SEVE DAYS GONE ALREADY

MAYA

I hugged the heavy leather journal tight against my chest and snuck out through the back gates of the palace. If reading the book inside the house made Maria see ghosts and scream until her lungs bled, then I had to read it somewhere else.

I took the book out of the house to read it. I walked quickly, my heart beating fast inside my chest, until I reached a quiet grassy area with zero people around. I sat down on a smooth rock, wiped my sweaty hands on my dress, and opened the dark leather cover.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Outside the house, the book becomes blank.

"No, no, no," I whispered, rubbing my eyes. I blinked hard, hoping my vision was just playing tricks on me, but the pages were completely white. The glowing dark letters, the ancient golden runes, and the secret words were all gone.

I could not read it.

I jumped up from the rock and ran toward a massive oak tree with thick shade. I sat under the tree, pressing my thumb against the parchment, praying for the ancestral magic to come back. But under the tree, it was the same effect. The paper stayed empty and cold.

I refused to give up. I tried too many hidden places, behind heavy boulders, near small river streams, and inside dark wooden sheds, but still nothing works. The book refused to show me its secrets anywhere outside the palace grounds.

I got confused, my eyes burning with bitter tears. Why would my ancestral magic work inside my enemy's bedroom but turn off the moment I stepped outside?

I hugged the useless book to my belly and began walking around the pack territory, looking for a miracle, but I got none. The sun started going down, painting the sky in deep shades of purple and orange. My legs were tired, my throat was dry, and my heart was heavy with disappointment.

I gave up on my search. Disappointed, I was about to return home when I saw Mr. Orlando, the grave side man.

I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at the tall, old man with the long white beard and gray cloak. He was standing right near a wooden fence, holding a small pouch of silver dust. It was strange, but I felt it was a coincidence. Maybe he came to the neighborhood for something like buying food or visiting a friend.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his old raspy voice cutting through the quiet evening air.

I straightened my posture, trying to sound important even though my eyes were red from crying. "Oh, I am the Alpha's second wife, and so I should be around the pack's palace. This is my zone. I should be asking you what you are doing around here."

Mr. Orlando gave me a strange look. He tilted his head, his sharp eyes looking at me with deep pity and worry.

"No, Maya," he said slowly, shaking his head. "This is another pack. I came here to perform some rituals for the Alpha of this land. In fact, it takes seven days to return home. I have been away for seven days, and I need seven days to return home."

My breath caught in my throat. My jaw dropped open.

"What?" I gasped, my knees turning into soft jelly. "Seven days?"

It was after Mr. Orlando said this that I looked around properly for the very first time. My mind had been so caught up in the book that I hadn't paid any attention to my surroundings. I looked down at my feet. The soil is red, while ours is white. I looked at the paths between the houses. The roads are narrow, while ours are wide.

There were too many differences spotted. The trees were taller, the houses were made of dark red stone instead of white marble, and the air smelled like dry pine instead of sweet mountain roses. In my desperate search for a quiet place to read, my subconscious feet had walked me completely out of the Nightshade territory! I had crossed borders without even realizing it.

Panic hit me like a splash of ice-cold water.

"Oh Goddess! Oh no, no, no!" I started crying, grabbing Mr. Orlando’s rough gray sleeve. I pleaded with Orlando to take me home, as I don't even know my way home. "Please, sir! You have to help me! I don't know where I am! I walked for hours without looking! Please take me back!"

Mr. Orlando looked down at my shaking hands, letting out a long, heavy sigh. "Maya, I am an old man. Walking back will take days, but I know the shortcut through the dark mountain pass. It will still take us many hours of non-stop walking."

"I don't care! Just take me back!" I sobbed, clutching the blank journal to my chest.

When I get home, I shall worry about the trouble I will face. Missing for hours, or even days, was a crime for a Luna. What explanation will I give to Edward? He was already distant, already turning away from my bed, and already carrying a heavy sadness in his eyes. If he thought I ran away or snuck out to meet someone, his trust in me would be completely destroyed.

For the first time, I thought that this rebirth thing to fight Maria was a big task.

It was too heavy for my weak shoulders. I felt like a tiny ant trying to push a giant mountain. Every time I gained a little bit of power, something terrible happened to push me back into the dirt. I was one mile close to defeat, and twenty steps dragged back. I felt weak, foolish, and completely helpless.

Mr. Orlando reached into his leather bag and pulled out a piece of dry bread wrapped in cloth. "Eat this, child," he offered gently. "You look pale and faint."

He offered me food, but all I wanted was water and strength to get home and face the wrath waiting for me.

I pushed the bread away softly and drank deeply from the wooden water canteen he handed me instead. The cool water washed down my dry throat, giving me a tiny flicker of life. "I don't want food, Mr. Orlando. I just need to walk fast. I need to get home."

We started walking along the narrow red-dirt path, heading toward the dark trees of the mountain pass. The old man walked with a wooden staff, his footsteps steady against the ground.

"The book is very powerful. Be careful with it," Orlando said, his voice low and serious as he watched me grip the leather cover tightly. "It holds the royal spirit of your ancestors. It only speaks where the bloodline's energy is strongest, inside your true home, the palace."

That was why it turned blank! The palace was where my ancestors lived and died. The book needed the palace's ground to activate its magic.

I looked at the old man, tears welling up in my eyes again as we walked under the dark trees. I couldn't hold back the painful question burning in my heart any longer.

"Mr. Orlando..." I whispered, my voice trembling with raw insecurity. "How do I make the Alpha desire me again? He turns away from me. He won't touch me. Maria won't touch me either. They look at me like I am invisible. Am I ugly now? Did my rebirth ruin my body?"

Mr. Orlando stopped walking for a second. He looked at me, and a soft, sad smile touched his wrinkled lips.

He smiled and said the sacrifice I did in the grave made me undesirable.

"When you buried your old life and bled over your grave for five days," Mr. Orlando explained gently, "you washed away your physical lust to wake up your spiritual power. You became holy, Maya. Your body is currently covered in an invisible royal light. To normal eyes, you look the same, but to sinful souls like Maria, and to a weakened Alpha tied to dark magic, your aura repels their physical lust. They cannot touch you with dirty desires because your spirit is too pure right now."

My mouth fell open. "So... I am not ugly?"

"No, child," he said softly. "But the solution you need is still in the book. The journal contains the ancient ritual to balance your royal aura so your mate can touch you again without feeling pushed away by your light."

I looked down at the dark, silent book in my hands.

A wave of frustration washed over me. I wanted to throw the book! I wanted to hurl it into the dark bushes, scream at the sky, and kick it into the river. It was causing me so much pain! It made Maria scream, it made the palace cold, it made the pages go blank when I needed help, and it kept me from reading its secrets easily.

But as I raised my arm, looking at the dark forest ahead, my hands froze.

It seems it is my only weapon to defeat Maria, even though the weapon is dangerous to me.

Without this book, I was just Maya, a weak maid with a torn dress and a fake identity. With this book, I was Princess Philomena, the rightful owner of the Nightshade Pack, the only one who could break Maria's dark curses and save Edward's life. I had to swallow my fear, accept the danger, and survive the long journey back home.

"Let's walk faster, Mr. Orlando," I said, pulling my cloak tight around my body as we stepped into the dark mountain pass. "I have a palace to reach, and a book to finish reading."