Chapter 5

After resting the entire day, I became restless. It was getting dark, so I decided to take a walk outside. It wasn't as if I was so free; I was quite sure that I was being closely monitored by Kloss' men. It's just that they are in the dark and wouldn't show themselves.

Anyway, I didn't plan on escaping; it was meaningless, knowing fully well that it's impossible.

One of the inn attendants walked towards me.

"Milady, I was tasked to follow you if you want to go outside; you might not be familiar with Orchid Valley City," she said.

I nodded, knowing full well that it was useless even if I disagreed. The attendant tagged along with me. She slipped a small pouch to me. I looked at the contents and saw it contained lots of gold coins. I stared at her inquisitively.

"His Highness Lord Kloss wants me to pass it on to you. It might come in handy in the city. Even though the city is small, we have a decent amount of fine goods that you might fancy."

I put the pouch away without intending to use it.

"Okay, just take me to the market then; let me see if I will fancy anything." The attendant led me to the market. There were lots of people, both buyers and sellers. There was a decent amount of goods in the Orchid Valley market. We browsed through the jewelry store without buying. I never planned to buy anything anyway, just wanted to kill time.

"It's getting dark, milady; let's go back," the attendant urged.

I was staring at a heart-shaped pendant. It was beautiful but quite expensive.

"Ma, this is the Twilight Love Pendant; it has a magical ability of keeping your loved ones close and safe. If you wear it, your loved ones will never leave you," the seller introduced.

He was only advertising his goods; none of the things he spoke of might be true. After a while, I kept the pendant. It was too expensive. Three gold coins for one pendant. That's the price of one horse. I gave up on the pendant immediately.

Even though there was enough money in the pouch, I didn't want to use it. I wanted to return it. It was getting dark, so we started going back.

We were getting closer to the inn when a group of men, around seven in number, blocked our way.

"Who are you? Please, we do not hold any valuables," I shouted.

"Of course, how could there be any valuable that's more than you?" The voice sounded so familiar.

"Damian, you! What are you doing here?"

"Why won't I be here? Of course, I'm here for you, my dear. It's really surprising how you call me by my name just a few days after separating."

I was really confused this time. I had not forgotten about Damian, not in the slightest. I had always thought of how I could become powerful in the northern mountains and make Kloss trust me. That way, I would be able to take my revenge.

It's of no use thinking of revenge without the appropriate strength, so I wasn't in a hurry. It never crossed my mind that our paths would cross before I could amount to anything, and he even came prepared. But the problem is, why was he after me this time? It's not like this was my past that he was aware of my powers; at least I held value. So what's the meaning of this?

I wasn't yet considered a member of his pack, so why would he bring his men to chase me? It doesn't make sense.

"Why are you after me? I'm not even considered a member of your pack, and I hold no value. Does it worth it to go through all this trouble just to capture me?"

"Yes, my dear, you think I'm a fool? If you don't have value, I won't have bothered to capture you. It's not worth it; you are beautiful, but I can have beauties anytime I want," he smirked.

"What I want is your ability. Yes, I know you have a special power, and I know it will be useful to me. I don't know what your powers are; it will be revealed later anyway. What I'm sure of is that it will be beneficial to me. I'm sorry, Sheila; you don't own yourself now. You belong to me."

He came forward and grabbed my hands, drawing me closer to himself. There was a flash before I was pushed away from Damian. Bollard stood in my place and was facing Damian.

He frowned. "Who are you? This is none of your business; she's my mate. We only have a misunderstanding; it's better you don't involve yourself." There was an underlying threat in his words.

"I'm sorry, but I think I didn't hear you correctly. Did you say your mate? Perhaps you must be mistaken, my Lord. Let me introduce myself. I'm Bollard, servant of Lord Kloss, Alpha of The North Tribunal, and King of The Northern Mountain Kingdom." He showed his crest to prove his identity.

Damian's handsome face turned ugly. Even he wouldn't dare offend a being as powerful as Kloss; if I remember correctly, even in my past life, he didn't dare challenge Kloss even once.

That was because the northern tribunal was just not powerful; their Alpha was also the King of the Northern Valley kingdom and had a whole army under him. His power wasn't something an ordinary Alpha like him can contend with. This caused a deep frown on Damian's face.

"Mr. Bollard, I don't think my Westvale Park has ever involved in your matters before. Why do you want to interfere with ours?" he asked.

"I will naturally not interfere if it has nothing to do with me, my Lord, but you see, milady here is the Luna of our pack. So can you tell me in what way that it didn't concern me?" Mr. Bollard said politely, but from his stance, it was clear that he wasn't ready to back down.

Damian's face twitched. "Your Luna? Impossible."

"Are you calling me a liar, my Lord?" Bollards expression changed immediately. Damian didn't dare to continue; he signaled to his men.

"I'm sorry for troubling you, Mr. Bollard; we must have recognized the wrong person. I will take my leave now."

He looked at me one last time before he turned around and left.

"Milady, are you alright?" Bollard asked worriedly. "Yes, thank you for coming on time." I wasn't surprised why he appeared at that moment, since I was already aware that Kloss surely had his men following me in case I attempted to escape.

I didn't mind either; it's not as if I planned to escape in the first place. Haven't thought of it; I had already made up my mind, and my plan was simple: obtain Kloss' trust and use his powers to crush Damian. It doesn't matter if I love him or not.

From Damian's words, it was clear that he was already aware that I had some special abilities. So does that mean I was fooled in my past life? I was really stupid. It was clear that everything was planned. He deliberately got his sister to bully me, then he acted like a savior and saved me. Then he started giving me special attention, making me feel loved.

He even told me about the witch prophecy and how he didn't believe it. Even if it was true, he didn't care one bit. This was to make me trust and believe in him more. I had been fooled.

I felt a deep rage and thirst for revenge like I had never felt before. Even when I was resurrected, I never thirsted for revenge so much.

"Milady, we have arrived."

I was so caught up in thought that I didn't even know when we arrived at the inn. I was feeling tired, so I went straight to my room to rest. Bollard excused himself and left, probably to inform Kloss of what happened today. I didn't mind anyway; it was better that he learned the truth and stopped thinking of me as one of Zulu's followers.

He had never asked me for my identity once ever since I was captured. It's not as if we had a chance to talk since he was always not around.

I was indeed right; just as I was about to sleep, I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in." The door opened, and the attendant walked in.

"My lady, Lord Kloss wants you to join him for dinner," she said.

I nodded. "I will be there soon." After she left, I heaved a sigh and quickly wore my slippers. Downstairs, I saw Kloss sitting on a chair by himself.

He was so handsome and very masculine. Damian was very handsome and attractive, but compared to Kloss, I felt he was lacking. Kloss might not be more handsome than him, but he was more masculine and had this cold aura that made him scary and interesting. He had the disposition of a true monarch. My heart started pounding. I tried to keep my cool and forced a straight face.

The table in front of him was filled with all kinds of food. He gestured for me to join him. I walked towards him and took the seat opposite him.