DianaI sat curled on the edge of the bed, refusing to move.I was scared that if I did, in some sick, twisted turn of events, something would happen. Something so wrong would hurt him even more.The paradox of the whole thing was that my being ever closer to him meant that he was weaker. It meant that he could die.And yet, here I was, pretending like I didn’t want to hurt him.My fingers lazily grazed Edric’s arm and I felt the warmth and his pulse…just to make sure he was still breathing.Or to be sure it wasn’t.I wasn’t sure I lived in a world that even made sense.The minutes blurred into longer ones, and each ticking of the clock made me painstakingly aware of my role in this.In the death of a man.Eventually, sleep pulled me under its blankets. It wasn’t warm and fuzzy. It was a rough tug. I felt the tiredness gnaw at my bones and by the time I pulled my eyes shut, I couldn’t even spare some time for extra thought.I just got sucked into the world of the unknown.Where my min
DianaI left his room after a while of what seemed to be meaningless ponders, the both of us too frustrated to even continue.What were we looking for?What did we hope to find?Perhaps that was what sealed our fate from the beginning.A problem shared is a problem solved, they say. So is knowing the problem. Knowing what needed to be solved.To find something, you must be able to identify it. We didn’t even know what we were looking for.Was it material? Was it abstract? Was it an emotion?Everything cluttered my lungs – the questions and lack of answers thereof. I needed air, and so, I sought that instead, edging over to the windowsill in the main hallway, overlooking the garden below.There was a ledge opposite me, where Edric promptly sat on, perhaps needing the same thing I did.Air.“I can’t even remember the name of the witch who cursed me,” he confessed with a silent tone, one that spelled his embarrassment at the situation. “Pathetic, no? Would’ve been a good start, if you as
EdricWe left the hall of mirrors without finding the definitive answers, but we found something.I think that was the most important thing—that we kept moving forward, no matter what.Everything we did to get up to this point was simply searching, blindly looking for answers to questions we didn’t even know to ask.But here, we had a lead, and it lay in Diana’s hand.I couldn’t touch it, because it quite practically burned me.I looked down at my hands – the pain should have gone by now, and it was. But there were still the heat blisters. They were receding, though, a confirmation of my cursed immortality.I took a breath and looked straight ahead, trying my best not to look at the mirrors. Diana wasn’t aware of this, but anytime I looked at these mirrors, a splitting headache threatened to open my skull.I theorized that it was because they were things that I wasn’t supposed to remember, and Bane concurred.That didn’t stop me from coming here any time I was in the mood for a little
DianaEdric opened the book and we peeled through the contents of the pages at the same time. But being a faster reader than I was, I was only able to scrape through words.While he, desperate for answers, turned the pages faster than my eyes could keep up with.At the end of it, though, he closed the book and looked up with a sigh of disdain.“What…what was it?” I asked, mental fingers crossed that it wasn’t anything overly disappointing.To give me an answer, he had to adjust his seat and take a deep breath.His answer was brief, but his explanation paved the way for what felt like a lifetime of thought and contemplation.Apparently, there was something that existed in the werewolf kingdom.Something usually scary, but now, exciting.The way alphas and lunas worked, was that there was an existing alpha for generations. Usually, the son of the alpha inherited that role.If the clan wasn’t satisfied, with the leadership of that alpha, they could nominate someone else to take over…or o
DianaI sat on the window ledge and used the morning breeze to cool my thoughts. The cold slab beneath me bit into my thighs and kept me painfully aware of what was going on.Of my reality.I couldn’t get it out of my head—his possessive, dominant kiss.He was rough and demanding, and it would have been nice if he had done it because he wanted to.No.He did it because he had to. Something about that didn’t sit right with me – it made me angry, even.I was saving my first kiss for bliss – for a moment of pure affection, one where I was truly liberated from all my oppression.And he stole that moment from me.He gave me one unforgettable but for the completely wrong reasons.Now, I would have the moment of my first kiss in the face of adversary, confusion…and hopelessness.“Fuck you, Edric,” I breathed, letting the exhale coarse through me and purge me of the angry thoughts. Like hell, it was going to work.I still couldn’t get over his lips…soft, yet used hard. His hands around my sho
Diana I stood at the open door, the cool early morning air a sharp thud against my back. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat urging me forward, out. The door he opened was never locked. Ever.But now, as he opened it, there was a deeper meaning to it. There was the intention behind it. This time, his opening the door meant something more serious than when I needed a short break.It meant a lot more than me running a few meters into the woods to chase after one of the pups in the wolf pack I had befriended.It promised freedom – an eternal repose to the conflict of being trapped in a place like this. It was the perfect escape, in the fact that it wasn’t an escape. I was being set free.I had cracked the code, right?Yet, my feet remained stubbornly rooted, as if invisible threads tethered me to the heavy stone of the mansion.My fingers twitched at my side, a restless energy I couldn't quite quell. Through the swirling fog that clung to the grounds like a shroud,
Diana I let the air…or the lack of it, burn my lungs as I took one painful step after another. This seemed like the perfect solution to all of my problems. The wind whipped across my face as I stared at the water below me. It was a long way down. Enough that if I cast myself, no one would find me before I died. The speed of the fall would shatter my bones and make it impossible for me to swim my way out of the mess. It was death, guaranteed once I stepped off the ledge. All that it required was that I took that step. “This is better,” I tried to psyche myself, giving myself the pep talk that no one but me needed to hear. Death was better than the torture I had faced growing up – one that guaranteed itself to continue as long as I remained here. Why? I am Diana Crossfield. That’s why. I existed, and it was enough reason for my father to detest me so much, that hitting me became second place to throwing me in the ash cellar and locking me up for days. I was
Diana “He’s a powerful prince of the North, now,” my father said, his voice sounding sarcastically caring. Like it mattered. It didn’t. What mattered was getting rid of me. But I welcomed it. I was about to check myself out anyway. I had spent years wishing for a way out, a miracle—something to rip me from this place that never wanted me. And now, when it finally happened, it wasn’t on my terms. It was on his. Can’t a girl have something for once? Welp… “So?” I put on a sarcastic glare like I didn’t know where he was going with this. “You’re going to get married to him,” he clarified. I rolled my eyes, “Finally” “Have your clothing and materials ready before tomorrow. My men would come and take you naked if you’re not ready by the time they are,” his tone was dismissive as always. I was already walking out of the pack house by then. I had my bags packed before the sun went down and didn’t sleep through the night. A knock sounded at my door at first light
Diana I stood at the open door, the cool early morning air a sharp thud against my back. My heart hammered against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat urging me forward, out. The door he opened was never locked. Ever.But now, as he opened it, there was a deeper meaning to it. There was the intention behind it. This time, his opening the door meant something more serious than when I needed a short break.It meant a lot more than me running a few meters into the woods to chase after one of the pups in the wolf pack I had befriended.It promised freedom – an eternal repose to the conflict of being trapped in a place like this. It was the perfect escape, in the fact that it wasn’t an escape. I was being set free.I had cracked the code, right?Yet, my feet remained stubbornly rooted, as if invisible threads tethered me to the heavy stone of the mansion.My fingers twitched at my side, a restless energy I couldn't quite quell. Through the swirling fog that clung to the grounds like a shroud,
DianaI sat on the window ledge and used the morning breeze to cool my thoughts. The cold slab beneath me bit into my thighs and kept me painfully aware of what was going on.Of my reality.I couldn’t get it out of my head—his possessive, dominant kiss.He was rough and demanding, and it would have been nice if he had done it because he wanted to.No.He did it because he had to. Something about that didn’t sit right with me – it made me angry, even.I was saving my first kiss for bliss – for a moment of pure affection, one where I was truly liberated from all my oppression.And he stole that moment from me.He gave me one unforgettable but for the completely wrong reasons.Now, I would have the moment of my first kiss in the face of adversary, confusion…and hopelessness.“Fuck you, Edric,” I breathed, letting the exhale coarse through me and purge me of the angry thoughts. Like hell, it was going to work.I still couldn’t get over his lips…soft, yet used hard. His hands around my sho
DianaEdric opened the book and we peeled through the contents of the pages at the same time. But being a faster reader than I was, I was only able to scrape through words.While he, desperate for answers, turned the pages faster than my eyes could keep up with.At the end of it, though, he closed the book and looked up with a sigh of disdain.“What…what was it?” I asked, mental fingers crossed that it wasn’t anything overly disappointing.To give me an answer, he had to adjust his seat and take a deep breath.His answer was brief, but his explanation paved the way for what felt like a lifetime of thought and contemplation.Apparently, there was something that existed in the werewolf kingdom.Something usually scary, but now, exciting.The way alphas and lunas worked, was that there was an existing alpha for generations. Usually, the son of the alpha inherited that role.If the clan wasn’t satisfied, with the leadership of that alpha, they could nominate someone else to take over…or o
EdricWe left the hall of mirrors without finding the definitive answers, but we found something.I think that was the most important thing—that we kept moving forward, no matter what.Everything we did to get up to this point was simply searching, blindly looking for answers to questions we didn’t even know to ask.But here, we had a lead, and it lay in Diana’s hand.I couldn’t touch it, because it quite practically burned me.I looked down at my hands – the pain should have gone by now, and it was. But there were still the heat blisters. They were receding, though, a confirmation of my cursed immortality.I took a breath and looked straight ahead, trying my best not to look at the mirrors. Diana wasn’t aware of this, but anytime I looked at these mirrors, a splitting headache threatened to open my skull.I theorized that it was because they were things that I wasn’t supposed to remember, and Bane concurred.That didn’t stop me from coming here any time I was in the mood for a little
DianaI left his room after a while of what seemed to be meaningless ponders, the both of us too frustrated to even continue.What were we looking for?What did we hope to find?Perhaps that was what sealed our fate from the beginning.A problem shared is a problem solved, they say. So is knowing the problem. Knowing what needed to be solved.To find something, you must be able to identify it. We didn’t even know what we were looking for.Was it material? Was it abstract? Was it an emotion?Everything cluttered my lungs – the questions and lack of answers thereof. I needed air, and so, I sought that instead, edging over to the windowsill in the main hallway, overlooking the garden below.There was a ledge opposite me, where Edric promptly sat on, perhaps needing the same thing I did.Air.“I can’t even remember the name of the witch who cursed me,” he confessed with a silent tone, one that spelled his embarrassment at the situation. “Pathetic, no? Would’ve been a good start, if you as
DianaI sat curled on the edge of the bed, refusing to move.I was scared that if I did, in some sick, twisted turn of events, something would happen. Something so wrong would hurt him even more.The paradox of the whole thing was that my being ever closer to him meant that he was weaker. It meant that he could die.And yet, here I was, pretending like I didn’t want to hurt him.My fingers lazily grazed Edric’s arm and I felt the warmth and his pulse…just to make sure he was still breathing.Or to be sure it wasn’t.I wasn’t sure I lived in a world that even made sense.The minutes blurred into longer ones, and each ticking of the clock made me painstakingly aware of my role in this.In the death of a man.Eventually, sleep pulled me under its blankets. It wasn’t warm and fuzzy. It was a rough tug. I felt the tiredness gnaw at my bones and by the time I pulled my eyes shut, I couldn’t even spare some time for extra thought.I just got sucked into the world of the unknown.Where my min
DianaI was tending to the crops in the garden when Muzan came to me. His face held concern, deeper than I had ever seen.“Is anything wrong?”He nodded.I stood up.“He’s…ill…odd, I know…”I wanted to sprint past him, to go and see Edric, but he held me back“The curse is not broken, Diana. He stabbed himself with a knife to test it out…nothing.”His words made me relax a little, but still, he was ill. I had to see what was wrong.When I got to his room, he didn’t look like anything was wrong with him. He was hunched over his desk, his eyes buried in concentration behind his meaningless calculations.Meaningless at least, to me.“False alarm,” he waved dismissively when I inquired about his health and the report from Muzan. “Looks like I’ll be living to see another century,” he huffed.“You act like it’s a really bad thing,” I rolled my eyes.“Well, when you’ve seen five…maybe…yes.”I wasn’t ready for his schematics this morning. I wasn’t ready for it today.“I’ll check through what
Edric“Wh…what does that mean?” she croaked frantically, trying to reach her wrist, but I pulled it away from her.I didn’t want her to scratch it anymore, because I wanted to see what would happen. I needed to see what the wolf symbol did.To my surprise, nothing happened.“What happened?” she asked with a weak sigh.Or, at least, I think nothing happened.I looked around me when I felt the whoosh, and knew for a fact, that this was far from ordinary. If a mark was able to appear on her wrist from nowhere, then something was coming.I just needed to be ready for it.“Nothing,” I sighed, feeling frustrated, when this was supposed to be the most upbeat I had been in years.A discovery!Something new! Something new must mean change! And change is good, isn't it?Well, not when the only thing that never changes is you.I stood up and packed everything up.“I should have never let you do the spell,” I said as I walked away. “I’m sorry.”Her hasty footsteps followed my deliberate ones in h
DianaThe next day was filled with more glee than I ever had in a week. When I offered Edric breakfast, he loved it so much, he wanted to know how I made it.“It was from a recipe book my mother used,” I admitted as I watched him wolf down the entire meal. “I watched a chef do it, and voila…”The next moment, I was standing in the kitchen, my hands deep in a bowl of flour.I wiped flour off her cheek with the back of her wrist, my eyes narrowing at Edric, who stood stiffly beside me like the idea of cracking an egg might bring about the apocalypse.“You’re holding it like it’s a bomb,” I teased him, nudging his elbow as he stared down at the egg with a frown that said he was contemplating war tactics, not breakfast.“I only know how to deal with meats,” I said and studied the egg like there was more to it than just cracking it open and pouring out the contents. “Anything more than that…I’m lost. It’s why I could hardly tell when you poisoned me…unless the poison was something strong.