Chapter 17: The Veil
“Immortal?” Said Cory.
She stared into the Prince’s bright blue eyes. The silence was heavy.
“Yes,” he said softly.“I…how is that possible?” She asked.
She had heard of a select few humans being made immortal by werewolves or vampires or even talented witches and wizards. This only happened if the immortal in question intended to keep said human forever as a consort. Hayden spoke to her slowly and evenly as if he were lulling her to sleep with his words.
“All you have to do is just relax. I’ll extend my canines and bite your neck, leaving a mark, a permanent one and through this mark I will give you some of my essence, granting you immortality and possibly other gifts, although that is rare,” said Hayden.
She listened as if spellbound. She had so many questions.
“Hayden, what of your mate? Your fated Luna?
Chapter 18: The Dale of the DoppelgängersCory felt her heart plummet.“Hayden, you can’t do that! You’re a great fighter but you’re essentially almost human before your first shift,” said Cory. Her voice shook. She was terrified on his behalf.“You are not going in there alone!” Said Cory fiercely, her eyes brimming with tears.“No, I’m not,” said the Prince.“So you’ll let me-,” began Cory.“Sprout is coming with me,” announced Hayden, raising his voice so that the others could hear.Sprout looked surprised. He peaked out from under Titan’s collar.“Just you and me?” Asked Sprout.“Yes, the guide and the one meant to wield the sword,” said the Prince.“Prince Hayden, your Highness, we will need C
Chapter 19: Third Eye &n
Chapter 20: The Ghostly GrottoTitan jumped, ready to fight or flee as needed. He stared at Prince Hayden. Prince Hayden stared at him.“What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be watching Corinna! Where is she?” Bellowed the Prince angrily.Titan relaxed. This was the real Hayden, not a doppelgänger.“It’s really you? You’re not a doppelgänger? How do you know it's really me?” Questioned Titan, the Prince’s lack of suspicion making Titan suspicious again.“It’s me! I know it’s you because I killed your doppelgänger after it attacked me. In its place, I found one of these,” said the Prince gruffly, holding out a stone eye.Titan gasped.“Looks like you found one too!” Said Hayden, pointing at the stone eye on the floor near Titan.
Chapter 21: The Vermillion SwordHayden drew his sword as the douens swarmed him. Sprout hid under the Prince’s collar. The douens were fleshy little creatures scurrying on their backwards’ facing feet. It was difficult to tell which direction they were going in but they drew closer and closer to the Prince in a circle. He sliced one clean in half from the tip of its straw hat to its feet. The two halves fell to the ground and moulded together like soft clay until it reformed the creature. The Prince gasped.“They’re already dead,” called Sprout from under the Prince’s collar. “You can’t kill them.”“Then what do I do?” Yelled Hayden, slicing them in halves on all sides as quickly as possible to buy time as he cleared a path towards the grotto’s centre.Cory managed to levitate towards the hole in the ceiling of the cave. Her hands just reached its outer r
Chapter 22: Moments Before MidnightCory sat staring into the dancing red, orange and yellow flames of the roaring camp-fire. The pack warriors had been extremely impressed to hear about how the Prince retrieved the Vermillion Sword before his first shift. That made him a formidable future alpha indeed. Hayden had been in such a good mood, he had allowed them to set up camp early just a few yards away from the Dale’s Veil. The Vermillion Sword was tucked into Hayden’s belt and the Prince had a certain spring in his step. Titan was overjoyed and more than a little intoxicated with ale. The Beta was recounting their tale of triumph for the umpteenth time. Even Sprout was in on the revelry.Cory was the only one not thrilled at the moment. She continued to stare at the fire ignoring the festivities surrounding her. The pack warriors had begun to sing in unison, raising their glasses to
Chapter 23: Alpha WolfCory ran out of the tent but Hayden was nowhere to be found. The campfire had been outed and the men had gone to their tents. She did not want to alert any of them especially not Leech. She shuddered to think how he would behave if he knew she were alone and Hayden was indisposed somewhere. She did not want to be accused of acting indecently either but she had no other choice. She crawled into Titan’s tent. She spotted the Beta sleeping under a pile of blankets. Sprout was asleep on a saucer piled with blankets on Titan’s night stand. Both of them were snoring softly.“Sprout!” She hissed.Sprout stirred.“Sprout!” She called a mere inch from his ear.The tiny dweller shot up out of his saucer-bed. He tumbled off the night stand but she caught him in her outstretched palm.“Cory?” He said, rubbing his eyes.He curled up on her palm and tried to go
Chapter 24: LunaCory was not sure she had heard correctly. Either way, it did not matter. She was clearly hallucinating. This was Hayden’s wolf but she could not possibly be Hayden’s mate. He was the Alpha Prince, soon to be the Alpha King. She was a human peasant. From what she knew about wolves, they were matched up with the most suitable partner by fate to ensure survival. There was no way she was the one most suitable for Hayden.“I’m glad you’re ok,” she said softly, backing away from the wolf slowly.Don’t be afraid! Said the Alpha wolf in her mind.“I’m not afraid,” she answered it out loud. “I…Titan said I shouldn’t bother you during this time and he was right,” she said. “I’m…sorry,” she mumbled and with that, she tried to get Blaython to head back to camp but the tiger stubbornly refused.S
Chapter 25: BathCorinna was relieved to see the camp fire out when they returned to camp. All the warriors had retired to bed so none were around to see a totally nude Hayden carrying a scarlet-cheeked Cory. Blaython happily sauntered into his tent.“Night, boy!” Called Hayden as though the massive white tiger was a loyal house dog.Hayden crawled into his tent. Cory felt her cheeks grow redder and warmer if that were possible. He set her down and stared at her as if he had never seen her before, as if he were trying to memorise every feature.“I need to wash up before bed…you are worse for wear from all the excitement,” he commented, picking a leaf out of her hair.He grinned widely at her.“Yes, of course, after you, Hayden,” she offered.“No, ladies first,” he said. He paused thoughtfully and then spoke hesitantly, “Perhaps, we do not need to go one at a