Rey and I were both attacked. We were both targeted. Which means that they were not just there because they were after me, but the treaty Rey mentioned Alpha Renier had with the rogues, it is at play here too. The gears in my head start to turn.
Haze, someone who had no connection with rogues, suddenly joining them. Rogues, who had very rare contact with people ever since the rogue trials started, suddenly starting to attack. And finally the cardinal sending Valis to get me to kill the king, who the rogues previously would not even dream of coming close to. The wheels of something very dangerous are creaking here. Why are the rogues so confident all of a sudden? As I am scouring through every piece of information I have and connecting whatever estranged dots I can, my mate grows restless. "Answer me.""Pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Majesty," the boy stutters uncontrollably, "I am Malcolm Hale, Beta Elma's aide and a senior healer at the palace. I will be escorting you to the communication's office." "Nice to meet you, Malcolm," I say, smiling. "I hope you can forgive me for holding you hostage." He is frantic, looking at every other place instead of me. "I-it's fine." "I won't do it again." He nods, but doesn't look convinced as he opens the door and spreads his arm to the right, flinching when I pass him. "This way, Your Majesty." The doors open up to an indoor balcony-like area that acts like an antechamber, where glass walls encase the entire floor—a panoramic vista of the rest of the palace and beyond it, the city, thickens my vision. We descend the broad staircase right in front and it splits around a central glass-enclosed tree that goes up and through the top of the roof. It i
The communication office is a spacious room with numerous screens and numerous people sitting in front of them. Malcolm walks swiftly, leading me from behind the booths before any one of them turns and notices us. We saunter to the right end where an open door awaits me. When I enter, a man, with grey streaking his hair from the sides and a stoic expression on his face, bows low. "Your Majesty," he says, his voice hoarse and heavy. "The line is ready. Do send for me when you are done." Just like that he slips to the side and leaves. I swallow an invisible lump down my throat as I pick up the thing. Would Rey want me to call him? Or would he tell me how stupid I am for doing so when he clearly told me to stay away? How did he react to me being mated to the king? A million questions swirl around my head, the answers nowhere to be found unless I call. My grip on the phone tightens. Leave, he had said. But I did
Malcolm serves me looks full of pity and genuine sorrow as I amble aimlessly through the empty corridors, passing by various rows of offices in the palace. During this time I find out that the palace is divided into three core sections that further branches into wings. The first section is the public square, where the whole kingdom's affairs are handled. The throne room is also present there. The second section is the pack square, where pack affairs are handled. It is where Noah's and his court is located—War room, meeting rooms, guest rooms, offices, everything. The third section, crooned into the bed of a mountain, is where I just came from. I have now walked almost every empty lane in the pack square, as most pack members are dispersed and distracted in work as their superiors are occupied in the war room with my mate. Malcolm does not meet my eyes, wordlessly following wherever I go, and only speaking when I turn to a section of the palace
No elevator leads to the interrogation rooms—a glorified name for a torture cell, in my opinion—so we climb down an infinite number of stairs. The atmosphere grows heavier with each step. The concrete walls here are thick and cold, with the faint echo of dripping water occasionally punctuating the silence. Finally we reach a heavy steel door, its surface scratched and worn from use. Malcolm pushes it open, revealing a dimly lit corridor. The light flickers intermittently. The air is dank, carrying a faint scent of iron and decay. But I can see everything, further confirming my senses are now intact again. Malcolm leads me down the corridor, past several heavy doors, each marked with a small, scratched metal plate indicating different sections—Interrogation, Holding Cells, Evidence Storage. We pass a few holding cells, their barred fronts casting long shadows in the faint light. Inside, the cells are bare, save for a single cot and sorry excuse for a toilet. The place is practica
Haze does not look up as I enter the room. He does not seem to even notice as I take a place at one of the chairs in middle, until I say, "You seem comfortable." He looks up at me lazily, through heavy lashes, thickened with sleep and wolfsbane. Silence. Then his eyes crinkle, his head tips back and all I can hear is the ricochets of his loud, reverberating laughter. I grit my teeth, willing patience in my nerves. If I kill him here, how much questions will that raise? Many, a voice says. I don't think killing someone would be an ideal position for me to gain trust of my new found mate's court, whose resources I very dearly need. So I quietly settle for a glare and gesture him to take a seat. His gaze narrows but he obeys, standing with poorly hidden lethargy and dropping down with a careless thud. "I should've known you would weasel your way out.""I should've known you would be such a pain in the ass.""Well, we need some c
"All accept ksei, Noah Silverton as their King?" Noah knew he could be challenged for the throne any moment. Then he would have to fight and kill, only to land back at the dais, in front of the Elders of Vermiculo Pack. A pack Noah would be made Alpha of a day after. The coronation before the marking demonstrated that he was to be a King before an Alpha. And challenging the strongest werewolf on land would be folly, yet there was a moment of silence for anyone to arise one. On his knees, with a wolf's bane flower and a moon stone in either hand, Noah held his breath. He was only eighteen, being handed the throne three years after his father's death, from the clutches of a hungry council who enjoyed their interim rule over Utrif. He was not prepared for this. But now he had to pretend he was. And he could take on a challenger, couldn't he? Uncertainty clouded his vision for a moment. He shook it away. The coronation was something made to be after the first kingdo
Leona To kill or be killed. That is all it is for Rogues—was for me. No alternative. No say in what I was, where I was and how I was. One path, choice, way and life. Bloodshed. Now, however, I am to be grateful for breathing air in the open and that alone. The tide grows weak every second indicating the sun's arrival. The salty, cold breezes are continuous and harsh. I snuggle closer in the warmth of my jacket, ignoring the buzz of my cellphone. Seconds stretch into long minutes. Sighing out loud, I push myself off the side-walk's railing, seize my cellphone out and with much reluctance, pick up the call. "Yes?" I answer dryly. "Did it help?" the voice is deep, threatening and filled with pent up rage. "What helped?" "Being an idiot and going out in the open at this time." I roll my eyes, knowing the new Alpha can't see me in the least. "Seri sea wall. Taking a stroll." "Your location is the least of my concerns, Leona," he says. "I am the least of your concerns, R
Longing roils in the pit of my stomach as I set foot inside my pack building after weeks. Everything reminds me of him. Every single detail screams of his absence. Death is unforeseen and unsought. It comes knocking at your door and suddenly life doesn't make sense. From the moment I was found by Alpha Renier half dead at the outskirts of their vacation home's hunting grounds, he considered me his own. The pack wasn't given much of an explanation about how the Alpha family suddenly had a new daughter. Most considered me to be an illegitimate child. This made Aria, Alpha Reiner's wife hate me even more. And she made her disdain pretty evident, further feeding the rumours until they became half truths for everyone. Rey, on the other hand, simply did not care. It was like I was never there. Like I didn't matter. I am shaken out of my trance when a there's a sudden pick in my heart beat. It thumps rapidly and continuously. I suddenly feel heavy for some reason.