"Of course not. You're my sister. I only came here to warn you to be careful. Luckily for you, the thugs you sent were loyal enough to kill themselves when they got caught.""They got caught. They deserve their death." Lilith frowned. "I have to find another way to deal with Lupita now. Do you think Romulus would want to get involved in this investigation?""He will if I don't give him a result."Lilith frowned. "Does he really like that Lupita girl that much?""Apparently, he does. Romulus hardly takes a tour around the pack, so how was he able to save Lupita outside the Alpha's court? He must have followed her to make sure she was safe."Lilith folded her hand into a ball. "If Romulus focuses on finding the person who tried to kidnap Lupita, he will find us.""I don't think that will be a problem. Lupita is getting closer to Alpha Vlad and Romulus is jealous. I think he is planning on winning over his Luna. If we make the process complicated, we might be able to distract him from tr
Romulus took Matt's advice. He looked around. Everything was perfect. He was in his court's garden and so the scenery was beautiful— beautiful flowers, a water fountain, colorful birds and butterflies. The birds' songs and the sound of water falling was soothing. The scents of flowers were a huge help too. Romulus smiled in satisfaction. Lupita joined him a few minutes later. She was dressed up for their date and Romulus was satisfied to see that she did. "Please, have your seat." Romulus pointed to the only chair available which was opposite his. Lupita's lip curled up slightly, her eye muscles stiff. She sat on the chair, without relaxing her back. "You look tensed up," Romulus pointed out. "Is it because of me?" Of course it was because of him, but Lupita dared not say so. Not after what happened the last time she told him her thoughts. "I'm just not used to this," Lupita said. It was the truth. An obvious truth. She used to be hated by everyone in the pack.
"What did I do wrong?" Beta Matt asked.He wondered if the Alpha was beginning to suspect him. His eyes widened in alarm. If that was the case, then he was screwed.Or, was it the kidnap case of Lupita? Beta Matt wondered. If that was it, then he was also in trouble. He was yet to find a scapegoat to pin the blame of the kidnap on."Why do you look scared?" Alpha Romulus asked, studying his face. "Is there a reason for you to get scared?"Beta Matt faked a smile. "Of course not. I'm just worried that I might have somehow slackened in my duty as your Beta. I really want to be a good Beta, so I overthink a lot when it comes to discharging my duties properly."Alpha Romulus laughed. "The Beta I once knew is nothing like you just described. He was competent, but worrying about not discharging your duties well is new. We both know that you are not that committed. You've been acting weirdly these days, but that's an issue I will address some other day. Not today."Matt looked away, wonderin
Matt frowned on hearing Vlad's words. This was exactly what he was preventing.He knew Vlad would interfere.Matt looked at Romulus, anticipating his reaction."Are you threatening me with our friendship?"Vlad sighed in frustration. "Alpha Romulus, take it from me. The last thing you should ever do is to trust anyone blindly. I'm not even worthy of your trust.""I can never go back on my words. I said I will give him the royal stamp and that is exactly what I am doing.""I won't let you give him.""You should listen to your friend," Ralph said."The reason my pack was attacked was simply because I trusted someone. I won't let you make the same mistake. You might feel that your royal stamp is nothing, but whoever holds is almost the same as an Alpha. You're not giving Matt your stamp.""I understand that it's been long since you had control of something, but if you think you can control me in my pack, you are thinking wrongly."Vlad looked hurt at Romulus' words. He swallowed. "Of cou
"Beta Matt, are you sure you want to do this?"Matt frowned. He hated involving outsiders in his dealings. They made things hard all the time.All he needed was to raise the tax paid by pack members to an outrageous amount. Of course, they dared not revolt, but their respect for the Alpha would definitely reduce. Then, it will be easier to convince them to rebel against him and accept another another Alpha."If you're scared, don't be. Before Romulus is aware, he will lose all what he has. By the way, I paid you well. Where is the proposal?"Nath, the tax collector of the pack and the man Matt was talking to brought out a document. Matt stamped the document with the royal stamp and returned it to Math."By 5 pm today, release the memo. It should be exactly five pm. Do not be a second late or early. By five-thirty, everybody would know all the increment of the tax. By 6 pm, Romulus will no longer be Alpha and before the end of today, you will be promoted."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"The Alpha
Lupita's knees weakened and they buckled underneath her.Without looking back at her, Romulus left with the tribal elders.Lupita laid flat on the ground with her legs sprawled, wondering if Romulus meant any one of the words he said to her. Then she remembered the anger in his eyes while he talked to her."He meant it," she muttered to herself. "He meant every word he said."She closed her eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were beginning to run down her chin.After crying for several minutes, she stood up on her feet, recalling what Vlad told her about joining him whenever she was ready. She remembered that she had thirty days."Today is the thirtieth day," Lupita muttered to herself in a sense of emergency. She rushed to the small drawer of her dressing table and took out the small pistol Vlad gave her.She grabbed her black cloak and left the room."Where to?" One of the guards asked and she frowned. He has asked the question rudely with his nose wrinkled in disgust. He obvi
Like Vlad had said, there was an exit behind the waterfall. It was a cave with two openings. The waterfall at one opening and an exit at the other.And, immediately Lupita stepped into the cave, light as bright as day shone at the other end and Lupita ran towards the light. Her legs stopped moving when she finally got there and she bent forward, her hands on her thigh trying to catch her breath.She straightened up and took a few steps forward to get out of the cave.As soon as she got out of the cave, a cool breeze hit her face.She laughed.She was finally free.Lupita looked around, recalling that Vlad had told her that he would be waiting for her outside the cave, but he was nowhere to be found.Her face slackened.She heaved a sigh. "At least I'm free. I just have to find a place to go to so I can start a new life.""Are you seriously planning to start a new life without me in it?"Lupita beamed. She recognized that voice."Vlad," She screamed in joy as she spun around. She rushe
Lupita knew nothing about how her life was before Romulus brought her to his pack, but somehow, she could feel that her life was much better. Here she was with the option of leaving the same pack that had been a nightmare to her, but she was thinking twice.There was a high possibility that Romulus played her but she found it difficult to leave him. "Choose," Vlad said.Her eyes met his. Since the day she met him, he has been nice to her. He was offering to take her with him. She believed all that he said about treating her like his Luna. She knew he could give all the love Romulus could not give. Why then was she hesitating?She looked back at the smoke."I'll go back. It'll be the right thing to do if Romulus lied about playing me," Lupita said. She turned to look back at Vlad.He looked disappointed.Vlad feigned a smile and nodded. "I'm coming with you."Lupita's face slackened. "You have a pack to take care of.""I have to make sure you are safe. With me, you have a higher chan
"I'm not attending any welcome party," Lupita said to the visibly frustrated maid before her. She sat on her bed. Her legs crossed and her palms lying flat on the bed next to her.She hated whenever she was this way toward the maids, but she had no choice. The welcome party was for someone she was trying to avoid."If you don't come, you know I will be the one who gets punished. He is your father. He can't kill you, but he can kill me if I do as little as annoy him with the way I breathe. I ordered me to doll you up and accompany you to the party. If I don't, I will be in huge trouble." Her voice quavered.Lupita sighed in frustration. She would be putting the maid in huge trouble if she did not attend whatever welcome party her father was throwing for Romulus.She stood up from her bed. "Fine. Let's get started so I won't be late."The maid beamed. She quickly thanked Lupita and started to help her get prepared."Jane," she called the maids' name softly while she styled her hair. "Ha
"Maybe," Romulus said. "We've seen a lot of faces during our lifetime. Is it possible to remember all the faces we have seen?"Lupita frowned. "I have never left my father's court. Have you ever been here before?"He shook his head. "No, but who knows where you have been in your past lives. Maybe we met in our past lives."Lupita scoffed. She wondered if he was trying to engage her in small talks. If that was the case, he was failing miserably, she thought to herself. She found his words weird and annoying.He was probably sent by her father to talk to her, she thought.Lupita frowned at the thought.She was not interested in investing her time in getting to know another man. At least for now. After all, she was only seventeen. What was the rush for?And this stranger. Why did he seem so familiar when she had never met him before? "Thank you for sending Hardin away, but I have to go now.""But I want you to keep me company," Romulus said.Her heart swelled at his words. He still had t
"Lupita." Lupita's face twisted as she heard Hardin's voice. Was he seriously trying to tell her more lies when he was caught red-handed? "What are you doing here? My father dismissed you, didn't he?" "I bribed some of the guards to get in here," He replied and Lupita wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Well, now you and those men you bribed are in trouble because I am definitely telling the Alpha what you did." He reached out to her wrist and got hold of it. "Lupita, please forgive me. You were so excited when you got to know I was your mate, remember? Please, don't let everything we had go to a waste because of a stupid mistake I made." Lupita laughed. If she wanted to be sincere, they never really had anything special with each other. She could admit to the fact that knowing she was Hardin's mate made her excited. Hardin was good-looking. Tons of she-wolves drooled whenever they saw him, but again he never spoke to her unless he wanted something from the Alpha or her elder br
"Lupita, I'll talk to you later," Her father said dismissively and she frowned."I don't want to meet any Alpha during your meet and greet," Lupita said, annoyed at her father's decision to ship her off to another man after getting cheated on by her mate."We will talk about this later," he said sternly.Lupita backed her father, ready to leave the throne room. Then, he walked in.Tall. Dark hair. Green eyes.Everything about this guy seemed familiar. Lupita began to have flashes of images of herself with a man.She furrowed her brows. Ight was the first time something like this was happening to her. She wondered if it had anything to do with the man walking in.She looked at his face and she could have sworn that she saw him mouth her name, but that would be strange because how was it possible for him to know her name.'Lupita.' She heard a voice in her head. The voice sounded familiar, but she was pretty sure that doing this lifetime of hers, she had never heard the voice before."A
"Hardin, oh my goddess, you're so good at this."The young lady whose ear was pressed against the door dropped her jaw. The door led to her fated mate/ fiance's room and the last thing she expected to hear were moans of a she-wolf that was not her."Be quiet, we would be doomed of she's hears us," She heard Hardin say"She won't. She is too busy helping her father to prepare for the Alphas meet and greet that would be holding in this pack," the moaning she-wolf replied. "I wonder why you are with her when you love me.""She's my destined mate and she's the Alpha's daughter. Her father is one of the richest in the pack. I have a lot to gain if I mark her.""If you mark her, anytime we are together, she will know it.""We have at least a few months till she becomes eighteen and gets her wolf. For now, I'm not making her. We still have enough time to spend together before she becomes eighteen. Plus, I'm planning on leaving when I am done with exploiting her and getting as much wealth as
Romulus barely survived getting struck by the spear."What are you doing?" Romulus was shocked.Immediately, some of his warriors rushed in and held Vlad. Romulus got up from his throne, at a crossroad of choosing whether or not to punish Vlad for trying to kill him. But again, if Vlad wanted war, he would have come here with his warriors and that of Moon Stone Pack.He knew Vlad had a valid reason, but what was it? Vlad already knew all the things he did that would warrant such a reaction.His warriors began to drag him away and he raised his hand for them to stop. They loosened their grip on them and Vlad threw his arms back, causing most of them to fall flat on the ground."Did I do anything wrong?" Romulus asked, still finding it difficult to believe that Vlad was here."B*st**d, thanks to you, my sister is pregnant," Vlad spat with venom in his voice.Romulus' eyes lit up. "She is?"Vlad glared hard at him, so he cleared his throat and put on a straight face immediately. "She—" R
Romulus looked around the empty throne room and back to his throne.Finally, he had gotten back what was his.He had just finished addressing his pack members. Most of them who had asked that he be removed were glad to see him even before he gave his speech. In the short time she was Alpha, Lilith treated them cruelly.When Romulus was done with telling them how Matt had tricked him into giving him his stamp, they all wanted him back.Lilith and Matt were in the dungeon, awaiting sentence now.The tribal elders and the rest who were in support of Lilith were relieved of their positions. Romulus walked over to his throne and sat on it.It was time to take complete charge of his park and find a way to surround himself with people that will be loyal to him.His mind flickered to Lupita and his heart began to ache. He missed her badly. It felt like he would die any second if he did not see her.Throughout his stay in Vlad's pack it had been that way and if Vlad had not put him on house ar
The next morning when Lupita woke up, Romulus was nowhere to be found. The corners of her mouth turned downward. She fell back on her bed and when she smelled her sheets, she grinned.Her sheets smelled like Romulus.She smiled sheepishly. She was definitely not planning on washing or changing these sheets soon.That night she stood by her window, hoping Romulus would visit her again, but he did not. He did not visit her the nights after. Very soon, days turned to weeks and weeks to months, but Romulus was nowhere to be found.Lupita was shattered.What went wrong? Lupita wondered. Was her brother responsible for Romulus' absence? She wondered if Vlad, her brother, had found out about that night. Or, was this all Romulus' doing to hurt her again.The thought of Romulus hurting her again made her heart squeeze in pain. He could not do that to her.And, that was why this night, she still stood at her window, waiting for Romulus to climb up to her like he did the last time.She heard a k
Her fear was replaced by a feeling she could not describe when she recognized who jumped into her room. It was Romulus. After all the warning her brother dished out to him. What was he doing here? Was she angry to see him? No. Did she want him to be here? Maybe. She did wonder what life without him would be like. If she wanted to be sincere to herself, she missed her mate. With the revelation of things, whether or not Romulus liked her was becoming hard to be sure of, but she did miss the times he was nice to her. The close moments she shared with him all seemed genuine... He took a few steps toward her and she took the same steps backward. "What are you doing here? My brother has decided to still help you despite everything. Stop trying to ruin the chance he is giving you." "Lupita," He called out softly and her hard heart toward him softened. Her name sounded like a sweet song in his mouth. "I kept thinking about you. The thought of having nothing to do with you did not s