Roseanne pulls him down for a kiss, scratching his neck in the process, but Dmitri is faster. He puts his palm on her forehead and his eyes stare right into hers. Roseanne freezes in her action.
For a moment, he only stares into her eyes but not out of love. Rather, he is concentrating hard as Roseanne’s pupils dilate. She is under a strange trance where she is unaware of anything else around her. Unlike the Heat, where her body dictates her mind, she is completely still as if her body is now obeying someone else other than her.
A slow breeze twirls around them and the chamber turns cold as Dmitri murmurs under his breath.
“Calm down, Roseanne Vadimovna,” he orders in a low tone. Roseanne is still unfocused and hypnotized under his gaze. He does not break their eye contact, unblinking and unflinchi
Roseanne steps out of the bathroom only to find Aria and Polina waiting for her. They bow in front of her which makes Roseanne a little uncomfortable. She is still not used to the formal way they treat her. “You do not have to bow in front of me,” she says in a wary tone. “We will follow protocols no matter what,” Polina states. Aria nods and steps forward to hand Roseanne a set of clothes. Roseanne takes them and frowns. The clothes are completely black. Unlike the gown and skirts women normally wore, there was a shirt and a pair of thick, straight cut pants which are usually worn by men in training. “What are these?” she asks. “These are for your training, My Lady,” Polina replies. “Surely the Duke must have info
A lone figure stands in front of the gigantic mountain range which oversees the borders of several countries. The mountain range is over 500 miles, stretching from the prosperous Ezealyra to the wretched ruins of Meosea. Only Sloria lies in the middle, separating the countries with its vast snow and large mountains which cloud the country from sight.No one dares to stroll in these mountains. There are creatures of the unknown lurking in them, waiting for unaware travelers. The snow is so cold and deep that even one misstep can plunge a person to a torturous death by hypothermia. Snowstorms are a common occurrence but if one is unlucky, then a small avalanche can bury them alive under the thick coated snow.Even werewolves and vampires find it hard to survive under such conditions, many dying on their journey. Everywhere one sees, is only white clad snow
Roseanne and the other trainees are separated into groups. The children are taken to another arena while the citizens are taken to a different door. The ones who will receive more intense training like her and Syron are taken through a different route. Polina and Timur are heading the way while Dmitri has disappeared off to train another group.They are walking through a long tunnel. Roseanne is apprehensive but the others do not look scared or nervous. On the contrary, they seem very excited.Slorians are strange, she thinks.Another set of gates fling open and they are led to a circular arena which is an open space. The snow has been cleared off to make a large field. On one side of the field is a running track while the other side has several equipment segregated for different kinds of training. Several trainees have already started, some of them having transformed into their wolves to fight one to one with an o
As soon as Roseanne enters her chamber that evening, she collapses on the bed. Her muscles are aching and she is tired from the training. Polina is a strict trainer and her magic spell is hard to break. Roseanne tried everything she could to overcome the spell but it was of no use. Her head was not working and there really was no way to finish the race.How did the other girls do it? She wonders. Roseanne asked a few of them and they simply said it took them a lot of training. They pitied her state and told her it will get better over time.“Ugh!” She scowls. “Why did the Duke not tell me about this? Or did he mention it and I cannot recall it?”Roseanne racks her brain to remember if Dmitri had mentioned it to her but her mind is blank. She is confused as to why he would hide something like
The next morning, Roseanne wakes up to find Iriana sitting calmly next to her bed. She is confused for a moment before realizing that she is completely naked under the blanket.“What happened?” She asks, feeling horrified.“You had your last wave of Heat for this month last night and jumped on Dmitri, naked,” Iriana says in a blunt tone. “He had to tie you to the bedpost and knock you unconscious to keep you from doing something you’d regret later.”Roseanne’s eyes widen in shock as the events of last night rush back to her memory. She was having a bath when the Heat came over her and she had approached Dmitri to seduce him! She even pounced to kiss him and he had to kiss her back so that he could tie her up to control her in that state.
Josephine’s eyes narrow in anger, yet she keeps her calm. She wants nothing more than to rip Roseanne’s arm off for touching her beloved Dmitri, but if she does anything to his mate, Dmitri will kill her. Josephine is well aware of Dmitri’s infamous motto: forgive but never forget. He always forgives his enemy, but he will never forget to punish them.“I shall see you at the ball tonight,” she says and promptly leaves. Roseanne watches her exit the study. Once the princess left, she turns to Dmitri.“How do you know her?” she demands.“I met her a few years ago for some work,” Dmitri replies, not looking at her.“What work?”Roseanne tries to keep her tone casu
Aria knocks on the Duchess’ chamber. She is holding a dress in her hands which was commissioned by Dmitri from the finest tailor in the land. Upon hearing that the Duke himself was giving him a task, the tailor took it upon himself to design a magnificent gown for Roseanne. The ball is going to take place that night and the tailor claims he made a dress befitting for their beloved Duchess.“My Lady, are you in there?” Aria asks, knocking on the door again. She hears someone sniffing inside and frowns.“Come in,” a thick voice comes from within. Aria opens the door. To her surprise, Roseanne is sitting on the floor. Her cheeks are puffy and her eyes are red. Tears stain Roseanne’s face, the powder she put on ruined. She is quietly sobbing in a corner which alarms Aria.&ldquo
The darkness of the night stretches throughout the snow capped mountains. Black clouds surround the sky, hiding the rising moon while stars can barely emit their twinkling lights from behind the greyish night. The clouds look as if it will rain later in the night, threatening a thunderstorm. But even the weather cannot dampen the festive mood in Sloria. Large crowds of people have gathered in the city square. Parents, children and the older people have excitedly joined the festivities which promised them a feast. Thousands of women have been hired to prepare large feasts and each family has been allocated a generous amount of food. The food is being served to the families in carefully wrapped utensils. Soldiers from the palace are keeping the crowds in check, maintaining the queues while several large fields have been set up for the citizens where they
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