Theo's POV“Lord Salmon? Are you certain you want to remain here? If they do not need you, they will kill you,” I asked again to be sure. “I am sure and you need to leave fast so you can tell the Alpha that Larog is a traitor; Larog must not become king. He will ruin everything that we've worked for so far, please,” it was almost a cry for help. “What about your son, I believe Theophilus is to return to Ghysem at the sighting of the next full moon?” “Please save my nephew. If I leave here without him, I… I could never bear to look my son in the eye and be proud of the man he has become. Please save, Claudius.” I had no option then and I did not have all night. The longer I stayed here the more risk I was for being discovered. I left Lord Salmon to rescue Agnes. When I entered her cell I saw her sitting down with her legs folded under her chin. “Agnes?” I called out softly. I did not like her neither did I care if Audrey tortured her but if she was important to Cyrus then it wa
I could not listen to any more of what was said because I felt the cold end of a knife pressed against my neck; I had been caught. “Now, turn around slowly…” the person who held the knife whispered and I complied. He led me away from there and I could tell that we were headed to the cells. He led me towards an empty cell and just as he opened the door I pinned him to the ground and knocked him out cold. I motioned for one of the shapeshifters I had brought on this trip to tie him up. I was going to decide later if he was worth keeping alive or if I should just end his life. I returned to Lord Salmon's cell and when there I had one mission; to return him home. “Have you seen him? Is he alright?” asked Lord Salmon in a whisper. “I believe so. He has been taken back to Ghysem, they want to use his appearance to confuse the people,” I lied without batting an eye. I had to be convincing enough so that I could get Salmon out of here. I planned to break the news to him later when we wer
We were also required to make a vow to the crown never to shapeshift to confuse. That had been many years ago and at a time when the Alpha was still fresh from mourning his beloved Luna. It had been unbelieving then that the Alpha could extend an olive branch to us while in grief. When I received the letter requesting the Alpha's help, I heeded the call without any reluctance. It was very likely that I lose my life on this errand but if not for the king I would have been burnt to death many years back or lived as a fugitive like the shapeshifters that had escaped to the South and were now being exploited to commit crimes. As I strutted the narrow corridor I heard someone call my name. I froze thinking that I had been caught already. “Tom?” the tone of the voice however did not suggest any malice or I'll intent, it was almost friendly. “Tom?” I turned around slowly and there she was; a lady who had given me hell many times in the past, the beautiful lady Audrey. I almost scoffed a
Theo's POV It was the crack of dawn already and we had just crossed the border to Ghysem. We had been extremely lucky not to have gotten caught and I hoped that my visit would remain undetected. As we journeyed towards the palace I knew I had to tell Lord Salmon about his nephew. “Claudius is really in Ghysem? Are you sure? What are they trying to achieve by…” “I have had a long night, Lord Salmon, if you don't mind,” I said cutting him off. It was better to wait until we were within the confines of the palace before telling him that his beloved nephew had died a long time ago and he had been deceived yet again by another shapeshifter. When we reached the palace I led him straightway to a secret room that was only known to me and Cyrus. “Stay here. The enemy is not aware that you are here. If they find out, it will complicate things,” I explained and he nodded. Despite his refusing help earlier I could see that his features had sagged in relief as he sat down on a chair. I went
Eunice POV “Hello friend?” the voice startled me and I almost broke the cup in my hand. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant surprise to see Agnes. “Agnes! You look good. I see you took my advice, no?” I said in response to her greeting. “Your advice?” she quipped and I looked back at her confused. It was then I noticed that something felt off about Agnes. She was the same; same hair, same eyes, same nose but she was different. Agnes never had that arrogant look in her eye but perhaps that came with being the king's woman. It was not official. It probably would never be because the werewolves hated to admit that they sometimes listed after humans whom they considered beneath them. Cyrus was different though. Since I had started working at the palace he had bedded a couple of humans but they were all princesses from distant lands and the relationships never lasted more than a fortnight. Agnes was different. She had lasted more than two weeks in the Alpha's bed but she was not recognised
Agnes' POV Audrey was back. She had a smug look on her face and a smirk on her lips. She had dragged me out of my cell much earlier and it was difficult to pretend that I was still the human she had brought here. It was hard to fake being without sufficient strength to resist the men who had dragged me across the floor to her little torture chamber. “I am curious, really, Cyrus will find out soon that you are gone. Will he come here himself? Will he send someone? Will he give up his throne? How much do you think he loves you?” this was obviously amusing to her because she had a bright smile on her face. I wonder how I had missed this in my previous life. Had Audrey always been this way? Or had she changed after my death? “I am waiting for an answer you bitch!” she said as she slapped me hard in the face. I pretended that it hurt when it did not hurt at all. I was no ordinary werewolf but one bonded to the Alpha so I shared his strength. “I am just a human slave, I have no idea
Cyrus' POV “Your Majesty, we only do what is required of us, we are…” but he did not get to finish his sentence before he collapsed to the ground clutching his chest. I had expected that I would not get any valuable testimony from the shapeshifters but I had not expected to have so many of them here. They had to be at least a quarter of my entire officials and they were not from Ghysem. They had been recruited by someone from the South pack. “Theo, what do you say we do? huh?” I asked my right hand although my eyes were on Larog. I had to credit him for his good acting skills. He did not even seem unfazed by what was happening. “Burn them and I suggest we start rooting shapeshifters not registered in the palace. It might be that we are breeding traitors,” came Theo's response. “What do you suggest Larog?” “I agree with Theo. There may be more shapeshifters than we think.” “But it would not solve anything. We'll root them out only for them to be replaced. We need to find out who
“We still need to figure out what to do with all of them,” Theo reminded us. I looked at the crowd of shapeshifters in the temple with us and back at Larog. I wanted to gauge how much of a loss this would be to him but he did not seem to be affected by it. I knew he was pretending though because he was tapping his small finger against the pillar closest to him. However, I could also tell it was not enough to disrupt his plans. “We should burn them. They are worthless criminals…” “Larog, how can you be so…” one of them started to say and before either I or Theo could react Larog had cut his head off. “What was that about? He knew your name?” I quipped. I was not surprised but I acted like it. “Do you think there's a shapeshifter impersonating you? You could be in danger. We should have you here, protected in the palace just to be…” “I am fine. I have been a spy all my life. I can handle someone impersonating me, it could even turn out to be an advantage,” was his quick response.