"Anna, you know that I can never lie to you. How will I make up this kind of story? Why am I even making it up? For what purpose?" She stared back at him and nodded. "I know, Lucian. It's just that I'm so confused about everything. I don't know anything happening here, I don't know what people think about me and I don't even know if someone somewhere in this estate wants to have me killed. Take a look at Vera for example. I don't even know who she is or what she looks like because, on the face of it, she wants to have me killed or what does she want to do with me?" Lucian placed his large hand over her slender one and rubbed the pad of his thumb against her skin. "Anna, sweetie. It doesn't matter. What they think about you doesn't matter. And, nobody here wants to have you killed. Vera isn't from this pack and she's had feelings for me ever since she stepped foot into this place. I don't know if she's obsessed or plain wicked." Her eyes wondered. She studied a
"She has answers. Every answer you want. You missed lunch because you died. Not in that sense." He added quickly. "Vera has the power to project people's spirit out of their bodies. This power she was born with was to be used for a good cause. It was handed to the wrong person. This afternoon, she came and you had to be the maid, because Wendy asked you to be one. You were offended and no matter how you tried to conceal it, it didn't escape Vera's hawkeye. She could read the energy you were giving off. She decided to play along with the story of you being the maid and while we had lunch, you remained in the kitchen alone. Wendy was with us, dishing out food and when she returned to the kitchen, she found you on a chair in the mini dining at the kitchen, looking lost. It was weird and when she touched you, you were so stiff. Then, she knew something was wrong. Vera had pulled out your spirit from your body. She made sure you were planted in one place in the house. With this, she could
Lucian nodded, listening attentively. "What next?" Petl returned to her seat and sank into the soft cushion. Both of her arms rested on the armrest of the sofa. She sucked in a breath and released. "Do it tonight and tomorrow morning. Vera will try to get into her room through astral projection and if she's successful, she has every power and ability to rid Anna of all of her memories. And it's going to take a toll on her. She'll be a shell of her normal self. Living like she has no person." Anna held back a gasp. Though she didn't know how important the memory she lost was, she could tell that there was danger as long as that part of her memory remained with the so-called Vera, there was a possibility of her not remembering who she was and how she lived in the past. She didn't want to experience that and the thought of it made her shudder. Lucian felt her despair and immediately took her hands in his. This gesture made Anna warm, safe, secure. She squeezed
"We're talking about mobilizing an army of ten thousand humanoids and what you say is that it's too much for a pack that small?" Kevin was visibly livid. His fist clenched against his napkin as he listened to the top officials of the San Francisco State Government talk like they were sixteen year old girls who had fully bloomed and expected life to be a bed of roses. "Mr Kevin, we cannot provide the amount which you ask of. We would be cutting short the budget for this year and where do you think we get funds from? And how sure are you that these so called werewolves will be able to defeat your regent humanoids? That's nearly impossible. Ten thousand humanoids is too much for a pack with less than a hundred and fifty members." "They are much more than you think. More powerful than you make them to be. More violent and deadly than you can ever imagine. Rufus Kainwright, one of the men seated at a table in one of the most expensive restaurants in San Francisco spoke. Hi
"You know, you're such a beautiful lady. One who would be the perfect Luna, a mother figure and everything perfect for Lucian." Vera started. She crossed her leg and leaned forward so she was able to stare into Anna's eyes. The chair tilted to an uncomfortable angle, but Vera knew how to manipulate it. Anna wasn't going to lie, this lady smelt nice. She was probably using an ancient oil from the time of their old era, because its essence was something she'd never inhaled before. "Luciano is smitten. I'm still looking for what he finds attractive in this body of yours. Cellulite, rolls, a very far butt. So unladylike." Vera gagged. That sentence hit home. Vera didn't have to say more than that. Whatever result she was expecting from uttering such insensitive words got to Anna and tears spilled from her eyes immediately. A smile of accomplishment lined Vera's thin lip. She had gotten what she wanted. Now was the time to start her manipulations. "Is this how you w
A lady in scarlet cloak hurried down the alleyway leading to the temple as early as four a.m in the morning. By this time, crickets still chirped and the air was dense with mist. Her face was covered fully with a hood and as she meandered through the dirt filled alleyway, she bent her head. Anyone could be walking back from anywhere by this time and she couldn't take the risk of being seen. She needed to get to the temple real quick because time wasn't on her side. It was only a matter of time before the whole estate awakened and the priest in charge of the temple came out of his praying room. The nuns would arrive later, so she did not worry about encountering another lady dressed in an identical cloak as hers. Finally, she stood before the monumental temple and stared up at it. A smile of accomplishment coated her lip. The only problem she had right now was how to enter the temple without alerting the argus eyed guard. Yes, guard. The temple had just one guard and the man
"When she does, Lucian will have no option than to get married to me. Then, I will become Luna and no one will take him away from me." Petl nodded and watched Vera smile as she day dreamed about that day to come. If only she knew. Finally, Petl stood up. "I have to go. But, here, I got something for you." Petl slipped out a box from the coat of her jacket and handed it over to Vera who had a confused look on. "What's in there?" Petl shrugged. "A gift. In the spirit of the celebration of the festival of the lunatic." Vera's eyes widened and she tore at the box violently, discarding the pieces of nylon foil used to wrap the little box. "I have to go. It's almost dawn and Lucian will be at my door any moment from now to ask me about yesterday. I have to come up with a lie." Vera didn't look up from the box she was trying to unwrap. "Alright. Thank you! Have a nice day." A sinister smile coated Petl's face as she hurried out of the room into the larg
As soon as Petl shut the door to her house, she pulled off the cloak she was wearing and dumped it on a sofa in her sitting room. She was apprehensive. Now that she had accomplished all that she had planned, she knew that a grave mistake had been made. In less than two hours time, the whole estate would be alerted about the death of Vera and investigations would be conducted immediately. And Petl, being the head of the investigation team, was going to conduct it from the beginning to the end. She paced about the room, confused about what to do. If she decided to dismiss other coroners with the excuse of taking up the investigation herself, everyone would be suspicious. Her heart beat real fast as time ran. She was sure that the perpetrator would be found and no matter what her explanation was, the estate was going to execute her. And even if Lucian and the other cabinet members could stop it, the whole pack was going to go against it and that meant war and rebellio