**Estelle's POV**
I liked Prince more than I thought I would.
He was not only a close friend of mine, but a brother who loved me very much and took good care of me.
"Why do you look sad?" He smiled back. Whenever he saw me sad, he would always come to me. He even said that if he could drain my tears of sadness, he would.
I shook my head. There was no way I was telling the truth. That would hurt him.
"Yeah, you'll hurt him if you say you're sad because you're worried about Alpha Cedric finding a replacement for you." My wolf sneered.
I ignored it and went back to yoga, watching one of Doctor Gordon's students and following every move she made.
Prince didn't press me to tell him what was bothering me, and I was glad of that. He always gave me the space to elaborate on the problems I was facing. But he
**Alpha Cedric's POV**I was on Estelle as she lay in the bathtub. I whispered to her, "If I were to mark you now, what would you think?"That day I had therapy to cure my curse. Even though Doctor Gordon said he couldn't guarantee my recovery, I insisted on trying. He gave me some reasonable therapy methods, but after finishing I felt my body more refreshed than before.I even felt very happy, all the sadness and worries that had been weighing me down were now completely lifted. I saw a brighter future with Estelle. So, after seeing her back with Doctor Gordon's students, I went over to her and brought her to talk face-to-face.Yeah, this might be a bit of an exaggeration, but I'd wanted this moment since before. Maybe it was because some parts of my body were already more exposed that I felt the bubbling sensation that I should have. "And you just said you would mark her today." My wolf perked up and jumped. It had always wanted this moment. It wanted us to immediately own Estelle
**Estelle's POV**“Scarlet! Shit! She is here, Estelle!” My wolf screamed along with my tight neck."Why is she here?" Prince grumbled and let go of the ax in his hand. His standing body made the soldiers observe him in awe. He wasn't bothered by it at all."Shouldn't she be in the palace?" My wolf couldn't accept this, and neither could I. "She will use some underhanded way to mess things up, Estelle. Do something!"Even though I had no idea, I headed to Doctor Gordon's grounds with anger in my head. Who allowed a woman as subtle as Scarlett to set foot on sacred ground? I wouldn't spare it even if Doctor Gordon didn't notice.My hands clenched as my lips trembled with a burst of emotion. I hoped it was not Alpha Cedric who would greet Scarlett. But damn…"Alpha Cedric who welcomes Scarlett!!" squeaked Prince. I
**Estelle's POV**"Come on, I will help you kill Scarlett!" My wolf got even more excited, especially when I found out that Scarlett was deliberately stirring up our emotions.“We can attack her on the grounds of self-defense,” it continued. "I know you know what I mean, right?"By that time, I couldn't think straight. I only knew that I really hated Scarlett and how much I wanted to get rid of her from my life, from Alpha Cedric's life. So, I jumped up and nearly scratched her. But she turned and saw Alpha Cedric open the door.I hastily hid the claws on my hand. I'd managed to hide my fangs.“Damn, bad timing!” cursed my wolf.“I heard from Doctor Gordon you two fought recently. Is it true?" He looked sadly at me and Scarlett. He didn't need to do that because this was a fight that didn't need pity. We hated each other!
**Estelle's POV**"You want Scarlett to take our mate?" asked my wolf. “She has seduced him many times, and now she is doing it again! She isn't even ashamed to do it in someone else's house."I clenched my fists, wishing I could be braver to obey all my wolf's words. But I considered many things. What if Alpha Cedric hated me even more? What if our relationship soured?I'd had enough of pissing Scarlett off last night, and I didn't want to destroy the sensation."But now she's still showing her cleave!" snapped my wolf. “And Alpha Cedric saw that! Are you sure you won't regret it?"That seemed to piss me off even more. Finally, I stepped up to lunge at and slap Scarlett. But Prince's voice made my steps stop."Are you sure you're going to mess up what Scarlett is doing?" Prince asked looking at me sadly.My fingers moved whil
**Estelle's POV**“Isn't that Scarlett? She's peeking at us? So, she knows we're almost cured?” said my wolf, annoyed. It forced me to get up from the examination bed, approached Scarlett, and slapped her to death.However, I tried hard to restrain myself, including calming my wolf's anger. It was very stubborn. Sometimes I wished I couldn't just communicate with it."We'll get back to her later. The most important thing now, is we have to heal first, "I said confidently.“Are you sure she won't mess things up? What if she sets us up and makes us fail to get our voices back?”I was afraid of that possibility. But I assured it that it would never happen. “We have Doctor Gordon. What are we afraid of?”"He's even very fierce and hates us.""He's fierce, but that doesn't mean he hates us," I
**Alpha Cedric's POV**I pulled the girl's collar so she would stop interfering with my relationship with Estelle. She seemed surprised but I didn't care. Maybe I’d do something else to threaten her, so she would shake off her vicious thoughts."You know what will happen if you insist on introducing Estelle to your brother, right?" I snapped. What was her name? If I could do black magic, then I would kill her. I would do anything for someone who wants to separate me from Estelle.She looked up, casting a look of hatred at me. I thought I know those eyes, but I was not sure."I am not afraid!" She brushed off my hand. Her hair slanted, shifting from her position.I squinted and noticed something odd about her."What's a wig?" asked my wolf drawing the right conclusion."Yeah, I'm sure it is," I said with a
**Estelle's POV**Someone bumped into Scarlett's back just after she threatened to keep me away from Alpha Cedric.We stared and gasped, while her face paled when she saw the person who bumped into her back."Doctor Gordon!" she screamed as if she had just been tangled and hurt."Yes? Why did you call me?" Doctor Gordon's face was even and unthreatening. But I was sure Scarlett was smart enough to realize how mysterious Doctor Gordon was. Even with a face as old as that, he could have stored a million pieces of knowledge that could explode if he wanted to talk about it.I was sure Scarlett was cornered now."She must be afraid Doctor Gordon will report her to Alpha Cedric," said my wolf."Since when have you been behind me, Doctor?" asked Scarlett nervously. She looked around in various directions, looked and c
**Alpha Cedric's POV**I couldn't hold myself back any longer so I snapped at Scarlett. So far, I had treated her like a professional colleague, but she always crossed boundaries and even threatened my mate!Scarlett looked scared and nervous now, something I'd never seen in the time she'd worked with me.My wolf almost controls my whole body. It always roared “Slap Scarlett! Fire her! Get rid of her!” And it affected my emotions even worse.Scarlett looked down nervously with trembling fingers. A moment later she shook her head. “It was just a misunderstanding, Alpha. Please stop snapping at me! It was very scary.”"I wouldn't do it if you knew yourself enough." My claws finally came out from under my skin.Estelle panicked and I could see it clearly in her eyes. What was she afraid of? Wasn't this what she
**Estelle's POV**Someone came to celebrate me and Alpha Cedric's arrival. And she was Scarlett.She came with flowers as if she cared about me. She handed it over to me but her gaze seemed to hate me so much. “Welcome, Estelle! I heard cheers along the way when I was at home. And it turns out you've come back. So, how's your treatment going?"I was sure she thought my therapy was a failure because I came home before my pre-arranged schedule.Alpha Cedric grabbed my hand so I didn't have time to answer him. He whispered, “Ignore her! Come on!"So, I obeyed his orders. As my feet moved away, Scarlett chuckled, "Why are you avoiding me as if I'm a threat to you?"Alpha Cedric frowned. He must have thought Scarlett was crazy. No one here considered her a threat. She was just a useless louse.She walked
**Estelle's POV**“Alpha, why didn't you answer me? You're free from the curse, right?" I was worried when I asked that question, worried that I might end up getting an answer I didn't expect.Oh, we'd found the one who cursed us. Alpha Cedric had beaten them. In the classic case, our curse should have disappeared right? So why didn't he answer me loudly and confidently? He just looked down, looking very sad."You make me think that the curse hasn't been removed from your body." I wanted to cry when he finally looked up and held my fingers as if giving an instant answer.Doctor Gordon left us for a while. He reasoned that he wanted to get drinking water from his earthen jug, which was placed in the kitchen. It gave me time with Alpha Cedric. I thought he did that on purpose so Alpha Cedric could talk to me freely.Alpha Cedric looked me straight
**Alpha Cedric's POV**We were cornered because of the many hybrids surrounding us. And if we sprayed them with a paralytic potion, it might not work completely.Our backs were pressed against each other, keeping no gaps for the enemies.“Alpha, do you think we’re going to die?” he asked. He didn't sound scared at all, instead, he sounded very gentle and calm.I wouldn't believe it if I didn't hear it with my ears."We will not die!" I dodged when a hybrid tried to spit at me. "We will definitely win." I whistled. It echoed across the walls of the cave and must have been heard by all of our soldiers.Soon they appeared, hanging in various places. The cave had holes so they could slip in between. While a few of them charged through the entrance."Attack them!" The Gammas shouted. They sprayed t
**Alpha Cedric's POV**Alpha Daren was standing behind the gate, waiting for Prince and me. Did they already know what I mean? I didn’t think so."Welcome, Alpha," said Alpha Daren welcomingly. He let me in.I got out of the car and followed Alpha Daren. He led me to the guest hall. I was not sure why Prince accompanied him.“Please sit down, Alpha!”I nodded and sat down in a comfortable chair. As usual in front of me was always filled with delicious and fresh food. A pitcher filled with very fresh water. I chugged it all and wiped my mouth."It's amazing that you came without making an appointment, Alpha. Is there a serious problem going on?” he asked.Without responding, I pulled out a report document to him and handed it over. I glanced at Prince, giving him information signals. But
**Alpha Cedric's POV**“Damn Scarlett! I will kill her!” Roland couldn't contain his anger. He had wanted to go to Scarlett's house to slap her.But I endured him. "Don't let her know anything about my mission, Roland!" I said, staring at him seriously.He groaned because he knew there was no way to refute me. “But she almost killed Estelle, Alpha. Are you going to let her do this?” He pointed at the letter in my hand.“She failed to do so.” Although I was also very angry. “If we get too hasty, I'm afraid she might just mess things up. You know I've worked hard to get to this point, right?" And I thought again of Estelle.Finally, Roland gave up. He rubbed his forehead roughly then forgot the letter I had received from Estelle. He packed a few more things and tried to ignore me. It didn't take long before he st
**Estelle's POV**A man emerged from the darkness of the forest with a head full of blood!I suddenly trembled as I wondered who that man was. Two of Doctor Gordon's students grabbed the firewood in each hand. They were agile enough to deal with dangerous situations, indicating that this was not the first time."Go!" snapped Doctor Gordon. His booming voice made the two soldiers who were supposed to be guarding me suddenly startled.Then they turned to Doctor Gordon, turning in the direction where Doctor Gordon was looking. Immediately they knew what we were dealing with.They raised their swords respectively, dashing to approach the bloodied man, probably about to draw their swords to death.But Doctor Gordon forbade them to hurt him. “Bring him here alive! I will ask him something!”Doctor Gordon'
**Estelle's POV**"Why is it interfering with my therapy, Doctor?" I got so nervous when I imagine bad things. Was Doctor Gordon going somewhere that I had to stop getting therapy? Or would this research process injure him so he would have to pause until he recovered?My wolf matched my worries. It even cried when imagining our bleak days back. My ever-growing voice seemed meaningless to it."Are you going to stop doing therapy on Estelle?" It was Alpha Cedric who was most definitely against the idea. I could understand it. He paid for all of this. Besides that, I was sure he hoped I could quickly return to the pack.Doctor Gordon shook his head and denied our worries. "I'm not going to stop the therapy. I'd still do it but maybe some of my therapy schedules would be reduced. I should spend more time on the research I'm doing. This is in the common interest.”
**Estelle's POV**I studied Alpha Cedric's hands. They looked fine, didn't even have a single scratch.Then I turned to Doctor Gordon, trying to come up with an answer."This is very strange." He rubbed his chin occasionally, still studying Alpha Cedric's hands. "Where did you get the poison?""Here." Alpha Cedric pointed at an area in his right hand.I was not very a good observer. But I watched that point with focus. And still, I found nothing. Was he lying? I was sure he was not lying.“You should have been seriously injured from that poison. And even though you won't die, since they've been crippled, at least your hands will leave scars.”Alpha Cedric frowned in surprise. "Really?" He checked his hands. "But it's fine.""Yeah, and that's what confused me."
**Alpha Cedric's POV**Tens of footsteps surrounded us, surrounding us from all directions!The leaves of the gigantic plants blocking the sunlight light us up nicely. It was still the middle of the day, but it felt like we were exploring in the late afternoon.Prince drew his sword and shouted at his members, “Prepare your weapons! Maybe it's the hybrids!”I could see the fear on the members' faces, as well as mine. But I assured them that there was nothing to be afraid of.“Have you guys forgotten that I carry the strongest weapon?” I said to my members. We stood in a circular formation, back to each other. While the footsteps were getting closer, more and more.I looked around warily, trying to find the nearest enemy position. Now neither of us was cutting down those gigantic plants. We focused on saving ourselves.