Louisa's POV
"What do you mean?" I felt half tipsy, half confused. "I need you to go sit next to him like a fucking little doll and talk to him. Do whatever you can to make him occupied, so he doesn't bid for anything during the auction." Lucas organized my hair for a little bit and said. "But... Why?" I stared at him in bewilderment. Lucas seemed to be pissed. "There's no fucking why," he grunted. "I'm asking you to distract him during the fucking auction and you do whatever I fucking tell you to do." I tiptoed so I could move my head closer to him. "Are you fucking sniffing me again, you little pervert?" He frowned. "You smell fishy." I narrowed my eyes and said, "You must be scheming on something. I won't help you if you don't tell me why you want me to distract him during the auction." Lucas looked outrageous. "Helping me?" He raised his voice, but immediately lowered it down. "I'm not asking you to do me aLouisa's POV The Red Box is used to refer to a secluded lounge on the second floor of the auction hall. It's like the box in a theatre, overlooking the whole auction hall. I stood at the edge of the box, holding the handles and leaning forward. I felt that I was like a little bird, flying across the entire venue. Alpha Lucas approached me from behind, holding a glass of bubbling champagne in his hand. He looked like a star walking right off the stage. But no performer had his dignified bearing, which didn't seem like something that people were born with. It must have taken years of a stress-free life to make someone behave in a certain sophisticated and confident way. "What are you looking at?" He looked down at me and stroked his face. "Was there something on my face?" "No. It's just... You look like a king..." I mumbled. He looked at me in surprise, paused for a brief moment, and said, "How do you know? Have you met L
Louisa's POV "Are you taking his side, Louisa?" Will narrowed his eyes and said. "You don't know what kind of mistake you're making! Werewolves hate vampires! You're no longer one of them! They treat you like freaks, just like the way they treat Darren..." "Enough!" I raised my voice. I was so furious at the arrogance in Will's voice. "I'm not a freak! And if what you've just said is your real thoughts, I don't want to be your friend anymore." I picked him up, put him on my side, and stood up. I felt so angry that I didn't even know what exactly was bothering me. The effect of alcohol was still there and my mind was like a ball of twisted wires entangling one another. Whenever I wanted to think, I started to get a headache. After pacing back and forth for a few rounds, I heard Will's voice - "Louisa..." "Shut up!" I turned back and roared at him. "It's you! It's all because of you! You stabbed me and you changed me into a freak without my
Louisa's POV I cried myself a river in his arms. He lifted me, carried me back to the box, and placed me gently on the sofa. I leaned against his chest and wept silently. We stayed like that for a while without saying anything. I could hear the auction had already taken place with the auctioneer introducing some antiques and announcing the bidding price repeatedly. "I don't know why I've said those mean things to Will. All he wanted to do was to help me." I whispered. "I used to be regarded as a freak and retarded in my father's tribe. People didn't want to talk to me, because I was either too weak or too slow, too stinky or too skinny. Nobody would pay attention to me other than my old nanny and Uma the Shaman doctor." Talking about Uma, my heart started to throb again. "I don't want to be treated like a freak. But the way people look at me..." I covered my face and couldn't continue my speech. Alpha Zackery removed my hands from my
Louisa's POV "You don't have to pay me back. Money means nothing to me." He took another sip of champagne and said, "But I'm going to charge you for the interest rate. So you have to be the model of my art project for the rest of your life and you won't get paid." I bit my lips and didn't know what he was going to do with me in his so-called art project. But at the same time, I knew I had to take his offer, otherwise, I would never be able to get the money to save Darren. "OK," I said in a low voice. "Don't answer too quickly, because there's another string attached." Alpha Zackery smirked. "Once you've purchased him, you have to set him free. You can't keep him as a pet. He's even more lethal than a python. I won't allow you to hang out with someone like him. It's definitely out of question." I bit my lips again. I knew he wouldn't take no for an answer, so it was really an offer that I couldn't refuse. I didn't think twice and said, "OK. I promise that I'll set him
Louisa's POV "Is that a..." "Amazing, right? You just can't take your eyes off it." I looked at the image in the catalog. It was a headless statue made of precious moonstone. Decades ago, Alpha Shay from the Aberrant Canines sent seven maidens to blast the entire Kanz Mountain into an ocean of fire. From that one, the moonstone mines were sealed permanently, which was why moonstones were really scarce and precious. "But it's broken. Where's the head?" I asked. "It's lying in my treasury," Alpha Zackery smiled. "Such a beautiful sculpture. Look at the curvy wrinkles on its dress. Can you believe that it's made of the hardest stone in the world? You know, when the moonstone is unearthed, the chemicals on its surface get in contact with oxygen in the air and immediately lose its dazzling color. That's why unprocessed moonstones look a bit tarnished. But after processing by skillful craftsmen, the tarnished coat is gone and the inside chemicals of the stone are exposed to
Louisa's POV "Please don't..." I said in a whisper. "You don't need to say anything anymore." Alpha Zackery looked at me in surprise. "I've already known it isn't love that bonds us together," Feeling numb, I continued in a low voice. "He's incapable of love. The only reason I'm alive now is that I'm still useful to him. For someone like me, love is only an illusion. But even if it was an illusion, I would want it to be gone. That's how pathetic I am, dreaming of something that everyone takes for granted. Warmth, a meal, a gentle stroke of hair, kindness in a stranger's eyes..." I paused, trying to hold back the tears in my eyes. "You don't need to remind me that my life is a joke. If you want to humiliate me, you've done it. If you want to rape me, do it. But if you want me to leave Lucas, it's impossible. My father's in his hands. The moment I leave Lucas, he will peel off my father's skin and watch him die." "Why do you want to save you
Louisa's POV When I woke up again, I was lying on the ground, facing up a leaking roof over my head. It must be raining outside because I could hear the rumbling of thunder from a distance and there was water dripping down from the leak on my face. I tried to move my arms and legs, but I couldn't feel them. The drops of water kept falling on my face, so I had to turn my head away to take a breath. I tried to roll away from the spot, but my back must have been dislocated. I couldn't move at all. There must be some internal hemorrhage in my abdomen, which exacerbated whenever I tried to move. I couldn't remember what happened to me. There was a void in my brain. I made another painful attempt and eventually rolled away from the spot. Lying on the ground, I could see a dim light coming out of the barred door. Am I... locked up in a dungeon or something? I thought to myself. There was some buzzing soun
Louisa's POV I tried to calm down, but I felt that my whole world was collapsing in front of me. "Please... Help..." I whispered. I couldn't recognize my voice. The abrasion in my throat was excruciating. "I can't help you. You have to heal yourself." Lucian shook his head and said. "Help... Darren..." I gathered my strength and said. Lucian stroked my hair gently and said, "Louisa, you have to cheer up, so you can help him yourself." "No..." I shook my head and whispered. "I don't want... I can't live like this... anymore..." Lucian said, "Don't say things like that. You can't give up." I said in a trembling voice, "Lucian... He will... beat me to death... I can't... continue..." Lucian looked into my eyes and said, "He needs you to be alive. I need you to be alive. I don't care how painful you feel. You have to keep on going. You're not allowed to die. Focus on healing yourself, Louisa." "No," I said bri
Lucas' POV "Fucking Kings and Queens! A bunch of mother fuckers and losers!" I shouted. Derek looked intimidated and turned his head towards Lucian. "Don't you fucking look at him! Nobody can fucking save you today!" I kicked him. "I should have killed you long ago! You're a fucking cancer!" He rolled on the ground for a couple of laps and coughed out some sticky muddy fluid from his mouth. "Master... I'm already dead... For a dead man, there's nothing on earth that matters... But my brother... He served you... I forced him to do a lot of bad things, but he was innocent... Please spare his life..." Derek said. "You have no right to negotiate anything with me! I'm going to let you witness I torture your brother to death!" I said angrily and grabbed his neck. "Now, break this fucking ice shield and give my fucking woman back to me. Give her back!" Then, I heard a faint voice. "Leave... my brother... alone..." It's Darren
Louisa's POV "What?!" I couldn't believe what I had heard. Pregnant? I'm pregnant with Lucas' child?! But, I have to tell Darren that I... Then, I heard a wave of hysterical laughter coming from Derek. "The prophet's true! The advent child! The Dark King rises! He who has Lycan, witch, and vampire's blood will marry his mother and be the tyrannic ruler in the Kingdom!" Every single word was like a knife, stabbing my heart. Was it a vicious curse? Or just some disturbing nonsense coming from a madman? Then, before I realized it, my ankle was grabbed fast by Derek. I tried to move back, but I couldn't. Frost started to spread all the way up from my feet at a fast rate. I didn't know what happened before my whole legs were sealed in frigid ice. "No! Stop it!" I saw Vincent and Will trying to pull Derek away from me. But they ended up pulling the remaining of his legs off his body. More sparkling ice w
Louisa's POV Vincent looked at me and didn't say anything. The look on his face was almost lamenting. "Vincent, where is Darren?" I frowned and asked. "He's inside," Vincent said. "But he's in a very bad condition. Miss Louisa, I have to brief you before letting you see him. You have to be prepared. The werewolves at the slave market tortured and humiliated him. His skin was badly burnt. His face was deformed. His head had concussions. He is completely shut down right now. He refuses to communicate with anyone and it seems that he has developed a certain mechanism to protect himself." Vincent took a pause and said, "It seems that he has lost his memory, Louisa. I doubt he will recognize you." "No... No!!!" I felt like I was struck by a bat or something. My vision was black and I fell to the ground. Vincent caught me and held me in his arms. The world was spinning in front of me. Something bitter was stuck in my throat. I curled up a
Lucas' POV "Lucian, I really should have told you about this... I really should have told you about it long ago. But I get this kind of feeling... you know, if I don't talk about it, then it means this whole thing has never happened... And Derek has never betrayed me." I said in a low voice. Lucian was silent. "Anyway," I said. "it wasn't very long until the Red Queen found out that Derek was just lying to get back to the Underground City. So the Red Queen was furious and wanted to kill him. You remember the time that I was summoned to King's Land. I was actually forced to go there to cast an imprint on Derek. I did it and I tortured him. But it was just for the Red Queen to know that I was her loyal subject. Then, I faked his death by sending a corpse back to his uncle. I was planning to hide him somewhere, but those fucking traveling druids took him away. I was enraged, so I took his brother Darren away from the brothel to replace him. I thought one da
Lucas' POV "How many secrets have you been hiding from me these years?" Lucian stared at me and asked. "I'm sorry, brother. But my woman is missing. And she might be pregnant with my child. Can we just focus on looking for her?!" I said. Lucian didn't say anything, he took the tuna head and got on horseback. Then, he rode off without saying anything. Oh, fuck. Now Lucian's not talking to me. Like I haven't got enough on my plate. "I have a good suggestion for you." I heard Finn's voice in my head. "What now?! Don't tell me shit like rubbing the back of his neck. It fucking didn't work," I said. Torrent snorted his nose, urging me to catch up with Lucian. "Fuck, Torrent. Sometimes I get the feeling that you're fucking riding me! You can get as fast as you can, I don't give a shit as long as my ass is still on the saddle. I'm busy having a conversation with my fucking wolf," I patted Torrent's neck and said.
Lucas' POV "What's on her fucking mind?" I said. I was really fed up with women in my life. They were so fucking unpredictable. Lucian said, "She's gone this morning after Louisa told her off in front of everyone. And we've lost contact with Kylo. He took away our best people and our soldiers in the camp were either killed or wounded. Louisa tried to treat some of the soldiers this morning, but it will still take a few days before they're fully recovered." "Kylo's fucking with me! He sent his fucking sister to mess up with my soldiers. His father was with me and he still dares to fuck with me! Why does he do this to me?! Why did he betray me?!" I kicked the grass on the ground and said. "I don't know. If you left that traveling druid alive, we could have asked him," Lucian said. "Stop blaming me! That fucking asshole was blabbing about my fucking identity in front of Louisa!" I said. "Why don't you just tell her who you really are?
Louisa's POV Derek put his hand into his pocket. Colt thought he was about to take out a weapon or something, so he stepped forward, trying to stop him. "This..." Derek took out an amber-colored stone from his pocket and said. "This is Amber of Star. I want to give this... to your friend. I got it from... Underground City. With this stone, people can communicate with the soul... of their beloved deceased ones... I'm sorry that..." "I don't want anything from you." Mata cried out. "You took away my brother's life and there's nothing you can do to make up for it! He's dead! You killed him! You took him away from me! I have been staying with my brother ever since I first opened my eyes, and now his eyes will never open again. He can never hold my hands when I'm scared! It's a big scary world out there and I'm always scared!" "But you can talk to your brother... As if he's still alive..." Derek tried to explain. "You just don't understand, do
Louisa's POV The fire spreading all over my body dimmed. I stared at Derek and walked closer to him. He looked panicked and desperate at the same time. "What's the matter with you?! Where's the fire?! I have just killed your friend! Why don't you kill me with that fire of yours?!" He barked at me like a mad dog. I didn't say anything but kept stepping closer to him. "Come on! Hit me with a fireball or something! Hit here!" Derek pointed at the empty void in his left chest and said. "Don't you want revenge on behalf of your friend?" I stood right in front of him. Still, I didn't say anything. In despair, he grabbed my arm and said, "Come on! Hit me!" "Where is Darren," I said. "Take me to see him." "You'll never see my brother again..." He said with a sadistic grin. Before he could finish his sentence, I strangled his neck. He didn't protest or struggle. Instead, he kept smirking at me. I did
Louisa's POV The smirk on Derek's face was gone and replaced by ferocious malice. "Let me correct you, Miss Louisa Reeds. Nobody is supposed to be dead. We were born into this world to live our lives and hug our beloved ones, not to destroy and manipulate other people's lives." He looked exasperated for a brief moment, but then he regained his cool. "I used to serve Lucas when I was young and vulnerable. He's such a hypocrite and he used my innocence and love for him to take control of me. He came into my life without notice. When he was gone, he took everything away from me, including my life... and he told me it was for my own good! He locked me up in a cave and let those monsters torture me to death! And is this for my own good?!" Derek pulled off his shirt and let me see his naked chest. I could see there was a hole in his left chest. The place where his heart used to be. I was horrified and stepped backward. At that time, I rea