SCARLETT's POVI followed behind Hillary as she led me through nice scenting flowers and light green grasses in the well-tended gardens. They really did good work here. I acknowledged as I stared at the nicely built up garden and farmland. No wonder people believed them to be kind hearted. From the view of this calm, serene and beautiful environment, which visitor would believe that the owners would be stone-hearted and unbelievably uncaring. The fact that they didn't even care that the woman they were torturing was almost two hundred years and was more vulnerable than a day year old babe, baffled me. Hillary finally stopped in front of a small thatch roofed shed and stood under the shed. "So, are we free to talk?" I asked. "Yes." She replied looking more pale and weak. "How are you?" I asked and my question(as I had expected) took her by surprise. "You're really asking me that?" She asked, unsure of the meaning of my question. I sim
HILLARY's POV I watched them drug Scarlett and lift her unconscious body from the wet grounds of the garden. I yelled so much that even when I tried to stop I couldn't and soon I could hear my own screams like I was a kilometer away. My sight became blurry as stinging tears welled up in my ebony eyes. As they carried her away, my heart sank as it felt like they were taking something very special and meaningful away from me. I wanted to run after her and fight off the fierce-looking betas who looked like they were going to eat her raw, but I couldn't as I was in the tight embrace of Dylan whom I felt like strangling at the moment. After they left with her, Dylan let go of me and looked at me terribly. "Why are you acting like this?" He asked, with a shockingly horrid tone which he had been using recently. "Like what??" I asked, in shock, anger, and frustration. "Like you aren't one of us. Like you're now a frigging Lycan!!" He
CHECKMATE's POV After the old nurse had eaten and drank to her satisfaction, she told me more stories about her late grandson who had met an untimely death and whose name would forever be alive in her heart. She also talked about her early years and how reckless she had once been when she had been my age. She told me funny, adventurous stories and talked about her supernormal age which marvelled me. "Almost two hundred!!!!" I exclaimed with my mouth and eyes wide open. "Yeah!" She nodded with a calm smile on her face. "I'll be two hundred in three months." "Wow!! "At least I would have been." She said with a dejected tone. "I'm sorry." I said genuinely. "No need to be." She said with her gaze on the floor. "By the way, it's really selfish for me to hope to celebrate my two hundredth birthday." The more she spoke, the deeper the cracks in my heart became. "The nurses in the clinic were preparing a grand birthday party for me.
HILLARY'S POVI sneaked out of the pack house without any one noticing me, but it wasn't an easy task as I had met some men at the lounge drinking and wallowing, talking about the bravery of Dylan and the 'worthless' Lycans they had captured. The irritation I got from their discussions, almost implicated me as I scoffed out unconsciously. Out of the seven men in the lounge, it seemed like it was only one of them that seemed to have heard me, as he looked around himself but luckily he didn't alert the others. Seconds later, he was laughing and drinking again, like nothing had happened. Now, I was outside in the clear open fields which was really risky as a lot of rooms windows in the pack house faced the beautiful fields. As I scurried like a squirrel through the fields, I hoped that the twinkling stars up above were the only things watching me. I exhaled as I finally reached the gardens, where the short shrubs and little trees provided a canopy for me. Giving p
HILLARY'S POV "Checkmate!!!" I was swift enough to dodge the knife which had been aimed directly at my back, but it still met my left arm and cut me deeply. "Aarrh!!" I exclaimed in pain. He hurried towards me but stopped midway when I yelled. "Stay away!!" I said. "Keep your distance!" He grew instantly pale and sad as he watched me with his beautiful puppy dog eyes. "I'm so sorry." He managed to say. "I don't need your apologies." I said as I rose up, gripping my bleeding arm. "You need to get treated." He suggested with genuine concern. "What I need is to get these two people out of here… and I don't expect you to understand and I'm not even going to seek your understanding as…" He cut me off. "I understand you perfectly." His words took me by surprise. "What?" Another exhausted voice replied me. "He isn't like the others." If not for the unique pitch and quality of her voice, I wouldn't have recognized it as it sounded cracked and weary. "Madam Turi!!!". I
LORD SAINT'S POV Happiness was indeed a rare choice. I said this repeatedly as I struggled to get Hillary out of my mind. I tried every method in the books, and even went as far as seeking advice from Madam Humphrey who had tons of methods which all turned out unhelpful. At first I had tried ignoring the fact that I actually liked her but the more I tried, the more I yearned for her. Then, I began seeking solution and like I had said earlier, none worked. Now, I was simply accepting the situation at hand which was the fact that I actually liked her a lot and I wished for her to be mine. But… I also knew that was almost impossible as she seemed to be so much in love with her so-called Alpha and would never want to be with a cold-hearted beast like myself. Although, the thought of not having a chance was hurtful, accepting the truth lessened the pain. I didn't deserve her and that was the truth. But like Madam Turi had once told me, you'll never find the ri
Hillary's POVIf I had been told that Lord Saints could be found playing soccer with mere guards, I would have laughed my heart out in jest of the liar. But right before my two eyes, I watched Lord Saints laugh excitedly with twenty one other men, who looked just as excited as he was. Initially, I thought I was hallucinating but then the agape mouths and shocked eyes of both Madam Turi and Scarlett confirmed my sight. "My lord!!" Scarlett finally found her voice to say. "Scarlett." He replied while having his back to us. He bent forward and picked up the dirt-stained ball and then turned around to face us. His next expression showed that he had not been expecting Madam Turi and I to be with Scarlett. "Hillary??" He said, almost like he was questioning my presence. "Hi, Lord Saints." I said casually, in spite of my thumping chest. His amazing green eyes were fixed on me and I tried my best to endure his intense gaze but my enduran
Hillary's POV I was so excited to visit my mum and I would have gone straight to the tower's clinic if not for Madam Turi's persistent advice and warnings. "You can't think of going there now," She said. "It's too dangerous." "I have to see her, MT." I said, with a huge smile which I couldn't seem to take off. "I really have to see her." I said, making my way out of the senior chambers main lounge. She grabbed my hands and pulled me back. "I know you want to see her and I can assure that you will, not just today." "But, what if she wakes up in the middle of the night with nobody around her." I said as a sudden fright came into my mind. "She'll be disoriented if she wakes up alone." "Hillary," Madam Turi said, guiding me to a small armchair and sitting me down. "we all are happy to hear about your mother's movement, but… I don't want you to get your hopes too high, as that might lead to you getting disappointed." "So, you believe my mother wo
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'