[HOLLY’s Point of View]Kian did just as he promised. The other morning, while we were having breakfast, he told me the convoy was already waiting for Shei and me to transport us straight to the Snakewood Palace.I smiled at him and pretended everything was normal—that nothing despicable was playing in my head as I ate my normal breakfast and drank a glass of milk. My baby moved in my belly as if delighted by the delicious meal and I smiled sweetly, knowing that the pup and I would be going to have a little adventure together later.To complete my plan, I packed some things, telling Kian and Sheiyan that I wanted to stay in the palace for a few days. I packed a suitcase and a small string bag, which had large shirts and stretchable leggings for my growing belly. Kian eyed the bag, curious why it was separated from my things but I told him I separated my underwear and packed it there and he didn’t ask any more about it.Shei looked hesitant to leave. I could see in her eyes how she wan
[ALPHA EVANDER’s Point of View]I felt like I was going to collapse at any moment.The silver chain that they used to bind me was not an ordinary one that could only burn the skin. This one had the effect of draining power and strength from anyone that has contact with it. I didn’t know such a weapon existed, but knowing that it was from Randalf, I shouldn’t feel surprised at all. He had been smuggling and breaking so many rules that I would even think he was also possessing guns with silver bullets that had been banned inside the realm for almost a century.It was drizzling, and the cold rain felt soothing on the skin. Goddess help me, the foul smell from the prison pit that was stuck on my skin dulled my nose—it confused me to a distinct smell as the prison guard dragged me again outside to a tent. It was larger than Irina’s tent, though, and was surrounded by guards wearing brown linen, all barefooted.The rogues—it was as if modernization from other societies never reached them—or
[ALPHA EVANDER’s Point of View]The lightning illuminated the foul-smelling prison cells and I found my way to where my friends were.[Suck a dumb idea!] Leo, my wolf, snarled in my head as I grappled my way down the wet stairs. I cursed when my foot slipped and the sharp rock cut my ankle.[Shut up, Leo. I am not leaving without them.] My jaw tightened as I snarled back on my wolf. [I will never forgive myself if anything happened to Mel. I promised Holly I would take her back alive.][You can save them once you return here with reinforcements, fool!] Leo scowled at me. [It's your only chance to go back to the pack—]My eyes glinted red through the darkness and Leo pursed his mouth against his teeth as he sensed that great rage in me. I sighed when he finally went silent and I glared as I went down the dark hallway towards the sound where I heard the echoing of Mel’s small sobs.The rainwater dripping from the ceiling of the cavelike prison sounded like a ticking clock, which reminde
[HOLLY’s Point of View]I couldn’t believe my eyes.I found a small cave near the stream before nightfall, a blessing for Alec and me to protect ourselves from the predators roaming in the mountain. I gathered bushes and branches to cover the mouth of the cave, thankful that the moonlight was bright enough to illuminate the area while I forced him to drink water.“Alec…” I murmured while watching his bare chest move—his breath was shallow and fast. He wasn’t sweating, and I was scared because he was burning like hell.I took a shirt from my backpack and drenched it with cold water from the stream to wipe the grime and filth on his skin.“What happened Alec?” I asked, my voice croaking as I studied the pain on his face. It was as if they were tortured for so many weeks after they were caught by the mountain rogues. “Where is my husband? Where is Mel? What happened to the three of you?”Alec groaned as his back arched in pain. There was something in him that brought agony to his face, a
[HOLLY’s Point of View]It took me almost five days and four nights to let Alec heal and convince him to go with me to the camp of the Ambroses.My hand rubbed my round belly. I finally felt that pain on my hip as I walked under the tall old trees of the forest. Thankfully, the weather was nice when we decided to start finding the camp. I had to take advantage of the determination that was in Alec’s eyes while the fear wasn’t there. I could tell that his guilt of leaving Mel brought nightmares to him, and to save himself from the guilt, he had to go back and save his mate while it wasn’t too late.And that would be the same with my husband. I had to go there and find him and take him back to Blackwood before the war broke in the city. Beta Kian needed him to protect our home. His people needed him. I needed him.Bullets of sweat covered our faces as we caught the scent of what Alec had told me was the scent of the rogue folks. They smelled like old clothes. Of someone who never had a
[HOLLY’s Point of View]“Mel… Mel…”“Evander,” I breathed after I couldn’t feel my husband anywhere through our bond. “He’s not here, Alec. My husband is not here!”Alec’s jaw tightened as he snapped the silver chain from Mel’s limbs and carried her in his arms.[Holly, I can detect enemies on the surface. You have to go out with your friends before these people go down the pit.] Lily’s voice surprised me as she gave me the warning.[But what about Evander? We have to look for him?] I answered sharply. [There is no way I would go out here without him, Lily!][You will all die here, Holly!] She fumed at me and I never heard Lily speak at me angrily before.Alec looked at me as he stood with Mel still unconscious in his arms. “We can’t stay here any longer, Holly. We have to go and call for the reinforcement now that we know where this camp is! We will get Evander back once you and Mel are safe.]We stared at each other for seconds as if weighing the situation. My heart told me I had to
[HOLLY’s Point of View]Just as Mel suggested, the three of us headed down the mountain when the first rays of sunlight reached the insides of the cave.If the situation weren’t so grave and scary, I would let her have a few days staying in the cave with us for two days while she was still severely injured. The silver chains slowed down her self-regeneration, and because she was deprived of food and water for weeks, her body started to lose muscles that she couldn’t even stand on her own without Alec helping her.[I am so sorry you have to shift to your wolf form to bring us down the mountain, Holly.] Alec’s voice in my head echoed as he secured Mel in front of him while they rode on my back. My silver fur glimmered under the soft morning sunlight.My claws dug against the earth as I slid down the scarps of the mountain. It was a good thing. I was really good with balance and was not worried that the two on my back wouldn’t fly back, so I jumped from tree to tree until we reached the
[HOLLY’s Point of View]“Shei, I know you are upset—”“Who says I am upset, Holly?” But clearly, she looked like a volcano, ready to erupt at any moment. The elders looked at Shei and waited for her to explain while Kian gave my sister-in-law a helpless look, knowing that her defiance was driven by her hatred of me. Because I tricked her and left her in that convoy when we were supposed to go to the palace.“I am waiting for your explanations and suggestions then.” I raised my chin and let her see that I still outranked her despite being the sister of the Alpha. The air was tense inside the council hall, and everyone was dropping their eyes, too scared that Sheiyan’s anger might be directed at them.But I wasn’t afraid. I was guilty of lying to her, and I would face her anger if I had to.“Isn’t it obvious?” She fumed, hitting the table with the side of her fist. Alec, who was sitting beside her, shifted in his seat as his face hardened. “If we split our forces into half and send them
[HOLLY’s Point of View]Evander held my hand and squeezed it tight as we watched Alec jump his way down the mountain with Misha, who was still unconscious, on his back.“Are you ready?” Evander asked. There was sadness and fear in his green eyes, but he was smiling at me. He was smiling with a promise that he would do everything to keep me safe and alive no matter what.And that scared me.When it was just me and him and the war that was waiting for us both, that’s when I felt the terror and I knew he saw it in my eyes. But instead of telling me that things were going to be alright, instead of telling me that we would survive this, he kissed my forehead and pulled me to him in a tight embrace. We stayed like that for a minute as we listened to the rustling of the leaves in the forest. The sound of the birds in the sky and the water of the stream as it splashes softly against the small rocks. We felt each other’s warmth and the gentle brush of the cold breeze on our bare skin. His lips
[HOLLY’s Point of View]I stood and gave my dad a determined look. I would never hide again. I would never just watch and wait. “I can fight, and I will fight for my friends and family.”Dad’s exhausted face beamed with pride and love as he patted me on the shoulder and smiled at me. “Let’s go kick someone’s *ss.”I laughed softly at the unusual words Dad used, and then we nodded at each other, preparing to lunge midair to shift into our wolves. My eyes were on Alec and my husband. Evadner was still on top of Randalf’s reaching for the old man’s head, but Randalf, despite his age, was still physically strong for his human form.On Dad’s cue, we jumped high from the ground, so high that all the eyes in the camp got distracted from us. Two glittering silver wolves, so ancient and beautiful, everyone stopped from what they were doing. Even Evander’s eyes widened with both awe and shock as he saw us, and Randalf took advantage of it and immediately ran away from my husband like a terrifie
[HOLLY’s Point of View]There was no way I would let him go again. No way I would let him dive back into Randalf’s camp now that the old man knew he wasn’t on their side.I heard Dad’s scream even when I got out of the main hall and straight to the courtyard, where I shifted back to my wolf form and fought three more rogues before I had to hide behind the tall walls of the garden labyrinth to breathe. My strength was slowly depleting and the wounds on my back hadn’t completely healed yet. I had to go after my husband and make sure he could go out there alive with or without the witch who helped him.Randalf will kill him on sight once they see him.[Evander!] I screamed, trying to reach out to him through our bond. [Evander! Where are you!?]But it seemed he was too far away or something interfered with the mind-link connection, so I decided to stand on my four paws again and used my ability to sneak around without being detected. The mountainside wasn’t too far from the Snakewood Pal
[Holly’s Point of View]“Dad!!!”I was about to lunge myself towards them, but strong arms pulled me back. I was baffled when I saw Alec pulling me away from Irina, who was still holding the short sword to my father’s neck.Every part of me ached, but nothing could compare to how my heart felt as I saw the despair in my father’s eyes. He mouthed the word “No.” but I shook my head as tears rolled down my face. There was no way I would leave him in the hands of the man who wanted him dead! There was no way I would let him die!“Tell me what you want, Randalf! Just don’t—” I swallowed hard as a sob emerged from my swelling throat. “Just don’t kill my father!”“We already have what we want, Holly! We don’t need you! Now that we have the Alpha King, the whole palace and the realm will kneel to my father, and nothing can stop us now!” Irina yelled at me with detest in her voice. “Kill both of them!”“Stay behind me, Holly!” Alec yelled as he shifted back to his wolf form and kicked and cla
[HOLLY’s Point of View]“Evander disappeared from the frontline.”My focus on my baby Evlon was distracted by Kian’s murmur as he noticed Evander’s disappearance from Randalf’s side. It suddenly made me nervous. What happened to him? Where did he go?Mel took baby Evlon from me when I pushed myself to sit on the sofa. The room was still filled with the scent of my blood, but my family didn’t mind. They were more concerned with my healing and Evander’s situation, while all our eyes were now focused on the news.“I have to go there,” I said, still wincing from the pain, but I had to do something. For my father and for my husband. “I have to be there for my dad and Evander.”“You just gave birth, Holly! Your body is still healing, and your wounds are still fresh! There is no way I will let you go there in this condition! My brother will kill me!” Sheiyan hysterically uttered, knowing that when I said things, I would do anything to do it.But this time, Shei was right. I assessed my body,
[ALPHA EVANDER’s Point of View]My whole body tensed as I stood slowly with both my hands on the level of my head.Charlie’s eyes told me that I would be dead once I made a wrong move, and I had to be careful. He was already thinking that I sided with Randalf, and without him knowing the truth—about what really happened in the mountains—Holly’s father would never understand why I had to do all of this.“Listen to me, Charlie—”Charlie sighed, and the dark look on his face turned into disappointment. I felt my whole being finally relaxed as he stepped away from me and onto the chair of his desk. He clasped his hands, and I finally saw that exhaustion that deepened his set of honey-brown eyes.“Holly told me everything, Evander. I was really furious that you put your family’s life in danger, but I understand when Holly told me that all of you were after that pearl. And she told me everything about that pearl. About how Randalf stole parts of her memories and stored them in that thing. U
[ALPHA EVANDER’s Point of View]“What is wrong with you, Evander? You look like you had seen a ghost.”I barely heard Randalf’s voice as I kept my breathing in control while having this excruciating pain I felt in every inch of my body. My head felt like being pierced by thousand spears, and it took me a lot of strength not to fall down on my knees and scream from the pain.Misha looked at me as she put her fingers on my pulse and felt my forehead with the back of my hand. My jaw tightened as she gave me a warning look not to make the pain look too obvious. “I think he is having a fever. It must be the infection he got from the pit.”Randalf scowled at Misha. “Go and give him something, Misha! We can’t display any weakness while we are being broadcast all over the continent. Go and do something about that infection or whatever the hell is that!”“Yes, Alpha Randalf.” She bowed her head to the old man. I gave Randalf one piercing look from the corner of my eyes and then averted immedia
[HOLLY’s Point of View]“What is the commotion about, Kian?”Everyone was in the sitting area with all their eyes focused on the sixty-inch-wide television screen. Shei increased the volume, and I saw so many rogues standing on the northern borders of the Snakewood Territory. I didn’t feel good this whole morning, and all I had were eggs. Other than those, I threw them up, and that’s why I had been dizzy the whole day.All the Snakewood soldiers lined up in defense positions outside and inside the gates and the wall; all were armed with razor-sharp metal claws, all strapped around their legs and paws. Some were armed with crossbows with silver arrows for it was forbidden to use guns inside the continent and within the realm.“Randalf isn’t bluffing at all. He really has thousands of Rogues with him,” Alec murmured in horror. His mouth was slightly open and his face was pale as paper when the excruciating memories of their stay in the rogue camp returned to him.Everything was shot liv
[HOLLY’s Point of View]The banging on the door suddenly sounded unreal. Then for once, I thought the noise was just from the thumping of my own heartbeat reverberating through my deafened ears. The violent winds from the mountains threw the windows of my room open. The hinges creaked threateningly as the white sheer curtains whipped against the glass panes.Mel’s small hands were painfully tight against my wrists and she was incredibly strong; it terrified me. Something was happening to her. It was as if the darkness stored inside that pearl necklace had influenced her mind when it should be her who was supposed to command the ‘thing’ to obey her bidding.The power that was stored in the pearl was too much for Melinda to control and I saw it on her face. She was asking me for help.“Mel! Just tell me what’s happening!” I asked through gritted teeth. I tried my hardest not to panic as the black completely covered her eyeball and my neck and shoulders started to feel so heavy it felt