/-LISA-/“You never told me he was going to find Hannah,” I scolded Tim. “Because I had no idea, my love. I was just as surprised as you are when he suddenly returned home with her. We have been searching for years now and never got any positive results,” Tim said, reaching for my shoulder. I shoved his hand away. “So, just a few days with Raven, and he already found Hannah? It doesn't make any sense, Tim!” I could barely control the anger in my voice. All these years, I had managed to convince myself that she was dead in a ditch somewhere or at least, married with children. I didn't think she had any reason to want Declan after her family was killed before her. It gave me hope. I was almost convinced I was heading somewhere with Declan before that little witch showed up with her disgusting attitude. Now, Hannah was here as well. How was I supposed to deal with all this now? Especially when Hannah has always been my best friend.Tim wrapped his hands around me and I felt utterly
/-Raven-/“Hey.” I looked up in surprise. “Mind if I join you?” She asked.“I don't own the chair,” I answered. Francesca smiled, taking a seat beside me. It was weird for her to suddenly talk to me, but again, she was only mistress who didn't go out of her way to make my life miserable. She was rude to me a few times, but she has mostly minded her business. “Are you still planning ways to escape?” She asked me and my lips curled.“Why would you assume that?” “You were sitting out here, lost in thoughts for several minutes. It's a clear sign you're up to no good,” Francesca answered with a small smile. “Subtle way of saying that you've been stalking me,” I noted. “I wouldn't call it stalking. I was just passing by and saw you. Thought you could use some company,” she said. “How remarkably generous,” my voice dripped with heavy sarcasm. “Cut the chase, what do you want?” “Nothing,” she answered. “I just told you the truth.” I nodded, deciding to let it slide. “You know I adm
/-RAVEN-/Declan was furious. Furious enough to keep everyone under the heavy rain. The courtyard wasn't exactly large and the palace had a lot of workers. Luckily, Francesca and I managed to squeeze ourselves under the roof. “I am only going to ask this once and after that, there will be no form of mercy. If you have the royal emblem and the Luna's eclipse stone, kindly surrender them now,” Declan's voice cut through the rain. So this thief didn't just take the emblem but the eclipse stone as well? Whoever ever did it either had a death wish or was just plain stupid. For the next five minutes, no one said a word or even admitted to knowing who took it, which wasn't surprising. The men who stood beside Declan, who I suspected were the Elders, studied everyone present. They wanted to pick out the slightest shift in expression and body language from anyone. My gaze shifted to Hannah and Lisa who happened to be talking in hushed tones, glancing at me. “What are those two up to now
/-Raven-/“What if she's innocent?” I whispered to Francesca. “You're suggesting that the CCTV is lying?” She asked me with furrowed brows. Right, it didn't make sense when she put it like that. “I just have this nagging feeling that she is innocent. Did you see her eyes? I can boldly say that she had nothing to this,” I said. “You better not say it out loud before this people without evidence,” she whispered harshly. “let's leave it to the Elders and mind our business.” “I guess you're right,” I sighed. But if she was indeed innocent, it would be really sad. “What do you think they will do to her now?” “She is still denying it so they will probably torture the truth out of her. Either way, the truth will come out , whether she likes it or not,” Francesca shrugged.“Can we go back to the library now?” She asked. It was surprising how casual and unbothered she was about Othelia's arrest. They had been staying together long before I came here and even if they didn't like each oth
/-Raven-/“What happened to you?” Declan asked. It was weird and almost adorable to see that he came to me immediately he felt something was wrong. I wasn't sure if he was aware of the mark yet but his presence here brought me some form of comfort. “A chandelier crashed next to me. I guess it was aiming to hit me, but I just missed. Tough luck,” I smirked but he frowned.“Does this look like a joke to you? Have you seen your arm?” The seriousness in his tone was new. This had to be the first time since I met him that he was serious about something involving me. He picked the arm carefully as if it were a gem and examined the bandaged wound as he sat next to me. “The doctor said the cut was very deep and could get infected very easily if not carefully treated. I understand you are wolfless, but can you not at least heal?” He asked. His voice held nothing of the mockery I was used to when someone talked about me not having a wolf. If anything, it was genuinely concerned and my stu
/-Asiah-/“What news do you bring?” I asked.“He is Alpha Declan of the IronClaw pack, Your Highness. Breaking in is not an option for us,” Tarius, my commander said. “Lucky for, one of our own is already living amongst them. Not just anywhere, but in the palace.”That immediately caught my interest. “A dragon blood is within the walls of IronClaw?” I asked. “Yes, Your Highness. Although she is not a pure breed, she is one of us, nonetheless,” he answered. I frowned. “Hybrid?”“Yes.”My frown deepened further. “How do we know she is not working for them?”“After we discovered who he was, we sent spies into the pack at night to report everything to us. Information reaching us is that she stole the Luna Eclipse stone from Alpha Declan using the form of another,” he said. “I don't understand,” My impatience was overflowing with confusion. “Is she a shapeshifter? And how does this information benefit us?”“She is your majesty. It benefits us because she wants to be Luna and Raven's pr
/-Raven-/“Oops! Trouble in paradise?” I snorted, watching the heated glares pass from Declan to me. “I just wanted to tell you that you're a shit caregiver. My arm feels like I lifted a building.”Declan gave me a look and I threw him a sweet smile. I knew what I was doing, of course, and I enjoyed every bit of it. “What happened to your arm?” Hannah's deviation spun me. I didn't peg her as someone who cared if I was trapped in a burning building. “Well… a chandelier came crashing on me,” I told her. “I see you didn't die. Quite fortunate,” she drawled, a sinister look crossing her eyes. “or maybe you did it so you could get in his bed.”My mouth went agape. What kind of psychopath did she perceive me to be? Why would I set myself up for death just to get attention?“I'm sorry, what?” I sat up properly.“You heard me. You could have completely left the way if it was indeed crashing but you just had to let it injure you, huh? Just so Declan would take care of you,” Hannah spat. I
/-Raven-/“What do you mean by you took it?” Declan's surprise was plastered on his face. The poor man didn't know what was going on. I wasn't even sure he would believe it if I told him unless Tim opened up. “I… I know how much Lisa likes the idea of being Luna, even though she can't. I just thought if I got her the stone, it would make her feel better,” Tim went on. “Do you think I'm stupid, Tim? Do I look like a fool to you?” There was an underlying irritation in his voice. “You are twice the size of every person in the pack and you think I wouldn't have immediately recognised you from the footage?”Lisa's panicked expression caught my attention. She knew things were going to go sideways faster than she anticipated. Tim stuttered, unsure of what to say. “He didn't do it himself,” Lisa cut in. “Yes, that's right. I got two of the maids to do it for me,” Tim answered. “Really?” Declan's brows furrowed. “What are their names? I'll send a guard to fetch them.”Tim glanced at Lis
/-Skylar-/My first thought when I arrived at the mansion was to ask Kai about the painting but thinking about Mario's words again, I decided against it. Kai was nobody but my annoying boss, nothing more. He wasn't in when I checked so I headed to my room for a long shower. After showering, my head felt clearer now and I began thinking about the events of the day. Lisa said they were two women, one of them being Amelia so who was the other one and why on earth would they be working together?I tried to think of all my possible enemies back then and my enemies now to see if they atleast shared the same qualities. I started with myself and unfortunately, I was in no way similar to Skylar. From everything Ava told me, we didn't share a single thing in common. I thought about Lisa and Sally. The were almost the same. Cunny, mischievous and very obsessed with Declan. Then I thought about Kai and Declan. Declan used to be a womaniser before I met him. He had many mistresses, and Kai w
/-Kai-/I wasn't one to start a fight.However, I didn't mind bringing down hell on anyone who dared to touch my property and in this case, that property was Skylar. There was simply no way I was just going to stand back and watch Taylor lay a hand on Skylar and get away with it. A rational part of me still insisted that I was going too far. I barely knew this woman and yet, I was here, ready to rage a war with Taylor for her sake. “Sir, are you sure about this?” Anders asked. “What happened? Are you getting cold feet already? You were the one who said you hated seeing her like that, right?” I shrugged. “So you're doing this because of what I said?” He raised a brow. I knew he was baiting me but I wasn't going to give in to his antics and actually confess that seeing her battered made my heart tug in ways I'd rather not experience. “What are you waiting for? Let's go in,” I said, opening the car door. “What are we really going in there to do? The last time he came, he said his
/-Skylar-/Ten seconds passed and I was still staring at the girl that used to be in utter shock. I looked at her in confusion and then at Mario, who didn't understand seem to understand what was going on. “How… how did you get this?” I asked her. A small smile played on her lips. “I'm guessing it finally found it's owner, huh? Selling close to a division house does have it's advantages. That would be $7.20 please.” I was even more confused. “I'm not talking about the price. How do you know her? Who are you?” I asked, taking a step closer to her. Her smile immediately vanished as she slowly stepped back. She seemed frightened like I was threatening her or something. “What are you doing, Skylar? You're scaring her,” Mario held me back but I shrugged his hand off. “I asked a question,” I said icily. “Fine! You're right. It's just my imagination. I have a very creative mind and…”“Bullshit!” I cut her short. “The details are way too accurate for it to be some imagination. Who th
/-Skylar-/I didn't know what to expect now.The artist being a woman was a whole game-changer. Now, I couldn't possibly guess who she was and I knew there was no way Declan would be reborn in a woman's body, right?But then again, I couldn't just jump to conclusions. “Can you take me to her?” I asked him. “I told you it was about a year ago. There is no guarantee that Sally will still be there,” he groaned.“Mario please…” I tried begging. “I have already told you who she is but I am not obligated to take you to her. You know her name, find her yourself,” he said. Wow! I guess we're doing this the hard way then. “Fine! Since you won't tell me, I better just head home and tell your boss that I went somewhere interesting today,” I shrugged and his expression immediately changed. “Are you threatening me?” He frowned. “Why should I? It's called accountability. I'm just going to go back home and tell Kai all about where I've been and who the tour guide was unless, of course, you ar
/-Skylar-/She sat there looking all bossy and authoritative, her legs crossed. The arrogance in her stance made me want to turn and walk right out of the door. “Ma'am, she's here,” the guard bowed. I glanced at him, wondering why I even agreed to get into the car with him in the first place. Maybe I should have questioned him properly but I desperately needed information on that artist and now, I was being forced to face a woman who believes I am sleeping with her husband. Ex-husband, to be precised. “Good job, Mario,” she nodded in approval then to me, she signalled to have a seat. I sat down just as she asked. “I assume you know who I am,” she said with an air of arrogance like she was royalty. Now I wish I hadn't met her earlier, I would have gladly told her no, just to see her reaction. “I know that you are owing my husband a huge sum of money which is why you are forced to stay by his side,” Gwendolyn went on while I stared with a blank face. “What if I told you that I wil
/-Skylar-/I groaned, burying my head in the pillow. I knew he had no control but couldn't he at least use a soundproof room, especially since he was bringing screamers. Three long hours of torture and my ears finally got a break. Just when I thought I could get some sleep for myself, a knock came to my door and I groaned inwardly. What now?I marched to the door with annoyance. It was one of the bodyguards. “The boss said you should clean up,” he informed me. “Are we going somewhere?” I asked him. He looked at me as if I was the dumbest person to ever exist. “Not that. He wants you to send the girls away,” he said and I wanted to scream. “He could make them scream down and entire building but he can't send them off himself?” I huffed. The guard's expression remained stoic. “Should I tell him that?” I shot him a glare. “No.” I walked out of them room, slamming the door shut behind me with annoyance. I marched to his room to three girls, passed out on the floor. He was by the
/-Gwendolyn-/My fingernails clinked idly against the cup as I sat there thinking about the woman I saw Kai with. Was she the one he was looking for? The reason he wouldn't give me a chance? But she introduced herself as his assistant and…“Don't be stupid, Gwen! What kind of assistant wears that kind of dress? They were most likely coming from somewhere and I was sure as hell that he bought her that dress. Even if she wasn't the one, he was definitely fucking her. And I hated it. Cheap gold-diggers trying to take away my man from me.I lifted the glass to my lips and took a long sip. He wouldn't take me back just because I was sleeping around and signed that he should be taken off life support. Anyone would have done the same. I was just trying to save money. For all I know, he could have died. What difference does it make? I would have raised the kids alone like I am doing now. The door suddenly opened, interrupting my train of thoughts. “Ma'am, you sent for me,” Mario bowed.
/-Skylar-/“Are you blind?” I blurted before even realizing it. I was pissed and tired and bleeding from every possible part of my skin and all the bastard could do was complain about how much money I made him lose?Kai's expression harden. “I will advise you watch your fucking tone when talking to me!”“You are pissed about my tone? Did you hear yourself speak to me? What kind of psycho are you? Someone walks, bleeding and all you can do is whine about your little illegal business?” I seethed. “I'll be inside!”I made to move but his words stopped me. “Don't you dare take another step forward!” He growled. The guards were alert now, caught up in the little drama. “I'd like to see you stop me!” I hissed and walked right inside. Surprisingly, the jerk didn't come after me. I headed to my room and locked the door. As much as I would love to go anywhere but here, I didn't exactly have anywhere else to go. Nowhere that Taylor wouldn't find me at least. “Taylor Macaulay,” I spat the na
/-Skylar-/The moment of advantage was fleeting. My body was running on pure adrenaline, my limbs screaming in protest, but I couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop.I yanked against the chains, trying to use the slack to my advantage. The guard with the broken nose staggered back, cursing, but another was already lunging toward me.I twisted at the last second, bringing my bound hands up like a weapon. The heavy links caught him across the face with a sharp crack, sending him sprawling onto the concrete.A deep, angry growl echoed through the basement. "Enough."Taylor.I sucked in a ragged breath, my pulse still pounding as I turned to face him. He stood just beyond the dim pool of light, his expression unreadable, but the tension in his jaw told me everything I needed to know.He hadn't expected me to fight back this hard.Good.Taylor took a slow step forward, his expensive shoes clicking against the floor. "You really don’t know when to quit, do you?"I wiped the blood from my mouth with t