CHAPTER TWENTY ONEELARA"I can't wait for this stuff to be done and dusted tomorrow, " I said to Harry. I called him that now because the festival had brought us a bit close to each other, and it was more informal to address him as that. "It's been a huge stress since the day one of planning for this festival," Harry replied. I agreed with him, with a nod of the head. We had bot overheaded the whole stuff and the organising of facilities required. It was the eve of the festival, we were almost done with all we needed to do, so we decided to drink to our success. "We deserve this treat, Harry," I told him. "After all the stress, a few bottles of wine wouldn't be bad at all."Harry nodded. He picked up the fourth bottle and opened it. He turned a few contents into his cup. "Do you want some more?" He asked me. I nodded in affirmation. "Yes, please," I backed it up. Harry poured in some content from the wine into my cup. I sighed as I picked up my glass and began to drink from it. "T
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO ELLA Once the guard left us in front of the pack's bar, I and Lisa began to wipe our hands off. "Argh!" Lisa groaned, growing her claws as her eyes turned yellow. "Calm down," I told her. "It wasn't like you did anything to help in there." She rolled her eyes and folded her arm under her breast. I gritted my teeth and tilted my head backwards as a smirk appeared on my face. I couldn't believe that thing had the effrontery to behave in that manner. She ordered me out of the bar in my pack house. "Elara would pay dearly for this," I said, in a tone that was barely above a whisper. "How dare a commoner who has no background ask the guards to lay their filthy hands on me?" Lisa nagged. "We have to think of a plan first," I said to her. "Let's get back to the room." I and Lisa walked back to my room. All my life, I had never been so disrespected. I had to do everything within my power to make sure that I didn't burst out of anger. I was
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREEELARAI stood outside the door and decided to listen to them. I wanted to know what was going on between the two. "What is your wolf like?" She asked, her voice lifted. "I am curious to know.""If you are interested in knowing," River began in a cold tone. "Then, you shouldn't be asking so casually. It's something you would love to see. You know, they say seeing is better than explaining. What you see is better than what was told to you."I heard Lisa giggle. She sounded really excited when she spoke with him. The sound of her voice and the way she giggled at every second was evident that she was really excited. "When were you crowned the alpha of the red breeder pack?" She asked. "When I turned eighteen. I became fully in power when I became twenty.""Wow!" She exclaimed and chuckled. ""What does it feel like to be an alpha? Especially since you are not married yet," she said, pretending to be sad. There was a moment of awkward silence between the both of t
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOURLISAI and Ella rushed into her room, panting really hard. Ella shut the door and leaned on it immediately after she got in. I heard her heave a deep sigh of relief. I also breathed heavily, for it was a narrow escape for us. "Who the fuck was that?" Ella asked me. "Well, I don't know either," I replied and wiped my face. Ella leaned off the door and walked towards me. "That was so close," I said. "Someone would have seen us. And whoever it wouldn't keep his or her mouth shut."Ella kissed her teeth and shook her head. "I only decided to run because you did. If not, I would make sure the person isn't able to say what he saw."Ella walked to the bed and sat there. I sat down beside her, and the two of us stayed there for a while, sitting quietly and staring into space. I felt awkward. I wondered if she would still want me to marry her brother, knowing I'm sleeping with someone else. I didn't like the oddness in the room, and I didn't want to leave without clea
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVEELARAI lay in my bed and closed my eyes, but I couldn't. This time around, it wasn't the moans. I faced River's bed and kept staring at it. I could feel his absence deeply. It was like I was placed alone in the open field to chase a ball, and I was playing against myself without the spectators. I kept turning around the bed until I finally fell asleep. It was almost morning when I suddenly jerked up from the bed. I had another nightmare. It was the same nightmare I'd been having, and I thought it had all gone away. The nightmare was back. I kept seeing Constance with that smirk on her face. My ex-husband, the look on his face when he dropped me in the water. All the things Constance, who was supposed to be my best friend, had said to me before they finally killed me. It was shocking that Constance wasn't just my friend but my sister, and instead of this revelation to draw us closer. It instead tore us apart. I folded my fist in a blow and began panting reall
CHAPTER TWENTY SIXLISAWhen it was morning, I dressed in the finest and most sexy attire I had. Ella's makeup artiste soon arrived in the room to make me up. When she was done with my makeup, I quickly dialled Darren's number. I had entirely forgotten about the business we had. He kept declining my calls, and I was getting worried. When I stepped out of the room, I saw Ella walking towards my room. I walked up to her and hugged her. When we disengaged from the hug, she pulled away from me slowly and frowned her face at me. "What is the matter, Lisa?" She asked me. "Why the fuck is your face like that on a happy day like this?"I shook my head slowly and pressed my phone screen as I stared at it, to see if Darren would call or text,but there was nothing. Ella collected my phone and refreshed my apps. She opened the phone book, which was the last place I pressed."Darren?" She asked. "Who is he, and what do you want from him?"I had called Darren up to seven times only this morning
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVENELARAI was still standing there, waiting for the batten to finally hit me, when I felt a hand grip me. My heart sank into my stomach at first because I thought it was the batten that hit me. I heard the thunder sound of the batten colliding with the floor. When I noticed that I was still safe after a few minutes I felt warmness around me. I also noticed that I was in someone's arms. I slowly opened my eyes and lo and behold, there was River, holding me in his arms. I blinked twice in shock. I let out a huge sigh before passing out. I soon woke up in front of the hall. A few guards were around me, and River still held me in his hands. My face was soaked in water. Must have been the effort they had put in, to revive me. I and River stared at each other awkwardly for a while before he finally let me stand on my own. I noticed that the floor was soaked in blood. I looked down at River's leg and saw that it was stained with blood."Are you injured?" I asked and
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTELARAI nodded my head, and the both of us walked out of the room together. "If we have to keep doing this, then we have to make it believable," he said to me. I understood perfectly where he was coming from. We walked back into the hall. The occasion was already booming, everywhere was lit up, and I could see food and drinks on the tables. River took my hands as we walked around the tables, bending down to greet the elders who had just arrived. The ceremony continued, and River and I finally found a spot to sit. After a while, River climbed the podium. He gave his speech, which I couldn't pay attention to because I was still in shock from what happened earlier. There were goose pimples all over my body. Harrison soon climbed the podium, and he also gave a speech. By the time he was done speaking, there was a round of applause all over the place. It was obvious that everyone liked Harrison. I noticed this a long time ago that everyone liked Harry, and whenev
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE RIVER I walked behind the soldiers with Elara in my arms. She had a glowing smile all over her face. I was smiling, too, because I was proud of Elara. She carried out her plans within a very short while, and it was successful. Constance and Edwin were moved to the pack field where they would be stoned to death. "Do you want to watch them die?" I asked her. She shook her head. "I'll only watch them get burnt," she replied. "At least, I wouldn't have to hear them screaming and calling me to forgive." I nodded in agreement with what Elara had said. "Where's Harrison?" She asked me. I turned to her. I wondered why she asked me about Harrison. "He told me what happened," she said to me. "Why didn't you let him explain?" "He stole from the pack," I informed her. "What is there to explain?" Elara slapped her forehead. "I was secretly replacing it from here," she whispered. My eyes widened. "I bet he didn't tell you t
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FOUR CONSTANCEI was shocked about the fact that Oma called me sister, but of course, that wasn't the main issue. I shoved it aside and hurried to meet Edwin, who was still seated in his chair. "What happened here?" I asked him. He stared at me for a while. He was rolling his eyes continuously. I suspected that he was going to lose consciousness if nothing was done. I walked over to him and placed my hand around his head."Why did she call me sister? What is going on?" Edwin began to narrate his conversation with Oma to me. He told me how she was Annalise and that was why she called me sister. I scoffed. "You and I know that this is impossible, right?" I asked him. "We killed Annalise. There's no way she would be alive."Edwin was about to speak again when he finally lost consciousness. I rushed outside and called the guards to carry him to the room. I placed a wet towel on his forehead and massaged his feet until he was finally well. "Where is O
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-THREEELARAIt's been up to two days since the plan. I decided to begin the execution. I walked towards the court lady. She was standing in the garden and giving out instructions to the gardeners. "Greetings to you," I greeted her. She turned around and pushed her nose when she saw me. I was aware of the fact that she disliked me. A lot of maids seemed not to like me. They had this unexplainable hatred for me. "What do you want?" She demanded. "I need to get something from the closest supermarket, " I informed her. She looked at me from my head to my toe and up to my heart again. "You can go," she replied grudgingly. "Thank you," I appreciated and walked away from her. I walked towards the gate, and everyone seemed to be keeping tabs on me. I knew I needed to act as fast as I could. I didn't want to get blown up before I even knew it. I walked out of the gate and took a cab to a pharmacy far from the pack house. I looked around the place, ma
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE RED BREEDER PACK ELLA"You have to force yourself and eat something," I told River. "Punishing yourself like this would not work."He didn't respond. He just kept staring into space. I didn't see Harrison this morning, and it seemed like River was worried about scenting. I shoved it aside. He was probably worried about the pack. The maids had come to report to me earlier that River had refused to eat, so I came all the way to force him. Although, I already had plans to check on my elder brother and know how he was doing. My phone began to vibrate. I dipped my hand in my pocket and brought out my phone. It was the guard I sent after Elara. I turned to River, who was still staring into space. He didn't seem to notice that I got a call, so I was relieved."I will be right back," I told River. I stood up and walked away from the room. I stood in the hallway and picked up the call. "Anything new?" I asked the guy. "Elara has a mission in this pa
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTYELARA After all the talking and hugging and all. It was finally time for Lucy and I to dress the bed and get some rest.I pulled out the blanket, and a note fell off the bed. I immediately bent down to pick up the note, and an envelope was with it. I was a little surprised. I turned to Lucy, and she raised and lifted her hands in a questioning manner. I picked up the envelope and note and placed the note on the bed first. I opened the envelope. It was a picture of Edwin and Constance pushing me into the river.I scoffed. How did this picture get here? It was a picture of when I was murdered as Annalise, and whoever took this picture and placed it on this bed today knows my true identity.Lucy moved closer to me, and I handed the picture over to her. She breathed in heavily and took it from me. She gasped when she saw the content. I picked up the paper on the bed and decided to see for myself what was written in the note. I opened it up, and my han
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-NINEEDWIN I let out a smirk after the maid walked out of my office. There was something fishy about her, and she was foolish to think that I wouldn't know. Maybe I appeared dumb to her. An alpha of a whole pack. "You can leave," I waved off my servants, and they all walked away from my office. I placed both legs on my table and leaned backward with my finger on my chin. "That stupid little rat would think that she outsmarted me."I scoffed. I knew she was hiding something. She was only using her mom's illness as an excuse to perpetrate evil, and I would expose her soon. Whatever she was planning, although I didn't know it yet I was sure that she was up to some mischief. I would kill her very soon. I'd do that before she accomplishes whatever her mission was in this pack. The door opened, and Clinton walked in with a smile all over his face. "We were victorious this time," he announced excitedly. My eyes went wide in shock. "How do you mean?"
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHTRIVERIt wasn't long after Elara walked out of the room, and Ella walked in. "You are awake!" She exclaimed and gasped. She rushed to me and hugged me tightly. She stayed with me for a while before pulling away from the hug. "I'll get the doctor," she told me. "The nurse already came to check on me," I stopped her. She sighed and sat on the chair in front of me. "How are you feeling right now?" She asked me.I nodded. "I feel better."She smiled. Ella held my hands and stared at me for a while. I haven't been like that with her in a while now. I wasn't too close with Ella. I missed her when she was away, and I only got to love her from afar. We never really showed or told each other how much we loved each other. But I knew deep down that the love was there. I was also aware of the fact that Ella loved me too and that she always meant well to me. She suddenly paused and sniffed. She looked around the room and continued to sniff in. "Are y
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVENELARABefore I could say or do anything, the guards dragged me and began pulling me away. My heart skipped, but I tried to stay calm. I didn't want to show any signs of weakness or panic, or else they'd say I did something wrong. I had to play smart and pretend to be innocent. "What have I done?" I asked them. "Why are you seizing me, and where are you taking me?"None of them gave me any replies. They kept pulling me forcefully. I noticed that we were headed towards Edwin's office. My heartbeat increased, but I tried to control it. I didn't want to be overly nervous. "I didn't do anything wrong, let me go."They formed deaf ears to everything I said. I struggled with them for a while and stopped struggling when I realized that I wouldn't be able to free myself from their grip. They carried me into Edwin's office and released me once I was standing in front of him. I quickly began to rehearse in my heart, what I would say to Edwin. "Where ar
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SIX ELARAI watched River as he slowly opened his eyes. I gasped for joy and hugged him. I wrapped my arm around his neck. He quickly grabbed my hands and pulled me off gently. "I'm so sorry," I apologized. "I was just too excited that you are awake."My heart beat fast for joy. I couldn't explain the excitement I felt about the fact that River was awake. "I'm so happy that you're awake!" I told him. "I can not die easily," River told me with a smile. "It would take a lifetime to kill me."I smiled. I stood up to my feet and wiped my knees. "I would get the doctor to check on you," I told River. I didn't wait for him to respond or react, I just began to run towards the door. I stopped abruptly when I got to the door and turned around. I shouldn't let anyone know that I was here. Not even the doctors of the red breeder pack. I turned to River, and he gave me the "see?" Look. I smiled. I didn't think about that earlier. I was completely carried a