They seem to have come to a conclusion on most things now. We've eaten, and they discussed a lot, Darius agreeing to let Kellan's friend give them information."Right. Your neck." He looks at me, and Kellan grins. "Don't grin, Kellan; the marks are going to make people assume she has slept with someone. Someone get Sage and ensure all the contestants are waiting for the results; none are to be in the rooms."I watch Beta William and Yori leave."Kellan, go get ready. Pete, watch the hall and ensure no one goes towards the rooms so she won't be seen. Ash, ensure May is also in Elara's room."Everyone leaves, and I stand."You need to hope that Sage and May can hide those marks. If anyone notices them, I cannot lie to get you out of it just so you're aware.""I'm sorry." I'm causing so much work."Just be more careful. Not even twenty-four hours, and you're already doing something else that will cause issues.""Technically, it's been weeks. I lied on the form weeks ago, not yesterday."
We all stood together; we were unsure what this announcement was about. We were just told that we were required to be downstairs now. So we are.Everyone looks anxious; usually, if they are telling us about the next event, they tell us when we will be told. This was unexpected. Unplanned.I watch the door open; Darius and Kellan walk in with William behind them. The room falls silent, and I see the cameras focusing on them."As you're aware, we've had some issues, specifically with people using magic to alter their appearance. We believe this is the second time that it has happened. The first time, someone dressed as a beta led Elara into a room and locked her in there. The second was using Elara's face to harm someone." Darius looks at us."We're still looking into this. However, this is a warning. You will be withdrawn without warning if I find out it's a contestant. There will be a punishment as well." Darius looks at us.Does he suspect one of these did it? I glance through them.
I can see they are considering it. I can't see how I can make it any bigger or better."Maybe, a live target?" William looks at Darius."She has no wolf. If she misses or messes up, she's dead." Darius stares at him in disbelief."William isn't wrong. Make it a game. First, we need to check how good she is, but we make it a game. Who are some of the better archery people we know who won't be offended by a woman beating them?" Kellan looks at him."She can not aim for a boar! She has no wolf for protection if it goes wrong!" Darius glares at him."I will. I'll stay in my wolf form and stay with her. Actually, she and someone else, I will be in wolf form to protect her, get someone to protect them in wolf form even though they don't need it. The first one to find the boar and kill it wins." Kellan smiles, looking happy with his plan."No. I don't like that idea. Plus, filming and live streaming it won't be easy." Darius has a point there."Then we use the closer gardens. We paint a bull
The room is quiet as we consider this."I don't know enough about wolves and things to answer anything, Kellan. I can't even remember how it felt to have one. Surely, though, if one of you is my mate, then I won't feel anything for the other one of you?"He laughs slightly. "You don't have a wolf. Whatever you feel is from you. Getting your wolf and having a mate won't wipe out how you feel about someone else."I guess he is right. My time with Kellan has made my feelings grow, and with Darius, I don't even know what that is. Most of the time, there's nothing, but then when his mask slips, I feel something.The real him uncovered is impressive. How do we sort this out going forward? I want to believe everything will be great and work out. It won't, though. Darius isn't someone who will just give up on what he believes. He doesn't believe it.He's brainwashed by his father's power. Deep down, he knows a Luna can be anyone, even without a wolf. It's more down to their personality. Anyth
KellanI watch her as she sleeps. She's amazing. When I began to tease her, I was so sure I could do it and stop. Hearing her beg and seeing her as pleasure took over and made me forget. I've never wanted someone so much. Yet, at the same time not want to fuck her.Are we dating? I don't even know, but usually, my relationships were fleeting, and I would sleep with whoever it was within a few hours. Not Elara, though; I feel awful for considering doing that like I am using her because she won't be mine.I don't understand this. My wolf barely took notice of anyone. Then I walked into the room that day, and she had his attention. I couldn't really see her, just the back of her as the producer shoved her away.Climbing from the bed, I get dressed and go on a quest to find my brother. After a few minutes, I walked in and found him with William looking through papers."Kellan, is there an issue?" He glances at me. He's back in king mode."Can we talk?""Go ahead." He barely even looks up
I walk down, ready for this date outside to prove I know how to use a bow and arrow. Getting to the bottom of the stairs, he is waiting for me. The cameras are far enough back not to hear us."This way." He leads me through the gardens."Where's Kellan?""I was about to ask you the same thing." He glances at me but doesn't seem worried. "So he didn't tell you either, then?""He didn't say anything. I just wanted to make sure he was okay." He looked hurt last night. The reality of how messed up this is has clearly gotten to him."It's Kellan. It wouldn't be the first time he disappeared for days and showed back up after a wild weekend." His words hold no tone, like he doesn't care or see an issue with it.I just nod, unsure what to reply. We stop near the targets, and he holds out the bow and arrows. "Okay, show me what you have." He smirks and steps back.Moving, I get it set up, concentrating, I aim before releasing it. I watch as it hits the middle."Luck, go again on the next targe
We sit in silence for a short while."Why would you refuse me as Luna even if I was your mate?" Maybe if he tells me why I can call his reasons bullshit?"No one is ready for a Luna like you. You're not made to be the queen. People won't take it lightly to hear you have become Luna and the queen.""How can you possibly know what people want and are ready for? When was the last time you asked?"He chuckles. "I do interviews all the time. I speak to people all the time. We hold events constantly where people express their beliefs.""I mean real people, Darius! Not people like Alpha Draven or Alpha Ethan. They make up maybe ten per cent. I mean, people like their Betas. The omegas. The servants, the slaves, or even the fucking wolfless ones! You know the other ninety per cent.""You know that it isn't as simple as that Elara."Of course, to him, it isn't. "You do realise that everyone's views count. Right?""Of course they do." He's so frustratingly annoying."Would it be possible to tal
He sits looking at me, waiting. I want to say yes, ignore the fact he is so brainwashed by his father, but I can't."You're the king, Darius. You're set to marry one of them. Me kissing you is against the rules. You're meant to choose first and be available to every one of those women until the final moment.""Kellan is a prince. He's meant to be available to them all. It doesn't stop you from doing far more with him."My eyes widen."Sorry, that sounded wrong. I'm just saying the only difference between me and Kellan is our titles. He's not meant to give himself up yet. He's meant to stay in it until the end. Which you know."He's not wrong. "Fine, I want to agree, Darius, but I can't. Not when you have just admitted even if I am your mate, you have no plans to make me Luna. Kissing you is saying I'm happy to be the mistress. That, let's be honest, is making a whore again. Here, purely for you to get pleasure from before you return to your wife. The Queen.""You were never a whore."
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