Betrayal

Alicia stared long and hard at the bags in her hands, she was standing outside her house, in a corner to hide from anyone who might be passing.

She doubted anyone would, it was very late at night and no one would be outside anyways but she decided to just be careful either way.

Today was the day she and Lucian had been longing for. The day she would escape from her land. She had prepared and planned for it for a long time, taking her time to strategize well.

Alicia swallowed as she walked down the path which led to the spot they both wanted to meet. It was far enough from both of their lands, so it would not be exactly possible for them to be caught.

Once Alicia reached where they were supposed to meet, she took a deep breath and waited in the shadows. She didn't want to run like this but she wasn't left with an alternative no matter what her people would never accept her relationship with a werewolf even at the cost of her happiness. She kept waiting in the dark but there was no sign of him She thought he might have already arrived and was waiting for her, but it seemed the latter.

"Lord, please where is he!?" She said as she looked around, she was beginning to go into panic mode little by little. She knew if she was not careful she would be caught and that would yield great consequences. She was a witch, and it was so hard to be one. There were set rules and guidelines which every witch in the coven was meant to follow, anyone who disobeyed or did not abide by them would be punished or banished from the coven

One of the most sacred rules for a witch was *Never fall in love with a werewolf.*

Why? Because Thousands of years ago, the witches and the werewolves were at war. The werewolves had fed on the witches for too long, taking them as if they were objects of pleasure, which was so displeasing. The witches finally protested against it, and when the werewolves showed no concern, the war began. After a long war, the witches and werewolves decided to go their ways, never crossing each other's paths again. the war happened long long ago but they still kept it close to their heart a witch can not even stand the mention of werewolves so as mentioned above it was typically a violation to fall in love with one but Alicia despite all odds had fallen in love with a werewolf, not just that but a royal one too. She had met him once when she was sent on an assignment and just from the first sight she knew he was the love of her life he was the forbidden fruit she wants and then their love bloomed

Alicia sighed as she looked around once more, but still, there was nothing. She had been tempted to look for him using her powers, but she knew it would alert the other witches in her coven and she could not afford to take such a risk, so she waited some more.

Every passing second felt like an hour, and she was on the verge of losing her mind.

"Lucian, where are you!? Do not do this to me, please." She said as she looked around again, she began to come out from her hiding spot as she attempted to search further in the woods for him to see if he might have gotten injured or worse caught.

Her eyes were beginning to water slowly, she hoped what she was thinking was not the case. They had made up their decision to elope and even chose a date, time, and location to meet. What was the problem now? Had he decided he did not want to elope anymore? Was he in trouble maybe? It just did not make sense why he had not shown up at all to Alicia.

She was sure she had waited for at least an hour, yet there was no sign of him. She had felt like he was in some sort of trouble before, but now her gut told her he was not coming. And if there was one thing she trusted, it was her gut.

It always notified her when there was danger, or if something was true or false. She had initially been ignoring the feeling, starting from when she left her house.

She had thought maybe it was because she would miss her people and the place she had risen to so she stopped to calm herself down before continuing her journey, but it was not the case now. She had managed to ignore the sick feeling she had been having since, but it was not working for her anymore.

She felt it, something bad was about to happen and she knew that this one might be inevitable.

"Lucian, where are you? Why are you doing this to me?" She said to herself in her head, as she closed her eyes and let the teardrops slide down slowly.

She could not believe he could bail on her on such a day, they had met yesterday yet he had not mentioned any change in plans, instead, he had kept reminding her not to forget about the plan. Now, what happened? Was this all a trap? She had no idea. Her head was beginning to bang and her eyes felt heavy, She just couldn't bring herself to believe that she was backstabbed by the one person she trusted and loved the most

She took a deep breath and tried to steady herself when she felt the presence of people behind her back. Not bothering to even turn, she just stood still and accepted she had been caught.

"What are you doing out here with your bags Alicia?" She heard a deep voice coming from behind and she froze.

Alicia's heart was pounding so loud she could feel it in her ears. To say she was scared was an understatement, she was terrified.

She swallowed as she turned around to face her fate slowly. She knew that they were extremely angry, and at this point, she knew what the next thing that was going to happen would be.

"Uhm…I…I…I can explain." She said as she stammered, her eyes already filled with tears. She knew exactly the consequences she would face for the mistake she had made.

"We would like to hear it, by the way, it is so late and you know witches are banned from staying out this late. Especially females!" He said to her in a deep voice.

His men stood beside him, as his angry eyes glared holes into her skin. Alicia kept her gaze fixated on the ground, afraid of what she would see if only she dared to look up. Standing before her was the head of security.

It was trouble, especially since she had broken a sacred law, and if she was taken back to the village and examined to check her thoughts by the older witches, she would be done for.

"Alicia? What are you thinking about? You said you could explain your reasons for being out of the coven so late, and with your luggage for that matter." He said, helping her snap out of her thoughts.

Alicia's face paled, what was she to say now? She could not even dare to lie because she would be found out and if that happened she would be in serious trouble.

She knew by the look on his face that he was running out of patience. It was not his fault, this was something she had expected. She had broken to rules now, falling in love with a werewolf and being outside after dark.

The two reasons these laws were held in such high regard, were because of the werewolves. As it was common knowledge that werewolves loved to move in the dark, making it easier for them to hunt down and make prey for the witches who were out in the dark. This was one of the strategies that they had made use of when they were at war with the witches.

This was why it was an offence, in fact almost a high treason to do such a thing.

"I apologize," Alicia said, bowing her head and accepting her faith. She knew that lying was not acceptable and no matter how much she tried to hide or stall the truth would come out.

She was ready to accept whatever punishment they would inflict on her once they discovered her reason. Her eyes watered as she bit her lip hard, she could not believe that Lucian would betray her in such a manner.

Had he made her come out to get her in trouble? She just couldn't understand why he didn't call it off before if he wasn't ready. She never forced him then why did he walk out on her in such a manner?

"You,...