Louisa’s POV When the first ray of morning sun woke me up, I stretched out my arms and murmured, "Uma…" There was nothing in front of me except the relics of the bonfire. I couldn’t see Uma anywhere. I turned back. The black wolf was still behind me, sleeping soundly. "Uma…?" I raised my voice a bit and my throat was burning. I was so thirsty. Then, I heard some rustling sound coming behind a bush. I was alerted because I thought it might be a snake or something. So I pulled up a charred stick and tried to defend myself. A hUman figure emerged from the bush. It was a young man in Uma’s clothes. He had got fair hair and a pair of turquoise-colored eyes. He was holding a bowl made of bamboo stick, which was filled with water. He was surprised to see me awake, so the water splashed a bit from the bowl. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up." he walked to me and said, "I thought you might need some water when you’re awake." "Stop! Don’t come closer!"
Louisa’s POV When I went back to the clearing, I saw the big black wolf putting a nest of quail eggs and a chunk of bee hive next to the bonfire. He then tilted his head and looked at me. Sticky honey was dripping from his mouth. I smiled and quickly walked up to him. I tiptoed and wiped the honey on his snout. The sticky substance got on my hands and I smiled. "It’s so slimy." I said. He looked happy and started to lick my hands. "You like honey, don’t you, Finn?" I giggled while his tongue was tickling my palms. He suddenly stopped and looked at me with surprise. His stare was full of passion and sincerity, which made my face burn. I lowered my head and said, "I’ll go wash my hands and make some eggs and compote for breakfast." As I was about to walk away, I found that my sleeve was pulled. I turned back and saw him holding my sleeve in his mouth. "What?" I smiled, "I have to cook breakfast. You can come with me if you want. Catch some fish, maybe. Th
Lucas’ POV "What the fuck did she just say? How dare she flirt with other men like that without my permission?!" I shouted. The fucking wolf didn’t say anything. He just lay on the side of the bonfire and watched the she-wolf running around and making breakfast with that fucking warlock. "What is this? Playing house? What the fuck is wrong with the happy look on your face? You’re supposed to be miserable! Have you become her dog now?" I yelled. "You don’t have to raise your voice. I’m the only one who can hear you right now." my wolf said and his eyes started to get half-closed, "I look happy because I am happy. She has just declared her love for me. So I’m her lover, not her dog. You, on the other hand, will never get her love." "I don’t want her love!" his attitude was really irritating, "I’m going to reject and kill her anyway. I let you out to earn her trust and get her real name. I need some mission status report, right now!" He drew a line on the soil with his pa
Louisa’s POV "We’ve prepared everything. Have you found a flint to start the fire?" I asked Darren. "That won’t be necessary." he replied and snapped his slender fingers. Flame of fire appeared on the tip of his fingers and he used it to light the bonfire. "That’s amazing! How do you do that?" I looked at him with surprise. "We were born with different abilities summon elements in the nature. My brother…" he paused a bit and lowered his head, "When he was alive, he could summon water." "I’m sorry to hear that, Darren." I said, "It’s difficult to lose a family member. "It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have mentioned it." Darren said, throwing some branches and sticks into the fire. "No, I want to learn more about you." I said, "You can tell me everything." Darren put a slate of stone on the fire, putting some flax and water on it. "My brother and I were born in the… brothel." he flicked the fire and watched the flax seeding melting into oil on the slate, "We have never
Louisa’s POV I poured the compote into a bamboo bowl and handed it to Darren. "I’m so sorry to hear that." I said. "Sorry, Lisa." Darren said, "I shouldn’t have mentioned this to you. I have never told this to anyone." "It’s OK. You know, in the past, my stepbrother used to beat me. I felt so wronged and unfair, but I couldn’t fight him, because I’m weak. Sometimes I cried so hard at night that I just couldn’t go to sleep. At that time, Uma would come to me and encourage me to talk about what happened. I found that a problem shared is a problem halved. Sometimes, we just have to let things out instead of disgusting them by ourselves." "I’m sorry for pretending to be Uma. Master wants me to make you happy. He caught a White Walker soldier and asked him to describe Uma to me. I tried my best to become her, but I guess I’m just too useless…" "Don’t say that. You’ve done a great job. I really wish she could be still alive, even if it’s just an illusion. That’s why I didn’t w
Louisa’s POV The walk to the cottage was dreadful. I had never walked to the heart of the forest before. Tree branches trees were getting denser, twisting and covering sunlight and scratching the sky, like they were there at the beginning of time. My old nanny used to tell me bedtime stories, saying that in the deepest part of the forest, where time has no meaning, the incredible waterfall descends endlessly over the rocks. In the distance, the songs, clicks, and whistles of birds give approval to the gentle rain. But the forest where I was walking in reminded me nothing of a tranquilizing scene from a bedtime story. It was completely silent and the silence was slowly eating me alive. Finn was walking next to me. He must have detected my anxiety and used his nose to poke my hand. "Is that normal for a forest to be this silent?" I whispered to Finn. Finn shook his head. He didn't look worried, but he wasn't relaxed, either. I could tell something was wrong. But wi
Louisa's POV We've spent almost a whole morning cleaning up the mess in the cottage. Apparently, Finn had no intention of helping with the chores, so he went out hunting in the forest by himself. As soon as he was gone, Darren asked me nervously, "Did you mention the transfer of the imprint to Master?" I nodded while whisking away the dust on a blanket. "He didn't say anything," I replied. Darren's face darkened immediately. I tried to cheer him up. "Hey, I guess it's a good thing. At least he didn't say no." Darren shook his head and looked disappointed. "Master loves you. If he didn't want to transfer my imprint to you, it means that I would stay as his possession for the rest of my life." I bit my lips. I hated seeing him being demotivated like this, but I couldn't think of anything to prove that Finn would agree to give him to me. So I said, "Darren, you're my friend. I want to see you happy. I promise that I'll ask him again. We'll sort out something." D
Louisa's POV Darren stood up reluctantly and said, "Lisa, you don't have to apologize to me. You've done nothing wrong. It must be so hard to have another being living inside of you, talking to you in your mind like that. Master sometimes gets moody as well because of his wolf. He would beat and torture me for pleasure. I really don't mind. I'm used to it. That's what I was born and trained for. So next time, if you feel bored or angry, or I might say something that you don't like, feel free to punish me. You can do whatever you want to me. It's totally OK. But please don't walk away..." Darren was very reserved and calm whenever he was talking about his traUmatic experience. It felt as if he was talking about somebody else's story. This made me feel so sorry for him. I couldn't help but hug him tightly and cried a river against his bare chest. His skin was warm and smooth. I could feel the shivering of his body. It seemed that he was hot and cold at the same time. I could
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