Ella’s POVEveryone else seemed to freeze at Selena’s accusations while my uneasiness only grew. Selena had promised to deal with me for trying to correct her. I knew she was going to come through on her promise, I just didn’t think she would go as low as framing Aunt Emily like this.“Emily, how could you do this to her?” David roared at his sister, his voice snapping everyone out of their frozen state.Their heads turned toward Aunt Emily who stood with her head lowered to the ground in shame.My wolf twisted along with the irritation that was growing within me. This made absolutely no sense. She did nothing wrong, yet she was feeling ashamed of herself.“It is very simple, Uncle. Aunt Emily has never liked me,” Selena cried out. “She has been plotting to hurt me all along… father,” she continued, snapping her attention to Alpha Andrew, “we can’t let her keep staying here… she needs to leave… or she is going to kill me one of these days…”A soft gasp escaped my lips at Selena’s lie
Ella’s POVDespite the shock of hearing Selena openly declare war and admitting to purposely framing Aunt Emily, I still found the strength to walk out of that bathroom as fast as I could.I half ran and half walked across the general living room. All I wanted to do was to get as far away from her as possible. I had nothing to my name. I had no house and no money. I couldn’t survive out there without these things for too long. I was pregnant and that meant I couldn’t be homeless. If Selena could make her aunt stay in the dungeon, what more could she do for me, a mere addition to their family?I had just gotten past the door and I was about to take the bend to my room when strong arms wrapped around me. I almost let out a scream until my eyes raised and I saw who was holding me.Michael.“Where are you going so fast?” he asked as his eyes moved over mine.The shock I had just escaped from returned and I was suddenly filled with fear as I looked around us before I decided to speak to
Ryker’s POVWhen Willow had mentioned that Ella ran away; it was a hard pill to swallow, knowing the kind of background Ella came from. But after waiting for days and there was still no sign of her, I knew something was wrong.I ordered my men to search for her around the forest and surrounding packs. I had given her a very good offer; she couldn’t just run from it that way.What I kept asking myself was, where she could possibly run to. She would be the biggest fool in history to run back to her wicked stepmother and sister.I promised her a lot of money which she could have used to better her life and she seemed like a very smart woman. She couldn’t just run unless something had happened.My eyes moved to a beautiful woman eating her breakfast in front of me and an idea I hadn’t gotten before crossed my mind. “Willow, are you certain that Ella ran away?”Willow dropped the fork in her hand and her blue eyes fixed on me. I saw something move within them but before I could make sense
Ryker’s POVA thunderbolt off in my head as soon as the words left her mouth.My heart started beating at a very fast rate and I found it impossible to calm it. A thousand thoughts fought to stay in my head at the same time and I didn’t even know where to start from or which to hold on to.“Are you sure about this?” I asked, my voice suddenly husky with emotions.Olga nodded her head and started pulling her fingers as tears filled her face, “I am not too sure Alpha… I only noticed that she started throwing up; she was having lots of cravings and she didn’t use the sanitary pad provided for her that month… I don’t-”A ringing went off in my ears and my body suddenly became heavy as emotions overwhelmed me. I got off my position and started pacing as I tried to think of any point in time when I had noticed anything wrong with Ella.The only time she had acted strange was the day we had dinner together. She could barely eat more than two spoons. I had pushed it aside as anxiety or maybe
Ella’s POVIn school, I spent most time, studying and when I was in the royal house, I was locked up in my room, studying and practicing. A very famous pharmacist was coming to my school the next day and I was determined to impress him enough to get a session with him, This way, I could ask him questions about drugs I could use to hide my baby bump, without causing any harm to the baby while still maintaining a very anonymous status in school.I had just gotten home from college and as usual, I buried myself into my work when a knock on my door pulled me out of my books.“Yeah?” I called, expecting to see, Esther -the new maid who brought in my food- popping her head through a crack at the door but I was surprised when the door opened and I raised my eyes to find, Alpha Andrew.My heart skipped a beat as I feared that Selena might have told him something about me and maybe he was here to send me away like he had done to Aunt Emily. I immediately got to my feet and bowed; “Alpha,” I
Ella’s POV“Oh, why am I even asking, of course, you really want to steal. You are a thief. Both of you!” Selena screeched even louder than her first accusation.Esther fell to her knees and held her hands together as if she was about to say a prayer, “Please, my princess… it’s not the way you are seeing it… we only wanted to see the Luna’s portraits and nothing more,” she cried but Selena’s eyes were burning with evil intent, and I knew begging her was useless.“You only wanted to see?” she let out a dark chuckle, flinging her hair to the side. “How stupid do you think I am?” she took a step closer to Esther and pointed a menacing finger at her.Her eyes narrowed and they moved from Esther -who was still on the floor to me- to me, “I am going to teach you both a very big lesson! When I am done, you won’t even be able to think of theft anymore.” she hissed with a very dark expression on her face.My heart skipped a beat as I realized that this was a perfect opportunity for her to get
Ella’s POVIt took a few seconds for Alpha Andrew’s words to sink into my head. My tears turned into joy and before I could stop myself, I ran into his arms and hugged him.I had already prepared myself for the inevitable only for things to turn out differently, “Thank you so much,” I sobbed, unable to contain myself. “Dad!” Selena yelled like a wounded soldier, and I flinched, making to break away from the alpha’s hold but he held me in place.“Argh!” she screamed before she stomped away from the scene.Alpha Andrew still didn’t comment. He just held me in his arms slowly running his fingers between my follicles.I buried my head into his chest, crying out all the panic that had accumulated in my heart. Soon, the shuffling sound of feet echoed in the corridor as everyone elowly returned to their respective rooms and workstations, seeing that the situation had been resolved.I was still in Alpha Andrew’s fatherly embrace when hurried steps filled the corridor once again. This time, h
Ella’s POVThroughout the night, Selena’s cold words kept echoing through my head and sleep became difficult. I rolled over and over, silently begging the goddess to protect me.Selena was right. I was not a saint. I had skeletons just like she had mentioned and one of those skeletons was my pregnancy. If the family ever got to know about it, they were surely going to throw me off to the streets.The night became longer as my thoughts continued haunting me. By the time the first rays of the morning sun seeped into my room, I had come up with a plan.I knew my belly might start showing soon but before then, I was certain that I would find a way out. The only thing I had to worry about now was Selena. I just had to avoid her and not get in her way. This included, me staying away from Alpha Andrew, who she thought I was trying to steal from her and Michael. It was going to be difficult especially since Michael had become a big part of my routine and life in the royal house. But for me
Ella’s POVThe long wait was finally over. Esther was out of danger.“Words cannot express how grateful I am that you fought so hard for me,” she whispered with my hands held tightly in hers.Her sister, Freya, was sitting by her side while Anna and Selena stood behind us. We were all excited about the outcome of her treatment and more than anything, it assured me that my father’s treatment was also going to be successful. After all, it all followed the same pattern, all that was left was for me to convince Selena so that I could hand everything to her. Then they could use my blood.“I couldn’t have been alive today,” she added, pulling me out of my thoughts.“You are welcome, Esther. You know I love you and I will do anything to keep you safe,” I whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead. Then I started walking away, I aimed to reach Selena and pull her away for a quick conversation on the matter. The earlier she accepted to take the crown, the better it was going to be.But Esther’
Ella’s POVDavid didn’t make it.His death wasn’t something that directly affected me but the pain in Selena’s eyes made me sad. She had truly been reformed. She saw the world in a different light, and her biggest wish, had been for her father to see this light too but now it was too late for him.After the burial ceremony was completed, I sat by her side, hoping to comfort her as much as possible. Aside from my father, who was still on the sick bed, she was the only family I had left. I couldn’t leave her.We stayed this way, letting Ryker and Anna take care of the rest of the affairs.I didn’t even want to begin thinking about Esther. Aunt Emily had refused to give out the antidote till her death, but Esther was still fighting. I told Myles to find any of her family members, maybe if we could drain her blood too, she might stand a chance.And as for my father, I was planning something, but it wasn’t the right time to speak of it yet.“You should go save him,” Selena mumbled, and my
Ryker’s POV“I will come back for you! You think this is the end, you are wrong!” Emily yelled as they dragged her out of the throne room to the chamber where she would be killed.Her voice continued to resonate, even while they exited the room, but my attention had returned to Ella. I was so proud of her and how much she had grown.When she called for this meeting, I thought she was going to let her emotions mess with her again, but she didn’t. She acted like a true leader and made the right choices.My eyes remained on her as she held on to a crying Selena while Michael was escorted out of the palace. The plan was to go after the men who must have been done prepping Emily for her final sentencing. Dealing with a criminal like her, one could never be so sure that she could find a way to survive.But as we all made our way to the door, David started coughing painfully loud. Selena broke away from Ella’s hold and ran to his side in panic.“Someone, get the healers and doctors,” Ella al
Ella’s POVAs the words left my mouth, I turned around and began heading out. I finally understood everything and there was no time to waste anymore.“Stupid girl! I will still get you!” Aunt Emily screamed in her cell, but I didn’t bother sparing her even a single glance as I walked out.It was clear that she had been the mastermind all along and for the first time, I saw what Ryker was trying to say. They weren’t all killers. Some of them were accomplices at some point, but mostly they were all being manipulated all along. Now I understood why she had truly tolerated Selena’s bad attitude those times, it was because she wanted everyone to hate Selena, so that when the time came for her to be exposed, no one would stand by her, and Aunt Emily would ultimately get the throne. But I came and she had to come up with another plan.But all of that was over now. I was going to put everyone in their respective places.My hands fisted as I continued to march in the direction of the throne r
Michael’s POV“Mother, why did you try such a silly move? and much more in front of everyone! What were you thinking?” I growled in my cell.We were all bundled into the dungeon like common criminals. My cell was joined to the right side with my mother’s while Selena and David were in a single cell at my left. But I wasn’t interested in them but my mother. She sat calmly in her cell, hugging herself while I was losing my mind.She had just ruined every chance we had.“I mean, even if there was any chance that we could get back that throne, you just destroyed it by showing everyone that you are a murderer! Why would you attempt to kill her in front of everyone?”“Shut up!” she yelled, turning her reddened eyes to me for the first time since we had been thrown in here. “I have heard enough of your rants! If you weren’t so useless, we would be in this situation in the first place. You fool!”My heart thinned as if life was being sucked out of me. “Mother!” Her tone was not something I th
Ella’s POVMy eyes moved to my hands and then back to the healer. “I have more than enough blood. What is the problem now?”The man turned pale and dropped his head to the ground. My eyes narrowed, as confusion and irritation merged into me creating an emotion I couldn’t even define.Seconds passed and the man still couldn’t give me an explanation as the silence went on I started losing my mind. My father was dying in there and he was here unable to even make up his mind.Suddenly, I moved past him and went into the room. The healers and doctors still working, paused as they saw me walking up to them. When I reached them, I pulled the sleeves of my dress and stretched my arm to them.“Here, take the blood and heal him,” I hissed.The men exchanged confused looks before Ryker and the healer rushed in after me. “Ella, they can’t use your blood to change the whole of his blood. The process could kill you and—”“Then I’d prefer it kills me, rather than staying alive without both of my par
Ella’s POVRyker’s words were heavy on my chest as I moved out of the office with Myles following behind me. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was becoming like the monsters I wanted to rid the world of, maybe I was becoming something worse, I couldn’t tell.But what I could tell, was the fact that they had brought it upon me and themselves.Rather than return to my seat, I walked to the front of the table and spread my arms, gaining the attention of the audience and the soldiers holding them in place.“The defense was nulled. We shall proceed with the punishment for their crimes.” The room fell silent as everyone held their breaths, waiting for me to relay what was to befall the royal family —my supposed family.My eyes moved to them. Emily fiercely glared at me like it was going to change anything. Then there was Michael, who looked more lost than before. David was lifeless as usual, and Selena was crying. Her face was red as she held onto her father’s wheelchair. My heart cracked when it
Ryker’s POV“Willow is right. There is something wrong with her…” Anna whispered beside me. “This isn’t our Ella…”My heart tightened. Anna was right. The pain had consumed Ella. This wasn’t her.“What are we going to do now? She will kill an innocent man who has done nothing but love his daughter.”My thoughts moved around in my head for a few seconds before it came crashing back. I never liked women. I didn’t even think they could be sensible ones out there aside from Willow who I thought was above mistakes. But Ella and her friends had shown me that there was more to being a woman and there were smart ones out there. I realized that the one I thought was perfect, wasn’t at all. Willow was a pretender.But in all of that, I learned one thing.“No one is beyond redemption,” I said with conviction. “We will get our Ella back. She is in there somewhere. We will find her.” “But how?” Anna asked her hands pointing in the direction had gone to. “How do you convince someone who is already
Ryker’s POV“Why would she want to stay back? Why? Has she lost her mind?” Anna screeched when I told them the news. “Michael is crazy. Don’t even get me started on David. That man is sick, and he would do anything. Even with the Alpha’s ability activated in her wolf, they can still hurt her!”I sat on the edge of my seat with my hands joined together. I also didn’t feel good about leaving her behind, but I didn’t want it to seem like I was being clingy. Ella wanted to take care of her people, and she had every right. All I could do was support her as much as I could.“Calm yourself, Anna. I am sure that she will call if she needs anything,” I assured her.Anna’s eyes flared wide and she shook her head, coming closer to me. “You don’t know Ella. She has become very stubborn. She will never call for help because she doesn’t want anyone else to die. She would rather do it all on her own.”I shrugged. The solution to that was very simple. “Well, Esther can tell us. She will call. I am ce