Feeling like a fool, Annabella stood there, feet planted to the ground while she watched another woman make her way down the aisle towards them. She knew now that she didn't belong there. But she had to see this for herself. Who was this mystery woman that the king said was his second-chance mate? Anna realized this moment she was about to witness would be etched in her mind for the rest of her life. She wondered how long the king was sneaking off behind her back with this woman when he was supposed to be engaged to her. Maybe she should just give up, she reflected to herself, but then her son kicked, and her soul mourned. Whatever fairytale she thought she would have with the king was over. Her child won't ever have the opportunity to grow up in the two-parent household she dreamed of for him. Anna glanced at King Kanyon and seeing that handsome smile on his face while he watched this woman strolled up to him made her sick. Annabella knew then and there she wasn't strong enough to
The silence washed over the spectators like a grand tsunami. Kanyon fixed the crown on Jessica's head before leading her to sit on her throne. Shamus was still standing, and he grimaced and with his eyeballs settled on the king, he began to slow clap. "Splendid! This was a brilliant performance, Your Majesty. You gave us the best wine in the land and fed us the rarest delicacy, but this has to be the sweetest dessert I've ever tasted." "What are you babbling about, Elder Shamus?" Kanyon scowled. "Do you think because you are king you can do as you please?" he asked. "This is why I always believed you aren't fit to rule." he mumbled under his breath. "So you feel like helping anyone again try to usurp me?" Kanyon barked. "I knew you always thought I had a hand in the rebellion against you, but I did not.""All I need is some proof, and then you'll be off the council and behind bars where you belong." "THAT'S ENOUGH!" Constance boomed. "King Kanyon even though you say the young l
Everyone in the crowd kept their eyes on Constance as she made her way to the altar. This certainly felt like a dream to her, and she wondered for a moment if she had heard the king right. Was his bride really a Blackwood?The thought lingered heavily in the priestess's mind. All her plans she had for that kingdom were now going up in flames. The priestess stood before Jessica, who had to tilt her head upwards to stare into Constance's purple eyes. Constance gripped her chin and looked over every inch and nook of her face. "She does look a lot like the late Queen Eleanor," she hissed. "That's because my wife is the niece of my late wife, Queen Eleanor Blackwood," Kanyon announced. "Jessica's mother and the late queen were identical twins," Kanyon stated. The audience stayed silent while they tuned in. "So you see, my new wife was born a royal. I could not have chosen a more worthy woman to be my queen than her."The other council members voiced their agreement. This was wonderful ne
"Is it truly over?" Jessica asked as she lay down in bed with her husband. She rested her head on his chest while he lounged on his back, looking up at the ceiling. Kanyon used a hand to stroke the top of his wife's head, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yes, my love. It's over now. You don't have to worry about Magda hurting you ever again.”Three days had gone by since Magda was executed. She was beheaded in the town square in front of everyone. Jessica felt satisfied, but she still couldn't get the twin's screams out of her head. The council members couldn't believe that this woman was the mastermind behind the murders of Eleanor and the others. "I'm just so tired, though," Jessica yawned. "I know. Close your eyes and try to get some sleep. I have a meeting with Cameron in an hour,” he kissed the top of her head. "OK," Jessica yawned again. Kanyon waited for her to fall asleep before he left her to go meet with Cameron.******"What did you find out?" Kanyon asked Cam as he w
"Forgive me, ma'am, but do you have the payment?" The guard at the high security prison asked the woman everybody seemed so afraid of.They were standing under the stone bridge, out of sight as they did their exchange. "Of course I do," Constance scoffed. "Can you get me inside without anyone seeing me or not?" She demanded. It would have been so easy to use her powers if the prison wasn't protected from all forms of magic. "Yes I can, but I need the payment first." The guard gulped, afraid that the priestess would kill him for commanding her like this. "Here," she dropped the pouch with the thirty pieces of gold and waited for him to pick it up. "Are you going to count it?" "No. I trust you," the guard grinned. "Now follow me and keep your head cloaked."Constance did as the guard told her and even though the night was cool with dewdrops settling on her coat, she kept up with his pace with only one thing on her mind. To free the man who would fix the kingdom. "Wait! Am I suppose
"Please tell me again what happened. And start from the beginning," Kanyon huffed as he stood over the hospital bed with a distraught Anna lying in it. "How many times will I have to go over this?" Anna snapped, her voice hoarse from all her dramatic crying. "I was sleeping when Dr. Mullings came to the cells. My wolf woke me up and alerted me of danger," she gulped, clutching her belly as she spoke. Kanyon placed a hand on her palm. "Breathe, Anna," he stated. "You don't have to rush. Take your time." Cameron was standing at the door with his arms crossed at his chest, his beast sniffing the air, trying to detect whether the she-wolf was telling the truth or not. "I'm so sorry. I just can't get the images of the doctor killing those nurses out of my mind." Anna shook her head as her face contorted into an ugly version of herself while she sobbed uncontrollably. The king waited for her to calm down, and then he listened to the rest of her story. "The moment I opened my eyes l
Six months had passed, and Kanyon wasn't anywhere close to finding the whereabouts of Jarvis. Many of the claimed eyewitnesses came from the priestess. It was always a friend here who informed her, or an acquaintance who owed her a favour, but all of her tips led to dead-ends. It was Shamus, however, who got info about a strange man with a distinguished scar on his face who was seen eating a pig raw. Kanyon knew immediately that it was Jarvis. That weirdo always had a liking for eating raw meat in his human form. "I need him found now!" Kanyon growled as he slammed down his fists onto the long rectangular table in his conference room. He was in one of his moods since he lost two of his men by Jarvis’s hands. They had ambushed Jarvis in a town called Willow Crest and they fought him, but he was too strong. Jarvis ripped their hearts out of their chest. That was his signature move. He always mentioned that he liked the feeling of the beating organ in his hand. It gave him butterflie
Cameron, Reniece, Lucy, Theodore, and Falcon were at the hospital waiting room, nervously walking around while they anticipated to hear if Jessica was fine. "It's been an hour. Why's Kanyon taking forever to let us know if Twinkle's okay?” Cameron nervously chewed on his nails, looking really worried. Reniece hugged him from behind. "Jessica is a strong woman. She'll be alright," Ren kissed the back of his shoulder. "Maybe she's in labour," Theodore added. "But isn't it like too soon for that?" Falcon asked. "Please, let's just keep the king and queen in our prayers and hope for the best," Lucy hissed. "All this talking is making me more nervous than I already am."The mage received a warm hug from Cameron and Reniece. "I know. You're right. We are all worried about Jessica. Let's just wait for the king to hear what he has to say," Cameron recited. ******The doctors and nurses were sweating like they were on death row. Every one of them could sense the king’s wrath and they fe
The night air was thick with mist, curling like fingers along the crooked streets. In the distance, lycans howled, but here, near the edges of the kingdom, the shadows moved differently—heavier, hungrier.The Baktu glided through the mist like smoke, her form barely visible to mortal eyes. Where she passed, streetlamps flickered and dimmed, casting long, twitching shadows over the cracked pavement.Her target stumbled out of a dingy bar, reeking of ale and regret.Cory.Once a proud man, now reduced to a shell of himself, unshaven, bloodshot eyes, clothes rumpled. He lurched forward, muttering slurred curses under his breath. Constance followed silently, savouring the desperation that rolled off him in waves."Oh Jessica," he muttered, lifting a bottle of moonshine wrapped in a brown paper bag to his head. He still obsessed over her. Still pined for what he had lost—and would never reclaim on his own.Cory kicked a broken bottle down the sidewalk, his boot scuffing the asphalt as he s
June's hands hovered above Daniel's broken body, magic swirling at her fingertips. Her lips pressed into a hard line as she tried spell after spell. The lights flickered, danced—and fizzled out, but nothing else was happening. She felt drained and she felt like giving up. With a frustrated grunt, June finally sat back on her heels. She wiped the sweat from her brow and looked at them all."I can't summon Opal," she said heavily. "Her magic... it's too strong. It's like trying to leash a hurricane with a fishing net. She'll feel the attempt and shake it off."A heavy silence fell over the room."The only way to get her here is," June added. "To go to her and convince her to come to us. The only thing I know is she lives on Mystic Mountain."Ariel tightened her arms around herself, staring down at Daniel, whose pitiful, animalistic whimpers were growing weaker by the second."Mystic Mountain..." Jessica murmured, exchanging a worried glance with Kanyon.DJ's jaw tightened. "Then we go.
Ariel didn't stop running until she reached the far end of the hallway. She had Dante wailing against her chest with one hand and the other holding her phone. Her hands shook so badly she almost dropped her phone as she fumbled to call DJ."Come back here. Now," she gasped the moment he answered. Her voice cracked with panic. "Please — it's Daniel. Something's wrong!"She hung up before he could say anything.Seconds later, DJ came tearing around the corner, his face pale and panicked.He skidded to a stop in front of her, reaching for Dante without hesitation."Take him to Reniece," Ariel choked out, handing the crying baby into DJ's arms. "Don't let Daniel near him. I have to get Queen Jessica and King Kanyon!"Without waiting for a response, Ariel spun and ran. The corridors blurring as she pushed herself faster.She found the King and Queen in their sitting room, hugging. It looked like they had made up after that heated argument earlier. They broke apart the second they saw Arie
The guest suite was too quiet. The kind of silence that pressed down on Ariel's chest and made it hard to breathe.She sat stiffly on the edge of the sofa, nervously twisting the hem of her sweater. Across from her, Daniel shifted in the armchair, his movements stiff, mechanical, wrong.His eyes, which were once so warm and so full of life — now looked hollow, like windows to a house long abandoned.DJ grinned from ear to ear, then he clapped a hand on his father's shoulder."Man, it's good to have you back, Dad," he said, his voice thick with emotion.Daniel smiled weakly but said nothing. His gaze flickered between DJ and Ariel, confusion and unease poorly masked behind that ghost of a smile.Ariel's heart squeezed painfully.He didn’t remember me. Nor did he remembered their son.But worse than that — worse than the empty look in his eyes was the smell.It wasn't fully vampiric, it lacked that sickly-sweet pungency, but it was there.Lingering in the air. Just wrong and unorthodox.
The heavy doors to their quarters slammed shut behind them with a deafening boom. Jessica flinched at the sound but refused to cower. She stood her ground as Kanyon paced in front of the fireplace, the muscles in his jaw ticking furiously. Yes, he was upset when he found out that Jessica dabbled in dark magic to bring Daniel back to life. But this, finding out that Constance is now a Baktu made everything even more detrimental. The temperature in the room felt hotter than the flames licking the hearth, the fury rolling off Kanyon in suffocating waves."You went behind my back," Kanyon growled, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. "You. My Queen. The one person I should be able to trust above all others!"Jessica crossed her arms defiantly. "I did what needed to be done, Kanyon. You don't understand—""No! You don't understand!" he roared, whipping around to face her. His eyes, usually molten gold with warmth, now blazed like wildfire. "You brought back a dead Alpha using forbidden mag
"King Kanyon!" Daniel bowed. "What is going on and why am I here?" Daniel strode over to the king while he finished buttoning his shirt. "Alpha Daniel. Is that really you?""Of course it is, Your Majesty. Is this some kind of April Fool's joke?" he scoffed. "I wish it was," Cameron mumbled. "What's the last thing you remember?" Kanyon asked. "Well, Sofia and I had just celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary. First, we wandered through the park, then we ran a bit in wolf form, and after that, we went to bed. The next thing I knew I was waking up on that table over there," he finished, pointing to the mage's gurney-like table. "Father, that was over ten years ago," DJ spoke up. "Mom has been dead for fifteen years."Daniel's eyes landed on the tall, muscular man that just called him father. He looked like his son, but a way more mature version. "DJ, is that you? But you look so old. And Sofia is not dead. She can't be." "I'm thirty-five now, Dad, and yes, mom is dead." "How
"Cameron, what's going on? Everything started shaking, and I thought we were having an earthquake," Ren rushed into her husband's arms the moment she laid eyes on him. His gaze wandered to Theodore, who had a terrified Falcon in his arms."No, it's not an earthquake." He kissed the top of his wife's head before spreading a viral message through the pack link, urging all castle residents to get to their bedrooms, lock their doors, and widows then fortify the entrances with Moon Petals. He instructed the guards to secure every entrance and exit in the castle with Moon Petals as well. No one should come in or go out. "Are we under attack?" Falcon asked as he sank his face into Theodore's chest. The vampire prince held his mate tightly, stroking his shoulder for comfort. "No, but someone is doing something inside the castle that they shouldn't be doing," Cam let out. "Everyone stay close together and follow me. We're going to Lucy's chambers."******"Your Majesty," one of the nannies b
King Kanyon sat down at the head of the table while he conducted this meeting. “Cameron, is the Graceland kid still lurking around the town?” Kanyon inquired. “You mean Cory? Yes, he’s still being a creep. My informants told me he has been spending most of his time in the crafts shops,” Cam chuckled. “Why the hell was he still here?” Kanyon gritted his teeth. “I don’t know, but as long as he doesn’t come near the castle, and near Twinkle, I’m good,” Cam added. “Is there anything you’d like to add, DJ? Do you need any help with anything?” Kanyon asked DJ. “No. I cannot think of anything right now, but if I do, I’ll let you know,” he stated and the king could taste the sorrow on DJ as the young Alpha spoke, but he kept his composure. DJ's voice didn't crack once. “So Annabella is really gone?" he asked, leaning back in his seat with his palms resting flat on the table. "I'm sorry, man. I know how much she meant to you," Cameron rested a palm on DJ's shoulder. "Thank you, Master
“You will not have either of us!” Jessica exclaimed in a fit of rage as she confronted the being possessing her cousin. "Let me help you rephrase that,” it smirked. “I cannot have you — yet," Constance put emphasis on the word ‘yet’ which made Jessica angrier. Constance felt Ariel's soul fighting for its body back. "It looks like my time here is running out. Even though I know you've been warned already Queen Jessica, but I think I will warn you again. Mistress Paloma says Alpha Daniel's soul already belongs to her, so if you do this spell and bring him back to life, then there will be grave consequences.""What kind of consequences?" June asked. "The bad kind," Constance let out. She felt Ariel pushing her out now. "I will go now, but one of you has to break the seal." June walked up to her and used her foot to break the circle. Ariel began to throw up what looked and smelt like tar. Jessica sprinted to her side and held her hair away from her face. The tar transformed into black