CARA’S POV
I couldn’t believe it was only luck that saved me from being used by Master Kaine earlier. He abruptly got a call and left me with a beating heart on his bed. Worst of all, he never returned. Jane, the bitch, was the only face I was privileged to see an hour later before I was locked in my cage again.
The Kaine house was as silent as a rock, but grief and tension dominated the silence spreading. I laid in my cage, wondering what was happening. Why had Master Kaine not come back to finish what he started?
He seemed adamant about getting rid of me and filling my womb with his pups as soon as possible. I tossed and turned on the floor, pacing when that couldn't calm my curious mind.
Suddenly, the door to the hallway opened. I heard footsteps. A maid entered the room, holding that same half loaf of stale bread in a plate. The only thing that had me wary was that my next meal wasn't due for another four hours.
"It's lunchtime, Cara." She unlocked the cage instead of sliding the dish through beneath its door.
I gave the meal next to my feet a measured glance. A glance only because I had seen the key to the chains binding my wrist beside the half loaf. I couldn't dare stare at it for long. Eyes could be watching.
"Thank you." I muttered, stopping her too soon while picking the key to undo the locks on my wrist. "Did Jane ask you to bring me food? She normally does it herself."
The maid only looked the fraction of an inch over her shoulder. "The sender left no name, but there's a message if you wish to hear it."
"Go on." The chains fell loose from my hands, and a rush of freedom soaked my insides like a flood.
"Your life has always been and will always be your own."
I sighed at the instant, feeling his hands roaming my body with the moonstone again. I wished he left a name for me, but he didn't. Yet, I would use his message well.
The maid said what she had to say and was about to leave the cage when I slammed the metal lock on her head. She collapsed. A trail of blood went from her head down her cheek.
I didn’t think I was strong enough to knock a wolf out. I just had to be strong enough to draw blood because the lock in question was made of silver.
It worked. She was out cold. I looked around the empty room before kneeling at her side.
My hand swiped over her face slowly as I mumbled repeatedly with eyes screwed tight. "The moon and sun collide. Darkness has become whole."
When my eyes cracked open, I was staring at my face. The passed out maid looked exactly like me, and now, my hair was no longer black but ginger red. I had a button nose and tiny grey eyes.
Quickly, I switched our clothes and chained her wrists, lying her down face-flat to bide myself more time. I had never done this so openly. In fact, only a few knew what this cursed girl was capable of.
But yes, I was a face shifter. I could take the face of any human being, dead or alive, that I wanted, but my powers didn't come with rules. The last time I tried this, four people had permanently lost their faces. I had been six years old, and my mother had used her influence to make sure no one ever found out.
"Monica!"
A hand shook my shoulder minutes after I fled the cage room. I gasped, turning around to find two other maids eyeing me strangely. I cleared my throat, pointing behind me at the wrapped up burial scene through the window.
"Monica, it is unlike you to get distracted." The older one pulled her hand off my shoulder and informed me. "Master Kaine and Jane have gone for the crowning of the next Lycan King. Is the breeder still in one piece?"
"Yes, I was just with her."
She raised a brow. "Doing what?"
"Checking if she was in one piece. What else?" I shrugged innocently.
The older one wasn't sitting well with my behaviour. For some reason, she had noticed from the start that something was off about me. I had to leave now and undo everything.
I turned away first, continuing my way down the grand stairs. She watched me some more before going her way. I knew she would head straight for the cage room.
When the coast was clear, I ran as fast as my feet could take me, undoing the effects of my powers on the way.
I repeated in my mind. "The moon and sun sunder. Darkness has broken!"
Outside, I crossed a window at back of the mansion, staring at my reflection with a flitting smile. It worked. But then I heard the buzzing of a bell from inside the house. It was a call for action; a warning.
"The breeder has escaped!"
I kept running until I was far away from the Kaine household and further into the streets of New York. But reality had just dawned on me. I had no money, and I knew nobody and nowhere.
If I stayed on the streets, Master Kaine would find me. I shivered at the thought of going back to that house and waiting until the day he discarded me.
Nightfall came, and I was still wandering New York on tired legs. The back doors of the restaurant in front of me opened up. I hid in an alcove on the next building instantly, peeping at the door. An old woman surfaced, throwing the day's leftovers in the dumpster.
The fear of not knowing when next I'd see anything to eat had me scrounging for the croissants and chicken parts she had just thrown away.
While I ate croissants from the dumpster and laughed away at my sorrows, a loud noise broke the silence of the night. I paused, chewing slowly; now alert.
It was late. Every city was dangerous at such an ungodly hour. I yelped when I heard another sound.
"Urkk!"
Someone else was in this dark alley with me. I jumped down from the dumpster and approached the sound with wide eyes and with blood pumping faster in my veins.
"Who's there?"
No answer.
I trudged forward, only to find a dying man with a silver bullet peeking out of the area underneath his heart. He had claws; scary ones.
I should have just walked away quietly, but I knew this wolf only had a few minutes left to live. I also knew how to save him from silver poisoning.
His eyes shot open when I was about to take the next step forward.
"Who are you?" He sniffed in my scent. "You do not smell like my kind. I–I should kill you for witnessing this."
"If you kill me, then you will never survive that bullet wound." Mustering courage that surprised even me, I took several steps forward. "I know how to cure you because I'm anything but human."
His eyelids fluttered weakly. Life was rapidly getting sucked out of him. "What's in it for you?"
"Do you have money?"
I arrived at the Eastmoon palace a while later. The cab dropped me off and I wouldn’t be surprised if Miles was tailing me with how abruptly I had left the pack house. The guards at the entrance immediately recognized my face. “I have a message for the Lycan King from Xora, the moon goddess.”The moment they heard the moon goddess, they figured that I was here on important business and they let me into the palace. I didn’t walk, I ran for where I knew Kaloyan would be, his study.But just when I was about to climb up the stairs, the twins shouted my name, “Cara!”They screamed, rushing over to me and I hugged them back, ruffling their hairs although this loud welcome was not what I needed at all. “Where’s Shirley?” I whispered but it was too late.“Right here.” She surfaced at the top of the first landing on the grand staircase. “What are you doing here? Last I checked, the Lycan King had commanded you never to return.”“My business is not with Kaloyan. It is with you.” I glared at
“When is she going to get here?” I huffed and Miles rubbed a hand over my back, placating my impatient pregnant ass.We were receiving Ingrid at the airport. She had travelled to the North pack again and knew nothing about Xander’s arrest. “Just a little more. I know she’d come out next—“Miles hadn’t even finished talking when Ingrid surfaced with her many bags from the airport. I rushed for her, pulling her into a warm hug. “Ingrid!” I shrieked, “how are you, my darling?!”She hugged me tightly like we hadn’t seen each other in years which wasn’t exactly the fact. We helped her put her bags in the trunk, while we were in the car and she rode shotgun, she kept going on and on about her trip. “I can’t wait to see Xander. The last time I left things were pretty tense around here. Miles even had you locked up.” Ingrid’s eyes bulged as she realised she was touching a delicate subject.“It’s fine. He knows he made a grave mistake and is currently paying for it.”“Where’s Xander, Miles
I stopped breathing. He had run out and it was my fault because I had put that dagger in Joseph Kaine’s heart. I worried my bottom lip with my teeth, distraught.“You need to rest, Kal.” I held his arm, begging him to not dare leave me behind. He had to fight whatever this was, but I had seen what lacking Joseph’s blood did to him. I knew deep down that he was in grave danger. We had to do something fast. “I won’t die today.” He kissed my cheek tenderly. “Promise me you’ll show up for breakfast.”I thought about it for a second. Being at a table with Shirley made poop more inviting. Though I was eager to see Kal’s next move. Would he fight for whatever we have that we couldn’t seem to get over?“I promise.”He smiled at me, taking his time to let go of my hand until our fingertips parted. I smiled back and offered a tiny wave, wary of the hope I felt inside my heart. Kaloyan would choose me this time around. He had just made a mistake the last time. He just needed to see Shirley’s
I snatched the amulet from his neck while he fell lifeless on the ground. The mask wore off and Miles began to understand what was happening.“What were you thinking, Cara?! That was too dangerous—“I wore the amulet and breathed in power. It coursed through me. Miles stopped in his tracks because he could see it too, what was currently happening. I was becoming one with the gods item. And this had not happened before. “Cara,” he muttered.And I smiled, chest rising and falling hard as I declared, “It’s finally mine, Miles. I’m the rightful Queen of Arzdith Valley and Salems power flows through me!”“No!” Our head snapped to the piercing scream we heard. Reagan bounded over. She slid to the ground at Joseph’s side, shaky hands holding him close. It was weird seeing her this way.I didn’t know evil was capable of loving someone, but I guess it was true. In their own twisted way, they had loved each other. The rest of the protectors and the black guards and Dax’s army dashed over, so
The moon goddess was right. I was in the wrong place. The back of the line was not meant for me. I should be looking for Joseph Kaine and cutting deep into his throat. If it was Reagan I found first, even better. I grabbed a sun sword from the ground. The black guard that had been carrying it was dead on the floor. His green eyes were open and lifeless. I said a prayer for his soul as I stepped over him.“Argh!” I screamed, fighting with all my might and casting the fire spell which consumed the blade of my sword. I was slashing through demons at a rate of knots. The fire was destabilising them, giving me the advantage of speed when it should have been the other way around. At the back of my mind, I knew there was something I had to do. Who led the demon army? That question was yet to be answered. I had seen Joseph, Xander and Reagan conniving at the Silver Eye pack, but it seemed I had missed out on the last piece in the band of evils. Two demons came at me. I used my eyes to con
Kaloyan and Miles got down, followed by Sky. I stayed in the backseat, holding the twins close as they approached the cloaked figure. The streets were dark and lonely. There was mist floating in the path ahead of us. A chill coursed through my spine. I didn’t want any more danger. I needed a breather. A moment with my family again—even though, technically, they were no longer mine. When I saw the three of them bowing to the cloaked figure, curiosity had me getting down from the car. I put Jared in charge. He was more mischievous than his brother, but Jardran could never control Jared.“Kal, what’s going on?”I gasped and lost a step when I saw the face underneath the hood. She was as magnificent as Reagan was back in the Silver Eye pack. I gaped at her glittering pale skin and blue eyes. There was no doubt who this was. The one whom only the six protectors were given the luxury of speaking to face-to-face.“Oh my God, you’re Xora. The moon…the moon goddess.” I bowed my head so low