(Katniss)“MY LITTLE wolf…”I woke up catching my breath. It happened again. I heard that voice again. It had been a month since mom’s funeral. The war with the vampires ended. There was peace in the kingdom now. My life should have gone back to normal but it didn’t.It was like everyone around me was busy moving on except for me. Their lives went on. Mine didn’t.There were times when I could hardly breathe, when I would wake up in the middle of the night as if somebody was calling me. I feel like there was something very important that I’d been forgetting, like there was a place where I should be and it was definitely not this castle.I stared at the window. My forehead creased. I remember closing them before I slept but they were open now. The cold breeze was getting inside.I glanced at the digital clock. It was almost twelve midnight. I put on my robe and went to the balcony. I climbed up the baluster and gazed at the moonless sky. I feel like I’ve done this before.These days, n
MY chest ached and my throat tightened. Maybe the stranger was right. The weight of the crown was heavier than I imagined. Dad used to tell me that there were pros and cons of being the alpha queen but so far, all I’d been experiencing were the cons. The stranger wanted me to let go, but I didn’t release his arm yet. “Where is the devil now? Does he really exist? I want to meet him.” “What for? To make a wish? To avenge?” “No. The story you told me was one-sided. I want to ask him about the woman. I want to meet the woman, too. How are you so sure that the woman didn’t love the devil just because she pushed him away? Do you really believe that the devil is the only one withering away?” I could feel the man’s hard gaze on me. “The woman was loved by the moon goddess so much that it was impossible for her to simply wither away.” I scoffed. “Everyone said that the moon goddess loves me, too, but look at me now. Many women in this kingdom envies me, saying that I have everything. Th
“EARL pointed the wrong man when you arrived at mom’s room. I know it broke his heart to do it. It was wrong but I also know that he did that to protect mom’s memories and to protect our family. I’m sure the vampire king had something against our mother which led her to do that.”My stomach flipped. The moment I heard those words, something flickered in my mind. It was a blurry image of a man. I couldn’t see his face but I could see his eyes clearly. They were gold and they were so beautiful but those eyes were looking back at me with such agony as if he had seen it coming, as if he had been expecting that I would hurt him.“I didn’t know happiness until you smiled and showed me that you are happy. I wanted you to be happy because I felt that seeing you happy would make me happy, too. You see it’s not about you. It’s about me. That’s why you don’t have to thank me, little wolf.”Those words suddenly rang in my ears. It was that same voice I kept hearing night after night. Those words
‘BREATHE, little wolf. You are going to be okay.’I did as I was told but the devil lied. No matter how many times I breathe, I still feel worse. I don’t think I would ever be okay again. I laid onto the ground and gazed at the sky. In my head, I kept hearing the devil’s voice.The past conversations I had with him played in my mind.Everything was slowly coming back to me. Little by little, I’m starting to remember things except for his name.‘How long are you going to stay with me?’ I remembered asking him once.Again, I couldn’t see his face but I could see his eyes. They were shining as they looked at me as if I was the only thing that mattered in the world.‘Until the end if you want me to.’‘I already heard that lie before.’‘I don’t lie. Between the two of us, little wolf, I’m not going to be the first to let go. I will hold on only if you want me to and let you go if you ask me to.’I closed my eyes. In my head, I could hear the ministers and my brothers calling out to me but
SOMETHING had changed. When we turned around to the alpha queen, her palms were bleeding and she was sweating so hard as if she ran here. She looked pale. Despite that, we could all see that she was happy. Her eyes were glowing. She could have gotten here faster had she shifted but she didn’t.For some reason, we couldn’t feel her wolf tonight.“What happened to your wolf, your majesty?” I asked what every hybrid was dying to ask.“The journal didn’t work.” Her voice broke. “Even if I found out his name, nothing came to my mind. I couldn’t locate him. I couldn’t remember his face. I’m not like your king. I can’t make spells but I know that to counter every spell, a sacrifice has to be made. Luckily, there’s a full moon tonight.”“Are you saying that you sacrificed your wolf?” Onyx asked, he looked astounded.Katniss looked away. “At least I remembered now. It was a hard journey back home but I’m… glad to be home.”The tower was cursed. It may be the biggest and the tallest tower in th
(Felipe)“IN our next lives, let’s see each other again. Goodbye for now, brothers,” I whispered as the ground shook uncontrollably, every quake was getting stronger. We were now freed from His Grace’s spell which meant that he would soon lose control of his powers and go berserk but none of us left the tower.We are a family. We are one here. We would either die or live together, there was no in between.My only regret was letting my student in. If all of us ever get to meet in the underworld, I’m certain that His Grace would wring our necks once he sees his beloved woman with us there.But even if we were free now, all the doors and windows were closed. Unless His Grace opened them, there was no way we could get in.We stood side by side as we waited for our doom. Drake and Khal’s shoulders jerked as they tried to hold back their cries.Onyx’s jaw clenched when he looked at us. “It had been one hell of a journey. Until next time, brothers.”Walter smiled; a lone tear ran down his ch
(Katniss)‘BEFORE you go out there, let me warn you, Katniss. His Grace had changed. He is currently experiencing the repercussions from absorbing the forbidden mana. He could end up hurting you,’ Khal told me before we left the palace.‘His Grace would not do that! Look at her. He woke up beside her and all the strands of her hair are still a hundred percent intact! He didn’t send her flying away unlike us,’ Felipe argued.‘We should be thankful he didn’t kill us. If the man in the prediction came true, we would have been dead by now,’ Onyx butted in. ‘I’d like to believe that the man you had fallen in love with is still there, Katniss, but he is probably drowning inside from the darkness. With your help, I think it’s still possible to pull him back into the light. It will be very difficult, though.’ He narrowed his eyes as if he was testing me. ‘Are you still up for it?’‘I will take whatever pain he’ll give. I deserve it anyway.’ I took a deep breath. ‘With all the things that took
ALL those motivational talks flew out the window when I woke up the next day and found myself chained around a massive tree. I knew something was wrong when Blade and I held hands last night and something flickered in his eyes.Before I knew it, I passed out when he blew something on my face only to catch myself in this situation. The tree was a mile away from the palace but from here, I could already hear the sound of the women laughing their hearts out.The devil must be having a party and it seemed like my invitation got lost somewhere. I gritted my teeth as the laughter went on.“Oh, you’re up?” Sir Felipe asked. “Then would you mind giving us a hand here? We can’t break the fucking spell but maybe you can.”When I turned to the palace gates, I was stunned when I saw that the hybrids were hung upside down there. I freed myself from the chains and ran to the hybrids’ direction. After seeing their situation and after remembering Blade’s victims last night, I was somehow relieved. B