LIONEL
He seemed very unhappy. “I honestly wish it didn’t have to be this way. If you don’t mind, I just want to be away from the both of you, so I don’t have to keep feeling hurt watching how your marriage is playing out.” He replied.I felt my soft spot for him tingle again. “Ryker, I know all these are made worse because you still harbor the mentality that I kidnapped her.”“Are you saying that Regina was lying when she said so herself?”“Yes!” I replied with assurance. For goodness sake, it was either Regina was a greener snake than I had thought or she was just as misled as he was and every other person she had told the lie to.There was only one way to find out.Ryker chuckled now. “Why do I find it hard to believe you instead of Regina?”I scoffed. “Because you know me... I am not an alpha that should hide my plots from you. No matter how dark, I’d rather just tell and do whatever has to be done irrespective ofREGINAI retreated to the room early that night. By the time I got into the room, it was empty. At least, I turned on the lights first thing to be sure and not end up like the day before. After freshening up for the night, I went back to my spot on the ground after swearing to myself that I wasn’t going to take the bed for anything. I had hardly fallen asleep when the door opened quietly behind me and closed. “Is this how you’ll keep lying on the ground, huh?” I heard his deep, rusty voice as he stood above me.“What do you care?” I shot back. He scoffed. “Of course I don’t. You could die for all I care. What I don’t want happening is to have you catch a cold or something while seemingly sleeping comfortably in the room, thereby drawing suspicions to me.”His excuse made sense. “I’d be fine.” I shot back defiantly. “Suit yourself. It’s not like I’d be sleeping here with you tonight, not if I really want to catch any
LIONEL“Do we have a problem, Ryker?” I felt the anger rising within me. “I thought we'd had our differences all cleared out. I told you—I'd investigate the matter. Wasn’t that it?”He scoffed. “Still, you threaten her to change what she had said about going to the Maldives?"My head spun wildly at his remarks. That very much explained where the new attitude was coming from. He had seen me in the study and of course, he thought it best to ruin the opportunity she had at cancelling those stupid plans.But how does Ryker just suddenly know everything?“Are you monitoring us, Ryker?” I asked now. “Because you shouldn’t be. Whatever is happening between I and Regina is none of your business.”He scoffed. “Do I have to monitor anything? You don’t even have an idea of just how obvious and open your hatred for Regina Donovan is becoming. I was just passing by the study and that was it. It could have been anyone else. It could have been
LIONELAfter my call with Frankenstein, I felt much more fulfilled. It was satisfying to have set the work in motion and now I could focus on doing something else to keep me awake through the night. I had just settled on my system and began a task when the voice came from the door.“For how long do you plan to do this, Lionel?”I looked up to find Grandpa. I sighed heavily. “Is there a problem, Grandpa? You should be asleep.”“How do I sleep knowing you aren’t sleeping either?” He replied.I really didn’t want to have this conversation. “Believe me, Grandpa... this isn’t about whatever you’re thinking. I and Regina are cool.”“Really? Then what could keep you from staying in the same room with your wife?” He shot back.“Isn’t it obvious? I’ve got some jobs to handle. Once I’m done with it tonight, I’d join Regina.”“Lionel, it’s been only two days since you got married. What job is it that can’t wait for just a
REGINA I totally couldn’t tell what to make out of Lionel anymore. I could even see the surprise on Grandpa’s face when Lionel showed up all of a sudden. He approached us with a smile I could count as fake, looking from me to Grandpa. “I think we should definitely have the honeymoon, and if she says we go to the Maldives, then that’s great!” He said as he drew closer. I felt weird. I felt strange. Something was wrong. Suddenly, I felt his arm wrap around my waist and I fidgeted, totally not expecting such a move, completely revolted by the feel of his arm. What hell of a move was he pulling? What type of mind game was he playing this time?“Or what do you think, Regina? Let’s give it a try?” He asked as he stared right into my eyes. I was frozen, staring back at him, staring into his eyes. I was trying to interpret the message they were conveying. What exactly are you doing, Lionel?I easily got a grip of myself as I broke into a smile
REGINAIt had been a while since I saw that cheerful, friendly part of Ryker. At this point, all I could think was that Ryker didn’t deserve the stress he was going through worrying about me and a marriage that wasn’t supposed to happen. We continued having fun while it lasted even all through breakfast. Lionel had not shown up and that was just great. He didn’t need to turn up and ruin the moment. After breakfast, I called Gwen for a meetup. The honeymoon was going to come faster than I was thinking, especially now that Grandpa had seen he had Lionel’s approval. I was really going to miss Gwen if she wasn’t going to follow us.Skip to when I had asked her. “What? No way!” Gwen had remarked. I and Gwen sat together at one of our favorite spots that afternoon munching cakes. “Oh, Gwen. I’m trying to imagine what it would be like being with just Lionel. I feel like it’s going to be a disaster.”“Well, definitely, I won’t lie to
REGINAJust as I had subconsciously thought, there wasn’t much information on them. I basically found the same things the priest had said—they were an awkward breed of people that lived deep in the mountains in the Maldives. They were a special breed of wolf clan that honored the idea of not getting polluted by the precepts of modernity. There was also an illustration of the mountain they were believed to be living in alongside other pictures and illustrations that suggested what they were like. Basically, they were Asians with bald heads and dressed in red scarves. They were humans. Things could not get any worse than that. Then there was the most daunting part—the reason they are believed to be myths—they will only come to you if they want to be found. You could not find them. What if they don’t want me to find them eventually? I decided not to conclude just yet and instead give myself the benefit of doubt. Shortly after, I eventually fell as
LIONELI had come at the perfect time to call off Regina’s move at cancelling the idea of the honeymoon and pouring fuel on fire. Still, I could see the shock on their faces, looking at how I had suddenly changed my mind. I had to make it sound even more convincing and of course, there was one way to see to that - draw Regina closer. I could feel her discomfort and fear at my sudden actions. I was equally uncomfortable with having to place my arm around her waist and draw her close. It was fine, though. It was only for this one time and I promised it would never happen again. Good enough, it worked out just fine and Regina played along just right. Shortly after, she came to me just as I had expected, asking for answers to my sudden change of mind and of course, there was the perfect answer already waiting. Further confusion. I could see she was lost, unsure of what I had in mind. Fortunately for her, I had no actua
LIONELThe conversation between I and Ryker continued.We laughed. “Not really used to not having you around the house.”I nodded humorously. “Come to think of it, I’ve never actually gone for such a holiday, nor have I even worked myself either. What have I been doing with my life all the while?”Ryker laughed as he caught the humor. “Being there for me and Grandpa.” He replied. I nodded now and it all fell quiet. Then he made his way out. At this point, I found myself wishing the terms of this marriage had been totally different and that things didn’t have to turn out the way they did. Imagine not pretending about the feelings I felt. My life would have been all perfect. Now, I felt like I was definitely scamming Ryker and Grandpa and it was only a matter of time before they both realized that I was just waiting for the right moment to get rid of Regina. The next morning, just as Grandpa had said, everythi
LIONEL“We are an organization known as the Institute of Paranormal Research. We take your species and find ways to duplicate your species for more of your kind to flood the earth. Isn’t that amazing?”“You kidnap us and use us as lab rats, conducting experiments that seek to create more werewolves of humans that were never wolves before?”This lady was insane.“It’s just like in the movies.” Isabel was saying. “You know, it’s believed that when a werewolf bites a person that is not a wolf, the abilities transfer like some sort of virus, but that is only in the movies. In reality, your type only transfers through your blood, from children to children. Do you know how limiting it is that we humans cannot enjoy that privilege you enjoy as werewolves, having super abilities? The only way is to marry a wolf and even then, it is only when the pair bears children that it can be so. We at the IPR want to put an end to that and make it possible for every
REGINAI didn’t know how sure I was to answer that. “I am married.” I replied. “Well, then… you should have healed.”“I am married to the man who rejected me.” He paused and appeared puzzled a bit. “And how is that so?”“My husband had a dislike for my entire family and the moment he found out I was his mate, he rejected me without thinking as a result of the hate he felt towards me. It turned out shortly after that my father had betrothed me to him after an agreement he had made with his grandfather.” I guess that broke it down in the simplest form. “And how did they allow the marriage to proceed knowing you have been rejected?”“Neither of them knows. We kept it to ourselves.” I gave it a thought. Perhaps I should have told Grandpa Leonard that I was rejected. It may have changed something about the marriage. But I doubted though. That marriage was bound to happen and there was almost nothing we could have done to s
LIONEL“What are you doing? Feeling so comfortable about suddenly erasing two people off the face of the earth. Where the fuck did you keep the bodies?”“That’s none of your business.”“How the fuck had you taken those bodies out in the blink of an eye, almost like the crime never happened?”“We were protecting you. We needed to save you the stress of having to be investigated for both their deaths.”“And you changed everything in just the snap of a finger?”“We have technology much beyond the scope of our present age. That part was easy. See, that’s why you need to cooperate with us. Imagine all the things we could do together with this technology that we’ve got.”“Stop trying to make something that is totally abnormal from your end sound all normal. I’m not interested in helping you with shit!”She appeared less tolerating of my attitude now. “And between us both, who is the man and the beast, huh?”“
REGINAI stopped, trying to catch my breath as I watched the man closely. “What do you want?” His English sounded plucked but he was speaking English anyway! He could speak what I could speak! This could be much easier. “Does your tongue sound so strange on mine that you don’t get to understand what I asked?”My silence had lasted too long. “I’m sorry.” I replied calmly. “I do understand you. I need your help.”“Many people come here every day with their display of all the vanities the world has to offer, seeking us out to take pictures and put out there everywhere. But our kind have lived within these mountains for hundreds of years and don’t want the disturbance of those from the outside. Your disturbance was of the different kind. We felt your energy and your call of faith, and now we have answered. State what you want.”I took a deep breath. “I need to restore my energy core.”He paused. “And what must have happened to you?”
LIONELI was still in the middle of fighting my way out but with that one moment of contemplating mercy came my downfall.Just then, another latch came and then another, and another until the latches formed complex strings around me, pulling me from all sides and throwing me to the ground. I roared in anger, trying to break free, trying to move my arms or legs but none responded. One of the men came closer now and from the distance I could see he was holding up a syringe. “Do not come close.” I growled. He hesitated, clearly moved by the threat at first but then he continued forward and slowly placed the syringe by my neck. Fuck! I cursed within my thoughts. I could feel the liquid slide in through my veins and I knew quite well that it was over. I felt my heart rate slow and everything in my body slowly came to relax. What the fuck would happen now, Lucius? I asked within me. They don’t want to kill us, that’s for
REGINAI was still waiting for something to take place. But for now, all that was around me was the darkness. These people had a new way of trapping their prisoners. I had expected that since they took me in as a prisoner, I was going to either be chained or kept in a cell. No, the Mountain Men had a different prison style, one even worse than being chained or trapped in a cell. I was in a dark room with a darkness that was seemingly unnatural. It was pitch black here to such great intensity that it felt like the darkness was light itself. It felt dangerous to move around as I couldn’t even tell in a bit what lay ahead, nor could I see through with my night vision or smell anything that was different from nothingness. All I could do was remain still where I was left and wait. “Had we made a wrong decision?” I asked Ruby. I could hear my voice echo. Oh, Regina. I can’t tell anymore what is going on. Ruby replied. Since your w
LIONELI glided through the forest slowly and cunningly. There was so much risk attached with the swarms of men I could feel moving through the forests as well. It was goodbye to the hotel now, and the plan was to get to the mountains and find Regina. Afterwards, we would leave this goddamned Maldives like we were never there. But for now, to get to the mountains at all was to pass through the forest alive. I could hear sounds as my senses picked on my surroundings. At first, it appeared to be the men, but it was only the ordinary activities of the forests. “We need to take the wolf form now.” I whispered to Lucius. I knew he consented. I crouched to the ground and slowly drifted into my wolf form. Now, Lucius was the one dominating the most. Things were about to get destructive. Lucius had no stopping. I continued through the forest and shortly, I heard another sound, like a footstep. Then another footstep came an
LIONEL I was in a world where I was just having a little fun and both women fell dead right before me while I barely escaped an attacker that could clean up a murder scene in seconds. I was in a world where everything was uncertain. What if I just found Regina to be dead? How would I explain it all to Grandpa? How would Grandpa ever forgive me when I wouldn’t even be able to forgive myself? Forgive myself? I gave it a thought. Had I done something wrong? Well, I had been careless with her. I should never have let her out of my sight, no matter how much I despised her. I should have ensured she was always there. Staying in a different room was a bad idea. Now, there was only one way to right all these wrongs. I needed to goddamn move! There was also the detective, though. Nicholas had called the night before and I had never reached out to him again. Perhaps this was also a good time to talk to h
LIONEL “No, Lucius. I think something is beginning to make sense. This cars speaks about healing... restoration of energy... ” Lucius waited, almost like he was beginning to see what I was seeing as well. “Do you remember the night at the wedding, Lucius? The moment when I and Regina were to heal from the blood bonding... We were not healing because our energy core was broken, but then Regina was not healing either.” Are you saying Regina has an issue with her energies as well? “I can’t conclude for sure, but it was most likely that somehow, Regina also had the problem with her energies. You said it yourself that the fact that we were broken did not in any way affect her own healing process, and yet she wasn’t healing fast enough. So what if she had come here…” To find healing? Lucius completed. Oh, dear goddess. I ran my fingers through my hair in realization. It was like an ima