AUTHOR’S POVAs an elder in the Lycan realm, they all have access to one final verdict pass. This pass, when used, will not be overruled by any other judgment. It's a way of giving a final verdict irregardless of whatever crime is committed until whoever received the pass is dead. A free pass is not just given to any one, the council members worked hard for those passes and whoever ends up being given one is considered to be worthy of it and highly respected. Not even the Alpha King had received a pass and yet, somehow this princess who has been accused of committing a crime is suddenly given a pass. Kaiden wasn't expecting it and as King who could not command the council to give the pass to anyone. If he could, he'd have used it long ago. The pass was like a freeway to commit crimes and never get punished for it. Being more than nine centuries old, these council members could only ever have one in their lifetime and Elder Miriyam just used it on Odessa without any sort of influenc
ODESSA’S POVSometimes, no matter how thought out a plan is, some unexpected things will always happen. Victor claiming responsibility for Eira's pregnancy was not a scene I was expecting. I mean…Isn't everything just a replay of what happened before? Why is he being responsible for her baby now? I might not know how good or bad his relationship with Princess Eira was before, but I knew how amazing his relationship with Odessa the Maid was. He didn't show her his true colors, not until that day. Why didn't he do the same for Eira? Especially when she's involved in murder? There wasn't even any mention of a paternity test! Not that there would have been one when he had proclaimed it earlier in the palace. I was actually expecting him to weave himself out with a web of lies.Odessa! Odessa!! How big of a fool you've been. “Oh! So the Prince was going to marry the Princess?” Elder Wilton turned to Victor, “Wow, Your Highness, what brought about the change of heart? Was it the incide
ODESSA’S POV“Can't or won't?” I asked. “Can't. This should be the least of your worries, Odessa.” “Least? I was just given a free pass even though I have no idea what it means or what kind of value it holds. She just made me a freely-walking criminal in your pack. I could kill you, Your Majesty and I won't even get punished for it. Nothing stops me from turning the entire palace and your realm upside down.” “Go ahead. I won't stop you.” “You really don't see the downside of this decision she made, do you?” I glared at the King. “All I know is that she protected you when I couldn't. The Council is very strict with its rules. They would have killed you or done worse to you if she hadn't used that pass. I would have lost you, Odessa.” The King sighed and for the first time since yesterday, I saw him without his usual facade of composure. He looked beat-down and worn out. The lines of tiredness on his face made him look almost as old as his age. I raised my hand and placed it on hi
AUTHOR’S POV“Your Majesty, everytime I think you can't make you displeasure of being here more obvious but you disappoint me every single time.” Elder Miriyam smiled. “I was hoping to get dismissed early. Who the hell drafted out the order of service anyway?” Kaiden scowled. “Your Beta Female, Your Majesty. And I must say, she really did justice to it.” Her gaze drifted to the couples on the stage, where the ceremony was going on. “That asshole. I'm sure he had a hand in this.” The King folded his arms and the lines between his forehead squeezed up the more. “You mean her husband, your Beta? I've come to understand that no one annoys you more than that man, and yet he lives.” “Killing Elixir is almost like killing my own mate.” The King leaned closer to Elder Miriyam and whispered in her ears, “Don't ever tell him I said that.” “Your secret is safe with me your Majesty.” She grinned, popping a grape into her mouth. “There's only a handful of people that can make you miserable,
KAIDEN'S POV I grabbed onto the arm of my seat as the earth quaked hard, screams and shout echoed and resounded through the air. My gaze frantically roamed around as I watched my people, my family run around for their dear lives. The buildings were not spared from the quakes, blocks from the ceiling fell due to the turbulence but I wasn't worried about any building collapsing because they were built on a solid foundation. "What the hell is going on?" I yelled at the top of my voice, directing my question to Miriyam who was also struggling against the turbulence. It felt like someone carried the world in their hand and began to rock it. "The world is ending soon!" She yelled back and I rolled my eyes. "Can you be serious for once?" I yelled back, "This has never happened before!" She shrugged, her hands holding onto the pillar beside her chair, "First time for everything." I frowned and ignored her, my eyes roaming the figures running around. Odessa! My mate I looked at t
KAIDEN'S POVI tried to move my body as Layla snuggled closer to me but the more I moved, the more the metal scraped my skin, digging into my injury. Almost at the same moment I decided to mindlink someone for help, Cassian's voice echoed through the wind. "Your Majesty!" I heard tons of approaching footsteps behind me and in a matter of seconds, the metal was lifted off of me. "For the love of the moon goddess, Your Majesty, you're hurt!" Cassian exclaimed. "Badly!" Another man added, his eyes roaming down my back as he took in the severity of my burns and injuries."I'm fine. Here, take her to the bunker." I said, handing Layla over to Cassian, "When everything dies down, take her to her parents and let them know I want to see them." "Yes sir!" Cassian responded and carried Layla in his arms. "Any casualties?" "Multiple injured, zero deaths, sir." Another man answered and then I realized that these people were not soldiers. They were civilians that decided to help. I smiled,
AUTHOR'S POV“How did the wall fall?” Cassian asked, as he and his twin brother helped the King and the Beta General get set for their trip to Queens, the lower part of the realm. “It must have been the earthquake.” Elixir responded, strapping his sword to his hip. “The earthquake wasn't strong enough to knock out our buildings but it was strong enough to knock out the wall of the dams? I don't believe it.” Caesar scowled, “It sounds fishy.” “And we intend to find out.” Kaiden whispered as she got on his horse. They might not say it out loud or talk about it, but all four of them are thinking the exact same thing. Something is wrong with the barrier. Kaiden left the pack in the hands of the twins and Miriyam. Since the rest of the elders were not available at the moment, the three of them will have to do. “The Prince and his Princess?” Kaiden asked. “Safe and sound. Although, Princess Eira suffered some burns on her arm and leg, she should heal up very soon.” Cassian responded.
ODESSA’S POVTWO WEEKS AGO ON THAT NIGHTAs soon as I made it into my room, the first thing I felt was heat. An unbearable amount of heat that spread all over my body. I thought that it must have been from the explosion or the flying bark that went past my head.Beads of sweat began to appear on my forehead and slowly in other areas of my body, nothing I was doing reduced the heat. I began to undress, getting ready to soak myself into my bathtub when I suddenly felt pain, a sense of pain that I had never experienced before. Not even my death had caused this kind of pain. It was like been stabbed from within my body with a burning knife. Before I could even take the next step towards the bathroom, that's when it hit me and I passed out. PRESENT DAYI sat in front of my vanity mirror and began to brush my hair, mindlessly. Do they know? What do they know? How did I even know? How I knew was simple. My room had been destroyed and needed its own renovation aside the general palace r
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?