Louisa's POV
"You look very distracted, Miss She-wolf." I heard Alpha Zackery's voice. I looked up at him in tears and I was too heartbroken to say anything. I turned my face away and let my tears fall quietly. I was nothing to Lucas. I meant nothing to my mate. I was a piece of trash that he could randomly dust away or push into other people's carriages. And I was stupid enough to believe that one day he could fall in love with me, that he could change because of me. "It seems that you're being deeply troubled by something," Alpha Zackery said. "It hurts to see such a beautiful thing wither in front of me like a fallen petal." I lowered my head and wiped out my tears. Then, I looked up at him and asked, "What do you want from me?" "I need your full attention," Alpha Zackery replied. He smiled while looking at me. Then, he took off the golden ring on his finger and handed it to me. I pushed it awayLouisa's POV "Why are you so kind to me?" I gathered all my courage and asked. "People like you don't treat people like me nicely without any reason." "People like me?" Alpha Zackery looked a bit hurt. "I didn't mean to offend you, but..." I tried to explain. "It's OK. I totally understand. You must have heard some rumors about my family stories and it's normal for you to form some preconceived notions about me. The truth is..." He paused and pulled me closer to his seat. My heart was almost getting out of my chest when he looked into my eyes in close vicinity and said, "...whatever you've heard about my family is all an unfair description of what has really happened. The reality is a hundred times worse than the stories and rumors." I was petrified. I had never thought that he would be this honest and direct with me. I didn't know what to say. Well, when you expected a left or right hook but you got jabbed straight at your n
Louisa's POV "Let me go out! My friends are out there!" I tried to push Alpha Zackery away. "I don't think it's necessary," Alpha Zackery said. "Why?" "Because Lucian was on it and the fight was over. Is that person your friend?" Alpha Zackery pointed at a figure in distance. And then, I heard a familiar voice. "Zowie guacamole! I..." Colt? I looked outside and saw Colt was covered in blood and standing in front of Lucian, who was holding his arm. "No! Don't hurt him!" I shouted at the top of my lungs and jumped out of the window. "Leave him alone!" Lucian heard my voice, turned back, and saw me charging towards him. By the time I arrived at the scene, I just couldn't catch my breath. But I still managed to squeeze some words out of my mouth, "Let... Let go... Let go of him!" Lucian looked at me hyperventilating in front of him, feeling surprised. Then, he sighed and lost the grip of C
Lucas' POV "Finn, you're fucking surprisingly quiet," I said to my wolf as I sat on the horse, looking at the farce taking place in front of me. "What do you want me to say? Something offensive? You did push your mate into another man's cart. Do you know what he was going to do to her?" My wolf sounded worried. I sighed and said, "What the fuck are you worried about? She's standing right in front of you! Completely intact. Zackery's a fucking royal prince, an enhanced version of Lucian plus a fucking questionable sexual preference. I haven't seen him fucking any men or women before. He's either working in a fucking garden or working on his fucking sculptures. Come on, we've seen his fucking masterpieces before. That flying fairy fucking on top of a freaking falcon shit, it's..." "It's sexually insinuating and aesthetically disturbing. So, you've pushed your own mate into a pervert's cart. That's really a relief, Luke." My wolf groused. I know wher
Louisa's POV Mrs. Flynn was lying on the bed in front of the furnace. It looked like she was asleep. Will rubbed his nose and took out two gold coins from his pocket, putting them on top of her closed eyes. "Rest in peace, Mrs. Flynn," he whispered. "What happened to her?" I wept and asked him. Will replied, "I don't know... She was talking to me about the sunflowers in her garden... And then she suddenly stopped talking..." His eyes were gleaming with tremendous fear and sorrow. He was too young and innocent to witness a life passing away in front of him. The weight of death still felt a lifetime too heavy, even for a vampire boy. "I'm so sorry, Lisa..." he murmured. I held Will in my arms and wept. The sound of steps appeared behind me, followed by a nightmarish voice. "What the fuck is going on here? Who's that little brat you're holding in your arms? And fuck. Before you answer any of the
Louisa's POV As I was pushed away by Darren, my world collapsed into shatters. I have thousands of words in my heart, but they melt on the tip of my tongue. All of a sudden, all the beautiful things in my life, friendship, trust, hope, and laughter, evaporated into the thin air. He lied to me. He wanted to kill me. That day in the marsh, before I drowned, he desperately asked about my real name. The sad image of him was engraved in my mind. A hopeless, crying warlock, drenched all over in the mud, calling me by a randomly made-up name. Even when I was lingering on the verge of death, he was still thinking of getting my real name before letting me drown. He was sitting there, crest-fallen like a dried pear, watching me lose everything in front of him and drown in the full of sorrow as a sea of sand. A giant pair of hands lifted me up. I looked up and saw it was Lucas. I didn't protest when he put me on his
Louisa's POV I was completely petrified. The cold, sharp blade of the knife was pressed against my throat. If I moved, even slightly, my throat would be sliced open. I saw the craziness in Lucas' eyes and I knew immediately that was it. I knew this day would come, but I guessed people would never be ready for their own death. "What have you just done? You didn't have to provoke him like that." I heard the sound of my wolf in my mind. "Now he's mad. He's going to rape and kill you." "I know," I said. "I don't want to die. I don't want to be killed by my own mate," my wolf said. "I know," I replied. "But I've had enough of this kind of miserable life. I'm tired of being beaten, threatened, and humiliated by someone who doesn't even have a heart. The void in his chest will never be filled by anything. I tried, really." "Well, you need to try harder." My wolf said in a calm voice. "I need your permission to take over
Louisa's POV The wind started to blow. More leaves fell down from the tree, flapping like the wings of butterflies. The afternoon sun made a dappled pattern on the ground. The afternoon sunlight was like gold embroidery on the grass, dancing playfully in the hypnotic breeze. It was a tranquil and peaceful afternoon for the advent of death. Lucas lifted up my wolf with both of his hands and lifted her up in the air. I thought he was about to squeeze the life out of her, but he didn't. Instead, he stared into her eyes and said, "How do you know her real name?" "Her mother told me about it before she passed away," my wolf replied. "I can tell you now and you can reject her right here, right now. What do you say? Let's put everything to an end." To my surprise, Lucas looked doubtful. Then, he carefully placed my wolf on his lap and stroked her back. My wolf purred and curled up like a fur ball. "You don't wan
Lucas' POV "No!" I heard a scream. My knife dropped from the fucking vampire boy's hand to the ground. Blood was dripping from his fingers. He stepped back towards his father while screaming and crying - "No! I didn't want to hurt Lisa! I didn't want to stab her! It was a mistake! I didn't..." He's loud for being such a tiny little child. Fuck, I want to kill him. I thought to myself. But before that... I saw that fucking little she-wolf lying on the ground in front of me. Blood was pumping out of her chest like a fucking fountain. Her tiny little body was twisting in pain and she stretched out her arm towards me. It didn't look good. Fuck. It didn't look good at all. I bent down and grabbed her hands. Fuck, her hands were freezing cold. She started to turn white. As white as a ghost. "Did he get at her heart?! Fuck, Finn! I need some help here!" I yelled at my wolf in my mind.
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