"There could be a mistake somewhere. I personally don't think Eleanor killed your mother." George held the door that was about to be slammed in his face and followed Drakken into his study. "Be rational with your thoughts. Eleanor has no reason to kill her.""Get out. I wish to be alone.""I understand, but..."With a violent sweep of his hand, Drakken shoved all items on his desk to the ground and slammed his fists on the table, causing it to slightly sustain a crack."No, you don't understand. My mother is dead! I do not care what anyone has to say about this. Someone has to pay.""That's not fair to Eleanor. She's innocent. I think you should release her to have a proper dialogue about what really happened."Drakken shook his head, not wanting to even hear anyone speak her name. "That would not be happening. She shall rot there as long as I see fit."He was too overpowered by grief, too angry to even think straight. If he didn't find an outlet for his emotions soon, then he might j
The cold in the dungeons was intense.Eleanor hugged herself tighter on the floor and shivered. She didn't know how much time had passed since she was thrown into the dirty cell. It couldn't be more than twenty-four hours. Maybe more or less.She was starving, tired, and also grieving the Queen. In her time alone, Eleanor had convinced herself that she was at fault. She might not have indirectly killed the Queen, but she had a hand in it. She'd fed her poison.There was no way to prove her innocence.Everyone would've been coming up with bizarre theories by now relating to why she killed the Queen.Drakken had wasted no time casting her to the dungeons without hearing what she had to say. His face before the guard dragged her away stayed etched in Eleanor's mind and disturbed her. The cold look in his eyes was chilling, all adoration he had for her was gone and void. She jumped to her feet when she heard a sound coming from the dungeon's entrance, hoping it was Drakken coming to see
Drakken headed to his study that morning for another day of misery. The news about the Queen's death had spread, and the whole palace was in mourning. Burial arrangements were already in motion. What Drakken dreaded the most was the incoming pressure from pack elders about producing another Queen to take over her roles.They would expect him to replace his mother that easily with the vampire princess. What blasphemy. Just the thought of it provoked him.He linked the entire pack through the pack link, informing them of the general mourning that would last for the entire thirty one days before they burned the Queen's ashes and blew it off to the full moon. The bonfire night would also be postponed concerning the Queen's passing away.He sent a personal link to Duncan after the announcement. Drakken asked his beta to summon the palace sewer that was going to prepare mourning clothes worn by him and every other person in the palace for the whole thirty-one days.When he severed the link,
Eleanor raced through a maze with Ambrose hot on her heels, a pocket-sized knife held tightly in his left hand. She was trapped as the maze seemed to have no exits.Beads of sweat gathered on her forehead, both in the dream and reality, dripping down the sides of her face. She was frantic in her breathing and terrified of the looming danger in the name of Ambrose."I'll kill you, you cunt!" Ambrose thundered in a loud voice behind her. His badly cut body oozed blood. It pooled beneath his feet and left bloodied footprints in his trail.Eleanor kept running until she got to a dead end. A giant wall stood as a barricade between danger and her freedom. She quaked with fear knowing Ambrose was close now. His demonic laughter rang out in the air and caused goosebumps to spread on her skin.He was going to take her life."You can't run away from me," Ambrose cackled. "You're weak. You would always be overpowered by everyone."He walked closer, grinning, blood running down his teeth like a v
Drakken stormed out of the dungeons and tossed the keys at a guard.His inner conflict manifested as a struggle between his desire for Eleanor and fear of the unknown. He felt torn between sticking with what was familiar and comfortable or taking the risk of pursuing what he truly wanted.Drakken never really knew what steps to take when it came to Eleanor. And he'd made everything worse by marking her. He blamed that for the reason why he was so conflicted about the current situation. He had claimed her as his. It wasn't that easy to turn his back on her.He should be furious at her, and he was, but not at the same velocity if it was someone else who killed the Queen.Drakken turned to a corner on his way up to his room and bumped into someone. Benjamin stood in his way, unmoving, the look of playful mockery that was always on his face gone."Get out of the way," Drakken growled at him. "The mere sight of you annoys me.""I've always known you to be a coward." Benjamin's words threw
After days of trying to find answers to her bugging questions, Emma had come to a conclusion. She'd spent nights and days in her office without rest, studying every single one of Eleanor's potions and continuously reaching a dead end.Her frustration had reached its peak.She pushed herself off her office chair and strode outside for the first time in days, calling the attention of all student workers in the lobby.It wasn't top secret most of them didn't like Eleanor, though Emma could not say why. Her tired eyes scanned every one of their faces as if hoping to detect whoever was the guilty one. Whoever framed Eleanor.She cleared her throat to speak. "I'm just going to cut straight to the chase. As you all know, Eleanor has currently been locked up for poisoning the Queen." Tears welled up in her chest but she pushed them back down. "If anyone knows anything about this ongoing issue, or how Eleanor came in contact with poison, I ask of you to step forward."Everyone stayed mute, and
Drakken was already on his second bottle of alcohol that night when Emma burst into his study. He let out an exasperated sigh, wanting to just be left alone. He'd dismissed Duncan earlier than usual for that same reason.The disappointed look on her face gave him an idea of why his sister had come to see him. She most definitely heard about the fight with his father from those gossiping mongrels called omegas."I heard everything," Emma let out to confirm his suspicion. "Did you really have to fight with him?"He said nothing in return, his stare blank and unbothered."Avoid him for now. Let's focus only on honoring our mother."Drakken poured more alcohol into his glass, more invested in the way the liquid slushed into the cup than whatever reason Emma still stood there. Maybe she'd take the hint he wasn't in the mood to speak to anyone and leave."I found the poison that killed our mother." That got his attention now. His head shot up and his curious brows furrowed. "I'm currently w
Eleanor was feeling refreshed after taking a bath for the first time in days. Her muscles continued to ache when she stepped out of the tub. She wrapped a towel around her body and searched the cupboards for healing ointments Evie had previously stacked up for her.Finding none in the lower cupboards, she pushed herself up on her toes and flung open the cupboard over her head. Her eyes caught what it was looking for.Eleanor had Evie to thank for keeping her room clean even while she was away. To Eleanor, it seemed better than when she left it.Words couldn't have gotten to Evie yet about her release, or she'd have come running without a second's thought.Eleanor sat in front of her mirror and rubbed the healing ointment into her skin. She winced when it accidentally made contact with a bruise. Drakken did this to her. And he hadn't even bothered to check if she came back to the palace safe. How long could he be mad at her?She huffed out an angry breath at the same time her bedroom