PRESENT DAY…
KAILIN BLACKWOOD
Kailin was wrapped in fear. He tried not to show it, but as the image of the scene outside and thoughts of Aspen’s death ran through his mind, he became weakened in front of the Lycan Queen.
And she instantly caught on, and that caused her lips to form a smirk.
She retraced her steps and said, “Don't fight this. Just say yes to being my puppet, and we can all live as happily as possible.” Her right hand pressed her waist. “And if you are a good wolf, I might give you a glimpse of what it means to have the elixir of everlasting life.”
Kailin’s eyes narrowed within his chaotic thoughts. “The elixir? That’s what you are after?”
“It is one of the things I am after,” she replied, her voice annoyingly more pitchy. “I still have a lot to cross off my want-to-do list. But my focus right now is you, Kailin Blackwood.” Her lips crashed in
ASPEN VESPERThe Lycan’s palace was unguarded. At least, the part they could see was greatly unguarded. So they entered the building with ease and quickly found themselves in the open roof space where the throne room used to be during Kailin’s early days of reign.Aspen, with a loudly beating heart, drew directions from her memory and headed for the spot where she hid the seal. She opened the hidden spot and looked at the small pit on the floor.“Well?” Ezra cautiously asked.Her breaths now unsteady, she crouched and reached for the square base of the shiny object which would soon alleviate most of their problems.“It is here.” Tears filled her eyes as she faced them. “The seal is here.”“Yes! Ah!” Ezra finally let loose in jubilation. He and Rolis hugged, and soon, they were jumping with Tireh.Kailin, on the other hand, walked to where Aspen was and hugged her. “Thank you, Aspen. Thank you. Thank you. I love you so much.” His voice was filled with teary appreciation. “Thank you, As
ASPEN VESPERAspen had no clear knowledge about time in that peaceful realm, but a lot of minutes seemed to fly by while she and Kailin sat in silence. By the time Rolis came to call them in so that they could discuss the next steps, an hour and thirty minutes had passed, and like that, they drew even closer to the moment they had been trying not to dread.The moment two more hours passed, everyone was aware of their roles in the well-drafted plan by Rolis and Kailin. And soon, they got up in readiness for departure.“Are you sure this bag of yours won’t disturb us?” Ezra asked Tireh, who refused to let anyone else touch his luggage.“I am more familiar with the portal than you guys. Trust me, a bag this size is not a threat to the portal. Trust me, okay?”“Please, no chit-chat,” Kailin said from the end of the room. “Let us move to the kitchen now.”The portal was already open, so they walked into the kitchen and one after the other, with Tireh leading, they all walked into the large
ASPEN VESPERThe walk back to the house was very quiet. Not even Tireh uttered a syllable as he dragged his ridiculous, heavy bag behind him.Aspen greatly appreciated the silence and used that chance to think about the battle that was slowly approaching. With the gift of the goddess residing in her, winning the battle greatly rested on her.That was the truth, no matter what anyone said. And this truth concerned Aspen.She barely had fighting experiences, not to mention possessing a knowledge of how to use the powers residing in her. Even if she were to pick up some skills, they would be useless because she would not remember half of them. Essentially, fighting the Lycan Queen would depend on her guts, instincts and strength.But would she be able to win the battle at the end of the day? Because that was all that mattered.“You seem deep in thought,” Tireh broke the silence, and Aspen looked up to see that they had already reach
KAILIN BLACKWOODKailin could have laughed if the moment was not a serious one because it seemed the universe was trying to make a fool out of him. They were presenting to him a situation where he had to choose between murdering one of his people or giving up his mate to be tainted by that pervert leader.Amid his raging thoughts, Kailin glanced at Aspen, who wasn’t showing much reaction to the situation. He certainly wasn’t thinking of giving her up, but he was curious about how she would handle his death. As far as he knew, if anyone would be dying, it would be him.“I will give up my life.” Ezra stepped out, and Kailin snapped out of his thoughts quite angrily.“Ezra!” He glared at the man.“There is no need for another debate. I can do this much for us.”“No!” Kailin pushed his legs closer to the leader. “Do not listen to him. Look at me instead. I don’t want any of
ASPEN VESPERIn the past, Kailin’s kiss was always a blissful reminder that their bond was very much alive. But at that moment, their kiss reminded Aspen that they were fighting a battle they hoped to win. However, within the fierceness of the moment, she still gave in to the innermost desire to find happiness in the lip lock.So, with slight desperation in her touch, she dug her fingers into his back and leaned her entire body towards his to feel the beautiful thrill of what was about to happen between them.“I have missed you so much, Aspen,” Kailin murmured against her lips. “I miss having you in my arms.”“You are talking too much,” she responded as she introduced her tongue to explore more of their kiss. Then, with a seductive grin, she pulled at his lower lip and gazed into his eyes. “Let our bodies talk for now.”Kailin grinned, and the next second, he lifted her off the floor, her legs firmly wrapped around him. “We should not waste time. M
ASPEN VESPER“No matter how much we try to sneak in, I am certain the Queen and her warriors have their eyes watching every corner of the country,” Kailin continued while Ezra brought out a huge map from a satchel he placed on one of the sofas in the room. “We are at further disadvantage because the Queen has lived in the packs way longer than us, and worse, she once ruled as a Lycan. There is no doubt she will know every hiding place.”“There has to be somewhere.” Rolis seemed to search his brain for answers.On her end, the only good hiding place Aspen knew was in the castle where the Lycan Queen resided. Surely, it would be somewhat foolish of her to suggest that they walk into that trap, but she did it anyway.“Uhm, I have somewhere in mind. But don’t bite me when I say where it is.”“As long as it is not under the roof of the Lycan Queen,” Ezra said. Aspen squeezed her lips and