LORD SAINTS POV Now if this wasn't the worst time for 'an emergency', then I wonder what is. I looked at Hillary, who was now settling on her feet and adjusting her cloth. "I'm..." I began, apologetically. She rose her palm up to stop me. "...don't mention it, Jay." She said as the cutest smile broke out of her face. "I understand." Elated to see her unbothered, I took her hands and bowed to kiss them. "Stop it." She giggled as I kissed her all over her soft and fragile hands. "My lord." Roared Scarlett outside. "I'm sorry but your attention is direly needed in the courtroom." "I'll be there in a minute." I replied, then let out a low disappointed sigh. "It's alright." Hillary said, encouragingly. "Your people need their Emperor." More disappointed than my appearance was giving out, I regretfully let go of her hands Then, I marched up the spiral stairs into my royal dressing closet. There, I took my red royal garment with the
CHECKMATE'S POV Two Weeks AgoA day had passed since Hillary's escape and I walked restlessly around the pack house, seeking refuge in my rampant movement and unnecessary assistance to Abby at the bar—Until she pissed me off. Handing me a strawberry with whipped cream cupcake, Abby said, "I never believed you could be so useful and hardworking in the bar." I shrugged my shoulder casually as I stuffed my mouth with the cupcake and picked up another one. "Although, I don't really like your new silent attitude but overall, you've changed for better." She bit into her cake and with her mouth full, she said, "It seems like Hillary's truancy and betrayal has done you great good." I stopped chewing as my heart sank. In the last twenty four hours, about three-quarter of the pack have told me of how Hillary's so-called shameful betrayal has been so helpful to me. "Fed up." I muttered to myself. "What did you say?" She asked, giving her cake a break.
HILLARY'S POV. "Oh my!" I cried as I ran to him. I pushed my way through the guards and fell to my knees beside him. "Checkmate." I sobbed. I rose his head up but his beaten eyes were closed and his mouth was swollen and bloody. "No, no, no." I cried, shaking his lifeless body "Who is the boy?" Jordan asked. I was too terrified to respond so Madam Turi replied him. "This is Hillary's friend... and my friend too." Jordan heaved a bogged down sigh before giving out an order. "Guards!" They all stood at attention. "Take the boy to the clinic." He concluded. Two guards stepped forward and walked over to us to take Checkmate but Madam Turi shooed them away. "My lord." She bowed to him, then resumed. "I'd like to take care of the boy myself." "And why would you trouble yourself when you have about fifty junior doctors who will be willing to treat him." Adamantly, Madam Turi insisted. "Please, my lord. It will be of no distr
LORD SAINTS POV "Who is the boy?" She walked in and closed the door. "He's a werewolf." "I know that already," I said. "What I mean is, who is the boy to her... and you?" "He's her friend and my friend too... He helped me when I was captured by those horrid wolves." I took my gaze off the garden, which was still under renovation after the chaotic protest had destroyed it. Madam Turi was carrying a long face which didn't really surprise me as I had already developed an early intuition of the boy's fate. "Is he dead?" She hesitated. "I tried my best, my lord but he had been badly wounded and there was very little I could do." Again, I asked. "Is he dead? Yes or no?" She looked down to the floor. "Yes, my lord." I turned back to the busy gardeners working under the heat of the blazing sun. The weather was really crazy, terribly cold and freezing at night and super hot during the day. "How is Hillary?" "Bad." She replied. "Re
HILLARY'S POV Fate? Is that even real? I asked myself as I stared at the lifeless figure of Checkmate. Fate? I could still remember when Dylan had talked to me about fate. Then, I had been planning to run away and have a normal good ol' life with no Gladys and Steve to torture me. If only I'd known how terrific and unpredictable life was, I might have not made half of the mistakes I'd made already. Dylan and I were fated to each other and by all customs are meant to be together as Alpha and Luna, but somehow I feel different. Of course, I definitely feel this strong connection to him, something more celestial than natural. An aura which attracts us to each other. But it's different from what Jordan and I have. If I'm sure of one thing, it's that I'm in love with Jordan. I'm sickly in love with him. A natural feeling which has grown on me, unlike what I had with Dylan. It wasn't spontaneous, although the first day I had seen Jordan, I had been mesmerized by his good looks
Lord Saints POVTwelve hours and still nothing. Not a word from MT, not a word from any of the doctors, not a word from Scar, and I haven't even seen Hillary. I hated being left in the dark. After Madam Turi had left me alone to check up on Hilary and how she was coping with the wolf boy's death, i hadn't heard from anyone and most disturbing, I hadn't seen or heard from Hillary since the previous day. I had barely slept last night. I wondered if she was okay. MT had told me to remain calm and to give Hilary space to calm down and mourn. But, I was too worried and I believed that being by her side might help her get comfort. So, I left my chambers first thing in the morning and walked for about forty minutes before arriving at the clinical section. I saw her sitting on a bench at the lobby of the clinic, visibly trembling from afar. She hadn't even noticed my presence until I placed my hand on her dropped shoulders, which made her jerk and gasp i
HILLARY'S POVHe was probably thinking that I was crazy. And he wasn't wrong. I could feel this sudden anger welling up in me, an anger which I had never experienced before. An anger towards myself. I knew that the whole 'penance' talk was crazy but it was somehow satisfying to me. Crazy! Of course, I blamed myself for Checkmate's death or soon-to-be death, whatever. It was my fault, if I hadn't left the pack that night, Checkmate wouldn't have come after me and he'd definitely not be on the verge of dying. But If I hadn't escaped, I'd have probably been imprisoned or worse, Scarlett and Madam Turi would have been tortured and killed. But if I had done the right thing, why did I still feel so much guilt? As if I had been the one that had stabbed him? My thighs were killing me. I had to get treated before it gets infected. But before that, I had to hear Jordan's solution—that's if he had any. "What solution?" I asked, not really buying it. "Can you rem
LORD SAINTS POV My heart thumped as I approached the room which the poisoned wolf boy was in. From the look of things, it appeared that the doctors were wrapping up and very soon, i'd be obliged to make the extreme sacrifice. Yeah, I said it… Sacrifice. Unknown to Hillary, this process was going to affect me seriously. Although the devil's vine has no negative effect on Lycans, the dragon's breath will try to separate me from my spiritual wolf which is an impossible process as Lycans and their wolves are one and the same. That's why we are often referred to as natural beasts by other supernatural beings because unlike werewolves who have wolves within them, we are wolves ourselves. Wolves which have evolved throughout the years to become half-human and half-beast. But, I was ready. I had already made a promise to Hillary and I wasn't planning to break it. Just when I began to take off the loads of burden and stress in my head, other scary thoughts emerged.
CHECKMATE'S POV Fighting Ivanka turned out to be more difficult than I had expected. She had so many advantages over me, considering that she had even been my martial arts teacher not too long ago. And when I realised that the only way to stand a chance of surviving was to shift to my wolf form, it was already too late as she was capable of making a half-shift—just like Hillary, she could still be in human form and access her werewolf strength. So, I had no time to shift and was vulnerable to her attacks. I couldn't even defend myself as I had no weapons to wade her off. She rose me up in the air and flung me at the wooden wall of the cabin which cracked open. Blood oozed out of my head, soaking my entire hair within few seconds and judging from the excruciating pain at my back, I could bet that I had fractured my backbone. Moaning in pain, I watched my stepsister walk towards me with a cruel smile on her stiff face, while twirling the point
JORDAN POV "Don't you ever give up?" I asked in annoyance. "Yeah, I do sometimes but not when Hillary is involved." He said, dropping the torchlight. "Why do you have a death wish?" I asked, even though I knew how weak and injured I was, I wasn't scared of a werewolf. But Dylan was an exceptional fighter and a dangerous one too. He flashed a wicked smile as he revealed the short blade beneath his coat. "I don't have a death wish anymore," He said. "All I want is for the world to be a better place without you Lycan Demons involved." "That means, you don't also want Hillary as she has Lycan blood in her." He remained quiet. Then he raised the blade up for the little ray of light that dimly lit the arena to meet and then I realized that this was more of a threat than I had anticipated. There was a green liquid on the blade and from the instant repulsive feeling I received, I knew it must be dangerous to Lycans, but I wasn't sure, so I as
HILLARY'S POV I was on the floor, wailing like a widow when I heard some spectators scream, but not in happiness but a scream of terror. Wait, did Ivanka miss? Or did it meet... Oh no! I sprang up to my feet and rushed to see who the victim was. "No!!!" I screamed out when I was CM pinned to the ground with a five-foot spear stuck in his chest. I pushed the petrified Ivanka away and hurried down the stairs to meet CM. When I arrived, after pushing through the grieving crowd, I met CM lying in a pool of his own blood. The pale-looking Dylan was wailing in agony while Jordan stood akimbo, with an inscrutable and blank facial expression. I fell to my knees beside his dying body. "Please, don't go!!" I pleaded as blood flowed down his mouth. "Take h-him a-away, she'll kil-l him." He struggled to utter as his life slowly seeped out of him. "No," I wailed. "How did this happen?" I yelled out. To my surprise the angry crowd began pointing f
CHECKMATE POV I had been watching her for days. Ever since our last discussion or argument, I had done a lot of thinking and I'd come to realise that I was wrong, but I didn't' know how to make amends, so I started by convincing Dylan to take her back to her room. I even convinced Mr. Grono, the chef to prepare her French breakfast. But, I knew those things were too irrelevant as I still felt so much guilt and shame. I was watching her again. She was with her Lycan King, and from her grip on his shirt, I could tell she was begging him not to fight, which appeared to be a little bit late as our Alpha was already fixed on the fight. She loved him, that part was clear to me. But why? I guess that wasn't my business. She's an adult and I'm just a kid, anyway. The fight would take place the following day and the whole pack was in fear, some people were even scared of sleeping while the monstrous Lycan King was amongst them. They all blamed Hillary, and they had solid
HILLARY'S POVEight days. Eight days, eleven hours.Although I was no longer in the dark room and neither was I being kept prisoner, I still had a keen interest in staring at the time.Dylan had also decided to take me back to my old room, for reasons I had no idea of.Today had been fairly horrible unlike all the other seven days which had been nothing but chaotic and terrible.I had woken up with a fabricated smile and had prayed genuinely like I did on every morning two years ago, the only difference being that now, I wasn't praying for freedom anymore.I took my time brushing and enjoyed my hot water bath. Later, I ordered for a French breakfast which was delivered by a grim chef, giving me killer looks as he gave me my breakfast. At first, I considered disposing the food In fear of being poisoned but then, I thought against it and consumed my breakfast happily with no worries.Now, I was staring from my balcony at the farm where at least fifty men, women and children were working
Lord Saints POV It's been one full week since Hillary's disappearance and to be honest, I wasn't certain if she had been abducted or if she had gone back willingly. Either way, it hurt me more than anything else had hurt me in years. Initially, I had been crazed and had quickly switched over to my old side. The whole castle had been trembling and fear had consumed everyone. Then, I realized that I didn't want that. The fear I had once cherished and fed on wasn't desirable to me anymore. Being with Hillary truly changed me more than I had noticed. Now, although I was sad and downcast, I wasn't bitter like I had been before. And to be sincere, I loved this new side of me. Early that morning, I strolled down to the royal cemetery with two bouquets of pink roses—which signified gratitude—in my hands. My first stop was at the grave of Finn Johannesson (Scarlett's younger brother) who had died eight years ago from an incurable disease. He had been her only
It's been six days I've been here. Six days and fourteen hours to be precise. How would I know that? Well, I've been staring at the large pendulum clock in the dark room I had been kept for the past six days. After I had finally realized that I had been cruelly betrayed by someone who I had believed was closer to me than anyone, I had thought that I'd be punished or even persecuted for fleeing with the Lycans, but rather I had been welcomed with Dylan's open arms. Just when I was about to get relaxed and relieved, Dylan leaned forward to kiss me and I swiftly dodged his kiss like a bullet. Then, I saw his true emotions. His countenace had changed instantaneously and he had ordered for my apprehension in this godforsaken room where I had been locked up. Ever since then, Dylan had visited me repeatedly, during which he had taken his time to badmouth Jordan and the Lycans—not like his words had any effect on me. To add to my predicament, the worst happened the p
HILLARY'S POV After convincing the clinic's staffs to release Checkmate and I for a brief morning stroll, CM and I wandered the castle gardens, talking ceaselessly about what we had both experienced in the brief period of time we had been apart. I watched him run his mouth and I couldn't deny the happiness and satisfaction that thrilled my heart. "I heard you once teamed up with Brianna?" I asked as he played with one of the castle's fountains. "Who is Brianna?" "A blonde Lycan girl, about your age?" "Oh," he let out. "Is she that naughty and arrogant know-it-all who assisted us in taking you home?" I chuckled. "C'mon, don't insult her. She is one of my friends, okay? She acted as a constant reminder of you when you were away." He snorted. "I doubt that. She and I aren't alike in any way." "Hmm, but you both are smart kids with high ambitions." I said, amused by his childish denial. He laughed. "High ambitions. What does she want to be
CHECKMATE POV "What is he doing here, Hillary?" She looked back at him and returned her gaze to me. "That is..." "I know who he is," I said, angrily. "He is the Lycan beast, isn't he?" The bewitchingly attractive man smiled, much to my surprise. "I have a lot of names, boy, and that one you mentioned is my all time favorite." "Do you think this is funny," "Checkmate, stop!" Hillary yelled at me. "Just calm down, okay?" "Why?" I asked in annoyance. "Tell me one reason why I should calm down when this murderous bastard is in here?" The man's smile wavered but he didn't utter a word. "For God sake, stop being rude." Hillary said, noticeably offended. "I don't get it, why are you defending him?" "I am not, okay?" She said, "I am not because there is nothing to defend about him." "You don't mean that, do you?" I asked, bewildered. "This man is a murderous bastard that killed just how many members of our pack." "That wasn'