Hercules walked into Cleopatra's office with a tight smile on his face, but she was too focused on going through the numerous files before her to notice him. “The Council is a big place, Cleopatra. I can't just search for someone with a whiff of their smell.” He complained, standing a little further from her. Cleopatra didn't hum, nor did she raise her head to acknowledge his words. The office was plagued with a deafening silence for the next ten minutes before she narrowed her eyes at one of the files. “With Ethan and most of the Council members breathing down my neck, I make sure to familiarize myself with what each one smells like. So I'm sure he's the one.” She said, turning the file for him to see. Hercules was a bit taken aback by her words. In that case, didn't that mean she knew what he smelt like? Cleopatra, who seemed to know what he was thinking, shook her head and tapped the file, “Wait until you have numerous people who desperately want your position.” Hercules shru
“How are you doing, Freya?” Cleopatra asked as soon as Freya walked into her office. “Are you treating me well because I'm an omega who almost got killed, or because I'm mated to three alphas?” Freya asked instead, stopping close to the desk. Cleopatra stared at her with a complex look in her eyes. “Every werewolf deserves to be treated like a person. And because you were entrusted to me.” Cleopatra said, tearing her eyes away from Freya. “Have a seat.” Freya nodded and sat down. She had woken up yesterday evening, hours after Mariah almost killed her. Her recovery surprised the healer, who didn't think she would be up anytime soon. The healer checked her vitals again and declared her fit, shocking everyone the more. But that surprise soon turned to relief. Previously, there was tension in the Council since no one knew when the three alphas would arrive in the Council. While some people thought it'd have been good for the omega to die, others were relieved she woke up. Cleopatra
The Council Coroner Room"From all indications, he drowned himself." Hercules sighed as he observed Leo's stone cold body. Cleopatra who stood opposite him wasn't buying any of it as her eyes deepened. "Leo had no reason to kill himself." "Maybe he was afraid of what you'd do to him if you found him. He probably figured out you'd kill him for eavesdropping, so he thought it was best to end his life himself. On his own terms." Hercules suggested, glancing at her. Cleopatra reached out and zipped up Leo back in the body back he was in. "His family will be coming to claim his body tomorrow. I offered to host his funeral, but they refused. Said they'd invite me to the funeral if I cared so much about Leo." "Sounds a little bit harsh. Are they in any way suspecting that you had something to do with the death of their son?" Hercules asked in amusement. "The situation may look like it was suicide, but we both know someone killed Leo and staged it to look like a suicide. Leo's family al
As the day got darker, Finn rounded up lessons for the day. Freya glanced at the spot Sarah sat, but was surprised to see she was no longer there. Her eyes flew to the door, where she saw Sarah's familiar back. She got up immediately and headed towards it, but someone stepped in her way. “Freya.” Mendoza forced on a smile as soon as Freya looked at her. “Fancy seeing you here after the unfortunate accident.” “My accident shouldn't be the reason for me to slack off.” Freya replied, giving up on catching up with Sarah. She'd just wait until she got back to their room. “Who is this, Freya?” Mariah asked, placing a hand on Freya's shoulder. However, she was forced to take off the hand when Freya glanced at her and the hand. Nevertheless, she still introduced herself to Mendoza, “Hello, I'm Mariah Armstrong. Freya's sister, different mothers, and I'm the future Luna of my pack.” “Your name doesn't ring a bell. What pack are you from?” Mendoza asked upon realizing she didn't know the
For the next three months, the two girls who everyone thought were sworn enemies, spent most of their time together.They ate together, trained together and hung out together. It was an unexpected sight for many, but an entertaining sight for people like Cleopatra and Ethan. As the duo stood in a room watching them, Ethan turned to Cleopatra, “I never would've believed those two would ever be this close. Does that mean there's hope for us?” “I'd rather kill myself than entertain the thought of us ever being close.” Cleopatra responded coldly. Ethan chuckled and closed the blind when the person they were watching was out of sight. Although Freya was walking alone and was on her phone, everyone who came across her knew the person she was texting was no other than Mendoza. “Leo Patrick's funeral is today. Do you plan to attend?” Ethan asked, glancing at Cleopatra. “He was my assistant. Even if no one says it, my presence is mandatory. And since I'll be going because the deceased wor
Freya stayed behind to train long after the rest of her team left. Because she attended a party Mendoza invited her to last night, she had stayed up all night and didn't have the time to sleep. So while her team trained, she spent the day sleeping. "You can continue tomorrow, Freya. Or you'll just end up wearing out yourself." Hercules, whose team if was, said when he saw her training on his way out of the training house. "I spent most of the afternoon napping, master. Also, having the training house all to myself gives me a certain kind of thrill." Freya revealed, briefly pausing her training. Hercules stared at her for a while before he shrugged, "Take it easy. Goodnight." Freya waited for him to leave before she got up on her feet. Standing in front of the stuffed punching bag in the shape of a man, she spent the next thirty minutes punching it effortlessly. "If you use that stance to fight in the combat tournament, your opponent will have a field day breaking your ribs." A fam
“Have you heard? The three true alphas are back. People are saying they returned because their presence is a mandatory one whenever the combat tournament is being held. But we all know they usually send their betas to represent them. Their coming this time is simple, to see their omega mate.” The master of the team, Mendoza was in, said, as they walked to the training house allocated to them early the next morning. His name was Ryan Patrick.l, Leo Patrick's elder brother and a master who taught the younger generations self-defense. He had been away for a long time taking care of tasks given to him by Cleopatra. But when he heard of his brother's death, he was granted permission to return by Cleopatra. He naturally had to choose his students when he heard of the combat tournament. And as fate would have it, Mendoza Barnes was one of them. Besides that, he had also heard some interesting rumors and came to the undiluted conclusion that the omega had something to do with his brother's
"This was outside. It has the name Marinette Hutchins on it. I think they've got the wrong wroom." Freya said, walking into the room with a letter she saw outside.Her roommate got up from her bed and walked up to her. Without a word, she snatched the letter from Freya and returned to her bed. As she opened the letter, she thought it wise to say, "I'm Marinette Hutchins. Although it's hard to believe you don't know my name despite the fact we've been sharing the same room for more than three months." Freya glanced at her and shrugged, "Back at Blackwood Pack, people treated me like I was invisible. Being the center of attraction and learning names is still something new to me." "Learning the name of your roommate doesn't seem that difficult. Even if you don't like me." Marinette frowned as she briefly glanced at her. Then she turned and, laid on her back and holding up the letter. Freya intended to say something when her phone chimed. So she abandoned what she wanted to say and re
Jerome Nichols' House,"We've gunned down every werewolf we know about, and for those we are yet to find, we're doing our possible best to bring them in," a Werewolf Hunter stood opposite Lance and reported."What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jerome Nichols yelled at his son as he rushed into the house.Lance dismissed the Werewolf Hunter with a wave of his hand and walked up to Jerome. "Just taking care of business, Dad.""Taking care of business? You're tearing apart everything!" Jerome seethed and looked around him. "Where's Hezell? Why didn't he stop you?"Lance adjusted his tie with a stoic gaze. "Hezell... isn't here."Jerome spun around in disbelief. "Where did he go? And who authorized you to do this then?""He had something to take care of and left the house to me. But then the man he left behind passed on an instruction he had received to me," Lance said and leaned towards his father's right ear. "He said we were in great danger if he didn't call the house seven hours
“What?” Sarah straightened up seeing Joshua and the four other witches step backward. “The barrier is opening up on its own.” He glanced at her warily. Knight, Landon, Adley and Kourtney got serious recalling what Joshua had said before he began trying to reopen the barrier. “Why do you all look surprised? Did you really think they stood a chance against Hezell just because they were Alphas? Bless your delusional heart.” Mendoza's mocking voice came from behind them. “Release me and I'll consider talking to him to at least keep one of you alive. That's the great length I'm willing to go just for old times’ sake.” However, the group ignored her and armed themselves with the guns her pack warriors had taken with them. “Those things you're holding won't deter him.” Mendoza stated the obvious. “I swear if you keep talking you won't be alive to witness what would happen in the next one minute!” Adley glowered, glancing behind her shoulders to look at her. Mendoza frowned and as muc
Hezell suddenly laughed. “I didn't think I'd ever be captured again, but just to be safe, I left a few orders that should be carried out if I don't call Jerome Nichols’ house hours after leaving.”“I never should've let you out of the Council for any reason whatsoever,” Cleopatra clenched her fist tightly.“It's not your fault. He just has a way of getting to people,” Nebra exhaled, glancing at her.“This isn't something that can't be taken care of. A quick trip to the Council should solve it once you return with Council guards,” Steele uttered calmly.Cleopatra looked away from him guiltily. “I sent half of them to the human city to help Hezell out in searching for you since he told me you were captured by Hazel.”“You… how do you come up with these things? You make life hard for others even when you're totally powerless,” Neon sighed, glaring at Hezell.“You can't blame me for trying to stay alive,” Hezell shrugged and looked down at the chains on his wrists. “The massacre will cont
Mariah gasped and stumbled backward, while Freya sat up and proceeded to stand on her feet. Her previously pale face had brightened, and her dull eyes were now full and vibrant.“If you wanted to kill me, you should've done so on the podium. A knife into my abdomen without the boring words you said would've been just fine,” Freya stretched and glanced at Mariah.“You were unconscious just a few minutes ago. So how is it that you're suddenly so hale and hearty now?” Mariah asked and warily got on her feet.“I woke up two nights ago, but I discovered I couldn't move. It wasn't until this morning that I realized Lalisa did something that made me weak. When Hezell killed her, the magic began wearing off. But when your goon brought me here, meters away from Lalisa’s body, the magic wore off totally,” Freya explained with a shrug.Mariah didn't know when she swallowed nervously. This was the Freya she knew, but at this same time, she didn't feel like she knew this person in front of her.“A
"I know no one has ever told you this before, but you're misguided. You're doing things for the wrong reasons," Terry didn't to struggle with Hezell as he knew his attempt would only be futile. Hezell's eyes were cold as he tightened his grip on Terry's throat."Hezell," Freya called out to him weakly, her voice barely audible over the scuffle. He flung a half-dead Terry down the stairs before rushing to her side.By the time Terry reached the foot of the stairs, his eyes were barely opening, and his breath had become a raspy whisper. None of the heartstealers had the heart to help him as they feared it'd make Hezell see them as his enemy. Nebra, on the other hand, hurried up to him. She held his arm, ready to relieve him of some of his pain, but he stopped her with a feeble gesture."There's no need. I'm more than ready to finally meet my ancestors," Terry coughed weakly, forcing his eyes open, "And you shouldn't be so eager to help the man who almost sacrificed your cousin.""Us
While they remained outside, attempting to reopen the barrier, Nebra fell onto a pile of sand once she was inside the barrier. She groaned and rose to her feet. As she patted away the sand that had gotten into her hair and clothes, she raised her head and looked around.The sky was blue and crystal clear, almost like a painting. Just ten meters away from her were numerous rows of houses.She cautiously sauntered towards them, but much to her surprise, she didn't come across a single soul.She was still wondering if she was dropped in the wrong location when she heard shouts coming from a particular direction.At the same time, the sound of numerous hearts beating at once overwhelmed her.She zoned out of her wolf hearing and rushed towards the direction of the shouts until she walked into a town square filled to the brim with people."So many heartstealers," she mumbled in disbelief, staring at the people who she feared numbered more than two thousand.Her attention was drawn to an el
"Hezell... what a bastard!" Sarah seethed as she got flung backward by the barrier.She waited for a few seconds and didn't get an expected rebuke."What? You didn't find anything wrong with what I said? You don't find me wh... Neon?" She glanced around to see Neon was nowhere to be found."Steele and Hunter are gone too," Knight said, noticing his two competitors were absent."Nebra too," Kourtney scoffed."That's ridiculous. Where could they have gone?" Landon frowned. He refused to believe Nebra somehow made it into the barrier and he couldn't."If they aren't here, that only means they slid into the barrier just before it closed," Adley stated the obvious truth."I was at least a few inches ahead of Neon, so how could she have gotten in and I didn't?" Sarah hissed, waving Adley's words aside."Well, it's not that surprising given she's a beta and you're not," Adley retorted, meeting Sarah's enraged eyes."Beta? What's so good about being a beta? I'm going to be stronger than a bet
Joshua's brain momentarily shut down as he stared back at the man. He had every reason to believe they were serious, but for some reason, he was hoping they were just messing with him. However, one minute later, and they still had the same suspicious look on their faces."Cat got your tongue?" One out of the two men across from him raised his brows provocatively."Mr. Hezell won't take it lightly with you once he hears of this. But if you explain things to us, we might put in a good word or two on your behalf when we report you to him," the second man across from him added seriously.Realizing that what was happening wasn't a joke, Joshua slowly raised his hand, getting ready to mumble a memory-erasing spell when the man next to him suddenly laughed. He widened his eyes a little bit in surprise as the other two joined him in laughing."We totally had him fooled," one of the men across from him laughed."He was first confused, then horrified. I'll give anything to see that look on his
In the woods where Sarah's pack is located,"You took off the chains, but we're still pretty much your prisoners, aren't we?" Sarah hissed as she was pushed into a room by a pack warrior.She stopped talking, seeing the others in the room as well. "Tell me you dragged them in here the same way you did to me.""This isn't the time for one of your incessant whinings, Sarah," Neon hushed."So you think it's okay that I was dragged in here like I can't walk by myself?" Sarah asked provocatively."Hezell has been informed of Freya's whereabouts, and he's already on their territory. It'll only take him a few hours to get through their barrier," Mendoza's voice successfully drew their attention to the other end of the room where she was.Sarah looked away from her and glanced around the room, which turned out to be the armory room."You have guns. I take it you stole them from the humans," she commented, picking up a pistol. "Ouch!"She dropped it immediately when it burned her palm and glar