As years passed by, Celeste's memories became hazy. She couldn't remember well her memories before or after she entered the orphanage. Maybe because those memories were most bad memories and her mind made her forget about them. She could remember her memories with Leto, the boy who always had a smile on his face, or the sadistic laughter when one of the kids fell into his trap or his pockets that he stuffed with candies he stole from others. With all the candies and sweet food he stuffed in his mouth, it was amazing that he still ended up with good teeth.
Leto never stopped following Celeste everywhere. Whatever she did, he would try to do it better than her. He was always competitive to the point that he couldn't accept losing to her. After running away from the orphanage together, they did their best to survive on the street and stole whatever they could just to get a tiny portion of food that they would end up sharing with each other.
Let
Twi big Alpha wolves fought in the middle of the arena with the crowd cheering for them. Celeste stood there, surrounded by people she didn't know, but Amanda walked by her side, giving Celeste a little comfort. Their hands slightly touched, and Amanda used the skin contact to transfer images to Celeste's mind. The latter's eyes widened when she finally saw the images, the same thing that other people were seeing.That was how normal sight should be. It was full of vibrant colors, almost giving everything life. Celeste could feel that she felt left out when she remembered that she couldn't see like other people did. Their world was full of beautiful colors, while hers were just filled with darkness."T-Thank you," Celeste choked on her words."Don't mind it," Amanda replied. "Brandon is here."More images came into Celeste's mind, showing the endless images of Brandon, who had just entered the arena.
There was no response coming from Brandon. Celeste could hear the silence begin to build up in the room. The silence wasn't anywhere near suffocating, but it wasn't comfortable either. Celeste didn't know what Brandon was thinking about her request right at the moment. It almost felt like she did something wrong and tried to make it up to him by offering to take care of his rut. Maybe it wasn't a good idea. Celeste still had no idea what a male werewolf in a rut could do to his mate."Brandon?" Celeste waved her hands, looking for him.When she touched his arms, his skin felt burning, and his scent became stronger than before. Celeste didn't know if someone's scent could grow that strong. But the more she inhaled his scent, the more she felt like her desire for him increased. Could it be his scent affected her just as much as her scent affected him?Brandon's breathing grew deeper, almost like he was growling underneath
"Have you found my daughter?" King Ozigus asked after Shadow had arrived in the King's Court."Forgive me, my lord. We have yet to find Her Highness.""Have you grown incompetent, Shadow? Is the assassin clan is looking towards the end of their lives?"Shadow could only clench his jaw in anger as he listened to the King's mocking words towards his clan. "My lord...I...""Calm down, sire," Lucien said, interrupting the meeting that was supposed only to be attended by Shadow and the King. "Shadow is doing everything he can to locate Her Highness.""It has been four years!" The King roared in anger. "Every time I asked for a result, he gave me nothing! If that bastard had something to do with her disappearance, then kill him!"The Sovereign still thought King Galos from another kingdom had something to do with Princess Henrietta's disappearance. Even though the
The moment he thought about killing the Princess, Shadow was engulfed in red fire from the binding vow. The front door was pushed open, and Stefano rushed in. His hands glowed in blue before he grabbed Shadow's arm that had the binding vow's mark. Clavier quickly injected himself with a cure. He didn't intend to inject himself with a lethal virus from the beginning. The Princess was already cured. What Clavier did to himself was simply give himself a poisoning that led him to the severe symptoms. He didn't intend to die before getting to the bottom of the matter about Shadow."It's just a first-degree burn," Stefano informed Clavier, who could barely walk properly. "My power managed to suppress the binding vow for now. The King wouldn't notice it yet. That should give us time to think.""And the others?""They will arrive soon. Get yourself properly treated.""No," Clavier said, walking past him. "I
"I did send you a text that we've evacuated the building, and before Celeste left, she looked perfectly fine, aside from those love bites you put on her neck and arms," Vincent said. "She walked properly and didn't seem to be in pain when she walked. So, I assumed she was fine, considering she had to handle you almost half of the day. That girl's tenacity is no joke."Brandon studied Vincent's face to ensure the latter wasn't lying or joking around. Although Brandon remembered what he did to Celeste during his rut, there was something else that he felt was missing. Vincent did mention that Celeste was doing okay and was attending a meeting in Stefano's realm and that she didn't look like she would collapse from exhaustion, but Brandon still couldn't convince himself about it."Yo, we need to join them in Stefano's castle," Amanda said from the kitchen after receiving a brown paper that soon turned to ashes.Brandon
Brandon smiled. "Trust me, I have a solid plan.""I hate that smile." Mira pointed to him. " You're going to do a bad plan. But, let's listen to your plan.""Is Shadow well enough to take us to the Sovereign?""Oh, hold up," Celeste interjected, stopping Brandon. "What the hell are you thinking?"She couldn't believe what she heard coming from his mouth. They did everything they could to stay alive to this point, from surviving the mission as Kennedy Strauss' people to surviving an attack from Lucien's hunters. Those weren't small efforts and certainly weren't easy to achieve either. Celeste was reminded of the faces of the werewolves who died during the attack, and she knew she wouldn't survive another day if Brandon died. The Sovereign was far from a forgiving place for someone who admitted treason against the royal family. The punishment would be death."He's only suffering a
It baffled Brandon when Lucien regarded him as an idiot. What kind of idiot would surrender himself without a plan? Brandon thought of everything—from A to Z. He wouldn't have surrendered himself if he knew he would die. Lucien underestimated Brandon's capability to think of a plan. People thought the duty of a Gamma just mainly risked their lives to death to defend the pack. Brandon wasn't just the voice of the pack or the messenger between the Alpha and his people.Wrong. Those were just a fraction of his duty.A Gamma was a strategist just like the Alpha and Beta. He was involved in planning just as much as Cohen and Liam. Brandon didn't become a Gamma just because he was strong. Brute strength would be nothing without intelligence.At this moment, Brand
Walls collapsed as Stefano and Lucien fought in the basement. Brandon ordered Vincent to bring Celeste to a safer place while he thought of a way to keep Lucien from fighting Stefano further. Clavier jumped into the fight, trying to separate the two men. Clavier only avoided Lucien's attempt while the latter kept coming after Stefano."You dare speak about humiliation when it was you who humiliated my family in the first place?" Lucien roared in anger.Brandon caught Lucien's body and locked him in a tight grip while Clavier helped Stefano to stand. The Daemon High Lord didn't even throw a punch. He was simply avoided Lucien's punch."Stop it," Brandon said, tightening his lock on Lucien's arms."I have no honor? Pathetic to think that when you were about to betray them," Stefano said, dusting his clothes."Enough," Brandon said sternly. "We're leaving right this instant."It took them four hours to get back to Stefano's castle. Lucien
A week later,The wind bellowed softly around him as he approached the big golden gates, which a name on the arc that showed the place he was currently heading belonged to the House of Gladwin Xavier Cemetery. Brandon inhaled as he walked past the opened gates. The guards bowed at him before dismissing themselves to give him privacy. It had been ages since he last stepped his foot here. He walked past rows of tombstones belonging to the perished members of the House of Gladwin Xavier.In the middle of the cemetery was a large pink sakura tree that had already bloomed. Located before the tree was the grave of Mirabelle Xavier, the older sister he never had the chance to know. Her grave was covered by the fallen sakura leaves. Brandon crouched down and traced his fingertips on her tombstone. Even though he didn't know her, he could feel the pain of losing his family member. Only a handful of people knew he was the illegitimate son of Gladwin Xavier XIX. But, Brando
Celeste looked ahead of her, not knowing what to do after all of that. Her life had always been rocky—running from the people that wanted her dead. Now, it felt different. Returning to the one kingdom that had caused so many heartaches to her. Ozigus was being treated for the poison that Princess Henrietta gave to him. Celeste wanted him dead. She wanted to kill him, but she would be no different than him. She would be the monster, just like her birth father.She chuckled at that term. Birth father. How weird did that sound? He raped her mother just because she didn't reciprocate his approach. He was no father. He was just a man who was greedy, arrogant, and monstrous."Now, time to settle a pressing matter," Clavier said, dragging the chair behind him.Everyone else just watched him as he sat down next to the bed where Ozigus was lying on."Release him from the binding vow," Clavier said, pointing to Shadow, who was standing next to Stefano.
Emma Kincaid smiled after she revealed the darkest secret of all. Brandon glanced at Vincent and saw the former second-in-command didn't show the slightest sign of surprise. Of course, Vincent knew. He knew Brandon was a dominant Alpha. That trait only came from a certain bloodline. Only the royal bloodline could give birth to dominant werewolves. That was why they were the royal family of the werewolves.As one of the two last survivors and the only werewolf coming from the royal bloodline, Brandon carried a heavy burden on his shoulders. But he never cared about bloodline or whether his children would be born dominant.Emma Kincaid raised her hand, and something materialized in her grip.A crystal dagger.She pressed the pointy tip on Brandon's nec
Brandon snuck behind the enemy line—carefully making his way deeper. He saw Lucien standing with his royal guards, looking at the battle. He looked pleased as the luck was on his side. With his large army size, he could easily defeat the entire Resistance, but Brandon couldn't let that happen."Yo," Clavier appeared behind Brandon, looking too calm for anyone's sake."When did you come here?" Brandon looked flustered."A minute ago. Where's Shadow?""Here..." Shadow said weakly, leaning against a boulder."I need to get you to Stefano to strengthen the spell," Clavier said. Concern was written all over his face."There's no time for that."
Celeste checked the heavily guarded border of Galos' Kingdom. His army was already stationed around his border, ready to receive their command to proceed with the marching. Celeste didn't want him to march his army out of his Kingdom because she spotted Emma Kincaid's army stationed in the mountains before his border, waiting for the right time to ambush.Ozigus had enough army to take down Galos, but the Sovereign King didn't dare to do it. Now, Emma Kincaid was about to do it. She only stationed a small fraction of the army to attack the Resistance. She lowered her flying, scouting the rest of Emma Kincaid's army to ensure their entry point. Galos' army would have to march through the valley between the two mountains occupied by Emma Kincaid's army.The King's Knights were on the front line. Celeste landed at a branch of the tree, watching closely what Emma Kincaid's army planned to do. They didn't set any camp nearby. Their shoe prints were covered by th
Brandon jolted and coughed heavily as he wiped the dust from his face. His left leg was in pain. There was a large wound right under his knee that began to heal. He got up from the floor, looking around for his mate."Celeste?" Brandon called. "Celeste baby, where are you?"He used the large boulder next to him to support his weight while waiting for his wound to heal. He focused on his mating bond and felt his mate was still alive. He just couldn't see her anywhere around him. The cave entrance collapsed into two halves, separating him from the main entrance of the encampment.The south wall of the cave collapsed. Brandon looked away, protecting his face from the dust. Celeste came through the hole and rushed to him."Brandon!" she said, supporting his we
Celeste froze on the spot. Bane had transformed into the Master. He looked at her with the same intense eyes that could hold fire for eternity. Her childhood was filled with torments and sadness because her life was held in the hands of the Master. Although she ran away from the orphanage with Leto, she couldn't stop the nightmares from invading her mind every time she slept.She walked backward until her back crashed against Brandon's chest. His arms wrapped around her protectively as if he knew what went on inside her mind. She knew Bane's aura was familiar. She didn't expect him to be the Master all along. By the aura emitted from the Oracle, it seemed she knew the Master and Bane were the same people."It had to be done," the Oracle said to Celeste."By torturing me when I was a little girl?""Celeste.""We're leaving." Celeste turned to the door."You need the army if you want to stop Emma Kincaid," The Master said. Or was it Bane talki
"Are you going to return?" Mira asked as they settled down near a tree after receiving news from Stefano.Clavier looked at the Alpha and his beta, ready to follow Emma Kincaid's army marching towards Galos' Kingdom. If all of them returned now, they would get to nowhere in stopping the war. Clavier doubted Shadow would return after hearing the news. Brandon and Celeste were equally determined to stop the war, so why would they return to Stefano's castle when the High Lord himself could handle the case?"No," Clavier answered. "We'd just continue with what we're doing and get over it. Stefano can handle it. He didn't ask us to return."It wasn't like Brandon's plan entirely. He did manage to get Lucien's attention by gambling with his own life and others. Everyone knew Lucien would have anticipated the t
Celeste blinked in confusion. She shook her head, denying what the man had said to everyone. There was no way she could Ozigus' daughter out of a sudden. Ozigus only had one child, and that child was Princess Henrietta. There couldn't be another child. His other wives couldn't conceive despite their long marriage with him.But as much as Celeste wanted to deny every bit of the man's words, deep inside of her, she could feel the truth in his words. Shadow seemed to trust the man as much as he trusted himself. There was no way the man would lie in front of Shadow, who was clearly had contributed something significant to the Resistance's survival. The Resistance didn't seem the type to dishonor those who sacrificed themselves for their cause. Shadow took a great risk by keeping their survival secret. That secret could have triggered the binding vow.Maybe this was just a dream. Celeste would wake up from it soon. She laughed nervously as she pinched her thigh because it a