Novels by pelumioyegbori

Rowan sat at the long dining table, still confused about everything around him.Belltown servants moved quietly through the room, serving food as if his mother had always ruled here.But Rowan knew the truth.He should be on Belltown’s most-wanted list, not sitting like a guest of honor.He looked at Lena.“Mother… I want to know what this is about,” he said, unable to hold it in any longer.Lena didn’t answer at first.Veronica and Braun ate quietly, like they already understood something he didn’t.Rowan leaned forward.“Mother, please. Why did you kill Aunt Nancy? That can’t be true.”The room fell silent.Lena set down her fork and looked at each of her children.“I brought you all here so I can explain myself,” she said.“Veronica and Braun know most of it. But you, Rowan… you still believe in the Schmidts.”Braun nodded, poking at his food.“Yeah, Mother. I also want everything clear. You’re too secretive.”Lena took a breath.“Listen carefully,” she began.“We are the true bloo

Reinhardt stood before the waterfall inside his living room. The goldfish glided calmly beneath the fountain, a sharp contrast to the turmoil in his mind.Argus Panoptes.Veronica missing.Braun and Rowan gone.Even their mother, a woman who never left headquarters, had vanished into Belltown.Lisa’s trail remained unmoved inside enemy territory.Every thread he pulled only revealed another knot.He exhaled shakily, pulled out his phone, and forced the name out.“Hello… Bertolt.I want us to see.” ************************************Beneath the half-crescent roof, at the balustrade overlooking the family pool, Bertolt arrived in his usual crisp suit. Reinhardt was already there, shoulders tense, back turned.“Bertolt,” Reinhardt began, still not facing him, “I told Konrad you should come home.”“What do you want, brother?” Bertolt’s tone was dry. “I only came because Ursula woke up. I need to take care of her myself. I can’t trust this family anymore.”“Hmmm… must we

Bertolt’s phone buzzed violently against the wooden boat.He frowned, still holding the fishing hook he’d been using to catch pirarucu, his favorite escape from anything Schmidt-related.“Come back to Seattle? Why would I?” he snapped the moment he picked up.“I don’t want anything to do with that egomaniac Reinhardt.”He jerked the rod at the wrong moment, the fish nearly dragged him straight into the Amazon river.“What did you just say?”His voice cracked.“Ursula is up?!”He froze.Even the jungle seemed to go quiet.For a moment he couldn’t move, couldn’t think.His heart hammered.Bertolt had been in self-imposed exile ever since the Elders demanded he apologize to Reinhardt.Instead, he’d disappeared to Brazil, tracking rumors connected to Johannes’s last known movements, living among locals, spending evenings under the rainforest canopy, and calling Braun and Rowan only to ask one question:Any news about Ursula?Now there was.“Alright… alright. I’m coming back,” he muttered,

Lady Helga rose slowly. The shift in the room was instant—like gravity itself tightened. Even through a virtual projection, she radiated raw power. She was the only other female among the Elders apart from Gertrude, yet stronger than every single one of them in sheer physical might. The youngest Elder. The one who had never spoken out of turn. Until now. Reinhardt straightened unconsciously. Elder Kasper reacted first. “Helga! Do not—” Her voice crashed over his. “I will speak, Father.” The entire council fell silent. Even Gertrude’s smirk faded. Helga’s blue eyes locked on Reinhardt. “You deserve to know the prophecy of the Argus Panoptes.” The room erupted. “Helga!” “Not here!” “That prophecy is forbidden.” She raised a single finger. Every voice died. “Enough.” Her tone wasn’t loud. It simply allowed no defiance. Kasper looked shaken, truly shaken, for the first time Reinhardt had ever seen. Helga continued: “I am not saying L

“Japheth, you know nothing.”Lena’s voice sliced through the dungeon air. “You think I came to the Belltown pack seeking help? Fool. I am the rightful heiress to the Belltown throne.”Japheth froze. “What nonsense are you spouting now—”“Emma,” Lena cut him off, “tell this thick–skinned idiot who I am.”Emma stepped forward from the shadows, calm as though she’d been waiting for this moment.“Alpha Japheth,” she began, “Lady Lena is the daughter of our former Luna. When the Lady Lena fell in love with a man from the House of Schmidt, she severed her ties with the pack. She commanded the elders to pass the Alpha title to you when you came of age.”Japheth staggered back, disbelief twisting his face.Emma continued, voice flat and merciless.“That is why Lady Lena can weaken you. The true Alpha bloodline can command the pack at will. It is a safeguard. A hierarchy. A law of nature. You, however… your family carries only borrowed authority. It appears you never possessed the full power o

“Lena… look who we have here.” A thunderous voice echoed through the dark dungeon where Lisa was confined. Her hair was yanked back roughly, her face swollen from repeated blows. She stirred weakly, half-conscious, barely clinging to awareness. Her eyes struggled to focus on the figures moving toward her. “Hello, Lisa.” The voice was soft, sonorous, one she barely recognized. Lisa tried to lift her head. Her hands were already bound to chains, restrained like an animal. The cold metal bit into her wrists. Then she heard it. The slow roll of a wheelchair. The wheelchair… the voice… “That’s Veronica’s mother,” Lisa realized through the haze. Lady Gertrude’s arch-enemy. Lena. What is she doing on enemy ground? It’s too soon for the Schmidts to send a negotiator… especially for someone like me. “Lena,” the coarse voice spoke again, “I’d say your instincts are usually sharp. But why would you need this kind of person?” Lisa didn’t need to see him to know. That voice… the conf