ANNETTE I feared my makeover was going to pull the attention of many. Luckily, no one had time for me. For the plan of the night, I couldn't be known as Annette. I needed to do a clean job. I wore a makeover that changed my beautiful face into the face of another woman. Everett had provided a thin mask that would help my makeover look perfect. No one knew I was the one underneath the mask. I walked down the hallway to where the meals were being prepared. I walked into the large kitchen, and I saw many chefs at work. The kitchen air was so hot that it threatened to peel off my skin. The people in the kitchen, both men and women, were sweating profusely. Though the environment wasn't comfortable for me, I didn't care. I needed to do what Everett wanted. The chefs didn't know that I had entered the kitchen, and I took the advantage. I walked to the back of the kitchen to look for the meals they had prepared for the aspirants. Without being noticed, I got to the back of the kitchen,
CLAUDIAI watched many people throw their stones into the bag in front of Dad, and I had never been happier in my whole life. It was obvious that Alpha Everett could never win the primary voting. Only people that were from the Denwald’s packhouse voted for him. And they were nothing compared to the people that voted for Alpha Joachim. “Finally, he gets what he deserves, and he would feel what I have been feeling since I got to his house… Rejection.” I said to myself, and I saw Alpha Everett looking at me again. I could guess what was going on in his mind. He wanted to know who I was going to vote for, but I was wiser than him and decided not to vote for anyone. My one vote won't change anything. My father was going to rule, and he would do nothing about it. “Won’t you vote for your husband?” I heard my mother's voice behind me, and I turned to look at her. She has a bright smile on her face and this made me smile too. “Voting for one of them is a bad idea, Mother,” I responded, an
EVERETTThe voting came to an end in no time, and I took a glance into the bag in front of me. I could count the stones in it. They were about twenty out of the thousand people that voted. I clenched my jaw and looked at Alpha Horst. The bright smile on his face made me furious. He turned his head in my direction and our eyes locked. His lips curled up in a smirk, and I raised my brows in disbelief. “Does he think I'm going to give up easily?” I thought as I looked away. I couldn't wait for Holgar and the men he had assigned to count the votes so we could get into the feast. The people that had gone out after voting was asked to enter the hall again. As soon as they were all seated, Holgar took the spotlight. They all kept quiet, and Holgar began to speak. “Thank you all for voting. We would start counting the votes after the feast.” He announced, and I raised my brows. “After the feast? Even better.” I grinned. “The bags will be left in front of the aspirants, and no one should
CLAUDIA My head was on Clarence’s shoulder as we sat on the garden bench. My eyes were closed and a smile crept up my face. I felt relaxed as he was close to me, I wanted to be like that forever. Away from Alpha Everett and everyone that kept making my life miserable. “Luna Claudia, I think we should head back to the hall. We can’t allow the Alpha to notice we are absent,” Clarence said, and I heaved a sigh and opened my eyes. “I want to be like this forever,” I muttered. My head on his shoulder rose and fell as he chuckled. “You can’t be like this forever, Luna.” “I know.” I raised my head from his shoulder and looked at him. He turned his head to look at me too, and our gazes locked. “Why do you still call me Luna?” My eyes shuttled as I moved my gaze from one of his eyeballs to another. “I call you Luna because you are still my Luna.” He fixedly looked at me as he spoke. I lowered my head and gave a nod. “Even after what we feel for each other? You still see me as his wife?” I
EVERETT As I rolled to the other side in front of the people sweating profusely, before anyone could get to where I was, I quickly pulled out the antidote from my coat and drank all of it in fear. My intestine was on fire, and I couldn't take it anymore. After I drank it, I threw it back into my coat and hoped someone from my pack would get me out of the spotlight. “Alpha Everett!” I heard Volker call in fear as he ran to me. He turned me on my back and when he saw my face, he understood immediately. “We need to get them to the doctor! Something is wrong!” Holgar yelled as Volker lifted me. “We have our doctor. I need to take him there right now.” Volker responded as he wrapped my hand around his neck and held me by the waist as I stood. My feet wobbled as I stood, my weight seemed too much for my legs. Volker caught me before I go fall to the ground, and he pulled me away from the spotlight. I still felt great pain in my stomach even after taking the antidote. I began to fear tha
CLAUDIA In outermost fear and nightmare, I was glued to where I stood. I couldn't move or say anything. I looked fixedly at father as mother ran up to him and lifted his head. They tried to hold her back, but they couldn't. Not when she saw her husband lying down in front of her. “Horst!” Her voice filled with pain and agony. She cried so loud that her tears filled the air of the hall, hitting the walls aggressively, and bouncing back to hit our ears. I felt my whole world crumble as I watched my mother lift his hand. His hand fell back to the floor lifelessly and a single tear rolled down my cheeks. “No! You can’t be dead, Horst! No!” Mother yelled as some men grabbed her by the hand and dragged her away from father. I felt my throat and stomach tighten up, more tears welled up in my eyes, and I began to shiver like I was thrown into the freezer. “Father.” A word finally found its way out of my stuck mouth and mind. I blinked and tears streamed down my face. “Father!” I lifted my
CLAUDIA The chirping of the birds and insects filled my ears all of a sudden. I squeezed my eyes in consciousness and adjusted my head on whatever it was on. The pillow wasn’t hard nor soft. It was perfect. I slowly opened my eyes, my vision was blurry at first, and I closed my eyes again. I opened them the second time, and this time, my vision was clearer. In front of me, I saw a large tree trunk that looked rough and ugly. I furrowed my brows and raised my head to look at the headrest I used. I found out my pillow was Clarence’s chest. I looked at his face and saw he was still sleeping. His hand was around my shoulders, and my hand was on his torso. I slowly raised my body from him, using my other hand as a guide. I looked at my body and saw I was still tieing the bedspread he gave me last night. Memories of the dreadful night rushed into my head, and I closed my eyes and clenched my jaw. Goosebumps covered me, and I felt my throat tighten up again. “Luna Claudia,” I heard Claren
EVERETT As I stared at her, her blue eyes radiated anguish. I didn’t care, but I had to act like I did if I didn’t want to be a suspect to her and her father’s people. “You should go and freshen up. I asked Nellie to prepare your breakfast,” I added, and her eyes widened in shock. I heaved a sigh and tried to stand up. I picked the rod that was next to me as support. She raised her brows when she saw I had a rod next to me. “Everyone, out,” I ordered as I approached her, leaning on the rod. I stood in front of her, keeping my stare fixed on her. When everyone stepped out, she spoke up; “How are you still alive? You all took the portion, right? How did you survive it?” I scoffed and smiled at her. “I was rushed to my doctor as fast as possible. He gave me some substances to take in, and I think my intestine isn’t tearing itself anymore.” “So you had a doctor that could help and you didn’t help my father and Alpha Joachim?” She further interrogated and at that point, I was beginnin
~After eighteen years~Maximillian I gazed at the archery targets carefully, my left hand slowly lifted up, holding the heavy recurved bow firmly. My right hand reached for my quiver, and I pulled out one arrow. I positioned it in the bow and pointed it at the targets. I closed my left eye so that I could get the appropriate angle and degree to release my arrow. After being satisfied with my positioning, I dragged the bowstring and arrow real quick and let go of the arrow. The arrow travelled from where I stood to the archery target, and I nervously watched it move. The King, my father, was at the other end, and as soon as the arrow pierced the target, he ran to it to check. “Yes! You did it!” He yelled, and I jumped up and punched the air in excitement. “I told you I’d be able to do it!” I yelled back boastfully. *Since I turned ten, I grew a great passion for shooting arrows. No one in Jamba Kingdom was an arrow shooter, and I wanted to break that record. My mother, Que
CLAUDIA Everett and I sat in the living room with an awkward silence in the air. My head was full of many things. After witnessing Annette’s death, I wished I was never pushed to request her death. ‘What will my don think of me now?’ “Claudia, can you please tell me what is going on in your mind?” Everett asked, and I adjusted my eyes to look at him. “What will our son think of me now, Everett? I’m a murderer.” He shook his head and reached for my hand. He lifted my hand to his lips and planted a soft kiss on it. “You are no murderer, okay? I was the one that killed her, not you. She deserved to die, okay? Don’t feel so bad. You are a good person, Claudia, but sometimes, the good people are always pushed to the wall.” “About our son…” “Our son will be fine, Claudia. This would be written down, but you should know he would understand that she needed to be killed. She messed with the king, and the king killed her. You won’t be painted as evil because you aren’t. So be calm, okay
CLAUDIAI got to the front of the palace and threw Annette forward, making her fall to the ground. I could feel how fragile she had become because of the torture she went through in the dungeon, but she wasn’t ready to change, and I was done giving her chances to be a better person. “You are still alive till now, thanks to me!” I poked my chest and moved closer to her slowly. “It was so easy to tell Everett to get rid of you when you were in that dungeon, but I felt it would be so wicked of me, and I didn’t want anyone’s blood on my hands. But now, I don’t care if your filthy blood stains my hand.” “You think you can do whatever pleases you now, hun? You can order others around, but I’ll never let you order me around! I rather die than accept you as my queen!” She yelled back, and I scoffed. I wasn’t surprised she could still talk back at me like that. Everett had always said she is a fierce woman and won’t give up easily. “You rather die? Well, I’ll help you die.” I got to her
ANNETTE I stood in front of my full mirror and stared at myself. I looked so ugly and sick, and I hated everyone for that. No one cared when I was in that dungeon, and this made me see no reason why I should care for anyone too. If someone told me Everett would change drastically to the extent of throwing me into the dungeon, I’d argue with that person. This time, it was worse. He locked me in there for about nine months, and he didn’t bother to check up on me for once. He was busy with his wife. I rolled my eyes and tears dropped from them. I lowered my head and began to play with my finger. “Annette, you are not a woman they accept defeats. You can’t let this pass as if nothing happened. You are more powerful than that, baby girl.” I said to myself and looked in the mirror again. “Annette.” I heard Volker’s voice in front of my door. I looked at the door and saw him open it. He walked in with a tray in his hands. “There you are. I brought you some food.” He walked to the tab
~The next day~ CLAUDIA I woke up feeling much better, I slept all through the night, so I didn’t expect less. I dragged my body up and sat on the bed. My eyes ran through the chamber real quick and fell on my baby’s cradle. Beside the cradle was Nellie. She had her hand in the cradle, and she was smiling widely. “Nellie,” I called calmly, and she raised her head and looked at me. “My Queen, you are up.” Sue stood up and walked up to me. “Yes, I am,” I responded with a bright face. “I’m happy you look better, my queen. How are you feeling? Do you have aches?” She asked, and I shook my head. “I’m not feeling anyone. Am I supposed to feel any pain?” I asked, and she chuckled. “I have no idea. I haven’t given birth before,” She responded, and I giggled. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that kind of question,” I said, and she shook her head. “It is fine, my queen. Your baby is still sleeping soundly. Have you found a name for him?” I shook my head and looked at the cradle again. “I
CLARENCE I sat amidst the pack members as they chatted and cheered. The other day, I wasn’t feeling so good. I couldn’t stop overthinking. Now that Claudia has given birth to the heir, what would happen to us? What if she is now in love with him too and wouldn’t want to leave? This has always been my fear, but what can I do when it happens that way? I would have to accept my fate and move on. She is a wife and a queen, I can’t ruin their marriage because of what I feel for her. I grabbed the jar of wine that was on the table and poured myself another cup. Jan looked at me and knitted his brows. “Hey, are you good? That is the seventh cup you are drinking. Do you want to talk?” He asked worriedly, and I shook my head and smiled. “I’m fine, Jan. The wine is just so good to put down,” I responded, making him chuckle. “It’s the best wine in the Jamba Kingdom, what do you expect? The king is in a very good mood and that makes us happy. You can drink up all you want. But if you want t
~After seven months~ EVERETT I covered my mouth with my hands and began to pace in front of Claudia’s chamber. It was her delivery day. I was with her when she started feeling weird, so I had to call the best midwife in the kingdom to take care of her. “Push!!!” I heard the midwife scream, and after her voice, a roar followed. It was Claudia’s. My pack members, the elders were all waiting in the living room, but I was too anxious to wait there with them. I wished I was in the chamber with her. “Push!!!” I heard the midwife scream again, and I heaved a loud sigh. I hit the door and yelled, “Can you please take it easy with her?” “I’m sorry, my king but I just need one more push from her and the baby will be out. One more hard push,” She responded In a loud tone, and I lowered my head. “Claudia baby, you can do it, okay? Just one push. I hate the way she keeps yelling at you,” I said and moved slightly away from the door. “Arrrrggghhhh!!” An extreme roar filled the air and my eyes
CLAUDIA “Are you going to do whatever I ask of you?” Alpha Joachim asked Everett, who sat next to me on the couch and never let go of my hand. “You are leaving me no choice. What do you want?” Everett kept his eyes on my hand as he spoke. “I want you to invite Thorsten back to the Jamba Kingdom.” Alpha Joachim smiled after talking, and Everett raised his head to look at him. “Why would I want to do that?” Everett asked, making Alpha Joachim shrug. “Because Thorsten is my friend, and I care about him. If you want to get your wife back, without me telling everyone the evil you have done, then you’ll do this little favor.” Everett gulped and heaved a loud sigh. He lifted his eyes and looked at Thorsten who stood behind Alpha Joachim. “I’ll let him into my kingdom on one condition. I must not see hun anywhere close to the palace. The day I see him anywhere around the gates, I’ll kill him.” I watched Thorsten’s face as Everett spoke, and I could see anger register on his face. He clen
EVERETTAfter Two Weeks I walked into a familiar building. I tried to remember where I had seen the building, but nothing was coming. My head was blank at the moment. I boldly opened the main door and walked into the living room. I had one thing in mind. I needed to find my wife. I looked around the living room and my eyes fell on someone. He sat on a chair but I couldn’t see his face because his back was turned to me. I started approaching hun and wanted to speak when all of a sudden, I heard footsteps approaching. I looked up, and I saw Claudia walking down the corridor. She heard where we were standing. “Claudia! My wife!” I called and began to approach her. She opened her arms with a large smile, but before I could get to her, a man stood in front of her, making me stop abruptly. I looked at this man, and I saw someone I wasn’t expecting. “Alpha Horst?” I called in surprise. I looked at the chair, and I saw that the man that was seated on it was gone. He could guess the man