Louisa's POV
"Leo, Doctor Jafar needs to concentrate on doing the operation." I frowned and said, "Could you go sit next to the entrance of the tent and be vigilant? We don't want any bad people to come into the tent." "OK!" Leo skipped and hopped all the way towards the entrance of the tent. Then, he bumped into a man. "Lucas!" Leo jumped up and exclaimed. I saw Lucas picking Leo up like a little cub and holding him up in the air. "Man, what did they feed you in Festung Camp? You've grown up like a little calf!" Lucas said. Leo giggled and waved his arms. Lucas put him back on the floor and asked, "What are you doing here, little man?" Leo said, "Louisa asked me to stay here and stop bad people from getting into the tent." Lucas asked, "Do I look like a bad person to you?" Leo thought for a brief moment and said, "If you want to hurt Louisa, I can't let you go inside." Lucas laughed and stroked his hair,Lucas' POV "Fuck! Where's the fucking ring?! I saw she threw it on the floor, but where the fuck is it?!" I could feel the tremendous pain coming from the inside of my chest. I had to put that fucking ring back on the fucking she-wolf's neck to stop the exasperating pain in my chest! That's exactly why I fucking don't want a mate! They have fucking feelings! I thought to myself while crawling on the floor like a fucking dog. I looked everywhere on the carpet. Nothing. I lifted the fucking carpet and checked what was underneath. Nothing. I looked under the bed. Nothing. As I went through the trash bin, I heard my wolf's fucking voice in my head. "What are you doing, Luke? You look like a dog when you bury your head inside a trash bin. Oh, I know! You must be looking for your future!" he gloated. "Fuck you, Finn! Come on! Help me find the fucking ring! This pain in my chest is killing me!" I roared and kicked the trash b
Lucas' POV Both of the two fucking stupid heads withdrew a bit and looked panicked. Then, one of them moved forward and picked up a ring from the liquid. "Aha! My fucking ring! You two are not just ordinary reptile heads, are you? You're fucking thieves! You took away this fucking ring as soon as it dropped to the floor! Give the ring back to me!" I jumped at them. When I grabbed their arms, they slipped away through my fingers because their skin was slimy and slippery. They are like fucking eels with legs! It's impossible to get hold of them! "Fucking lowbred creatures. How dare you steal my belongings in front of me! I'm going to fucking peel off your skin and roast you over the fire when you're alive!" I clenched my teeth and said. They immediately kneeled on the floor. Then, one of them pointed the ring in his hand whereas the other one pointed in the direction of the she-wolf. I knew it. They were weird reptiles and one thing t
Louisa's POV The first ray of sunshine woke me up and I saw Will curling on the side of the bed, holding Snow, away from the sunshine. I quickly got up to draw the curtain closed, so the sunshine won't get into the tent. As I raised my hands, I saw the ring that Zackery gave me staying on my ring finger. That's weird. I rubbed my head and thought to myself. I remembered fighting with Lucas last night. We were shouting and I tore the ring off my neck and passed out. How did the ring get on my finger? It wasn't supposed to be the right size. I tried to take it off, but it became burning hot. As soon as I stopped pulling it off, it cooled down. I swung my hand and frowned. I knew it must have something to do with Lucas. I looked around in the tent and saw Darren's bed was empty. Mana and Mata were sleeping soundly on a mattress on the ground. I heard the sound of chopping wood from outside of the tent
Louisa's POV "We talked to him..." Mata said and immediately shut up. He poured a whole cup of tea into his mouth and then swallowed the cup. Mana had to bash his head to force him to cough the cup out. "We talked to him through mimes. He somehow understood us and said we could stay with you, miss," Mana said. "We're not lying, because liars will be turned into pickles," Mata said. I knew they were hiding something from me. There was no way Lucas could understand what they said except... He was one of the Gifted Ones?! No way! I thought to myself. There's no way he could be one of us. But when you think about it, he did kill the traveling druid last night because he was about to say something. I remembered the traveling druid was pointing at Lucas and said something - "You! It's you! You're..." The druid said. And then, his throat was slashed open by Lucas. He must have recognized Lucas, so Lucas im
Louisa's POV "Louisa, this is the best toast I've ever eaten in my life!" Colt munched and said. "And the syrup! Exquisite!" "I'm glad that you like it, Colt," I said. Darren hadn't said anything ever since he came back from the canteen with Colt. "Darren, are you OK?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said. I could tell that he was deeply bothered by something. "Did Lucas say anything to you?" I asked. Sometimes Luas would contact him through mindlink, asking him to do bad things that he didn't want to do. "No, Master is still asleep," he replied. Colt stretched out his arms, leaned towards Darren, and said, "Come on, don't be so jealous like this. I knew I shouldn't have spent a whole night in Colt's tent, but I promise that nothing happened between us! We were talking about glazing machines and the next thing I realized, it was the next morning." Darren used a fork to poke his arms, forcing Colt to stay aw
Louisa's POV After Gianna was gone, I asked Darren, "What happened?" Darren looked away and said, "Nothing. I was..." I held his arms and said, "Darren, look at me. Tell me what happened." Darren looked at me and said, "Louisa, let's go to the Mountainside Village now. I'll tell you on our way there." Colt said, "I'll go to tell Alex to prepare the carriage for us." Then, he walked off the tent. "Darren, tell me. Is there anything going to happen to Gianna's child?" I asked. Darren looked at me and shook his head. "Then what is it?" I asked. "I really don't know, Louisa. I'm not powerful enough to predict anyone's future. I'm not a fortune teller. I can only sense some disturbance. That's it," he said. "That traveling druid said very disturbing things about Gianna and her baby. I will never ever let it happen to her. She's like a sister to me." I clenched my fists and said. "Louisa, please stay out
Louisa's POV Josephine's face was turning red and white at the same time. I knew she tried to come up with something to explain this whole situation, but she just couldn't say a word. She admitted wearing those earrings last night. Akela said she found the earrings in her tent. I found a piece of silk handkerchief jammed in Akela's window. Those soldiers saw Akela's maid wandering around Akela's tent. I connected all those pieces together and concluded what happened last night - Before Mana and Mata got into Akela's tent, Josephine sent one of her maids to check if Akela was at her tent. Then, she got into the tent for some unknown reason and put a piece of a handkerchief in the window, so she could sneak into the tent later. But before she left, her earrings dropped to the floor, but she didn't notice. Then, Akela came to the tent and saw these two earrings. She must have put them up somewhere before Mana and Mata got
Louisa's POV After Josephine walked away, I looked at Mana and Mata. They still looked terrified. "She really doesn't have to say sorry to us, Miss." Mata looked up at me and said. "We don't mind being beaten, you know." Mana rubbed his head and said. I crouched down and got at eye level with them. "Don't allow anyone to bully you again," I said in a soft voice. "When people do bad things to us, we should stop them. If we let it happen, they will keep doing bad things to us." They looked at me with their giant watery eyes and nodded. "Why didn't you hypnotize them?" I asked. "We can't do it." "People know that we're with you now." "We don't want to bring you any trouble." They lowered their heads and looked ashamed. My heart was throbbing. I hugged them and said, "Always protect yourself before you want to protect others. Please don't get beaten again." "OK, Miss. Next time we'll run away."
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