Chapter Three

LUCY

"Stop right there intruders," said the strange husky voice behind us.

We turned to see who it was, I was thrown aback by who I saw. It was Lothar, a friend of my father.  He was a member of the hallowed manes pack, and always visited my father frequently. He told me the reason why my family had to leave the pack. He was easily welcomed to our rogue pack because of his great sense of humor. He took care of me after the demise of my father and had been a father to me, and he taught me most of the things I know.

We all thought he was dead after the attack launched against him in the woods while he went hunting, we found no trace of him after searching rigorously for him which turned out to be abortive. 

"It can't be, how is he alive?" I thought

"Lothar? You are alive!!" Nathan said 

"Lothar!" I screamed in excitement and rushed to hug him but he moved away from me before I could get to him.

"What are you doing here? Do you not fear for your life Lucy?" He yelled at me "and you Nathan, you should know better. Why did you bring her here?" He scolded.

"It's my fault, not his," I said quickly, "I can't believe you are alive, how is that even possible? We thought you were dead" I asked curiously, seeing him for the first time in a long time made me excited and frightened at the same time.

"This is not the time to talk about me right now, you need to get out of here before someone else finds you here," he said.

He took my hand and led me to a dark corner while Nathan followed behind.

"Follow the bush track while leaving and be careful, there are guards outside protecting the walls of the city. Do not get caught!" He said "cover yourself up, I'll take you to the gate"

We got to the gate but it was shut already so he went to speak to the guards securing the entrance.

"Who are these people?" One of the guards asked.

"They are my distant relatives from the neighboring pack, they came to spend some time with me. Let them through" Lothar said

"I'm sorry we can't let them go through, you know the rules," the other guard said. Lothar tried to convince them but they wouldn't comply.

Suddenly I heard another voice from afar, we must have drawn the attention of others and that meant more trouble for us.

"What is going on over there?" The voice asked. Lothar turned to face the person speaking and he was easily recognized.

"Lothar, is everything alright there?" The voice asked again

"My lord, my distant relatives came visiting and wish to leave but the guards won't open the gate for us" Lothar explained

"My lord," I growled as I turned to see who it was. Rage filled my being, I removed the covering from my face so that he could see me clearly.

"Let them go" he ordered, I stood there staring at him with resentment until our eyes finally met.

"Yes, this is the face of the person that will bring the end of the beginning of your reign as Alpha. I will make you suffer for everything your family did to mine" I thought

"Thank you, my Lord,"  Lothar said, bowing to the Prince.

"Let's go, Lucy," Lothar said as he pulled me out of the gate. It seems he knew I would do something at that moment, I continued staring at the Prince until I was out of the gate and couldn't see him anymore.

He saw us off to the woods and turned to leave, 

"This is where I leave you guys, make sure you get home safe," he said

"Why didn't you visit since you weren't dead? Why did you stay away?" I asked with teary eyes. 

After fruitlessly searching for him, everyone assumed he must have been shredded into pieces by wild beasts. I still didn't give up on my search, I refused to believe that he was dead. Every day I would go out in search of him hoping to find his body lying lifeless or half alive somewhere, but I found none until I finally came across his ring which now hung on my neck.

"I'm sorry, I had to stay away. It was the only way to keep you safe" he said "I noticed someone was always trailing me anytime I visited so I had to do something about it" he added

"That's not enough reason to stay away" I blurted out. I had cried myself to sleep several times when I thought of the fact that he was dead, I refused to speak to anyone including my mother. I felt unfortunate and angered that those closest to me were dying and I couldn't do anything about it. I was still young and wouldn't have been able to do anything at that time.

"Who attacked that day?" I asked him

"It doesn't matter anymore, all I need from you is to be careful and not trust anyone". He said

He hugged me and whispered something into my ear. I was shocked by what he told me.

"Go home now you two and don't come back here again. It's not safe for you" he said and returned to the city.

I and Nathan walked in silence for a long time until he decided to break the silence.

"What did he tell you that made you so shocked?" Nathan asked 

"Nothing important" I lied, Lothar had told me not to tell anyone what he told me. Though I never kept anything away from Nathan, I had to do so this time if I wanted to stay alive.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me," he said.

The silence returned as we continued our journey back home. We got home and met our parents waiting impatiently for us, we were in trouble. They must have sent a search party to look for us. Cade was fuming when we walked in.

"Where the hell have you two been? We've searched everywhere for you" he screeched 

"We went into the farthest part of the woods and got lost on our way back. It was my idea to go that far not his, so you can punish me all you want but leave Nathan out of this" I said bowing my head.

"It's my fault, not hers," Nathan said trying to defend me

"Leave my sight both of you, I'll think of a better punishment for you two," he said and returned to his tent.

I turned to face my mother expecting her to lash at me as well but she said nothing and went back to the but. Nathan left also while I stood there all alone. I felt bad for getting Nathan into trouble with his father. 

I stood there for a while before going to the but, it had been a long day and I was exhausted. I had my bath and lay on the bed. I hadn't eaten all day but I was filled,  probably because of the excitement of seeing Lothar again after such a long time.

My mind drifted back to the event that happened earlier, I finally saw the face of the Prince and he saw mine. I smirked knowing that soon I would end his life. Then I remembered what Lothar had whispered to me, he had told me the name of the person that attacked him that day and the person's plan to slay me and my mother.