Roxanne's scowl deepened at the thought. She tried to keep her face straight, but it was very difficult to do. When Ava tiptoed and placed a soft kiss on Lancelot's left cheek, Roxanne felt a dagger dive into her chest with brute force and dig her heart out from within it. The knot in her stomach tightened in irritation, and she wanted to turn away from them and vomit. As Ava's eyes danced over Lancelot with so much love, Roxanne could not help but envy her. Her eyelids stung with hot tears that she could not shed, and it hurt her a lot. Behind them, Eloise's eyes rolled from Roxanne to Lancelot and Ava. There was undoubtedly something brewing between the three... She caught sight of Reuben steadily approaching Roxanne. Her wolf's eyes narrowed at him. Oops! Did she say three? Make that four of them. A love square! How exciting. The sound of someone clearing his throat beside her, caused Roxanne to sniff in her tears and mentally smack all those thoughts out of her head. She turne
Lancelot walked through a short and dimly lit corridor behind the butler. He could only hope that Roxanne would adhere to his instuctions and stay at a place this time. He did not need her wandering into places she wasn't supposed to be, as she had done at his palace. Though he did not know the vampires well, he knew for a fact that he was not ready to make a scene while trying to rescue Roxanne from whatever trouble she might get into. As he continued in his line of thoughts, a black curtain was parted, revealing the magnificence of the throne room of the vampire king.Two maidens mounted the sides of the curtains, dressed in transparent black linen that allowed Lancelot see beyond the veil, to their bare bodies. He turned away sharply. His father had told him that the vampire king was a man whore, but he had not expected to be ushered in by half naked women. Lancelot was grateful for his expressionless face, it was how he was able to mask his disgust. Everything about the palace
Like a witch, she summoned all his senses immediately she walked into the room. His nostrils grew restless, his blood boiled with anticipation. And, when he set his eyes on her, Aztec was not disappointed. In front of him, stood the most delicate and beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her eyes were the colour of lavender petals, her skin glowed and her face radiated. She was the kind of beauty you wanted to lock in a cage and stare at for hours. She was the kind of beauty you could not get enough of, and Aztec was trapped already. "Speaking of hobbies. Perhaps, I have found myself one." He spoke, when he finally stopped drooling over her. Both Aztec and Lancelot watched as Roxanne strolled in beside Peter.With every step she took, she saw more reasons to be scared of this place. So, she did not need anyone to tell her to cower beside Peter. If only she could hide in his shadow, she would have done so without second thought. Roxanne sighed with relief when she finally saw Lancelo
Roxanne could only but curse the noise both inside and outside the palace for her inability to sleep at night. The eerie silence of the day when they arrived, was a sharp contrast from the hullabaloo of the night. It was almost as though everyone slept during the day and went about their daily activities at night, like nocturnal animals. And Roxanne found it extremely weird and very unpleasant. Guards walked outside the palace, the laughter of maidens could be heard and she was left to toss and turn and savour the little sleep she could get. It was bad enough that she spent most of her night listening to footsteps go to and fro her door, while she sat inside, hoping that she was safe. After her encounter with the strange king, Roxanne knew that she would have to be very wary of her movements in this palace. "Stick to my side at all times." Peter had said. Well, she would do just that. Now, the small sleep she had managed to get after hours of staring from ceiling to door to window
The sun rays hit the pit of the grand collosseun, which Peter had previously called the Flavian Amphitheatre. However, Roxanne was struck with the realisation that apart from the pit of the collosseum, where the fight was to take place, the rows and columns where the audience and musicians sat where shielded from the sun with a thick canopy of brick roofs. Peter had said it was to shield the audience away from the scorching sun, seeing as the fight could sometimes take hours, and Roman sun rays were not as friendly as the ones of the spring, summer and even autumn sun in London, or back in her hometown in America. For this, Roxanne was grateful. The thought of being sunburned along with hundreds of thousands of people was not really a good one for her. Now, she could watch the fight in peace. All around them, the crowd agitated, musicians played drums while the rest of the audience screamed strange chants of war. Roxanne saw Peter nod to the the rythym once or twice, as though he w
From where she sat, Roxanne watched in horror. The man she was looking at was a totally different person. She could almost see the flames of anger burning around him. Subconsciously, she gripped the linen of Peter's suit trouser. He stared down at her, she was visibly shaking. "Are you alright?" "What is this?" She asked breathlessly, while her stunned gaze was fixed on the beast that had taken over Lancelot, and the laughing maniac he was so close to killing. "Tradition." Peter replied curtly. A knot tightened in Roxanne's stomach, she wanted nothing more than to lower her head and vomit. The sight of so much blood was making her nauseous, but she said nothing. What kind of tradition was this? She would have thought that with the way everyone in the palace was so prim and proper, they would have better things in their tradition than a bloody gladiator fight. Lancelot continued to pound Aztec's face, but the man wouldn't just shut up. "Why are you so angry my prince? Not that s
"Let's get out of here. Now." His voice continued to echo in her ears and blacked out every other sound in the Amphitheatre. Immediately his skin came in contact with hers, her senses stood at attention. The hairs on her skin stood alert, and Roxane found it hard to breathe. As he led her down the steps, through the crowd of people, Roxanne could only see him. Nothing else that happened in the room mattered, only his warm and sandy hold on her was important. Roxanne thought back to how long she had waited for his touch. All those times she had secretly prayed that he looked at her, said a word to her. Finally, he had acknowledged her. Finally, he had seen her, and now he was holding her. What better thing could happen today? Lancelot held her and led her through the crowd, into the hollow corridor beyond the iron bars, they led the way to a row of bathrooms. Peter was trotting behind them, while the guards behind him made sure that no one from the audience came close to them. Whe
Peter had not expected any form of enthusiasm from Lancelot. So, he did not know why the man's lack of excitement seemed to bother him. Nevertheless, they had to move forward. There was much more ahead for all of them. Once again, Lancelot and Roxanne ended up at the back seat, while Peter sat at the front. "I was unable to make reservations at any hotel sire. Every single one in this city seemed to be occupied. Rome is indeed a busy city. But, I have found an exquisite hotel online that had vacant rooms, so we'll be heading there." Peter spoke from the front seat, and Lancelot only murmured something, but it was in approval. Peter smiled curtly and turned to the driver. "Hall of Athena, please." He said aloud, and the dark haired driver nodded in understanding. Throughout the ride, Roxanne made sure that she did not glance at Lancelot. She had decided it was time to abolish thoughts of ever being with him from her mind. She was tired of being constantly tossed about by him. His
EPILOGUE FIVE YEARS LATER **************"Tehilah, get back here this instant!" Roxanne screamed at the top of her voice, whole laughter erupted from around the table. The five year old didn't mind her mother, she continued to run eagerly towards her father, who held her three year old younger brother in his arms as he stepped into the dinning room. "Daddy and Jojo!" She screamed out loud, when she griiped Lancelot's leg. Lancelot's eyes rose up from his daughter and rested on Roxanne's frowning face. "The girl is just happy to see me, which is more than she's been to see you." Lancelot teased and everyone at the table laughed, Roxanne's scowl deepened. "Ouuuuu, burner!" Hera screamed out loud, and everyone laughed again. Peter squeezed the top of her lap to show her that Roxanne wasn't smiling. Peter and Hera had been together, and were now a married couple. Peter had gotten a very big promotion; from Lancelot's personal assistant, to his beta wolf. And Hera was right by his sid
LATER THAT NIGHT was the mating ritual; the ritual of bonding. The palace was in high spirits, and the chief priest was invited to perform the ritual. Eloise and Marion, the two elderly women in the palace stayed with the priest to get things ready, while Madeline and Edward, along with the rest of the Dankworth house got themselves ready to attend. Peter was in Lancelot's chambers, putting all necessary things in order, while Emily stayed with her best friend, and finally had the guts - after her sloppy discussion with James - to take care of her "chief bridesmaid" duties. At exactly eleven PM, both bride and groom were ready for their precession. Lancelot was the first to be ushered down the stairs, out of the palace and into the courtyard, where the ritual was to take place under the full moon. The ground was set; royal woven stools placed side by side, in front of a large fire place. The members of the Dankworth family were behind him, while the musicians and dancers played and
In the middle of the heightened song and dance, James grabbed a bottle of champagne before he slipped out of the banquet hall, went up the stairs and into a dark corridor he did not recognize - at least, not in his state - without anyone noticing. No one would miss his presence after all, not after the man of the moment had just made his grand announcement. With his sloppy steps and regrettable dance moves, he was able to keep the champagne bottle under his armpit for five minutes. The man was drunk out of his mind. All he had done since the part started was down glasses of champagne without speaking to anyone. When he got to the corridor, he leaned against the wall and slid all the way to the ground, until his butt touched the hard floor, he winced in pain. "You definitely had that coming for ya." He heard a female voice say. James would have jerked up, since he didn't see anyone there before he entered, but he was way above the clouds to bother about that right now. He corked h
SIX DAYS LATER The big party Emily had spoke about was happening today, even if no one knew exactly what the party was about, Roxanne was pumped to finally celebrate with Lancelot. It had been long since she did that. So, when she woke up in the morning and found three maids staring at her, Roxanne was more than surprised. It was just a party, why did they treat her as though she were a bride getting dressed for her wedding? She asked herself. After greeting her, two of the maids offered her green tea and stood still while watching her drink the tea. When she was done, they helped her get up, undressed her, and ushered her into the bathroom, where warm rose water waited for her. She had not even been given the time to update Emily, who stayed in the next room, about what was going on. After a massage in the rose water, she was scrubbed and thoroughly cleaned. Roxanne felt like a stubborn five year old baby when one of the maids asked her to lift her foot up so she could scrub it.
Peter had barely had time to check his phone in the course of the last few days. Everything that had happened in the palace, from the poisoning attempt, to the death of the maid, Lancelot's fake Luna crowning ceremony, Ava's arrest and Garrett's banishment, to the post effects of all those events, Peter had finally found a day of rest..While Lancelot was preparing to tell his family the real truth about all that had happened to Roxanne, and what he intended to do next, Peter was given some free time to clear his head and get his issues sorted out. That was how he was able to sit on his bed in the guest chambers and go through his phone. And, that was how he was able to see the countless missed calls and messages that had been sent in by an unknown number. He was perplexed, while wondering who the person was, and what he or she wanted from him. It wasn't until he opened the first message and read the first line aloud, that he knew who the messages were from. Hera, he thought out lou
"Girl, don't tell me you're still asleep!" That was the first thing Roxanne heard, before Emily sent a pillow crashing down on her head. She groaned in pain - let it be known that she felt no pain, the pillow was filled with feathers - and sat up slowly, scrubbing her eyes with the back of her palms. Roxanne and Emily broke into laughter when they stared at each other in their pyjamas. They had missed each other an awful lot. The past three days if being together had taught both of them the true value of real friendship. With Emily around, Roxanne felt like no matter what happened, she would always have a home to run back to. Emily was everything to her; her best friend and her family, and she would not ever take that for granted. Emily, on the otherhand, felt the same way for Roxanne. They had spent so much time apart, but none of that had affected their friendship. Roxanne had been the only person Emily had ever let close to her, and she had not disappointed. Just like Roxanne, Em
The past three days had been hectic for every single member of the Dankworth house. While Lancelot was burdened with the role of acting sulky and vengeful over Roxanne's "demise", he was also saddled with the responsibility of preparing himself for his Luna picking ceremony with Ava. Whom, he now utterly despised and couldn't wait to get rid of. However, despite all that was going on, he was glad that he had finally gotten Roxanne, and that she was safe. He has sent Emily over to her and given the women his black card to do as their hearts seemed fit on this auspicious day. The day he would finally be putting an end to all their problems. He simply couldn't wait. Lancelot had noticed that his mother's mood had been better in the past few days. Now that Roxanne was out of the way, and Lancelot and Ava's ceremony around the corner, the future she had meticulously planned for her son, was finally here. The goddess had taken away all obstacles, and now, everything would be back to norma
Hera touched down at London's airport at exactly 3:00pm that day. She took a deep breath in before shading her eyes with her huge sunglasses. She was away from Greece, granted, but she didn't know how long it would be until Ahab sent spies into London to look for her. That was the same reason why she couldn't go to the palace, at least not until she was sure of what to do. She couldn't risk endangering Peter's life, or the life of anyone else in the palace. Yes, werewolves were strong, but Ahab - no matter how old he might be - was the grand master of witches. That meant, he was the most treacherous, sneaky, evil and wisest of them all - except her mother of course. Then again, even Athaliah had a lot to say about her leaving. As she pulled her luggage towards the entrance of the airport, where cabs waited for passengers, she couldn't help but replay her last conversation with her mother, before she took off. "You do not know what you're playing with. Do you think Ahab would sit s
"What?" Emily yelled out, she sprung up from her bed and rushed to meet Lancelot. Peter, who was seated beside her, rose up and rushed to his boss as well. "What's happening your grace?" He asked, scanning Lancelot's appearance. His boss was visibly shaking, while his facial features looked squeezed with rage. "The pasta, was poisoned...Roxanne." Emily's eyes widened with horror as she held on to Lancelot's shirt, tears gathered in her eyelids immediately. She did not want to believe her ears. "What do you mean by Roxanne? What's going on?"Peter sensed that something wasn't right. He drew Emily back from Lancelot's body and cuffed her in his arms. Lancelot stood straight before turning away from them, while Emily threw curses at him. If anything had happened to Roxanne, she would not hesitate to burn this entire palace to the ground, she swore it. "She's alive, come on, let's go." Lancelot said as he walked briskly out of the room. Relief washed over Peter, and Emily managed to