Years ago, eighteen-year-old Cyrus whose mating ceremony was almost starting had gone for a run in the woods. It was always customary for the heir to the throne to prepare for the mating ceremony by training for weeks non-stop. And that was what young Cyrus had just finished doing. He had just finished his last run and was heading back to the palace.
After shifting back to human form, young Cyrus had perceived the stench from his body because he had gone for a really long run that time. There was a river close by, it was hidden away from the main road but Young Cyrus couldn’t bear the stench that was oozing out off his body and so as he passed the area where the river was, he decided to wash himself off.
He ran through a small pathway that led to the river bank and just after he had taken off his shirt and was struggling to take off his shorts, a young girl came out of the water.
It was as if she had been buried under the water fo
“Your highness, you want me to bring Yemanja’s granddaughter to you?” Sule had heard the king’s words but he wanted to confirm from Cyrus. Sule trusted Emelda but he wasn’t sure if it was such a great idea to bring her into Cyrus’s bedroom. He didn’t think she would hurt Cyrus but he couldn’t be too careful. From what Sule had seen so far, Emelda was a very powerful witch and she wasn’t to be trifled with. One word from her and the palace could be in flames of fire.But Sule also knew that it was better to have Emelda on their side than against them. The last few days had proved that right and she had even been selfless enough to save Cyrus’s life. Sule knew that if it had been in Emelda’s hands, the girl would have dropped the curse by now. But he knew that it wasn’t in her hands and that her grandmother, Yemanja was bent on destroying Cyrus’s lineage.“Yes Sule, I need to thank her for
“I am coming with you,” King Lucius insisted after Emelda had told him that she was going to see her grandmother, Yemanja.“no, you are not coming with me,” Emelda objected. The last thing she wanted was to piss her grandmother off by bringing Cyrus’s son to Yemanja’s house. Yemanja didn’t like the fact that Emelda had stayed back at the palace willingly and so she wasn’t going to be happy with the fact that Emelda was only coming for a visit.Before Darius and his men had taken Emelda as a prisoner, she had had a life of her own. A friend, Calista, a pack she ran with and so much going for her. Yet she had left all that so she could be with Lucius. And Yemanja didn’t like that.“I have to make sure you are okay,” King Lucius opposed again.Emelda laughed, “what are you going to do for me exactly? Do you think that my grandmother will willingly hurt me? She is a witch who h
The king’s carriage pulled up in front of Yemanja’s house and Emelda peeped out of the window to take a quick look at it. The house looked quiet as if no one was in there but Emelda could sense Yemanja from where she was. It wasn’t her witch side that picked up the scent but rather, it was her wolf side. She knew that her grandmother was home.“Are you ready?” Lucius asked her.Emelda nodded. It seemed that Yemanja had heard the carriage coming because she walked out of the house and stood by the door, looking at the King’s carriage which was parked in front of her door.“Please stay in here, okay?” Emelda pleaded with Lucius. She didn’t know how her grandmother was going to react but one thing Emelda knew was that Yemanja’s bitterness and hatred for the throne, could cause her to hurt Lucius.And Emelda couldn’t risk it. Lucius got out of the carriage and held the door open for her as she stepped out. He kissed her as soon as her feet touched the ground
Emelda spent exactly twenty-five minutes as she tended to her grandmother’s wounds. She cleaned it, applied some ointment to it, and then dressed it and by the time she was done, Yemanja felt a whole lot better.“You should have come back to me Emelda, instead of staying at that godforsaken place,” Yemanja said as soon as Emelda was done with the wound dressing.Before Emelda responded, she gently reclined her grandmother’s chair, propping her legs upwards and making Yemanja very comfortable. Then she got up and dusted off her dress. Her eyes ran around the living room and she took a mental note of all the things that she still had to do before leaving.Then she smiled at Yemanja, “I don’t want you to feel like I abandoned you, grandma, it was nothing like that, the palace needed my help and I gave it to them. Because of me, King Cyrus is alive and well and we have been able to capture the people who planned the coup.”
The carriage ride from Yemanja’s house to the palace was dead quiet. Lucius and Emelda didn’t say a word to each other. Lucius noticed how Sad Emelda was and he guessed that she probably wanted to be by herself. He had seen the rejection she had to take from her grandmother and he had wished more than anything that he could have done something about it.But he couldn’t, and that fact made it so hard for him. It was hard for him to watch her seat in pain. There was a moment when he tried to hold her hand but she jerked it away from him.In a way, Lucius felt responsible for it all, maybe he should have stayed in the carriage like she had asked him to, things got heated after he went into Yemanja’s house and Lucius felt as if that was why the situation escalated badly.The young king wanted to help her, to hold her, and to tell her that it was going to be fine, but he couldn’t because he didn’t even believe that it would be fine
Yemanja was the only family That Emelda knew about, she never got to meet her father’s side of the family and so Yemanja had been her only blood. And now, the only family member that she had, rejected her.It was in that state of mind and with tears filled in her eyes that Emelda went to bed and then she started to dream. The dream was barely starting when she found her mother standing by the door to her room. Her mother had come into the palace and was already in Emelda’s room.Being a witch, Emelda knew that this was more than a dream, it was sort of like a trance and so she opened up herself so she could feel it.And she did.She started to speak with her mother about what had happened earlier, with tears in her eyes, Emelda narrated the whole story to her mother who totally understood. Her mother didn’t need her to recount every detail because she had seen it herself but she did
“Follow your heart,” were the words that stayed with her after she woke up. she didn’t know what it meant but one thing she knew for sure was that her mood was better.Emelda had been in a foul mood after leaving her grandmother’s house the day before. She had gone up straight to her room and had cried herself to sleep.But now, after waking up from the dream where she saw her mother, Emelda’s mood had improved tremendously.But her mother’s words stayed with her, she had told her to ‘follow her heart’. Her mother had also asked her about how she felt about Darius.Emelda jumped off the bed still locked in her thoughts, “why had her mother asked her that question? And what exactly did the universe have in store for her?” Emelda couldn’t place it so she simply shoved the thought aside and she focused on her current reality. 
“Emelda,” Lucius called her name as he bumped into her. Lucius had been worried about her, ever since they got back from her grandmother’s house. He had watched her seat in the carriage all through the ride and then she had gone up to her room. Lucius had come to her room on so many occasions throughout the night but he had always managed to convince himself to go back. He didn’t want to bother her and he understood the fact that she needed her privacy.And so, he had let her be.The only other thing that Lucius had done was to get Emelda’s personal maid to wait by her door. He hadn’t meant to have the girl stay the whole night but he knew that Emelda could need some help and he wanted her to have the help she needed, even though it was late at night.And so, Lucius had told the maid, Vera to wait outside Emelda’s door until Emelda came out.But now, Lucius could see that Emelda was awake, she had even changed her cloth
After the death of her mother, Yemanja had been the sole guardian for Emelda and the two had bonded in deep ways over the past years. If there was anyone who knew what Yemanja was up to and what she was capable of- that person would be Emelda. But there was one thing that Emelda still struggled to get used to even after all the years she spent with her grandma and that was the ability to have her grandma cutting right to the chase.Yemanja wasn't the person who would beat around the bush or who struggled with words. She always went right to the point and even after all these years, that attitude from Yemanja still surprised Emelda.And it was the same surprise that took over Emelda the minute her grandmother asked her the direct question.But instead of answering the question, Emelda tried to avoid it. And the only way she knew how to avoid the question was to tell a lie.“Yes, grandma. That was why I left the palace. I couldn't stomach what w
Emelda sat on a little stool in her grandma’s kitchen as Yemanja put on a pot of soup on the stove. There was an awkward silence growing between them and soon, Emelda found herself drawing little imaginary circles with her index finger all over her grandmother’s kitchen table.Yemanja had her back turned to Emelda but she could almost tell what was going on. The energy from Emelda was consuming and Yemanja didn't need to be an all-powerful witch to notice it.“What troubles you, my child?” Yemanja asked as she stirred her soup slowly with the wooden spatula in her hands.“Nothing!” Emelda shrugged and sighed at the same time.Slowly, Yemanja placed the spatula aside and turned to Emelda. She stared at her granddaughter keenly as she wiped her hands with the kitchen napkin.“Don't lie to me, child. You know we have been through a lot these past few months. I do not want there to be any secrets between us. Yo
Yemanja was at the back of her house, tending to her garden when she heard a noise that resembled the sound of a carriage. Slowly, Yemanja placed her garden fork on the ground as she closed her eyes and listened closely. At first, she had thought the carriage was passing through her house but she soon realized she was wrong when the noise from the carriage stopped in front of her house.Gently, Yemanja pulled herself from the ground and dusted her dry hands on the front of her apron. She straightened her back and walked to the front of her small house, using the sidewalk.“Grandma.” Yemanja heard the excited voice before seeing who it was but she didn't need to see who the person was to realize that it was her granddaughter, Emelda.“Emelda,” Yemanja called her granddaughter’s name in the same excited tone as Emelda had called hers.Emelda came down from the carriage and ran to her grandmother’s side, throwing her s
All the guests started to exit as well, starting from the royalties that were seated on the front rows, and soon, the hall which had been filled to the brim was suddenly empty.The crowd marched to the battle filled and Cyrus took a seat on the podium.There were five seats on the podium and Lucius helped Emelda to one of the seats as he and Darius took the next two seats beside her. There was only one seat left on the podium and Sir Sule joined them on the stage, seated close to his King and Alpha, Cyrus.“Bring in the traitors,” Cyrus commanded and the gates of the battlefield opened up.Six hefty men dragged in the traitors- Gedoni, Tobias, and Barroc. Holding each of them by their arms and aggressively they flung them on the floor, right there in front of the podium.Cyrus got up from his seat and took a few steps till he reached the edge of the podium.With utmost disgust, his eyes turned from one man to the other as the men loo
Minutes after Darius, Lucius, and Emelda entered the hall, the ceremony began with a short cleansing session performed by the chief priest.The hall was filled with royalties from all the nearby kingdoms who paid their allegiances to the Lakewood Kingdom. The presence of the kings, queens, princes, and princesses could not go unnoticed. Everyone felt the presence of the distinguished guests as they all took their seats ceremoniously.But more than the royalty, another group that stood out, even more, were the different werewolf packs that had turned up for the event. The hall was equally loaded with different Alphas to Betas and down to Omegas. Anyone who was considered as an important personality, werewolf, human, or witch, was present for the greatest ceremony of all time.It wasn't every time that king and Alpha got to take the throne a second time, it was a historic event. One that had never occurred before and anyone who had the privilege of getting an invite
Darius noticed Emelda and Lucius walking towards the door to the hall even before they saw him. It was a mere thirty seconds of watching them-her to be precise but that was enough time for Darius to take in every inch of Emelda’s beauty. She was beautiful and even more graceful as she walked towards the door to the hall where the ceremony was being held and Darius could very well see that the Palace life suited her perfectly. It seemed like she had been born for royalty and he couldn't help but appreciate her gratefulness.But then, he was reminded of the awkward position he was in with her by how his chest tightened and his breath almost seized. In an instant, Darius had gone from admiring her to feeling like his very essence was being choked out of him. It all happened so quickly and even though Darius hadn’t meant for it to happen, he found his eyes wandering towards her, and the next thing, their eyes were locked!Emelda on the other hand, locked eyes w
“How did he try to fix it?” Emelda asked Lucius. patiently, Lucius explained how Darius had gone to the Silverlake kingdom in an attempt to get the antidote for her. Emelda listened patiently as he explained everything to her but still, the pain in her heart wouldn't go away. She wanted to let it go but was finding it difficult to do so. Her heart was heavy and by the time Lucius was done with an explanation of what occurred between Darius and the weird king, she had to tell him how she still felt. “I hear everything you're saying Lucius but it hasn't helped in easing the pain I feel,” she admitted. Lucius squeezed her hand in his, “time will tell Emelda. Time will heal your wounds. I don't want you to go around with a grudge in your heart, you can see how that affected your grandmother,” he cautioned. Emelda nodded because what Lucius said to her made absolute sense. Nursing a grudge could lead to dangerous emotions that could lead to drastic
The council of chiefs headed by sir Theo had now put together a ceremony that was supposed to reinstate Cyrus as the king and Alpha of the Lakewood kingdom and the Lakewood moon pack and the morning of the ceremony had arrived. Before then, the crew that had been sent to the Silver lake kingdom had successfully recovered the weird king and he was locked up in a cell in the basement alongside Gedoni and Tobias.The royal advisers had agreed to their execution and that was the hallmark of the ceremony.The three traitors were going to be executed by Cyrus after he got crowned as king again. But before the ceremony started, Emelda and Lucius were tucked away in Lucius’s bedroom.“what are you going to do after this?” Emelda asked him with hope in her eyes. A Lot had changed for Lucius ever since he became a wolf, he was a different person of some sort. He seemed more in control of himself and his mood had gotten better a hundred percent. Lucius was already a ha
“What do you intend to do about it?” Adolf continued his conversation with Darius. Adolf could still remember the last time that Darius had admitted to having feelings for Emelda and it had been on their way to Silver lake kingdom while they had been searching for a cure. Adolf could still remember how Darius had been embarrassed by admitting to having feelings for his brother’s feelings and looking at Darius now, Adolf could not see any trace of embarrassment. Darius was serious about his feelings and Adolf could almost tell that Darius was going to do something about it. “I don’t know what I am going to do, Adolf. But the truth is that Emelda hates me. We had a fight the last time we spoke, that was before the battle for the throne. She had come to me with the hopes of convincing me to step away from the battle and I had turned her down.” “Hate is a strong word you know, I doubt if Emelda could hate anyone. Not even you,” Adolf encouraged. Darius sh