The evening after she returned from her outing, even to the morning of the next day went by in a blur. After she woke up the next morning, all she could do was text Emily, go through some other files concerning her job, read a novel Peter had generously left her with, before she drifted off to sleep. Roxanne's eyes opened by 11:pm. It was then she realised she had slept most of her afternoon and early hours of the evening away. She let out a long and annoyed groan as she sat up. Knowing herself, she knew that it would be difficult go get sleep, now that she was awake already. As she sat up on her bed, she thought back to the events of the previous day. The second she stepped out of the car with Lancelot and Peter on Thursday was the last time she caught even a glimpse of him. Since she arrived, he had neither called for her, nor come anywhere close to her. Roxanne rose up from the bed, planting her barefeet on the floor as she walked to the bathroom. She was going to wash her face
Alas, the hour had arrived. The night they had all been waiting for. The Dankworth wolves stood side by side, each staring into the darkness of the night, determining the oath in which they would take for the hunt. Lancelot had mapped his trail already, it was to lead him straight to where a herd of deer would be resting for the night. He had already devised a strategy to draw one unfortunate one out, it was left for Ziko to follow the trail, and earn him his deer. No matter what happened tonight, Ziko knew that beating Albert's wolf was not a choice, or a necessity, it was definite plan, an event that had already been set in stone. Beside Ziko, James's brown wolf growled in anticipation. He could not wait to be make the biggest catch and earn his respect in the family. Maybe then, Lancelot would seize to talk over him. As Alpha of the pack, Edward's black wolf, Artemis, stepped forward. Albert, James, Richard and Bailey and Arthur's wolves stood behind him, awaiting instructions
They all sat in silence. Peter and Edward sat on the bench at the other end of the room, each man watching Lancelot very carefully. Many questions hung in the air, but none of them was ready to speak. At least not yet. After thirty minutes, doctor Stefan walked out of the room Roxanne was taken into. He took swift strides into the corridor. On hearing his footsteps, Lancelot's eyes rose up to meet the short man's sturdy frame. "Your majesty." He bowed to Edward, then turned to Lancelot. "Your grace."Lancelot stared at him, his face was void of any emotions. Even him didn't know what he was supposed to feel. Anger? Fear? Pain? Anxiety? He could not bring himself to feel any of it. What remained in him was emptiness, it was the only feeling Lancelot was used to. "She's been stabilised now." As doctor Stefan spoke, he caught the gleam of relief in Lancelot's eyes, even though his facial expression remained cold and hard. "She is asleep, but you can go in to see her." Stefan contin
She staggered back. This had to be one big joke.. Arthur rose his eyes to meet his mother. She stood, fixed to a spot, vibrating with anger. She had a horrific look in her eyes, as though she was going to kill somebody. Perhaps, she was. He made a move to hold her, but her furious glare warned him against it. She turned away, without a word and stomped out of the room.'I should have just kept my mouth shut' Arthur thought to himself, as Madeline slammed his own door at his face. Madeline couldn't believe her ears. Fourteen years, fourteen good years was how long it took her to raise Lancelot and groom him for this particular day. And after all these years, he still went ahead to make such a stupid mistake?! She walked briskly to Edward's study. She would go to her husband and Lancelot and demand an explanation for what he had done. There was surely no way that Lancelot would have been stupid enough to associate himself with a human female, and even if he did, he surely knew bet
Peter shrunk under the Queen's stare. From the look on her face and the tone of her voice, he could tell that she was not pleased. He stepped away from the door, allowing her entrance into the room. He closed the door behind her, bowing once more. "Your highness, I must apologise for the part I played in all of this. I should have adviced his grace against it. We should never have brought her here." Madeline looked down at him. As he stood with his head bowed in humility and submission,she could not find it in her to channel her anger towards him. Especially not after he had spoken so calmly and taken full responsibility for what Lancelot had done. But his apology was not enough. This issue had to be handled, and they had to do so carefully. But first, she had to know who the woman that had thrown her whole family into turmoil was and why she was here. Lancelot's bethroted, Eva Relish's father was a senior member of the council. If he found out that Lancelot had jumped on Albert
Roxanne's eyes parted slowly. She blinked twice when the full light of the room greeted her gaze. However, she was more stunned when she caught sight of sea blue eyes staring down at her. Confusion and a faint sense of panic seized her chest immediately. Who was this man? She sprang up immediately. As she tried to sit up, she felt a splitting headache, as though her head was being hit by a large wooden plank. She groaned in pain, her left hand rose up to her head, she rested it on her forehead. Roxanne took one swift look around the room. The bed she was lying on was two times smaller than hers. The room smelt of methylated spirit and antiseptics, a stark contrast to her normal deodorant and lavender scent. Her eyes looked away from the young man by her side and she followed the rays of sunlight that hit her face to the window beside her. While it was large, the draperies on it were a different colour. Roxanne's eyes widened. She wasn't in her room! Then, where was she? And who w
Lancelot walked briskly behind his mother. Madeline wasn't in her right frame of mind, and he knew it. With her current mood, Lancelot knew that she would rain hell and high water on Roxanne. He knew that she was going to make a scene. He needed to make sure she spoke to him before meeting Roxanne. Whatever venom Madeline had in her mouth to spit, he had to make sure she spat it to him first. Madeline would surely get to question Roxanne. But he had to make sure that she was in a clear state of mind before doing so. However, Madeline got to the room before him. Lancelot managed to appear behind her before any damage was done. His mother was an extremely dangerous woman when she was furious. And right now, Madeline was more than furious, she was enraged, mad with anger and disappointment. Right now, Madeline could say and pronounce anything on Roxanne, and her word would stand. Lancelot did not need that drama, not now. "Mother." He called out to her as he stood by the door. His
She rushed into the room where her son lay, slightly startling him. She continued to pace about. Madeline's words continued to echo in her head even after all she had tried to get rid of it. "If he is fighting for his life, perhaps he is nothing after all." She could not get it out of her head, no matter how hard she tried. "The nerve of that woman." She muttered, underneath her breath. Hermione continued to pace about, Albert rested his gaze on her. He wondered what it could have been that made his mother so nervous. She turned to him and frowned, her eyes danced all over his frame. He was seated, up straight, on his hospital bed. His shoulders and under his arms were wrapped with bandages, to prevent infections from entering into his wounds, at least until they healed. Looking at him, she did feel sorry for him. But she could not shake off the anger at the pit of her stomach."Where is your sister?" Hermione asked, Albert scoffed."You know how she is. She left to pick a call f
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