~ Amira ~The she-wolf was as quiet as a mouse, her senses on high alert, as she scanned her surroundings and approached the double doors exiting the dungeons. There was something almost too easy about this escape. No guards were positioned at the doors or patrolling the dungeons.Amira knew there were other prisoners further inside. The least the royal dungeon would have been guards at the doors. Nope. She swung one of the heavy doors open to a gloomy, windy hallway with a gradual slope; she couldn’t see where it led. The torchlight flickered along the side of the walls that seemed to go on forever.Her step faltered before she moved further into the hallway.Something wasn’t right.What was wrong? Amira couldn’t tell what made her stop at the doors.There was something wrong with this hallway.Amira scanned the hallway. The sconces revealed scorch marks below them and on some of the floors. It wasn’t noticeable unless someone paid special attention to them.Not only that, but those
~ Amira ~A clanking resonance filled the air around Amira, causing her body to tense, her heart to gallop, and perspiration to trickle down at the nape of her neck. Her eyes darted anxiously, uncertainty gripping her, as she remained on edge, wondering if she was truly safe. Yet, nothing transpired aside from that sound, resembling the creak of a drawbridge lowering over a moat.Watching carefully, Amira took another step forward.Nothing happened.Amira released a long breath, her shoulders relaxing as that noise continued to fill the air. She started following the path where the same coloured tiles were, but the more she stepped forward, the walls shook, and the ground vibrated. SHING!Spikes! More spikes filled the walls, pointing at her from both sides, and they did not stay still. The walls vibrated loudly, that clanking sound still in motion as they started to close in on her!‘RUN!’Nisha’s command jolted Amira into action, and she sprinted forward, but the more she ran, the
~ Rhys ~HOW?!Rhys looked down at his body- that wasn’t his body- and was once again in Amira’s form. Deliciously naked. That wasn’t the shocking bit, though. With some of the wounds scattered on her body, including a painful burn on her arm that was starting to heal, Rhys knew Amira escaped the dungeons almost unscathed. But HOW?! They were told it was 99% impossible to escape. Amira was that 1%.Rhys shook his head and scanned his surroundings. He stood beside a tree in the forest. It all looked the same, but he knew Amira didn’t make it far before their body swap. ‘Welcome back,’ Nisha greeted Rhys. He was surprised to have a warm welcome; it was far kinder than Amira probably would be. Hearing his thoughts, Nisha added, “You cannot blame her for that.’‘And did she really hate it?’ Rhys asked, feeling confident without the need to hear Nisha’s response. Still, he was curious.‘That’s beside the point!’ Nisha humphed, but Rhys could tell she wasn’t really angry and only putting
~ Rhys ~Did you mate with her already? Rhys wanted to scoff. Amira messed up in the midst of leaving to hunt him down. She should have known better than to believe he would continue on her little venture into the woods. What advantage would he gain from doing such a thing?Baltir glanced at Amira’s chest and the bare spot where a mate mark would be. Amira ignored the Beta’s questions, though, and glanced behind her and stopped. She frowned at Rhys. Rhys glared back, not sure what was wrong with this she-wolf now.‘Amira walks confidently and proudly. No matter who is around her. You are covering yourself and acting ashamed-’Rhys scoffed, interrupting Nisha’s explanation. Before he could respond, Nisha spoke up. ‘We are werewolves. Walking around naked is our forte. Amira has a beautiful body-’‘Exactly! I don’t want the others drooling over her!’ Rhys snapped back. He expected Nisha to be annoyed. Instead, she chuckled and seemed happy for some reason. Amira sighed after watching
~ Amira ~Amira parted ways with Rhys, her mind somewhat sluggish from the turn of events as she tried to keep up with everything that happened. Now back in Rhys’ body, she walked down the open hallways to the king’s room, one she was used to returning to now but was overly aware of the bedroom beside his. The one where Rhys was currently.Zev and Tolva stood guard outside. The pair managed to find some breeches. Zev looked like he’d just gotten out of bed with that shaggy brown hair like normal compared to Tolvar’s stark difference with his blonde hair neatly pulled back into a small queue. Despite this, both were still shirtless. They appeared comfortable standing guard half naked, and she saw why. Their bodies were what she expected of the king’s personal guard and friends. All muscular and chiselled. Demon growled in her mind, and she had to hide a slight smirk at his jealousy.‘It is only a compliment. I don’t mean anything by it. You’re obviously waaaay hotter,’ Amira flattered
~ Amira ~While Amira had been internally debating with herself and forcing herself to look past Demon’s whines and the barrier around her heart that crumbled to them, Rhys had been side-eying her in the bath.“You were going to escape. Why? You knew this was a possibility of happening,” Rhys said, oblivious to Amira’s thoughts and the narrowing of her eyes directed at him.Amira rolled her eyes. “If you were ever truly in my shoes, then you would understand why escaping was a better option.” She held her finger up to silence Rhys; surprisingly, he did. Rhys didn’t interrupt and watched her; his movements paused mid-scrub under his armpit. “There were other reasons as well… I wanted to hunt down the elders who were banished... No matter, I will send the word out to target them.” A wicked smile lit up Amira’s face to the malevolent thoughts racing across her mind. So many would volunteer to hunt down and torture corrupt officials, which made their lives harder. Heck, even if she sent
~ Amira ~The doors closed behind them as Amira ventured further into the Alpha King’s chambers, lost in thought about this situation. She never thought about Beta Baltir discovering the body swap. Or hear their conversation. They seriously needed to get thicker walls. Rhys and Amira would need to find somewhere more private if they wished to discuss such things again. Right now, though, Amira needed to focus on the current issue. What could be done about Baltir?“What do you think you know?” Amira decided to ask, turning to face him, now inside the living quarters by the fireplace. It was relatively safe to talk about this here. It was further inside the king’s quarters, with the multiple walls and doors between them and the guards. "You’re not Rhys…” Baltir said, observing her and side-stepping gingerly. Amira glanced at his movements. It looked like he was debating whether to attack her or not. That would be a mistake. Amira ignored his hesitant movements and sat down in the a
~ Rhys ~Damn, did it feel good to be in the comforts of luxury again? Although his bath had been interrupted by Amira and the questions, she didn’t get answers to. He felt no guilt for not telling her the reasoning behind the elder’s authority. Even Nisha’s silence was not enough to deter him. In fact, it reminded him of having Demon in his mind. He would only growl and make his emotions apparent. Sometimes, if they were strong emotions, then he could hear some of his thoughts; otherwise, it was quiet. Much like now, though, he knew Nisha had a lot to say like Amira, making him more aware of Amira and Nisha’s similarities. Now dressed in the nightgown the maid gave him, he stared outside the bay windows, cradling a glass of whiskey. Yep, he managed to procure a bottle he’d hidden in the room previously. While lost in thought about the elders and the annoying power they had held over him until now, his head whipped to the side, hearing multiple footsteps approaching the door. The d