/-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
/-Raven-/I found myself melting away in his arms as his lips moulded with mine. He wasn't rough or demanding. It was a slow, compelling kiss, luring me with its soft deliciousness to accept it. My wide eyes slowly fluttered shut as I dropped my defences, allowing him to explore my mouth. The erratic beating of my heart, the nervous fisting of his shirt, the churn in my stomach, told me that there was no coming back from this. He pushed in further and our tongues glided against each other. A small moan fell from my lips as his hands made it up to my neck while the other steadied on my waist to prevent me from escaping. “Declan…” I protested in between the kiss.“Don't think about it, princess. Go with the flow,” he whispered harshly against my lip as I tried to pull away. Go with the flow…How could I when my body was betraying me like this? When did this feel so wrong yet right at the same time?Wasn’t I repeating the same mistake with Eric? I mean, if I couldn't get him to love
/-Lisa-/“No! No! No!” I yelled, slamming my palms against the iron bars of the cell. “You have to let me out of here! I am innocent! I didn't do anything!” Yet the stupid guards still walked away ignoring my pleas. I groaned inwardly and cussed.Why couldn't that stupid guard just take the blame for me? I mean, he tried to, but of course, the Alpha didn't believe him, and that stupid assassin just had to stand up for him, didn't she?I let out another curse. What on earth even made me agree to take that safe? I should have left it hidden where it was, at least no one saw it then. “Looks like you're finally where you belong,” I heard Othelia's words. She was in the cell next to me, thanks to her stupid luck. Otherwise, I would have bashed her head against the bars for daring to speak to me that way. “Where I belong? You were the one who let yourself get caught on camera. They just found a stone on me with no other use but marriage. You took the royal emblem, and I assure you that b
/-Declan-/“What happened to her?” I demanded.“We don't know, Alpha. We found her and the guards like this in their cell this morning,” the prison guard informed me. Othelia and the guards lay before me, eyes wide, tongues stuck out like they were epileptic. They couldn't move any parts of their bodies or even talk. The sight was very disturbing.“What about Lisa?” I asked him. “We found her cell open so we assume she must have escaped. However, I highly doubt she was the one who did this to them. Whoever helped her escape must have done this,” the guard said. He was right but who could have done it?“Do you have any leads on who could have done this?” I asked him. “Whoever did it must have been close to Lisa. Possibly the second person who aided her in stealing the safe. Either that or it could be…” he stopped talking as if he knew his next words would anger me. “Or who?” I insisted. “Commander Tim,” he muttered and I shot him a thick glare. “I don't mean to get you upset, yo
/-RAVEN-/The buzz of the place jolted me from the horrific nightmare called sleep, My eyes flew open as I say up in panic. Did they catch me already? Oh goddess, I'm screwed. I tried moving my body subconsciously even though I expected to be tied up and to my surprise, I was unbound. I sat up and took in my surroundings. There were several maids entering in and out of the room, serving food on a big table. Who are they? Where am I? One of them glanced at me and immediately squeaked. “She's awake. We should inform the Alpha immediately.” That was when I truly panicked. It was obvious that I was captured by some unknown Alpha and probably going to be forced into marriage. Alpha Timultin would never catch me and spare me, especially after killing his son. He would murder me. Not sell me off. Which was why it made sense that this Alpha found me in the woods and brought me here, to be his Luna, possibly because if I were to be a slave, I would wake up in a cell, not a queen sized b
/-Declan-/“Are you even listening to me?” She yelled triggering an instant headache. I wanted to just lie down and get some sleep. But she got in my face again. I was trying so hard to tolerate her but she would stop making things difficult for me. Sometimes, she made me question how we got together because we had absolutely nothing in common.“I don't know what you want me to say,” I sighed. “I want you to deny it!” She yelled. “Tell me that this has nothing to do with her. That you didn't go to see her or something.” “I went for a run. Does that make you feel better?” I asked and walked to the bathroom without giving her a chance to respond.I took off my clothes and got under the shower. I shut my eyes, enjoying the way the steamy water ran down my back. The burn on my skin came with flashes. Me in a tub filled with hot water. Me taking pyre's breath. Me carrying a burning person. Me and a flame of fire. I turned off the shower andrl tried to think but everytime I felt like
/-DECLAN-/“Do you want to tell me where you are going?” She asked and I took a glance at her. I fixed my coat without offering a response. I made to walk out but she ran in front of me. “Can you ever stop treating me like I don't matter and actually put some effort into communicating with me? Tell me where you're going, Declan!” She demanded. “No,” I said simply and walked out of the room. As I stepped out of the palace, the guards made to follow me but I stopped them. I didn't want to be policed around by Amelia's spies. As I walked towards the borders, the people kept bowing and greeting and I got tired of responding. I just want to take a long run. Transforming into my wolf, I dashed into the forest. It was exactly what I needed. The energy flowing through my veins, the adrenaline, everything was just exciting until I picked up a scent. It was a sickening sweet smell that reminded me of the woman I met days ago. The woman in that red dress. Was she out here? If she was, wha
/-RAVEN-/I retracted my hand, pulling his eyes along with it. Screams ripped through his throat as blood gushed out of his eyes. I tossed his useless eyeballs to the ground and turned to the guards who were completely frozen in shock. The eventually recovered and tried to attack but I didn't waste time in beating them one after the other until they were all on the ground groaning in pain. I went back to Eric who was crying now. “You bitch! What have you done to me?” He screamed out. “You will pay for this, I swear you will!”I squatted to his position and yanked his head up. I twisted it so hard that he was screaming out in pain and then I pushing my hands into his mouth and clawed his tongue. Another scream struggled to come out but his tongue was at my mercy. “All I ever did was love and respect you. I followed your instructions, allowed to take whatever decisions you wanted to, I submitted to you and the one time I decided to do something for myself, you have me beaten up and
/-RAVEN-/The pits felt a lot more safer than being up there with those animals. But then, when he said rats, I assumed he meant actual rats or rodents at least but this pit was a very deep well and this well had crocodiles in them. I'm not even sure that is possible. Point is, Eric is not even smart and I always about to die. There was still dragon bane in my system and until I flushed it out, or my body neutralised it, I was nothing but a defenseless human with chains around her wrists.When they threw me in, I landed in a floating position, right above the water and once I settled my foot on either of the well, it was gone. No matter how hard I tried to make it work again, it just wouldn't. But it wasn't new to me. Every time I was in a near-death situation, I always ended up floating a few feet from my death and this thankfully, was one of those situations, else I would have conveniently been a late breakfast to some hungry creatures.Water sloshed below. The crocodiles circled,
/-Declan-/Pain. That was all I knew these days. Sometimes, I felt empty, like I was living someone else's life and other times, it felt like I was floating in this empty space I had no control over. I didn't know what I was going with my life until I met her. That fiesty red head that got on top of me with those intense beautiful eyes. All she wanted to do was kill me and leave. Bold of her. At first I was going to let her be but when her sweet scent hit my nostrils, I couldn't hold it in any longer. But I had to let her go. For her own safety. The rumor was already spreading around the palace that my Luna was looking everywhere for her. I didn't care enough to ask her why. I assumed it was because Amelia saw her walking out of my room. She never really talked to me about her or even asked me about that night because she thought I was completely passed out and I preferred it that way. I didn't have the energy to argue with anyone or prove anything. I just wanted to be on my
/-LISA-/“Why did you say Rum was arrested again?” Francesca asked suspiciously. Now was not even the time for her baseless suspicions. We needed to find out what he was hiding. Convince him to tell us where Raven is so we could bring her here to save the Alpha. It was a lie of course, I just wanted Amelia and Raven to meet again so whoever was more powerful could take the other out of the picture. Though, I knew for sure that Amelia could take out Raven. I mean, she did so before, didn't she? This time it was going to be for good. “You should answer her question because if she doesn't agree with whatever you have to say, then I am with her,” Othelia said. I rolled my eyes. When did all this nonsense bonding start? “You should channel your friendship in helping her learn magic or maube you both are just pathetic witches. I mean, think of it, she has been practicing magic for two months now and she still can show us even a flicker of that magic,” I huffed. Both of them glared at
/-Eric-/For a second, I thought I might die but something wanked from behind before she could stick the glass in my neck.She dropped to the ground unconscious and I looked at the person who saved my life. It was aere guard of course, but I guess I still had to be grateful he saved my life.However, the gratitude was going to the goddess, not him. He was merely a tool she used to save me. Other guards running in, picking up their fellow guards to check on them.“What took you morons, so long huh? She could have killed everyone!” I snapped at them.“Forgive us, your highness. We were just coming from the gate,” he answered and I rolled my eyes. If she had succeeded in killing me, I wonder who they would render their apologies too. “Take away these bodies and tie her to the two pillars outside,” I instructed. They exchanged glances and my fists clenched. “What was that for? Are you question my authority?” “No, your highness. Please forgive us,” one quickly apologised. I rolled my eye
/-Eric-/“Is she awake?” Father asked.“Yes, father,” I responded. “And?” “Still as stubborn as she was the night before. She threatened to kill us, starting with me first,” I answered. “And do you believe her?” He asked. “Well, she is Raven, father. She doesn't just go around bluffing. She will definitely find a way to exert her revenge, unless we kill her,” I said.“Kill her?” He frowned. “I don't want that. She is a very valuable asset to us. We were supposed to use her on Declan but we let gresd get in the way and diverted her to the men who were ready to pay up to a ten bags of gold for a night with her.” “I strongly believe that we can still use her,” I said and he raised a questioning brow. “Raven might think she is tough but every person has a limit. A breaking point. We just need to find hers.” “What are you suggesting, Eric? That we experiment on her every day?” he asked with disbelief. “Exactly, father. We experiment with her during the day and at night, we let the m