Every bad situation will have something positive. Even a dead clock shows the correct time twice a day.
—Anonymous— With a darkened expression, Grant stared at his beta for a while without uttering a word. His mind was a wandering mess. “The seer?” Grant asked, and Leornado gave him a look with his brows raised. “Where is she?” He asked, rising to his feet. Without waiting for Leornado. He marched for the door, and Leornado had to run after him due to his long and fast strides. If there was one thing that they all knew was that the woman's words, though always twisted and probably exactly on point, she was never truly wrong. Whatever she saw, there must be some truth to it. He knew something major was about to transpire. “She is in her tower, your Majesty,” Leornado replied, finally able to match Grant's pace. Grant didn't speak after hearing that and rather increased his pace. The maids and guards they came across bowed respectfully to the alpha king, but he didn't acknowledge any as his mind was solely focused on what he would be hearing soon. In a matter of minutes, Grant and Leonardo were standing in front of the door of the said seer. Leonardo opened the door, and Grant walked in even without knocking. “Your Majesty,” the woman who seemed to have been expecting his presence rose to her feet and greeted with a respectful bow which was only replied to with a curt nod and a hum. “What did you see this time, Calista?” Grant asked immediately. He walked over to the tower's window where he could see the rest of the castle. The servants were already up and about to prepare for the day even though the sun was yet to rise. Leonardo and Calista came to stand on either side of him, also staring out the window. “Trouble, your Majesty. I see trouble,” she began, casting a glance at Grant, who also briefly glanced at her, and their eyes met for a fleeting second. “Somewhere in the east, something out of the ordinary would happen. Creatures unlike any we have ever seen will appear,” she continued, and Grant frowned. “Many will be lost to this unknown threat. The east was quite far, and there were numerous packs there. Would they all be affected by whatever this attack would be? “narrow down the place, Calista,” he said. His voice and demeanor were much calmer than either of the two had anticipated. Did he already anticipate something like this? They thought but knew there was no way that could have been possible. “Forgive me, Alpha,” she said, and Grant's expression hardened as he realized what that meant by that. Feeling the shift in the king’s aura, she lowered her head till her chin touched her chest. “What else should we know about this?” Leonardo stepped in, knowing Grant was now in a foul mood. “A few days from now. I can't tell when either—I am sorry,” she felt helpless here, but she also knew she had said all that she knew. Her vision came in vague images without any clarity. It was all up to her to piece the fragments together to get something decent and present it as a warning. A feral growled wrapped from the man in the middle, and the other two bowed in submission. Both fell on their knees and showed their necks. They had managed to catch a glimpse of Grant's eyed thay had suddenly turned blood red, and that was not a good sign. For someone who had been antsy lately, this news must have pricked all the wrong nerves. His calm earlier now made sense. It was Grant trying to rein over his beast, but it appeared he was losing now. [Alpha, please calm down. We need to find a solution to this] Leirnado tried to reach him through the mind link, but he received a growl that silenced him and also left him shrinking lower due to the direct impact of the alpha directed at him. [“Alpha, please,” ] he pleaded. Something seemed to snap within Grant as he took control again and then rein in his aura. He knew it wasn't only Leornado who felt it but every shifter within the castle walls, and he didn't want to torture his people without a reason. But lately, his control was slipping off his fingers. “Prepare for departure at the first ray of the sun light,” he said, directing his words to Leornado, who sighed in relief, knowing alpha beast had retreated. “Understood, Alpha,” he replied but still didn't rise to his feet until he headed to the door close behind them. Calista and him shared a look, and both sighed in relief before standing up. “Save travels, Beta, Leo,” Calista said even before Leorna ciuod asked her to go with them. Leornado could only look at her and sigh. ▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎▪︎ Meanwhile, Grant returned to his bed chamber, pacing back and forth as he tried to gain full control of his wolf, but the damned beast just wouldn't submit. It had always been cooperative, so what was wrong this time around? He could feel his canines fighting to grow, and the that was sparsely spreading all over his body. “Shit!” he cursed as he clenched his fist but regretted it immediately as his claws stabbed into his palm, drawing blood. Grant felt his beast demanding to be let out, but he couldn't. He knew just what his beast was capable of doing when allowed to run rampant. Unlike him, his beast still maintained his primitive, primal instincts, and that was to dominate. Brute force. was his way. He could cause more harm to the kingdom than good. That is unless there was a target to take it out on, but right now, a target was the one thing they didn't have, so anyone and everyone they came across would become a target. “Maybe a run is what you need. It's cold and windy. It might help. Your beast hasn't been let out in a long time,” Leornado, who had just come in, said. He flinched and took a cautious step back when he saw the king’s red eyes staring at him and the protruding fangs that seemed ready to pounce.Hello, everyone, Thank you all for reading this far. I truly appreciate the time spent. I would also like to ask that you add this to your libraries, subscribe, vote, and comment. your comment would mean a lot to me. Do also leave your reviews, and don't hesitate to point out where you think improvements are needed and I'll do my very best to improve. Thank you all once again!
A low and ferocious erupted from deep within Grant that had Leonardo backing away from him, taking backward steps until he was out of the door and his back pressed against with his bowed and eyes staring at his feet. “Alpha…” Leonardo uttered, respect and submission dripping from his voice and stance. Grant staggered forward. The battle between them and the beast in him, visible. After almost two minutes of battling it out mentally, Grant leaned on the wall and slid to the ground, sitting with his elbow propped on his right knee while his palm covered his face. “I didn't mean to do that,” he said. Even without referring to anyone in particular, Leonardo knew it was him his king was talking to. Leonardo finally raised his head and looked at Grant. He sighed in relief, knowing the man had won over the beast. He then sat down beside Grant in a similar posture. “I know that very well, your Majesty,” Leonardo replied. “Have you figured out what he wants? The alpha beast, I mean.”
“Her pulse is weak, but she will make it,” the pack healer said as she examined Esme. Her face contorted when she saw the many scars on the body of Esme, but she was quick to mask it before the wrong set of people saw it.“Give her the medicine and apply the herb to her wounds. She will recover faster that way,” she said again as she packed up her stuff. She knew the girl was maltreated qnd abused by everyone, but seeing her like that and the result of the actions, the marks on her body were equivalent to being branded. Such scars would leave a lasting effect on a person. The physical ones might fade with time, but the emotional scars might never fade, especially if she keeps on being subjected to such cruel treatment. She felt bad for her but there was nothing that she could do. Not unless she wanted to offend the alpha and his family as well as all of the NightCrawler Pack.“Thank you, Lucy,” Alicia said, truly grateful that woman could make it in time. Lucy nodded her head at t
WARNING!! THIS CHAOTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENTS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCEPTABLE TO ALL!******************Esm only regained consciousness just before sunset. As soon as her eyelids fluttered open, she immediately wished her timing had been better. At least after the two people in her room were gone.She could barely make out their images, but she knew without a doubt that they were right there, staring at her without an ounce of pity, despite her close brush with death.She didn't want to look at them, so she turned her back to them, her eyes once again shut tightly. “And here I thought you were dead,” Dawson was the first to speak out of the two siblings. She didn't need to look at him to know what kind of expression they had on their faces.“I told you she is just feigning her illness,” Ophelia said, her tone laced with irritated as if she couldn't stand the sight of Esme. The smell of herbs filled the room, but these siblings acted as if they couldn't perceive it. Even Esm
WARNING!! THIS CHAOTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE CONTENTS THAT MAY OR MAY NOT BE ACCEPTABLE TO ALL!******As the reality of what was about to happen to her dawned on her, Esme sobbed. She couldn't fight him even if she wanted to, and even if she could, her body was too weak for that now, and he knew that all too well. “Let me go…” she said, but her voice was barely above a whisper and lacked the power in it to stop him. “You should learn to be more obedient, Esme,” he said, ignoring her pleas as he added more strength to his hand and pried her legs apart. “You are meant to be mine sooner or later. There is no difference seeing you now or seeing you later.” Dawson continued, and more tears streamed down Esme's eyes. Esme didn't know which hurt more. Was it the physical wounds on her body or the torment she was facing at the moment? All she knew was that the pain was unbearable. The humiliation was too much for her t9 maintain her composure, and she cried. Pleaded even, but he only smiled,
“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” — Virginia Woolf******************Meanwhile, The closer the deeper they drove into the South, the more restless Grant became. His beast was no longer willing to be caged and wanted to assume control. They didn't even have the time to rest because the king wouldn't let them. They also didn't visit every pack as they had originally planned, also because the alpha wouldn't let them.“Do you feel anything now?” Leornado asked. They've been driving for hours after leaving Sunset Pack. It was one of the two packs that they were able to visit before the alpha decided against stopping at every single one.“Just keep driving,” Grant said. His eyes were closed and hand on his forehead. He was fighting his beast internally as all he wanted to do was burst out of the car and run. Doing that would just terrify the people. A rampaging lycan was no joke.“Understood,” Leornado replied. He was getting tired of hearing the s
“Stop the car,” Grant ordered, and Leonardo instantly slammed on the brakes. It was after he did that he realized how lucky they were that there was no accident. He was so used to doing everything that the alpha commanded him that he didn't take a second to think about what he was asked to do and just did it. The screeching sound of the brakes of the cars behind them as they came to a sudden halt filed the air. Leonardo cursed under his breath at the disturbing sound. “Your Majesty…” the car's door slamming shut was heard. Grant was already out of the car before he could say a word and he let out another curse before unbuckling his seatbelt and dashing after the alpha. ‘Some of you come with us while the others find a good place for the cars, don't disturb the people here,’ Leonardo commanded through the mind link. He then heard a collective, “Understood,” from the warriors before cutting off the link. Meanwhile, Grant dashed through the street, his beast in full control and his
Esme stopped walking as everything that she saw in her dream started playing before her eyes. The screams of the people inside the packhouse and the unfamiliar growls of creatures she had never seen before erupted. Following it was the voice Dawson's roar filled with anger as he called out to the packager as warriors. “Stop running and fight.” thr alpha Dane's roar. Esme swallowed. She knew this would happen but seeing it play before her eyes like this now was an entirely different experience. Someone ran past her nearly knocking her to the ground had Alicia not been fast enough to pull her aside. “My lady,” Alicia shook her but Esme was rigid. Her mind reeling back to what she saw. If she wasn't wrong then the beast whose ferocious growl she had heard but never saw would be here soon and she… Before she could finish her thoughts, something leaped out of the burning packhouse, a creature unlike anything she had ever seen. It was man-sized with red eyes as if they were made
Then it stopped its onslaught right after the last of those after them was dead and lying almost unrecognizable on the ground. He turned, and his eyes locked on Esme, and she instinctively took a step back.Seeing that, it growled, and her heart skipped a beat. Every cell in her body as well as the alarm bells blaring in her head told her to run but somehow, her heart was telling her to do the opposite and foolishly, her legs couldn't do anything other than step back slowly. The further she stepped away, the more the beast growled, and Esme was at a loss. What should she do? What could she do? Her thoughts halted when the beast stepped forward. Its steps are deliberately slow, but its eyes never left hers. She was about to turn around and run when it closed the distance with a single leap, and she stumbled backward. Her breathing was heavy, her chest rose and fell as the adrenaline rushed in, but even with that, all she could do was sit and wait. As he loomed over her, Esme shut
Meanwhile, as Esme and Alicia followed Leonardo to where the cars were parked, they encountered Alpha Dane and Dawson. They instinctively became more cautious, but that also had their hearts accelerating, and the abnormality was at once noticed by Leonardo.He looked at them and found nothing wrong, but once his eyes caught sight of Aloha Dane nearby. He immediately understood why. ‘The healer wasn't lying after all,’ he thought. He had believed her when she told him everything, but he didn't think it would get to the extent that the mere sight of him would frighten the girl so much. He looked at her and didn't know how to address her. Grant hadn't said anything about it yet. Although it would only be right to call her the queen, she was yet to be crowned, and no one else knew about her being the king's mate. “Miss Esmeralda,” he called and even walked around them to shield them from the direction of Alpha Dane. Esme looked at him silently, waiting for him to state his reason for c
The healer looked around, making sure that no one else could hear them before she spoke. “The last Hawthorn. Please take her away. I don't know what they'll do to her once everything settles down, but I know that it will be severe. She warned the pack this would happen, but no one listened and even punished her for it. I am afraid she would be blamed for this too if…”“There's a surviving Hawthorne within the Night Crawler Pack?” Leonardo asked, and this was new information to him. He doubted even Grant knew about this. The report that was given to them in the past was that every member of the family was lost in the incident that claimed the family. Why would the Night Crawler Pack hide such information?The healer was taken aback by the question, but soon, it dawned in her that the royal capital didn't know about Esme. “Yes, there is, and she warned the pack about the attack a few days ago. We would have been more prepared if the alpha and the pack had taken seriously her words.”
A sense of satisfaction washed over Esme as she watched Alpha Dane struggle with his words. His rigid body almost had her laughing, but she fought against her urges. Then she heard his apology, it was far from genuine and sincere, but Esme knew that this was the first time in a very long time anyone in the NightCrawler Pack ever thanked her. Dane and his family were the worst. They worked her to the bone but never said thank you, not even once. Not that she expected anything from the people who tormented her, but at least, thank you wasn't a hard thing to say. And it was only to do so when a person deserves it. ‘Perhaps I am undeserving in their eyes’? Esme thought. Her fist clenched at her side, and her teeth gritted in anger, but her expression remained stoic, but that sense of satisfaction from earlier quickly faded away.“Are you satisfied with this?” Esme heard Grant ask, and she whipped her head upwards to look at his face. He was genuinely asking her if she was pleased with
A low growl reverberated through his chest as it made its way out, sending a chill down the spines of everyone who heard him. His gaze turned sharp as he stared at Dane, who had rudely interrupted his conversation with his mate even though it was unintended.Yes, sweetheart. Is there a problem with that?” Grant asked. Dane shook his head, and Grant took a predatory step forward, but Esme held him back. He looked at her, and she shook her head.“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” he quickly apologized, but the mistake had already been made, and there was no way he could take it back. “It is fine. I don't care about what they think or say,” she said, finally regaining her voice and strength to speak again. Maybe it was the way Alpha Dane was affected by seeing her standing beside the king or the disbelief in his eyes f as he was starting to piece together the fact that she meant more to the king than he had assumed. Whatever it was, she liked his irritation and unease. This mate bond may be n
It's in the palm of your hand now, baby It's a yes or a no, no maybeJust be sure, before you give it all to me— Katy Perry — dark horse —******“Can you talk to me…please?” Grant pleaded, wishing to understand what was really happening. One second ago, she was willing to go with him, but the next, she didn't even want to be touched by him at all. “Mate?” Esme stopped struggling when she realized how futile it was to keep doing that. His grip, although not too strong to hurt her, she was still unable to break free. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out, and she had to swallow the saliva before being able to speak properly. “You are the king,” she said in a whisper. Grant frowned but nodded his head as he finally grabbed what caused the sudden change in her.“Yes, I am, but right now, that is not important. I am your mate at this moment, and that's all that matters to me,” he said, hoping she would understand as he was able to put the pieces together. “We can dis
Esme stared at her hand, eyes wide with horror. Her already stable breath once again labored and she continued to step backward while shaking her head. Her actions like that puzzled Grant and he took a step forward but she keeps on retreating from him.“No,” she said, still shaking her head.“I don't believed either but it is what it is. None of us can change that,” Grant said. He tried to read her but he couldn't no matter how hard he tried. He just couldn't wrap his head around why she was rejecting what is meant to be.“You are going to reject me too, right?” She said and he frowned, not at all expecting that statement. “What?!” He asked in shock.“Then go ahead and do already. There's no need to waste your time. Just do it,” Esme said, not giving him the time to talk while trying hard to hold back her tears. It was better 8f he rejected her immediately. It would hurt less ans she wouldn't have to delude herself of pillar to lean on when ot would end shattering to pieces in no ti
Then it stopped its onslaught right after the last of those after them was dead and lying almost unrecognizable on the ground. He turned, and his eyes locked on Esme, and she instinctively took a step back.Seeing that, it growled, and her heart skipped a beat. Every cell in her body as well as the alarm bells blaring in her head told her to run but somehow, her heart was telling her to do the opposite and foolishly, her legs couldn't do anything other than step back slowly. The further she stepped away, the more the beast growled, and Esme was at a loss. What should she do? What could she do? Her thoughts halted when the beast stepped forward. Its steps are deliberately slow, but its eyes never left hers. She was about to turn around and run when it closed the distance with a single leap, and she stumbled backward. Her breathing was heavy, her chest rose and fell as the adrenaline rushed in, but even with that, all she could do was sit and wait. As he loomed over her, Esme shut
Esme stopped walking as everything that she saw in her dream started playing before her eyes. The screams of the people inside the packhouse and the unfamiliar growls of creatures she had never seen before erupted. Following it was the voice Dawson's roar filled with anger as he called out to the packager as warriors. “Stop running and fight.” thr alpha Dane's roar. Esme swallowed. She knew this would happen but seeing it play before her eyes like this now was an entirely different experience. Someone ran past her nearly knocking her to the ground had Alicia not been fast enough to pull her aside. “My lady,” Alicia shook her but Esme was rigid. Her mind reeling back to what she saw. If she wasn't wrong then the beast whose ferocious growl she had heard but never saw would be here soon and she… Before she could finish her thoughts, something leaped out of the burning packhouse, a creature unlike anything she had ever seen. It was man-sized with red eyes as if they were made
“Stop the car,” Grant ordered, and Leonardo instantly slammed on the brakes. It was after he did that he realized how lucky they were that there was no accident. He was so used to doing everything that the alpha commanded him that he didn't take a second to think about what he was asked to do and just did it. The screeching sound of the brakes of the cars behind them as they came to a sudden halt filed the air. Leonardo cursed under his breath at the disturbing sound. “Your Majesty…” the car's door slamming shut was heard. Grant was already out of the car before he could say a word and he let out another curse before unbuckling his seatbelt and dashing after the alpha. ‘Some of you come with us while the others find a good place for the cars, don't disturb the people here,’ Leonardo commanded through the mind link. He then heard a collective, “Understood,” from the warriors before cutting off the link. Meanwhile, Grant dashed through the street, his beast in full control and his