RONA'S POV
I was blinded by pain and wanted nothing more than to rush the evil emperor and face him myself.
The fact that his men were looking for my mother and I to kill us too, meant nothing to me.
My mom dashed into a secret corridor, dragging me along.
She was still crying profusely.
However, tears never clouded her reasoning, unlike me that's plain confused.
My legs were still shaking in horror and I couldn't stop crying.
"You will go to your mate's pack to take refuge, I'm sure he will hide and protect you. That's the only option now" my mom whispered, as we entered the tunnel.
Mate?
What mate?
Since when did I have a mate?
"Which mate?" I asked my mom, still shivering as she dragged me along.
"Alpha Kenzo Stewart of Raven pack is your mate. It has been long we found out, but we blocked you from feeling the mate bond, according to the priestess's directions. However, Kenzo knew you were his mate and tried to claim you. He felt the mate bond during your father's birthday a few months ago. The priestess confirmed it, so we blocked it for you. He agreed to wait till you turn eighteen. However, he had been coming to see you since then. We had an understanding, that's why I never stopped him from visiting, or buying you gifts" my mother said, wiping her tears as we ran.
How many shockers will I receive today?
Now I know why the unsmiling Alpha, suddenly became uncharacteristically nice to me.
We burst out into a forest that was just behind the castle.
It was close to a lake, so it was cut off during the construction of the city wall.
"Never reveal your identity to anyone. Head to Blue river territories, Raven pack is at the edge so you won't have trouble with border patrols. Take this tag. Any Raven pack soldier that sees it will take you straight to their Alpha," my mom said, giving me a black seal, shaped like a raven.
Its eyes were made with yellow colored jewels.
"No matter what happens, run and don't look back. Harden your heart and always put your safety first, that's the only way you can survive this. From now on, you're alone. There will be no one to watch your back, except your mate. Even then, you have to be careful. The hearts of men are treacherous. I can't believe your father did that to me!" She wailed again.
"What did father do?" I asked in between tears.
"He did nothing. Just stay alive. Promise me" she whispered and held my hands.
I kept quiet.
What exactly is she asking me to promise?
"Rona Campbell, promise me you will not die!. You will not let them, or anybody catch and kill you, no matter how tough and lonely it gets, promise me you will live well. You must strive to stay alive and live well, in good conditions. Do anything to survive!" She said and turned to run back.
"Mom!" I shouted in tears.
She turned angrily.
"Are you nuts? Why are you screaming? Do you want to alert them to your presence? Hurry to the cave, you fool! You will see a horse tethered there, take it and make your escape. You better not disappoint me by getting caught. You better not die!" She said angrily, and began to run towards the castle which was already burning down.
I staggered as tears clouded my vision.
I need to stay alive.
If not for anything else, I need to stay alive and kill the Royal wolf emperor for his cruelty.
A new found courage sprouted in me and I began to run to the cave.
I found the horse and bag filled with food and pastries.
I hurriedly began to ride without looking back.
Tears clouded my vision as I rode the stubborn horse.
All my life, I have been doted on and pampered, as the future of Flame Blood wolf pack.
I had loving parents, and servants who treated me like some treasure.
The fact that I have suddenly turned into a fugitive and treasoner, running for her life was unacceptable.
I rode for two days, wearing the same clothes.
For the first time in my life, I didn't bathe twice a day.
Bathing was the least of my problems.
I had to take forest routes while avoiding towns, major roads and cities to avoid getting caught.
I had to sleep alone in the forest, bitten by mosquitoes and fearing wild animals.
I had shifted the first night, helping me to stay safe from other predators.
With my wolf's help, I managed to escape from the bear that wanted to use me for dinner.
However, I couldn't do anything about the mosquitoes.
I just kept crying over and over again, feeling sorry for myself, while mourning my poor parents.
I found a clean lake close to blue river territory at night, and stopped my horse.
I got down and took a long bath in the freezing water.
I always used warm water to bathe, so using the lake felt strange.
Well, I'm no longer a pampered princess but a fugitive.
I have to start living like a peasant, till I reach my mate's land.
I dried myself and changed my clothes with one of the spare gowns mother had packed for me.
My skin felt dry, but skin oil was a luxury I definitely can't afford right now.
I sat down and opened my bag of food, which was dwindling at an alarming rate.
I ate the dried meat and bread which was going stale already.
I got thirsty. But using the lake's water that people probably bathed in felt disgusting to me.
My spring water already got exhausted.
I began to look around and noticed that the lake had a waterfall as its source. I quickly rushed to it and drank, refilling my gourd with water.
I mounted the horse and continued on my way.
I was almost at my destination, no need to rest.
I reached the Raven pack and heaved a sigh of relief.
Finally, I am in Kenzo's lands.
I'm safe with someone who will protect me.
Border patrols surrounded me with their weapons, and my eyes widened in fear and shock.
I quickly showed them the plaque.
"I'm here to see your Alpha. What the hell are you doing?" I roared in my princess's tone.
They whispered among themselves, and two people ran off.
In a few minutes, they returned.
"Follow us!" They ordered and I quickly followed.
I saw Kenzo waiting with some men.
I immediately ran to him.
The men with him suddenly surrounded me with unsheathed swords, confusing me.
"Kenzo, what are you doing? I'm your mate? Why are you pointing your sword at me?" I whispered.
"A fugitive cannot be my mate! Either I kill you, or I hand you over to the wolf emperor for a bounty. But before that, I think you owe me all the sex I should have gotten" he said, smirking.
My eyes widened at his plans.
Is this the dark heart of men my mother talked about?
"Why will the goddess give us such a mate?" My wolf wailed in my mind. "I Alpha Kenzo Stewart, reject you princess Rona Campbell as my mate!" He said coldly. I staggered as pain blinded me. "Now get her for me!" He ordered his men. "In your dreams!" I howled as my wolf took over. My mind went blank immediately, while she took over my consciousness. What I realized next was me back on my horse, escaping in a haste. "Ara, how did you do it? How did we escape?" I asked. A series of memories flashed before me, and I saw her transform and tear the person behind us apart with her claws, before jumping over the blockades, all in a few minutes. She also sprayed something on them that momentarily blinded them, before mounting the horse. "Thank goodness your mom packed the delirious powder for us!" She said, as I increased my pace. Tears dripped down my face at Kenzo's betrayal. Even though I didn't know his identity as my mate, we had gotten close in the past few months, and I regar
RONA'S POV "Princess, princess. Princess wake up already, stop scaring us" I heard someone calling out to me. My head felt woozy as I opened my eyes. "Thank goodness" I saw a young girl, kneeling over me. What the fuck? Where am I? I sat up and looked around. There were men dressed in guards' apparels and armor, in addition to some girls in costly maid apparel. It's obvious that they came from a very rich kingdom or pack. I looked around and saw a body of water stretching as far as the eyes could see. Wait, I fell into water? How did I end up here? Why are they calling me princess? I looked up at them. They all looked pissed off at me and resentful. As if they're being forced to do a chore they hate very much. "Princess, this is becoming too much. The Alpha king is pissed off at you. We had to search for hours before we found you floating at the lake. What if you had gotten washed into the sea before we arrived? You keep throwing silly tantrums! I wonder why you keep re
I found myself walking down a dark stairwell. I came into an abandoned garden and entered a cave. I immediately stopped in my tracks when I saw the source of the attraction. There before me, lay a girl that looks exactly like me, seemingly dead. She was dressed in white silk, almost the same design with the one I wore when I got washed up here. "Wow! You indeed look exactly like me" I heard a voice say. I looked towards the voice and gasped. The girl was standing there with a cute smile. However, her body looked semi transparent. "Who are you?" I asked. "I'm princess Erica Miller, daughter of Alpha king Harvey Miller, of the ice flame territories. Wow, what's your name?" She asked. "Rona," I whispered. "Our names have almost the same meaning. Please help me to resurrect. I have been calling for help to no avail. The only one that could hear me was you, because we share a connection. If you help me, I will give your wolf my ice crystal, to stabilize its condition. I will also
CHAPTER SIX EMPEROR RICHARD'S POV I watched the expressions on Erica's face flicker and change into a plethora of different emotions. She had been very happy and excited. However, the moment she looked up at me, her expression was replaced with fear and disgust. Despite my effort to reassure her, she was still staring at me in horror. I passed my mask silently to my Beta and reached for her. However, she took a step back, avoiding my touch. My eyes narrowed in confusion and I angrily caught her arm. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why do you look so scared of me? What the hell is the fucking problem?" I yelled at her. "Your mask is scary. Let go of me, you look scary" she wailed. I looked at the mask in my Beta's hand in confusion. What is so scary about my golden mask? I sighed. She's a little girl who has always stayed locked up in her father's castle. Things that don't mean a thing to me can probably frighten her. I sighed as the realization that I just got myself
RONA'S POVJasmine led me upstairs.I looked around.It was even more grand than Erica's palace. No, this place was a castle.A mighty one at that.We drove past numerous palaces before we got here.The street walkways were paved with marbles, there were also gardens neatly arranged along the roads and in the palaces. They were filled with exotic flowers, fruit trees and herbs. There were also exotic animals and birds in the gardens. But for some reason, they never leave the garden space to enter the streets. There were also lamps in the gardens and walkways, probably to light up the castle once it's nightfall.The gates were made of gold, brass or bronze. I could see carts filled with goods and products, driven by horses.There were also luxurious carts that had expensive curtains and leather chairs, driving around the castle.I guess they are the powerful nobles in the immortal Heaven Court.However, I'm yet to see anyone with sacred beasts or heavenly beasts or even magical vesse
RONA'S POVI walked into the room and almost gasped out loud. There was a sweet fragrance in the air.The room was wide with sofas, rugs, and pink silk curtains. The bed was very huge and had pink princess curtains which were drawn back and tied to the bedpost.The bed was well made with white and pink sheets.There was a table close to the bed with a lamp stand which was supporting a pink crystal light orb glowing softly. The table was made with expensive wood, some poetry scrolls, ink, inkpad, writing feathers and paper fan was on the table.There were paintings of natural landscapes on the wall. There was an expensive urn containing lavender flowers, there was a golden incense burner, golden lamp stands, the reading chair accompanying the table was cushioned with soft furs and was padded.I touched the pillows and realized they were stuffed with soft feathers.There was a huge mirror on the wall close to the reading desk. There was also a table between the two sofas."Do you like
RONA'S POVI followed Annalise around the dressing room as she admired the array of expensive clothes in the clothes section.I touched some of the fabrics, feeling impressed."Girl, his majesty didn't spare any expense on your wardrobe. He's determined to treat you right. You're blessed by the moon goddess. Even though you didn't shift, he still found you so beautiful and attractive that he left all others and chose you. Meanwhile, other average wolfless werewolves never get a mate or husband. Even their fated mates reject them sometimes. You're damn lucky!" She said with a smile.I smiled sadly.I'm anything but lucky, same with Erica.I lost all my family to Richard's cruelty while Erica lost everything to me.She should have been lucky, but a monster took it all away.I'm probably another monster like Richard."Look at these shoes, just see your shoe rack. They are the most expensive shoes In the world. Your boots are made with sacred beast leather. Wow! Come to the jewelry sectio
EMPEROR RICHARD'S POVI heard the room go quiet and frowned. Normally my men and the rest of my ministers turn to chatterboxes at the dinner table, sharing some views on whatever topic interests them.I immediately perceived the sweet fragrance and followed the eyes of the rest to the doorway.My heart immediately skipped a beat.It began to beat wildly, frightening me.There in all her glory, looking like a royal queen stood Erica.She was smiling shyly at me.She seems to barely resist the urge to twist her fingers.Why am I so excited to see her?Don't tell me I'm falling in love with the little bird!Impossible, I have never felt so attracted to a woman before.I could feel my manhood go rock hard for the first time in decades.I swallowed my saliva. She looked at me shyly, as if waiting for some kind of approval.I smiled brightly at her and stood up.Before I realized what I was doing, my feet were already taking me towards her.Her maid bowed before me and offered me Erica's ha