unable to speak, yet he still managed to mumble at me, asking for my help.
And tonight, he was…
“Where the hell is that girl? Did you forget your work in this house!?”
My mother's voice thundered from outside my room.
I looked at the clock, and my heart almost jumped out of my chest.
It was past 9 a.m., and I was supposed to have been awake since 6 a.m. to pack Crystal's luggage before her mates arrived to take her to their pack.
“I am… coming.”
I ran out of my room without changing out of the short satin nightdress that barely covered me.
“What time is it, Ashley?” My mother's voice rang sharply in my ears.
I dropped to my knees immediately. “I’m sorry, Mother.”
I already knew apologizing would not save me from whatever punishment she had in mind.
I was also tempted to explain myself but then, I knew better not to try it.
My mother was the Beta of DeathVeil, and everyone respected her position. At home, however, her authority meant something different to me.
She was not just my mother; she was also the person who decided what I could do, where I could go, and how much freedom I deserved.
Being the first daughter of the family meant nothing when I couldn't even shift into my wolf.
Ever since I failed to shift at the expected age, everyone had called me cursed.
My mother saw me as a piece of shame to her.
My father's death had only made things worse because there was no one left to defend me when my mother or the other members of the household reminded me of what I was.
I had learned to keep my complaints to myself. No one wanted to hear the words of a cursed child.
“I knew you were going to do everything to ruin your sister's day, Ashley!” She snapped. “But you don't have to be such a spiteful witch toward her! She is not the reason you're weak and can't shift even at twenty-one!”
There it was again.
My weakness.
Whenever my mother was angry, she never failed to remind me how worthless I was compared to Crystal.
My sister was the strongest wolf and the next Alpha Queen of Deathveil Pack. The blessed child she's proud of.
And I was the weak daughter who could not even shift.
I did not cry. I was already used to the humiliation. My body and mind no longer seemed to feel anything whenever she hurled insults at me at the slightest provocation.
“Where is my dress, Ashley? Why isn't my luggage packed? Are you insane?”
Crystal fired the questions at me, her voice hard as she marched furiously toward me, making it clear she was ready to tear me apart.
I jumped to my feet and ran out of the house to get the dress.
She had sent me to pick up her dress from her best friend, Murphy, the previous night, but I had forgotten after spending hours cooking and serving the guests who had come to celebrate her.
They had come to thank her for helping them destroy their enemies and reclaim their pack and resources.
By the time I returned to my room last night, I could barely feel my legs.
“Ouch!” The word slipped from my mouth as I stumbled outside, crashing into something hard. Something that felt like a wall.
“Who the hell…”
The words died in my throat as I lifted my head and saw a pair of icy-blue and bronze-gold eyes staring down at me.
One man had two different-colored eyes.
I had seen many strange eye colors among different Alphas and wolves, but never anything like this.
I looked down and realized my breasts were pressed firmly against his chest. I quickly pulled away and apologized.
His eyes slowly traveled over me, making me suddenly aware that I was dressed half naked.
“I am… sorry,” I apologized again, unable to take my eyes off him.
He was strikingly handsome. At six feet three inches, he towered over my five-foot-eleven frame.
He looked like one of those Alphas I'd seen who were ruthless, cold, and feared.
The kind of man who could crush someone beneath his feet for making the slightest mistake.
Beside him stood two other men who looked exactly like him, but their eyes were different.
One had piercing amber-red eyes and the other had flame-red eyes with deep red hues and subtle golden streaks that resembled burning flames.
They were about an inch or two shorter than him, but they had the same dangerous look.
Like three evil men.
“Never knew you were this beautiful. My name is Ronan Thorne, Blackthorn's youngest king.”
When I heard that, I knew they were here for my sister.
The triplets were Crystal's mates.
For the second time in my life, I felt deeply jealous of my sister.
Crystal had everything.
She was a powerful Alpha, admired by the entire pack, and now she had three handsome kings waiting to take her as their mate.
And me?
I was nothing but a weak wolf who could not shift at twenty-one
I was a loser.
I lowered my head and hurried away to the road leading Murphy's house to get Crystal's dress.
Murphy's house was about two hours and a few minutes away from ours.
I ran until my lungs burned and eventually had to stop to catch my breath.
Then my one and only friend, Christina, pulled up beside me in her car and offered me a ride.
I climbed in without hesitation.
Murphy was my sister's favorite designer. Besides being a wolf and the next ruler of her pack, she was also highly skilled in fashion design.
She was practically perfect in every way.
At least, that was what everyone seemed to believe.
“I knew you were going to do everything you could to embarrass Crystal today before her mates, you witch of a sister!”
Murphy shouted at the top of her voice as she pulled the door open before I could even knock, as though she had been waiting for me there.
“Weren't you supposed to pick up this dress yesterday, you ugly, dirty servant?”
I completely ignored her.
I knew she was trying to provoke me into breaking down, crying, or attacking her like I always did whenever her insults became too intense.
Then she would shift and deal with me, reminding me that I was nothing but a weak wolf.
Not today….
“Can I have the dress already?” I asked, folding my arms beneath my breasts and staring back at her fearlessly.
That was the one thing Murphy hated most.
She hated it when her insults failed to break me.
She hated being ignored even more.
She hated it when I did not flinch whenever she yelled at me or mocked my life as royalty reduced to a maid for her younger sister.
And somehow, she always found a way to make me regret not reacting to her insults, but I did not expect any of that today.
I followed her quietly inside, and she led me into the kitchen and turned on the cooker.
At first, I did not understand what she was trying to do until I saw her hold Crystal's dress up beside the burning cooker.
Then it dawned on me that she was trying to make me regret not reacting to her insults earlier.
“Come get it, Ashley.” She smiled coldly. “Crystal is waiting.”
