“Liam is dead.”
“He is dead, and you are still alive because you are just a replacement.”
The old man screamed at her.
“You are never his real mate!”
Rayleigh stared straight into her eyes and said, “I chose you because you are not his mate. It was so that when he dies, you will still be here, raising your children you had with him. Because I, too, will soon...”
Harriet’s eyes faltered as the words struck her like stones flung from a catapult straight to her chest. She blinked back tears of pain to stare up into Rayleigh’s face.
He looked down on her with an expression that made no sense to her—sadness but not for himself; grief was written in every line of his wrinkles. It pained him more than the words pained her.
And yet...
She could only shake her head and gaze around at all these people staring at them both, “Just let me...!”
“No!&rd
The Crystal City was bright with light as the day came. The sun shone through the clear crystal of its towers and walls, a huge blaze that illuminated everything within for miles around.Ezekiel sat on the backrest of a giant crystal bench, munching on his beef jerky sandwich.Beside him, sitting on the bench, was the Shaman, sighing so loudly.“I have no reason to stop her from doing all of this. She had already given up her heart, and she had already prepared the other ingredients… but my heart. Something in my heart doesn’t feel right,” the Shaman said.“Me too,” Ezekiel said.Harriet felt so far away. He wanted to grasp her close, but she was already too distant.Suddenly, the man lost his appetite. He put down his poorly self-made sandwich and fell into deep thought. “I don’t want to lose another one.”The man reached into his coat pocket to light a cigarette. He snapped his
“Human! So cool!”“Huh? Oh, yeah. They’re cool.”“Look, Neevie, that’s another wolf! Cool!”“Uh-huh, sure...” Niamh patiently answered the girl’s squeals of amazement. It felt like she was seeing everything for the first time.Well, this girl looked smaller than them. Maybe she was just a little over a year younger. She bounced around joyfully even after Niamh grasped her hand to stop her from wandering or getting lost.“Neevie, Neevie, look! That’s a group of wolves!”As they walked around the castle, they saw many Lycans working as guards and staff. Everyone turned to them with eyes full of questions. Who was this little girl?“Look, Elle, my name is not Neevie. It’s Niamh,” the lavender-haired little girl said, “And now, follow me to meet Daniel so we can find your parents, okay?”“Neeve? Neebh...?” t
CLATTER! THUD!“No! Save your... elixir...! Just let me... die!”Pant... pant... pant...A thin man crawled on the floor, begging in front of her feet as he heaved heavily. His long black hair dragged on the ground like his white robe. He looked sick and pitiful, yet his golden eyes were still extremely sharp.Harriet felt a firm grasp on her ankle. This man, even though he was dying, was still this strong... and it just reminded her of herself.Resilient, stubborn.“Just accept the elixir and work for me. You thought you could just die without paying for your sins?” Harriet asked as she pulled her leg away.“This crazy... bitch...” Yuha Serpentes cursed.A small smile formed on Harriet’s lips. This was one of the reasons why she wanted him alive.Yuha Serpentes was dying. He had already been dying long before Zaha attacked him. He was dying because of the schemes of his own peop
“Arrive! Arrive safe! I’m a good girl, right? Elle is a smart girl!”Elle puffed out her chest proudly at herself. Her smile was so bright, but Miriam furrowed her brows not because of her blinding light. She was trying to understand what this girl meant.Arrive safely in this world...?Was she not from this world, then?“Elle... where are you from?” Miriam asked with deep concern, and it made Elle tilt her little face.After seeing how confused Miriam was, Elle looked uncomfortable. Whether she was innocently hiding something or she didn’t understand the question was a mystery.Seeing how Elle looked very confused, Miriam sighed and smiled.“Alright. What do you want to do now?” as she asked, she glanced at her husband, who stood far away from them, and Damian in his embrace.“I want to play!” Elle chirped.Miriam blinked. She had to discuss this with her husba
“Young Lord is still very young, so his condition will not cause harm yet. At a time like this, all we can do is help him learn to control his natural urges well.”Almandine’s head physician continued, “Usually, basic training like this start at seven years old when Young Lord begins to be able to transform into his wolf form. And... his father should... be the one who trains him.”Damian sat on the sofa in the Duchy’s main office, accompanied by Daniel. Not far from him were the head physician and Heath, discussing this matter in a softer voice.“I can help. Tell me how I can train him. I am also an Alpha, and I am his family, too,” Heath offered himself, but the physician looked unsure.“Sir, you have to train him hard. Not to mention now that he must be trained even harder to fight his urge to search for his mate and not to attack her before the time comes,” the physicians said.“
Miriam wondered if what Estelle said about her not being from this world was true.The girl was brilliant, but she was too ignorant of many things. She didn’t know certain objects’ purposes and usability, and she marveled at many things like she just saw them for the first time.But, she was very keen on others’ identities.She would point at people and yell what creature they were. Whether they were humans, Lycans, or other creatures...As they played around in the garden, the sun slowly went down the western horizon. The sky reddened, and Elle stopped running around with Niamh.She stared up at the sky, her round eyes widened, once again like she had never seen something like this before.Niamh reached out to her hand and held it, looking deep into her amazed face. The black-haired girl turned at her with her brightest smile and laughed softly.“Is that sunset?” she asked.Niamh nodded. “Ye
<OPERATION: DISTRACT>!!That was what Damian spelled with his eyes to Niamh when they planned this conversation. They were just trying to distract their young Uncle and Aunty so they could escape with Elle.They needed alone time to pressure Elle to speak more about who she was.Damian was confident he could because before, he could see the change in expression on the girl’s face.Yet he didn’t know... that the operation would become this successful!“W-what do you mean, Elle?” Miriam asked with a trembling voice.Elle looked at everyone with a tilted head. She looked confused about why they were all surprised. She walked closer to touch Miriam’s belly and said, “There’s a soul here...”“No, really?” Heath, who was previously squatting beside Damian, kneeled toward the girl in front of his wife. “Elle, what do you mean there’s a soul...?”&ldquo
Five years was long.But it also felt too short.Harriet wanted it all to end, but she also wished she had more time. Her children grew to be big and smart, but her husband couldn’t witness any of it all. She wished...She wished Liam could see what she had experienced all this time. She wanted to share her life with him and her time to be spent alongside him.She wanted him to grasp her hand back, to return her embrace.But he was motionless.All the night she spent sleepless just staring at his face, all the full moon she hoped he would suddenly wake up...Just like the first time they met.Today, she climbed that spiral staircase.The old days when she hated high places and cringed at how tall the tower was, had gone completely. She felt like she could fly and would not fear the fall anymore. She was unafraid now, partly because she had nothing to lose.Or she thought so.As she touched the door ha