“A-Ah…I see.” He turned away, eager to be alone to console his wounded heart. Yet again he is reminded of why he and Phaedra could never be together.He could see why the witches have become so self-sufficient. After all, they have a long history with men who would burn them at the stake at the mere sight of one. All because they believe they are spawns of the devil. Now, witches have grown and become powerful enough to defend themselves, and now they see the men as the spawns of the devil—born only to be a menace to the world. The longstanding prejudice of the witches against men has established this culture. And it would be difficult to break it.He sighs and walks away, shoulders slumped in silent defeat.—On the other hand, the High Priestess who had left him to his own company stopped a few blocks from him. She stayed to watch him slowly accept his defeat; his aura dimmed as he walked away with slumped shoulders.She did not feel guilty to fill his heart with lies.In truth, the
It was undoubtedly awkward around them as they waited for the High Priestess and Pantheia to come in. They made sure to not look suspicious, but their avoidance of each other is suspicious enough. Thankfully, neither of the two suspected a thing.The High Priestess sat on the settee while Pantheia joined Phaedra on the circle. Flavian loitered around awkwardly until the High Priestess called for him.“Alpha, do you mind sitting with me?”“Not at all, ma’am.”He did as told and sat in front of her. She watched him for a moment before speaking. “You seem uneasy. Did something happen?”“No.” He was a little quick to answer that, so he smiled to reassure her. “I was just…in deep thought of what the news is. Pantheia has been delaying it, see.”“Oh, has she?” She slightly threw her head back and chuckled. “Pantheia, dear, come here.”The unsuspecting Pantheia leaves Phaedra’s side to come to them until eventually, her older sister was forced to follow. He notices this and coolly clears his
Handling the state of affairs in the pack is naught but tricky. It’s past two weeks since Flavian left, and I’m expected to do damage control, but I’ve yet to show any good results. I know it in myself, and I know the others know it too—I’ve only been doing ‘just enough’. I’m barely keeping it together. But I’ve done my best.With the state Flavian left the pack, this was as much as I could do to keep it together.The trading is shut down, so we’ve been relying on local resources. The expedition team is too wounded and needed rest, so I ordered the ban on the woods to prohibit anyone from freely going in or out of the borders. And the rations we have are scarce, so we’ve been growing our own crops despite the poor soil and unfavorable humidity.I’ve provided poor remedies to unsolvable problems.Now it is time for Flavian to return.Proving myself to be a wise leader is difficult. This is my first time having an entire race’s survival rest on my decisions. If it is already too much fo
The fight became brutal and long. Almost the entire squad is being outsmarted by the rogue.Throughout the fight, I watched and watched. I watched his moves. I watched his cunning agility and witty attacks as he used the environment to his advantage. I watched as our shifters fell one after another. Slowly, I was also starting to devise a plan of my own. It was getting clearer and clearer to me that he’ll wipe out the guards and will surely come after me.Should I come to the other groups?I slowly backed away as the rogue and Hadji fought fiercely, bodies thrown to trees and spine-chilling growls noises of both growls and cries of pain ringing in this part of the woods. As I left the area, I muttered a small apology to Hadji.My feet picked up the pace and eventually, I was running, sprinting, to get to the nearest squad. But they were nowhere to be found.Where are they?I specifically told them not to wander too far.As I searched and searched through the woods, catching my breath
I could not remember how I left the dungeon, or how I reached the House safely. My stream of consciousness was flying. If I felt unsafe in the House before, I feel it now more than ever after encountering such a spine-chilling man.Fenrir left, but Deo arrived. It seems the world finds entertainment in seeing me live in terror.Somehow, I also ordered to recover the unconscious bodies of the squad that fought Deo in the woods. I was moving and talking, but a few days later, I realized I could not recall much of what I did and was rather out of it. Was it due to the shock? the fear? There were too many emotions at play that I couldn’t sort out myself.Somehow, my security also tightened. A squad of guards is now with me everywhere and anywhere. Ellie said I ordered it, but I cannot recall. Ellie also said the pack was amazed by how I trapped such a rogue in the dungeon, but I could not care less. I almost died that day, yet none of them bothered to talk to me about it. They only saw th
“Who?”“Deo. He’s back.”Flavian’s head snapped up the moment the name registered in his mind. Along with the name, bittersweet memories flashed in his mind, all connected to him, his brother, and Deo. It’s funny, looking back at it now. Once, they were youthful pups who could never be separated—yet now two of them are exiled and one is imprisoned by duty.“And you’re saying he’s trapped?” He tilts his head incredulously. “Impossible. He’s more a fox than a wolf.”Hadji smirks. “It appears the Princess outsmarted him, then, because she told us she locked him down there after he took us down and went after her. We didn’t know how it happened, but the Princess is terrified of him and even paranoid.”His mouth went agape as Hadji filled him in on the events that landed Deo in the dungeon. The mere fact that he’s there is surprising enough, but to discover it was a human who had tricked him was something he never expected.However, according to Hadji, Deo was interested in the Princess. S
“Open it. Widely.”Just as ordered, the library doors swung open and my snappy heels clacked at every step I took inside. For the first time, I lived up to my title, showing the people the authority and aura of a Princess. It was the first initiative I’ve taken to take advantage of my title—my position. And it must’ve worked, seeing Phaedra startled by my entrance and now perched stiffly in her seat.“Do you mind?” I gesture to the seat opposite her, which was occupied by a pile of books.Before Phaedra had the chance to answer, the chair was already cleared out by Ellie. The former’s mouth hung open and belatedly answered.“Of course, your Highness.”I chuckle. “No need to be so formal with me, you may call me Luna,” I gently mutter, my smile lingering and my meaningful stare resting on the woman too stunned to speak. I made sure to emphasize my title.That’s right. I am the Luna, the sovereign recognized by the pack, while she is just his lover.“I—yes, L-Luna…” She avoided my gaze.
The following day, Flavian showed his face before the pack in the town center. With a gentle smile, he broke the news to everyone. He states, “The plague has been accordingly dealth with. May we all rest assured from tonight onwards.”The crowd erupted in cheers, the once anxious environment immediately brightening up, as if the storm had passed. The streets once filled with worrisome whispers were now crying with the relief. As he watched all of the mixed emotions transpire, his face never changed. He ought not to, if he wanted the people to believe. “However,” he continued once they calmed down. “The woods will now be off-limits, as a precaution. Our guards will build ten feet high walls along the edge of the woods to keep the pack safe.” Despite his best effort to sound convincing, that it is merely for precaution, the people’s brows still furrowed and quiet murmurs buzzed in his ears. “A gate in front of the path will be the only way to go in and out. This is all for the safety
Well, you've flipped to the last page of this book. Thank you for seeing it to the end with me. I'm sorry for the errors. I will edit it diligently now that I've completed it. Please leave your thoughts in the reviews! I'd really appreciate it, constructive or negative! I'll read it all. ^^ Love, zav
Spring has arrived. Its breeze welcomed the new blooming flowers in the flower shops, the redolence of the Capital’s symbolic flower, a daisy, circulating down the streets of the city. It was the perfect weather for a festival, a rather young festival only celebrated for three years.Amid the bustling townspeople, a young girl wandered around, her simple straw slippers softly hitting the cobblestone as she glanced around seemingly lost, eventually stopping in front of the flower shop to admire the daisies. Her wide, curious eyes neared the daisy and sniffed it, sighing at its alluring scent.The old man running the shop spots the young girl, wearing nothing but a humble dress and straw slippers, visibly a farm girl. He smiles, plucking a daisy from its bunch. He hands it to the girl who looks up at him, surprised.“Happy cleansing day, lassie.”“Eh?”He chuckles at the girl’s tilted head with confusion spelled out on her face.“Don’t ‘ya know what day is today?”“Uh-uh.” She shakes he
“She’s taking too long, is she not?” Flavian wonders aloud as they look up at the sky, violent and storming with frequent flashes of lightning and thunder. It had been thirty minutes since they took to the sky. The vampires and trolls are all absorbed and rotting in the clearing, ending the battle. But they were still yet to see even the two’s silhouettes in the sky.Beside him, Fenrir was frowning quietly. He could not feel her. Something… or someone, was intercepting the bond.“What if the purification failed? Will she be alright?” Phaedra worriedly asks and turns to her mother. “Does it really take this long, Mother?”Priscilla crossed her arms, a similar frown on her face. “Let us wait a while longer. It is no easy feat, but I believe in her. What do you say, Fauntleroy?”Two ears perked in her direction. She clears her throat and clarifies, “The older one.”“What?”“Do you still feel your mate?”Only the rustling leaves of the trees answered her. All heads sharply turned to him a
My mind drifted back into the discussion we shared between the advisors, before everything.“Thank you. I’m feeling well enough to hunt down the plague again.” She meets everyone’s eyes. “But I doubt I’ll get lucky and find it at the first forest I go to. Do you have any ideas where it would likely be?”And just like that, the table was open for discussion.The hunt for the plague continues.“How about this?” I pitch in. Expectant eyes meet mine as I continue, “We take a different approach. If I absorb any more, I’m afraid I will explode.”“That is realistically possible,” Priscilla confirms, and my face blanches.“Then, what approach do you have in mind, Your Majesty?” The generals ask after darting a narrowed glance at the retired priestess.I shrug. “Anything that would not include me having to ingest any more power is preferable.”It’s true. I felt like puking the day after I absorbed the plague. It was like eating a dirty cloth, with all the corrupted souls it absorbed. It was no
“Aren’t you tired?” I ask, my eyes warily scanning him from head to toe. He really is here. Right in front of me. In the flesh.That same tall, slender, build with a ghastly white complexion and gravity-defying black hair.The same man in my dreams—nightmares, rather.He looked as if he was swallowed by darkness, with the smoke all around him. He was a terrifying opponent. But I was not one to back down. I bared my fangs and summoned Celeste’s eyes, making mine slit and glowing a brighter purple. If I could, I would’ve sneered and tested the firmness of his will, just to see if I could do to him what I did to my past enemies.Hearing my question, a slow grin spreads out on his face, sending goosebumps down my spine. I felt Flavian flinch from my left.He spoke, his voice thick and yet silky smooth as if he hadn’t been around for centuries.“The pursuit to a peaceful world is a tedious task, thus one must not feel lethargic.”I narrow my eyes at him. “Pursuit to a peaceful world? You m
Expert bodies move out of the way with a smooth tilt of their body, easily evading a lethal charge to the shoulder. Xiao’s murderous glare pinned on the vampire that dared to charge at him.“How foolish,” he remarks and brutally stabs its chest with his wooden staff’s pointy end.Despite the chaos that ensues around him, he keeps his cool demeanor and composure as he breezes through the swarm of enemies that outnumbered them. Realizing a stab to the heart that was long done pumping would not kill the vampire off, he calls for the attention of the wicked witch on his back.“Do finish off this one, Priscilla.” He flings the vampire overhead, using the poor soul’s attempt to charge on him another time as momentum to take him flying.She scoffs from behind and he could already imagine a scowl on her face.“You cannot even finish a mindless vampire? Tsk. This is why I do not desire to live too long,” she says just as the ground that the vampire landed on was scorched. There was no need to
The crisp leaves of the Witches’ Forest greeted us as we arrived, the rich, wide forest being the place we theorized would house the world’s oldest living plague. It made sense. This forest was rich with the energy of the witches, and the coven was temporarily abandoned for the sole reason that the plague was strongest in the forest.Priscilla told me during our meeting that the number of victims in the coven never decreased when the rest of the world did. When I absorbed a fraction of the plague’s strength and weakened it, I thought it gave the world a few weeks of respite. But it never reached the coven.After learning about it, guilt gnawed at my stomach. I immediately ordered the witches and their families to seek refuge in the palace, where the rest of the witches I took to war were. Now, we arrive at a barren coven in the middle of a dark, ominous forest pulsing with energy.I could feel the earth’s power in my veins. Pulsing. Throbbing. Like a streak of power terrorizing my blo
It was a quiet, sunny day for the palace.It was on that quiet and sunny day that the Queen’s advisors were summoned into the meeting hall. They quietly shuffled inside, Priscilla meeting Xiao’s eyes. She observes him. They had not crossed paths in the castle for weeks. She, preoccupied in the witches’ tower and he, cooped up in the archives. The two places were almost on opposite ends of the palace. And yet he looked no different.Xiao feels her gaze and turns her way. He raises an inquisitive brow and she shuts him off with a roll of her eyes. The man, confused, tilts his head. Quietly, they occupy their spots on the right and left of the end of the table, where the Queen’s seat was. That was and had always been their position—they are the left and right hand of the monarch.Two of the most unique hands, at that.All advisors rose at the arrival of the Queen.She wore a modest gilded purple gown with simple gown shoulder caps that drape to her back. Her humble tiara sat atop her bra
“Don’t you look pathetic down there?”Her sarcasm was spot on, her voice crystal clear.Perhaps he truly is nearing his demise. He yearned a little more of her tonight than usual.He waited for the pain of Rognac’s vicious bite, but it never came. It must’ve tripped or something because Flavian heard rustling and struggling. However, when Rognac growled and his heavy claws fumbled on the wooden floor as if lunging, the pain still did not come. And he heard her voice again.“Will you continue to pathetically lay there?”Puzzled, Flavian flutters his eyes open. And the scene before him just felt… impossible. As if he was hallucinating. He gaped at the situation for a while, belatedly registering to him that they were in the middle of a life-or-death situation.Against Rognac was Phaedra, in all her petite glory. She looked at an ant next to Rognac’s giant form. Yet she could still hold her ground as specks of dust of magic floated around her, her hair floating, and her hand up against R