Alas! It was over, all of it. She catwalked back to the head table, even as the smile she forced at her sister and Jonah disappeared from her face. She needed two things; lots of drinks, and a taxi to get the hell out of here. She walked steadily, her head held high, chin and shoulders up. She would never look down again, ever. She arrived at the head table, picked a bottle of champagne and excused herself. She was going to find a corner and drink herself to stupor. She walked towards the exit of the room and found a stool there. With a weak smile, she fell on it, still clutching the champagne bottle in her hands. Luckily, it had already been open, but was more full than empty. She pressed the lid to her lips and took her first gulp. Fuck all of them, she thought. She would make lemonades out of the bitter lemons they served her today, she would make sure of it. Halfway into the bottle and ten curse words later, she caught sight of a familiar male figure heading towards her.
'Fuck it' He hissed. With one grip, he pulled her to himself and crashed his lips on hers. If he had thought he felt fire burn through him the first time her hands brushed against his, then this right now was hell itself. His lips were tangled with hers. He kissed, sucked on her lower lip, bit it occasionally. Everytime Roxanne moaned against his lips, Lancelot felt a new wave of madness sprout up from his belly. He had kissed women, a whole lot of them. But none had ever consumed him like she did, no woman's lips had ever left him aching for more, praying for more. Their hands were on each other. Roxanne's polished fingers dug into his blonde hair, making a mess of the gelled strands. He lowered himself, his kisses travelled from her lips, down to her left ear. He lingered there, kissed, licked and sucked the lobe of her ear softly. Roxanne moaned, with every stroke his fingers drew across her spine, every kiss he planted on her neck, she felt her panties dampen. She ached for
The last thing he remembered was closing his eyes admist the darkness, the calm waves of sleep washing over him as he took deep breaths in and out. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing around him, besides darkness and a vast body of water. Lancelot froze with cold and fear. The darkness terrified him, the body of water he found himself sink in frightened him to death. He began to struggle, flapping his hands and legs to make it to the surface of the water. Suddenly, he felt someone touch his feet. Lancelot looked behind him. He saw his face, Bran. Bran had a reassuring smile on his face. A smile that seemed to say "everything would be okay."For a moment, there was hope. His brother would save him now. Nothing of that sort happened. Lancelot continued to feel himself sink deeper and deeper into the water. He looked beneath him again, Bran was nowhere to be found. Why? Where did he go? Fear fell upon him with brute force again. Lancelot had to reach the surface, there w
He was now awake. Still, he continued to toss and turn from one end of the bed to another, fighting to get his sleep back. From the beam of the sun rays that escaped through the window and hit his face, Lancelot could tell that it was already day break. Yet, it felt to him as though he had just only slept. His mind drifted off to the events of the previous night. He thought of it all; getting ready for the strange woman's sister's wedding party. He saw himself sit next to the her, he saw himself get swept off his mind and his feet by her skilled and free spirited craftsmanship with the piano, he saw himself rush to her, seize a bottle in her hands and put her in his car. When he recalled himself being tangled in the sheets with her and Ziko marking her, his eyelids flew open immediately. What had he done?! His gaze greeted the chandelier hanging on the roof above him. If he hadn't been so tense, he would have taken time to appreciate it's beauty, but it wasn't time to do so now.
"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me." Emily said aloud, drawing the duvet away from Roxanne's body. Roxanne's eyes narrowed at her best friend and flatmate. She placed the half eaten burger down in the saucer that sat at her feet and turned to Emily again. "What is it this time?" Roxanne groaned, sad that she had been interrupted from eating the one thing that cured her minor depression; hamburger and so much cheese. "Don't tell me you intend to spend the rest of the day eating burger and watching..." Emily's eyes drifted to the laptop screen in front of Roxanne. She scoffed and tore her eyes away from it. "... what's that? Real housewives of Atlanta?" "It reminds me that people have more tragedy going on in their lives than I do." Roxanne murmured sadly, pouting as she did so. Emily's eyes softened at her friend's expression. The annoyance in her stare dissolved into concern and unconditional love as she climbed into the bed beside Roxanne. Emily looked over at her best
Roxanne ran past the hospital doors, looking twice as crazy as the crazy jeans she was putting on. Frantic, she rushed to the reception table. A black lady in red looked up at her. Roxanne forced herself to steady her breath before speaking. "I'm Roxanne..." She paused. "Roxanne Harvey, my sister... My sister Rayla Harvey... Sorry, Rayla Rivers was rushed in here this morning... Complications with..." She was struggling to breathe and talk at the same time. The lady continued to stare at her, trying to piece her words together. "Roxy!" Roxanne heard her mother's familiar high pitched voice call out to her. Immediately, she turned to the direction of the voice. Sarah stood there on tears, her arms folded across her chest. Roxanne abandoned her introduction with the woman at the reception and rushed to her mother. Sarah broke down crying in her daughter's arms. "Mum, what's going on?" Roxanne asked, looking over her mother's shoulder for more of their family members, before her
His mother had asked him to come on Tuesday, so Tuesday it was. After two unsuccessful days of searching for Roxanne, Lancelot resigned to fate with anger and vengeance in his heart. He was going to go back to London, but he swore that whenever he came back, he would find her and make her pay for humiliating him. No matter the cost or time it took. It was exactly 7am when Lancelot and Peter boarded the first class flight from New York, America, to London, England. All through the flight, Lancelot could think of nothing besides the violet eyed American woman and all the drama waiting for him at home. "...with all that's going on here..." His mother had said. Just what was she up to again? At exactly 2:15pm, Lancelot's plane touched down London. There was a car waiting for them at the airport. Lancelot recognised his father's limosine by the Dankworth name engraved in silver above the plate number. He scoffed, his father had always been one to announce himself. Perhaps, it was be
The knock on his room door caused him to frown. Standing in front his mirror, Lancelot raked his eyes down his body one last time. "Dress appropriately." His mother had said. He could only hope his attire of white suit trouser and an army green longsleeved shirt was appropriate enough for his mother... And lady Marion. His blonde strands of hair he combed to the back of his head, he knew how much his mother hated to see his hair fly all over his face. Not that he cared, but one of Madeline's shades about etiquettes, dressing and manners was the last thing Lancelot needed tonight. The knock came again. This time, he sighed and walked to the door. Whoever it was must have come to call him to the dinning room. He couldn't believe it was 7pm already. When he opened his large wooden door, Butler Lee stood in front of him. A prim smile on the old man's face, one that Lancelot couldn't mistake for anything else; the old man was teasing him. "By the goddess! You look absolutely stunning
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