Chapter 6

MIireya's POV

He was foolish. He was reckless...but why do I feel safe now that he is around?

"What are you doing?! Kill him!" Caius shouted, holding his bleeding neck.

My hold on Azrael's hand tightened. We will die! They won't spare us. I just got reborn. Don't tell me I wouldn't even last a day and I will meet death again?

"Are you scared?" Azrael asked, a smile formed on his lips.

I glared at him. How can I not be scared when we are surrounded by sharp swords? One wrong step and one of those swords will pierce our necks.

"They will kill us. What do you want me to feel?" I whispered through gritted teeth.

“What are you doing?! Kill him!”

Caius’ shouted again but the Royal Guards didn’t move. Their eyes were directed to King Victor, waiting for an order.

When he ascended from his throne the hall fell into deafening silence. Everyone bowed their heads…even me, but Azrael was different. He held his head high not intimidated by the King’s presence.

I tugged the hem of his ragged shirt urging him to bow down but he didn’t budge. He looked straight at the King.

“Put away your swords,” King Victor commanded.

“He almost killed me, Father!” Caius protested but King Victor didn’t even glance at him.

My heart was beating fast not for myself but for Azrael who seems to be oblivious to the crime he committed. He hurt the future Alpha King in front of everyone. He was committing treason. He might be King Victor’s son but what if he didn’t acknowledge him? What if he denied him? What will happen to him? What will happen to us?

“They should be punished with death, King Victor,”

My eyes widened. My head snapped at Elder Marcellus, the King’s advisor and the head of the Royal Council.

He has always been like this, quiet but cruel whenever he speaks. He was the man I always avoided crossing paths with when I was Caius’s Luna.

“That woman,” he said, looking at me. “She tried to deceive us by offering herself after being claimed. And that man,” he turned his head to Azrael. “He harmed Alpha Caius, the next Alpha King, and even claimed himself as your son—“

“He is my son,” King Victor cut him off.

The crowd gasps. Caius’ looked at his father in disbelief while I stood in the middle, absorbing all the information.

“S-Son?” Caius stood up, his steps were unstable but he managed to get close and stood in front of Azrael. “This asshole is your son?”

Azrael slapped Caius’s finger that was pointed at his face and turned to King Victor. He raised his eyebrows anticipating more words.

King Victor cleared his throat and faced the Royal Guards. “Bring them to the dungeon. Make sure they can’t escape,”

The Royal Guards finally moved and went to us. One of the Royal Guards was about to grab my hand but Azrael pulled me close to him.

“You don’t have to drag us out. We can walk,” he said, and pulled me out of the Hall.

Royal Guards were surrounding us but Azrael walked like he owned the hall.

When we reached the narrow and dark dungeon I felt my chest tighten. It feels like I was pulled back to my darkest nightmare—lying on that cold floor while blood cascaded down my legs.

“Mireya,”

My head snapped at Azrael. My eyes burn from unshed tears. My chest clenched from suppressed anger.

“What’s your plan?”

He stared at me, wearing a smirk that was starting to piss me off.

“What plan?” he innocently asked. “I am just going with the flow, Mireya,”

“You told me we would burn them to the ground,”

He pouted his lips and glanced at the single torch hanging on the corner. “Yeah, we can do that. Do you want to do that now?”

I didn’t respond. He started walking towards the torch. I watched him, confused.

“What are you doing?”

He looked at me innocently. “We will burn them to the ground just like what you wanted,”

Don’t kill him, Mireya. Don’t kill him.

I keep on reminding myself over and over again. I shouldn’t kill this asshole. He was the reason I was reborn. I somehow owe my life to him.

“You have no plan of avenging your mother?”

Before he could answer my question, the creaking sound of the metal door stole our attention.

Commanding and heavy footsteps enveloped the silent dungeon. Before he could even emerge from the darkness I already recognized it was King Victor.

“How did you end up in the dungeon?” he asked, looking at me straight in the eyes.

I tried to be brave but his stare pierced through my soul. He was still the Alpha King. His domineering presence couldn’t be ignored.

“I-I got lost. I end up in the d-dungeon, King V-Victor,”

He didn’t speak. He was just looking at me as if he was weighing whether I was telling the truth or not.

“Then Azrael marked you?” he asked after almost a minute of silence.

I glanced at Azrael before nodding. “H-He did,”

King Victor stepped forward. Azrael hid me behind him, earning a chuckle from his father.

Azrael's wide frame completely shields me from King Victor. Even if I tiptoed, his wide back was still blocking my view.

“What’s your plan now, Father? Will you kill me like what you did to my mother?”

Silence wrapped us once again. Azrael may act playful but I knew he was planning something. He may not say it but the coldness of his tone was enough to reveal his wrath.

“I won’t kill you and the she-wolf that you claimed,” King Victor responded. “I will give back your freedom, Azrael. You will live as my son but don’t be a threat to the crown. Don’t be a threat to Caius,”