RONA'S POV
I was blinded by pain and wanted nothing more than to rush the evil emperor and face him myself. The fact that his men were looking for my mother and I to kill us too, meant nothing to me. My mom dashed into a secret corridor, dragging me along. She was still crying profusely. However, tears never clouded her reasoning, unlike me that was plain confused. My legs were still shaking in horror and I couldn't stop crying. "You will go to your mate's pack to take refuge, I'm sure he will hide and protect you. That's the only option now," my mom whispered, as we entered the tunnel. Mate? What mate? Since when did I have a mate? "Which mate?" I stuttered, while still shivering as she dragged me along. "Alpha Kenzo Stewart of Raven pack is your mate. It has been long we found out, but we blocked you from feeling the mate bond, according to the priestess's directions. However, Kenzo knew you were his mate and tried to claim you. He felt the mate bond during your father's birthday a few months ago. The priestess confirmed it, so we blocked it for you. He agreed to wait till you turn eighteen. However, he had been coming to see you since then. We had an understanding, that was why I never stopped him from visiting, or buying you gifts," my mother said, wiping her tears as we ran. How many shockers will I receive today? Now I know why the unsmiling Alpha, suddenly became uncharacteristically nice to me. We burst out into a forest that was just behind the castle. It was close to a lake, so it was cut off during the construction of the city wall. "Never reveal your identity to anyone. Head to Blue river territories, Raven pack is at the edge so you won't have trouble with border patrols. Take this tag. Any Raven pack soldier that sees it will take you straight to their Alpha," my mom said, giving me a black seal, shaped like a raven. Its eyes were made with yellow colored jewels. "No matter what happens, run and don't look back. Harden your heart and always put your safety first, that's the only way you can survive this. From now on, you're alone. There will be no one to watch your back, except your mate. Even then, you have to be careful. The hearts of men are treacherous. I can't believe your father did that to me!" She wailed again. "What did father do?" I asked in between tears. "He did nothing. Just stay alive. Promise me" she whispered and held my hands. I kept quiet. What exactly was she asking me to promise? "Rona Campbell, promise me you will not die! You will not let them, or anybody catch and kill you, no matter how tough and lonely it gets, promise me you will live well. You must strive to stay alive and live well, in good conditions. Do anything to survive!" She said and turned to run back. "Mom!" I shouted in tears, trying to hold her from returning to the raging palace filled with fearful screams of my pack members. She turned angrily, seemingly frustrated at me for being uncooperative. "Are you nuts? Why are you screaming? Do you want to alert them to your presence? Hurry to the cave, you fool! You will see a horse tethered there, take it and make your escape. You better not disappoint me by getting caught. You better not die!" She said angrily, and began to run towards the castle which was already burning down. I staggered as tears clouded my vision, but I quickly realized that I needed to stay alive. If not for anything else, I need to stay alive and kill the Royal wolf emperor for his cruelty. A new found courage sprouted in me and I began to run to the cave, suppressing the urge to follow my mother . I found the horse and bag filled with food and pastries. Hurriedly, I began to ride without looking back. Tears clouded my vision as I rode the stubborn horse. All my life, I have been doted on and pampered, as the future of Flame Blood wolf pack. I had loving parents, and servants who treated me like some treasure. The fact that I have suddenly turned into a fugitive and treasoner, running for her life was unacceptable. I rode for two days, wearing the same clothes. For the first time in my life, I didn't bathe twice a day. Bathing was the least of my problems anyway. I had to take forest routes while avoiding towns, major roads and cities to avoid getting caught by the people searching for me. I had to sleep alone in the forest, bitten by mosquitoes and fearing wild animals. I had shifted the first night, helping me to stay safe from other predators. With my wolf's help, I managed to escape from the bear that wanted to use me for dinner. However, I couldn't do anything about the mosquitoes. I just kept crying over and over again, feeling sorry for myself, while mourning my poor parents. I found a clean lake close to blue river territory at night, and stopped my horse. I got down and took a long bath in the freezing water. In the past, I always used warm water to bathe, so using the lake felt strange. Well, I'm no longer a pampered princess but a fugitive. I have to start living like a peasant, till I reach my mate's land. I dried myself and changed my clothes with one of the spare gowns mother had packed for me. My skin felt dry, but skin oil was a luxury I definitely can't afford right now. I sat down and opened my bag of food, which was dwindling at an alarming rate. I ate the dried meat and bread which was going stale already. I got thirsty, but using the lake's water that people probably bathed in felt disgusting to me. My spring water already got exhausted a long time ago. I began to look around and noticed that the lake had a waterfall as its source. I quickly rushed to it and drank, refilling my gourd with water. I mounted the horse and continued on my way. I was almost at my destination, no need to rest. I reached the Raven pack and heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, I was in Kenzo's lands, filling me with relief. I'm safe with someone who will protect me. Border patrols surrounded me with their weapons, and my eyes widened in fear and shock. I quickly showed them the plaque. "I'm here to see your Alpha. What the hell are you doing?" I roared in my princess's tone to instill fear and obedience in them. They whispered among themselves, and two people ran off. In a few minutes, they returned. "Follow us!" They ordered and I quickly followed, feeling relieved. I saw Kenzo waiting with some men and immediately ran to him. The men with him suddenly surrounded me with unsheathed swords, confusing me. "Kenzo, what are you doing? I'm your mate? Why are you pointing your sword at me?" I whispered. "A fugitive cannot be my mate! Either I kill you, or I hand you over to the wolf emperor for a bounty. But before that, I think you owe me all the sex I should have gotten" he said, smirking. My eyes widened at his plans, was this the dark heart of men my mother talked about?"Why will the goddess give us such a mate?" My wolf wailed in my mind. "I Alpha Kenzo Stewart, reject you princess Rona Campbell as my mate!" He said coldly. I staggered as pain blinded me, it was finally happening, I got betrayed once more. "Now get her for me!" He ordered his men. "In your dreams!" I howled as my wolf took over. My mind went blank immediately, while she took over my consciousness. What I realized next was me back on my horse, escaping in a haste. "Ara, how did you do it? How did we escape?" I asked. A series of memories flashed before me, and I saw her transform and tear the person behind us apart with her claws, before jumping over the blockades, all in a few minutes. She also sprayed something on them that momentarily blinded them, before mounting the horse. "Thank goodness your mom packed the delirious powder for us!" She said, as I increased my pace. Tears dripped down my face at Kenzo's betrayal. Even though I didn't know his identity as
RONA'S POV "Princess, princess. Princess wake up already, stop scaring us" I heard someone calling out to me. My head felt woozy as I opened my eyes. "Thank goodness" I saw a young girl, kneeling over me. She was the one who spoke. What the fuck? Where am I? I sat up and looked around. There were men dressed in guards' apparels and armor, in addition to some girls in costly maid apparel. It was obvious that they came from a very rich kingdom or pack. I looked around and saw a body of water stretching as far as the eyes could see. Wait, I fell into water? How did I end up here? Why are they calling me princess? I looked up at them. They all looked pissed off at me and resentful. As if they were being forced to do a chore they hate very much. "Princess, this is becoming too much. The Alpha king is pissed off at you. We had to search for hours before we found you floating on the lake. What if you had gotten washed into the sea before we arrived? You keep throwing silly tan
I found myself walking down a dark stairwell. I came into an abandoned garden and entered a cave. I immediately stopped in my tracks when I saw the source of the attraction. There before me, lay a girl that looks exactly like me, seemingly dead. She was dressed in white silk, almost the same design with the one I wore when I got washed up here. "Wow! You indeed look exactly like me." I heard a voice say. I looked towards the voice and gasped. The girl was standing there with a cute smile. However, her body looked semi transparent. "Who are you?" I asked, looking cautiously at her. "I'm princess Erica Miller, daughter of Alpha king Harvey Miller, of the ice flame territories. Wow, what's your name?" She asked. "Rona," I whispered. "Our names have almost the same meaning. Please help me to resurrect. I have been calling for help to no avail. The only one that could hear me was you, because we share a connection. If you help me, I will give your wolf my ice crystal, to st
CHAPTER SIX EMPEROR RICHARD'S POV I watched the expressions on Erica's face flicker and change into a plethora of different emotions. She had been very happy and excited at first. However, the moment she looked up at me, her expression was replaced with fear and disgust. Despite my effort to reassure her, she was still staring at me in horror. I passed my mask silently to my Beta and reached for her. But she took a step back, avoiding my touch. My eyes narrowed in confusion and I angrily caught her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you look so scared of me? What the hell is the fucking problem?" I yelled at her. "Your mask is scary. Let go of me, you look scary" she wailed, trying to reach for her maid. I looked at the mask in my Beta's hand in confusion. What was so scary about my golden mask? I sighed helplessly. She's a little girl who has always stayed locked up in her father's castle. Things that don't mean a thing to me can probably frighten her
RONA'S POV Jasmine led me upstairs, while I kept looking around. It was even more grand than Erica's palace. No, this place was a castle. A mighty one at that. We drove past numerous palaces before we got here. The street walkways were paved with marbles, there were also gardens neatly arranged along the roads and in the palaces. They were filled with exotic flowers, fruit trees and herbs. There were also exotic animals and birds in the gardens. But for some reason, they never leave the garden space to enter the streets. There were also lamps in the gardens and walkways, probably to light up the castle once it's nightfall. The gates were made of gold, brass or bronze. I could see carts filled with goods and products, driven by horses. There were also luxurious carts that had expensive curtains and leather chairs, driving around the castle. I guess they are the powerful nobles in the immortal Heaven Court. However, I'm yet to see anyone with sacred beasts or heavenly beasts or e
RONA'S POV I walked into the room and almost gasped out loud. There was a sweet fragrance in the air. The room was wide with sofas, rugs, and pink silk curtains. The bed was very huge and had pink princess curtains which were drawn back and tied to the bedpost. The bed was well made with white and pink sheets. There was a table close to the bed with a lamp stand which was supporting a pink crystal light orb glowing softly. The table was made with expensive wood, some poetry scrolls, ink, inkpad, writing feathers and paper fan was on the table. There were paintings of natural landscapes on the wall. There was also an expensive urn containing lavender flowers, a golden incense burner, golden lamp stands, the reading chair accompanying the table was cushioned with soft furs and was padded. I touched the pillows and realized they were stuffed with soft feathers. There was a huge mirror on the wall close to the reading desk. There was also a table between the two sofas. "Do you
RONA'S POV I followed Annalise around the dressing room as she admired the array of expensive clothes in the clothes section. I touched some of the fabrics, feeling impressed. "Girl, his majesty didn't spare any expense on your wardrobe. He's determined to treat you right, you're blessed by the moon goddess. Even though you didn't shift, he still found you so beautiful and attractive that he left all others and chose you. Meanwhile, other average wolfless werewolves never get a mate or husband. Even their fated mates reject them sometimes. You're damn lucky!" She said with a smile. I smiled sadly. I'm anything but lucky, same with Erica. I lost all my family to Richard's cruelty while Erica lost everything to me. She should have been lucky, but a monster took it all away. I'm probably another monster like Richard. "Look at these shoes, just see your shoe rack. They are the most expensive shoes In the world. Your boots are made with sacred beast leather. Wow! Come to the jewelry
EMPEROR RICHARD'S POV I heard the room go quiet and frowned. Normally my men and the rest of my ministers turn to chatterboxes at the dinner table, sharing some views on whatever topic interests them. I immediately perceived the sweet fragrance and followed the eyes of the rest to the doorway. My heart immediately skipped a beat and began to beat wildly, frightening me. There in all her glory, looking like a royal queen stood Erica. She was smiling shyly at me. she seemed to barely resist the urge to twist her fingers. Why am I so excited to see her? Don't tell me I'm falling in love with the little bird! Impossible, I have never felt so attracted to a woman before. I could feel my manhood go rock hard for the first time in decades. I swallowed my saliva and she looked at me shyly, as if waiting for some kind of approval. I smiled brightly at her and stood up. Before I realized what I was doing, my feet were already taking me towards her. Her maid bowed before me and offe
OLIVIA'S POVI walk into my room, livid with anger. I can't believe Richard rejected my requests before everyone, exalting that mutt at the risk of my happiness. “Your highness,”“Leave, all of you.” I shouted, interrupting her. “Susanna, wait here.”She waited, turning to me in fear. “Stop shaking, I'm not gonna eat you. The ones I pointed at, bring them in. I hope they have been properly trained.”“Yes, your highness.” She whispered, quickly moving out to do my bidding. In a few minutes, she returns with two handsome and well built guards, and locks the door behind her. I relaxed on my couch and motioned to them. “Come here, and pay your respects to your princess.” They knelt, and the older of the two reached for my foot, delivering a kiss full of worship to them. He slowly moved up my legs, dropping kisses. He looked at me with a sexually charged gaze which sent heat down to my core and I felt myself clench. “That's it.” I whispered, closing my eyes as he removed my shoes an
RONA'S POVOlivia got angry, but quickly masked it with a pitiful expression. “Uncle, please. Just give it to me.”“I already said no. Don't make me lose my appetite.” Richard replied, not hiding his anger. Olivia hits her hands against the table, making me jump. I was not the only one startled, many others were. “Uncle!” Olivia whined, dragging her word out like a spoiled brat throwing a tantrum. “But you already commissioned the moon stone to be fashioned into jewelry. It's just giving it to me earlier. After all, who else in this world deserves something so precious except me?” She whispered and batted her lashes at him. Richard gasped in exasperation on hearing her words, his face glowering. “I must have spoiled you too much to make you so narcissistic. How dare you make stupid demands of me? If I say no, it means no. Pouting and throwing a tantrum won't help your case on this issue. Give up already. You truly deserve everything good in the world, but not this.”“Uncle, stop
OLIVIA'S POVAnger, pure hot anger. How dare she tell me that the slut is Richard's wife, and therefore deserves everything? “Listen here, nothing in this empire belongs to her. She's a weak runt, forever destined to be my slave. If you dare step out of line or buzz unpleasantly in my ear, your fate would be worse. Go throw her away, and wipe that blood off the floor.” I barked, my eyes red with fury. “Please calm down, your highness.” Susanna whispered, crawling to me. I stomp hard on her hand, watching her bite her lips to hold back the pain. “Cry out!” I growl, listening to her scream. Music, sweet music, the sweetest one. That beautiful cry of pain as I squash these miserable ants beneath me was the best sound ever. “Remember this, breathing the same air I do is a privilege. So you must worship me wholeheartedly, with all you have, you must be thankful I let you live beneath me.” I muttered, not hiding the hate in my eyes. “Your highness, the palanquin is ready to carry you
EMPEROR RICHARD'S POVI sighed heavily. “The items are truly rare and extraordinary. But my wife is the subject in question. Nothing is too expensive for her. I already have some of them somewhere. As for the rest, I can procure them given some time. However, the herbs are too potent. Too much drugs accumulating in her body might cause her harm instead of healing her. We won't use all these things you listed. They're too much for an able bodied alpha king, talk more of a little girl with a fragile body. Select the most important ones. Also, if at any point I realize you inflated the amount of required herbs for some selfish reason, or added something that is not necessary, you will have to submit your life to me. I hate being lied to or tricked.” I reply with a cold smile, watching the mischievous smile on his face disappear. That's right, he should be afraid of me, I have been cutting him a lot of slacks lately, making him more audacious. “Before you tell me about the final list o
RONA'S POV“Princess, what are you talking about? Don't give up hope. We will definitely find a way to remove the seal on your wolf so that you can fully shift without pain. You just need to be patient till we find a solution. You have worked too hard to give up now. The one that sealed your wolf will get exactly what they want if you fail now.” The imperial physician shouted. “That's right, princess don't act rashly.” Annalise chipped in. As for Richard, he was too stunned to speak. “Erica.” I heard him whisper and look up at him with my tear filled eyes. And in that moment, I could swear I saw pain in his eyes, deep seated pain. “I can't hold on anymore. Help me destroy my wolf. I swear I will not pull you down. There are humans that are more powerful than wolves from cultivating internal energy. I can start cultivating internal energy and the way of the sword. If you think that totally becoming a human will cause a problem for the empire, you're welcome to kill me anytime I bec
I was stunned at first, but smiled the next second. My pretty baby girl. She can't stand violence, bloodshed and bullying people while taking advantage of power. She was too kind and innocent for her own good. No wonder the commoners over there in the Alpha King's pack loved her a lot. She's humane, and compassionate, trying to bring sunshine into the lives of everyone. “Answer me, did you kill people and loot them just…”“Of course not. I will never do that. I stopped by some of my factories and depots on the way. Some of my goods arrived at the wharf, I just brought some for you from the original stock meant for sale. After all, my woman deserves to have the best of everything, before others can have access to them.” I whispered and pinched her cheeks. She smiled brightly at me and hugged me, finally revealing her joy at receiving gifts from me. I brought out the rest and immediately heard gasps from the household staff watching. “See if there's anything you don't like.”“I like
EMPEROR RICHARD'S POVThe cheers of my citizens and pack members welcoming me home always filled my heart with joy, motivating me to work harder and ensure they will always live in a safe and happy environment, with enough food to eat, space to sleep and play, and clothes to not just keep warm but also look good. That's why I ensured to distribute food and clothes to the lowest income earners at the end of every year, that they might have enough to celebrate the feast of the goddess like the rest. Although it seemed like blowing my own horn, my territories, especially the imperial city, is the most prosperous and peaceful place to live in the entire world. It was never easy of course, but I will never forget my duty to my people. My horse stopped before my palace and the lower ranking soldiers stepped back, leaving me with the seven highest ranking generals, deputy generals and prefectors. They executed a military salute and turned to leave. I looked at the entrance with a smile, but
RONA'S POVI had just taken my bath in readiness for lunch when I heard a large commotion outside the castle. Memories of how my pack was razed to the ground flashed before my eyes and I immediately sat up. The noise seemed to be coming from outside the city walls, and they were entering the city gates and crossing into the first castle which contains houses allocated to soldiers and outer court officials. The imperial city was built in a tiered design, with the higher ranking people living in the inner parts of the city. As for the emperor, he had three huge castles to himself, a stupid show of grandeur because he only lives in one. The others were meant for the emperor's children, his harem, and a palace for hosting guests. Olivia lives in the emerald palace meant for the emperor's children. But Richard didn't allow me to live in the harem, insisting I stay in his palace. The imperial city castles are so big that it was easy to get lost in the maze of palaces. One needed a map to na
RONA'S POV I opened my eyes to see Annalise nodding off while watching me. My heart felt warm, and I couldn't help but smile. This kind of dedication, love and friendship is one that I have truly missed. It felt good to have someone that genuinely loves you in this dangerous castle filled with snakes and scorpions, someone totally loyal to you. I heard her fighting Liam when I was unconscious in her bid to ensure that he won't take the ice jade pendant. Even though she didn't know she was inadvertently saving my life, her actions were one born out of loyalty and love. “That loyalty and love is not meant for you. She thinks you're Erica. That's why she's willing to give her life for your sake. What do you think will happen when she realizes that you're a liar and impostor, alongside everyone else? What do you think will happen to you?” The tiny voice in my mind immediately made the smile on my face to disappear. That's right, that bright smile and loyalty were all meant for Erica, n