AUTHOR’S POVThe Generals of The Algarians, The Salideens, The Amalkeelites and The Hoardons all circled around the large table in the middle of the room. Each of them looked totally out of place. Baggy eyes, mud stained clothes, dried streaks of blood here and there, hair strands matted to the forehead with sweat. Today was not an easy day for them. Of course they won all the wars but the number of hours they had spent fighting, sleeping with their eyes open, scarcity of food resources and little to no water to drink because they were in the middle of the freaking desert. “Your Majesty, our men are becoming agitated by the minute. The lack of resources is dampening their morale and every day we worry that the outcome of the previous day would be different than the next.” The Chief General of Algaria spoke formally, his voice holding a little bit of tension and his face expressing his distress of the situation they were in.“Exactly, My King.” The General of Hoardon spoke out, agreei
AUTHOR’S POVThe King was right and his Beta General was wrong. Kaiden’s name had been the first thing Odessa called out for as she regained consciousness. When she’d asked after the King who had risked his life to save her, Odessa felt disappointed when she was told that he wasn’t in the hospital. At first, she’d thought he was too busy to come see her or was distancing himself again like she’d asked him to but she quickly realized that he wasn’t in the Kingdom at all. She asked Evelyn when she didn’t catch a sight of his shadow at all within three days of her recovery. If he was truly avoiding her, then Odessa thought he was doing a good job at it. Sadness filled her heart when she heard that he’d gone to war. Loneliness filled her soul for months as she waited for him to come back to her. Evelyn and Mitchell filled her in on the things that had happened in her absence, how her body had reacted on collecting the King’s blood, how the King broke down the temple. “I’m guessing th
ODESSA’S POV“That sly witch! She’s making you look like the bad guy.” Evelyn scowled as she paced in the room. “Aren’t I the bad guy?” Odessa asked, genuinely confused. “Of course not!” Mitchell yelled, slightly annoyed that Odessa thought so. “I might not know what she has done too you, but I know you Princess. You would never hurt anyone who didn’t deserve it.”“Exactly. Those fools that believe her crazy act clearly have no eyes or brains to think for themselves.” Evelyn huffed with anger.“Including the prince?” Odessa asked and the two maids chorused at the same time. “Especially the prince!”“Who cares about the prince.”Mitchell and Evelyn paused when they realized their words hadn’t rhymed. The look on their faces made Odessa burst into laughter. “Oh my goodness!”“We don’t care about the prince?” Mitchell asked confusedly.“No we don’t. Why would you even think that?” Evelyn asked, staring at the young maid amazed. “Well, because he’s her fiancé and they are getting marr
AUTHOR’S POVThe maids are looking at each other concerned and worried about Eira. The words coming out of her mouth were frantic and not making sense. She had a wild look in her eyes. It was almost as if she had already lost her mind because how could she accuse the princess of trying to kill her when Princess Odessa never left the dining hall in the first place. The prince too was also surprised and worried. So he turned to Eira and asked her to calm down. “It's alright Eira. You're safe now. No one will hurt you or harm you. Just carefully tell me what happened.” But instead Eira continued changing that Odessa wanted to kill her. “I swear on it, Your Highness, the Princess is trying to kill me. I don't know what I did to her but she tried to kill me today.” “Calm down will you?” Victor lashed out, he was honestly not very patient and Eira’s stupid words were starting to annoy him. “Odessa never left the dining hall today. In fact I met her here and I clearly remember seeing y
AUTHOR’S POV“Her head?” Victor asked shock evident on his face as he stared at Odessa. “Are you out of-” He paused before he could say anything in front of the maids. No matter what, he didn’t have any right to disrespect her in front of them. “You can’t just ask me to decapitate my maid, Odessa. Ask for something else.”“That’s all I want. Her head. She disrespected me and slandered my maid. I think I’ve tolerated enough insults from someone who isn’t even up to my standard. So you either give me her head or you forget about proving her right.” Odessa responded calmly. She loved the drama; in fact, she lived for it.Victor stood up to face her; Eira scooted behind his legs to protect her from Odessa. It was obvious that that woman wanted her dead.“Do you have something to hide? Because it appears to me that you do. You know that I won’t be able to accept that silly conditions of yours.”Odessa chuckled, “So you also don’t trust that your maid is saying the truth, that’s why you’re
AUTHOR’S POV “What the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get killed?” Eira flinched as the glass cup got smashed against the wall; she had to crouch down and wrap her arms around her body to protect herself from the shattered glass. She slowly looked up to meet Victor’s fiery gaze and gulped. If Odessa didn’t kill her, Victor would…at least, he looked like he would. “I…I-”“Shut up! I don’t want to hear another sentence. Every time you open your mouth, you drive yourself closer to death. I should punish you for the humiliation you caused me.” He thundered, Eira whimpered and moved back into a corner, trying to hide herself from Victor, almost as if the unmoving combination of brick and cement would save her from him.“Come here!” His voice bellowed, and Eira shook her head; she didn’t want to be anywhere near him when he was like this. Her rejection, or at least her weak attempt to show him she had a choice, angered him. “You must think I’m in the mood for jokes.” He walke
ODESSA’S POV“Where is it?” I asked, staring at the guard with a questioning gaze.He looked taken aback for a reason, in fact it wasn’t just him, it was everyone around me. “Is there a problem?”“Not really, Your Highness. It’s just… It’s just…”“Just what?” I was starting to get really annoyed and irritated. “We haven’t used the Minotaur in years. How did you know about it?” The guard asked and I froze. Of course, I’d accidentally slipped and asked based on my knowledge on my past life. I need to do damage control, quick.“Is that what you all are so shocked about? Because I know of the Minotaur? Fine then, if you must know, the King himself told me about it, now get me the whip.” But when the guard didn’t bulge, I turned to him in anger, “Did you suddenly become stupid? Get me the whip!”He fell to his knees in fear, “I’m sorry, Your Highness. But I can’t. The King himself placed a ban on it. It does too much harm than intended.”I walked closer to him in slow strides, swaying m
ODESSA’S POV“I’m bored!” Evelyn sighed and draped her body all over the chair, “Why hasn’t Eira healed yet? I want to play a little.” She whined.“The Princess did a number on her. I’d be surprised if she was fine by now. I don’t expect to see her for the remainder of this year.” Mitchell answered and I heard Evelyn sit up.“This year? Was it that bad?” Evelyn asked and Mitchell gasped, “Seriously? It was more than bad. We’re talking about the Minotaur here.”Evelyn huffed, “It’s not like I’d seen that weapon in action before. I missed the whole thing because of that silly vermin.” She sighed and I heard as her upper body plopped back on the couch, “Hugooooo…” She cried out and I snapped my book shut to glare at her.“I’m going to kick your whiny butt out of my room.”She pouted and rolled on her side to stare at me, “Can I at least go for a run?”“You just came back from one.” Mitchell chuckled, reminding her.“I know right. I’m just that bored. There’s nothing to do.” She turned he
AUTHOR’S POVOdessa couldn't control the gloomy cloud floating over her head and the racing of her heart. She couldn't help but still feel anxious and scared even though she was safely hidden in the cocoon of her kingdom. She had opened up to her father about her vision, and King Odesseus had increased his security, putting four guards on the princess and a shadow that followed her about in secret.“I don't think you'll feel safe until your mate is by your side.” King Odesseus said as he stared at his daughter. She was extra fidgety and always looking around. “Well, he's on the other side of the world, probably fighting a war right now.” Odessa sighed as she nibbled on a soft cookie absentmindedly. Thoughts of her mate’s well-being always managed to keep her preoccupied.“If he can help it, I'm sure he’ll be back before you know it. Just focus on yourself and your baby right now. You don't have to be worried about your security; I've deployed all my able men to every corner of the p
AUTHOR’S POVKaiden walked into the palace the next day, at midnight. He’d spent so much time today at the pack, erecting more buildings, visiting the new site for the second pack house construction, and checking the conditions of the industries and factories. It had taken most of his time, but it was worth it. When he went back into his office, his guard had delivered a message from Dokrado. On reading it, King Xarson told him about the rogue spotting close to the border. Just last night, the rogues attacked, but thankfully, they managed to hold out fine. Although Xarson expressed his concern about the rogues and his suspicion that they'd decided to stay at the border, he implored Kaiden to ride down to Dokrado and check out the situation. King Kaiden was a bit skeptical about the whole incident. Why would the rogues go as far as attacking the Dragon realm? Kaiden was sure that the letter wasn't a fake; it had Dokrado’s seal and Xarson’s blood print. The King sighed and placed his
AUTHOR’S POVMe?... Odessa thought to herself. “That doesn't make any sense. Why would the king stop you from telling me?” Odessa asked; her confusion was very evident in her voice, and Hansel was quick to clear it up. “He didn't mention your name, per se. There's no way he would have known about you then, or that the prince would go to your realm some years later. He just told everyone not to mention the Queen in front of any stranger coming into the realm, or the future Queen of the realm, which implies you.” “Oh, okay…” Odessa nodded. Now the questions she wanted answers to would never be answered. Her mate would continue burying his emotions until they spiral out of control again. She sighed, realizing that there was truly no way to help the King. She couldn't ask the Beta General for help because he’s also in on it. “Does any of you have any idea why he would not allow the future queen of the realm to know about Queen Kyra?” She asked. “N-No one knows. But there are some spe
ODESSA’S POVI frowned slightly when I felt the feeling of something cold dripping over my legs. I tried to pull it away, but something or someone held it down. The coldness disappeared and I sighed, settling to go back to sleep when I suddenly felt the chillness again along with a sharp pain. I sat up immediately, my blurry eyes pinned at the foot of the bed to see my mate crouched down cradling my foot in his hands. My toes curled and wiggled as he blew cool breath against my foot. “What are you doing?” I asked, as I stared at him with confused sleepy eyes that were quickly coming to focus. He didn't answer me and just continued blowing my feet with his cold breath. Minutes later, he gently set my feet back on the bed and walked away with a bowl and towel in his hands. I watched as he walked into the bathroom. I pulled my foot closer and stared at it, only to notice the bruises and reddened skin. “Did you walk here barefoot from the palace?” I looked up at the sound of Kaiden
ODESSA’S POVMy legs slowly unwrapped from his waist, one foot touching the floor before the other. My hands fell to my side as my head fell forward, burying my face in disappointment. I turned around and walked to the door, my hand on the doorknob, before my arm was suddenly grabbed from behind and I was spun around to face my mate. “What happened to you all of a sudden? Did I hurt you?” Even though I didn't look up at him, I could still hear the worry in his voice. “How could you…” “How could I what?” He asked confusedly, and I finally looked at him, my eyes getting blurry with tears. “How could you still be so worried about me when you're bottling so much inside? When you're battling with such guilt and self-hatred?...” My voice broke at the end as the lump in my throat grew bigger as more tears dripped down my cheeks. “Odessa—”“I caused that, didn't I? I made you feel like this; it was because of what I said, wasn't it?” I asked, even though I didn't need any confirmation.
ODESSA’S POVSo I ended up parading the entire palace barefoot, and by the entire palace I meant going to Kiaden's bedroom and home office. Of course, he wasn't there. I got to the palace entrance and looked down at my bare feet. I could have gone back to get my shoe but I was too lazy to go back to my bedroom even though I should have done that before making this entire trip. Was I expecting my maid to pop out like a devil and hand me my shoes? Yes. Did she pop out like the devil she was to hand me my shoes? A big fat Yes! But I refused because I loved the feeling of the tiled marble floor against my feet, and now, my legs were sore and I was starting to regret my decision. Evelyn already left the palace to see Hugo, such an incompetent and love-sick maid, so I couldn't ask her to help me either. “Is everything alright, Your Highness?” One of the guards stationed at the door asked as they both looked at me looking at my feet for the past twenty minutes. I contemplated sending th
ODESSA’S POV“He’s so stubborn!” I yelled. “Well, he's right in a way.” My maid sighed as she brushed my hair. I turned to glare at her, her hand holding the brush suspended in the air as she looked at me, “So am I.”“Actually, you are wrong. You hit him with a low blow.” Evelyn pointed the brush at me, giving me a very judgy look. I scoffed, “You're only defending him because he's the King. You know I'm right.” “Maybe, but your way of handling it was very wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right. He might have gone on a mass murder after his first Queen died, but our facts about that event are only based on here-says and nothing concrete.” “What are you talking about? Both He and Victor did the same thing. They got lost in their grief and did something horrendous, the only difference was that Victor was stopped before he could do anything.” “You're talking as if you wanted Victor to have killed you and your baby.” Evenlyn frowned. “Of course not. I'm just saying–” “That the King
AUTHOR’S POVA thunderous roar shook the grounds of the realm, the floor vibrated beneath their feet. With a motion as fast and swift as lightning, a huge figure slammed the Prince against the wall, cracks spread out like branches around his pinned body. Everyone watched in horror as the King stood in his half beast form, three times his normal height, towering over the Prince that struggled for breath in his hold. “Kaiden!” “Your Majesty!” “Victor!” Everyone echoed at once as soon as the first initial wave of shock wore off. “He treated what's MINE!” Another might roar echoed in the air. “Your Majesty, please let him go! You’ll kill him! He's your only heir!” Eira yelled as she watched the King and her husband with caution. “HE’S NOT MY HEIR!” Kieran yelled with all his might, tightening his grip on Victor’s neck. Odessa could clearly see the Prince's face turning blue. He’s going to kill him! He's going to kill him. Odessa moved without thinking, causing an uproar from the
AUTHOR'S POVA gut-wrenching scream resonated from the Prince’s bedroom. Lycans, with their very sensitive hearing, heard it from far and near; those outside the palace could only hear snippets of it. Odessa and Kaiden were just having their breakfast when the gut-wrenching scream echoed in the dining hall. They looked at each other before standing to their feet immediately and heading towards the third floor. They met Elixir and Miriyam on the way, and the confused looks on their faces showed that no one knew what was going on. As soon as they arrived, they saw some of the midwives bustling in and out. Now because they had to respect the Prince’s wishes, four of them stood outside the bedroom, watching the panic and chaos happen. Odessa could hear someone sobbing inside, the person came out and it turned out to be the midwife who had delivered Astraea and carried her in her arms for the first time. Miriyam quickly went to Gia and grabbed her arm, “What is it? Is the princess okay?