The next morning, Rosetta and Brianna were drawing Megan’s bath when they heard a ruckus outside.“Is that Aspen, what is she doing in your quarters?”Brianna and Rosetta rushed out of the room.Aspen successfully swiped some gold jars from the hallway where Megan’s room was at.When the cleaners reported it missing, Aspen suggested that they searched everyone present.What Rosetta didn’t know was that Aspen had sent one of her maids to plant a piece of gold on Rosetta.During the search, one of the people searching found the gold on Rosetta.“That can’t be right! I’ve never touched anything in this hallway! I pass through it countless times a day.”“Yes! This is a mistake!” Brianna seconded.Everyone present was starting to murmur. Megan came out of her room, hearing the chaos.“What is the matter?” Everyone bowed. Aspen hated it.“Luna, some mini gold jars and trinkets are missing from the hall. Ms. Aspen suggested we do a search down of everyone who frequents the hallway and we fou
Megan left the garden, her mood now sour.The next morning, Rosetta was fixing pins in Megan’s hair when Richardson barged in.“What has gotten into you?!” He yelled.“Rosetta, please excuse us.”As soon as she left the room, “I don’t follow.” Megan said, looking at her reflection in the mirror.“What has gotten into you Megan?! Why are you so bitter towards Aspen?! You’ve changed!”Megan chuckled.“Changed, your majesty?”“Yes! I thought maybe last night would soften your mind but it seems it’s made up!”“I thought you would remain friends with Aspen!”“So you had sex with me because of Aspen.” Megan felt insulted.“Is it wrong? You have clearly been jealous.”“Why bother? What’s the point if I cannot get pregnant? You could have just kept ignoring my needs. I’ve been just fine.”“I see that now. I certainly regret it.” He spat and left the room.A tear slid down Megan’s face.That was probably the meanest thing he ever said to her. She hoped no one was eavesdropping.“Oh, your highn
Aspen’s parents came to the mansion to see Aspen and Richardson.It was the first time Richardson was ever seeing Aspen’s parents with her.For him, it was awkward. Seeing guests with a woman that wasn’t Megan.Aspen would be his wife soon anyway.“Your majesty.” The baron and the baroness bowed before Richardson.“Please, rise.” Richardson said.Aspen was sitting beside her parents. As she was not yet his wife, she couldn’t sit next to him per their custom.“Thank you for having us, alpha. Your castle is as breathtaking as always.” Baroness Bridget said.“Thank you, Baroness.”The air was awkward, Richardson didn’t want to have to see them but he thought it rude not to see his future in laws.Aspen had pleaded with him to see her parents. She wanted her parents to see the kind of life she was living. In the castle.“We just wanted to see the father of our grandchild.”Richardson gave an awkward smile.“It’s good to meet you both, your daughter is a good woman.”“Thank you, your majes
Jason took her to a part of the city that was busier than the central area where the institute was.There was a lot of music and dancing, very different from where she was from.“Stay close to me.” She heard Jason say through the noise.On reflex, she held his arm which made him laugh.“Stop laughing at me.” She said.“Sorry.”“You happened to come on one of our festival days. I promise it’s not this busy all the time.”“Okay!”Jason led her to what looked like the residential area.He led her to an igloo looking hut and they both entered.“We don’t have any hotels around here, as we never get tourists.” He said as they entered the hut.It was dimly lit and very cozy looking.“I’m not a tourist. I’m here on an official assignment.” Aspen retorted back.“I apologize. It just seemed like you wouldn’t have gotten a place to sleep if I left you there.”“I’m sure I would have been fine.” She snapped back.Jason raised a brow.“I’m sorry.” Aspen apologized, “I just can’t believe they left m
Aspen was woken up from sleep by the smell of fresh bread.She got up and traced where the aroma was coming from.“I didn’t know you had a kitchen.”Jason laughed, “I didn’t exactly give you a tour yesterday.” He started.“I’m aware our houses look like boring huts from the outside but inside, it’s pretty much the same as houses in the East.”“Except the outside bathroom.” Aspen added.“Except the outside bathroom. Though there’s also a reason for that, same as to why our houses look like huts from outside.”“Why?”“The water can make the rooms humid.”“Oh. Which can make it more cold?”“No. Which can make the thick layers we wear very uncomfortable.”“That makes a lot of sense.”“It does, doesn’t it? Here.” He handed her a piece of warm bread and a cup of tea.Aspen sniffed the cup and smiled“Tastes even better I promise.” Aspen took a bite of the bread and her eyes went wide.“There’s no way you made this! I could never get bread this good at home!”Her reaction warmed Jason’s hea
Megan was in her office attending to her duties. Duties that would soon belong to Aspen.She remembered spending most of her childhood and all of her teenage years training for the position of the wife of the alpha and future king.Never in a million years did she think she would be rounding up her projects, giving up the things she loved.Megan cried herself to sleep every now and then. She didn’t believe it would hurt this much if her marriage was purely political or if the mistress was a total stranger.It was hard for the queen. She hated especially that they had Rhode Wales and his entourage around.She had her guard up more than usual because Rhode was always at places where only she and Mason’s owner would know.Mason’s owner had never shown up and despite Brianna and Rosetta pitching to her that Mason’s owner was Rhode Wales, Megan simply couldn’t fathom it.
“Does this mean he saw me going or returning from my greenhouse?” She asked herself.“You went alone to your greenhouse, your majesty?!” Rosetta exclaimed.“Keep your voice down. I just took a stroll.”It wasn’t completely a lie. She did take a stroll, just that she had a destination in mind.She didn’t feel like telling Rosetta about seeing Rhode Wales or her nausea which led her there.“Luna?” Rosetta called from the other side of the table.“Yes?”“Brianna and I have been talking and we decided to tell you.”Megan dropped her pen and looked at Rosetta, “I’m listening.” She said, wondering what Rosetta and Brianna wanted to tell her.“We will follow you anywhere!”“I don’t understand, Rosetta.”“If you plan on leaving the cast
Chapter SixteenRhode entered the greenhouse. He must have heard wrong.“Rhode Wales, it may seem as though your physician here is in the business of telling jokes or making jest of a person and i’m not quite sure I appreciate being seen as a joke.”Doctor Ronda said, “I’m afraid I’m not telling a joke or making jest of you, Luna. Your presenting symptoms are without a doubt characteristic of early pregnancy.”Megan laughed and threw her head back. This doctor Ronda must be insane.“Pregnant?” Megan asked and laughed some more. She couldn’t help it.The barren queen suddenly pregnant? Hilarious!“If you’re not convinced, Luna, I have some sensitive test strips used in the West to confirm pregnancies. All you need is your early morning urine.”Doctor Ronda handed Megan a small bottle containing tiny white papers.“You can take as many as you need but let me be the first to say, congratulations queen.” Ronda said as she ex
Rhode had never been so glad to see the borders of the West before. He had never thought he would feel the pang of relief he was feeling now as he stared at the border sign half a mile away in clear distance. He was happy to know that he had delivered on his words. He was happy to know that he was finally claiming exclusive rights to the West's territorial seas. It was a piece of the West that was closely coveted by other packs, and now, by a stroke of luck and Richardson's gullibility, the seas were in the palm of his hands.It was something his grandfather had tried to attain even when the West was not at its peak and failed, his father the same thing, even down to his brother, he was just relieved that he could fulfill their dreams at last.He had also done it for Megan back home, the sea would be a gift to her as he finally takes her to the altar after his return. Ge briefly thought about what his council men would say, before swiftly shaking off the thought. He cared nothing for
“What in the moon above do you think you are doing, Lord Fuhler?!” Megan yelled in righteous fury as she rose up from her seat to descend upon Lord Fuhler in all her rage.He was such an imbecile, to strike a woman barely out of labor, and Megan was filled with a strange kind of disgust for him.“She called me a teller of tales!” Lord Fuhler yelled back, causing Megan to scoff as she turned her head to look at Marcel standing solidly behind her.“Restrain him!” Megan yelled again, her eyes burning with power. She was not usually this explosive generally, but striking a woman fresh out of the labor room was crossing the line.Marcel was quick to do as she commanded because In the next instant, he was next to Fuhler, and gripped his upper arm tightly, causing Fuhler's face to turn a furious purple.“Slow down, your majesty.” The cautious voice of Lord Rosebud roused Megan from her angry haze, and she turned around to glance in his direction, before giving him a subtle nod.“This lady is
“What is going on here?!” Megan yelled as she burst through the heavy doors that shielded the council room and was met with a horde of people as they pushed around and demanded justice.“Nice to finally have your attention, my queen.” Lord Fuhler grinned with a mocking bow, and Megan frowned. Everything about the statement and situation was wrong. He had never acknowledged her as queen before, and the entire court was in chaos when he finally did.When the crowd heard the word “queen” they turned their anger on her and demanded justice in garbled tones jumbled together. It was a disaster.Megan looked around her quickly for Lord Rosebud. He was the only council man she trusted after all, and the crowd were looking more than hostile as they threatened to lynch and destroy.With her head tucked forward with determination, Megan tried to use her eyes to locate Lord Rosebud quickly before Lord Fuhler found the time to launch his newest schemes that were undoubtedly designed to hurt her.“
The carcass of the dead beast was dragged in by a dozen wolves as they tried to reel it back to camp. The smell of blood was still heavy on the air, and Rhode was already back in his human form as he stood silently and watched the efforts made to thrust up their newest kill.Rhode could not help but smile. The kill was big enough to feed his men for the night, so it was a win. As he sat under the silver sky, he could not help but wonder how Megan was faring. His last decision to put her in power was born out of impulse, which shocked him, he was never a man of impulse after all, or maybe he was and just did not know it, but one thing was for sure, there would be consequences.William rushed over to stand beside him silently, but Rhode sighed in exhaustion, a sudden weariness creeping into his bones because he knew for a fact that if he continuously failed to get his affairs in order, then he would end up like his brother, leaving Megan widowed and abandoned in a foreign land. She ha
Rhode stared at the happy faces of his men under the moonlight. They were all at home right then, even if they were miles away from their families and loved ones. Being civilized was the price they all had to pay for the life they had, but at times they were all overcome by a deep and dark sense of nostalgia that urged them to throw everything away and become one with the moon and the untamed creature within.It was something every wolf experienced as they were often forced to suppress their primal nature in order to live as civilized men. But it was more prevalent in men, so he knew every man under the sound of his voice could feel what he felt.He turned to look at Brian and noticed the light finally coming back to his features after days and weeks of endless court intrigues.He could only hope that Megan was alright back in the palace. He felt selfish for enjoying such a feeling of freedom without her but knew that he shouldn't. It was not what she would want, he could tell.He had
Rhode was already exhausted as he could feel his thighs chapping with every move of the horse he was on. He was not a novice rider by any chance, in fact he had learned how to handle a saddle before he could even shift into the creature that resided inside of him, but even the most seasoned horse rider would have gotten sick of being on top of the beast by now.He knew that if he was feeling this tired, and yet shockingly restless, then his men must be having it worse. They had been on the saddle for three days and three nights with no breaks in between after all.“How are you holding up?” Rhode turned to ask the surprisingly young man that rode by his left hand side. The young man was responsible for holding on to his armor, and by rights should not be able to keep up with his men, but Rhode was shocked by the dogged determination the boy had been exhibiting.“I am alright, alpha.” The boy answered, his voice tight with strain, and Rhode had to smile at this. They could converse now
Richardson could not help but gloat at the sight of the left state counselor's triumphant face. The man believed he had won, believing that with a few well placed strikes he had managed to disarm Richardson, which almost caused the alpha to gloat at his beady face.“We are going to squash the Faes!” Right stare counselor yelled, his eyes alight with a fierce light, and Richardson could not help but grin at the sight before him.He knew why they were so happy, knew that it had nothing to do with submerging the Faes and everything to do with the planned coup they planned on carrying out against him, and he could not help but grin bitterly.“Alpha, this could only mean one thing.” His trusted advisor Roderick murmured in his ear. But Richardson was unmoved, Roderick was not telling him anything he did not already know, so it kind of dampened the whole dramatics.“It will be alright.” Richardson shrugged, his expression carefully blank, trying to give nothing away.He knew that any slight
It felt like Aspen had been travelling on the rocky roads for days. Some days they strayed towards civilization, but her scruffy companion for some reason insisted that they kept closer to the swamp. A fact that never failed to rouse Aspen’s ire. She was with child, and more filthy and disgusting than she had ever been, and what was worse? She was expected to be okay with it! She had once tried to voice her concerns, but her scruffy companion simply stared at her with beady unsympathetic eyes that were void of any true desire to make her life more comfortable.“Wait! Slow down you bumble head!” Aspen yelled out raspily. Her voice was gone from serious dehydration. At this point she was seriously beginning to fear for the health of her poor baby.“Look, you could dawdle here all you want and wait for our captors to catch up with you, but I'm not going to do that with you, so I think we should part ways here.” Rudolph said firmly, his eyes unwavering, and Aspen gulped. She had no idea
Megan watched as Rhode and his army of about five hundred soldiers mount their horses they were intending to ride to the west. A lot of petitions were made for him to increase the number of warriors going with him, especially from Megan herself, but he did not take heed. Megan knew he did not wish to leave her defenseless so he was going without the appropriate amount of protection, and her love for him grew.Be safe out there.She nodded as he turned to find her in the crowd, he heard her, and he showed her by returning her firm nod.I will.It was an exchange of trust, so Megan tried to bite down on her anxiety as she wished she was not pregnant at the moment. It rendered her vulnerable, and Vulnerability was not entertained in the East.“He is really leaving.” Brianna whispered from where she stood behind Megan, and Rosetta nodded, her face lacking its usual cheer and awash with somberity.Megan could not help but wonder what caused such expression to overcome someone like Rosetta