~SabastianI glanced down the hallway leading to the basement and then at Richard."You're right, Your Majesty. She might be hiding down there. Why hadn't I thought of that? We would have checked there sooner, maybe before checking every other place.""Well, let's do that now," he said."We will, Your Majesty. Kindly spare me a few minutes to get some water to drink before we go down there. I am so dehydrated," I replied, making an excuse, hoping he would buy it.He glanced at the witch and his beta. "I could use some water too," the witch chimed in."Well, get some for everyone then," Richard concluded."Alright, please kindly wait inside the hall while I fetch it," I gestured towards the hall.When they made their way towards the hall, I quickly brought out my phone and placed a call to my chief guard. I needed him to go to the special dungeon where Athena was kept and take her away from there.I waited until I was out of earshot from them before issuing my instructions to my guard,
~Sabastian"You heard him! Open the gate," I reiterated Richard's words to the guard, doing nothing to mask the fear in my voice.The guard, who was already afraid, opened the gate with trembling hands. Richard barged into the dungeon."Athena was here! She was here! I am sure of it!" he growled, scanning the area with fiery eyes."How is that possible, Your Majesty?" I said, falling in step beside him. "If she is as powerful as you say she is, then she can't possibly have been here. This dungeon has been empty for over a month now," I explained."I know what I am saying, Sebastian. I am no fool. I smell her here!" he glared intently at me.I frowned and furrowed my brows, thinking of the best possible excuse to give as to why Athena's scent might have been there. Just as the idea hit me, to my surprise, the witch spoke, taking the words right out of my mind."Athena was here, Your Majesty, but that was weeks ago. I can smell her scent faintly."They all fixed their eyes on me, hoping
~SabrinaRichard was holding out pretty well on the outside, trying to act strong and brave, but I know his heart. I know how broken he was on the inside despite his tough exterior. This was my time, my opportunity to draw closer to him and use comfort as a guise to get what I want. I needed to cement our relationship by being available now that he was in his most vulnerable mourning state.The past couple of days, I have been trying to do just that, but he keeps pushing me away. On one occasion, he had actually flared up and shut the door to his office in my face, saying he wanted to be left alone. He said if I wanted to be of help in any way, I would be out there trying to help hunt down Athena, who was the cause of his turmoil.I scoffed as I left his office. Help hunt down Athena? When I was the one who helped her escape in the first place? How ridiculous. Despite his continuous attempts to push me away, I would keep pressing on until I finally got what I wanted. Earlier today,
~SabrinaI settled myself down on his bed. After shutting the door, he walked towards the bed, but instead of sitting on it, he sat on the floor, making himself comfortable, with one hand placed on the bed, holding his head.He arched his head upwards, his tired eyes lingering on me. I stood from the bed and sat on the floor beside him, placing the glass cups carefully between us. I then opened the wine and poured us each a glass. He grabbed his cup and, to my shock, emptied the whole thing."Richard, you shouldn't gulp down alcohol that way. This is too heavy!" I raised the bottle to my eyes, reading its content, "It has 47% alcohol in it, which is quite strong, especially since you haven't had anything to eat at all."He blinked, focusing his lazy gaze on me. "I don't care about any of that, Sabrina."I sighed. "I am not surprised." He was going through a lot and did nothing to hide it right now. If he continued on this path, he would soon become a shadow of himself. The Richard I
~AthenaIt has been at least a week of constant abuse from Sebastian. Every single day, I feel miserable and wonder just how beautiful life would have been if the things that happened on that fateful day didn't happen. I would still be the Luna of the greatest pack in the history of all packs.Now I have been reduced to a mere slave, whose home is now the dungeon. Even the maids have better lives than me right now. At least they get to live in rooms, lay on beds, and eat when they want, but for me, everything is controlled. Sebastian determines when I am to eat or even take a shower. Life has become a living hell for me. I lie on the cold hard floor every night, reminiscing the days I used to have warm lovely nights wrapped in the arms of the love of my life. Those days still seem so real, living alive inside of me."Is this really how our life is going to be forever?" Elsa asked. I could hear the sadness in her voice.I shut my eyes, blinking back tears. "Unless a miracle happens an
~SabrinaI spent the whole day thinking about that night with James. It had changed everything for me. It had been two days already, and I still hadn't come to a conclusion yet, but I was halfway through making my decision. I needed to really think things through and be sure I was making the right choice.Suddenly, there was a knock on the slightly open door, startling me."Come in," I said without looking back as I was focused on the painting in front of me. I love painting; it is a medium to express my emotions. I do it quite often, especially when I am happy, as I am now."Ms. Sabrina, His Majesty demands your presence in his office."At his words, I faltered, my painting brush mistakenly making a mess on the drawing board. Hearing that Richard wanted to see me made dread cling to the walls of my stomach. I had been intentionally avoiding being in any room or space alone with him because he would want to bring up what had happened between us that night, and frankly, it wasn't a top
~SabastianIt has been months since I brought Athena back, and with each passing day, I watch her child grow in her belly; my hatred for her grows too. I can't wait to kill that child. I can't wait to unalive that bastard she is carrying. I make sure to tell her that every chance I get. She needs to know that her time is ticking. When the time comes and I yank the child out of her belly, she will end up dying too. Only then will I be able to experience maximum satisfaction."She would pay the ultimate price of death for cheating on us," my wolf growled."Yes, she will. We just have to wait a little longer until she is due.""That we can do. I hope it happens sooner than later, though. I hate her! I loathe that whore so much!"I understood just how much he hated her. These days, with her stomach getting bigger and bigger, I find myself hating her so much to the point that I didn't want to engage in sexual activities with her. It must be my wolf. Those were actually his true feelings to
~AthenaHow is this possible? How is she in front of me? I felt like I was dreaming. I blinked my eyes and rubbed them with the back of my hands to make sure it wasn't a dream.Just then, she rushed towards me, not knowing how to react, her tears falling freely down her face. I looked at Ms. Seline, who was standing behind her, and then back at her.I couldn't control the emotions that hit me all at once. My mother was standing right in front of me. The last person in this world I expected to see. Unable to control the impact of the feelings I had, I burst into uncontrollable tears."Mother, why did you forsake me?" My voice quavered. She shook her head as she cried her eyes out, falling to a squat few inches from me."I am so sorry, my daughter, I really don't know what came over me. I am sorry you have to go through all of this," she sobbed profusely.Despite hating her a little, I couldn't bear to see her cry. She looked so thin and frail. It was as though age had caught up with he
~AthenaA feast was being held at the mansion with the whole pack in attendance. The gardens were filled with people from the resettlement area while the king, his dignitaries, and elders were in the great hall dining. There was plenty of food and drinks for everyone.It has been one month since I gave birth to my three little warriors. On the day i gave birth to them, my life changed completely. I felt a kind of inner peace that I had never felt before as they were laid beside me on the bed. All the pain I experienced while birthing them suddenly disappeared and was replaced with an unspeakable kind of joy.I had thought I was going to have just one kid. Throughout my pregnancy, I never went for an antenatal checkup even though Richard had suggested it a few times. I was very healthy and strong, so I didn't feel the need to go…maybe if I had, the doctor would have found out I was going to have triplets.My father and stepmother arrived a day after hearing the news, and my stepmother
~RichardSitting at the head of the dining table, I looked to my right and left at the two most important people to me in the world... One was heavily pregnant, looking like she was about to pop any minute, and the other was infectiously cheerful tonight because he had made a bold move, disregarding his fears, and it paid off big time.A few months ago, per my advice, James had told Nuella about his strong feelings for her. To his utter shock, she had revealed she fell head over heels for him from the first moment she set eyes on him in that dungeon. Their relationship blossomed quickly. I saw my best friend become the best version of himself. Nuella completely changed him and made him so much happier than I had seen him in years. I was eternally grateful to her. Fast forward months down the line, James told me he was finally ready to make that big move. I was so happy for him, and here we are now.He asked her to marry him, and she accepted his proposal. Two young bloods specially
~AthenaIt was a Monday morning. Richard drove me to the hospital after I complained about being sick. He left me in the care of the doctor as he had an important errand to run with James."I will be back in two hours, love," he said as he kissed my forehead.After he left, the doctor asked me what exactly was wrong with me, and I told him the symptoms I had been having for the past few days. I had kept them to myself as I didn't want to trouble Richard or anyone else. Today was quite different, unfortunately. I felt very lightheaded and weak and was unable to get out of bed until Richard came to my rescue and insisted on taking me to the hospital himself.The doctor took a sample of my blood and left.After a few minutes, he came back, a bubbly smile stretching his lips.I sat upright on the bed where I was resting, wondering why he was looking happy."Queen Athena, I bring you good news," he said cheerfully. I narrowed my eyes at him in surprise, as I thought of what good news he c
~RichardThe effects of the war have taken their toll on my kingdom these past few weeks. It will really take a long time to get over all that has happened, all because one silly man thought it was wise to avenge the death of his wicked, soulless brother.All the men who surrendered during the war have been put to good use rebuilding my pack, which they helped destroy. They have been allotted different duties in the pack. Some were sent to farms to become laborers and help the people in rural areas till the lands, plant crops, and harvest them. Others were sent to labor in building infrastructures, some of which were destroyed during their attacks with explosives, and so on.As for Alpha Gerald, after keeping him locked up for a week, I set him free, along with his men. He cried in appreciation, and we signed a peace treaty to seal the fact that we had now become allies.Today was the day of the scheduled meeting with the elders, and I still had no clue what they wanted to discuss, a
~AthenaToday, my father and his Luna will come to Black Knight Pack for my mother's burial, which is tomorrow. When he called and told me he would be coming with his Luna because she wanted to see me, I didn't know how to react to the news.All I said was, "Oh… Great.""She is a good woman, Athena. You will love her," my father had said.She was supposed to be my stepmother, but I was feeling quite nervous about seeing her.It has already been two weeks since the war was fought. Nothing is the same anymore. There is great grief all over the pack, in the resettlement area, and even in the mansion. Scores of people had lost their lives. I heard Richard and James discussing the other day, and they mentioned that the death toll had risen to 600 as bodies were still being found in different places. The only good thing about this fight was the fact that more people from the enemy pack had died. For every one lycan that was killed, four werewolves were killed too. So the ratio was 1:4, wh
~AthenaI was so tired but also excited about the fact that I had finally been saved by the two most important men in my life. If only my mother were alive to witness this moment, then my joy would be complete.It seemed as though the war had come to an end. Everywhere was a bit too serene. I didn't ask any questions on our way home as I was too tired to do so.When we got to the mansion, I was surprised to see a whole lot of people in front of it. They were scattered everywhere, sitting on grass and from the way they were being loomed over by some men wielding guns, I just knew they had to be from our enemy pack. We were about to make our way inside when three men from the crowd spoke one after the other.They were begging Richard to set them free. When the first had spoken, I felt a familiar dread curl up at the pit of my stomach. I brushed it off. No way! It just can't be.The second person spoke, and I still brushed it off. However, when the third person spoke, I felt that famil
~RichardI rose to my feet and ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Where has Athena gone? Why wasn't she in the cave as she was supposed to be?"No! She has to be there! I told her to stay there until I come," Alpha Kendrick bellowed in denial as he got to his knees, peering into the cave."Athena!" he screamed, his voice laced with pain. I could imagine how he felt as a father, and that was because I felt even worse. I didn't want to give in to my fears, though."Athena is safe, wherever she is," I internalized, trying to be positive.I checked the ground for fresh footprints that might belong to her, footprints I could trail to her new location, but I didn't find any."Athena!" Alpha Kendrick called out in shock. I immediately spun around."Come to me, my child," he added, extending his hands.With my heart in my mouth, I rushed towards him and went on my knees, peering into the small cave.There she was!She looked so frail as she staggered. I immediately rushed into the cav
~RichardHearing that Rebecca was dead was a very hard pill to swallow. Her death was especially painful because she had just made peace with her daughter, and they both needed time to create long-lasting, happy bonds. The moon goddess should have allowed her some more time, for Athena's sake! I sighed.I was looking out the window as we drove through the woods when my eyes suddenly latched onto something…someone…No! It can't be!I ordered the driver to stop the car, which he immediately did."Richard, what's the problem?" James asked, and I ignored him, rushing out of the car and towards the body lying on the ground, my heart racing rapidly.It was her! It was Jessica!"Fuck!!!" I screamed into the air, raking my hand through my hair in frustration as I sank to my knees, clamping my hand over my mouth as my body surged with emotion and pain, finding expression through the hot tears streaming down my face.I hardly ever cried, but for some reason, I couldn't help but do so at the go
~KendrickI was almost at the territory of the Black Knight pack when I got a call from Alpha Scott. My heart had been very heavy since receiving the second call from Athena informing me of her mother's death.All through the night, I had relived the years we shared, recalling pleasant memories from our past that I haven't seemed to let go of after several years. She was the first woman I ever truly loved, and I have never loved any woman as much as I loved her. Now she was gone. She didn't deserve to die.I answered the call from Alpha Scott and found out that King Richard was there with him. From his questions, I realized that he didn't know anything about Athena's whereabouts nor what had happened there.I told him I had some bad news, and his first inquiry, as expected, was about his wife. He wanted to know if she was okay.I paused, trying to find the best way possible to break the news about Rebecca's death to him."Alpha Frederick! Are you there?" he called out at my silence.