ARIEL’S POVI found it hard to sleep and when I finally did, it was barely for three hours and my eyes refused to close again till daybreak.I was off my bed at the first sight of dawn. I went outside and chose a tree. I chose the one that appeared the ugliest to me and decided it was my opponent.I struck the tree as hard as I could channeling my frustrations into my fists as I swung them at the tree. I struck the tree until my knuckles and palms bled. My injuries were healing just as soon as they were coming but the tree was stained with droplets of my blood.I kept at this for about two more hours before I retreated to sit on the porch.“After yesterday’s ruckus, I would imagine that you’d still be in bed by now,” I heard Jada’s voice behind me.I looked back and smiled when my eyes fell on her. “Good morning.”“Good morning to you too,” she said, yawning.I turned back and sat upright again. I didn't really enjoy sharing my problems with anybody, not even my family but after my f
ARIEL’S POVTwo days went by and I didn’t see or hear from Melvin. I knew Jada could reach him with her phone but I didn’t bother to ask her about it and I appreciated that she didn’t mention it.Adonis didn’t show up for our training either. I guess if Melvin didn't bring him then he wouldn't come.But I didn’t wait around for them, I trained on my own. Jada helped me a few times too whenever she was around. However, it was mostly only me.The same way it all started.I had just freshened up after training when I heard a knock on the door. I sniffed the air to get the scent of who was behind it. The scent was new to me and that meant one thing —the person at the door was a stranger.I tiptoed slowly towards the door and the knock came again but this time with a voice.“Jada! Are you home? It’s Val.” The soft voice called out after rapid knocks on the door.Val? Where have I heard that name before?I got to the door and pushed out my claws from my fingers. I unlocked the door and slo
MELVIN’S POVI put off going to Jada’s place for four days because Father started to become increasingly interested in my whereabouts. It was only on the fifth day I deemed the coast clear enough for me to pop by Jada’s cabin because Father had a meeting with his council.I squeezed my fists as I approached Jada’s cabin. I hadn’t seen Ariel since that night and I couldn’t even imagine how seeing her now would go.I got to the cabin’s door and threw my hands up to knock but the door flew open by itself and Ariel stood behind it. My heart began running numbers as soon as I saw her.“I could already smell you from a mile away.” She moved out of the way for me to walk in.“Right, you have a very good nose,” I muttered but loud enough for her to hear as I walked into the cabin.She closed the door and got in front of me.“That’s right,” she said into my face before sauntering off to the living room. After standing still for a while, I followed her into the living room. I caught up with he
ARIEL’S POVI separated myself from him, putting some distance between us.“If you think you are ready to see him, then I don’t think I should stop you anymore,” Melvin said, still holding onto my hand.I let my hand slip out of his hand and walked towards the only window in the room. I closed my eyes and allowed my mind to replay all that happened that first night. How I found the maimed lifeless body of my parents. Going into Aaron’s room to find him but finding his iPad and the brown paper that contained the vile message that Joharres passed on to him.I opened my eyes and squeezed my fists with newfound anger. “It’s about time I see that bastard and give him a piece of my mind.”I heard Melvin’s footsteps as he walked towards me, “I can take you to him tonight then.”He stopped behind me and sighed. “I can’t begin to think or even imagine what you are going through right now and what you will go through when you see your brother tonight. I just want you to know that I am here fo
Melvin's POVThe cold night air hit my face as I stood behind a wall, waiting for Ariel.I was breaking every rule in the book by taking her to her brother, right under my father's nose but I didn't care.I would do anything for Ariel. It was the right thing to do.My father had no right to mess up her life the way he did, that was why I was doing this. I had to right his wrongs.I heard the soft shuffling of legs on my right and I turned just in time to find her beautiful face walking toward me.The cold breeze was no longer a problem as warmth filled my body as my eyes locked with hers.Tingles exploded from my toes to the rest of my spine as she smiled and waved at me.If there was even a single drop of doubt in my mind about what I was about to do, the moment my eyes landed on her bright face, everything melted away.Damn, Ariel was beautiful."Hey, I am sorry I took forever. Jada wanted to make sure every stall got closed before I got here..." she said as she got closer."Yeah...
Ariel's POV"Why?" Was the first word that left my lips.He had bloodshot eyes and hair that was long overdue for a cut. Even under the dimly lit cell, I could see his pale skin and tinning tissues. He was in a terrible condition and for what?"You killed our parents—" I stopped as I realized that wasn't even the right word to use. "You butchered our parents like animals... Like a psychopathic artist in search of a new masterpiece, you destroyed their lives, and for what?"His eyes shifted and for a second I thought he was going to show some sign of remorse or at least realize how stupid he had been but Aaron would never change.He let a stupid grin sit on his face as he stared back at me."You really want to know?" His voice suddenly turned strong as if he was feeding in the energy surrounding his terrible crimes."I killed them because they were old cowards! They would have never done anything good for themselves..."I couldn't believe what someone I shared parents with was saying
MELVIN’S POVI walked briskly towards Ariel and grabbed her hand to pull her off the floor.“We have to get out of here now!” I said firmly as I pulled her behind me.The rattling of the bars had caught my attention and I thought maybe Aaron had attacked Ariel. So I rushed back towards the cell but the scene before my eyes took my breath away.Ariel didn’t resist me as I pulled her and she wasn’t giving any movements whatsoever. She was almost motionless.She was just as stunned as I was but one of us had to remain cool-headed to get us out of there.“Ariel, get a grip of yourself!” I shook her as we continued down the passageway we came through earlier.The stench of dried blood that filled my nostrils when we passed here earlier was now very insignificant. The only thing that was registering in my head at that moment was the fact that Ariel just murdered her brother.I didn’t even want to think about what problems this would cause when the news of his death reached my Father.We rus
ARIEL’S POVI walked out of the cabin to join Melvin outside. He walked out of the cabin a few minutes ago as Jada continued to console me.I was able to get my sobbing under control and I knew I had to talk to Melvin.“Hey,” I said as I got to his side.He didn’t reply, he just continued staring at the night sky. I kept mute and waited for when he was ready to talk.“Do you know why eclipses don’t happen as often?” He finally said, breaking the silence, but still looking up to the moon.“Mhmm-hmm,” I hummed and shook my head, “But I have a feeling you are about to tell me why.”He smiled at what I said, “Yeah, something like that.”“The moon and the sun trust each other to shine only during their specific time of the day,” he continued, “Nobody’s controlling them, they just have that bond of trust between them.”He turned to face me and I did the same too.“I have been so focused on trying to get you to trust me that I have never stopped to ask myself if I could also trust you.” Pain
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