"We really shouldn't be doing this right now, there's so much work to be done, but you seem to be in the mood for romance," she joked. "All work and no play will make me a dull Alpha, and dull really isn't my style, now is it?" he questioned and kissed her neck, which earned a squeal from her."No, seriously, I came to talk to you about something very important," she said, and he ceased teasing her neck."Really? What is it? A problem in the preparations?" Loki asked."Not at all. It's actually far from it. Since you're giving out invitations for the festival, I was thinking-why don't we invite Hayden?" Arianna asked, toying with the idea for a reaction from Loki."Lila's husband?" Loki asked for confirmation."Yes. We can invite him, right?" she asked."Yes, we can, but I don't think it's necessary since his pack will also be holding a celebration for the Eclipse Festival. Besides, he's going to be the new Alpha of the Silver Crest pack soon, so it's definitely crucial that he be the
Arianna heard a knock on her door and went to open it. She was surprised to see Lilith."Lilith, what are you doing here?" she asked, but Lilith didn't answer. She went into the room and motioned for Arianna to close the door."If you want to defeat Lyra, you ought to act a lot smarter and stealthier," Lilith mused, and Arianna rolled her eyes."Just state your business or begone. I'm in no mood to argue," Arianna said and moved to sit down."That's no way to treat your partner in crime, now is it? I've obtained the evidence you requested," Lilith replied and pulled out the hair sample and bloody handkerchief."Here is a sample of Lyra's hair and her blood," Lilith said, passing it to Arianna, who stared at her in shock."I must say that was quick," Arianna complimented."You ought to know by now that I am efficient in doing what I do, and once my mind is set on something, I will never stop until I have it done," Lilith proudly said."Thank you. All that is left now is to let Freya kn
Soon, Arianna and Lilith arrived at the pack, and Freya was glad to see them. They did not say anything until they were in her room and safely behind closed doors."I'm glad to see both of you back. So, did you get the DNA test done?" she asked."Yes," they chorused."Where are the results?" Freya asked.Arianna handed the results over to Freya, who went through them quickly and beamed a smile."I just can't believe that you girls were able to pull it off. Now, all that is left is to expose Lyra for what she truly is," Freya said."But we can't do that right now. We have to wait until the Eclipse festival, remember? Besides, I haven't found out from Loki if Hayden will still attend the celebration," Arianna said and Lilith gave her a quizzical look."Who are you talking about? Is it Hayden, Lila's husband?" Lilith asked."Yes, he's part of the plan. Loki is going to invite him because he has to be there when we uncover Lyra's truth," Arianna explained."But why was this never told to
The day of the Eclipse festival finally arrived, and Arianna had waited impatiently for the night to arrive. It was the eclipse of the moon, so the celebration could only take place at night and would proceed well into the morning. Arianna had learned that they would all bow to the moon once it turned red and say their prayers to the Moon Goddess. Though Arianna didn't really believe in any of it or even in Goddess Diana, whom they constantly talked about, she would not mention it. It was their belief, and she considered it a sin to disrespect someone else's religion, no matter how preposterous their worship might sound. She would have to respect their beliefs because Loki and Freya believed in it too, and those were two people very important to her.Zia was back in her post as Arianna's personal maid, having had herself a delightful honeymoon. She dressed Arianna up so beautifully that the human girl was sure to be the cynosure of all eyes. Arianna loved her appearance, particularly
Lyra danced to the grand hall with smiles, knowing she was about to execute her plan and no one would stand in her way.Meanwhile, Loki had reached the hall a little earlier and was searching around for Arianna. He then saw Lila enter and immediately approached her, asking whether she knew anything about Arianna."Have you seen Arianna?" he asked, and could have sworn he saw her bright smile falter, but then she covered it up."Yes, I've seen her," Lila said."Well, where is she? Just about everyone is here, and I am going to declare the festival open. There's a special guest, too, that I'd like her to meet, so where is she?" Loki asked, wanting to tell Arianna that Prince Hayden had come and that he would present them to each other."Who are you talking about? I didn't know we were expecting someone special. Who is it?" Lila questioned, wondering who Loki was referring to."The person is not really important, but what I would want to know now is where Arianna is. The moon is turning
Freya and Lilith made it to the party, but Arianna was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Lyra was there, laughing and talking with Loki, and in that moment, something just felt terribly off for both.Lilith and Freya ducked behind a pillar so that Lyra would not see them conversing so smoothly, for that might make her suspicious, and she would end up doing something totally unexpected."Freya, I have this feeling that Arianna has disappeared and her disappearance has everything to do with Lyra," Lilith whispered to Freya."I don't think so, I know so. That witch has obviously done something to Arianna and I wish I could go over to her and slap the truth out of her," Freya said her eyes dark. "The auspicious time will soon run out, and Loki needs to declare the celebration open. Goddess Diana will soon declare her victory coloring the moon with the blood of her enemies, and we need to find Arianna soon. We can't take the time to go looking for her, we can't take the risk of leaving Loki alo
Freya entered her room to fetch the keys from her drawer and rushed to Arianna's room, leaving on her own fast, her heartbeat pounding in her chest.She inserted the key into the lock, turned it, and a small wave of relief washed over her as it clicked. She opened the door, and every ounce of calmness left her as she saw Arianna lying unconscious on the floor in a small pool of blood.She hastened to Arianna, unconsciously beginning to cry: "Arianna! Arianna! Arianna, please-you have to open your eyes. Please wake up." Freya begged, shaking the girl who was still unconscious. She was aware that in such a condition Arianna would not be able to tell her the truth, but at this moment she was indifferent to all that; the most important thing was to know that her dear daughter was fine.Freya checked and was glad to find out that Arianna still had a pulse and was still breathing, though a bit slower.Freya thought of an idea and searched her surroundings. Her eyes soon caught a glass of wa
The silence was finally broken by Lyra, who, not surprisingly, denied the accusation flat out."Can you even hear yourself? You're talking utter rubbish; how can I be Lilith's sister, Lyra? That hit to the head must really have done a number on you," Lyra defended."How in the world would you know that I got hit in the head if you aren't the one who did it? The more you try and defend yourself, the more trouble you keep getting yourself into. I'm not going to spend too much time on this because it will be the blood moon soon.She is Lyra and that's the truth." Arianna started but was cut off again as another wave of pain hit her head.She nursed her temple with her hand and tried to bear the pain."Arianna, are you certain of what you are saying? That is quite a big accusation," Loki said as his heartbeat was going up and down erratically. He wanted to hear the truth yet was afraid at the same time."Yes, what Arianna said is true. This woman isn't Lila; she's Lyra, and we can prove i
Screams were heard from the room, and everyone paced about, worried sick."This is taking longer than I expected. Are you sure she's going to be alright?" Loki asked, his heart racing."Frankly, I have no idea. She's been giving birth for about two hours already, and on a professional note, I think that's not good considering the condition of her body and also the fact that the baby was premature as well. But all we can hope for is for the best," Arianna also tried to be calm in reply.She gently rubbed her big belly and exhaled. Everything had just moved so fast. It had already been seven months since she returned to the pack, and everything had been going remotely well.She'd spent most of her time with Lilith, and they'd done a lot together, considering that they were both pregnant. Arianna could sincerely admit that in that short period of time she'd spent with Lilith, she'd realized that Lilith wasn't really a bad person at heart.They became nothing short of good friends, and s
"I'm keeping the baby." Lilith said sternly, her eyes red from crying. She looked completely terrible but she didn't care."Lilith. Can you even hear yourself? Birthing the child will kill you." Loki insisted, trying to convince her."No, I can't kill my baby. You were there, didn't you hear what the doctor said? I'm going to die anyway so I won't risk my child. Ever since I was little, this is what I've always wanted, to bear your pups, to make a family with you and though fate has once again turned against me, I've finally gotten what I've always wanted, though at a terrible price. I'm not willing to let it go for anything. How can you even be so inconsiderate Loki? This is also your child for crying out loud. Would you want to give up on your first child just like that?" Lilith questioned raggedly. You couldn't even consider the prospect of giving this child up because she knew what she'd had to go through, all the plotting and the scheming she'd done just to be able to conceiv
"What do you mean?" He questioned."Well, what I'm trying to say is………. " Arianna began, suddenly becoming shy, but luckily, Sage jumped in."Wait! Before you say another word, I have to tell you something.” Sage interrupted, and Arianna stared at him quietly."What is it?" she questioned."Well, I……. Don't freak out, this is going to be ridiculously difficult for me to say," he pleaded, and that just infuriated her."Alright, I won't." If it's not something that's cringeworthy," Arianna said, and Sage gulped and breathed in.He grasped her hands in his and stared directly into her eyes, talking before even mentioning what it was. "I realize this is wrong, inappropriate, on every level, but I fell in love with you and, no matter how many times I tried to tell myself otherwise, just can't. My feelings for you only grow stronger," exclaimed Sage as he completely surprised Arianna."Wait, what?!" she inquired while yanking her hands out of his.She faced around and stood, her back towa
"No, it's fine. You can just ask a maid to do it. You've already done a lot for me today. You should probably get some rest," he urged, and she nodded."And all of you as well," Sage said to the guards and maids, and they bowed and left."Alright, if you insist. I'll send a maid to take care of your wounds," Arianna said, taking one last good look at him before leaving.Arianna stopped one of the maids and asked her about Mabel. She told Arianna that Mabel was doing much better, especially after hearing about the Alpha's recovery.Arianna went straight to the dining area where Mabel was resting."How do you feel?" Arianna questioned, and Mabel shot up but calmed down when she saw that it was just Arianna."I'm doing better, thanks. How's the Alpha? Is he doing OK? Is he really alive now?" Mabel questioned earnestly."Calm down, he's fine except for his wounds, which still cause him pain. I want you to dress his wounds if you're still up for it, that is," Arianna said, and a smile lit
She brought her hands to his chest and performed chest compressions on him, all the while silently praying that it would work. If he had suffered clinical death as she suspected, then CPR might help revive him."What are you doing? The Alpha's dead, his body needs to be rested. What are you doing, do you think?" One of the guards chided, but she just ignored them."Come on, Sage, you can fight this. You can win this, I'm sure of it.".Come on." She cheered on almost silently but never gave up her attempts.Her faith was restored a bit when she felt slight changes to his otherwise comatose state. She could feel his heart kick in again, beating very slowly against his chest. She smiled with tears in her eyes and continued with the chest compressions and paused when she realized what she needed to do.Now that his heart was beating again, she just had to do everything to get him to start breathing, or such precious progress would be lost, and they'd lose again—maybe permanently this time
Sage felt his eyes closing on their own but shot them open when he heard the door swing open.He had to blink twice before he recognized the person that had just come in through the door. He saw Arianna and a weak smile formed on his lips.Arianna gasped when her eyes saw the sight before her. The floor of the room was painted in blood, there was a dead naked man on the floor and Sage, Sage was on the floor and was as naked as the day he was born.Her cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she tried to look anywhere else but below his waist. The excitement was gone as quickly as it came as she saw the terrible condition in which he wasqHe was bleeding profusely and seemed to be in a deplorable condition. It was an abhorrent sight but it was not something that she could not handle. She was a doctor after all.She ran to him and sat by his side, grabbing a hold of his hand. "Sage, what happened here? What happened to you? What's going on?" Arianna questioned, her fears increasing by the min
Sage groaned as he got into bed, his mind spinning all day long. For whatever reason, he could not even try to comprehend, the kiss with Arianna persisted in his mind regardless of how hard he attempted to set it aside.The memory warmed his stomach and he couldn't quite place what he was feeling due to how long he'd gone without feeling anything.He rested on his bed for a moment, not resting for some obscure reason. It was already becoming rather warm so he removed his shirt.He lay back and shut his eyes, so hard trying to sleep but for some reason, he could not shake the sense of restlessness.He was experiencing a rather indispensable eerie feeling, of which he couldn't explain.After trying hard in vain to get some sleep, he decided that a mild sedative would do the trick. He got up from bed and walked to his wardrobe. He pulled out the first aid box and didn't have to search for long before he found what he was looking for.He swallowed a pill and a sip of water and then return
After finding out that she was perfectly fine and in fact still pregnant, Arianna had no reason to stay in the Black Solstice pack.Having reached a consensus with Sage, she was very excited to finally return to Loki and the rest of the pack. She particularly missed Freya's cooking and all her jokes; the older woman had always had a very lively sense of humor.As Arianna thought of everyone in the pack, a certain someone crossed her mind and the thought alone left a bitter taste in her mouth. Lilith.As far as Arianna was concerned, uttering that name almost felt like an abomination and she certainly would not spare that little liar and schemer when she returned.She would tell Loki everything and would make sure to either have Lilith locked up for life, or thrown out of the pack for good. The latter seemed too dangerous as Arianna knew that that conniving little bitch might as well ally herself with someone else and plan an attack on them, as a way of revenge.Thus, Arianna decided i
Loki paced back and forth, attempting to catch his breath. This was not amusing at all. He awoke with the horror of Lilith beside him, and now this? She was holding her chest and appeared to be injured and fainted into his arms. It was not what he had anticipated and was quite disturbing.He hated to notice how frequent the doctor's presence was becoming. It was usually one problem or another, and he was honestly sick of it. He just wished that Arianna would return to him, and they'd live a normal life and be happy.After spending over an hour in the room, which Loki estimated to be an eternity, the doctor finally came out.He accosted her immediately. "Doctor, what's the problem? Please tell me she's fine and just fainted from shock." Loki practically pleaded. He was in no mood for any more bad news."If it were that simple, I would. Sorry, Alpha, but it's more than that," Doctor Rose revealed, and Loki felt himself tensing up."I don't understand, What do you mean by that?" he said