Louisa's POV "Is he going to make it?" Lucian asked me. "I don't know. He has lost too much blood. I guess I got his artery. I don't know what I'm going to do... We need a doctor... Alpha Zackery has got a physician..." "That Shaman doctor?" Lucian frowned. "Yes... Please get him here..." I said. I was too panicked to do anything. Blood just kept popping up from Darren's back and I couldn't stop it. Lucian was gone for a minute and then he was back with Alpha Zackery and his physician. The man checked Darren's wound and said, "OK. I need to transfer him to that bed over there. I also need a lot of sterilized towels and some more space. The she-wolf can stay and help. Everyone else has to leave." "I'm not going anywhere," Lucas said. "OK. So Alpha Lucas can stay as well," the doctor said. After Darren was transferred to Lucas' bed, some maids brought in towels and linens. The doctor looked at Lucas and said, "Listen, I'm going to sew him up, but I can't give him
Louisa's POV "Doctor Sadiq?! I've heard of you! You're the best doctor of our time! I thought you were an..." "Old man?" Doctor Sadiq looked at me and smiled. He looked to be in his early thirties. I had never expected him to be the most reputable doctor in the entire Kingdom. "No... I mean..." I whispered. "You're very talented, Miss...?" "Louisa. My name is Louisa Reeds." I replied. Doctor Sadiq continued, "Miss Reeds. I understand that sometimes it must be difficult to get stuck in a place and not be able to go anywhere. That's why I'm offering you another possibility in life. I sincerely hope that I can see you in our academy." "Thank you, Doctor Sadiq..." I felt overwhelmed. "You can call me Jafar. Doctor Sadiq is my father," he smiled. "Thank you, Jafar. Thank you for everything. You've saved Darren's life. I couldn't be more appreciated," I said. Jafar frowned and said, "He's still in critical condition. But he's a tough young man, and he has you on his si
Louisa's POV Lucas' cold voice floated in the air. I saw thousands of snowflakes swirling in the cold north wind in his eyes. At that very moment, I realized that he wasn't the one that I'd been waiting for all these years. "Lucas," I said in a low, quiet voice, "Do you want me to accept your rejection?" "No," he said decisively. "I want you to stay with me and love me unconditionally." I looked at him. Slow as the winter snow, the tears drifted from my eyes. I took off the Ring from my neck and put it aside, so he could feel what kind of pain I was going through. "Even though it hurts me like this?" I wept silently, feeling a thousand knives stabbing into my chest. Lucas sighed, picked up the Ring, and put it back on my neck. He took a long pause and said, "I've changed my mind. I won't sell the warlock to his deadbeat uncle, so he won't be taken to the slave market. Since I'm done with him, he'll be reassigned a post as your personal guard, and I won't lay a h
Louisa's POV "Miss Louisa, may I ask why there're two men on Alpha Lucas' bed?" Lucian's voice woke me up. I rubbed my eyes and saw Lucian standing in front of me, looking confused. I turned back and saw that Colt was still soundly sleeping with Darren. I sneaked down the bed, checked on Darren's wound, and stretched out like a cat. "I feel refreshed and taller." I tiptoed to look up at Lucian and said. I tried to use my nose to touch his lips but failed. Lucian held my shoulders to stop me. He looked down at me with a serious look on his face and said, "Alpha Lucas wants me to take you out for a shopping spree. And Alpha Zackery has sent you this." He took out a red velvet box and handed it to me. I took the box and opened the lid. It was the emerald jewelry set that I accidentally purchased at yesterday's auction. There was a note inside. I unfolded it and saw Alpha Zackery's beautiful handwriting - "To undying love. - Z.H." Zackery Hawk. A royal last na
Louisa's POV I moved towards the other end of the carriage and said, "I'm sorry, Lucian. I don't know what happened to me. I feel... very different after the transformation." Lucian sighed and said, "I'm married, Louisa. My wife's carrying my baby boy and I love her very much. Whatever is happening to you, please take control of it. With that warlock on your side, you'll be more than satisfied." My face started burning. "Darren's like a brother to me... He helped me last night because Lucas was having sex with other women, and I was suffering from excruciating pain. We didn't really... do it." I whispered. "He wouldn't dare to do anything else. He's very well trained and he knows how to handle some very sensitive matters. Take him as Luke's gift for you. Tell him what you want. Use him wisely. That's my advice," Lucian said. "Has he done any service for you?" I frowned and asked. "Sometimes I miss my wife." He said. "Is that why he's afraid of you?" I asked. "I did
Louisa's POV The carriage stopped. Lucian took a glance outside and said, "Here we are." He lifted the curtain and walked out of the carriage. I saw a tall, lanky, white-haired cartman standing next to the carriage. "Welcome to Skagen City, Miss." He looked a bit shy, stretching out his arms towards me, trying to help me to get off the carriage. His eyes were pale gray, like being covered by a mist of fog, suggesting that he was suffering from Albinism. That must be Alex. I thought to myself. The security guard at Ragnar's Hall was talking to Lucian about his younger brother, who was Albinic. I got off the cart with the help of his arms. "Thank you, Alex," I said and smiled at him. He seemed to be surprised that I knew his name. He scratched his head and blushed. "You're welcome, Miss," he said. Colt popped up from the back of the carriage and said, "Alex's amazing! He knows everything about carts!" I wiped a stain o
Louisa's POV "What color does Gianna like?" I asked Lucian, going through some beautiful woolen shawls on the shelf. Lucian looked a bit confused. I guessed I caught him off guard. "Every girl has a favorite color. You should ask her." I said. "She doesn't really talk to me these days. I've been away from her for too long." Lucian said. "What color was she wearing when you were on your first date?" I asked. Lucian thought for a while and said, "She's in a white dress. But that's because white is my favorite color." "You have never asked her about her favorite color?" I frowned. "She's not that talkative," Lucian said. "So you don't talk to her when you're together?" I asked. "Not really," Lucian answered. "So how do you tell her that you love her?" I felt confused. "She knows. She's my mate," Lucian said. "OK. So she stops talking to you. What are you going to do about that?" I said. "I tried to talk to her on mi
Louisa's POV "Lucas is going to get married?!" I looked up at Lucian in shock and asked in a whisper. "Does he know about it?! Do you know about it?!" I added in a subdued voice. Lucian lowered his head and said, "Miss Louisa, I want to assure you that it's not what it looks like. We'll talk about it in a minute." Then, he talked to the shop assistant, "I'll take both of the red shawls and would you please escort Miss Louisa to the private fitting room and help her to try on all the dresses in your shop until she finds what she likes." "Yes, Sir." The shop assistant nodded and said. "Please come this way, Miss Louisa." I followed the shop assistant and walked away reluctantly. I strained my ears to hear their conversation. "Lady Akela, this really is the worst time for you to show up here," Lucian said. "I don't care. You boys keep doing these things behind my back and try to keep me in the dark. You know how I hate to be in the dark, L
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