CeliaI turned around to see the man twitch in his sleep. His fingers moved just a little and I saw his forehead crease just a little.“Did we wake him up?” I asked Jasper worriedly and he scoffed, “If all the shouting and whipping did not wake him up earlier, what we did...or were about to...definitely should not wake him up.”I ignored his attempt to pull me closer and start kissing me again. We could do that later, now we needed answers.Even Arwen was taken care of so I felt happy that her threat was mostly gone. Now what remained was helping this man and finding out who did this to him.Pushing Jasper away, I peered at the man lying on the bed, wondering if I had misheard something."He had moved a little in his sleep, hadn't he?" I asked Jasper who kept staring at the prisoner. He raised a finger and muttered, "Maybe I should poke him a little" but I grabbed his hand and pulled it back.My hope began to disappear as he lay unmoving and I decided to step away from him when again,
CeliaAs I kept staring at the love of my life, the fire near the bed of the prisoner flared suddenly.Startled, I craned my neck up to get a better view.It seemed that the prisoner was stirring. Hastily, I got up and ran towards him while the fire continued to flare occasionally.Half of his face was bandaged while the other half was bruised and battered, so it was very hard for me to make out his exact features.But I believed he was not some gruesome looking person before all these injuries had been inflicted on him.He twitched some more, and I saw his eyelashes flutter a little.A plume rose up in the air, turning into a cloud of smoke, the dying embers crackling and sputtering out in a moment.The man took a few deep breaths suddenly, as if the air around him did not contain enough oxygen.And then his eyes flew open.I took a step back to see the eyes…or whatever that was.There was no iris nor pupil. Everything inside was pitch black. The black eyes stared at the ceiling for
CeliaTime seemed to move at a snail’s speed as I kept pacing through the room, waiting for the hour hand to move. The healer had said Xenos would be ready to talk in an hour or so and those sixty minutes felt like the longest I had ever spent.Meanwhile, Jasper was simply staring outside the window with a blank expression. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I did nto even notice him sitting like that.When my legs finally grew tired of pacing up and down, I looked at him and saw the soft light falling on his face, illuminating it.Slowly I made my way towards him and embraced him…or tried to.“What are you thinking about?” I asked in a low voice and I felt his hand reach up to slide across my waist.I guess he had not even done it consciously. He pulled me close and I let him as my face rested on his broad chest, and my small palm could sense his heartbeat from under the shirt.“Nothing specific” He replied after a while but the dry tone told me a lot was going on in his head.“
CeliaI raised an eyebrow at his line. I doubted even Gods had the stamina to do it a thousand times.I playfully slapped his shoulder and muttered, “Let me get up and go meet Xenos. He should be in a condition to speak now.”Jasper did not move neither did he let me.“You have to do more than mention meeting another man to force me to get up and let you go. You understand my situation right?”He asked and the way his eyes darkened with desire again told me that he wasn’t done, not yet.We had never had two three rounds in one go either but we had more pressing matters to attend to. “If I break the curse, just once will be more than enough, you know” I countered and Jasper grinned.I reached for his face and pulled him close for a kiss before muttering. “Let us go find the curse and then return for another round.”“That’s more like it” Jasper gave me a bright smile and finally got up from the bed. I went to the bathroom and quickly cleaned myself, washed my face and put on a long gow
CeliaMy mouth fell open after hearing that.“You…you are….” I began and Xenos sadly replied,“Yes, I am her husband and the son she lost was mine, too. To be honest, she had lost her family long before she succumbed to the dark magic. She lost me when she let greed overpower our love. She lost our son when dark magic began to corrupt our veins.”I took a moment to process this. She had imprisoned her own husband in the dungeon, letting him rot forever in a secret chamber that nobody would find?How cruel she could be?My expressions must have conveyed my growing hatred of her because Xenos added, “I know you must be thinking of me as a bad person, too. Trust me, I tried a lot to stop her, but she was too stubborn, too headstrong. When she found the Lycan castle, she wanted it immediately as her den. She wanted to sit on that throne and make people bow to her…”I could not say I understood that. What would a throne of a mortal give her when dark magic had almost made her immortal? Or
Celia“Please have mercy, the kids are naive and innocent. Just like your son was. You are a mother, you will always be, do not put all mothers to shame by killing little children, I beg you.”But the witch shook her leg hard, throwing Arwen away. “Shut up you pathetic scum. Don’t you dare remind me what it means to be a mother.”Arwen’s head hit a pillar but she was unbothered by it.“Please, don’t kill them. Kill me instead. Not the three children. I know you loved your son, I love them like my own too. I know you were wronged but these three little souls did not do that.”The witch roared, pointing a finger at Brigdain and the court trembled.“He was the one to kill my son. I have waited all these years to make him go through that pain, to make him suffer. Do you think your words can quell my hunger? Only their deaths would avenge my son!!!!”The King tried to push through again while the two women were talking. He had almost inched closer to the witch and was about to attack her w
Celia Xenos raised an eyebrow at that. The question should have made him say something like ‘you are muttering nonsense’ but he only looked at me curiously. “Why would you ask that?” I bit my lower lip nervously. What I was about to say could topple the fae kingdom and my friend’s life. I had to be very careful. So, I pushed a stray lock of hair behind my ear and asked, “Forget it, just a random thought” However, Xenos saw the hesitation in my eyes and straightened his back. “I am just asking if you know anything about it. There has been no mention of the witch for ages. It is like she disappeared into thin air.” My words sounded lame even to me. “But you asked if she would remarry? Why that?” I let out a sigh, my fingers playing with the tablecloth. “I mean the loss of a child is the greatest grief of a mother. So I thought…she might have wanted another one. It is only natural.” Xenos thought about it for a while. “You could say so. But I have no idea if she ever…remarrie
Celia Jasper broke the awkward silence as he grinned upon seeing his best friend. “You are here” He took a few steps forward but Nymeria merely raised her hand to smack him on his shoulder. “Ow,” Jasper winced as Nymeria glared at him. “Do you have any idea what important work I was doing? And you just don’t say anything else apart from Help and Please? I half-expected to see you bruised and injured but here you are, smiling at me.” Jasper looked to me for help. “Look what kind of best friend I have. She is unhappy to see me smiling. She would rather prefer to see me bleeding and injured.” I ignored their bickering and pulled Nymeria into a hug. “Sorry, I could not risk stating the reason for calling you here in the letter.” Nymeria hugged me back and replied, “Either way, my work was almost done. So, what was the emergency?” She asked and I slowly turned her to face Xenos. “This is Xenos. He might have a solution to the curse” I said instead of revealing anything else. It
To all my lovely readers, I cannot thank you enough for staying with me on this wild roller coaster of emotions until the end. You cannot pick a favorite child but writing this book was magical, simply because, I got so many of you who were invested to read. I sincerely hope I've improved as a writer when compared to my old books and continue to write stories that touch your hearts. Last year was especially tough for me with fighting depression and a few other issues that I do not want to make public. Some of you loved the story, others not so much. But I want to thank every single one of you for giving this story and this author a chance. If my story managed to provide a temporary escape from reality or simply added a sprinkle of joy to your day, then my mission as a writer is complete. And to those who patiently endured the plot twists – I promise, I only did it because I love you all. Okay, maybe that is not the complete truth. Perhaps there was a hint of mischief in the twis
Jasper I turned my head to look at her from a distance. I could see the nervousness in her gaze, in her body language. My gaze flicked to the guests, all of whom were looking at her. She cleared her throat, “Today is going to be a big day of my life. But before I take that step…I…I wanted to tell you all something.” Her gaze found mine and I only smiled at her. Before she could speak another word, one of the many people in the crowd placed a hand on his chest and bowed down to her. Celia was stunned and watched him In surprise. Behind her, Nymeria, Xenos, and Vasil were slowly descending the stairs too. Following the first person, a few more did the same- place a hand on their chest, their heart to be precise, and bowed to her, going down on one knee. “What is going on?” She asked In a low voice. Soon, everybody followed suit. In a matter of minutes, the entire crowd was on its knees, bowing to her. Her eyes flicked to me and I too did the same gesture. Placing my hand on my
JasperI cleared my throat and looked down at the crowd of people who had come to witness the wedding. There had been no happy event or celebration in the palace after my birth.That day had been a day of celebration but Isadora had turned it into a nightmare. And after all those years, finally, we were having a moment to rejoice.But as I watched the hopeful eyes of the people surrounding me, I could not shake the uneasy feeling gnawing at me.I had to get rid of it. And the only way to do that was to be honest.For a confused moment, I stood on the stairs, looking at the excited faces of the people around me.My gaze flicked to my father and brothers, all of whom were smiling proudly at me.“Ladies and gentlemen, can I have your attention please?” I asked in a loud voice, turning even those heads that had been momentarily distracted while looking at the grandeur of the palace.“First of all, I would like to thank you all for being present today. Frankly, I did not expect so many of
JasperThe huge room suddenly felt too small and the air in the world did not seem enough to fill my lungs.Celia had spoken something, but I was too busy staring at her.My heartbeat was roaring in my ears as I took in her beauty that shone radiantly, nothing short of a thousand lanterns.Her face looked distraught and her eyes were red, her cheeks puffed up. Her makeup had smeared a little too.But despite that, she looked like an angel. A Goddess.I had only seen her in her usual gowns and training clothes, but this marvel…this was just for me.For a minute, I simply stood in front of her, drinking her features. How could she be so blissfully ignorant of what she was doing to me by just standing there in that beautiful dress?I took a step forward, and I saw a tear trickle down her eye.“Shh, don’t cry,” I said softly, reaching for her face and cupping it. And when I did, a surge of electricity rippled through me.My Lycan roared in my head, feeling exhilarated to see her all dolle
CeliaDread settled in my heart when Xenos and Nymeria revealed my life’s biggest secret. My whole life had been a lie?But then what about the people I grew up with thinking they were my parents?Nothing made sense anymore, and I only stared blankly at Xenos.“Is…is that true?”I asked, and he nodded. “There is a reason I never found the courage to tell you all of this earlier. And to be sure that I was not guessing it all wrong, I asked Nymeria to allow me to show her that memory, too. I touched her and with her permission, I looked through her memories…childhood memories, to be specific. There was no trace of me or Isadora in it.”My heart felt like it would break into a million pieces.“But then, how could I never do magic? I never sensed it and…and then why was I not able to fight her when she…she killed me?”I was sobbing hysterically and Nymeria’s face looked like she was cursing herself for ruining my day.She apologized over a thousand times that she did not want me to learn
Celia "Are you going to tell her, or should I?" Nymeria's question hung in the air like a storm cloud, casting a palpable tension in the room. I looked from Nymeria to Xenos, confusion and a growing sense of foreboding twisting in my chest. Their solemn expressions conveyed that something grave was afoot. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, my heart beginning to race. "Tell me what?" I pressed, my voice laced with unease. Xenos, usually a man of few words, hesitated for a moment. His eyes held mine for a second longer than I expected, and I could see a mix of guilt and apprehension in them. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, the weight of his unspoken words lingering in the room. Nymeria, her expression torn between sympathy and responsibility, finally broke the silence. "Celia, there's something you need to know." I felt a shiver crawl down my spine. The room, once filled with warmth and camaraderie, had now become suffocating with uncertainty. My thoughts raced as
CeliaThe grand lycan palace was alive with anticipation, every corner adorned with flowers and delicate decorations in celebration of our wedding day. Two weeks had passed in a blur since the night Jasper had proposed to me in front of my pack.And every day after that seemed like a dream to me. I would wake up and pinch myself, wondering if it was all my imagination.But it was true, every single moment of it…just like today.The air was thick with the sweet scent of blooming roses, and the palace echoed with laughter and the sound of joyous conversations.In my room, the one I used to live in before I moved in with Jasper, a sense of nervous excitement filled the room as I sat before a beautifully crafted vanity mirror, surrounded by my maids and my dear friend, Nymeria. Their skilled hands moved with grace, tending to every detail to transform me into the radiant bride I aspired to be.The maids began to braid my long, dark hair, weaving flowers and jewels into it.As their nimble
"Are you guys ever coming out?" Jasper called with a good-natured grin, standing a few paces away from the porch.He had his hands placed on the doorframe and looked at us with his eyes furrowed as he saw Vasil holding my hand which I gave a gentle squeeze.“Don’t forget what I told you. Think about it,” I added, looking at Vasil while getting up from the chair.Jasper folded his hands over his chest and asked, “What secret are you guys discussing?”Vasil too got up from his chair and gave my arm a light squeeze.“Of course. And just so you know, if he ever hurts you or makes you sad, you know where to find me.”“Ha ha ha, very funny, bloodsucker,” Jasper replied humorlessly and looked at me to indicate that he wanted me to come out of the room.Vasil outstretched his hand as if to say, “After you” and I looked at him with my eyes wide, “Why are you always mean to him?”Jasper grinned, “He tried to take you from me. Am I not great for letting him live?”Vasil, who was just behind me,
CeliaAs Jasper walked beside me, his very presence filled my being with warmth and comfort. His scent, a heady mixture of earthy woods and his own unique, intoxicating fragrance, enveloped me like a protective embrace. I observed him, my heart overflowing with gratitude for the incredible man who had become not just my love but my lifeline, my mate.Isadora had tricked me into believing Vasil was my mate but the true pull of the mate bond was poles apart from the confusion she had tried to insert in my head.It was as if whenever I saw Jasper, my heart filled with hope and the promise that if he was around, nothing would ever go wrong.Every time I recalled the way he had jumped up and down the floor when I called him my mate and the way he ran through the palace telling everyone excitedly that I was his mate, my eyes would grow moist.What had I ever done to deserve him? I barely tried to fight Isadora but he literally fought both the devil and the Goddess, just like he had promised