Elizabeth waited for her family to come and get her, she was confident they would come, but it never happened. There was no shadow of her family near Christian's mansion.Elizabeth couldn't understand why? She was required to do a ritual to complete the pact in two days, but nobody was there to look for her. She got no visits except for Christian and Earl. Even the maids were not allowed to come to her room.Elizabeth would have been entirely bored these two days if she wasn't worried about the ritual. It will be a crucial period where she will be vulnerable. She will have no control over the flow, and everything will depend on her inner power. Christian has been mysterious and disappears from time to time which makes Elizabeth even more worried. She wants to confront him about that, but she is angry at him right now and is not willing to talk to him.Soon the day for the ritual comes, and Elizabeth can't get an ounce of sleep because of stress and worry. Christian god knows where he
Elizabeth slowly turns her head to look behind her back. She notices one of the guards approaching her. She is behind the bush, hiding her body as much as possible. She holds her breath and stays still, afraid of making sounds while moving.But the guard still proceeds to move toward the bush. Her heart races with fear, and she tries to be invisible as much as possible.The guard looks around, trying to guess where the sound came from. It was too loud to miss, so he headed toward the group of bushes, trying to see if anyone had sneaked in or broken into the mansion.He peeks behind the bush and stills when he sees the wolf sitting silently, looking directly at him.Elizabeth, who was sitting on the opposite side, didnât notice the wolf. She covers her mouth and shuts her eyes tightly, praying to god. The wolf looks in the direction Elizabeth is hiding, then it gets up and launches toward the guard, and when the guard ducks, it jumps and runs in the opposite direction.âCatch it. There
Christian walks into the dead silent house, and the guards lower their heads in fear when he passes by them. What Christian finds strange is that they don't even lift then heads after greeting, which is suspicious.He enters the house, and the hall is empty. There are no servants or people doing their daily activities or someone who would always be ready to attend to him when he is back at the mansion."Where is everyone?" Christian mutters and walks towards the couch in the living hall and tasks his seat. "Stella," He calls out, but there is no response in any part of the house. "Stella?" He calls out again with irritation and annoyance.Still no response...He rests his head on the backrest and closes his eyes, waiting for anyone. His ears are stretched and alert for any sounds he could hear, indicating any movement or signs of life in the house. But even after a few minutes, the house is dead silent.He slowly opens his eyes, and the ceiling comes into his vision. The only sound he
Within the hour, Elizabeth finds a lake she had visited with her friends all those years ago. They twist and turn through the pines, and as much as Elizabeth would like to say 'f*ck it' and set off in a straight line to cut her traveling distance down considerably, she's not about to risk getting lost out in this frozen forest hell anytime soon.She briefly wonders what Christian may be feeling right now-"Stop it," Elizabeth snaps over the sound of her teeth chattering. "Stop it." Christian's not her concern anymore.Truthfully, Christian should never have been her concern, and he shouldn't be anywhere near her mind right now when she has so many more significant problems, like how the f*ck she's going to get home, or she's going to explain this whole thing to her family or to her children.Even though she is the Greenwood family's matriarch the side family still has a say in the family's major decisions. And they will not leave this chance to pull her down or to seriously punish her
When Elizabeth opens her eyes, she only sees red. Her head throbs and the splitting headache makes her clutch her head tightly as a groan leaves her lips. She is lying on the hard surface something restraining her body making her unable to move from her place. Both her legs are bound by a stainless-steel chain. She tries to move but the pain makes her scream in agony. They are not just harmless binding chains they have punched the chains into her flesh. The floor around her legs is socked red from her blood. She doesnât recognize the place she is locked in. She doesnât remember how she got here. Who brought her here? The chain door slowly opens with a creek. Elizabeth lifts her head only to see a familiar face staring at her with a devilish smile on the face. âI see you are upâĶâ the person smirks entering the room. Elizabethâs eyes widen in shock when she looks at the person standing Infront of her âWhat are you doing here? Why am I here? Did you kidnap me?â Elizabeth screams at th
Minutes pass. Elizabeth simply lay on the floor her eyes were blurry, and her gold-colored hair spread on the floor messily. Her eyes gain consciousness when she hears someone talking outside the door."Well, hello there," a voice says from right outside the door, presumably to the guard stationed right outside.Elizabeth immediately sits up alertly. She cranes her head to look at the door.The guards outside declare, "Miss you don't have access to this room. I suggest that you turn around."A chuckle could be heard, then a voice talks "Oh, goodness no. I have authorization," the first voice says happily. There's the momentary sound of rustling fabric. "See?"A beat of quiet ensues, and then the guard makes a noise of confusion. "This is a two-for-one coupon. What the fuck is the "Vampires d-"The guard is quickly cut off by what sounds like someone choking the throat if the strange gurgling sound he makes is any indication. Elizabeth goes ram-rod straight as she listens to the sound
âDid Christian send you? Have you seen him recently? Is he alright?â Elizabeth asks the desperate curiosity tingeing her tone.Jenny is shocked as well, she stands still looking at Elizabeth with what looks like awe and disbelief. Elizabethâs eyes glow in the dim room brightly like Pantherâs. Her pitch-black hair is now turned into auricomous. Elizabethâs questions snap her out of the trance.âI- No, I didnât, I donât know I think itâs bad,â Jenny says with a sigh. She clicks her fingers once more, and the chains tying Elizabethâs ankles fall apart.Elizabeth winces in relief as the blood flows back into her swollen ankle and bruised wrists. âWhat do you mean?â she asks as soon as the tingling pain starts to subside.âHe- Itâs just beenâĶ bad since you left,â Jenny says quietly. She shakes her hair and looks over at Elizabeth, who bares her teeth at her. Jenny jumps instinctively, hands up in defense.On unsteady legs, Elizabeth pulls herself to her feet. She firmly ignores the way the
âElizabethâĶâ Jenny says, clearly reading the determination in Elizabethâs eyes. âIâm sorry. We need you back at the manor. We will try again, please bear with the pain.âJenny steals her heart and forces herself to hurt Elizabeth again. Elizabeth looks over at her in shock, but a mask of determined resignation coats her face.A wave of nausea spills into Elizabethâs chest. She canât stop her voice from trembling as she asks, âAreâĶ are you sure?ââWe donât have a choice right nowâĶâItâs silent in the room for a moment, the drape of quiet only periodically interrupted by the slow drip drip drip of the water. âHow are we going to do this?â Elizabeth asks after a second.Donât think about it donât think about it donât think about itâI- â Jenny darts around the room for anything that could help them remove the chain and something falls into her eyes. She moves to pick it up from the ground.âI- we have a knife.â Jenny swallows hard and palms an angry-looking blade where it rests in her ha
When the war ended and the blood dried into the earth, Elizabeth stood beneath the great moonlit boughs of the forest where her soul had endured its greatest trialsâand also where it had found love.The Greenwood mansionâancestral home of her maternal lineageâhad stood untouched for generations on the other side of the continent, isolated on a forgotten cliff, surrounded by old magic.But that place no longer felt like home. It hadnât for a long time.Her home was here now, in the forest where Christian had first held her while she bled, where her children had laughed for the first time, where the bond of peace had been born from sacrifice.She approached the council of eldersâthe newly formed Circle of Peace that included fae, vampire, and human envoys from the Greenwood family eldersâand made a humble request:âLet the Greenwood Mansion be movedânot in stone or brick, but in name and spiritâto the forest where this peace was forged.""Let this land, where the ritual was completed an
The first wave of wolves charges straight for the ritual site. Fangs glisten under the eerie light of the ritual fire, claws slash through the air with lethal precision. Elizabeth barely has time to react before Christian yanks her behind him, his crimson eyes blazing.âProtect the ritual at all costs!â Christian below, his voice cutting through the battlefield.The vampires move first, their speed a blur as they intercept the oncoming attack. Blades clash, fangs sink into flesh, and the sharp scent of blood fills the air. The fairies unleash their magic, shimmering bursts of golden light forming barriers and attacks against the werewolves.The first werewolf lunged. It was fast, a blur of muscle and fur, but Christian was faster. His blade met its mark, slicing through flesh with lethal precision. A strangled yelp, then silence as the body crumpled. Then came the others. Like a tidal wave of rage and fury, the werewolves attacked. They tore through the clearing, their howls fillin
The air at the ritual site was thick with unspoken words, with the weight of fate pressing down on the gathered supernatural beings.The stone circle, carved from the bones of the earth itself, hummed with dormant power.At its center, the ritual fire flickered with an unnatural emerald glow, waiting for the final blood to be spilled to awaken the ancient bond between creatures.Elizabeth tightened her grip around the ceremonial dagger in her hand, feeling the magic coil around her fingers like a whisper of fate.This ritual had to succeedâthere was no other option. Without it, the balance between supernatural beings and humans would shatter, and the world would descend into chaos.But something was wrong.She could feel it in the way the wind shifted suddenly, in the way the fire flickered erratically as if sensing the unease in the hearts of those gathered.A low, guttural growl rippled through the clearing, sending a shiver of tension through the gathered ritual participants.The w
Deep within the heart of the forest, where the canopy of leaves allowed only slivers of moonlight to pierce through, two figures stood in the shadow of ancient trees. The air was thick with tension, the silence broken only by the distant howl of wolves and the occasional rustle of leaves.Alpha Brannon's eyes glowed a sharp amber, his gaze fixed on the bloodied body of his son, Austin. His hands clenched into fists so tight that his claws pierced his own palms, drawing blood. Rage seethed through every vein in his body, his wolf howling for vengeance. His broad shoulders trembled with barely restrained fury."Look at him, Alpha," Tinaâs voice slithered into his ears, soft and poisonous like the hiss of a snake. She crouched beside Austin's lifeless form, her hand gently brushing his blood-soaked hair. "Your son... your heir... gone. And who did this to him?" She tilted her head, her eyes glinting with malice.Brannon didn't respond. His gaze remained fixed on Austinâs lifeless face, ea
The forest stretched out in an endless sea of green, but his path was clear. Each step he took felt heavier than the last, like the weight of unseen chains dragging him back. The crisp scent of damp earth and pine needles filled his senses, but it wasnât enough to quiet the storm in his mind.Liam Black â Alpha of the Black Panther Pack â moved with predatory grace, his golden eyes sharp as a blade in the dim twilight. His sleek black coat, faintly visible through the open flaps of his cloak, shone faintly under the dying red light of the setting sun. His muscles coiled and uncoiled with each step as his internal battle raged on.Every instinct told him to turn around. To go back. To keep his distance from her.Elizabeth.Her name lingered in his mind like a stubborn thorn. The half-sister he didnât ask for. The girl who had everything he didnât.âShe had a mother,â he thought bitterly, his jaw tightening. âI had him.âHis father's face flashed in his mind â sharp eyes, a voice like t
The air hums with quiet tension as the group moves deeper into the heart of the forest. Shadows stretch long beneath the canopy, and the fading sunlight filters through in jagged beams, cutting through the mist that curls along the ground. Each step forward feels heavier than the last, as though the earth itself knows the gravity of whatâs to come.The Ritual Stone stands at the center of a wide clearing, a massive slab of ancient rock with deep etchings carved by hands long gone. The sigils glow faintly as if they can already sense the magic in the air. Itâs a sacred place â one that has seen countless rituals over the centuries. It will see another today.It is surrounded by small stone basins symbolizing different races of creatures. All the stone basins are connected to the Ritual Stone my magic.Elizabeth stands at the edge of the clearing, her fingers brushing the rough bark of a nearby tree. Her gaze is distant, eyes narrowed on the horizon where the sun slowly dips lower and l
The rhythmic thud of boots against the old wooden bridge echoes in the quiet night. Each step feels like a heartbeat, steady but loud, as if the entire world is holding its breath. Elizabeth's eyes remain half-closed, her head resting against Christianâs shoulder. Sheâs conscious, but barely. The chill of the night air bites at her wet clothes, but Christianâs warmth seeps into her, a living furnace of protection.Jenny walks just a step behind, her gaze flicking nervously over her shoulder. The forest behind them is a sea of shadowy figures and distant howls. None of the werewolves follow â not yet. But she knows better than to relax. âTheyâll be back,â she mutters.âTheyâll try,â Christian replies calmly, his eyes fixed on the far end of the bridge. His grip on Elizabeth tightens, just a fraction, as if the mere idea of someone threatening her again sends an unspoken fury through him. âBut it wonât end well for them.âThe other side of the bridge comes into view â a soft glow of lan
The icy river water clings to Elizabethâs clothes, seeping into every fiber. She feels weightless but not in a good way. Her limbs are heavy, her body numb, and her vision blurs in and out like a flickering candle. But even through the haze, one thing remains clear â Christian's face.âStay with me, Elizabeth,â Christian's voice is low, controlled, but thereâs a crack of urgency beneath it. His crimson eyes burn with intensity, never once leaving hers as he cradles her like sheâs the most fragile, precious thing in the world.Her lips twitch into a faint smile. âYou look mad,â she whispers, her voice hoarse and barely audible. âDid I scare you?ââTerrified,â he admits, brushing a thumb over her cheek. His jaw tightens as he takes in the state sheâs in â blood-soaked clothes, bruises along her neck, her breath uneven. His gaze shifts to Jenny, his eyes hardening into something colder. âWho did this to her?âJenny, still panting and soaked from the river, glares back toward the forest.
Jennyâs heart thunders in her chest, her breaths sharp and shallow. The moment Tina and Austin step out from the side path, her instincts scream danger. Her eyes dart to Elizabeth, who, despite her weakened state, narrows her gaze with pure hatred. Blood trickles down Elizabethâs arm, her pallor more ashen than before, but her eyes â sharp, calculating eyes â are still full of fire.âWell, well, look at you two,â Tinaâs voice is laced with smug satisfaction as she steps forward, her smile as sharp as a wolfâs grin. Her eyes, once so familiar, now seem foreign, darkened by envy and betrayal. âRunning away like rats. Did you really think you could escape us, Elizabeth?â"Still acting like a queen, huh, Tina?" Elizabeth sneers, though her words are weaker than she would have liked. She grips Jenny's arm for support, her legs wobbling like a newborn fawn. "Guess betrayal suits you better than humility."Austin growls low in his throat, his eyes glowing amber. He cracks his neck, flexing h