Mia's POVWe decided that Mason and Mabel were the best suited. Maya was Mason's mate, and Mabel knew the way. According to Mabel, the tunnel system was like a maze and it was easy to get lost. Besides that, we also needed to pack out all the necessary things from the cottage to give the illusion that we ran away. There was a cavern that would hold them till it was safe enough for us to return to the cottage. After they left, a heavy silence descended on the chamber. The tension was very palpable and so thick a claw could probably slice through it. For some reason, I suddenly felt uncomfortable with Lycidas and avoided looking at him. The silence stretched on and finally, I could not endure it any longer. I just had to look. When I did, I found out he was staring at me quietly in…I had expected amusement, but what I saw instead was confusion. And it knocked the air out of me. "Do you hate me?" he asked quietly. "Yes, I do," I gritted out. "Why?" he asked, bewildered. "We have n
Amelia's POV"All these blood…smells delicious," he whispered in my ears, his tone almost reverential. Through the pains clouding my eyes, I saw him look at the pool of blood around me again. His expression quickly soured. "But it's a bit much," he called out to one of the other guards. "Get me some bandage and hemostatic," he said. "I'm not allowing her to bleed out yet." Turning to me, he smiled. "You denied me, didn't you? And see you now, all mine to do with as I pleased," 'Please, keep talking,' I said in my head. 'Please! The pain is too much!' Thankfully, he did. "You know, I was just outside the door when Luna accused you of treason. I could have saved you from the alpha king's wrath….thanks," he said, stretching out his hands to collect the hemostatic and bandage. "Know why I didn't come to your rescue then? Alpha Hazel trusts me. He would have believed me if I vouched for you. Know why I didn't?" 'Keep him talking.'' That was all I could think of. I shook my head at hi
Hazel's POV I paced around the room. Selena was still awake. I was trying to figure out a way to defeat these packs I planned to wage war on. They were way bigger than me, so my father would have called my decision unwise. But they also had resources I didn't have, resources that would make me stronger. I knew what the Silver Hands does, though they think I don't know. But I don't mind being Corrupted myself, I craved the power that came with it, in fact. But it was the pains and the insanity, and the everlasting life of being fought and despised that worried me. I couldn't accept that life. If corruption would give me unnatural powers and longevity, I wanted to enjoy both in relative ease and peace. The Silver Hands are not really making any progress on how to remove the insanity of the Corrupted, so I had to make my own way. Taking a deep sigh, I put on some decent clothes and walked out of the room. Two flights of stairs brought me to my secret lab at the top of the castle. I
Hazel's POVI stare at the empty cell in shock, thinking that it couldn't be possible. This would be the second time someone was escaping from my cells, and they were supposed to be the most secure place in the city.That didn't go down too well with me, not one bit. I couldn't let this continue, or I would become a joke among other alphas. It had already been very embarrassing when Xavier escaped my cell on my Luna Declaration Ceremony day, and some alphas never stopped teasing me for it till I was forced to wage war on their pack and conquer them.I had never been able to find out how Xavier managed to do it. I don't believe the guard was lying when he said he knew nothing about it. He couldn't lie with the way I tortured him.But how had she done it?The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. That was my authority being undermined. Fury coursing through me, I turned away from the cell and marched up to the normal level of the castle.I knew one thing: it was impossible to esca
Mia's POVI glared at Lycidas across the cave, same as he was doing to me. "Can we get on with it?" I growled. It has been two days since the invasion, but our tempers with each other were still running as high as ever, not diminishing in the least. If anything, it had only gotten worse, so much so that even Mason had commented. And Mason doesn't comment on a lot of things.We hadn't talked to each other since then, grunting and pointing and glaring when we needed to communicate. Though it was never spoken, it had been a challenge. One each of us was determined to win, even if it meant never ever talking to each other again. And I just lost. Lycidas: one pointMe: zero"Would you just speak? Or you want Mabel to come back here and find out we haven't done anything?" His lips stretched in a triumphant smile, but he remained silent, just glaring at me. Something in me snapped and before I knew what I was doing, I was already across the cave and holding his throat. The next second,
Mia's POV "Okay…so, who's going first?" he asked me. "Me…no, wait. You go first. I want to see how you fight without claws and stuff," I replied. I was very fascinated to see how he fought. How I fought was basically by being on the alert and thinking on my feet all the time. I had to spot the enemy before they spotted me, then figure out which of the many traps and divide and conquer strategies Maya taught me to use. Of course, there was always the good old running when I didn't spot them on time, and the stealth to successfully escape, hide myself and pick them off one by one using guerrilla tactics. And if I had my wooden claws, I could take on a wolf on my own too using the superior nimbleness Maya had forced me to cultivate. But as I said, all these depended on being able to think on your feet, which I didn't think the numbskull could do. So, I wanted to see if I could learn his easily, and then I could add one more point to myself on our scoreboard. And that would be som
Mia's POVI gradually became aware I was flat on my back and my head throbbed like hell. I opened my eyes, and even the light of the candle hurt. I shut them tight again, then opened it slowly once more to let them get used to the light. "Bastard!" I spat out. "Is that a level up or level down from numbskull?" Lycidas asked from the shadows. "Numbskulled bastard! What do you think it is now?" I retorted savagely. He only laughed. "You've been out for ten minutes and I'm already bored from looking after you. Catch up when you can get up!" he said. Immediately after, I heard his footsteps walking out of the training cave, accompanied by the sound of metal being dragged along the floor. That must be the sword. Mentally, I adjusted the scoreboard.Lycidas: two pointsMe: zero pointsShit! I had to do something about that. I couldn't let him have one over me, much less two! But the fact was, he had whooped me so thoroughly with the sword and his strange fighting techniques that accomp
Hazel's POVGarret stood before me, trembling, as he should. He let an important prisoner escape, and though he didn't know it, that prisoner could be the doom of me. If really it was the person I think that saved her, then the inner information on my castle would have entered the hands of the Sulfur Hands. I could be invaded any time. Or they could try an assassination. "So…there is no scent of her outside the cell?" I asked Garret, frowning. He nodded vigorously. "I really checked everywhere, alpha. Her scent wasn't anywhere around the castle, not even beyond the door," "But the window is too small for anyone to pass through," I said, more to myself than to him. Someone had escaped from my stronghold, and that was something to worry about. I was determined to uncover any loopholes in my castle."Yes, it is, alpha," Garret replied. "But I checked the outside of the castle where they would have landed if they used the window, just to be sure. There was no scent there either," Gar