Luna's Pov
The men closed in on us and I looked around frantically, trying to see if there was anyone around that could help us. We were out in the empty space between the three palace buildings and the smaller ones. Well, not exactly empty because a pretty patch of flowers sat in the center of this space. The buds glowed brilliantly in the fading sunlight. Too bad I couldn't enjoy the view. There was no one around, not that I could see at least and for some reason, I was convinced that even if they were, nobody would try to interfere. I tightened my hold on Indrik as I gritted my teeth. "Get away from them!" A voice suddenly bellowed and right before my eyes, I watched as the buff men were sent flying with painful cries. In no time, they were all sprawled on the ground and Jamil stood above them, scowling angrily. The men quickly scurried to their feet but none of them dared to move closer again as their eyes shifted from Jamil to Leon whose robe looked rumpled as he looked like he wanted to kill someone. "Let me help you!" Jamil offered as he bent and helped me raise Indrik up to his feet. "Can you get him to his room?" He asked softly. I draped his arm around my shoulder and tested the weight before nodding. "Good! Go along then. I still have somethings to take care of over here!" He muttered as he turned away from me. "Come on!" I muttered as I helped Indrik along. His moans were quieter now but he was obviously still in pain. "Stop!" Leon roared but I continued to walk, half expecting his minions to attempt to stop me again but surprisingly, none of them did. It seemed like an eternity later when we finally arrived in his room. Indrik dropped to the bed like a sack of potatoes and I winced as I finally got a good look at his face. His face had doubled in size, and blood was pouring from more than a few wounds. His usually lustrous raven black hair now looked matted with blood running through it. I couldn't even begin to imagine the amount of pain he had had to endure at the hands of his brother. Why were people so callous? Indrik whimpered, turning in the bed. I shook my haziness away as I tapped him awake. He turned toward me, his eyes sad and mournful and suddenly, I couldn't remain angry at him anymore. He wasn't cruel! He was only trying to survive in a ruthless world. A bell rang in my head as I finally realized what I was required to do. "Come on, master. Let's go get you cleaned up." I whispered as I held out a hand. Thankfully, I didn't have to bear his whole weight this time. It took a while but I finally managed to clean him up revealing all his cuts and bruises, most of which had stopped bleeding thankfully. "Stay here, will you? I will try to get you some medicine from the doctor." I informed as soon as he was back in bed. I pulled away but was stopped by a cold hand on mine. "Do you need something?" I asked softly. His mouth moved but I couldn't hear a word. "What did you say?" I moved closer, putting my ear to his lips. "Stay with me, please!" He pleaded, his eyes quivering in a way that reminded me of a scared pup. Again, the anger rose in my throat as I wished I could walk up to those brutes and show them just how enjoyable bullying was. "Of course." I whispered as I sat down on the bed beside him, taking the arm and massaging it. We remained like that for a while during which time he continued to stare blankly at the ceiling. I could see that he was feeling sorry for himself so I decided to help take his mind off it. Getting up from the bed, I moved to the other side and started to massage the other arm. "You want to talk about it?" I asked softly but he didn't even blink. I thought about yelling at him for asking me to stay if he wasn't going to utter a word but something told me he wasn't going to appreciate that. "So! Leon is your half-brother! Has your relationship always been so... interesting?" I suddenly wanted to bite my tongue off, certain that I had made things worse. What was I thinking trying to comfort him? I wasn't built for that kind of thing. I should have just ignored him when he asked me to stay. So, you can imagine my surprise when he actually replied me. "I don't think relationship is the word for it." He rasped, his voice heavy with bitterness. "Leon has never seen me as his brother. He thinks of me more as a parasite. An ugly scar that he wishes to wipe off. And...you know what? He is probably right. I should just give up and die after all, what is the point of living if I will never be more than a failure?" His voice broke and that was when I realized that he was starting to cry. "Shush!" I hushed, getting up and circling to his head where I started to massage his shoulders. "You are not a failure, Indrik. And, you definitely are not a scar. You shouldn't allow them get to you." I hoped I was making sense. "How can I not? Everybody hates me, including you. I..." His voice broke again. "Shush!" I whispered again. "You must be exhausted. Try to get some rest. You need it." He looked like he was going to protest but I shook my head as I ran my eyes over his face, shutting his eyes. It wasn't long before he started to snore. "Soon!" I whispered. "Very soon!"Luna's Pov I opened my eyes feeling rather groggy and achy. I yawned lazily, stretching my limbs and was rewarding with the satisfying crunch of muscles rearranging themselves. I squinted, taking a look at the room where I had spent the night with the aid of daylight that was streaking in through the window. I nearly fell off my perch as I realized that this was not my room. Looking around, I noticed Indrik still on the bed, snoring softly as he slept. His hair spread all over. The bed, his eyes, his mouth. I smiled as I brushed the hair away from his face. I did a doubletake as my eyes fell on his face. Like I had done so many times while he was unconscious, I slipped into the stool on which I had spent the night and propping my cheeks on my hands, admired his face. Despite the numerous wounds, he always managed to look so spectacular when he was asleep. With his sad eyes closed and his facial muscles robbed by sleep of their crankiness, he looked like an angel in his sleep. I remai
Indrik's PovI woke up to my head feeling like it was being hit over and over with a heavy hammer. Groaning, I tried to get up but my arm collapsed under the strain, sending me sprawling once more. I tried to open my eyes but all I could see were tiny yellow dots dancing on a frenzy. "Luna?" I called weakly but no one answered. "Luna!" I called again, a little louder only to be met with the same silence. I felt around the bed to see if she was still sleeping somewhere there but felt nothing. I groaned in exasperation wishing I could fire her with the way she got me feeling like I was the maid and she the master sometimes. Knowing that no one was coming, I attempted to open my eyes again. This time, my vision was a little bit clearer but my headache wasn't getting any better. I raised my hand to my face and felt bumps that weren't there yesterday. My eyes clouded with tears of humiliation as I recalled what had happened the other day. Leaving my room with the intention of getting som
Indrik's PovIn between using my medicine, eating breakfast, taking a walk out to the garden and making small talk with Luna, night arrived sooner than I expected. Through all these, I noticed that something was bothering Luna. She would suddenly stop and stare at empty air till I called her attention or stop mid-speech and frown, her brows furrowing on deep thought. Despite myself, I couldn't help worrying about her but my attempts to make her tell me what was wrong with her all ended up falling through. With night descending and her helping me to my room, I found that she was starting to shed her worried skin which for whatever reason made me feel a little relieved. "I will go get your food now." She informed once I was in my room and left before I could protest. Usually, I was supposed to eat with the rest in the palace dinning hall but due to the state of my health, I was excused till I got better. While she was away, I thought about what we had discussed earlier. "If you man
Blaire's Pov From the moment Indrik had brought that woman into our pack, I had known that nothing could come of it except bad news. This became a reality when she suddenly started to shout in the middle of the night, shattering my face relaxation routine. I would have ignored her if not for the reference she made to Indrik. As it was, I cursed as I dashed to my room. She continued to wail until I pushed the door open after which she stopped abruptly. She had been standing over Indrik in the dim glow of the oil lamp. She turned toward me with what seemed like a smirk on her lip. "You are just in time." My eyebrows arched as I noticed that she was definitely smiling. "What is going on?" I scowled, wondering what kind of craziness she was trying to work up. "I don't know! Why don't you come and see?" She turned and the color drained from my face as I saw what lay on the bed behind her. "No! No! No!" I muttered as I rushed toward the bed hoping with every fiber of my bein
Luna's PovThe palace was thrown into chaos as people milled to and fro, trying to find a solution to the problem. For a while, nobody paid me any attention as they fussed over the weakling who they would rather throw into prison to die of starvation than fulfill his life's dream. I rolled my eyes, irritated by the hypocrisy of these people. Indrik had started to foam at the mouth when they decided to take him out of the room. They gave him honey, tried other herbal mixtures that they could work up but nothing worked. I sneered as I watched all their attempts that were bound to end up in failure. Finally, Blaire seemed to remember me as she turned toward me, her eyes burning with hatred. "What have you done to him?" She growled. Silence settled in the room as everyone else turned toward me as though just realizing that the maid should know what happened to her master. "Who? Me?" I asked, feigning the best incredulous look I could manage as I placed a hand on my chest. "Young girl
Blaire's PovI watched with bated breath as the Pack’s physician ran tests on Indrik. He checked his eyes, his tongue, his lips and a host of other places. He mumbled something under his breath as he repeated the tests. By the time he looked up, his eyes were wide with terror. "That girl!" He muttered through gritted teeth. "Can he be treated?" Beta Green asked, stepping forward. His body seemed to sag and his voice was weary from all that was going on. The physician shook his head. "The girl chose her poison well. This is Voldemort's root." I stared at him blankly, not understanding what that meant but obviously, the Beta understood and so did my mother as they gasped in disbelief. "What?" My mother gasped. "But that is impossible. Where could she possibly have gotten it?"The physician bowed his head. "From me. She asked me about it this morning when she came to get his medicine. I had totally forgotten about that till now."Silence reigned for a moment before mother spoke again
Blaire's PovI wanted to scream, and cry, and curse. And maybe throw some punches as I watched Indrik, spasming and muttering gibberish, head shaking from one side to the other, green blood now pouring more and more from his mouth and his nose? My heart stopped for a moment as even in the pale light of the moon, I could see his color draining away as his life slipped out of his grasp. The world spun cruelly as I looked from the doctor to Beta Green, to my mum, to the Zeta, to some other faces that my eyes were too blurry to let me notice. I could see the sad look on all their faces but I could not shake the thought that it was all hypocritical after all, if they really did care, they would not hesitate to help him. If only I could help, I would have gladly did but I had stupidly spent all my life before mirrors and brushes and now, I couldn't even save a drunken deer without being crushed into mashed up pieces. My eyes stung as the air stung with what felt like death. I couldn't shak
Luna's PovMy eyes burned as red liquid spurted into my eyes. My head throbbed, my wrists and ankles burned as the coarse ropes bored into them, wound so tightly that they sliced into my skin, shredding it like meat in a grinder. My arms and legs were spread so far apart that my joints creaked with annoyance, each threatening to break away from my body under the strain. My back felt like a colony of fire ants had been let loose on it, each one digging its head into my skin and taking a good sized chunk out of my skin. I wondered if the guards would consider loosening one of my arms long enough for me to reach to my back and scratch the itch that was threatening to drive me crazy although something told me I wouldn't enjoy it very much. "Have you had enough?" One of the guards asked. My chest felt like I had drank a mouthful of oil and followed it up with some fire. My chest beat painfully against my thorax and my stomach felt like it had had all its contents pulled out and smoked on