Meredith’s POVThe maid escorting me to the red room is silent. Which I somewhat appreciate; it gives me more time to think. My heart is beating wildly as I think of what I plan on doing tonight. It is risky, and the kings might kill me if I am caught, but damn it, I have to see my father and be sure my dreams are actually just dreams.We arrive at the red room, and the maid spins around to face me. She looks at me with pity in her eyes, and I feel pity for her too. But my excitement is greater. I know this may sound sick, but I actually look forward to my sessions with the kings.“Good luck,” the maid says, taking me off guard. I am about to thank her when she walks away briskly. Okay then.I stare at the door to the red room and take a deep breath before stepping in. The room is empty. None of the kings are present; what a relief!The room has been cleaned up nicely, like absolutely nothing had occurred here just last night. It almost looks like a normal bedroom if one decides to
Meredith's POVMy legs scream for a break, but I do not grant them that. I don't know how long I have been running, but I can't take the risk of getting caught now. My feet and the bottom part of my dress are covered in mud and pieces of dried leaves. My breaths are held, and I find myself almost giving up until my eyes fall on the road up ahead.A tired smile lifts my lips, and I use my last bit of energy to make it to the roadside before my legs finally give out. I use the time spent waiting for a vehicle to catch my breath. I can't believe I have made it this far.I feel a weight lift off my chest when I see two headlights approaching. I wave my hand in the air and watch as the car comes to a stop.The window slides down slowly, and a man and woman come into view. The man has a wary look on his face, while the woman looks at me with worry. They both have prominent amber eyes, and their similar features suggest that they might be related. I would say siblings if I were to guess.
Meredith’s POVI smile through my tears as my father squeezes my hand through the bars. As I take in his features, the tears only fall more. He has cuts and bruises everywhere; how could anyone do this to an innocent old man?My father is one of the kindest men I have ever met. And I am not saying this because he is my father. I am saying this because I actually know him. I see the way he treats his people with such kindness, wisdom, and sound judgment. He does not deserve this. He does not deserve any of this.Even though it has just been a week since I last saw him, I can tell that he has lost an unhealthy amount of weight. Are they even feeding on him here? My attention falls on a cut right above his eye. Judging by the discharge escaping it, I can tell that it has been infected.My chest feels tighter as more tears slip past my eyes. “I am getting you out of here, papa. I promise. I will look for the key and get you out.”I attempt to stand, but he holds me back down. He shakes
Meredith’s POV“What are you doing in my room?” I demand, and she raises a brow.“I am the one asking the questions here, Missy,” she pauses to take in my appearance. A scowl graces her lips when she says, “You look terrible.”I look at myself, and for the first time since I have known her, I actually agree with her. My dress is torn, ripped, and stained with all manner of things. I cannot even begin to imagine what my hair and face look like at this moment. A tired sigh leaves my lips, and I shut my eyes, trying to control my frustration. My legs are killing me! Hell, I feel like they are about to give in any moment from now on. Never in my life have I craved a bed as much as I do now.The ache in my legs and the fatigue make it almost impossible to think of an appropriate lie.“I am not in the mood for this, Gwen. I really need to sleep,” I say, almost plead.She purses her lips and shrugs. Throwing her legs off my bed, she walks around me and says, “That is fine, but let me tell
Meredith’s POV“I don’t know what you are-My words are cut short, and a gasp leaves my lips as he slams me against the wall. His large hand wraps around my throat, cutting off my air supply. Instinctively, my hands claw at his, but all to no avail.Roman brings his lips dangerously close to mine. His minty breath fans my face as his dark eyes pin me to the spot. His voice is calm. Too calm.Especially for someone who is just barely an inch away from killing his own mate.“We both know that is a lie. Now, try again.”My lungs are screaming at this point, and black dots are tainting my vision. He lets go of me, and I instantly fill my lungs with oxygen. I recover my breath and massage my possibly bruised neck. He steps away from me, and I look at him through teary eyes. He knows I am not human, possibly because of our mate bond. But if he finds out that I am an omega, then it surely will not be good for me. He is a heartless monster who knows what he will do to me. Roman tilts his
Meredith’s POVPanic courses through my veins as I search the hallway. Thankfully, there is no one present to witness this play, but for how long?I shoot to my feet and slam my fist against Roman’s door. On a normal day, I would not dare do such a thing, but for God’s sake, I am butt naked out here.“Please hand me my clothes at least; I can’t walk around the palace like this! Please!” I scream as I pound against his door. He doesn’t open it; he doesn’t even say anything. My heart aches with hurt. I can’t believe he can be so cruel to leave me out here like this.My heart plummets to the pit of my stomach when my ears pick up on the sound of approaching footsteps. Someone is coming. Shit!“Roman please!” I plead, pounding harder on his door. “He’s not going to open the door for you.”My body grows still, and I swallow the bile that has risen within my throat. Slowly, I turn to find a man in a black suit standing right behind me. He appears to be a few years older than me, but not n
Meredith’s POVI know I want nothing to do with him but he might as well be my only hope.But how can I possibly do that when we obviously hate each other?It makes me wonder: who was his first mate? He must have loved her a lot. What really happened? How did she die?Perhaps Sarah would know.For the first time in about three days, I opened the door to my room, so you can imagine my surprise when I found a woman standing right on the other side.She has her fist raised in the air, which suggests that she was just about to knock. “You are being summoned to the dining room by the kings.”You have got to be kidding me."Oh, okay,” I say, then step back into my room to shut the door. She stops it with her hand and pushes past me.“They ordered that you come now. I am to see that you are dressed appropriately,” she says firmly, and I rear my head back a bit with surprise.She roams my wardrobe without permission and picks out two pieces of red lingerie and a silky robe for me. I could hav
Meredith’s POV “I am sorry you had to see all of that,” I say, picking up my robe from the floor. My eyes meet his, and I am surprised to find light in them with a smile on his face.“Oh no, not at all. I am quite used to it, actually,” he says, and my cheeks flush once again. I keep my gaze down and cannot help but wonder how long he has worked here for him to be used to such sights. Just when I am about to excuse myself, he says something that surprises me. “What is your name?”“Meredith,” I reply, and a corner of his lips lifts, showcasing a dimple.“Meredith,” he repeats, my name rolling off his tongue like honey. “I believe it means magnificent, a great ruler.” The smile that lifts my lips is so wide, I almost thought the corners were touching my ears. “Yes, yes, it does.” I trail off. My father told me that it was my mother who gave me that name when I was born. I would be the greatest ruler of our kingdom.Now look at what it has become.“Your parents made an excellent choi
“Our kingdom has gone through trialing times this past year. We have lost so many of our people, family members, friends, and loved ones. This year will go down in history, and it shall be the last of its kind. A time like this will never step foot into the borders of Nuvia. Enemies tried to rule us; they tried to tear us down, but they couldn’t. Because we are strong. We are not like any other pack; we each have a fighting spirit so unique that has been placed within us. As Queen and Luna of the Nuvia kingdom, I swear to never turn my back on my kingdom ever again, even if it is for just a second. We, not just I, will learn from the mistakes made this year so they never happen again. We will rise from the ashes; we will become stronger, and if anyone tries to destroy this kingdom ever again, even after my reign, we will destroy them from the inside out instead.”Cheers, whistles, and praise filled the air as I concluded my speech. I stared at each and every Nuvian present; it was al
MEREDITH’S POVA gasp leaves my lips as I fill my lungs with oxygen. My eyelids come flying open, and my eyes lock with a pair of familiar sea blue eyes and honey brown eyes.“Welcome back to the living princess,” Saul says, and tears of joy well up in my eyes.“That’s queen to you,” I correct, and the both of them share a glance before chuckling at me. I jump to my feet to wrap both of them in a hug, but my feet wobble, and I lose my footing. Luckily, I land in Caelen’s arms, and he helps to steady me. “Easy now, queen. You just had quite an accident there. You might suffer from a concussion soon,” he says, pointing to my damaged car that is now lying in a ditch. What the hell? How did I even survive that?My eyes travel downwards to inspect my body for injuries. And surprisingly, there was none. But why did I have this burning pain all over? Like I was being beaten over and over again?When the realization dawns on me, my heart plummets to the pit of my stomach.My grip on Caelen’s
ROMAN’S POVI really am an asshole.This isn’t turning out the way I wanted. I thought that now that Meredith’s memories have been wiped out, I can finally have a brand-new chance to make things right. I thought I could fill her with stories that would benefit me.What a fool I was.The girl didn’t even trust me. She knew when I was lying and when I was telling the truth. She was my mate; she knew when I was telling the truth and when I was lying. It didn’t matter if she had lost her memories or not.That damn bond between us was always going to give me away. And my God, was she persistent. Since she didn’t believe me, she was doing everything within her power to uncover the truth. And at this rate, she was going to find out sooner than I would like. A sigh leaves my lips as I run my hand through my hair. Why did she have to be so damn persistent and go wondering around? But then again, I should have known better than to keep Lucia’s body in the same building as Meredith.I should h
MEREDITH’S POVRoman was still sound asleep. He looked so peaceful while he slept, I could stare at him sleep all day. He was even more beautiful while asleep, his features were a lot more relaxed and prominent. And who would have thought he had such incredibly long eyelashes. Lucky.Focus Meredith!It takes a lot of strength, but I manage to tear my eyes away from him. careful not to wake him; I get out of bed as quietly as possible. I do a mini-victory dance once I am out of bed, then tip toe out of the room. My teeth clamp down on my bottom lip as I open the door slowly.My heart nearly flies out of my mouth when the door makes a creak. I shoot Roman a glimpse over my shoulder and say a silent prayer when I see that he is still sound asleep. Finally, I get the door open wide enough to slip out.I make sure to shut the door gently before pumping my fist in the air. Ah, yes, freedom at last. I do another victory dance once again but freeze when I see some maids down the hall starin
MEREDITH’S POVA chill runs up my spine, and I let out a breath through my lips. A mist forms and quickly disappears before my eyes. Every breath I let out, I would see it in the form of a mist. There wasn’t a form of light in this cold, dark room. The only light came from the moon’s gaze slipping through the cracks of a barely opened window. I could tell that I was still in the palace; I do not know how, but I just did. I dared to peek out the window, and my thoughts were confirmed once my eyes locked with the palace gates.But this room... Roman had taken me on a tour around the palace, but this room... I never saw this room. I spun around in a circle, noting the dust, cobwebs, and spiders that filled the room. But what caught my attention was the coffin placed at the center of the room. Surprisingly, it was the only thing in the room that wasn’t covered in dust. It was still clean and shiny, like it had just been recently placed there.I knew I should run; I wanted to. Because wh
MEREDITH’S POV“It is a pleasure to have you back with us, Luna.”Remember your lines! Remember your lines!Presently, I am in a meeting with the newly elected council member of my pack. Roman was seated by my right hand while I was seated at the head of the table. Where I ought to be. The council consisted of seven members, each seated according to their ranks and roles. After waking up yesterday and having Roman fill me in on the things he felt were important for me to remember, I instantly passed out again. I suppose I was having a storage overload and needed time to actually process everything. When I woke up, an entire night had already passed, and I was already getting ready to attend a meeting I knew nothing about. I stared at myself in the mirror for the longest time, trying to recognize the woman that stood before me in this fancy gown and heavy jewelry. Roman came in shortly after dressed in an all-black suit with a gold cross around his neck and a gold watch on his wris
MEREDITH’S POVMy goodness, I felt quite sore all over.My lips part to release a tired yawn. Goodness, I was so tired. And I was quite hungry too. It feels like I haven’t eaten in days, but I know I ate just yesterday. But what did I eat?” I do not remember. Come to think of it, where did I eat, and what is my favorite food? What was yesterday? There was nothing but questions that filled my head. Questions that didn’t have an answer. How strange.Slowly my eyelids peel open, and I am met with a pretty chandelier. I stare at it for some time before finally sitting up. A groan leaves my lips as I stretch my legs. This bed was quite comfy, was it mine? I do not even know. My eyes dart in every direction, and I am filled with more questions. Like, where am I? And whose room is this? Was it mine or was it someone else’s?So many questions...Throwing my legs off the edge of the bed, I rise to my feet but stumble a bit. “Woah,” I mutter as I try to find my balance. Once I do, I twirl ar
ROMAN’S POVI stare at Meredith’s unconscious body with a blank face. That is one thing I was blessed with. I could be dying of pain, and my face would still be this way. Hard as stone and cold as ice. Tears still spilled out of her shut eyes, and the sight of them did something to me.I can’t believe that this was actually happening. I just hope that she will find it in her heart to forgive me someday. But this... all of this was just for her. I hope she will get to see it.A loud cackle snaps me out of my thoughts, and my head tilts to Lucia, who had her head tilted back as she laughed wholly. “Oh, what a glorious day! This has to be one of the best days of my life. I remember meeting you for the first time, and you swore to defeat me. You had so much hatred and determination set in your heart, but where has that gotten you now? Absolutely nowhere!” She laughs in Meredith’s sleeping face, and my eyelid twitches. She was way too close to Meredith for comfort. Her lips were barely a
MEREDITH’S POVFight! Get up! Move! Do something!These were the words that constantly sang repeatedly in my mind. But my body wouldn’t respond. I can’t believe that the moment Lucia told me to sleep, my body just did so without wasting a second. How was that even possible?I was awake, but my eyes wouldn't open. I was well aware of what was happening around me, but from a distance. Once again, my soul had left my body and watched the entire scene play out before me with a broken heart.I can’t believe that Roman has been helping Lucia all along. I thought that he had been with her the other night just to spite me. But going as far as stabbing his own brothers and helping her take over my kingdom was something I never would have imagined, not even in my wildest dreams. This... this was absolutely unforgiveable. Roman clothed my naked body before any of the vultures could come in before doing the same for himself. Once he was fully dressed, he asked Lucia, “What do you mean she will