HAYLEE~~I had to sneak out of bed before daybreak the next morning because Flavia asked me to. According to her, we needed to keep tabs on the servants, especially those who prepared the royal meal in the kitchen. Since we couldn’t trust anyone but ourselves, we had to do the spying ourselves.“We either find the poison before they start preparing breakfast, or we catch them red-handed,” Flavia muttered as we entered the empty royal kitchen. Even the servants were still fast asleep.Before I could respond, Flavia added, “I discreetly tested everyone’s blood to be sure we all haven’t been poisoned. I found out that you are right. You are the only target, which means the poison is added to your food after the general preparation.”“That’s a relief,” I whispered to Flavia, who had started searching the kitchen cupboards and cabinets. “I doubt the poison will be kept here, Flavia. Especially now that it is clear that it does not affect me.”I had been trying to think like whoever was
HAYLEE~~“Ouch!”I cried out as Xalen overpowered me for the umpteenth time since we began sparring. I have lost count of the number of times I have landed on my back, even though I could tell Xalen was holding back.It’s a good thing we weren’t doing this in the open where other warriors would see me getting my ass handed to me. It would have been shameful.“This is shameful, Hay,” Liya groaned within me. “You haven’t landed one blow, even though that was the first move he showed you.”“Would you like to try?” I gritted at my wolf, rolling onto my side even though my entire body protested. “Perhaps I would have mastered the first move if you hadn’t been making fun of me.”Rather than being of help, Liya has been having a good time, laughing loudly each time I lost my balance and fell. She did the same even after I called her out, and I could feel anger rising within me.“Don’t beat yourself up, Hay.” Xalen’s voice pierced through my boiling rage and thick frustration. “It’s only y
ALPHA KING XALEN~~“Welcome, Elder Rowena.” I breathed before the dark blindfold that Wyatt had put over her face came off.The older woman blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the light in my office, before she exhaled, “My King.”Her eyes fell on Roy, who was sitting on the couch opposite my office desk, and Rowena muttered, “Alpha Prince Roy.”Roy simply nodded her way because he didn’t trust her, even though I had assured him that she could be of help to us. After training with Haylee this morning and making sure we didn’t miss breakfast time with the kids, I asked Wyatt to get Elder Rowena and bring her into my home office through one of the secret tunnels.I also asked Wyatt to blindfold Rowena so the secret tunnels would remain just that: secret. In fact, I had to direct Wyatt through the tunnels because that was the first time he would make use of them.Rowena went straight to business after I offered her a seat. “May I know why I was abducted from my home and dragged thr
ALPHA KING XALEN~~Everything Rowena told us about Alpha Richard's offer simply proved that he had a secret weapon—or what was supposed to be a secret weapon. With every passing day, I was leaning closer to the red wolf theory, but we were still stuck in a state of dilemma.I mean, even with all of this, I still couldn’t bring Richard in or punish him because, while everyone in power would believe me, normal subjects wouldn’t. They would see me as a tyrant, and that would further divide the realm.“Richard knew what he was doing. He planned this perfectly,” Theo hissed within me.My wolf’s statement made me wonder just how long Alpha Richard had been putting these plans in place. Obviously, he had been making moves even before I was born. How do I beat him then?“You know he loved you, right?” Rowena muttered, snapping us all out of our thoughts, even though she was looking at Roy’s red face. “He hated that you and the king couldn’t get along and always looked forward to your visit
HAYLEE~~Flavia barged into Sophia’s bedroom, where I was with the kids, her eyes wide as the sky but also cloudy.I dropped the book I had in my hands instinctively, ignoring the soreness of my body. I assumed I had to get used to the muscle soreness that I had been experiencing due to my training session with Xalen.“Are you okay?” Those were the first words that Flavia uttered, even though Sophia and Asher were trying to get her attention.I could see her fingers trembling as she tried to wrap her arms around Sophia and Asher. The scent of her worries invaded my nostrils, almost suffocating me before I answered, “I am okay. Are the results out?”My eyes were heavy, but just like I had ignored my sore muscles, I had been forcing my tired eyes to remain open because I wanted to read more about the various abilities that each faction within the werewolf community had.“They are, Haylee, and they aren’t good.” Flavia let out a shallow breath. “We should get you to your room. You need
HAYLEE~~“I told you so.”If Liya wasn’t trembling with rage within me, I was certain those four dreaded words would be echoing endlessly in my mind. My wolf would have said those words to me, but even though she didn’t voice them out loud, I could still hear her furious voice in my subconscious because, truly, she told me so.Heck! Liya warned me severely.“I knew she was a snake, but I didn’t know she would go this far,” Liya hissed into my mind, frustration coursing through her. “I didn’t like her from the start, but I also couldn’t see why she would want to kill you. Even when I forced you to keep that sample from the smoothie, I was just trying to be thorough and cautious.”Well, thank goodness for that, because how else would I have known that the only person who willingly offered to be my friend when I started living in the palace was, undoubtedly, my faceless enemy?Flavia, who had been quietly working, suddenly gasped, “I can’t detoxify you alone. We either get you to the
HAYLEE~~“I’m pregnant with your child, Alpha Jett.” The world as I knew it froze at that moment. My eyes widened and my breaths became shallow as shock and undefinable emotions coursed through my body, replacing the initial excitement and hope that I was feeling.This can’t be h-hapening… This should never happen. Those words shouldn’t be coming out of my sister’s mouth… her eyes shouldn’t be glinting like that for goddess’s sake!She was my twin sister and–“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Alpha Jett’s voice cut through the thick layer of my thoughts.If I weren’t looking at his face, I would think he was mad about my twin sister’s announcement but the twinkle in his eyes. He was happy. My twin sister just announced that she was carrying his child before everyone in the pack during a party meant to celebrate my nineteenth birthday… A party I believed would be used to crown me Luna of Cresent Moon Pack because a year ago, on my eighteenth birthday, I discovered that Alpha Jett was
HAYLEE~~I was ripped off Kaylee by the familiar coarse hands that had shown me to the door of hell many times in the past– my father’s hands. For the first time, I cried to the father in the beast he had willingly shown me over the years. I stupidly thought he would take my side for the first time. A girl could wish, right? So I cried, “Dad, you can’t let her do this. You can’t just stand there and watch Kaylee snatch my mate–” But my statement was interrupted when his palm settled over my cheek like thunder. He slapped me and I tasted blood in my mouth as my father yelled in my wet face, “How dare you attack your sister! How dare you lay your hands on her? The Alpha has chosen a mate and it’s not you even though the moon goddess thought someone as plain as you could be Cresent Moon Pack’s Luna. That was a mistake on her path and we have corrected her mistake.” No, the only mistake here was having him as a father. The only mistake was picking to look like my heartless mother wh
HAYLEE~~“I told you so.”If Liya wasn’t trembling with rage within me, I was certain those four dreaded words would be echoing endlessly in my mind. My wolf would have said those words to me, but even though she didn’t voice them out loud, I could still hear her furious voice in my subconscious because, truly, she told me so.Heck! Liya warned me severely.“I knew she was a snake, but I didn’t know she would go this far,” Liya hissed into my mind, frustration coursing through her. “I didn’t like her from the start, but I also couldn’t see why she would want to kill you. Even when I forced you to keep that sample from the smoothie, I was just trying to be thorough and cautious.”Well, thank goodness for that, because how else would I have known that the only person who willingly offered to be my friend when I started living in the palace was, undoubtedly, my faceless enemy?Flavia, who had been quietly working, suddenly gasped, “I can’t detoxify you alone. We either get you to the
HAYLEE~~Flavia barged into Sophia’s bedroom, where I was with the kids, her eyes wide as the sky but also cloudy.I dropped the book I had in my hands instinctively, ignoring the soreness of my body. I assumed I had to get used to the muscle soreness that I had been experiencing due to my training session with Xalen.“Are you okay?” Those were the first words that Flavia uttered, even though Sophia and Asher were trying to get her attention.I could see her fingers trembling as she tried to wrap her arms around Sophia and Asher. The scent of her worries invaded my nostrils, almost suffocating me before I answered, “I am okay. Are the results out?”My eyes were heavy, but just like I had ignored my sore muscles, I had been forcing my tired eyes to remain open because I wanted to read more about the various abilities that each faction within the werewolf community had.“They are, Haylee, and they aren’t good.” Flavia let out a shallow breath. “We should get you to your room. You need
ALPHA KING XALEN~~Everything Rowena told us about Alpha Richard's offer simply proved that he had a secret weapon—or what was supposed to be a secret weapon. With every passing day, I was leaning closer to the red wolf theory, but we were still stuck in a state of dilemma.I mean, even with all of this, I still couldn’t bring Richard in or punish him because, while everyone in power would believe me, normal subjects wouldn’t. They would see me as a tyrant, and that would further divide the realm.“Richard knew what he was doing. He planned this perfectly,” Theo hissed within me.My wolf’s statement made me wonder just how long Alpha Richard had been putting these plans in place. Obviously, he had been making moves even before I was born. How do I beat him then?“You know he loved you, right?” Rowena muttered, snapping us all out of our thoughts, even though she was looking at Roy’s red face. “He hated that you and the king couldn’t get along and always looked forward to your visit
ALPHA KING XALEN~~“Welcome, Elder Rowena.” I breathed before the dark blindfold that Wyatt had put over her face came off.The older woman blinked rapidly, her eyes adjusting to the light in my office, before she exhaled, “My King.”Her eyes fell on Roy, who was sitting on the couch opposite my office desk, and Rowena muttered, “Alpha Prince Roy.”Roy simply nodded her way because he didn’t trust her, even though I had assured him that she could be of help to us. After training with Haylee this morning and making sure we didn’t miss breakfast time with the kids, I asked Wyatt to get Elder Rowena and bring her into my home office through one of the secret tunnels.I also asked Wyatt to blindfold Rowena so the secret tunnels would remain just that: secret. In fact, I had to direct Wyatt through the tunnels because that was the first time he would make use of them.Rowena went straight to business after I offered her a seat. “May I know why I was abducted from my home and dragged thr
HAYLEE~~“Ouch!”I cried out as Xalen overpowered me for the umpteenth time since we began sparring. I have lost count of the number of times I have landed on my back, even though I could tell Xalen was holding back.It’s a good thing we weren’t doing this in the open where other warriors would see me getting my ass handed to me. It would have been shameful.“This is shameful, Hay,” Liya groaned within me. “You haven’t landed one blow, even though that was the first move he showed you.”“Would you like to try?” I gritted at my wolf, rolling onto my side even though my entire body protested. “Perhaps I would have mastered the first move if you hadn’t been making fun of me.”Rather than being of help, Liya has been having a good time, laughing loudly each time I lost my balance and fell. She did the same even after I called her out, and I could feel anger rising within me.“Don’t beat yourself up, Hay.” Xalen’s voice pierced through my boiling rage and thick frustration. “It’s only y
HAYLEE~~I had to sneak out of bed before daybreak the next morning because Flavia asked me to. According to her, we needed to keep tabs on the servants, especially those who prepared the royal meal in the kitchen. Since we couldn’t trust anyone but ourselves, we had to do the spying ourselves.“We either find the poison before they start preparing breakfast, or we catch them red-handed,” Flavia muttered as we entered the empty royal kitchen. Even the servants were still fast asleep.Before I could respond, Flavia added, “I discreetly tested everyone’s blood to be sure we all haven’t been poisoned. I found out that you are right. You are the only target, which means the poison is added to your food after the general preparation.”“That’s a relief,” I whispered to Flavia, who had started searching the kitchen cupboards and cabinets. “I doubt the poison will be kept here, Flavia. Especially now that it is clear that it does not affect me.”I had been trying to think like whoever was
ALPHA KING XALEN~~“We had a long talk, Xay,” Haylee breathed after we settled into bed for the night.Due to our schedules, talking in bed before we fell asleep had become the new normal. I was more than happy to chat with her in bed as I recalled a time when I couldn’t share such moments with her because I thought keeping her away from me was for the best.“She told me that Allison would lose her power because Alpha Richard would cut her off from the source, which I believe is a Red Wolf in capacity,” Haylee added, staring at the ceiling as she lay on her back. “I also read about the first Red Wolf today.”As she told me about the information she gathered, I watched her closely, her voice fading into the background as her beauty and obvious interest captivated me faster than her enchanting voice.“She’s breathtaking.” Even Theo agreed with me.I mean, what on earth is this beauty that Haylee seems to unlock with every passing day? I knew I was in love with her, and love tends to
HAYLEE~~“Give it back, witch!” Allison’s screams kept getting louder, and even though the servants weren’t in my sightline, I could sense their presence as they lurked around to be a part of the drama.Xalen, who had had enough of Allison, seethed, “Witch? We all know you are the witch, and if your witchy powers have somehow disappeared, so be it. Good riddance to bad rubbish. So shut the hell up.”The smile on my face grew bigger as my mate came to my defense, but I was happier because Allison’s face dropped, and I could see just how lost she was without the power she had stolen.“I won’t stand for this! She took my throne. She stole my mate, and now she has taken the only thing that matters to me!” Allison cried out, genuinely disturbed.Rather than calm her down, I breathed with a smirk, “Shouldn’t your baby be the only thing, or in this case, person, that matters to you? I can only imagine what kind of mother you would be, Allison. My heart goes out to your child—”“Don’t you
HAYLEE~~While waiting for my test results and Xalen’s return to the palace, I dug into the one book that seemed to have held on to my attention and mind—Cursed in Crimson. Just like Flavia narrated briefly, the first red wolf was quite phenomenal and pitiful.Reading about her felt like torture because I could have sworn I was transported back in time to the era and place she existed. I could have sworn I felt every whip and lash she had to endure, even though she was powerful enough to destroy the entire realm.“They even formulated a poison just for her,” Liya gritted within me as my eyes caught the name of the poison.“Crimsonbane,” I muttered, letting the name of the deadly potion roll off my tongue.Apparently, that was the only concoction that could harm a red wolf. With the right amount, the first Red Wolf was manipulated, controlled, and forced to commit many evil deeds. Also, with the right amount, her heart stopped right after she laid the Crimson Curse.I also discovered