MELVIN’S POV"Listen, your father's expectations can be overwhelming, but you mustn't lose faith in yourself. You are strong, Melvin, in ways that go beyond physical strength. Trust in your instincts and your determination."Tears welled up in my eyes, betraying the depth of my emotions. "But Mother, I fear that time is slipping away. Father keeps reminding me of the urgency to produce Ariel. If I fail, What will become of me?"Her voice held a soothing cadence as she spoke, her words a soothing salve to my wounded spirit. "Melvin, my love, you mustn't let fear consume you. Life is filled with uncertainties, and sometimes we must face them head-on. There is still hope. Trust that the path will reveal itself when the time is right."I gazed into her eyes, finding peace and strength in her unwavering belief in me. "Mother, I don't know how much longer I can endure this struggle. The pressure, this constant feeling... all of it… I want it to be over."I was tired of the constant turmoil.
MELVIN’S POVI woke up the next morning, feeling the remnants of the sleeping spell fading away. It was as if a weight had been lifted from my body, and I could move with newfound ease.Pushing myself up on the bed, I welcomed the sensation of freedom that flowed through my limbs.Just as I settled into an upright position, feeling the renewed strength coursing through my veins, the door to my room creaked open.Mother entered, her gentle presence enveloping the space with a soothing aura. In her hands, she carried a delicate porcelain cup.The aroma of freshly brewed tea floated through the air, mingling with the soft morning light that filtered through the window. The sight of that steaming cup, the familiar gesture of warmth and care, instantly lifted my spirits.A smile stretched across my face as I looked at her. "I fell asleep in your hands, and now you're the first person I see in the morning," I remarked playfully.Returning my smile, she replied, "I just wanted to make sure
MELVIN’S POVShe had allowed herself to fall in love, to surrender her heart to a man who couldn't offer her the same depth of feeling in return.And yet, she had chosen to stay, weathering the storms of their tumultuous relationship for the sake of love's unpredictable hold.The realization hit me like a wave crashing against the shore —my mother had sacrificed her own happiness, willingly accepting the role of the second choice in my father's life —in his heart.It was a sacrifice born out of unconditional love, the kind that transcended logic and defied reason. But it was a sacrifice that left an indelible mark on her soul, a scar that remained hidden beneath the surface, silently shaping her every interaction.Gazing at my mother, I saw her vulnerability and strength intermingle, her eyes reflecting a lifetime of emotions kept hidden away so perfectly, one who wasn't close enough, would never notice.It was as if she had carried the weight of her unrequited love for my father with
ARIEL’S POVIt had been two days since our return to Silver Moon, and I wanted to give my troops some time to rest and recover from the intense battle at Velvet Moon and our face-off with Melvin’s pack on the outskirts of our land before we proceeded with our mission.The troops were gradually settling back into our routine with our return to Silver Moon, and it was important for everyone's well-being that we allowed the wounds, both physical and emotional, to heal.Even I, the Alpha and Luna of Silver Moon, needed this brief break from the relentless commotion of war and the pursuit of the Alpha King's throne.The battles, both physical and mental, had taken their toll on my spirit, leaving me yearning for a moment of calm and reflection.It was also essential to let the dust settle, allowing the chaos to blow away and granting myself the opportunity to regain the strength necessary to face the challenges that lay ahead.In these moments of quiet, I could gather my thoughts, reassess
ARIEL’S POVThe night was dark and peaceful, wrapping Silver Moon in its quiet embrace. As midnight settled upon us, I, too, found solace in the realm of dreams,However, my slumber was abruptly shattered by a persistent knock on my chamber door.Startled from my sleep, I blinked away the remnants of drowsiness and called out, "Who's there?""It's me, Ikea," came the hushed response from the other side.Curiosity mingled with concern as I rose from my bed and staggered toward the door. Why would Ikea seek me out at such a late hour? With a flick of my wrist, I unlocked the door and swung it open, inviting her in.Ikea wasted no time and darted inside, her urgent demeanor leaving no room for small talk. Sensing the gravity of the situation, I closed the door behind her and turned to face her, my voice laden with worry. "What's happened, Ikea? Why have you come to me in the dead of night?"Her eyes, filled with a glimmering intensity, locked onto mine, holding me captive with their weig
MELVIN’S POVIt was the early hours of the morning, and I had been awake for some time, lost in my own thoughts. The moon's soft glow seeped through the window, casting ethereal shadows in the room.My mind was already occupied with thoughts and plans, but the rapid knocks on my door startled me, shattering the calm of the dawn. The sound reverberated through the room, echoing the urgency of the visitor on the other side."Who's there?" I called out, my voice still laced with sleep, as I made my way to the door."It's John," came the reply, his voice carrying a sense of urgency. Each word seemed to hang in the air, brimming with unspoken importance.I furrowed my brows, wondering why he would be here at such an early hour, pounding on my door. Rather than walk to the door and open it, I remained on my bed preferring to continue the conversation from where I lay."What brings you here so early, John? And with such urgency? Is something wrong?" I asked, still wondering why he was here s
ARIEL’S POVDawn painted the sky in soft hues of pink and orange as I prepared myself to leave for the journey to the uncharted lands.The house was quiet, and I found solace in the serenity of the sitting room. Everything I needed was neatly packed and ready by the door, awaiting my departure.As I gathered my thoughts and reviewed my plans, Ikea's familiar figure appeared in the doorway. She looked at me with a mixture of concern and support. "Ariel, do you have everything you need?" she asked, her voice filled with genuine care.I nodded, a small smile playing on my lips. "Yes, Ikea, I'm all set. Don't worry."Ikea's gaze softened, and she placed a hand on my shoulder. She took a deep breath and then continued."Remember, Ariel, the uncharted lands are dangerous and can be treacherous. They are unknown and called the uncharted lands for a reason. Stay safe and be cautious of the dangers that lie ahead," she advised, her eyes reflecting the weight of her words.I smirked at her wo
ARIEL’S POVThe uncharted lands bordered the werewolf kingdom to the west and so I headed westwards as I left Silver Moon.For two long days, I navigated through unfamiliar paths, relying on my instincts and the occasional guidance from the stars above. No one had ventured into the uncharted lands in over a hundred years until the expedition team from Silver Moon did a week ago.The last people who went into the uncharted lands before them never came back. But we were about to set a new record because I planned to make sure we all made it back to Silver Moon safely with the moon crest in our possession.There was a barrier between our lands and the uncharted lands. It was not so much as a barrier to keep us in but a barrier to remind anyone who passed it that they had just set foot in an unknown land with several unidentified dangers.Naturally, according to the hierarchy of mother nature, we werewolves are predators. But over the years, since time immemorial, we have been told storie
Ariel's POV We had all settled into our new lives and the past had long become a thing of history, left to be shared with our children and their children after us.Fiona returned to her father's pack and she had grown strong as a leader and as a banshee. Seeing how much of a help she had been, her people had no choice but to reinstate her as their ruler.Selene was elevated as my right-hand person just after Melvin and she performed her duties with more than just loyalty. The war had made us closer than ever. She became that family I had sorted out for."My Queen?" A soft voice called out to me and I snapped out of my reverie to see who it was.A smile immediately covered my face as my eyes settled on her."Gio, you shouldn't work so hard with that bump," I said and she rolled her eyes."Ikea and David have refused to return from their honeymoon, someone is supposed to keep things running in here!" She mumbled as she wobbled toward me.She and Igor had been mated for a few moons now.
ARIEL’S POVIt had been three weeks since the whole debacle and like they say, the show must go on. The council of the court of the Alpha King had arrived in Silver Moon to officiate my coronation ceremony and officially crown me as the Luna Queen of the entire kingdom.The council had wanted this ceremony to be done two weeks ago as soon as we got back from the uncharted lands because they felt the throne had been vacant for way too long but I delayed it. Melvin was still mourning and I too mourned along with him.The ceremony was meant to crown me as Luna Queen and also crown Melvin as my Prince Consort. In truth, the ceremony would also serve as our official mating ceremony. So it didn’t feel right to hold it when each of us was still trying to come to terms with their loss.I wanted to delay the ceremony even longer to give Melvin enough time to heal but he came to me himself and told me not to delay it.“It is okay, Ariel,” He had said to me a few nights ago, “I am more than rea
ARIEL’S POVI instantly made the moon crest cast a bright glow toward Joharres, blinding his vision, so he wouldn’t see Melvin coming with another attack.Melvin ran through the bright light at Joharres and before he could see Melvin coming from within the light, it was already too late.Melvin punched Joharres in his guts making his upper body fall forward towards Melvin and he landed a more powerful punch across his face that sent him tumbling in the air before he fell to the ground with a loud grunt.I made the moon crest return to its normal dim light and quickly sped to where Joharres lay sprawled on the floor still dazed from Melvin’s punch.I lifted him, with his back to me, and held his arms out, spreading them apart, but I kept him on his knees. Melvin stopped in front of us.Joharres started to wake up from his daze but was still relatively weak. His strength was yet to fully return. Seeing the position I had locked him in and Melvin standing in front of him, he started to g
ARIEL’S POVMelvin nodded at me and we started walking to where his Father had landed when Melvin dealt him a blow earlier.However, he wasn’t there but neither of us was surprised. Joharres wasn't a common werewolf like the others that would stay down from one measly punch. We looked around the area searching for where he might be.“I guess you are looking for me, right?” I heard Joharres’ hoarse voice say behind me. Melvin and I spun around immediately to face him.Our faces were straight and focused and our fists were already firmly formed. We came ready for him. We came to put an end to all of this madness and violence.Joharres let his fur coat slowly slide down his body to reveal his large bulky build that was concealed under his large coat.“You know, you had me stunned for a while,” Joharres said with a chuckle, “but then I realized that Melvin must have made all this plan. Disrupt and attack. Divide and conquer. Create chaos and then triumph.”Joharres paused and laughed at
ARIEL’S POVI never back down from a challenge so I was ready to give him the pleasure of losing woefully to me. I leaned forward to caress the side of the Rinitor to calm it down.“Easy boy,” I said to the Rinitor as I stroked it under the chin, “why don’t you let me handle this?”As I continued to slowly stroke the scales of the animal, its camouflage came undone and its scales began to vibrate. I thought it was starting to cave into my petting and was becoming calmer as I asked it to. I was so wrong.The Rinitor roared aggressively at Darius and along with its roar came fire. I jumped backward with shock at the release of the bright yellow flames and stumbled off the animal, falling to the ground.I looked up just in time to see the flames from the Rinitor’s mouth engulf Darius completely. By the time the animal stopped breathing its yellow flames, Darius’ upper body had been burned to a crisp. He dropped down to his knees and fell face-first into the ground with a thud.I slowly s
ARIEL’S POVImmediately I heard Melvin’s command, I gave him a nod and sprang to my feet. I bolted past the surrounding soldiers who were surprised by my sudden movements and couldn’t think fast enough about what to do.As I ran in the direction of the uncharted lands, I took a glance behind me and saw that Jada and Selene were hot on their heels too.We got to the barrier of the uncharted lands in no time and rather than run through it, we all instinctively just jumped through it.“Alright, we need to focus and call as many Rinitors as we can,” I said to Jada and Selene as soon as we landed in the uncharted lands and they nodded back at me.Selene and Jada closed their eyes and stretched out their hands and I did the same. First, we had to make a reconnection with the uncharted lands before we could reach out to the Rinitors.I started to feel some sort of tingle all over my body. It felt like something was rapidly welling up inside me and it continued to build until it got to a cre
MELVIN’S POV“How do we bring the uncharted lands to them? It is not like we can move the thing,” Selene’s face squeezed with confusion as she reacted to what I had just said.I chuckled a little at their cluelessness. “You are all taking my words literally. Just calm down and listen to me for a second. We have three navigators of the uncharted lands at our disposal and we also have a land full of mythical creatures that could wipe out an army in the blink of an eye.”I looked over at the Blood Moon army, “They currently have the upper hand with their numbers. That is an army of about a thousand soldiers and we are barely up to a hundred and fifty. Since we are outnumbered,” I looked back at the group in front of me, “I say we level the playing field and even out the odds in our favor.”“Balance our numbers out with some mythical friends from the uncharted lands. With three navigators, I bet we can invite just enough of our friends to this party,” I straightened myself with pride and
MELVIN’S POVI gritted my teeth as I struggled to find the exact harsh words I wanted to use to describe him. No words could qualify how angry and frustrated I was at the moment.“You think you are a big bad wolf meanwhile you are just a sad little man inside who just craves to make the whole world feel the same shitty way he does too. I see now that nothing will deter you from doing what you want. Fine!”I took a step closer to him, stomping my feet on the hard ground, “But I will also be doing what I want, whatever I like, and with whomever I choose. You don’t tell me what to do!”I turned around and started walking away from him towards the camp I had chosen as the one for me. The camp that had my heart and my home with it."You are my son and as much as I hate to say it out loud, I have the right to stop you from making a grave mistake!" He yelled but my counter was ready.“You lost that right a long time ago.”After walking a few meters away from Father, I stopped. “And as for Mo
MELVIN’S POVI was able to get Ariel back to our camp. It was good I was able to get to her on time and held her down before she let loose and did something drastic.I completely understood how she was feeling but I couldn't let her attack... Not yet.I saw Niko rip Ralph’s head off his neck. It was gruesome. A grotesque sight to behold. Anger welled up in me too but I believe not as much as Ariel must have felt it. Afterall, she was closer to Ralph than I was.After getting back to our camp and a few words of consolation, Ariel was able to calm her anger and the color of the moon crest went back to being blue.Falling to her knees, Ariel broke down into tears almost immediately. I went down to her to pull her into my arms and offer a consoling embrace.“Ra—Ralph… h—he is dead,” She sobbed, “J—Just like that… and… and there was nothing… nothing I could do…to save him.”I pulled her into me, tightly wrapping my arms around her. “I am sorry, Ariel. This is mostly all my fault. I am trul