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
Louisa's POV After Lucian was gone, there were only two of us left in an empty cell. The blood stains were drying up on the ground, while silence seemed to come drifting down like flakes of snow. Darren curled up in the corner of the cell while holding his knees. I knew he didn't want to talk to me, but I just couldn't sit there and watch his wounds bleeding like that. I took up my baggage from the ground and sat next to him. Pain gripped my chest. He was so badly hurt that there wasn't even one single inch of intact skin on his body. "Darren, please let me at least stop the bleeding for you..." I softened my voice and attempted to reach him. "Please don't touch me." He said while moving his arm away from me. I knew he was begging me to leave him alone. But the indifference in his voice was like a surgical knife, scratching my skull. Tears kept falling out of my eyes and melted in my tender voice, "Darren,
Lucas' POV "Fuck, Lucian. Give me some good news. I mean, the good ones. Not the ones that sound about right at the very beginning and fucking end with a sudden twist of things going bad, because that made me want to strangle you to death." I lay on my giant bed, feeling exhausted from a long fucking day. I once kept chasing a fucking bunch of louts for three consecutive days and I didn't feel half as tired as I am right now. And tomorrow will be an even longer fucking day because a fucking Grand Ball will be on the way and I don't even have a fucking date. With that fucking skinny ass she-wolf down, who am I going to dance with? "Will you dance with me tomorrow?" I flipped on my bed to look up at Lucian. "Yeah, with you dressing up beautifully in a skirt, why not?" Lucian handed me a glass of water as well as a few hangover pills. "Fuck you, Lucian. When the day comes, I won't be the one who's wearing a skirt. I'll give you that." I
Louisa's POV "Louisa?" I heard Darren's blurry voice in the darkness. My body was twitching. Terror ebbed like water from a basin. I felt there was an invisible dark hand strangling my neck. "Darren, I..." I gasped in pain. Darren held me from behind. "You're burning and sweating. Are you having a seizure?" He whispered in my ear. "Ah... Darren... Don't... I don't know what's going on with me..." I started to moan. The sound coming out of my mouth made me so embarrassed. My loins were burning and I couldn't help but twist my legs together. Then, I felt it. The tenderest part of my body had become dripping wet. I had absolutely no control over it. I wanted to touch myself down there, but I couldn't. Not with Darren holding me from behind. Never. "What's happening to me?" I whispered and groaned in tremendous pain. "Am I going to die?" "It's Lucas." I heard my wolf's voice in my mind. "He's co
Louisa's POV "Wake up!" I heard someone shouting and the clashing sound of iron. I opened my eyes and saw some soldiers standing in front of me. Darren woke up as well. He pulled up the cape to cover my body, holding me in his arms. I knew he was trying to block me behind his body. He looked so thin. He needed to eat something, or else the wounds wouldn't heal. Then, Lucian walked into the cell. He was wearing a white casual suit, looking radiant in the dim ray of sunlight. He threw some clothes at me and said, "Stand up and put on these clothes." I didn't move. He glanced at me and commanded, "Move. You're needed for having breakfast with Alpha." I buried my head in Darren's arms. "Do you need me to give you a hand?" Lucian asked. He didn't sound very patient. "I won't go anywhere without Darren," I said in a muffled voice. I didn't know what those soldiers would do to him when I left.