Harlyn“What did you find?” I asked when I got to the room but I didn’t see her or even Harry. “We are in here.” Helaine called out from within the photo room. I entered and looked around only to find that there was a hidden door. “What’s this place?” I asked when I got in. Helaine had her phone light on but the place was still relatively dark so I turned on my touch too.“A secret room.” Helaine said. I already knew it was a secret room but I wondered why there was a secret room inside the photo room of all places.“How did you open it?” I questioned. Harry was too busy looking around so I only had Helaine to answer my question. “I moved the big portrait and saw a push sign. I pushed and viola.” She explained.“I found something.” Harry said. We both looked at him. He waved something at us.“What’s that?” I asked and walked towards him. “A recorder. Not just that. There’s a bunch of papers in here too. Plus, that safe over there, I think there’s something in it. I will o
Harlyn “I promised that I would give this to you guys when you grow up but I don’t think I will be here by then. I am so sorry that I couldn’t bring our family back together.” Our dad said. He sounded like he had been crying. “This might be the last one. I enjoyed leaving these notes even though it got really sad. I wanted our family back together and was working hard to get that to happen. Alpha even promised to lift the ban on vampires for that to happen but they keep coming at him. They don’t want him on the throne. They keep trying to take him out and now we are going to war.” Dad’s voice broke. Helaine looked at me in shock. I nodded. “The alpha king wants me to step back and leave the kingdom but I can’t do that. It’s my job to protect the Crimson Moon from intruders and I refuse to back down so I am going to fight to the end. Even if it means I won’t get what I want the most. To be with my family.” His voice broke again and a sob escaped from me. I covered my mouth
BernardoI heard Harry’s words before the line went dead and I panicked. Whatever he found out must have been bad for him to sound so angry.I quickly dialed Harlyn’s number again.“Please, please pick up.”I let out, pacing around the room I was using as my temporary office since Sean bugged my main office“Harlyn, you and your siblings should come back to the palace.”I let out as soon as she took the call. I couldn’t let Harry act on his anger and approach my uncle. I will deal with him myself. I didn’t want to get Zeta Ross' children involved in the fight against my enemies. It was bad enough that I got Harlyn involved. “We are trying to get Harry to listen but he is angry and he won’t tell us what he saw. Only that your uncle is the reason our parents separated and the reason our fathers died.”Harlyn explained. I clenched my hand in a fist.“Give him the phone.”I told her. I heard her telling her brother who wasn’t ready to listen at first but he soon did.“Your majesty.”I le
HarlynTrying to get Harry to tell us what he saw failed so both Helaine and I just silently helped him pack the stuff he gathered from the secret room and placed them in the trunk of the car.He barely said any words to us after the call with Bernardo ended, he looked angry and out of control. Thank goodness Bernardo called to talk him out of going to his uncle’s house. It would have been hard for me to talk him out of it.Helaine and I tried to get him to disclose what he saw but he only got angrier when he tried to explain so we ended up telling him not to bother.He spent five minutes just pacing around and talking angrily to himself. Even Helaine said she hadn’t seen him get so angry in all the years they spent together and they were always together until she left for medical school.“Make a turn Harry,”I told him when he drove past our direction. Helaine offered to drive but he refused. I hated the mood in the car. Hated that Sean was the reason for the mood. That bastard did
Harlyn“Hey, it's okay,”Bernardo said, patting my back. I don’t know whether it was what we found out, seeing all those photos of our childhood and knowing our parents wanted to stay together or the fact that Sean was responsible for everything, or if it was just the sadness of having to say goodbye to Helaine after barely spending a day with her that broke me, I just know that I couldn’t stop crying. My heart hurt, my head hurt, everything hurt so fucking bad. Bernardo held me while I cried.“I am sorry.”I sniffed and lifted my head off his chest. I didn’t mean to cry over him while in the parking lot. My siblings must be uncomfortable seeing me break down, especially Helaine.“Hey, don’t say sorry. Everything has been overwhelming.”Bernardo encouraged me and hugged me back to himself. “Go with Helaine while I talk with your brother.”He told me when we pulled apart. I was too emotional to even argue so I nodded and turned to Helaine who looked sad. She reached for my hand and w
Harlyn“Have you dated a girl before?”I asked, too nosy not to ask.“Yes, once in high school and another time during my first year in medical school. Both times we broke up because they moved away.”She explained. I didn’t know what it was like to be with other people, Bernardo was my first and my only.“You had a boyfriend before your mate?”“No, I was a lone wolf-less wolf, no one wanted to date me with serious intentions, everyone who asked me clearly wanted to sleep with me and I wasn’t having it.”I explained.“Wow, it must have been hard for you.”She let out. I shook my head. “That’s actually the easiest part of my life. Especially when every one of those guys realized I wouldn’t give them what they wanted. Even the loser who went rogue was one of them.”I could still remember when that bastard had an interest in me and kept talking about changing my life and so not what. I didn’t give him a listening ear and after a while, he started being insulting. Then he stopped. Not ju
Bernardo“I think I have had enough for one night. I can’t even think properly anymore.” I let out after hours of talking nonstop and brainstorming possible ways to go about everything without disturbing the peace of the Crimson Moon. I didn’t want a war, I refused to endanger the lives of my people just because of some bad eggs. Damn, the Ross siblings found some really good information that gave a whole new light to everything that has been happening.“I could say the same.”Harry said and stretched. After spending hours together, I realized the young man wasn’t bad at all and him being a vampire doesn’t change the fact that he’s from the Crimson Moon. He willingly showed everything that he got from his father’s house which had been locked away in a safe for over twenty years.Yes, it didn’t just start this year or even in the past five years, it started over two decades ago. Sean has always hated my family. He hated my father who was his brother and plotted against him to steal
Bernardo It was supposed to be temporary and my father was going to make a new law that allows wolves to freely mate with vampires but none of that happened because freaking Sean set them up and they passed away. His parents would have gotten back together. The triplets would have grown up together with their parents who loved each other. My father would have ruled for many more years. Maybe, just maybe I would have gotten the chance to see the world and take up the role of king at an adult age, not when I was a freaking child. I lost my childhood. The triplet lost their parents and they grew up apart. My woman suffered the most. She grew up thinking she had no family. She grew up in the orphanage and also had a hard time in the palace. All of which wouldn’t have happened if that freak hadn’t been jealous and hateful. He planted the seed in Theo right from when he was a child. He turned his child into a villain. Theo didn’t just grow up and decide he wanted to be king. No, befo
Harlyn “You guys can go if you want. I will wait here with the twins.” Leah told the ladies who took the chance to leave. “They are going to spread the news that I have an identical twin.” I told Leah and Helaine. “How do you know that?” I smiled knowingly. “I just know.” I said with a laugh. “You look really pretty.” Helaine complimented. “I look just like you.” I told her. “No, not right now. You look like an elegant version of us and it really suits you.” I smiled at the compliment. We didn’t even get the chance to talk much because my mate walked back into the dressing room. “Oh, the royal couple, coupling.” Helaine cheered when she saw Bernardo. We must have unknowingly teleported our dress code because he was wearing a similar color-coded attire. Navy blue and white. He looked very kingly with the crown on his head and the staff of office in his hand. I don’t know about others but I was completely smitten by him and if I wasn’t already so in love with him, I wou
Harlyn “It looks so good on you, oh my goodness!” I did a three-sixty turn for her and laughed when the women cheered. “I know a secret.” Patricia let out and the three of us stared at her curiously. “Tell us,” Leah told her when Patricia didn’t speak. She smiled. “I don’t know if you will believe me but the queen mother had the dresses remade for her.” She said and pointed at me. I stared at her in shock and confusion. There’s no way that’s true. “You are joking, right? Harlyn became Luna not too long ago and my grandma has been gone for over a year now. She died way before the alpha and Harlyn got together.” Leah said and I nodded in agreement. It just didn’t make any sense. “I am not joking or lying. The queen mother knew you would one day be queen. At least that’s what she kept telling us. If you don’t believe me then you can ask the other worker, though she has stopped working at the palace. She knows, everyone who worked close to the queen mother knew.” I didn’t know
Harlyn “I know and I am grateful for it. Only you can make him agree to something like that and I am truly happy that he found you now. The side of my baby brother I see every day these days even with everything going on pleases me and I have you to thank for bringing that side of him out.” There she goes again with all the thanks as if mating with Bernardo didn’t change my life more than it did his. “I am glad too.” I told her because I didn’t want to argue his importance and just what mating with him has done for me. I am sure Leah already knows that. “Okay, let’s get you dressed. Ladies, let’s see what you got.” Leah called out to the two women who quickly started pulling out things that they had come up with. Leah pushed me gently into one of the chairs in the huge room and made a stay-put gesture before walking over to the women. I glared at my reflection in the mirror in front of me. I have seen myself in mirrors lately but every time I see myself, I see a whole new perso
Harlyn “Why do you look so in shock? You are the queen now, that’s yours.” It felt surreal. Everything in that room screams luxury, expensive and some of them very vintage. Even the queen mother only used that room when it was really important that she show up as queen and now, that place will be mine. It felt too huge to be real. “I don’t know, Bern. It feels like I will be stepping into a place that isn’t mine. Can’t I just get dressed in our room?” I asked him. “Sure you can any other time but it’s important that you show up in traditional crimson moon royal attire as the queen.” “But I am not queen yet.” I pointed out. “Oh, but you are my dear. The day I found out that you were my mate was the day you became queen of the crimson moon. Coronation is just to make it ceremonial.” Now why do I suddenly have doubts when I was the one who insisted that I want to stand by his side? I let out a deep sigh and nodded. I didn’t want us to waste more time. “Call her.” I told him.
Harlyn“Baby? It’s time to go!”I opened my eyes when I heard Bernardo’s whispers and blinked to clear sleep off my eyes. I must have fallen asleep while waiting for him. I don’t even know how long I slept. The last thing I remembered was reading through the PDF that Hillan had sent to me.“What time is it?”I asked Bernardo as he helped me up.“Past four pm,”He told me and helped me fix my hair. He had a look on his face that I didn’t like.“Did something happen while I was sleeping?”I asked him with concern. He smiled and shook his head but I wasn’t convinced. I looked around his office and it was just the two of us.“But you don’t look okay.”I said and reached to caress his face. He touched my hand and held it against his face.“I know. I am just in my feelings. I guess even though I passed the judgment, I hate to see it happen but I have to be there.”I understood immediately and pulled him into a tight hug.“Oh baby, but you don’t have to be there. You already did your part, r
Harlyn“You finally showed up, I thought you were really going to take the whole day off.”Damien said when we walked into Bernardo's office.“Oh Luna, you came too?”I smiled and waved at him.I never said that I was taking the day off, I just said that I wouldn’t rush to the office. I deserve a break don’t I?”He asked Damien while walking me further into his office. I haven’t been here since the renovation after what happened with Sean. I can’t believe this was where it all really started. Thank Goddess that he called me into his office that day. Even if I hated meeting that uncle of his, the meeting still helped expose him.“Thank goodness that you are here because I was about to take over your office and make new laws for Crimson Moon. Your assistant has been looking at me funny all morning.”Damien said just as Bernardo’s assistant walked in. he bowed to the king and me.“Is that my schedule for today? Why does it look so fucking scary? I told you to use a tablet! I hate seeing
Harlyn “Let them, I mean, it’s not like I did anything wrong. It’s better than being an orgy king.” I burst out laughing. I couldn’t stop myself. Did he get a lot funnier or am I just too blinded by love to think straight? Either way, I love this side of us. Glad we can make jokes about everything. My eyes met the staff and I realized I laughed at something he said through our mind link which made me laugh awkwardly. “Are you really going to keep talking about that orgy thing?” I thought as he pulled me along with him out of the dining room. “Yes, for as long as I live it will haunt me and I will haunt you with it.” I shook my head at him. “Okay, you can do what you want but just know that they are still going to tell on you.” I reminded him. “And I said that I don’t mind. If not, I would have had them sent to the dungeon and threatened with being beheaded if what happened ever gets out.” I stopped walking and stared at him. “What?” He asked out loud as if he didn’t just
Harlyn “Good morning my beautiful Luna.” I smiled when I heard the familiar voice. For the first time in a long time, I woke up to my mate in bed with me. His morning voice was the first thing I heard in the morning and I can’t remember the last time it happened. It made me emotional. “You are still here.” I whispered and blinked to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. Usually, he would be out of bed before I woke up and out doing his kingly duties. “Yes, I am still here. I have a lot to do today but I don’t feel like leaving our bed yet. There’s no need to rush. Did you sleep well?” He asked and kissed me on the forehead and that also made me emotional. Morning kisses. I get forehead kisses in the morning again. It felt refreshing in a lot of ways. “I slept better than I have in a while and it feels extra good to have you here with me. I can’t remember the last time I woke up to you in bed. One of the many cons of fucking the king.” He frowned at my choice of words. “Fucking?” He
Harlyn “I did? I don’t feel like I did anything, your sister did all the work. I only gave orders.” Here he goes again, downplaying what he has done. We were really made for each other since we are very good at downplaying what we do. I wasn’t about to let him get away with doing it this time. I placed a finger over his lips. “Don’t say that. You did well today and I am super proud of you.” I told him in a firm voice that left no room for disagreement. He smiled and nodded. Then he let out a sigh and finally set me down. He didn’t let me go completely. His arms remained wrapped around me while we both stared at each other. I reached and caressed his face. He looked so drained. “Have you eaten?” I asked him. he nodded. “I ate with Damien. He is very good at keeping me in check. Also, he said you might kill him if you find out about what he let me do. I told him that I would snitch.” Even tiredness didn’t take away the funny side of him. I love that for him and me. “What did he