*Charlotte*“Charlotte? Are you ready?”When Alpha Finnley called my name down the hall, I knew at that moment that the Phoenix Flame Alpha had finally arrived at the Palace. I hurriedly left my room, where I had been busy reading my notes about proper dining etiquette so I could act elegantly in front of the opposing pack of Dragon Wing. I found the need to sell the act of an elegant future Luna before leaving the palace.I wanted to do it for Alpha Finnley and his wife; after all, they were so good to me. I made a promise to them, and I ought to keep it.“Oh, there she is. Kingston, Carlos, I want you to meet Charlotte, the future Luna of Dragon Wing,” Alpha said while smiling at me. He was like a very proud father, and I could not help but feel overwhelmed by it, in a very good way.So, I took my steps down the stairs as elegantly as possible to savor the moment, and my eyes immediately met the eyes of the Phoenix Flame Prince. It was the infamous Carlos Kingston. Daniel told m
*Charlotte*When I saw Luna Diana in panic, I knew that we were in big trouble. Since the day that I met her, I never saw her in this condition where she looked like she didn’t know what to do. Luna Diana was the Luna of Dragon Wing for a reason. She was the epitome of grace and elegance. She was the type of person who knew all the answers to your questions because of her intelligence.However, looking at her in that kitchen made me believe that even with so much grace and knowledge, she still needed help from time to time, and as her temporary daughter-in-law, I did my best to help her get out of the kitchen situation. “I’ve prepared lamb meat so many times before, this is the first time that meat spoiled on me,” Luna Diana said while looking at the lamb meat sitting on top of the kitchen sink.“I should’ve checked this yesterday, then we would still have time to go to the market.” I could feel her growing anxiety and it made me uneasy. “Do we still have enough time to go to th
*Alexander*I didn’t expect that Carlos and his father would stay with us for a week. I was informed that they would just stay for one night, but since Alpha Kingston and my father needed to talk about wolf world and business, they decided to stay until everything was good and settled between the two powerful wolf packs. If it had been a different woman, I would not have cared a bit if Carlos decided to seduce her with his wit and charm. But it appeared that he was fascinated with Charlotte, and I couldn’t help but be mad about it. All my life, I had known Carlos as the charming womanizer of Phoenix Flame, and if he wanted someone, he would do everything to get her.When I realized that Carlos’s next target was Charlotte, I wanted to stop him immediately. But why? She was not my fiancée anymore. She was not even my friend. Charlotte had said straight to my face that I didn’t have any right to tell her what to do, so why did I care so much if Carlos wanted to break her heart next?
*Charlotte*When Alexander pulled me back to the Palace and into my room, all I could hear was the sound of my heart beating. I never thought Carlos would be so desperate that he forced me to kiss him on the lips. My intuitions were right; behind his friendly persona was a very dark man, capable of doing nasty things just to get what he wanted. And because I let my guard down, he almost got me into his spider web.“I’m sorry, Alexander.” I apologized, and I wasn’t sure why I did. All I knew at that moment was that Alexander rescued me from harm, and I needed to apologize to him for not being a brat. I should have listened to Alexander when he told me that Carlos was an asshole.“Why are you saying sorry? I should be the one apologizing to you because I was not able to protect you in my own house. Did he hurt you?” Was I just imagining things, or did Alexander just tell me that he was sorry for not protecting me? I blinked my eyes just to convince myself that it was real, and yes,
*Charlotte*When Mia and Jessica saw me walking towards them, they abruptly ended their conversation, and Jessica ran away without looking at me. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and I felt sad seeing her that way. While Jessica was a bitch to me, she was still a woman, and as a woman, I wanted to sympathize.Mia was about to go as well, but I called her name, and she was left with no choice but to stay and talk to me. I could see the hesitation in Mia’s eyes, but since I was still the future Luna of Dragon Wing in her eyes, she greeted me with a good morning and asked if I needed some help.“Good morning, do you need my help?” she asked instantly. “Good morning, Mia. I saw Jessica crying. What happened?” Mia was a bit surprised by my question but did her best to answer anyway.“Oh, that? She’s just having a bad day. If you don’t need my help, I’ll excuse myself for a moment. I’m needed in the kitchen.” Before I could ask her again, Mia left me, so I just went back to my
*Charlotte*Jessica’s words hung in the air between us like the moment before lightning struck. I could see her trembling, tears swimming in her eyes as she pulled her arms around herself like she was trying to protect herself from a rain of blows. Her fear and despair were visceral. And I knew that look- that fear as intimately as it was my own because I’d seen it over and over again. Felt it myself back when I was still indebted, betrayed, and angry at the world and myself for the situation I’d been thrust into. Trapped in a place that only wanted to take what it could from me and leave me a shell of myself. Terrified of what would become of me when night fell and there was no one to see me if I disappeared. I’d seen women in my situation sell themselves to men whose names they didn’t even know, who’d been tricked by nice smiles and pretty words only to end up abandoned. I’d never thought them foolish because when you’re at the bottom of the darkest hole, you’d tak
*Charlotte*I had to admit, Alexander’s subtle but effective mind was a wonder to behold, I thought as we sat at the dining table for breakfast. Alexander gave me a quick glance, tapping his spoon three times on the dish as a signal, and I suppressed my own smirk, eyeing Carlos.‘Your downfall was about to begin,’ I thought. He’d rue the day he messed with someone from our pack. “I have to admit our journey to Dragon Wing has been incredibly pleasant,” Alpha Kingston said joyfully to Finnley and Diana. “Your reputation is not given lightly and I am a bit sad to leave tomorrow, how about you, Carlos?” Carlos nodded in agreement, a handsome smile on his face as he glanced over at me. “There are one or two things I wish I could stay for.” His intention was obvious and unlike before, where his attention had made me feel better, now his gaze on me felt like bugs crawling across my skin. I suppressed a shiver and look of disgust, plastering on the fake smile I’d mastered af
*Charlotte*“Charlotte, what are you doing?” Alpha Finnley moved first in front of me, blocking my view of Alpha Kingston’s reaction. He glanced at Jessica, worried for both of us in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to hide us both underneath his arms and as heart-warming as that was to see, I knew this wasn’t his battle. “Trust me,” I gave Alpha Finnley and Luna Diana a meaningful look, pleading that they let me finish what I had started. Jessica was trembling by my side, tightly holding onto my sleeve and looking like she might burst into tears or run away at any second, but I set my hand on her back, steadying her.Alpha Finnley and Luna Diana shared a worried glance and I could tell what they were thinking. If this went wrong, and Alpha Kingston took this as an offense, the relationship between the two packs would break down. They could be launched into war.But I knew in my heart that this was the right thing to do. I stepped around Alpha Finnley, pulling Jessic
*Alexander’s POV*I should've felt bad for rejecting Sylvia in front of everyone, but I found myself indifferent to the physical and emotional pain my rejection might have caused her. It was exhilarating, liberating even, to know that she no longer had power over me. I looked at Sylvia’s face, which was covered with fear and anger, and I could not help but pity the woman who once held my heart. She was terrified.“Take it back, Alexander. Take it all back! It’s not true. We will be together, forever… please take it back.” She was kneeling on the ground, the result of my rejection manifesting into physical torture, and she could not help but wince in pain.I watched her as she crumbled in pain, and all I could feel was pity, guilt, and sadness. But mostly, sadness. Back then, I was so sure of Sylvia. I was so sure that she was my fated love. She was the only woman I wanted to be with for the rest of my life and no one would dare to get her away from me because I would kill for her.
*Alexander*“Come in,” I said firmly, not caring that the door to my office slammed against the wall as I rushed inside, the two girls exchanging a look before heading in after me. Mia shut the door behind her quietly, and I heard the turn of the lock in the door. Her lips were chapped, like she’d bitten them down repeatedly over the last few days, eyes rung with dark shadows as she turned to me with pleading guilty eyes. Jessica stood firm on her other side, holding a simple box of what I didn’t know in her hands that she quickly placed on the coffee table. Mia and Jessica sat down hesitantly when I gestured towards the couch and I leaned against my desk, facing them fully.“Speak,” I commanded.“The night of the banquet, Charlotte asked me to check the food because she suspected something was wrong. When I went to the kitchens to check on it, I saw someone trying to hide the glassware. I didn’t want to believe they were doing something bad at first because this was s
*Alexander*It had always been the plan. Get engaged to Sylvia, become the Alpha and Luna of Dragon Wing, and live happily ever after. That was the dream I’d been chasing for so long. But now that it was coming true, it felt more like a nightmare.I glanced stiffly at Sylvia, who shot me a victorious look. The gleam of greed in her eyes was visible for all to see like she’d finally won a prize she’d been striving to have for so long.And I don’t know why it took me until now to realize that was all she’d seen me as. Her entire act, pretending to be the girl who saved me, befriending Charlotte just to drive her away, was just for this moment. And I’d walked straight into her trap.I clenched my fists at my side, rage boiling under my skin as I realized what an idiot I had been all this time. Sylvia wasn’t the one I loved. She never had been. I’d love the facade she’d put up, the girl she pretended to be but even then, it had always been Charlotte in my heart. Now
*Alexander*The melody that I heard from the voice recorder that Charlotte left for me was the same melody that saved my life. I could still remember the pain that I felt throughout my body when I was attacked by the wild animal when I got lost in the woods.My eyes were scratched by its claws and my eyesight went blind temporarily, and if I hadn’t heard the harmonica playing in the background, I wouldn’t have been able to find my way back home. I wouldn’t be alive today. All this time, I thought it was Sylvia who played the harmonica, but I was mistaken. All along, it was Charlotte. I remembered asking Sylvia before to play it for me again because that tune calmed my nerves, but she told me she forgot how to play it. I did not force her to play it; after all, I was made to believe that she was my savior. I didn’t have any reasons to doubt her before because I owed her my life, but tonight, everything changed. If my assumptions were true, Charlotte was my savior. She was my f
*Alexander*When I was about to confess my true feelings to Sylvia, one of the nurses called me and told me that someone had visited my room and wanted to see me. I hoped it was Charlotte so we could make up, but it turned out to be Alpha Brown with the doctors who tested Sarah's blood sample and the poison from the tableware she used before she fell down the stairs."Good evening, Alexander," Alpha Brown greeted. "I'm sorry for interrupting you tonight, but I thought you should know that the poison injected into you is the same poison that almost killed my daughter."Oh. I had a feeling it was the same poison, but I wanted evidence before concluding. I had been reckless for the past few days, always jumping to conclusions. I promised myself to be smarter this time, especially with criminals lurking around our pack."I see, but we still need to find the culprit, Alpha. Even though it's the same poison, we shouldn't assume anything unless we have a witness and can blame them direc
*Alexander*When I found out that Sarah was poisoned, all I could think of was how I blamed Charlotte for everything. I was blinded by the lies that surrounded us, and that broke not just her heart, but also mine. Sometimes, I wished that I had not been easily swayed by the people around me because it was clouding my mind from learning the truth. And the truth was, Charlotte, while she was vulgar and bold, she was never a liar. Unfortunately, I treated her as such.“She was poisoned,” I told my father over dinner. It was unusually quiet inside the dining room, a clear sign that our ray of sunshine was no longer around. Ever since Charlotte became part of our family, our dinner and lunchtime were always full of laughter and stories. Now that she was no longer around, we were back to quiet evenings“Yes, Daniel told me earlier. What did Brown say when he found out about it?” my father asked. He was not looking at me; instead, he was focused on eating the fried chicken that he reques
*Alexander*It had been a few days since the incident with Sarah happened, and I was honestly tired of dealing with it. I had been busy talking to Alpha Brown and the wolf committee to make sure that Charlotte would not be apprehended for endangering a she-wolf’s life, a crime that I never thought she would commit. All this time, I thought Charlotte and I would finally be having our quiet time with each other, but the unthinkable happened, and now we were at war.When I learned about Alpha Brown’s plea to the committee to apprehend Charlotte for what happened to his daughter, I immediately asked for Charlotte’s freedom in exchange for sending her far away from the pack. While it pained me to let her go, I wouldn’t want to risk her life because of the other pack's decision to end her life.Aside from the endless meetings within the Dragon Wing, I was also dragged into tiring talks with other packs to avoid the impending war that Alpha Brown was threatening in the whole wolf communi
*Charlotte*“Should I stay or should I go?” I asked myself the same question repeatedly until it was tattooed on my mind while I paced back and forth inside my bedroom. When I heard Alexander say that I needed to go for my own sake, I was left with the hanging question of whether staying inside the palace was worth it.When I first arrived at Dragon Wing, I remembered how kind and welcoming Alpha Finnley and Luna Diana were towards me. They gave me new clothes to wear, a clean and comfortable bed to sleep in, and delicious food to eat. All the privileges that were taken from me by my creditor, they brought back to me and gave me more.I was a total mess before I entered Dragon Wing. I was a nobody. But they changed that in an instant when Alpha Finnley chose me to be his son’s bride. All the good things that happened to me after my long suffering at the hands of evil, I owed it all to Alpha Finnley and his wife. While I paced back and forth with the words of Sylvia and Alexander
*Charlotte*I could not believe what Alexander just said straight to my face. Out of all the people I knew inside the pack who would not believe me when I told them the truth, I never expected Alexander to be one of them. I thought we were already past doubts and resentment, but we were back at it again in just a blink of an eye.How could he not trust me when I told him that I did not do anything bad towards Sarah? Yes, I was not a werewolf, but that did not mean that I would do something bad towards their members just because I was different from them. And he knew how much I loved him. I would never hurt the people I loved. I would never betray their trust. I would never betray Alexander.“Seriously, Alexander? I never expected that you would believe them.”“Is there any reason to doubt their words, Charlotte? Wolves do not lie to their fellow wolves. You should know that by now,” he said, raising his voice towards me. His voice was tainted with what I sensed as disappointment.