The Randal I knew and the Randal standing before me were two different men. Two very, very different men.“Alpha Randal, your hand…” I was momentarily stupefied by the cut on his right hand that dripped blood into the rug.“Yes, I was confined but I had to break away.” He applied pressure on the wound. “But tell me, where is my brother? Alpha Adelard, you are here so something must have happened. I heard some maids… They said brother was put in the dungeons.”“The Luna Queen has accused him of murdering innocent wolves. I am on my way to see the Alpha King.” My father was the only one who remained calm in this room. “You may want to get your hand checked out. It is not healing.”“No, no, is that not too far? Can Mother do that? Is there any proof? How can – how can they put brother in the dungeons? Even if – even if he killed people, he must have had valid reasons.” For a moment, his eyes flashed red.“Alpha Randal, we have to see Koa,” I said.“The Luna Queen will not allow it. By no
“Are you sure this is the path you want to take?” Father asked with an expression that showed he was unimpressed with Koa’s words.“What do you think, Persephone?” Koa asked me. “You said you would make me king so does this put a damper on your plan?”I did not know what the Moon’s Sword could do. It would be unwise to insist a guilty man was innocent but if there was a way to clear his name, to hide the evidence and make it seem as if he never had a hand in it, it would be preferable compared to admitting to the crime and trying to paint the victims as villains who deserved to die.Even if they did deserve to die, they were the Luna Queen’s people. This was a chance for her to tighten the nozzle she had put around his neck. If given a chance, she would bite down and not let go until he bled out. Even with proof that these men were indeed awful people, there was still the argument that it was not his place to do what he did and make their innocent families suffer in the dark, hoping f
We had to wait two days. Two whole days when I pretended to be okay while freaking out inside. Two entire days with Koa stuck in the dungeons with no one knowing how he was surviving. I could not see him or write to him. He was completely cut off from the world. Two days of me dying inside slowly.Thanks to Randal and my father, things did not drag on for more than two days. Left to the monarchy, those two days could have been two weeks or two months. The Luna Queen would have prepared to drag things out to agitate people and then go through biased sentencing and claim it was to satisfy the public.Well, the day came and I, like everyone else, trooped to the square where the trial would take place. I went with an entourage of warriors so it was not difficult for me to make my way to the front.Before long, Koa was dragged in. Even if I were not looking, I would know the exact moment he was brought forward. Perhaps because my wolf perked up or the screams and cheers that resounded with
“Alpha Raven,” my father confronted Cassius head-on. “Why should we listen to the so-called historian you have brought here when even the witnesses you brought are fake?”Cassius’ gaze burned with so much hatred as he stared at my father that my heart picked up speed again. It was the same look I saw in his eyes before he pulled his sword in my past life and cut off my father’s head. He was no fool. After bringing false witnesses in the presence of not only the Alpha King but a score of people, he would be the biggest idiot to pull a move like that on my father.“This – This must be Alpha Adelard’s doing,” Cassius did not back down. “These women have deceived me and I suspect someone must have sent them my way to derail the investigation but today, no matter what, justice must be served.” His tone and expression were hard.I chewed on my nails which were now nothing short of being unsightly. Cassius would not back down. I wanted to rest assured that Koa’s confidence was not unfounded
“Do you want to go on a run with me?” Koa, who had just gained access outside after several days, could not think of anything better to do right now but to go on a run.With Randal standing there after having run all the way here to see him, the only thing he could think of was going on a run.“Oh, um,” Randal took a step back, “I will see you another time, brother. Have fun.” He excused himself but I could not miss his droopy shoulders.“You could be nicer to him,” I said as I watched Randal’s disappointed back leave the room. “He went through so much to help you out.” I remembered his bleeding hands.“Shall we not talk about him?” He raked a hand through his dishevelled hair. “His existence alone has cost me a lot so am I not even allowed to resent him?”“It is not my place to say but he - he does care for you.”“Shall we go on that run or not?”He must have been stifled being locked up for so many days. Although he acted nonchalant about it, I knew him enough to know that he was bu
“Alpha Raven has declared war on his pack. He wants to keep the reins of power forever despite how bad of an Alpha he has been.”The next day, gossip flooded Deimos. Not only did the people in Blood Crescent talk about Cassius, but even those who were only familiar with his name cursed at him.‘What kind of Alpha puts himself before his pack?’“‘All along, he merely rode off the achievements of the Adelard. Without them, he ended up running the pack to the ground.’‘It is their fault for interfering with Blood Crescent. They made such a disaster the Alpha of Blood Crescent.’My father and I had a share of the insults. A lot of people had a lot of things to say about Cassius and me.“Misssss!” There was a shrill cry from the hallway before Hannah barged into my room and threw herself at me before I had time to react.“How many times do I have to warn you about keeping your manners?” Sylvia came running in after her. “Miss, I apologize for her rude behaviour.” She pulled Hannah off of m
KOA’S POV“Alpha Koa,” Alpha Kendry came to see me.He was the first Alpha who had openly come to see me since I silently started building my support. He was someone whose daughter I had saved from a bandit. She was not in that much danger but he treasured his daughter and thus regarded me as the savior of his jewel.“You must have shed your worries.” I welcomed him to my palace with a smile.He had come at the wrong time but Persephone would not leave me be if she learnt I had blown a potential alliance because I wanted to be alone with her.“Oh, I did not know you had guests,” Alpha Kendrick’s gaze widened when he saw Persephone sitting with her back straight and a cup of lukewarm tea in her hand. Did he notice that her cheeks were flushed and her dress a little rumpled?“Alpha Kendry.” She put down the cup she had been pretending to drink from as she rose with a tight smile. “Koa told me about you but I had thought you were too afraid to publicly hold hands with him”“Ahem.” He cl
CASSIUS’ POV“We should stop seeing each other,” I told the woman dressed to the nines despite having told her we were only going to a small coffee shop.“Why?” Her eyes immediately watered. “Do you not like me anymore?”It was not that I did not like her anymore but that I had never liked her. She was a vain woman who only knew how to talk being herself and what was even worse was that she had nothing of her own to brag about so every time I was in her presence, she was either talking about her father’s achievements or the Luna Queen. It was like hanging around a bug that could talk. Rather than being fascinated by the bug, I was annoyed at how much useless information about the bug family I always got.“Is this because of Persephone Adelard?” Whatever I had wanted to say died in my throat. “I know you have been meeting up with her in secret. Did she badmouth me? Did she tell you to break up with me?”Why? Why did that name come out of her mouth? Why did she only ever mention names t