Indrik
Beta Green fixed me with a cold stare that caused my smiles to wilt as I was consumed with a premonition that he was about to deliver a very bad news. "What did you just say?" He asked the question like I had just suggested that we pull down the palace and build a cattle shed in its place. I wasn't going to be so easily discouraged though. It had taken me so much time, effort and sacrifices to get here. I wasn't about to be forced to give up by a tone, however cold it might sound. "I said..." "I know what you said!" He snapped in irritation. "I was hoping you wouldn't repeat it so I wouldn't have had to tell you this but it is obvious that you are still so young and naive. Perhaps, I ought to enlighten you." My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach as every muscle in my body strained to run, to avoid the verdict he was about to pass. But at the end, I had to stop and listen to what he had to say even if everything within me warned me that I would not like it. He smiled warmly as he patted me on the shoulder. "Come with me, will you?" I didn't want to come but, of course, it was not a request. He led me back to the table from which I had just got out, where I had to sit even if that was the last thing I felt like doing at the moment. Since the seating arrangements were set in a way that only one person could use one table, he had to take a perch on the table which got me looking into his eyes more times than I would have liked. When we were fully settled, he gave me that uncomfortable smile that people usually reserved for the times when they were going to break your heart. Like, I am terribly sorry I have to break your heart but someday, you will come to understand that it is for the betterment of the world. He reached for my right palm and started to massage it which felt rather weird. "It seems like just yesterday when you were born. It is amazing how time flies. I always knew the time would come when we had to have this talk but I chose to believe that by pushing it forward, we would never get to it." I swallowed, my throat extremely dry. "In life, everyone has their own destiny. Some are meant to be rulers, some are meant to be servants and no matter what, no matter how hard they try, no one can ever rise above their destiny." He paused, looking into my eyes like he was waiting for it to sink in. That was not happening. I frowned as I stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. "Are you trying to say that my destiny is to be a servant?" I couldn't tell whether to start weeping or burst into laughter at what I was listening to. "I am trying to say that your destiny is to get married to Veronica, unite our packs and take us to greater heights. I am saying that your destiny is to have children who will carry on the lineage of your father. I am saying that you should give up on training your wolf because it is not in your destiny." I noted that he did not deny that it was my destiny to be a servant. I laughed bitterly. "I can't marry Veronica. I don't love her." "Love is not everything, son. Sometimes, you have to put duty ahead of everything else." "Like you did?" I had meant the question to be a rhetoric one but the hurt that flashed across his features made it obvious that he had indeed done something like that in the past. I tried to imagine this man as a lovestruck individual. It didn't seem possible. "You would understand someday but for now, you have to listen to me." "No! I refuse to accept a destiny that would doom me to be a slave. You have to help me. My wolf has finally been freed. I am still weak due to having been separated from my wolf for so long but with your teaching and training, I am sure that I will be able to learn very quickly. Please!" My heart was pounding heavily in my chest and my eyes were heavy as I pleaded. There was no way I was meant to be a slave. Even if I was, I refused to accept such a horrid fate. The Beta sighed as he rose to his feet and let go of my arm. "Elder Matthew should not have freed your wolf. Now, he has left you confused. Just listen to me and everything will be fine." His eyes softened. "You know you are like a son to me, don't you? I would never want anything but the best for you. The same that I would want for Ulo." I considered his words for a moment before shaking my head. "No! I refuse. Even if I am going to be a failure, I still deserve a chance to try. You owe me that much. All my life, I have been shunned from all activities of the pack simply because I had no wolf. I have been the butt of everyone's joke. The one who would never get to be more than the bottom feeder of society. The one who is a disgrace to his entire lineage. The bastard son of the Alpha." I noticed his eyes flash and his nostrils flare but I ignored it. "Now that I finally have my wolf, I am not going to be held back by some destiny. Not now, not ever." I declared. I was breathing heavily and a tear had escaped from my left eye but I was feeling much better than I had in ages. Beta Green narrowed his eyes. "I have tried to speak to you like a father would but since you choose to be obstinate, then I have no choice than to break it to you. You would never be more than a, "bottom feeder" like you called it so you had better get used to it."TWENTY YEARS AGO. Heavy rain pelted against the windows of a dimly lit room, distorting the view of the outside world. The ambiance was filled with a mixture of anticipation and brooding melancholy.Seated on an ornate armchair was a man of immense stature and commanding aura— the Alpha— his feet tapping the marble floor urgently as he awaited news from his subjects.He gazed out at the soaked cityscape with a troubled expression, his torment growing larger as long minutes walked by. Tonight, his fate was going to be decided.Or he decided the fate of the child to be born. Alpha Greyson awaited the birth of the son that existed as a result of black magic. A son that wasn't his— an aberration different from anything Druid Peak pack had ever experienced.The gods seemed to have something against him for pinning such misfortune on him. Dilemma crept under his skin just as it had from the very first day his Luna's pregnancy was discovered, and he hadn't been with her. That day marked t
Just a few steps more, and I'd rest. I decided. If I walked longer, I'd arrive at the village and make my way from there.I stepped foot off the dusty path that wound its way to the lush greenery and found myself in the quaint village. Unlike the tenseness of my pack, the air was filled with the scent of blooming flowers, and the sun bathed the scenery with a warm glow.As I strolled further into the village, ignoring their piercing gazes and questioning looks. I expected that much since I was dressed like a foreigner— what I wasn't sure of was if they welcomed people like me.I didn't plan to reveal my identity. It was more like there wasn't anything to reveal anyway, I was no different from them, and that was what led me there.The place looked perfect. I slipped by colorful houses with thatched roofs that lined the streets. There was a sense of harmony— like all was fine with them.Tired and panting, it was noon already, and I'd exhausted every iota of strength that I had, so I dec
"Do you know me?" I questioned him as we stood in an empty space next to a forest opening at the back of the restaurant.I leaned against a tree, my hands folded across my chest, and I watched her prance the small area, fastening her waves into an urgent ponytail."No," he nodded reluctantly. "I do not know you…yet.""Why are you here? Were you sent to me? Why did you think interfering would help me? I didn't ask for your help, okay? So do what you're here for and leave. Don't make things even worse."Quite the direct one. It just made her fit more into the criteria that I wanted. She turned to leave, but I called her back, addressing her by her name, and that seemed to bear more results than I expected. What was even funnier was how she wore a smile through it all."How do you even know my name?""Do you like it here? How long do you want to keep pretending? In all honesty, I'm here for a quest, and I seem to have found what I was looking for. If you could spare me a few moments, thi
Back at the Druid Peak pack, the news of Indrik's disappearance spread quickly amongst the council. This news sparked a reaction from them as the search for Indrik began. The Beta immediately ordered for Indrik to be brought to him the moment he returned, already promising to punish him. The boy had never thought to leave the pack, and he wasn't allowed to. For all the years he had been born, he only stayed within the pack borders, he didn't even dare go five meters close to it. The news of him truly leaving brought a lot of emotions, and anger was the greatest of them all. All the guards searched around for where they thought Indrik would have gone, even going as far as reaching the popular market where people were known to go. But what would have taken him that far out? They all wondered.Beta Green thought that Indrik's search for a master was getting out of hand and he needed to stop him before it got too late. The figure of Indrik walking back with someone is sighted by a me
The entire hall erupted in chaos as they all let what Indrik said sink in. No one had ever said no to what the Council ordered, and Indrik had said that today, shocking everyone who was present. Beta Green was the first person to snap out of his shocked state, he was furious at Indrik. “What do you mean no?!” He thundered. He was outraged that Indrik had said no to something the council had decided. “I mean. No, Luna won’t be getting punished,” Indrik answered. He had brought her here after a lot of efforts and he wasn’t going to let them punish her for something he did. “I would be taking my punishment and hers as well,” he announced, and everyone gasped in shock. Beta Green looked at Luna whose face showed surprise, then turned his attention back to Indrik. He wondered the relationship between this two and why Indrik had come home with her. Does he plan on taking responsibility of her too? Luna turned to Indrik in shock, surprise written on her face. Yes, Indrik brought
Blaire's Pov My heart twisted in my gut as I followed the guards who led Indrik out to the centre of the palace grounds. It took all my willpower to stop myself from running toward them and snatching Indrik away from them when they shoved him too hard. I exhaled slowly to prevent making things worse for him. The palace was a dazzling white which was made even more impressive by the way it caught the glow of the early morning sun and lit up under it. The main building and by that, I meant the one storey imposing building that housed all the major rooms (by which I mean the throne room, the meeting chambers, the Alpha's room and, I'm sure you get the gist) of the pack was set in the center of the half moon formation with two relatively smaller yet no less impressive buildings on the sides. I normally would take a moment to admire the beauty of this place like I always did but I couldn't because right in the center of this formation, under the eyes of everyone who cared to watch, my
Luna's Pov I watched as the person who was supposed to be my new owner was stripped and then flogged. My lips pursed as I roved my eyes over the small crowd that had gathered to watch him get flogged. Seeing the expression on some faces, I could tell that they did not really fancy him because how else would you explain watching someone get flogged with a smile on your face? I couldn't blame them though because I was not a huge fan either. Who would be after being bought like a piece of merchandise and then bundled like a sack of farm produce to this strange place? True, my former place was nothing to write home about either but at least, I hadn't been dragged there. I had been surprised by his offer to take my punishment though. That really wasn't an action that I would have expected from someone like him. Sure, he had tried to save me from Bane but I had assumed it was just to convince me to come with him. This though was on a whole new level. I was broken from my musing as I watc
Blaire's Pov"I hate her. I really do loath her. I wish she would be attacked by some stray wolves and ripped into a thousand pieces." These and many more were the thoughts that crossed my mind as I straightened my hair before the mirror in my room. Jamil had shown her to her room. Everyone seemed to be out to get on my nerves. Of all the rooms that they could have given to her, they had to place her in the room that was directly opposite mine. For her own good, I hoped that we would not stumble into each other because then, not even I could stop myself from gouging out her eyes. I gritted my teeth as the brush got caught in my hair. Wincing, I straightened it and continued to brush it. Flashes of Indrik being whipped, the mangled flesh and streaming pool of blood, his painful grunts. I could not get any of it out of my head and the more I thought about it, the more my heart broke and the more my fury grew against the person who had caused it. My reflection stared back at me from th