LOGINARIA’S POV:“Ugh!” The sharp pain in my head and shoulders pressed me back into bed. It took a few seconds and gentle efforts to open my eyes and I immediately recognized my environment, as well as remembered Nana stabbing a needle into my shoulder.“Argh!” My groans were faint, but somehow, it cued Nana and Elle into the room. “What is going on? What did you do that for?” I rapidly threw questions at her.“Welcome back, Aria. I hope your long rest was peaceful,” Nana pulled the drawer beside my bed and turned a cup of beverage. I pulled back and raised a brow.“You must think I am crazy to accept anything from you. What is going on?”Nana smiled. “I am not going to hurt you, Aria,”“You have done it before, what is stopping you from doing it again?”She cleared her throat. “Because if I wanted to, a week of unconsciousness is enough for me to do that,”“What? A week?” my eyes dashed to the digital clock that was always beside the bed. Nana was not lying, the clock’s calendar said so.
DRAVEN’S POV: “All of you are very unbelievable!” I got up and slammed my hand on the table. “I just lost my child and the killer escaped from prison, dodging her sentence and what you are here to discuss is how I have no heir and no bride?” the disbelief in my tone was exaggerated.“We all are mourning the princess and the Luna’s involvement in her passing, but that does not mean that we will close our eyes to the reality of the situation.”“And the reality is?” I jumped into the eldest councilman’s sentence.“That with everything that we are going through…that YOU are going through,” his emphasis drove a message, “the pack is vulnerable.”“We could be attacked and we fear you have no heir and even you are barely in the right frame of mind to ward off enemies.” Another chimed in.“No one would dare to attack us and if they do, I’ll be waiting.” I stormed out of the room, refusing to hear any more of their nonsense.I locked myself in Ella’s room. For the first time since Hele
DRAVEN’S POV:It killed me to pronounce death on her, but it was either that, or I get dethroned and accused of having a hand in my daughter’s death. I stormed out of the council room into my room and Ragner followed me.“You’re not actually going to execute her, are you?” he slammed the door behind him.I turned and stared at him. “Do we do anything outside the council room pronouncements?” I probed.“You have to be joking,” Ragner was visibly pissed. “She’s here on a one-year contract. You and I know she did not kill Ella. The least you can do if you no longer want her is to send her away, not execute her.”His tone was rising. I recognized that voice. The one that was not speaking as Beta, but as friends who had grown up together and knew every little detail about each other.“You think I want this?” I snapped, equally letting out my frustration, “You think it’s easy for me to go from sleeping with her to watching her get roasted on a stake?” The quick shift in Ragner’s look was wh
ARIA’S POV:“Make sure you do not speak a word of anything you’ve seen here to Elle,” Nana warned strongly. She did not let me speak. Quite frankly, I had nothing to say as I did not fully understand what I was looking at.“Common now, let’s go,” she led me out of her room and I quietly followed. I felt weak in my joints.“Nana, you’re never late for meals,” Elle’s voice had a lining of worry around it.“Yes baby. Nana was dozing off. Thanks to Aunt Aria for waking me up. Let’s eat.” She took her seat. I was quiet all through the meal.I watched Elle and Nana talk about things I did not understand, laughing loudly over the meal. They had their little circle, recounting memories, while I tried to determine the meaning of the candle lights and red gems I sighted in Nana’s room.“Are you okay?” Nana finally spoke to me when the meal was over.I nodded and cleared the plates. Elle helped me and rushed to grab a stool, pulling it to the kitchen sink.“What are you doing?”“I do the dishes
ARIA’S POV: I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. I strictly followed the words of the stranger—I did not dare to look back. My wolf abilities were at its peak. My speed had doubled and my heart rate was trying very hard to meet up.About an hour later, after almost transforming into a wolf, my legs began to give way. They were now shaky and could no longer carry me. I was just about to give up, when I sighted a cottage not very far away.I grew weaker as I approached the cottage and collapsed right at the entrance. I felt my consciousness slowly leave me. With the last strength in me, I knocked on the door, lying almost motionless on the balcony.I blinked my eyes the first couple of times and everything was blurry. “She’s waking up. I need to go get mum,” I heard a tiny voice that sounded distant, then footsteps followed, until I could no longer hear them.“Ugh,” I groaned in pain, forcing my eyes open. The first thing my eyes caught was the white ceiling and then the walls, whi
ARIA’S POV:“I didn't know the little girl. I came here in the hope to get to know her, but the few times I got to spend with her, I knew there was something that did not sit well with that girl,” Violetta's voice was shaky, as she sat and testified.“Her love and gravitation towards Aria…it felt…forced. Like she was under strict instructions to love her.”“Ella was too young to have her mother replaced just like that,” she began sobbing, “my sister would never have wanted that. No mother would want that for their child,”Violetta had begun sobbing so hard, the judge ordered that she be pulled away softly and consoled.“Miss Aria,” the judge ordered me to the stand the second time.“Are you ready to tell us what happened now?” It was the very question he had introduced for the first time that I couldn't seem to comprehend or respond to.“I don't understand what you're talking about and I don't know what happened. What I have said is what I know. We were together the entire day, until
ARIA'S POV:All night, I laid in the infirmary pondering on Ragner's question. Sometimes, I paused to ask myself why I was so invested in Ella–a girl I had just met, but then the answer was the same all the time and quite obvious.I was that girl who had to suffer consequences for my father's actio
DRAVEN’S POV;“Draven!” Ragner yelled, running after me through the hallway. I did not stop—I could not. “Draven!” Ragner caught up with me, pulling me into a room that hadn’t been used in forever. “What is wrong with you?” he questioned, pressing against the door.“She…she…” I struggled for breath.
ARIA’S POV;I shivered like a wet puppy in his arms as he took off my robe. He lifted me to my feet and I bowed my head, unable to deal with the fact that he had seen me naked in a few minutes, more times than I had seen myself in all my life.“Don’t yell. I’m just going to pop this back into the s
ARIA'S POV:“Ahhhhh!” I yelled at the top of my voice. The only thing preventing me from jumping out of my skin was his arms firmly wrapped around me.He jumped up, startled, then freed his arms. I watched him act very nonchalant, stretching out. “It's too early for tantrums,” he said, dropping fro







