“AGH!” Roseanne groans in pain. Her hands and feet are tied tightly. She struggles to be free but it is almost impossible to move. Roseanne’s amber eyes are covered by a dark cloth and she can hear the gleeful voice of a man.“This one’s a beauty!” one of the men is saying. “She’s gonna bring us a fortune!”“Let me go!” she demands but someone slaps her across the face. The sound of the slap echoes throughout the dark room where she is kept. Her captor hit her with such force that she can feel drops of blood flowing down her cheek.Roseanne curses the Crown Prince. Ivan Vissarion is a vicious man who made Roseanne’s life miserable at the royal family. Cruel and s
Roseanne is crying hard, lamenting the life she had once lived. Alexei...her love Alexei... All her life, she has been treated like dirt. Humans are the target of all kinds of supernatural creatures. Whether werewolves or vampires, it did not matter. They hate humans and even the low level omegas can stomp on them. Her lips break into a small smile as she recalls her childhood. Things were simpler then. At that time, she was living with her father in a small village in the hills. Her mother died in childbirth and her father had hidden himself in that village out of fear. The war was over but the hunt for humans like them was still going on. But one day, a messenger came and they were forced to move to the Capital of Ezealyra. She was only six years old when she moved to Vinesgrad, the capital, with her father Mikhael. At that time, her father was summoned by the previous Emperor Nikolai Vissarion and his wife Alexa. They had heard of his abilities and
“Move!” one of the guards growls at her. Roseanne’s reverie is broken and she is back to reality. Her captors pull her along and despite the blindfold, she can feel lights shining down at her. The guards tied her to a pole and yanked the cloth off her eyes. She is almost blinded by the bright lights and struggles to regain her vision. Blinking hard, Roseanne looks ahead and pants in fear. Hundreds of alphas and nobles are present to see her humiliation. Their lustful gazes are trying to disrobe her and she holds her breath in fear. Never did she feel so scared and vulnerable, not even on the night when the coup took place. Roseanne is aware that she is wearing a plain white rug which all the human servants are forced to put on at the Royal Household. It is not revealing but the fabric is thin. She heard man
“Rosie!” Alexei is calling her. “Where are you?”He is looking for her in the vast garden behind the palace. It is a bright summer afternoon. The sun is shining in the sky, showering the lands with its golden glory. Colorful flowers are blooming in the Emperor’s garden, beautiful and picturesque. The pond is sparkling like tiny diamonds and the warm water is soothing to touch.The neatly trimmed garden is glowing under the summer sun, amplifying the beauty of the gigantic castle which surrounds it. Long stone towers reach high as if touching the sky. Set across acres of land, the palace stretched throughout the highest mountain. It looks down on the towns below like a godly creature, its towers twinkling. The lively castle is the pride of Ezealyra, an astounding architecture which houses the Royal Family of Visserion.
She is stirring in her sleep. Her eyes are stained with tears and her heart in an inexplicable pain but she cannot fathom why she is feeling so sad. The uneasy sleep is uncomfortable and she vaguely realizes that she is moving in her slumber.Roseanne slowly wakes up. A bright light blinds her and for a moment she panics. The memories of the auction return to her and she backs away in fear, feeling as if she is back at that accursed place.“Ah!” she yells and scrambles to a corner. To her surprise, she is inside a carriage which is unlike anything she has ever seen before. As a servant at the Royal Palace, she has seen many carriages but never rode in one. Now that she is riding in one, her eyes marvel at the beautiful golden calligraphy which adorns the interior. The artwork is abstract but precise and the carriage is qu
As the carriage keeps on venturing deeper into the Frosty Forest, a chilly mist settles around it. Everywhere Roseanne looks, she only sees white fog which is gradually shrouding them in its arms as if like a possessive lover. She can make out the dark silhouettes of the tall trees in the forest but that is all. There are no animals, no sounds and no life in this strange forest.She never visited the forest before but she has heard many stories about it. Humans do not dare to step into it after dark because all the supernatural creatures roam around this place at night, free to do whatever they want. If an unfortunate human strays into the path of a rogue wolf, they may be assaulted or worse, killed. There are stories of women being forcibly taken away by the rogues or even vampires.Vampires have been hiding in the shadows ever since the Great War ended.
Roseanne’s heart is thumping loudly against her chest. Everywhere she looks, it is only pitch black darkness surrounding her. The starless sky above her is shrouding the earth like a dark blanket, inviting them into its midst. Long shadows loom over her as they walk deeper into the forest.She shivers with cold. The Duke has put his coat around her but it is not enough to fight the coldness of the night. The Lycans around her are not affected by the mist but she is shivering. They have a natural affinity to the weather because their bodies keep them warm. For humans like her, the extreme cold is a curse.A hand wrapped around her shoulders. Startled, she looks around to find herself being cocooned by the Duke.“This will put you at ease,” he said to her but Roseanne is defensive. Even if the
Her eyes widened in awe. The first rays of the sun are falling on the land, slowly illuminating the dark sky. As they float along the river, several balls of tiny blue lights emerge from the grounds. The little balls mode in random motion, colluding against each other but floating merrily in the air.Everywhere Roseanne looks, the balls follow her gaze. They are playful and with minds of their own. One of them comes close to her as if to study the blonde haired maiden out of curiosity. Roseanne gasps.“Fairies,” she realizes in wonder. The fairy near her is a tiny little doll-like creature with delicate features of a small girl. It watches her with curiosity and then smiles widely.Beside her, Dmitri is lazily watching his mate. She might be reserved but her eyes lit up with glee when she saw the b
The castle of Ezealyra has been lit up with thousands of blue lights. Millions of fairies are floating in the air, magically bestowing their beautiful lights on the guests who are arriving to the celebrations. Three months have passed since the battle for Sloria and the Slorians have emerged victorious, defeating Ezealyra in the process. Tonight, a splendid coronation has been arranged for the new Emperor and Empress who will be married by proxy at the ceremony, symbolizing their union. “Is it true that he is the long lost Prince Alexei?” One guest whispers to one person. “He is,” her companion confirms. “His scent is the same and you know that no two people's scent can be the same!” “Eduard Visserion was a scum after all!” The guests are intrigued by the tale of the prince who regained his rightful place on the throne. Not only the wolves but faes, vampires and even hybrid officials are attending the ceremony. Many of the wolves are uncomfortable by the idea of mingling with such
Eduard’s hair has gone fully white and he now has a fully grown beard. His scarlet eyes are dull, defeated by humiliation and old age. He has given up on life because he knows that nothing can help him regain the throne he has lost.Dmitri has no pity for the man who dug his own grave. He wanted to kill him off but there is something he needs to know.“The night my father died,” he begins. “How did you bring in that witch? Where did you find him?”Eduard smirks in a sarcastic manner. “I knew you would figure it out,” he states. “That witch was not working for me. He was working for someone else and they arrived in Ezealyra to aid us in defeating the Emperor.”“Who was he working for?” Roseanne whispers.
Dmitri and Leo lead all the Undead into the mass grave where they have descended. The Undead are now in the grave, waiting like a bunch of obedient army who are about to receive orders.“Is the main Undead buried yet?” Leo asks.As if answering his question, one by one, the Undead begin to fall and die. They watch as the thousands of Undead fall in the graves, quickly dying. Dmitri lets out a sigh of relief.“Bury them,” he orders them through mindlink. “Make sure that they are well dead.”Leo nods and relays the orders to the men who start to fill up the holes. They are all tired and exhausted but their victory in the war is evident. A few fae soldiers also arrived and sped up the process to bury the now dead zombies in the graves.
Eduard does not wait and turns to the Undead.“Attack him!” He orders. The Undead run towards Dmitri, ready to kill him but his scarlet eyes glow up and he stares straight at them.Instantly, the Undead army stops in their tracks. Eduard watches in horror as the Undead army starts to fall to their knees and stare blankly as if hypnotized. The other soldiers are also acting the same way, bowing in front of Dmitri as if under his spell.“What the hell are you all doing?” Eduard demands. “GET HIM!”But no one is paying him any heed. Their eyes are on Dmitri who has them under his mercy.The golden light is once again starting to shine on him, beginning all the creatures to his feet
Roseanne meets with Aryan in the hallway outside her room. The vampire is hurt and even bloodied but his injuries are starting to heal, albeit slowly.“You need blood,” she realizes.“I can hold out!” Aryan insists. “Our men are trained well to hold in their urges. Once I get to the medical camp, I can drink some. But we need to get you to safety! The Undead is-”“You can drink Josephine’s blood,” Roseanne says. “She is lying dead in my chamber.”Aryan stares at her in shock. Josephine is dead?“I used the birds to punish her,” Roseanne simply states. “This is her punishment for betraying us.”
“OUT OF MY WAY!” Iriana yells at the soldiers who are crowding near the camp. They have set up a large medical camp outside the city walls where many of the injured soldiers have been brought in. Several more are going to arrive in a while and Iriana is hard at work along with the palace ladies and omegas who have chosen to stay back to help.“Lady Iriana, this man is losing too much blood!” An omega exclaims.“Press on the wound and tell a fae soldier to help in controlling the blood flow!” Iriana instructs. “As for the spilt blood, give it to that vampire soldier to drink up!”The omega nods and goes on to carry on the instructions. Iriana is carrying a bucket full of hot water to sanitize the instruments which she will need to operate on the soldiers.
Dmitri pounces on Ilyich and punches him with his heavy fist. The Undead’s jaw breaks but it heals within seconds. Ilych fixes his broken jaw and punches back but Dmitri’s senses are faster. He dodge the attack easily and grabs Ilyich before throwing him aside.Ilyich snarls, spitting out black goo from his mouth. He stands up and marches towards Dmitri whose brute strength overcomes the Undead. Dmitri grabs Ilyich by the waist and slams him against the floor.CRACK!Ilyich’s back breaks but he feels no pain because he is not fully alive nor dead. Before he can heal, Dmitri launches a fresh assault on him, repeatedly hitting him.Rage courses through them as they engage in a deathly battle. Ilyich punches Dmitri but his hit feels feeble to Dmitri
Taurus is about to shift but Leo does not let him. He attacks Taurus head on, ripping out his ear in the process. “AHHHHHH!” Taurus yells as the pain pierces through him. The large red wolf grabs him by the hair and slams him against the ground, repeatedly hitting him with its strong paw. Taurus growls and attacks the wolf with his sword but the animal bites his arm and within a split of a second, tears it off. “YOU SON OF A B*TCH!” Taurus screams in agony. Blood spurts out of his body and he falls to the ground, crawling but Leo is not done. Taurus tries to transform but his body has lost so much blood that his wolf also became too weak to shift. He crawls towards the sword which has fallen nearby but Leo grabs his other arm and rips it apart as well. Many of the So
Showers of arrows hit many of the Ezealyran soldiers from all sides, instantly killing them. Theo dodges Polina’s arrows with his sword. He covers himself with a shield and uses his sword to deflect the arrows coming at him at quick speed.Polina’s attacks are fast and she relentlessly attacks Theo. Her soldiers attack the Ezealyrans from the hiding places but the enemy is starting to spot them. They are going to run out of arrows soon and the Ezealyrans will overcome them in seconds.“Retreat to the inns!” She mindlinks with her men and one by one, they start to retreat. Polina stays back and mindlinks with Leo.“On to you!” She tells him.Dust and smoke splash the Ezealyrans who are forced to hide behind their shields. Many of