Kellan looks at me in disbelief, but it's a worry. Maze wouldn't have said it if it hadn't been possible."Your wolf won't reject you. That's foolish. If it was going to happen, you wouldn't have had such a strong bond with it when you saw it. Not to mention, a small part is still inside of you. I don't think it will reject you and part of itself."He thinks. With how bad my luck has been, it's possible."Okay, enough moody shit. We got a lot of good from today. Focus on that." His finger runs down my side. "We might know the reason our father ordered your family's deaths tomorrow."I peer at him. I'm not sure if I want to know. "How?""Well, a lot of the things they found didn't amount to much. So, he's sending some people to dig up resources."Laughing, my head falls forward. "He's ordered someone to dig up your father's grave?" That's crazy."No, your parents. He would have more than likely buried it with them to remove evidence. Not kept it until he died." I stare at him, shocked.
I wake alone but in Kellan's bed. Getting ready, I go to breakfast. Everyone is sitting and eating. Darius and Kellan aren't here, though.Sage hugs me, and we sit talking."Ask her." I hear Lyra whisper or try to and fail."You!" I laugh, hearing Callista, and turn to look at them."You're close to Kellan. What is going on as we've had no updates on what's next.""I'm not close enough to be told things in advance." Okay, he's told me things before, but still. I'm now making this target on my head any bigger."Ladies, I can reassure you things will resume soon. As you know, the producer left, and the king has been working towards fixing that issue." William looks towards us. "Please be patient and give the king time to consider things."We go to nod and see the door open. Darius walks in with Kellan, so another event? Are they announcing it?"Right, ladies. I decided to change things up." Oh shit. My head lowers, hearing Darius. This won't be good at all. "Usually, we set you a task.
The pen taps against the table."If I may..." My hand shoots up."You may not, Darius."He chuckles slightly."I was simply-" My hand covers his mouth."No!" I narrow my eyes at him, watching the humour on his face. Dropping my hand, his mouth opens, and I groan."That's a new one for me, been physically silenced." He sits amused, and I try not to get dragged in, but I laugh. My mind goes back to what Maze had explained to expect. Quickly pushing it from my mind, I go back to thinking about the event.That's it!Writing it, I turn the paper to Darius. He looks at me and smiles. "It's been a while since one was held here. It's an amazing idea. The Rites Of Passage, however, you need to decide on an age group for the participants.""Could I not do like thirteen to eighteen? Then split them into smaller groups?" I don't like choosing a smaller group."You can, yes. I am assuming this event will be held outside?"My eyes roll. "Well, from what little I know of werewolf Rites of Passages,
Darius seems to be trying to escape working. Placing down the pen, I look at him. I don't blame him. The amount of crap thrown at him this week is crazy."What happened to your mum? All I know is she died young." I remember Draven and everyone speaking about it, but I was only like ten."Heart attack, apparently." His words are barely a whisper."I'm sorry." He couldn't have been more than eighteen if I was about ten. Kellan would have been maybe fifteen. No, because I'm not twenty. Based on Xenia, I'm twenty-four. So Kellan would have been maybe twelve and Darius fifteen."It's fine. In the years she was alive, she was our mum. She didn't treat us like she was the queen, so we have a lot of memories."All I can do is nod. I can't imagine that being easy for the king. "I can't imagine the pain your father was in losing his mate." Especially with how young she was when she died."They weren't mates, Elara; their marriage was arranged. Mates had no place when it came to him marrying." W
I sat for a short while after Darius had left. Kellan came in and found me. He ordered me to get some sleep. Which I reluctantly agreed to do.Today has disappeared; everyone is discussing their events, how well they are going and how amazing they will be.I was right. Most are throwing parties, balls and such. Only myself and Sage are thinking outside the box. I've heard them discuss their guest lists, and again, they are sticking to the same people who have already met.They should be using this as an opportunity to build those people who see them as a potential Luna and Queen. I'm apparently lucky that I am part of this; otherwise, I wouldn't be invited.Thanks, Lyra. I laughed at that; I would be more than happy to stay out of their events. It would be rude, however, so I will go.Lyra's is first. She has already planned so much. We have been told to ensure we pick a date and then plan things. Otherwise, it can take ages.Tomorrow is Lyra's masquerade ball. The day after is Callis
I wake alone. It's still early, but I've not missed breakfast. After getting sorted, I walk down. Tonight is Lyra's masquerade ball. May has barely stopped working to make dresses for all the events.I was happy to wear one of the old ones, but she insisted it needed to be new. I wanted to argue but she said my argument would need to go to Darius, and that isn't someone I want to argue with today.I listen to them discuss their events. Sage rolls her eyes every time Lyra says her event is exclusive.It's not exclusive. It's biased and judgemental.Today, I need to get updates. I don't know how things are going with finding the main guy or if they have uncovered anything that explains why the king killed my parents.Things outside are getting worse as well. I have an idea that might help with that. I'm not sure if either Kellan or Darius will agree, however. I watch as everyone begins leaving after finishing eating.Walking to William, I watch as he smiles at me."Do you know where Dar
I don't know how long I have been laid here with his wolf cuddled against me. The few times I tried to move his wolf, it just attached itself to me more.Part of me wants to force him back to reality. Another part thinks maybe it's best he doesn't face it for now. I can't imagine how it must feel to find out that his father killed his mother. I'm still waiting for him to find something that says that piece of paper was a lie, but it's the truth.I glance up, hearing the door, getting ready to tell William to stay awake."Are you okay?" I see Kellan and nod. "Good, come on." He steps in and reaches for me. Darius' wolf looks up and growls at him.Kellan stands laughing. "See, I do nothing, and he's jealous."Sighing, I nod. I think it's more Darius' wolf, not Darius, that's jealous."I see you're dealing with shit how you normally do, Darius. You have ten minutes, and then you need to be back in form for Lyra's event. Then I want my girlfriend back." Kellan grins, and I hear the growl.
Stepping out of my room, Darius is waiting. I know I said we would go in together, but I just assumed he would go in alone and see me there. He's meant to be with Lyra, not me. Has he forgotten that part?"How are you feeling?" I glance towards him."Foolish." I stare at him. "Not so much about my dad and him killing our mother. More the fact I never noticed William, I need to find out if he knew.""Surely he wouldn't." I can't see William ignoring that."He vowed to our mother over and over that he would watch over Kellan and me. So, he would stay and ignore what our father did." He stops and looks at me. "See, that there. How didn't I realise? He didn't say it like the other guards. He said it like he fucking loved her.""You can't kill him, Darius." As much as he feels like he wants to, he can't do that."His affair with my mother led to her death."I stop walking and grab him. "Don't blame him. Yes, it was wrong, but that letter said they were mates. He already no doubt blames him
Asher POVI look down at Katla. She's only a few days old. After speaking with Zyra, she decided that the space in the mountains would be a retreat—a place for us to escape to, somewhere Katla could get used to what it is like to live in the Dragon Kingdom.We have spent a few days there, but not many. Apparently, she wants to be in the palace close to the others. Part of me feels like that's because they were her support while I was hiding away.It's shown her what having a family around can do. We're close, minus Aurelia. She seems to be thriving with the Bears and keeping her distance. Other than returning that day when I was going crazy and needed help, she rarely came back. We've adjusted and got used to that, however.She wants her life away from here; she wants her own life, not one that is connected to us. She should have that if she wants it."Hey."Turning, I see Elijah walk to me.He laughs slightly and takes Katla from my arms. "You look exhausted; fun night?"It's only 4
Asher POVI walk out of the room and go to where I know they will be. As I step into the office, they turn to face me.Darius shakes his head. "You should be with Zyra.""I was, but considering this is brought on by the Dragons, I should be helping." I walk further in and look at the papers."Nothing to help with," my dad shrugs. "His son is clean, Seraphine can tell. Things were explained to him. He had no idea about the arranged marriage and, to be honest, was shocked, as he apparently had a mate."So the son won't be an issue. Is that what he's saying?"Look, both Eliphas and Durnalin are in the cells, away from each other. The son has gone. Apparently, he has a whole life with his mate. His dad told him the dragons had requested their presence at events." Darius explains.It makes no sense, though. "Why? Why would the dragons want the warlocks there?" How didn't his son question it?"Apparently, because Eliphas and his son are the strongest warlocks, they invited them to make a un
Asher POVI wait and watch."Prince Asher, soon to be King, tell me something." He walks to the bars and leans against them. "Where do Warlocks belong?"My head tilts; they belong wherever they want to. I don't understand his question."See, there is no answer as we don't belong anywhere. There is the werewolf kingdom, fae, dragons and everything else. Witches and warlocks are forced to live in one of those kingdoms, with no real power."So this was all about getting power? My body is pushed back, and my eyes widen as I see King Drakon reach through the bars—his hand clamps around Eliphas' neck.I guess he's fixed, and his curse is gone. My dad and Darius drag him away, and I watch Eliphas drop to the floor, clutching his neck. The blood runs down from where King Drakon's nails dug in."We need answers; killing him won't get them." My dad turns and faces Eliphas."Apparently, this was all for power." Which still makes no sense."It wasn't just for power. We wanted our own kingdom, our
Asher POVI'm anxious. It's been two days since the curse was lifted, and I'm glad to be back to normal. All that is at risk, though. Tonight, I have to be close to whoever is pretending to be King Drakon. That then risks it happening again, and if it does, will it start slow again or begin where it was removed?I've noticed Elijah, Storm, and Aurelia are quiet. Whatever was done has worn them out, which I didn't want."Are you ready?" Zyra hugs me, and I nod. I'm not. We need answers and to figure out who it is."Be careful, okay?" I don't like that I'm not going to be there."It's you who needs to be careful. You will be in a confined space with him. If anything goes wrong." She looks at me worriedly.Wrapping my arms around her, I smile. "I'll be fine; once he's in the cell, he can't do anything." I kissed her and gave her a final hug before walking away.Getting to the cells, I sit in one and wait. I'm hoping the plan works. If we can get him in the cell, then his magic and power
Asher POVI can see Zyra is struggling, and I don’t blame her either. She just found out her brother is missing.“Look, when Seraphine checked trying to find out the issue with him, she saw King Drakon, but it wasn’t him. Whoever it was is who we believe Cursed Asher.” My mum grasps her hands and smiles. “We’ve got people tracking down where your brother really is. There’s a reason for this, and it’s you, Zyra. Seraphine could sense the curses were put on Asher and Elijah to try and push you to return home.”Zyra looks around the room and seems increasingly worried. “What about Ryker? Is he okay? Does he know?” She waits, and I don’t know the answer to that.“I’m sorry, we don’t know. You need to stay here, Zyra. We have a plan, and we’re hoping Seraphine can uncover more when the person comes here.”She nods and sits, looking lost.“We are expecting Seraphine to return late tonight or early tomorrow. If they can’t fix the issue, then we will keep working to.” My mum smiles and hugs h
Asher POVAfter about an hour of sitting in the cell with Zyra, I ordered her to leave. I wanted to spend time with her, but she shouldn't have been sitting in the cells with me.So, I've been alone for hours, waiting to find out their plan. They hadn't thought this through. I need to leave the cell to go to the room. As soon as I step out of this cell, it will come back. Then what?I'm willing to agree to anything right now if it gets me out of this cell and back with Zyra. The footsteps have me standing, and I watch my dad and Darius walk towards me."What's your plan? How am I to do this?" They haven't thought it through."You need to shift." Darius looks at me.I laugh at him. Is that some kind of joke? "You want me to shift, so that what? I can kill people easier?"My dad sighs and steps forward. "Please do as you're told. You won't understand why we're saying you can shift, but shift. Into your wolf, not dragon."Of course, I won't understand; they haven't explained it to me. If
Elijah POVI sit in the office; Seraphine has left. She's meeting her family halfway in the hopes they have something that can help. Merfolk are powerful creatures with extraordinary abilities.Curses and such are something they specialise in."We're going to request that King Drakon attend a celebration for Zyra's pregnancy. It means we can get what we need and figure out who it is and what their aim is." My dad looks at me, and he makes it sound so simple. This isn't simple."He's going to ask why Asher isn't present, then what?" We can't lie and hide him. "It will look suspicious.""Not if Zyra invites him, she won't know, remember. She can invite him, and whoever is portraying King Drakon won't suspect anything. We're going to be honest and explain something is wrong with Asher, and he's not well."So we're not hiding the issue."He could be in the cell for weeks, so we've had things moved down there for him. The plan is later to test how he is with someone in the cell with him. T
Asher POVI watch as Elijah glares at everyone and backs up more."Elijah, we need to know." My mum steps towards him."I saw him once, just once! You all need to focus on Asher, not me! He's the one that is cursed, not me!" He shouts and steps back. He backs into my dad, and he grabs Elijah as Seraphine steps forward and grips his head.His screams echo around the cells, and it's all over just as quickly as it starts. His body falls to the floor, and he cradles his head."Well?" Darius looks at Seraphine."You're going to need a warlock, or I'll need to contact my family and see if they have something to clear the curses." Her words make me look towards Elijah. So, he is also cursed."Asher's curse is to make him push everyone out and make him think he has a mad wolf so that Zyra leaves. Elijah's was to hate Asher, likely to intensify it." Seraphine smiles slightly. "There's no mate, Elijah. The curse is what's stopping us from having a baby. There's no third mate." Her words have hi
Asher POVNo one speaks, likely because they know what I said is the truth. I need to die; there is nothing they can do to change that."Explain the process, what happened, how it started, when it happens." Darius pulls a chair over and sits outside the cell.I laugh. "Why do I need to talk? Why do I need to explain? You're proving you believe me by keeping me locked in here and being too afraid to come near your own son."Nothing I say can change that."Asher, I'm not opening the cell because I don't trust you to try and run. So explain it to me, tell me how it's progressed, and let's be sure that is what is happening." He waits, and I watch my mum, Elijah, and dad sit with him."It began with whispers. The words were barely audible, but I heard whispers in my ear. They got louder and began to sound like words. Whispers were one thing, but then I began to see people dead and my wolf above them." It was a warning to me to hide, to push them away, and not let them close to me."When do