CHAPTER 7
~STEVEN’S POV~ I sat silently in one of the many living rooms in the mansion, my legs crossed and my arms folded against my chest. I had a blank expression on my face, moving my eyes to the side frequently to check the time on the ticking pendulum clock that rested on a wall a little distance from my right. The room I was in had a dark brown ambiance and dark brown curtains with golden rose patterns hung over the windows and doors that led outside the living room. Today was a very important day. Today a meeting would be held between me and the council members on the matters of uniting all the packs and reigning over them as the only alpha. This was my goal ever since I was born. While all the other kids made friends and had dreams of being united with their mate, I spent days and nights plotting, looking for a way to merge the packs. After a few minutes of waiting, I heard clicking sounds coming toward one of the entrances. Soon after, the door opened and Gregory stepped in. “Alpha Steven, they have arrived, they await you in the dining hall,” he said, inclining his torso in simple bow. I waved my right hand at him, signifying that I was on my way, and he turned around and walked out of the room. I got up from the couch I sat on and pulled on the collars of my suit to straighten it, then walked toward the door Gregory used. After a few minutes, I arrived in the dining hall. All the members of the council were present, including the head, lady Anaya. She wore a large white hat and had a small transparent silk cloth, hanging over her face. She had white translucent gloves on and a white dress with a lower half that looked like a large rose. “Finally, you decide to grace us with your presence,” one of the members said, turning in my direction. They all wore white clothes, each carrying a golden badge that signified their level of status in the council. “I’m deeply sorry for making you wait. Shall we begin?” I replied, as Gregory pulled out my seat. “This meeting is solely on the topic of you wanting to merge all the packs. We as the council think the idea is marvelous as it would promote peace and unity in werewolf society. But, do you realize that convincing the other alphas to give up their positions will be quite the hassle?” Lady Anaya spoke. The room remained quiet for a moment. I cleared my throat and answered, “well, my lady, I plan on sending letters to each of the alphas, proposing they become cabinet members under my rulership, together we will make the world a peaceful place for werewolf kind. My only quandary is that they may fail to see reason and would most likely fight against me, this is where I would like you to step in. You can help me convince them into acknowledging that I am more than capable of ruling over them. I would hate a situation where I would have to resort to war to achieve my goals,” “And if they refuse to listen to us?” Lady Anaya asked. “Well, I think we all already know the answer to that,” I replied, placing my back on my seats backrest. “Very well, Alpha Steven. We as the council of packs frankly agree with your idea and will try our very best to see that it comes to pass,” lady Anaya said with a smile. “Thank you very much,” I replied, smiling back at her. ***** “If you try to start a war with one of the packs that refuse your proposal, isn’t the council obligated to intervene?” Gregory asked, both of us walking down a hall way toward my room. “No, they aren’t, Gregory. Warfare is only a normality in the werewolf world. It is how we claim dominance over one another and maintain our position at the top, leaving the weak at the bottom where they’d rot and die. Besides, my idea of merging the packs is aimed at changing that. I plan to stop warfare completely. Any alpha who goes against it, is an enemy of peace and progress in the world of wolves,” I replied. “I guess that’s correct, alpha Steven,” Gregory agreed, his lips curving into a smile. We both remained silent for the rest of the walk and as we got in front of my room, Gregory asked, “It felt a bit strange that the newcomer was bold enough to go at you like that, didn’t it?” “I turned around to face him. “What newcomer?” I asked. “The girl who I recently accompanied here from the Montgomery’s mansion at the dark-hound pack, Gabriella,” he said. “Oh, her. She probably must have mistaken me for someone else,” I answered, then continued, “you really have to do a better job of teaching these young girls their place in this mansion, or have you gone soft because you have some sort of romantic feelings toward her?” “Never my lord, I have sworn to stand by your side and serve you till the day I perish,” Gregory said. I stared at him for a moment, then let out a sigh, “You know I’m not stopping you from leaving once you find your mate, right?” I asked. “Well, sire…” he was about to speak when I suddenly shut the door to my room. I gently placed my back on the wooden surface and let out another sigh. As I shut my eyes, strange images began filling my head. I could feel someone’s cold breath softly brushing over my throat, from the way the person breathed I could tell it was a female. Her black marble eyes sparkled in the dark tight room as she stared at me without uttering a word. My eyes opened again and I was back in my room. As I stared at my window with a confused expression on my face, I asked myself, “Who’s memories are these?” “Who was she?”CHAPTER 8~STEVEN’S POV~“The Dark-Hound Pack has already signed the agreement and is already under my control. I’ll have them help spread the message to all the other packs,” I said, scribbling my signature onto a letter I was going to send to Montgomery's mansion."But why don’t we spread the message ourselves?” Gregory asked, looking a little troubled.“The message will be from an unknown sender, proposing the deal to the alphas and asking those who agree to meet at an undisclosed location. The alphas who refuse to comply might get violent and want to attack the only pack they think the message is coming from. If they lay siege on the dark-fang pack, I can use the opportunity to assess them and know exactly what I’m up against,” I replied with a cold stare.“But… sire. Innocent lives will be lost; the dark-hound pack will be destroyed if they are attacked by more than one opposing pack at the same time,” Gregory argued.I let out a sigh, got up from where I sat, and walked toward a
CHAPTER 9~GABRIELLA'S POV~As my eyes met with Steven's for the second time since I came to the mansion, I felt nothing but admiration and love for the man that stood before me. He had the same expression as the day I arrived; he seemed nothing like Steven from Montgomery's mansion, but for some reason, I felt like they were the same person. But why didn't he recognize me?I had lost all focus on my surroundings and even on my own body as I fell deeper and deeper into his intense gaze.His brows suddenly furrowed, and that sudden movement snapped me out of my reverie. I immediately bowed and greeted him politely, but he completely ignored me, walking past me without uttering a single word.I turned to stare at him as he walked away, wondering where he was heading. I stealthily followed behind him, moving from rose bush to rose bush, trying to avoid his eyes. After a few minutes, he arrived at the gates of the mansion. He stood in front of the gate for a few minutes, and I could see hi
CHAPTER 10~GABRIELLA'S POV~The silence in the air was unbearable. I could hear my own breathing, and with every step, I took crushed dried leaves under my paws, making sounds that echoed through the forest as if informing the other wolves of my location.I moved steadily, my eyes focused on the prey before me—a large, dark brown deer. As I got in close range, I leaped toward it, but before I could reach it, it jumped out of the way and took off. I landed head-first on a rock and yelled in pain.“Hunting is so hard; how am I supposed to survive this?" I thought to myself, using my paw to gently rub my head.“The other girls are gone; there's no way of finding them now, and the bell is going to ring anytime soon. What to do, what to do..."I said this as I sat there with a worried look. It had already been the first hour; I had never gone hunting before in my life, and my wolf wasn't fast or strong enough to run from other wolves.I let out a sigh,got up from where I sat, and walked th
CHAPTER 11~GABRIELLA'S POV~After waiting for a while at the door, other wolves started to show up with their kills hanging below their jaws. Some carry animals as small as rabbits, and some drag in games as large as boars.They all shifted back into their human forms and began walking back through the door. I looked around for the other girls but couldn't find them until I was inside, holding my kill tightly.“How was it?” Christine's voice sounded from behind me.I turned around to face her, and I found all three girls smiling at me.“Whoa! That's amazing, and it's only your first time?” Clarabelle exclaimed, staring at my game.“Well, a lot of things happened, but I don't want to go into detail,” I replied with a smile as sweat rolled down my face."Let's go dump these bad boys and get some rest; tomorrow's a big day!” Christine said, tapping her catch twice on its stomach.We all nodded, then followed her to the area where the kills were submitted. As we walked through the croud,
CHAPTER 12~GABRIELLA'S POV~I ran after the bright orange light through the passages, and each time I came to a corner, the light was already at the other end of the hall. It would remain shining for a moment, then vanish, fading out with the giggle of a little girl.I wasn't the least bit comfortable with what was going on, but for some reason I kept on following the light until it came to a halt in front of a large door.The lantern sat there, shining brightly on the carvings on the wooden door. I walked slowly toward it, and when I reached it, I picked it up and let out a sigh.“What place is this now? I'm completely lost,” I said as I exhaled. I stared at the large door for a moment, then turned to a small knob that hung from it.I wrapped my fingers around the knob and was about to turn it when I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.“What are you doing?” Marie's voice sounded behind me.I felt a chill go down my spine, and I instinctively sprung up from the ground in fear. I fell b
CHAPTER 13~GABRIELLA'S POV~“What do you want?” She asked, her voice sounding very stern.“Well, I just wanted to ask you some questions,” I answered as she tightened her grip on my arm.“Snapping your bone in two would be much too easy of a task if you get on my nerves. Do not disturb me while I'm working, or I will end your life. Do you understand?” She said this as she continued to tighten her grip.I groaned in pain and replied, “Yeah, yeah. Understood. Please let go!”She twisted my arm in the wrong direction and pushed me to the ground.“Owww!” I whimpered as I held onto my arm.“Hey, can I come see you after your work?” I asked, but she refused to reply. She resumed her position as the brick wall that she was, and nothing I said could get through to her.My brows furrowed, and I squinted my eyes at her. Hurting me like that wouldn't go unpunished; I was going to get revenge.I picked up my tray of hot cakes and snuck behind her to dump it on her head. I raised the tray up, and
CHAPTER 14~GABRIELLA'S POV~~EARLIER~“My lord, I was asked to come collect your clothes for dry cleaning." A maid I stood beside said as we both bowed to Alpha Steven at his door.“Please, come in,” Steven replied, opening his door a little wider for us to enter.We walked into the room, and he directed us to the area where he kept his unclean clothes. I and the maid started to pick them up one by one, and as we did, I noticed one was missing.“My lord…” I said it nervously.“Yes?” Steven replied. “How about the clothes you wore yesterday? The ones you went out with. I can't seem to find them here,” I said.“What do you mean? I never went out; you must have seen somebody else, perhaps one of the other warrior wolves,” Steven replied, then turned away from me to continue his work at his desk.“A warrior wolf, wearing royal garments? I highly doubt that. What in the hell is going on?” I thought to myself as I stared at him.~PRESENT~I made my way into the hall where the human statue
CHAPTER 15~GABRIELLA'S POV~The rays from the sun shot through the multiple windows on the external wall.My eyes felt heavy, and the lower lids had turned gray from tiredness. I wondered how Cortana survived without sleep; she was definitely not your average werewolf.I continued to stare at the wooden door, waiting for Cortana to awaken. As the rays from the sun reached her face, she let out a soft groan and then yawned, rubbing her eyes.She suddenly stopped, opened her eyes, and immediately sat up. “What tha! I fell asleep. How did that happen?" she questioned with shock on her face. I could tell she was definitely not a fan of the idea of sleeping.“I might be able to answer that question,” I said from behind her. She turned to face me, and before I knew it, tears started to seep out of her eyes.“Hey, what's wrong?” I asked, placing my palms on her shoulder.“I've failed; watching this door is the only reason I've stayed alive all my life; it's the only thing I know how to do,
CHAPTER 310~GABRIELLA'S POV~Just as Clarabelle warned, the entire world forgot that there was such a thing as the alpha-J drug, and every trace of it vanished from the face of the earth after she reversed the fate of everyone who consumed it and became an artificial. Things went back to normal so quickly that it almost seemed like nothing happened at all—like all the struggles my friends were put through by Episteme, Evelyn, and Agnes were just a dream. People forgot that a company like Higher Wellness Pharmaceuticals existed and that Governor Gerald was a criminal.Newspapers and written reports about the matter disappeared without a trace. Because of this, Steven’s company was unaffected by Evelyn’s actions, and the criminals involved were convicted secretly by the council. Questions were asked about Governor Gerald’s and Queen Elizabeth's disappearances, but people soon got distracted by other things and lost interest in the matter. Steven offered to hand over the position of h
CHAPTER 309~3RD PERSON’S POV~Maria and Clarabelle stood in front of the gates of the Dragnon mansion with umbrellas above their heads and worry on their faces. They had been waiting for Marie and the others to return for hours, but there was no sign of them returning at all.Clarabelle did well to protect everyone from the intense heat, and now that the sun had moved away from the earth, she was sure that Marie and her friends had won the battle. In fact, as the Immortal of Fate, she already knew they would win, and she already knew who would bring that victory, but she wasn't allowed to say a word to anyone. What she wasn't sure of was if they had survived or not, because she refused to look that far into the future.“Do you think they'll return safely?” Maria asked with worry in her voice. She has lost her husband before and was very afraid of losing him again.Clarabelle turned to her and saw the worry in her eyes, then turned away. “Let’s just be hopeful,” she said softly. A f
CHAPTER 308~3RD PERSON'S POV~~Earlier~“Huh?” Gabriella blinked repeatedly in confusion as she stared into Lunaris's eyes. They both sat in a pool of water in the black, empty void that was Gabriella's mind. “What’s going on? I thought I died already,” Gabriella asked softly.“You did—well, not exactly. I put you to sleep for over four months to get some things done in your world. Now that my plot is complete, I'd like you to return and continue living the life you've always wanted,” Lunaris said with a smile.“Oh, you mean I didn't have to die for you to take my body?” Gabriella asked.“Yes, Gabriella. If everyone knew that you were still alive, they would not have grown as much as they have now... especially Marie. I had to make everyone believe that your death was necessary for me to come to this world, so that the plot I couldn't finish years ago would finally be completed,” Lunaris responded.“Oh, I can't believe it's been four months already. How's Marie and the others doing?
CHAPTER 307~3RD PERSON’S POV~Marie and her sisters, Cortana and Yuna, sat inside a large metal dome created by Angela. Angla had created multiple domes like this to accommodate the entire army of Vedantya, and this was because the temperature of the atmosphere has risen to an unbearable level. Daniella used her manipulation of heat to cool down the domes so the occupants wouldn't die of heat stroke.The air around the domes looked like it had been stained with gasoline fumes, and rocks around them had begun melting.Valerie tried again and again to open a portal but failed every single time. The spell that blocked her ability to use spatial magic wasn't very powerful but was somehow too complex for her to undo. It was like the spell reformed itself at light speed every time she broke it, and there was no way of stopping it.“This is bad. If we stay here longer than this, the whole world is going to melt down,” Angela said with worry on her face.“No, we can't give up yet; I'm sure I
CHAPTER 306~3RD PERSON’S POV~“What have you done to me?!!” Agnes yelled with a gory voice.“I poisoned you, Agnes. Ordinarily, poison wouldn't be enough to kill a witch like you, but depending on how powerful the poison is, it would be enough to weaken you. The souls of the fallen Immortals despise you, Agnes. But as much as they want to escape, as souls, they're not nearly strong enough to go against the spell you put on them. It's just like Sabbath and Mary; without Mary's body, Sabbath can't use his power. So, without Agnes's body, the immortals are weak to her spells. But spells require serious mental concentration and physical reinforcement to hold together, and once those two things weaken, the spell comes apart and the souls of the Immortals have their chance to escape.” Agnes gripped her stomach tightly as she felt an agonizing pain coming up. She bled from her nose and mouth as the souls of all the Immortals began seeping out of her body and flying off. “After the Immor
CHAPTER 305~3RD PERSON'S POV~~years ago~“You idiot, don’t go playing with sharp objects if you’re going to lose your mind like that; you know how dangerous that power of yours is,” Agnes queried.“I’m so sorry, I was only trying to get over my fear of blood; it’s really hard,” Mary replied nervously, stroking the back of her head slowly.“Don’t do that anymore. You’ll end up hurting everyone around you,” Agnes said. “But I’ll have you to slap me back to my senses before that happens, right?” Mary said.Agnes smiled. “Yeah, but next time I’ll make sure to slap you even harder so you get knocked out before coming back to your senses.” Both she and Mary laughed together, and the four teachers just stared at them with confused expressions on their faces.~•••~“I lied to you the other day, Mary. I’m not friends with you because you’re a good person or make life interesting for me. I mean, you do, but that’s not the reason.”“Then what is?” Mary asked.“It’s because I feel very ashamed
CHAPTER 304~3RD PERSON’S POV~Mary was accompanied into the building by a group of four people. Two of them were maids, and the other two were Agnes’s soldiers. All four of them still had that eerie smile on their faces, and their eyes still glowed bright red, making them look like their minds were being controlled. They walked into the glass building and led Mary to a magical elevator that didn’t require electricity to work. Mary had her guard up, prepared to launch an attack at anyone who tried to annoy her. At this moment, she was already very pissed off, and anyone who tried to attack her now would be walking into their grave.The elevator door closed and started to rise up the building. Everyone was unusually quiet, and none of Mary’s escorts wanted to make eye contact with her. Mary watched them through the glass wall in front of her—they looked like dolls, stiff and lifeless, like they had been programmed to only move when they were given orders.The elevator rose for over tw
CHAPTER 303~3RD PERSON’S POV~The team of eight continued to fight against the Asuras, cutting through and destroying their forces with as much speed, strength, and precision as they could. They all fought with rage in their hearts, determined to end the battle as quickly as possible, but the Asuras were just too many. It didn't matter what the team did or what amount of power they used; the Asuras just kept coming like an endless sea of stars.The Asuras armor-like skin had become so strong that Edith's blade and Anima Morning Star both broke on impact. The two Immortals had to summon their weapons again and again during the fight just to avoid getting killed. They had to look for a new way to kill these Immortals, and that way was to attack them at points where their armour didn't cover—the gaps in the skin that revealed their glowing orange flesh. Targeting these parts was especially difficult for the werewolves because they didn't have long-range weapons, and getting too close t
CHAPTER 302~3RD PERSON'S POV~Nicole and Melody moved swiftly through the forest, toward the area where the forcefield was located. Nicole hovered using a glowing, orange, magical disc, and Melody just flew around, dodging the trees and large rocks in the way. They both had already seen the helicopter fly off, so they knew Mary was already going against her parents. Their only problem was getting to the forcefield, as the distance it was from where they opened their portal was too much. “Hey, couldn't you just use spacial magic to take us there? It's starting to look like this forest is playing tricks on us,” Melody asked, turning to Nicole.Nicole looked around, her eyes scanning past each tree, shrub, and rock. “I can't use spacial magic or any other kind of magic. Something is blocking me from doing it. This is bad; it means we can't teleport home unless we can find a place where I will be able to use spatial magic,” she responded. “But you're right,” she continued, then stopped