Nora's POV " Nora! not again!" My father said as soon as he saw me sneaking into his study.I grinned at him before crouching down to stare at the sparkling orb. I needed to get away from my mother for a while and this was my only solace. It's been chaotic these past days, ever since my coronation date was set. My mother was going all out for the event to be successful. I watched her fuming over every little detail of the party.I couldn't care less, I am not a fan of parties. Rather, I hid myself mostly in my father's study. To keep away from my mother and her fuss over my dress or other things relating to the party. My father had constantly complained and tried to convince me otherwise, yet I always charmed my way with him. My eyes were fixed on the glittering Orb at the extreme of the office cabinet. It's amazing how that little thing could light up an entire hall.“ Sweetheart, can I ask you something?" My father said, drawing my attention. " Anything, dad.”" Do you love your
Nora's POV That was George's voice. I could never mistake it. I could feel he was in danger, his voice filled with fright. Without wasting time, I made a dash through the dense forest. I let out a growl, alerting whoever was bold enough to harm my brother. How dare they hurt a royal! I got closer to a huge tree, surrounded by shrubs. There I caught sight of their fierce eyes, glaring and growling at the injured wolf. It was George and I confirmed it by looking more closely. As I stepped closer, their rotten smell hit me hard and I swore I would have thrown up if the situation wasn't so dire. I let out another earth shattering growl, making them look up at me.Their eyes filled with anger and viciousness. I took another look at George. He was already bruised and it seemed like he had broken a bone or two since he lay flat on the ground. “ How dare you! You stinking dogs!" I growled, making the first attempt to attack.I snarled and bared my teeth as I faced the bastards. They w
Nora POVThe sweat dropped down in torrents all over my body. My heart pounded a million times as I envisioned the pain of the dagger. But, I looked around to see myself on my bed and the familiar voice calling my name while banging on my door. “ Nora!" Karen's worried voice sounded outside my room.“ I am fine, Karen. It's-it's just a dream…” I managed to utter, standing up from the bed. I knew Karen wouldn't be convinced if I didn't come out.I opened the door while trying to hide the horror on my face. The dream felt so real that I swore I felt the piercing pain. With a forced smile, my gaze met Karen's worried one. The nightmare still lingered, its echoes haunting me and I couldn't shake off the hidden face with eyes gleaming with cruelty as the person stabbed me. My skin crawled with fear, my hands shaking as I clutched harder on the door.Just as I thought I'd collapse under the weight of my terror, I heard Karen's gentle voice again. "Nora, are you okay?"Karen's deep voice w
THIRD POV Nora looked at his receding figure, his words ringing continuously in her head. She managed to shrug it off before making her way to the dining room. The speech practice was making her famished. She couldn't wait to devour those delicacies.“ Come sit with me, darling," King Salvador beckoned, pointing at a seat close to him.As Nora sat close to the king, her eyes darted to a pair of eyes looking at her. She still couldn't fathom why Mira was so hateful towards her. Mira's disgust was barely hidden under her piercing glare. With a resigned sigh, Nora shook my head at the attitude of the woman who was supposed to act as a mother to her. She had always wondered why Mira hates her so much.The maids brought the royal breakfast and started dishing it out. It was customary to have a food taster in the royal dining but except for the King whose food was always tasted by the official royal food taster, the rest of the royals’ food were entrusted to trustworthy maidservants. Mos
THIRD POVThe investigation became intense each day. Even as at that, nothing could be gotten. The culprit seemed to have vanished into thin air. Regardless, the King was adamant on getting whoever tried to hurt his child.Nora on the other hand, alongside Karen had been investigating too. They always end their clues when it comes to a dead end. It was as if the person responsible was a step ahead of them. For the past few days after the incident, Nora continuously paid George visits. She hopes he regains his memories.But as days stretched on, George showed no signs of regaining his memory despite the potion that Elder Silvarum administered to him on a daily basis. He was like a day old child who had no idea about his environment. She had spent the whole night by George's side. She had asked Mira to take some rest since she was looking frail. “ Why isn't he responding?" Nora asked, frustrated.A continuous test had shown that he actively consumed the food laced with poison but be
Nora's POV When the maid pointed her fingers at Mirabel at first, I refused to believe her claim. I felt she was trying to pin her crimes on her instead of owning up to it. Not going to lie, I was disappointed. To think I had been trying to steer the accusing fingers from her only to find out she was the one who was responsible was driving me insane with each passing second. I understood the hatred she had towards me but trying to kill me was on a whole different level, something which I wasn't going to forget in a hurry. When she didn't defend herself, I felt she was the sole perpetrator of her crime but when she tried to say something else which no one seemed to notice, I scrunched up my brows as my inquisitiveness skyrocketed. “There must be a second person… Who could that be?” I muttered, darting my eyes around as I racked my head for answers which were not forthcoming. Pushing the thought behind me, I returned my attention to the issue at hand only to see her being dragged
Nora's POV It took a while before I could process what I had just heard. Even at that, it was hard to believe until Harriet repeated her words. “I'm not telling a tale here, my lady. The maid who poisoned Prince George stabbed herself in the dungeon and then Lady Mirabel was confirmed to have died from poisoning.” “How possible is this? I just left the dungeon a while ago and…” I filtered off, beads of perspiration gathering on my forehead. Suddenly, I felt a cold chill running through my spines as I reviewed what I had just heard, trying to make a meaning out of it. To confirm her tale, I returned to the dungeon to see things for myself only to be greeted with another scene. Right in front of the dungeon was the corpse of the guard who was on duty. Crouching next to him, I placed my fingers before his nostrils to confirm if indeed he was dead and it turned out to be true. “The person was lurking around
Carlos' POV On my return from the Lycan’s Kingdom the only thing on my mind was to find out the truth about what had happened that night. Aria was my target only for me to be told she was no longer in the pack and as if that was not enough, her father left too, leaving me devastated. Aria was the only person who had answers to my questions but she disappeared now that I needed her the most. While pondering on what I will do next, I felt a second presence in the courtroom and at once I turned around to see Justin staring back at me with his hands pushed into his pockets. When he didn't say anything for a while, I cleared my throat, “Is anything the matter?” I asked, peering closely at him. “What are you going to do about Aria’s disappearance? From the look of things, she ran off when she knew the event was going to be traced back to her.” He rapped. Closing the gap between us, he stood a few feet away from me, “You
CARLOS' POVBlood dripped from my split lip, and my ribs ached where Griffin landed a solid punch. But physical pain was nothing compared to the rage burning inside me."What have you done to Nora's memories?" I demanded.Griffin's smile was wolfish. "I simply helped her remember what you really are."Something changed in the air suddenly. A shift in energy that raised the hair on the back of my neck. Griffin rolled his shoulders, and I recognized the telltale signs of what was coming."You!" I accused. His only response was a low chuckle as his body began to change.The change took him quickly—bones cracking and reforming, skin stretching over growing muscle, human cries morphing into bestial growls. Where Griffin had stood moments ago, a massive wolf now crouched, teeth bared in challenge.I had no choice. I let my own transformation take me, embracing the pain as my body shifted forms. Within seconds, I sto
CARLOS POVI stared at Nora across the room. Her eyes, once warm and trusting, now held nothing but suspicion and anger. She had been questioning me for hours now without stopping. "The pendant," she said, her voice steady despite the emotion in her eyes. "The pendant I gave you. You rejected it, right?"I swallowed hard, choosing my words carefully. "The pendant? The same pendant you gave me? Come on Nora. None of those matters right now.""That's not what I asked." Her fingers tightened around the glass of water she held. "In my vision, I saw you reject it. I saw the look on your face. The look of disgust abd disdain. Why?"I remembered how I rejected Nora and her pendant. But telling her that now would only lead to more questions, questions that would inevitably reveal the worst of my past actions. It would only make her hate me even more. "I never rejected the pendant," I lied, forcing myself to meet her gaze. "You're remem
CARLOS POVI felt it without warning—a sudden rush of power surging through the walls of our home, the unmistakable energy signature of the pendant. It was the same overwhelming sensation I'd experienced during the war when the pendant's power had first manifested. My heart raced as I bolted upright from my desk, papers scattering to the floor unnoticed."Nora," I whispered, already running.I sprinted down the corridor towards the room. When I flung the door open, the room was empty, windows closed. I cursed under my breath. There was only one place she could be."The secret room," I muttered, increasing my steps. I feared for what was happening. I hoped that it was not what I was thinking, even though I was trying to prevent myself from thinking about it. I avoidedthe thoughts because it would only make me panic even more. As I raced through the winding passages of the house Elder Silvarum's warning echoed in my mind... "Keep
NORAI heard a voice calling my name, pulling me out of the swirling vortex of memories. The sound seemed to come from very far away at first, then gradually grew closer."Nora! Nora, can you hear me? Wake up!"My eyes fluttered open, struggling to regain focus. The room seemed dark at first, but gradually my eyes began to adjust. Not the secret chamber where I had passed, but our bedroom—familiar walls. I was lying in our bed. Carlos sat beside me, his face filled with worry and concern. "Thank god. You're finally awake Nora." Finally, relieve displayed on his features and he sighed deeply. I stared at him, trying to reconcile the man before me with the one in my memories—the one who had rejected me, sent wolves to push me off a cliff, the one who had nearly ended my life because I wasn't the right kind of wolf he wanted. I wondered if that was another dream? Waking up in the bedroom meant that I was dreaming
THIRD POV (Memories 2)The flood of memories continued filling Nora's unconscious form, each revelation more shocking than the last.A new face emerged from the swirling memories. The same face she had seen countless times in her dreams. The man she had always called Karen in her dreams stood before her in the palace training grounds, wooden practice sword in hand."Again," Karen commanded, circling Nora on the packed dirt of the training arena. "Your enemies won't give you time to catch your breath, Princess."Nora's younger self lunged forward, sweat dripping down her face as she executed a complex series of moves with her own practice sword. Though her muscles trembled with exhaustion, determination blazed in her eyes."Better," Karen said with a slight nod. "But your left side is still vulnerable. You have to put in more effort if you want to get it right."Nora thought that she had put in all the effort she could access and
THIRD POV (Memories 1)As Nora lay unconscious on the bare floor of the hidden chamber, her mind was floating in a sea of recovered memories. The first memory came in vivid detail. A warm summer evening, stars scattered across the sky like diamonds. A younger Nora stood before Carlos in an opening, her heart pounding with anticipation and filled with love. In her outstretched hands lay the pendant, its opal gleaming in the moonlight.Nora was smiling sheepishly. Although, she was shy... she still managed to do what she wanted to do. "I want you to have this," she told him, her voice trembling slightly. "I brought it for you. It's to show how deeply I love you." Carlos's face— younger, but with the same features, looked down at the pendant with an expression Nora couldn't quite read. She slightly lowered her eyes, suddenly feeling shy. "The moon goddess sees all true connections," Nora continued, hope evident in her voice. "Wi
NORA'S POV The world seemed sharper somehow, colours more vivid, scents more distinct. And there was something else— a pull, like an invisible thread tugging at my consciousness. I shut my eyes, thinking I could ignore it at that point. While my eyes was closed,I saw myself in another world. I was surrounded with books. I opened my eyes quickly, hoping to have been teleported, but found myself still standing at the same spot. Nothing had returned to normal yet. Leaves rustled loudly, and the sound of distant voices came with the air that kept sweeping across me. Voices that I could not male anything out of. I could hear, but I could not even understand. Something suddenly began to pull me forward against my wish. My legs moved even when I didn't put in any effort to lift my legs or carry myself. I stood shakily, my hand instinctively clutching my head. The pull strengthened, drawing me toward the library."What is this?" I whispered, but
NORA'S POV "I can't just leave," I told Griffin, my voice steadier than I felt. "Carlos is my not just my mate. We are married with kids, Griffin. With kids." Griffin moved closer to me. He did it like a reflex, and each time he got close enough, he pause before getting too close for comfort. "Nora, think about it. If Carlos truly cared for you as a mate should, why keep so much from you? Why let you stumble blindly through life, never knowing who or what you truly are?"I knew that Carlos would not just lie to me. He must have his reasons for doing so. I could not just leave him because of that. I hoped to be able to convince Griffin, even though his offer was tempting. "Maybe he was afraid," I countered, though doubt was beginning to creep in. "Afraid of losing me if I knew the truth. Afraid of something else. Perhaps, just trying to protect me." Griffin shook his head. "It goes deeper than that. Carlos has been actively w
NORA'S POV I paced nervously around my living room, waiting for Griffin to arrive. My heart raced. No matter hoe hard I tried to focus on something else, my mind kept going back to the thoughts I was running away from. The doorbell rang, bringing me back to reality. I sighed as I headed towards the door and opened it. Griffin was standing out there, noth hands in his pocket. "May I come in?" he asked, his voice low.I stepped aside. "Sure." "We can talk in the kitchen."Griffin followed behind as I led him into the kitchen. He grabbed a stool and sat on it. "Where's Carlos?" He asked as he looked around the kitchen. "Out," I replied simply. "Do you think this place is quiet enough?" "You think someone could be listening?" I asked, suddenly chilled."I think we can't be too careful." Griffin leaned forward. "Have you found anything else since we last spoke?""Just more