It was one thing to hear a description of the creature, but it was another thing entirely to actually see it. Azalea and my father had already mentioned that it’s chilling to be in its presence, and I couldn’t imagine just how chilling it must be if we were creeped out from watching it on a screen.“When you said it changes faces, I didn’t imagine anything like that,” Titus commented.“It’s even more horrific in person,” my father commented.“Have you scanned the footage?” King Aragon asked Thane and Titus.Thane clicked on the other screen, loading some pictures. “We took screenshots of different scenes. There’s the painting that Zae was talking about. Your face is crossed out like she’d said. Everything else was pretty standard. We didn’t pick up anything out of the ordinary.”“This footage doesn’t really show us any dangers that lie ahead, so we’re just going to have to trust each other,” King Aragon stated.“From what I’ve seen, it looks a lot worse than when I was last there,” Ki
CLAYTON'S POVWe tried to locate whatever was screeching, but we couldn’t see it. The one thing we knew for sure was that it was above us. The skies were completely misty, so we didn’t know what to expect.“We need to move. We need to decide if we’re going to the castle or not,” King Aragon linked me.Just as I was about to respond, an arrow flew past me. I barely managed to dodge it, and it was the first of many. We started running, having unanimously decided to head towards the castle.“What exactly is the plan here?” King Brennus linked.The link was open to my father and father in mating. “I’m trying to understand why we weren’t attacked when we were here.”The statement came from my father. “Because Aragon wasn’t here.”“So, now what?” I asked.My father decided to shift, bringing about a gush of wind as Ugar flapped his wings. He roared, releasing white fire, which worked in settling everything down. Quiet surrounded us, before rustling took off.We watched as the creatures came
AZALEA’S POVWith the plan in place, my father, Clayton, and I headed towards the castle, while Greier, King Brennus, and Ugar stayed outside. I didn’t think it was possible, but the castle was even creepier than before.It dawned on me that I’d been close to my mother when we returned from Draxlar and I didn’t even know it. I doubt I would’ve been able to save her then, but the thought overwhelmed me nonetheless.“Are you ok?” my mate linked me.“I am. I’m just thinking back to when I was here,” I admitted.He reached out to hold my hand. “We’re here for you now Lea. You’re not alone in this.”I smiled, squeezing his hand, before my father broadcasted a link to us both. “While we don’t have much time, I think it would do us some good to properly scan the place. I can feel where Val is being held, but I want us to gather as much information about this place as we can. Are your cameras working?”We’d installed cameras on our armours. “They should be, but there’s no true way of telling.
AZALEA'S POVIn the air, Greier was floating, her eyes glowing. We could hear the screeches around us, and the Lycans of the Forgotten Lands had shifted. They looked ready for a fight, whichever way it was about to go. Ugar was nowhere to be seen, while King Brennus looked like he was in a trance.“Brennus!” my father shouted, bringing the man back.“What’s going on?” Clayton asked.“When the screeching took off, Greier confirmed that Eligor brought an army of them with him here. The people here have managed to not encounter the creatures all this time, but I suspect you killing their own awoke them,” King Brennus informed.“So, they are connected,” I commented.He nodded. “They are. They don’t feel each other’s pain or anything like that, but when you kill one of them, they all feel it somehow.”“And what about Greier? What is she doing?” I questioned.“She’s keeping them at bay. We need to get out of here,” King Brennus stated.“We’re not leaving them behind,” I spoke.“We have no p
AZALEA'S POVMy mother let the barrier down before we headed back inside. It was borderline chaotic with the amount of movement there was, but I was glad because it meant that our people were taking action.“Hayes, Hunter, we need to speak with you briefly,” my father told them.They joined us in one of the empty rooms, and again my mother waved her hand, concealing us. “What is it?”“We need to move the children, women, and anyone else who won’t be able to fight out of the kingdom. Is it possible to move them to one of your kingdoms?” my father requested.We could all see the reluctance on my uncle’s face. “Given the mysterious nature of Erea, I think it would be better to take them on at Draxlar. I’ll let my people know, and you can help facilitate the move.”My father was visibly grateful for King Hunter’s offer. “Thank you.”“Now, we need to decrypt the footage,” Clayton noted.“I already have Thane and Titus working on that, so they’ll let us know when things are done,” my father
CLAYTON’S POVYou could cut the tension with a knife, and yet my mate looked unbothered. We were all unsure about what pissing off Simiyan meant, but Azalea couldn’t care less. She was standing by her decisions.“You have nothing to say to me?” Simiyan asked her.“I have plenty to say, but I don’t think you want to hear any of it,” Azalea retorted.“Try me,” Simiyan challenged.“I’ll lead with the simplest one. She’s not evil,” Azalea stated.Simiyan scoffed. “Right. She just does evil things.”“And this is exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not going to defend anything because as much as you want me to try, you’re not willing to listen,” Azalea argued.“You don’t know what she and I have been through, despite whatever little fairy tale she sold you,” Simiyan icily attacked.“True, but I stand by what I said. For as long as you’re only willing to believe your version of truths, you won’t care about what I truly have to say,” Azalea doubled down.It was a new thing for the majority of
CLAYTON'S POV“My parents died in the war,” King Aragon stated.Greier shook her head. “Your parents were murdered by Alyx. She even paraded them in front of you.”“I have no memory of what you’re talking about,” King Aragon denied.“This is it! This is the memory!” Azalea shouted.“What are you talking about?” her mother asked her.“We’ve established that Eligor cast two major spells on the entire Lycan Kingdom. The spell obviously doesn’t work on Greier and her people, which is why they would remember. The memory must’ve still been in Simoa’s memories, despite the spell. I’m going to give the credit to Shaylah here because I don’t think we would’ve seen that memory without her,” Azalea explained.“So, he cast a spell on the kingdom to forget that Alyx attacked it?” King Brennus checked.I could see where my mate was going with this. “Not just that. I think I just figured out what the second spell was, but we need to first see that footage from the castle.”We left the room and heade
CLAYTON'S POV“It must be a result of having your mom here,” I responded.While his Nomad self had been sloppy in attacking, his beast wasn’t making any mistakes, and unfortunately that meant Azalea and I were getting our asses handed to us. It wasn’t long before we too shifted.And now that we were aware of some of the powers we had, we were a lot stronger even in our shifted forms.However, you could see where King Aragon’s years of experience came in, as well as him being more in tune with the powers he has. Despite fighting two powerful Lycans, he held his own, inflicting enough damage on us.But he was also slowing down.I don’t know if the anger was wearing away, or if he was getting tired, but he was slowing down, which allowed us to attack him more. We weren’t going for blood, but instead we were wearing him out even faster.When he stopped attacking, we shifted. He thumped onto the floor, still in his Lycan form, while we got dressed in the clothes in the cabinet in the room.
AZALEA’S POV“I can’t believe two years into your marriage and you’re still pulling these stunts!”“How else am I supposed to keep the romance alive?”“He’s going to kill you, you know that much, right?”“He wouldn’t kill me while my dad still lives.”“At this point, Hugh would welcome your death. You truly are a menace.”My mouth dropped as she giggled. “You don’t mean that!”“Oh, I believe it too. When they told me you’re a menace, I didn’t know just how right they are,” my aunt teased.“You all just hate me,” I argued.“No one hates you because you won’t even allow us to do that much,” my mother commented.I gasped, and the evil women just laughed at me. “I can’t believe you’re in on this too!”“You and I are connected, and while the reason why is still a myth to all of us, at no point in my life did I swear to stand by your foolishness, especially when it involves tormenting that poor sweet boy,” Simoa stated.“There’s nothing sweet about him. You guys just don’t get to see how he
CLAYTON'S POV“I underestimated Eligor’s memory spell. I was desperate to explain myself and my actions, and to ask for forgiveness. I wasn’t sure if going to Aragon would help, so I went to the only other two people who knew me better than he did. Avril and Val were my best friends, so I thought if I could get them to understand, then they’d help me make sense of everything and help me deal with my new reality. I was lost, and in pain, and I just needed someone to understand me, except it was in that moment that I realized it would never happen. If the people closest to me couldn’t remember me, then I had no one. I was officially all alone,” Alyx explained.“What happened? Where have you been all this time?” her brother asked her.“After what happened with Avril, I knew I had to find a way to control what I’d become. I got some of Eligor’s powers through our mating, and they helped me to an extent. I found out he was abusing the Xeglan, and they asked for my help in keeping them from
CLAYTON’S POVOnce King Brennus lifted the spell from them, it was decided that we should head back while their memories started to trickle in. With everything over, the packs had been instructed to stack the dead hybrids and burn them.We suffered a couple of casualties and injuries on our side, and it was decided that the bodies of the dead would be put aside and we’d have a funeral for them the following day. We needed to let everything settle down first.With Eligor out of the picture, King Brennus ordered the Xeglan to return to Advalur, and they happily complied, while the Xeglan hybrids were imprisoned. At the end of the day, they were traitors, and it would be decided later what we’d be doing with them.Azalea led her aunt to our room, refusing to leave her side, while Pixie was quickly at mine. “You’re coming with us.”I followed after her, and she led me to a room with our friends in it, including Brantley and Bentley. “When did you guys get here?”“That’s not important! Wha
AZALEA'S POVThe turned Lycan looked my way. “I’m the source of a lot of your problems. With me out of the way, you stand a better chance of taking over this kingdom, but you’re going to have to catch me first.”I closed my link to my family and friends as I turned and made a run for it. I could hear him following after me, as well as my family following after him. I had absolutely no clue what I was doing, or what the plan was, but this distraction was giving me some time to think.And before I knew it, I was running past the border and into the Forgotten Lands.Being here, I knew that only Eligor, Clayton, King Brennus, Greier, and my aunt could follow after me. My father and Clayton’s father didn’t have the bracelets on them, so they’d be affected if they came through.I finally let my mate through our link as he ran in after me, shifted back and changed into shorts. “Now what?”“I have no idea, but I know this is where everything has to end,” I told him just as Eligor’s beast grow
AZALEA’S POVShe looked more badass than she had in the vision. Confusion surrounded us as we watched everyone wondering why the Xeglan hybrids weren’t fighting, and who the woman was. Much like in the vision, she was preceded by smoke, and when it cleared, I could see recognition from our inner circle.“It’s her. It’s the woman from the painting,” Pixie was the one to state.“It’s Alyx, isn’t it?” Cleo asked, but no one responded.Instead, we watched as Eligor took in his mate, surprised to see her in her true form. “You can control the faces?”“I can do a lot more than that, but I’m not here to tell you all about that,” she told him.“Well, it’s about time we joined hands and finally took over the kingdom as planned,” he smiled, walking over to her.She put her hand out. “You either didn’t hear me, or you’re choosing to ignore what I said. I’m here to stop you.”It was a slight opening in his emotions as the vulnerability showed on his face. “Tell me that these people aren’t right.
CLAYTON’S POV“Avril and Valencia were my closest friends. Lost as I was, I thought if I went to explain myself to them, they’d understand, but I underestimated Eligor’s spell. They really had no idea who I was, and the changing faces and my changed form weren’t helpful. That’s when I realized that I needed to learn how to control the faces and my body.”Azalea was crying beside me, and I put my arm around her. “Where was Eligor during all this?”“I didn’t want anything to do with him, and he agreed to give me my space. However, in that time apart, I realized that my love for him was turning to hatred. Every time he checked in on me, he would let me know about his efforts to undo what he’d done, but I’d already lost too much. Being with him didn’t feel like something I wanted to do anymore, so I kept to myself. One thing I got through our mating is some of his powers, and I used them to travel the dimensions, learning as much as I could about what they knew about shapeshifters. I also
AZALEA’S POVThere she was.She was dressed in a dark emerald dress, and there was smoke around her, but I knew it was her. The same eyes I’d seen in the painting were looking straight at me. She was unmoving, showing no emotion on her face.“It’s her.”I didn’t know if I could even bring him with me, but I was relieved to look to my side and find Clayton there. “Do we go to her?”He shook his head. “We wait for her.”I agreed, and we waited. Before getting pulled in, we moved off the battlefield, hiding, and I could only hope that we’d stay hidden given the fact that we had no idea what was going on outside this vision.After a while, she finally moved towards us. I unintentionally squeezed Clayton’s hand a little harder, and he put his other hand on top of mine. I looked up at him, and I knew what he was telling me through his eyes.He was with me, and he had my back.She walked until she stood before us. Much like I’d felt back in the castle, it felt like I was looking at an older
CLAYTON’S POV“Report?” my father asked.“They’re coming from the direction of the castle, so we can confirm that it’s Eligor and his army. There hasn’t been any movement from the Forgotten Lands,” his man reported.My father nodded. “Take to the skies and stay there waiting for my command.”“And Isaiah?” the man asked.“Tell him to stay where he is,” my father replied.The man nodded before leaving. “What’s going on Hunter?”“Like Theo just said, Eligor is headed this way with his army. There’s no word from Alyx’s side,” my father replied.I was about to ask a question when my mind link was prodded. “CLAYTON!”“Simoa?” I asked.“Yes, it’s me. Where is your mate?” she asked.“She’s here with me. Why?” I countered.“Eligor is on his way. I have been trying to let her know, but I haven’t been able to reach her,” she huffed.I turned to my mate. “Love, is there anything going on with your link to Simoa?”I heard the murmuring, but I didn’t care for it as my mate scowled. “I can’t feel he
AZALEA'S POV“Are you sorted?” I asked him.He nodded. “Ariel and Cleo are directing everyone here. Greier and the Lyca will join us shortly. Your uncle linked to say there’s a bit of a delay with the archives, but that he’ll be here as soon as he has the information with him.”“Should we maybe not talk to our people before they get here?” Clayton suggested.“He’s got a point Aragon. While we may be understanding of how you reached the decisions that you did, your people may not be,” Clayton’s dad joined us.“I’ll address them once they’ve all assembled,” my father agreed.As expected, our pack members were the first to assemble, and I could see the pride on my mate’s face at seeing his people still as efficient as ever. The pack members of The Rebelution were officially the pack members of the royal pack.I had read up on the royal pack, with my father answering any more questions that I had. Apparently, the royal pack that he was Alpha of was either taken over by Eligor, or those wh