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KAEL. I played the video I got from the jewelry shop on my TV and watched it repeatedly, trying to make sense of her actions. She received a small amount of money. I could tell by the number of bills she had received. Was she stupid enough to believe the ring had no value?I also noticed she was trembling when she entered the shop. It was not a clear video, but I could tell by the way she hugged herself and shook her hands. Her demeanor was too different from that of confident Adessa, who had signed our divorce papers. She looked lost in that video. As if she was afraid of something or someone. “Fuck!” My hands rose to my head, and I gripped my hair tightly. I shouldn’t worry about her and just focus on getting the ring back.Right. She was moving on. I must do the same. I shut off the TV and threw the remote control on the couch nearby before turning off the bedlamp.I forced myself to sleep, but sleep seemed to be impossible at the moment because of the many thoughts running th
KAEL. I woke up early today, ready to drive to Bayson Bay to meet up with the buyer of Adessa’s ring. I hope he wouldn’t make it hard for me, as I am willing to pay a hefty sum of money to get it back.After that, I also planned to drive around the area to check if she was there. Not for anything but to make sure she was safe and okay. The entire week, I made time to watch all the videos on my phone and read all the notes that I found inside my wallet. They were small pieces of paper that were tucked in between my cards. They all came from her, and I kept them. Nothing much was written there but just her wishing me a good day or telling me that she was excited and looking forward to our date nights.But there was no I love you, or I miss you—a clear indication that what we had was not born out of love. But I could feel her excitement.And we do have date nights. The Adessa I could picture while reading the notes and the Adessa that giggles in every video I took of her was too differ
ADESSA.I’d been staring at the clock the whole morning, and by lunchtime, I finally decided I couldn’t just sit still and wait for Corrine to come home. I wanted to see Kael, even if only for a moment and from a distance.I put on black jeans and a black hoodie before leaving the apartment and walking toward the commercial area. Corrine’s home was just three blocks away, so I didn’t need to take a bus or a cab to get there.It should be an easy walk, but I had to keep my guard up all the time. I didn’t want him or any of Alpha Draco’s men to see me if they were looking for me. I honestly have no idea if Kael knew I was sold to Alpha Draco. If I based it on what Corrine told me last night that Kael was looking for me, it seemed he didn’t know. But then a part of me thought that maybe he was just faking his statement so he could buy the ring back.I still remember the way he treated me after he woke up and how he dismissed my feelings by letting Desiree crawl all over him while I was
KAEL.When we arrived at the shop, the ring was still on display. I expected them to tell me to wait until the buyer showed himself, which I hated. I was never the one with the patience to wait, but I had no choice. But then, waiting never happened. The store manager was there; I was sure she was the female in the video with Adessa. “Alpha Kael…” she greeted me as she approached. The man I spoke with, Philip, just told me the buyer hadn’t shown up yet.“You know me,” I told her.“Of course,” she smiled as she bowed her head at me, and I returned her nod. “Everyone around here knows you.”I just shrugged my shoulders. We used to own the building in this block and the other side before Dad sold them because Miranda insisted it was too far to manage. “My name is Corrine. I’m the manager here. I was told that you’re interested in that ring, " she said, pointing to the display case on the other side. I nodded my head. “I am.” “Oh, it’s a good choice. It’s beautiful.” She smiled broadl
KAEL.“Do you want to see Adessa, Alpha Kael?” Corrine’s question made me stop walking forward.“Yes,” I answered a little too fast, and I could see Landon suppressing a chuckle to come out of his throat. I scowled at him, then turned around to face the woman at the counter. “Do you know where she is?”“I took her home with me because she didn’t have a place to stay. Give me thirty minutes, and I will just leave instructions to Philip, then we can go home. But, Alpha, only if you promise not to force her to come home with you if she doesn’t want to.”I raised my palms up and nodded my head. “You have my word. My Delta will stay outside the house, so you won’t feel like we’re overpowering you and Adessa. I just want to speak with her.”She smiled, and we agreed to go with it. Thirty minutes wasn’t that long, but it felt like it was. I was eager to see her again.Landon and I went outside the shop to wait for Corrine. My Delta pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and asked if I minded
KAEL.I didn’t have the energy to object anymore. So I just let my Delta drive us to the Knight’s Stone Pack while my mind flew to whatever I could remember of Adessa. She was beautiful, no doubt about that, so it didn’t surprise me that Draco took a fancy to her. Plus, Draco and I had been rivals since our youth.Our packs were in the same county, with only three human cities separating us. In short, our werewolf communities were closest to each other, but we never got along well. The rivalry had begun with our forefathers and had carried on to the generations after them. But in all honesty, I was not bothered by them. My pack had been thriving well without any help or disturbance from them. Draco was another case. He would show superiority whenever he could, and I would usually ignore him. Adessa was not the first female he tried to take away from me. There were some while we were studying at Alpha University. I thought he had grown out of that habit, as he had not made any attem
KAEL.“Who gave Adessa to you as a gift?” I asked.I didn’t want to believe that anyone around me could have done this. But at this point, I knew everything was possible—even friends could be enemies in the shadow. Was she abducted by someone from my pack and handed to Draco’s brother? Or was she taken by them the moment she stepped out of my border?“Answer me!” My patience was running thin. Instead of answering, Draco let out a sarcastic chuckle and shook his head. “Are we friends?”I already knew what would come after this, and I was right. He would never tell me more. “Why would I tell you? I’m not going to help you weed out the snakes in your prairie, Kael. Go figure it out yourself.”I was so close to throwing another curse on his face, but I stopped myself. I didn’t want to add more to the arrogance in him. I would not let him laugh at me any more. “Then, I guess my time is up here.” I patted my Delta’s back and turned around, heading toward the car. “Are you not going to s
KAEL.“Was she sad when I was in a coma?”“She was miserable.” Landon glanced at me and gave me a weak smile before turning his attention back to the road. “Her eyes were always puffy by morning, so I knew she was crying herself to sleep. But she would still do her duties, running the household and making decisions for the pack. She lost weight. The colors in her eyes were gone. She would smile, but not the same smile she carried before. She kept her agony to herself, but she made sure the surroundings looked happy. She added more flowers around the house and your room so when you wake up, the house wouldn’t look dull.”The flowers that Miranda said were Desiree’s doing. This was, of course, a lie, as since Adessa left, the house had never had any fresh flowers around. “And you know what’s funny? She would dress up every day in blue because that’s your favorite color. She wanted to look pleasant in your eyes once you wake up.”“And I told her to fuck off when I did,” I mumbled under m
KAEL.“I need a quick nap. I haven’t had a good sleep these past few days.” Draco said as he slumped his body under a big oak tree. I wouldn’t believe him if I couldn’t see his face clearly. He did look tired, and bags were under his eyes. This game, or just being here, was certainly tiring him.“We’ll stop for only an hour. We need to move further than the rest.” Prince Vaidas told him.“Who the fuck are you to decide all the time?” Draco sneered at him before closing his eyes. “Don’t forget you’re on this team because of me.”“The hell I care about what team I belong to. I’m not anyone’s puppet.”“I didn’t say you were!” The prince growled. “But resting is not an option until we can secure a long distance from them!”“Unless you fucking know the route of the whole forest, there’s no telling if we are far from them or not. Who knows? We may just be going around in circles only and end up in front of them by the time they are ready to look for us.” Draco told him.That was the same
ADESSA.“The first team: Prince Vaidas. Alpha Kael and Alpha Draco… The second team: Alpha Leon, with…” The Game Master’s voice faded because my mind got stuck with Vaidas, Draco, and Kael on the same team. I was worried the first two would gang up with Kael, and that was not right. But before I could voice my concern to anyone who would dare to listen, Esriel leaned closer and whispered. “Relax. It’s better that he’s on the same team as them.”“Do you know the next challenge?” I asked him. He nodded. “It’s the task Esaias was asked to manage, but since that fraud prince was not really thrilled by this game, he asked me to help him.”I bit my bottom lip, suppressing myself from smiling because he called him a fraud prince. But he was right. The youngest of them certainly had no interest in this game, as our father often scolded him because he never listened during discussions. “Each team needs to protect their treasures within 48 hours, which the challenger needs to steal. The ste
KAEL.I was not bothered about nakedness, but I knew Adessa would be, as I would never want her to be naked in front of many other men. However, I had no option but to move forward, wearing only my shoes. “Can I share my clothes with my Alpha?” Landon asked one of the men watching us.One shook his head in reply before speaking. “Whatever he has with him are the things he would take to the next challenge, so no, you can’t share anything.”“What do you mean, next challenge? Is it immediately after this or tomorrow?” I asked as I tied my shoelace.“After this. Wait for more instructions.” He said this before turning his attention away from us, signaling that this conversation was over. I looked at Landon and found him looking at the other Alphas around us, particularly Draco and his Beta, Roman. Roman was handing him his dagger. I hissed lowly. I left mine at the manor. I thought Draco wanted to help me, but it didn’t seem to be the case. If he really wanted to, he should have told
ADESSA.“Relax, you looked constipated,” Esriel whispered as he sipped his wine, and I couldn’t stop myself from squinting my eyes at him.I felt betrayed. Aside from the fact that I had no idea what Kael had picked up from underwater, as the cameras were too far, it bothered me that he was the only one who arrived at the riverbank with his full clothes on while the rest were naked. And seeing that after the challenge, the rest of the Alphas were putting their clothes on while my husband remained naked with only his shoes on was pissing me off. “What’s the first clue?” I tilted my head to the right to ask the King politely, even if I was internally furious. “I don’t know.” He replied, and I didn’t want to believe him. Earlier, on our way here, I was able to corner Esriel and ask him where he got the clue. He said Father told him out of nowhere. So I wondered why he didn’t want to admit to me he knew what it was. “Esmond is the one assigned to the clues for this task,” Father added
KAEL.As soon as I received my signal, I dove into the waters. I was fifth to the last, and I could only hope there was still something left for me to take. Aside from the fact that I only had limited time to get to the other side, knowing Draco and Prince Vaidas picked the first and second spots was not helping my confidence.I had already swum almost a hundred meters, but I still couldn’t see any gemstones.I saw a gold coin—something ordinary humans or shifters had no access to—but I doubted Adessa would ever consider money or gold a treasure. But what if it wasn’t her who chose these treasures?But still, I ignored it and swam past it. I also chanced upon a bronze goblet. It took me a while to decide whether it was something related to what we used for breakfast. It certainly looked like the cup we shared earlier, but I was sure this task was prepared even before breakfast, so I swam past it as well. I went to the surface to breathe before diving back in, and after a while, I fin
KAEL.Fuck! Fuck!There were more clues, for sure, not just the one given by Adessa.They were still outside, and I could see them taking off their boxers or briefs. Some already had nothing under their pants. From the expression on their faces, I knew they were celebrating because I was still fucking fully clothed. Only my Beta bore a different expression—he looked defeated, just as I felt. But there was no time to feel sorry. I tried to raise the window beside me, but it was locked. My gaze went to the driver, and I saw his window was open. I hastily grabbed my shoes off my feet and slipped my hand between our seats, throwing my shoes outside.“Hey, you can’t do that!” The driver snarled at me, and I just raised my hands up in surrender as I sat back. He abruptly nodded his head, like he was apologizing, and dropped his gaze. He probably realized I ranked higher than him. I breathed heavily as I waited for someone to throw my shoes back in, but it looked like no one from the outs
DANIELLE.I was helping them dress up Princess Adessa for the first night of the game, but I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t stop thinking about the prince. Prince Esriel left the breakfast hall and only returned when the princess was done eating, just to pick her up. He didn’t even glance at me and was nowhere during dinner. Earlier, before we headed to the breakfast manor, while the guards were helping the princess into the car, he whispered to me that he would not sit with my lady and Alpha Kael and that we could eat together. I didn’t reply as he had moved away before I could say anything, but I didn’t object, so I was baffled when he left the dining hall and didn’t come back.I was glad Beta Landon was there, so I didn’t have to eat alone. Not that eating alone was ever a problem, but I did hope Esriel would join me, so it would have been more devastating if I had expected that and ended up being alone. “Someone’s at the door.” Miss Mariel said, and it snapped me back to the present
KAEL.“Look who’s back?” Alpha Randolf exclaimed the moment we entered the main receiving room of our home manor. We just came back from breakfast, and since I heard movements in this area, I nudged Landon to head this way. I nodded at them and inserted my hands into my pockets. “Why are you all gathered here? Are we being summoned?” I asked, my eyes shifting to everyone. “The first clue was given while you were away.” Prince Vaidas spoke without glancing at me. He was busy carefully running his thumb along the edge of his dagger.“And what is it?” I asked. I didn’t like this. Why was it given while I was away?“Why would I tell you?” Alpha Randolf scoffed, then glanced at the others who were looking at us. “Or I should say, why would we tell you? While you ate breakfast looking at the beautiful princess, we ate looking at each other’s fucking face. Not an appetizing sight. So I guess it’s only fair you go blindly to the first task.”Most of them chuckled at his words, and those wh
ADESSA.“Can you move his chair to my right?” I asked. “My lady, the instruction was to have both of you sit at the ends of the table.” The main server, a soft-spoken older man, replied.“I understand that. But I am also instructing you to move his chair nearer. I cannot, for the life of me, speak loudly. I don’t want to shout just to keep a conversation going.” I smiled bashfully at him. “Yes, of course, my lady.” He then instructed his companion to comply. I was glad he didn’t question my request anymore. Kael smiled broadly as he took his seat on the right side of the table, and soon, they proceeded to serve us. I glanced at Danielle and saw her sitting at a round table with Landon. My brother was nowhere in sight.“Where is Prince Esriel?” I asked the main server. “He stepped out, but he left four guards by the door and instructed them that no one is allowed to go in and out, including you, my lady.”“I see…” I didn’t ask anymore. Once they left us. Kael reached for my hand, a