Rose gazed intently at Cleopatra, her eyes lingering on her for what felt like an eternity. Then, with deliberate slowness, she shifted her attention to the wall behind Cleopatra."I know what you're doing," she finally broke the silence, her voice dripping with a mixture of anger and taunting. Cleopatra's surprise was obvious as she asked, "What am I doing?"Rose's lips curled into a sardonic smile, "Using guilt to trap me? What are you going to say next? Mention my first mate that I couldn't save, then go on rambling about how Sarah will face the same fate sooner or later if I don't help you stabilize the Council. That's an old trick, Cleopatra. Learn a new one."A faint twitch at the corners of Cleopatra's lips betrayed her amusement. "Well, someone seems to be soaked up in guilt."Recalling how Rose lost her mate, Cleopatra wiped the smile off her face and said seriously, "I was going to ask you how you think Sarah will feel when she returns and finds out you did nothing to help
Nebra came to a sudden halt. Her eyes followed the witch's gaze, but her view was abruptly blocked by the appearance of a pack warrior who seemed to materialize out of thin air, effectively obscuring Hezell from her sight.She watched the man grab Hezell and forcefully push him in a different direction. The man accompanying Nebra furrowed his brow and voiced his confusion, "That's not the way to the dungeon. They are not going to the dungeon."Nebra mirrored his frown, "Then where are they going?"The witch, deep in thought, finally spoke, his words measured and laden with uncertainty. "Two possibilities. Either the new Alpha intends to obliterate the legacy of the former Alpha, starting with the man revered as the former Alpha's greatest achievement. Or, perhaps, the location of the dungeon has been altered.""No, that can't be. I must speak to Hezell before anything happens to him," said Nebra. She attempted to move towards the direction Hezell had been led, but the man accompanying
"I don't like this uniform. It's way too short," Freya grumbled, tugging at the restaurant uniform she and Sarah had been given.Leaning nonchalantly against a wall, Sarah observed Freya's ongoing struggle with her skirt. The uniform consisted of a collared black blouse paired with a skirt that barely reached past Freya's thighs. On the table nearby, there were three pens—black, red, and blue.While Freya was a server, Sarah wore the same uniform with an additional apron tied around her waist, equipped with convenient pockets—she had been assigned to the kitchen as an assistant chef. They both sported comfortable black closed-toe shoes."No matter how much you pull it, it won't magically get longer," Sarah sighed, pushing away from the wall. She picked up two neckties from the table and handed one to Freya. "We've already spent enough time changing. Let's not risk getting fired before our first shift, okay?"Freya reluctantly let go of her skirt and accepted the necktie. She wrapped i
Freya batted her eyelids a couple of times before she walked to the door, opened it, peeped outside, then locked it again. "What do you mean by they might be leading a group of werewolf hunters?" She retorted, her brain temporarily shutting down at the thought that she had been at such close proximity with the people who almost killed her a few days ago. Sarah hurried towards Freya and shook her by the shoulder, "Don't fucking shut down on me!" "I'm not. I'm not." Freya responded faintly, her eyes moving around in panic before she met Sarah's eyes. "They seemed civilized and important people amongst the humans." "If there's anything I've learnt from our few days of being here, it's that the humans are also submissive to anyone with power. Take a look at how our manager reacted simply because he thought you had chased an important customer." Sarah stated, "And because of this power they seem to hold, I believe that's why they can do things like hunt and kill us without facing any r
Cleopatra lowered the phone from her ear and turned towards Rose with a confident smile. "See? I told you she's alive."Rose cast a casual glance in Cleopatra's direction, her lingering resentment towards Cleopatra for bringing Syren into the Council still evident in her eyes."I've already informed Kourtney and Adley. They'll be keeping a keen eye out for the traitor among us. For now, I've granted Syren the freedom to acquaint herself with the Council," Cleopatra explained, choosing to disregard Rose's sulking demeanor.Almost immediately, Rose straightened in her chair, her eyes widening in surprise. "You've allowed a witch to roam freely in a place filled with werewolves?"Cleopatra remained unfazed. "Syren is no ordinary witch.""A witch is a witch.""In this case, she's a witch I've formed an alliance with to help us identify the traitor in our midst. You need to let go of your prejudice, even though I'm still in the dark about why you despise her," Cleopatra replied, her gaze s
York Teaching HospitalFreya sat on the hospital bed as a nurse took her blood in a vial. It was her first time in such a modernized hospital and the constant beeping of the machine in the room didn't sit well with her. The nurse was done drawing out the blood. She dabbed a cotton in a liquid Freya didn't recognize and handed it to her. "Press this on it until your blood stops leaking." Freya nodded and did as told. Then the nurse took the vial and walked out of the room. "Once again, I apologize." Cheyenne, who had been watching, said as she fully walked into the room. Pressing the cotton on the spot where blood was drawn out from, Freya glanced up at her and smiled faintly, "It's really fine, Ms. Nichols." "I can tell you're forcing yourself to smile." Cheyenne replied, raising her brows as she took her seat opposite Freya. Freya pressed the cotton a little harder on her arm recalling the woman in front of her had probably killed hundreds of werewolves. At the same time, she r
Cheyenne's HouseCheyenne had been absent from the living room for nearly an hour before she finally returned, her apology ready on her lips. "Sorry I took so long – Freya?" Her words trailed off as she scanned the room, only to realize that Freya was nowhere to be found. A growing sense of unease knotted in her stomach as she called out again, "Freya?"Her voice echoed through the spacious living room, a faint note of worry creeping in with each repeated call. She began to pace around the house, her footsteps tapping softly on the hardwood floor. Still, there was no sign of Freya. Then, suddenly, she went towards the direction Freya had taken and halted almost immediately. A gasp escaped her lips and her eyes widened in surprise.There, sitting on the floor, was Freya. Her back was comfortably propped against the wall, and she was engaged in the unexpected act of petting a brown wolf nestled on her lap.Upon catching sight of Cheyenne, Freya gently set the wolf aside, rising to her
Outside the pack, the Pack Warriors also abandoned guarding the pack and headed inside. "That is our cue." Neon said, straightened up and ran towards the pack's entrance. Sarah got up as well and sprinted after her, but the heavy bag on her back kept slowing her down. "How the hell are you able to move so easily when we're carrying the same thing?" Sarah asked as soon as they got into the pack, breathing out heavily. Neon spared her a brief glance before looking ahead of her again. "Why do you think I called you a princess?""No one should have to carry something this heavy. My reaction is perfectly normal." Sarah defended realizing Neon was looking down on her. "You're a werewolf, Sarah. You should know there's a way to alternate your strength with that of your wolf's. Don't they teach that at normal packs?" Neon murmured and quickened her pace. "Alternate my strength with that of my wolf's? I thought that only happens when I shift? Hey, wait for me!" Sarah yelled when she real
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