"What happened in there?" The king sounded like he was about to punish every single one who was in his view when he was only asking Barbara what went down inside the red forest. He sat down and slammed his fists on the arms of his throne, almost shaking the whole thing. "I thought I made it clear; nobody is supposed to be inside that f*cking forest. Nobody should be going there; I thought it was clear? That area is prohibited! Nobody, and I mean not even a single soul, should attempt to get closer to that border. And you, Barbara, of all people, went in there?"Barbara looked down. Since she was young and had no parents around, she grew up in the palace. She was trained and taken care of by the old maid of the king, and growing up as Zoren’s playmate and closest friend, the king almost stood as her uncle. She looked up to him and treated him as the only father figure she knew. So, seeing how disappointed Lucas is while staring her down made her heart ache. She wanted to say something;
Zoren sighed as he looked at the woman lying down on his bed. He wanted to talk with his father, but for some reason, he couldn't ignore the feeling that she would wake up again and look for him. She’s not fully asleep yet, as he could tell. From what he could see, she was choosing to close her eyes and avoid conversation. She should be, after Zoren was literally fuming after what she did. Although she was doing it out of the kindness in her heart that she couldn't ignore, Zoren hated it."Why would you do that?" he asked, sitting beside her with a frown on his face. "You know that it can be very bad for you. Using too much of your power might cause terrible things to you and your body. Why are you doing this when I repeatedly told you not to?"Verena did not respond. She rolled over to the other side and covered her head with the blanket. She could hear Zoren’s tone, and she has no idea how to deal with it at the moment."You know that I am only worried about you, right? I am not say
"I can't believe that she did that.""Are you talking about what Verena did or what Barbara did?""Of course I was talking about Verena. I did not expect her to go to that extent and do all that to help us out. What the hell was she thinking? Why did she even go to those lengths?""You know why."Lucas held his head up with his hands as he supported his elbows on his knees. With just Old Fool alone in his room with him, the king was able to show his real emotions at that moment. It’s like his mask was finally taken off and thrown out of the window. His soft expression and furrowed brows were enough to tell that he was truly shaken up by what happened. "I don’t think I’ll be able to face her again, Old Fool. I don’t think I should. After what I painted her out to be in my own mind, I would only feel guilt if I looked at her.""I think she won't mind," the old man said. "After all, you really did not tell her about your thoughts anyway. It doesn’t matter for her. And I bet that she won'
"Why did you call for me?""Zoren, it’s early in the morning; if you could please help me out a bit and don’t ruin my ears, alright?" The king comically said, pushing a warm cup of milk towards his son. Instead of looking like a king, Lucas chose to be more soft and kinder to his son. He even turned around to grab a plate of breakfast from the tray and place it in front of Zoren. The prince was surprised, to say the least. He stared at his own father as if he were not able to recognize him at all. It was a total 360-degree shift from his cold and ruthless persona. Right now, he seemed more like a loving and normal dad who might start talking about very intimate and vulnerable topics. He’s not willing to go through that."What are you doing? Are you trying to serve me breakfast?""How long was it since we last ate breakfast together? It was too long to even remember, right?""Not all problems could be solved by a meal."The king sat down in front of him, taking his own plate filled wit
"Zoren, I don't think I should go," Verena said, lowering her head while Zoren kept on lining up different dresses on the bed for her to choose from. He has a huge grin on his face, just imagining her in any of them. "Don't put that one down; I already told you, I won't be wearing that.""This is a traditional piece worn by the bravest female warriors in our pack; why won't you wear it?""You already told me how significant this is," Verena said, folding the brown dress with a hard corset carefully. "They have to fight and risk their lives in order to be worthy enough to wear one, and here I am, getting it because I randomly appeared? That is a huge no. To me, it feels insensitive, especially since we both know how they truly feel about me.""But word is slowly getting out, right?" the prince said, talking about what he heard earlier when he was fetching Verena from Old Fool's place. There were a lot of werewolves watching them walk back home, and he could hear them talking about the
Verena watched the huge smile on Zoren’s face as he pulled the sheets off their bed to let her rest. He could still not forget how she told him about his very own father apologizing and telling her that he truly trusted Verena now. The prince is delighted to hear that, especially since all he wants is for Verena to feel welcome and safe in his own home, and now it seems like the world is working in his favor.When he looked back at her, she shook her head a bit and sat on the side of the bed, watching the full moon through the window."I thought you were already tired," he said. "That’s why you wanted to get back earlier, right?""Well, yes, I am tired, but I don’t feel sleepy yet," she replied. "I just want to spend more time with you. I wanted to look at the moon with you."Zoren walked over to immediately hug her while sitting next to her. "It’s much more beautiful from here, huh?" he asked. The moon was so big, it looked like if they went to the next mountain, they'd be able to tou
Chills ran down Zoren's back as soon as he heard it. The whisper—there is no way that it couldn't be her. It was a hundred percent certain; it was Verena's. He was stunned for a while, pondering. Why would he hear her voice from that far away? And why did she sound like that? He was expecting to hear those words and have them give him the warmest feeling in his chest. It was supposed to make him feel giddy and excited, but to his surprise, it felt like a bullet.He could feel his heart aching. The type of pain that immediately prevented him from breathing normally In the middle of the celebration, he felt pain in his chest, as if someone were squeezing his heart repeatedly. His head began to throb, his pulse was up, and his stomach felt tight. He just knows that something is not right."Did you hear that?" he softly asked. The king and Old Fool, who both sat beside him, both looked at him with a blank expression. That alone was enough to let him know that he was the only one to hear h
Verena's POVIt's really weird to watch the sun come up when you've never slept. It felt too quick for me; I did not even realize that it was a new day again. Just yesterday, I was still in a different realm, but now I am here, having to deal with so many things that I have no idea how to even approach them. I don't know why I hastily decided to do this on my own when, in reality, having Zoren beside me would have been a better idea. He's much more capable and smarter than I am. But here I am, trying to carry everything on my shoulders again.Standing by the window from the living room, I was able to witness everything change from darkness to bright and warm. The clouds looked beautiful. The flowers and the leaves dancing with the wind were pretty. I hated them. It made me feel like the whole world decided to show me how amazing and beautiful the day was while I was welcoming it as the most devastated creature to ever walk the land. As I continue to breathe, I feel my chest ache. Ever
The sun appeared again, shining brightly, proudly showing off the light that gave the dancing flowers in the breeze more life. They swayed and played together with the colorful butterflies that kept swirling around them. The birds chirped as they rested on tree branches. The leaves joining in the fun were beautiful. It was peaceful; it was another good morning."Miss Barbara, do they really have tall houses that reach the sky?" one kid named Justin asked as he pulled on Barbara's skirt a bit. He has a flushed face, and his eyes are glowing, big, and bright while listening to the tales of their teacher about the other realm."They have it," Barbara answered, tapping Justin's head. He turned around to his classmates and gasped with them. "They call them buildings, tall buildings, but most of those buildings are used as a place where they work, not their houses.""Do you think we would be able to see one?" One girl around the age of eight to ten asked Justin. She sighed and looked down.
"You already used your power too much to alter the world," Zoren whispered as he held onto Verena's wrist tightly. "You can't summon the moon; it might be your last wish.""I'll do it," she responded, not looking into his eyes. "Even if it is, I would still do it.""Verena, do you not care about yourself? We can fight; don't use your powers again!""One bullet directly to my heart and I'll be dead," Verena said coldly. "We are outnumbered; this won't work. We have to change it up a bit.""Dont go."Verena gave Zoren's hand a tight squeeze before making him let go. She walked out with her head held high. She knew that she was nearing the edge, but that did not matter. She wanted to protect Zoren, and she has one last thing to try. Luckily for her, they followed through with their side of the trade, and all the guns were on the floor. Nobody dared to move as she stood there, looking at Leo, waving the book as if he were teasing her to come closer. She hated him with all her heart, but s
Bulan was in total chaos when Zoren got in. He knew that it was bad when everyone was running out of the compound without even realizing that he was there. Because of the strong earthquake that only happened inside their compound, everyone wanted to leave and save themselves. He rushed to where Verena was. It was easy enough for him to track her since her scent was powerful, especially at that moment. It was too intense, like her aura was engulfing the entire land.His feet led him to the bottom of the tallest building they have, and as he looked up, he felt chills running down his spine. He could clearly see a commotion on top, and the only thing that was clear to him right now was that Verena was fully absorbed by her powers. She was glowing and levitating as her hands were extended, focusing on the two other people there, Mira and Leo.The werewolf prince used his speed to rush up and stop Verena from whatever she was doing. Just by the feeling that he is getting, he is a hundred p
"Father, don't you see? She is just pretending! She wanted to make you believe that she is someone that you can trust! Don't listen to what she is saying!""Mira, use your brain!" the old man said, while tapping his fingertips on the thick book in front of him. He sat down beside Mira as they were talking. "She gave us the cursed book. We have it; she gave it to us; do you understand that? She is using this book as her bargaining chip, and she only wanted to keep that stupid prince safe. Do you not realize how big of a deal this is?" the man laughed with his whole chest. "I did not think that she would be this weak, though. For a man, she is willing to risk everything, but for one guy, she gave up. How dumb.""It was a dumb decision; you are right," said Mira. "And that is what's making me think that she is only doing this for a different reason. I don't know, maybe this is all part of her plan to lure us into a trap or something!""She was able to go into the book, Mira; do you not u
Verena's POVI knew exactly what everyone's thoughts were the moment that I walked to the gates of Bulan. When the guards saw me, I could almost hear his brain register who I was. Crazy, it looks like I've become famous within their community since the last time we've all hung out. I am pretty sure that everyone knows who I am; perhaps they know a lot more than I do because I heard my name being said by a bunch of people who were coming out to catch a glimpse of me. There are at least two dozen girls and some guys who were watching, waiting for what I am up to, as some of the guards are still holding the gates closed before they get their leader's final decision. He ran inside, and I assume that he was asking someone higher up in the ranks to give him an order.In my vision earlier, I saw Leo and Mira rushing to us and getting to Zoren. I don't know when that was supposed to happen, but I am sure that I can change it. I was able to change the vision that I had when I dealt with Barbar
"I couldn't see him anywhere!" Zoren yelled as soon as he got inside the house. He brushed his hair up and stressed that no matter where he went, he would not be able to see Galen anywhere. "I swear, he was never here. If he was here, when I came back, I was sure that he would jump onto me as soon as he saw me. But ever since I came back, I never saw him. Are you sure that he is here?""I am a hundred percent positive," Verena said, wearing her thick, long black coat. "I was just with him while the eclipse showed up. I even accidentally gave him a fright when I connected with him while I was experiencing that surge of energy. I don't know where he went, but because I was not able to control my body earlier, I was not able to see him again." She bit her lower lip. Her palms felt a little hot and sweaty, and she tried to wipe them on her coat, but she knew that they'd still be damp. "I don't know if I was the one who did this to him, but do you think because of what was going on at that
"Thank goodness, you are finally awake. I was worried that you were too drained because of what happened," Said Zoren as he patted Verena's head. He was holding her hand while the woman looked up at him, slowly blinking as if she couldn't believe her own eyes. She lifted her arm and brushed his hair with his fingertips, making her smile a little."This is the best dream ever," she whispered to herself. "I think I might have used my brain power so much that it granted me this escape," she said. She bit her lower lips and sighed. "Still, I am very grateful.""What are you talking about?" Zoren asked. Based on what he is hearing, it does not seem that Verena was the one who summoned him back, and it does not make any sense to him. Who else would have done that if it was not her? He could literally not think of a single being that would have the ability to do so. "Darling, did you not summon me?"Verena shook her head, her eyes slowly growing big, realizing that this hallucination is not
Another day of watching the sun come out after witnessing the entire reign of the moon last night was added to Verena's list. At this rate, she won't be surprised if her body begins to cope and she suddenly turns nocturnal. Even though last night all she wanted was to sleep and get at least twelve hours of rest from her loud brain, she couldn't do it. There came a point where she wanted to use her own magic on herself, but she knew that if she started doing that, she wouldn't be able to stop herself when she wanted to escape for a much longer time. Everything that was revealed to her by Galen last night was too much for her to handle, and she won't lie; it caused a lot of doubts and worries in her heart. It was not easy for her to believe that Leo was her father. The thing is, her expectations and her dreams made it a lot more difficult.Because Verena grew up without any knowledge about her family, she was the one who filled her curiosity with her made-up stories, and although she kn
It's been three days since Verena stayed in a different home that Galen had prepared for her, but she was still unable to do anything. Aside from practicing what Old Fool had taught her before, there was really nothing else. She had made a few wishes here and there just to make sure that she'd be able to at least hinder Leo's movements. But aside from asking for him to stop harming innocent humans, there is nothing that she can do.Galen is not giving her anything. Whenever they meet, he always has so many reasons as to why he can't hang out with her. Even when she moved, he did not go with her. He followed later on and then left again when night came. Since she was back, all she wanted to do was sit and eat a warm meal with Galen to at least help her lessen the sadness and heaviness that she is feeling right now, but she still can't have that. Galen had told her a couple of times already that he had to be out, finding clues and figuring out another way to bring down the hunters. Some