*Charlotte*Sylvia.I’d been trying to put a name to that face for weeks now in my head. Imagine what she looked like, what she wore, and why Alexander was so in love with her. Standing in front of her now, I could see why.She was beautiful.Lithe and slender, she had the kind of figure any man would die over - a perfect hourglass as she stood in front of us in a light blue dress that hugged her curves without being obscene. It was plain but elegant with long sleeves and a twirly skirt that rested just above her knees. I couldn’t help but notice it was the same blue as Alexander’s eyes, though just a shade lighter under the sun. Her long brown hair was braided over one shoulder, a gorgeous hairclip of a butterfly clipped behind her ear as she gave Alexander a bright dreamy smile. There was a sparkle in her eyes, one that could make any man fall in love.“Alexander, I missed you so much!” Sylvia beamed, rushing over and still graceful with every movement- like a danc
*Charlotte*My heart skipped a beat, fluttering like the wings of a butterfly as I heard Alexander declare me as his chosen mate. His future Luna, his fiance. I almost couldn’t believe my ears, my body growing warm as I couldn’t stop the smile that grew on my face. Just a few weeks ago, he’d been so adamant about calling off our engagement, threatening his own father just so he wouldn’t have to marry me, and now he was telling the woman he’d claimed to be in love with for so long that he’d chosen me instead of her?It was hard not to be giddy, the feelings I’d been repressing overflowing. The ones I’d kept hidden, reminding myself he would never be mine, and now…I could finally express my own feelings. Feeling like a sparkler on the fourth of July, I glanced up at Alexander, opening my mouth to tell him all of the feelings I’d wanted to say but a loud sob interrupted my delusions. I only remembered now - we weren’t alone.Sylvia had covered her face with her hands, tea
*Charlotte*Arms wrapped firmly around my waist before I could fall back on my ass, and practically lifted me off the ground as he carried me across the trail, my feet dangling inches from the ground. “What do you think you are doing?” I screeched, blushing despite the throbbing pain from my leg. I tried to wiggle out of his grip to get down on my feet but Alexander only tightened his grip on me. “You’re hurt, Charlotte!” Alexander snapped, “Stop being stubborn!”I huffed, my first instinct was to argue with him but I knew he was right. I fell silent as he walked me over to a fallen tree trunk just off the path, gently setting me down. It was hard and uncomfortable but I didn’t complain as he kneeled in front of me, his outfit getting covered in mud.He didn’t seem to care in the slightest as he grabbed my right leg gently and I hissed at the fiery pain that was spreading up my ankle. Looking at now calmly, I could see the boot was ripped up from the metal stirrup I’d
*Charlotte*The engagement had finally been set and much to my surprise, not a single pack member had taken issue when the date was declared. Alpha Finnley said it was because everyone was impressed with me. Luna Diana had joked that it was because they were relieved that Alexander had finally chosen to settle down. Whatever their reasons, the preparations for the upcoming ceremony rushed forward at super speed, and so did my studies as the future Luna. But despite knowing about Alexander’s feelings towards me, I still didn’t feel reassured. Maybe it was because I didn’t feel confident enough in Alexander’s feelings, but I kept returning to the same page in the library day after day.“Bonding with their fated mates gives Alphas a strength that a chosen mate simply can’t compare to,” I read aloud again, feeling stuck on the same sentence. I could see the words burned behind my eyelids, looming like my own shadow. “Do you ever leave the library?” A voice drew over my sh
*Charlotte*Luna Diana and Alpha Finnley had stiff looks, but neither said a word against Sarah, even as she continued to hold Alexander tightly, crying into his chest like the world was ending around her. Her sobs and loud whines were grating to my ears and as much as I itched to pull her away from him, I knew I couldn’t.The atmosphere was heavy, and Alpha Brown sent his daughter an annoyed look but didn’t call off his daughter either, only watching Alexander from the corner of his eye like a wolf sizing up his opponent. Alexander himself gave Sarah a cold look, the frustration and annoyance in his eyes clear to everyone as he peeled her arms off of his waist, and gently pushed her back. Sarah gave him a pitiful expression, hurt all over her face from being pushed away.“Please refrain from grabbing me,” Alexander said coldly. “Alexander, how can you be so cruel?” Sarah sobbed, reaching out again to grab onto him but he dodged her, backing away. “I’m only saying this
*Charlotte*“You need to fix this, Charlotte,” Alexander demanded ruthlessly. “So as soon as you are dry, go and apologize to Sarah.”“Apologize?” I repeated, looking up at him with wide, stunned eyes. But I didn’t see understanding or compassion there, only a bitter cold that left me aching down to my bones. He was right. I knew it just as well as he did. What I had done had risked everything for the pack - risked war and a total collapse of the peace between Blue Star and Dragon Wing but…I wasn’t the one who had started this fight. I only finished it. I bit my bottom lip hard, glaring at the floor below me. I couldn’t admit that I was wrong. I couldn’t kneel in front of Sarah and apologize for saying and doing what I did because I wasn’t sorry. I wasn’t a saint and I didn’t have the patience of one. I’d suffered the humiliation and frustration of her insulting me, even using violence to trip me and trying to steal my fiance right in front of me ever since she’d
*Charlotte*It was unfair. The words were bitter in my mouth, like a hard-to-swallow pill that just wouldn’t get past my tongue, sitting there and dissolving bleakly. My tears had dried, leaving my eyes red and swollen as I stared blankly at the floor, my heart shriveled up inside my chest.Maybe Alexander was right to suspect me, my logical side whispered. It’s true you were jealous of Sarah and even Sylvia. But I would never hurt them. I thought he would at least trust me on that but…I didn’t know what to think or feel anymore.I liked Alexander. Maybe I even loved him. But I couldn’t live like this. I’d suffered through my entire life to get to this point and I was grateful for him and Alpha Finnley and Luna Diana for getting me out of that hell but this was just the same kind of hell with a different wrapping. Having the blame for something I didn’t do shoved on me, forced to bear the consequences of someone else’s decisions while all I could do was sta
*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.
*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.