FEW CENTURIES AGO, 50 B.C.EA POORLY DRESSED man marched through the stone-cobbled street, dragging a little dirty boy roughly. "Faster, boy!" The man snarled. They splashed barefoot through the puddle that muddied the road. The man barged through a small wooden shack. It was a rowdy bar filled with loud, half-drunk men.The man dragged the boy through the crowd and to the far back of the bar. He sat on a keg opposite another fat man and pushed the boy forward. "Here he is," the man said. "He can clean, and he will do anything you want him to. Anything."The fat man chuckled and leaned forward with some difficulty. "Is that so?"The man nodded and slapped the boy on the back, pushing him forward. The boy clasped his hands and looked as the fat man regarded him like a slab of meat."He is a bit skinny for my taste," The fat man said."Oh I can have him fattened up," The first man replied urgently. "He will have the family's portion for a week, he will become fat."The young boy did not
ANNA KYLIN CHESTER I CAME AWAKE slowly. I vaguely realized that it wasn't on the bed I slept off on. My vision cleared and I saw that I wasn't in Lorna's house anymore. These lights were too bright, and the smell... it reminded me of a hospital.I looked around and confirmed my suspicions. I was in a hospital, and the smell of fire and soot hung around my body. I had never really been to the hospital in the kingdom before. It was barely used, it had been built just because I was studying medicine.But today, I could hear another breath coming from the room next to mine. It was deep and ragged. I struggled to sit up, but Lorna immediately came into my room. "YOU shouldn't be getting up," She said, pressing my shoulder down."Taking over my job now, are you?" I chuckled dryly, but my voice was hoarse and my throat was dry. Lorna shook her head as she handed me a Styrofoam cup of water and a straw. I sipped it slowly to wet my parched throat.Lorna smiled sadly, "I can't, even if I wan
MITCH CHESTERGOING BACK TO the territory of the Kylin pack was something Mitch never thought would happen. Not even in his wildest thoughts. But he needed to know everything he could that could tell him more about what Vladimir wanted with Anna. Feeling a little remorse for the fight and the effect it had on Lorna, he went to the hospital to check on his uncle. Enrique was lying on the bed; he was awake but unmoving, and Mitch could see the healing process on the burn scars all over Enrique's chest and arms. He turned his head and followed Mitch with his eyes as Mitch walked in, "Have you come to your senses and decided to end her life?"Mitch snorted and pulled a chair closer. He sat down heavily and sighed. "Anna is nothing like her father.""That is what you would like to think," Enrique snarled, weakly."Are you anything like my father?" Mitch asked. "My father was a... pacifist. Are you anything like that?"Enrique scoffed and turned away, muttering, "That's different and you k
RICK FORSON"CHARLES CALLED FOR a meeting," Jones said, walking into the study and sitting down with a grunt. Rick looked up from the iPad he was holding and raised an eyebrow. "Charles doesn't call for anything. I have made it clear that this is my pack. If he wants to talk with me, my office door is always open."Jones smiled. "I'd like to tell that to himself, but I am not ready to start hearing about his ramblings of how he is alpha blood and how I am just a simple Beta..."Rick laughed and stood up. "I will see him," he said. "Although he will only be repeating the same thing he had been talking about since Anna left."Jones sniggered. "Backup from the council will be here soon, and you will stand trial for obstruction of the law..." he mimicked."Obstruction of the law my ass," Rick chuckled. "I am the alpha of this pack, and I never held her prisoner. The Luna left on her own free will. She didn't 'escape' because she was never prisoner."Jones knew that that was not entirely
MITCH CHESTERMITCH DRUMMED HIS hand on the steering as he waited for the Alpha of this pack to come. He noticed that it was becoming a habit of his. He sighed and stopped, but the nervous energy went to his foot, and he tapped it against the floor softly.Driving for 4 hours without stopping made his joints stiff and his back ached, but he did not want to step out of the car until the alpha came. The patrol guards hovered around his car as one of them went to call Alpha Rick under Mitch's command.He looked around the pack where Anna grew up. The pack that had led the antagonism on his father and his father's father for generations. It was a pretty boring surroundings. He was so used to seeing mountains everywhere, not like here. There were evergreen woods and plains around the borders.After a few minutes, he saw the men approaching. He stayed behind the tinted glass of the Gwagon, observing the man who had been Anna's first mate. He was a plain man; his hair was blonde streaked with
RICK FORSONAS RICK AND Jones left the inn where Mitch was going to be staying, Rick said, "He is here for something. I know it.""You do not believe him?" Jones asked.Rick scoffed. "I trust him as far as I can throw him," he muttered. "And that's not far at all."Jones sniggered."Something happened," Rick said. "I can feel it in my guts," he turned and looked at the inn as they walked forward. "The last time a Lycan came down from the mountains, apart from his father, it was for war.""How do you know that?" Jones asked, frowning. "None of us were alive at that period.""I read about the great war," Rick replied dryly. "While you were in Spain reading some architectural stuff...""It's Barcelona," Jones muttered. "And I studied engineering."Rick scoffed."Are you going to tell Charles that the Lycan is here?" Jones asked as they entered the pack house."Why would I do that?" Rick asked, shrugging off his jacket and hanging it on a rack.Jones snorted and poured a drink into two gl
MITCH CHESTERHE BROUGHT OUT his phone, one which he didn't really use when he was back in the kingdom. All of his contacts were always with him, and the heads of the different business companies he had around the world sent him emails at steady intervals. But now, he was away, and he needed to converse with Draco.He went through the phone and saved the contact list till he saw Draco's numbers. The call was picked up on the second ring."You are there already?" Draco asked immediately he picked up.Mitch grunted in a positive response."Damn, how bad did you drive?" Draco chuckled. "I did not expect you to be there until another couple of hours."Mitch snorted. He admitted to having driven higher than the recommended speed limit and also broke some road traffic laws too. But he didn't say any of those. Instead, he said, "How are things in the kingdom?""They are okay," Draco replied."The kids are back from school?" Mitch asked, suppressing the emotional lump in his throat as he thou
ANNA KYLIN CHESTER"MUM IS AWAKE!"Even if I wasn't previously, I couldn't bear to smash the hope and excitement I had heard in Aiden's voice as soon as he peeped into my room and saw my eyes open. I sat up, hiding the difficulty in which I did that easy task.They rushed in and crowded my bedside. "Addison was praying to the moon goddess that you would be awake when we came back from school...""You see my prayers were answered," Addison giggled. "I also prayed for the moon goddess to bring me a pony. I hope that one, too, is answered.""What happened, mum?" Aiden asked. "Addie was very scared.""Weren't you also scared?" Addison shrieked. "He cried in school today." She pointed at her brother."That was because my pencil broke!" Aiden tried to argue to preserve his dignity, but his sister was not having any of that. She giggled."Come here, babies," I opened my arms and gathered them in my embrace. I sniffed in their scent - the faint smell of school, and snow and child sweat. It wa