CelineThe next few days were unbearable. No words, just brutal training. Father also came in a few times, pushing me to my limits. Zeke refused to hold back. But I refused to challenge him on that. I pushed back further, until I defeated him for the tenth time, and he begrudgingly accepted that I was ready.The last day of my training, a day before I was to go back to earth, Zeke and I stood in front of our father.“The Princess is ready, your highness.”My father turned to me and smiled at me, full of pride. “That's my little girl.” He wrapped his arms around me.My heart swelled for the first time hearing those words. No one had ever been proud of me, let alone believe in me like he did. A tear slid down my cheek. I was no longer weak, and someone was proud of me.He pulled away, wiping my tears, his smile warm. “You are just as strong as your mother, and I am strong. She would be so proud of you when you rescue her.”Zeke said nothing as he watched, and Father turned to him. “Have
CelineMy breath caught in my throat as I laid eyes on Zeke. He stood at my door, his body clad in something other than his armor. A suit that clung on his body, highlighting his broad shoulders and chest.His hair was styled instead of falling over his face like it always did, and his face was as handsome as always.“Zeke…” I whispered, my voice trapped in my throat. I cleared my throat, catching myself. “What are you doing here? I didn’t see you at the party.”He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the style. I preferred it to be ruffled. “I just couldn’t bring myself to go to the party.”He glanced at my body before meeting my eyes. “You look breathtaking.” He whispered as he stared into my eyes, and I reminded myself to breathe.“Thanks. Uh, do you want to go in?” I asked, opening the door without waiting for a reply.He nodded, stepping into the room after me, and I shut the door softly. Arienna was in her cot fast asleep at the corner of the room and I gestured to Zeke to be q
Zeke’s words caused me to freeze as I stared at him. “What? Pathetic?”"You’re just making excuses because you’re scared to choose me." Zeke’s eyes were filled with pity as he looked at me as if I was a weak, wounded animal."He begged for your love, and you think that means he loved you? No, Celine. He begged because he hated the idea of losing. That’s all you’ve ever been to him. A prize he didn’t want anyone else to have." He took my hand in his. “Let me love you so I can show you what love truly is. Let me, Celine. Does it have to be Kaiden?”I stared at him through tears as he asked me the question I had asked myself every night since I found out I had feelings for Zeke.Why not him? Why not Zeke, who made me believe I could be stronger? Why not Zeke, who protected me? Why not Zeke, who made me reach my full potential?Why not Zeke, who wanted to be with me and who had a space in my heart?I opened my mouth, but no words came. My heart clenched as I looked at him. His eyes were p
KaidenI stared at the invitation in my hand. The quadrennial Alpha Hunting Competition, an event that was held every four years, one I had never attended, was starting today, and I was meant to participate, having never gone before. My brother went when he was Alpha, but ever since he died, it did not feel right to take his place.But I had to; I was King, and it was part of it. And to quote Damon, “quit being such an emo, and step out the palace for once.”Ever since we caught Sheila and Neil said the things he had said to me, it was hard to forgive myself for all the destruction to my life, that was all my fault. But I was done sulking. The divorce with Sheila was finalized, and the kingdom accepted the apology I gave tem. The pack was being rebuilt again and the first time in five years, things felt good again in the kingdom.Celine would want me to live again. And this competition seemed like the best way to do so.It sure would be fun to kick the ass of other kings and Alphas,
CelineZeke did not come to see me off. It did not matter because I knew he was going to be listening so he could know when I am in danger.A part of me wished we did not have to leave things the way they were, but Deep down, I knew I was making the right decision. He would always have a space in my heart, but he could not take Kaiden’s space.“Please be careful, Celine.” Father hugged me. “ Are you sure about this? That place... It’s not just dangerous, Celine. It’s a nightmare. There’s a reason no one comes back from there.""I don’t care," I said, my voice unwavering. "She’s my mother. If she’s still alive, then I have to go. I won’t abandon her."He let out a sigh. “If you are in danger, don't forget your training. And call out to Zeke. Hee would answer.”“I would,” I said, holding the strap of my bag tight as I turned to Evelyn, Bridgette, and Penny, who carried Arienna in her arms.“My baby girl.” I cooed at my innocent baby who had no idea I was leaving and she was not going
CelineShould I reveal myself to Kaiden?No. What if he still held a grudge against me for Anya’s death? I touched the ring in my pocket. Would a simple ring convince him or change his mind?A sigh left my lips as Tasha and the other maids chatted as the other Alphas arrived.“I want to serve the king. Maybe he would like me to give him a massage or something.” The maid next to Tasha muttered, and my gaze snapped to her. I didn't want to say anything, but jealousy brewed within me. Tasha chuckled. “He seems so strict. We would have to wait till they were done with their meeting before knowing who we were assigned to. I also would love to show him what I can—”I shut her off, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence. A meeting. If I could get close enough, I may be able to hear just what they may be talking about, and if there would be a hint to help me with this mission.”The minute all the Alphas stepped into the castle, I knew I had to leave the line of maids to find out more
KaidenThe minute I saw the island, I knew Damon would do anything to be here right now.Luckily for the maids, I did not bring my pig of a beta.The maids were all lined up, and they bowed as I was led into the Castle meeting room. The head maid walked up to me and gave me a bow. “Your highness.” She batted her eyelashes suggestively at me. “Well come.”My gaze schemed over her as the Alphas arrived one by one. I took a seat at the head of the long table, leaning back as the room filled with voices and footsteps. The Alphas greeted each other, exchanging nods and brief handshakes before settling in.Alpha Van sat to my right, his sharp gaze scanning the room. “Let’s get this over with,” he muttered. “We all know why we’re here.”Damon had briefed me on every Alpha and what the Alpha Competition was a front for. The competition held, yes, the prisoners were just as important, but not to us. It was a bigger story entirely, our only job being to hold the key.He also told me the brief o
Celine“Ugh, I heard some maid got to be the King’s maid even before the darn list came out! And it’s the hot one, not the other married ones.”The room was in a frenzy as soon as that was said, and I groaned, changing into our evening uniform.The list was out, and almost all the girls hated that they were not assigned to the king and were actively hunting for the girl who was the maid. I hated to admit it, but a part of me was overjoyed that no other maid had been assigned to Kaiden. They were ready to take advantage of the fact that he came without a Luna, and that did not sit well with me.Where was Sheila anyway?And why did Kaiden request I be his maid? Was he suspecting me? Of course he was; he caught me eavesdropping on their important meeting. I just had to make sure I stayed out his way, and found the key before anything. I had to be extra careful with my identity. I could not risk anything coming between me getting my mother back.But how do I handle myself being in the s
Charles “What? You want something in return? Hmn?”She asked as she folded her arms across her chest. “Would you just shut up and let me talk?” I barked, my anger already bubbling.“Okay fine,” she replied as she rolled her eyes. “But, what do you want me to do to make you just stop whatever you're doing? What do you want me to do to make you cancel this fight?” she said to me, looking a bit desperate. I looked at her and smiled faintly. “Are you sure you're ready to hear it?” I asked her, and she looked at me, impatiently saying, “Just spit it out already!” Before I could even say anything more, we heard footsteps clearly walking straight to our room, followed by Kaiden's voice calling out Celine's name. I immediately took her and hid in a corner of the room where Kaiden wouldn't see us. He opened the door and scanned the room, but he didn't see us. He closed the door back while Celine and I were too busy hiding in a corner, and we were too close in a very romantic way. I sta
CharlesI felt a strong presence as I sat in the ruined temple, thinking about what to do to fight Kaiden and how to reclaim my mate and make her mine. I looked around, trying to sense where the presence was emanating from, and before long, I saw the priest standing right behind me, looking deeply and intently at me. He bowed and greeted me. “My king, I came to discuss something important with you,” he said to me. I looked at him and asked, “What did you come here to discuss? Why did you just come all of a sudden? Did someone from the pack tell you something? What do you think would happen? You want to get yourself into trouble?” I said to him, but he just looked at me. “Don't worry, my king, nobody is going to see me. Only you can see me,” he reassured me. “So what did you come here to discuss about?” I asked him, and he replied, “It’s about Celine. About how you are going to reclaim her and what we are going to do next. I want to ask you how far your plan has been going and h
Kaiden“How did you find out about all of this? Who told you that? I—I awakened him on purpose. How did you know about this stuff that happened inside the cave? The coffin back there?” She questioned me. But I just stared into space and flashed back to when Charles came to meet me in the throne room. I saw him walk in gracefully, looking heavenly and handsome. He was looking so divine, and I felt inferior to his heavenly grace. But I didn't say anything and wondered why he had come to meet me back there in my throne room. I saw him walk gracefully up to me and say, “Very soon I will take Celine away from you. I will take her away from you completely. Did you even know that she came to meet me and confront me? Even though her mother stopped her from coming here to meet me, she still came. And that was why she awakened me back there at the coffin. Do you think she did it mistakenly? No, it was not a mistake. She did it purposely. She awakened me because she felt she couldn't resist me
Kaiden I opened my eyes and found myself lying in bed with Celine by my side. I looked at her beautiful face and brushed off the air that was covering her face partly as I looked at her intensely with so much love and care. “I wonder what she did to me to make me fall so deeply in love with her as much as this. Don't worry, Celine. I promise you nothing is going to happen to you, and I won't let anybody ever hurt you. No one will ever dare to lay a finger on you as long as I am here, and nobody is going to ever take you away from me as long as I am alive and breathing,” I whispered to her carefully so as not to wake her from her sleep. She looked so peaceful, lying there in my arms. I felt determined to protect this woman as much as I could protect my life because she was like my lifeline, and I wouldn't want anything that would take her out of my arms. “You will never go through any harm. I promise that nothing will ever bother you as long as I'm here. I will share your pain with
Celine“Did Charles really say all that to you?” “Yes, he did. I have been having a lot of nightmares about him. He's always coming into my dreams telling me I'm his mate and no matter what I do, it would make me his. I only went there to confront him and tell him to stay out of my dreams. But he threatened me, and I didn't know what to do. I walked out of his house in annoyance yesterday,” I explained better to Kaiden, and he hugged me and said, “I'm sorry. I didn't know that that was what really happened. Charles twisted the whole thing and lied to me about you coming to his place. He lied. He twisted the whole thing around and lied. I'm sorry. I should have believed you first. I should have asked you what happened before blaming you.” “It's fine. You don't have to apologize. You only acted on impulse. I know how much I mean to you. That's why you acted that way,” I said to him and calmed him down. Then he released me from the hug and said, “Why did you come here in the first pl
Celine When I got to my room, I couldn't stop thinking about what my mom had revealed to me and what Charles had said. A lot of thoughts kept on flooding my head as I remembered how Charles threatened to reveal what I did. How I awakened him and my mom in the coffin that day if I didn't agree to be his mate. I didn't know what to do. And I hoped my mom would devise a plan to stop him from forcing me to be his mate. I hoped. I hoped that he wouldn't disturb me in my dreams tonight and let me sleep well and rest properly. Because I was seriously tired of him being in my dreams and disrupting my sleep. I couldn't rest well for the past few days because of the nightmares he'd been giving me. I just hoped that me confronting him today would make him stop and give me a break. Maybe just for this night because I was really tired, and my head was filled right now with a lot of thoughts. I sat on the bed and kept on thinking about how to convince him to leave me alone and not force me to be
Rose. I just sat there staring into space, helpless. I couldn't bring myself to tell Celine that I couldn't explain to her how she was the opposite of the Moon Goddess. I could remember back then; it came to me as a flashback. Celine was busy playing right outside our house. And then the Moon Goddess…It was almost close to the celebration of the Moon Goddess. The Moon Goddess did something to show her appearance and that she was happy with the pack members. But then Celine got very angry and did something that she wasn't supposed to do. I quickly ran outside and went to her. “Celine, stop. Don't do that ever again. Nobody can ever know that you can do this. Do you understand me? You can't make everybody find out what you just did today. We have to keep it a secret between you and Mom. Okay?” I said to her. And she immediately got scared. I started thinking, what did this girl choose to do? How could she do that to something that the Moon Goddess did? How could she do something li
Celine. I was more than scared of him right now. Yes, I was really scared, and I didn't know what to do anymore. I just stood there, dumbfounded and short of words. I couldn't say anything, and I was shaking already in fear.Hearing this, I realized that there was nothing I could do about this problem right now. I needed to go home and think about it and maybe talk to my mom if she had finally woken up to look for a plan to stop Charles from claiming me as his mate. I didn't utter a word. He started to walk out of his place, but then he said something that made me stop in my tracks. “You, no matter what you do, Celine, you will still be my mate. And I'll make sure that I make you mine. I'll make you my mate. No matter what happens to me, no matter what plan you devise, I'll still make you my mate, and there's nothing that you're going to do about it,” he yelled back at me, and I didn't even turn to look in his direction as I stormed out of his house in frustration. When I got outs
Celine“What do you want to talk about?” “Why have you been coming into my nightmares? I know you have been doing it on purpose. This is not the first time nor the second that I'm seeing you in my dream, and I want you to stop coming into my dream right from this instant.” He laughed sarcastically and looked at me. I scoffed and wondered why he was laughing, and then he stopped and apologized. “I'm sorry for laughing like that, but you just look so funny.” I looked at him with seriousness showing on my face. But then he burst out laughing again, and I immediately felt irritated by his laugh. Everything about him irritated me. I just hated the way he was laughing right now. I needed him to be serious, and here he was laughing, I thought to myself. Then, after a while, he stopped laughing and kept a straight face. “Okay, what made you think that I'm purposely coming into your dreams? Maybe you are just saying things. Maybe it's because you can not just resist me. That's why you ar