Chapter 25 – Secret
“Shut the fucking door, Marcus! Hurry!” The person who was pulling me away from the creatures screamed, and the sound of metal grinding on stone again rang through the room. My eyes snapped open to see the beasts charging at us; stumbling over each other trying to get close enough to sink their disgusting jaws into the closest flesh they could get to. They were running on all fours, arms bending out at a devastating angle every time their knuckles hit the hard stone floor. Their mouths were open wide, long streams of black colored drool dripping from their pointed teeth, and they were screaming; an ear-piercing sound that resonated around the cave, stuck somewhere between human and beast, and so wicked that it made my skin crawl and my heart stop. Their eyes were wide and wild, the milky color adding to the brutal look of them, as they charged forward towards the murderer of their brother. I reached out with the tendrils of
Chapter 26 - Shifter“She never asked for this, any of it. The only reason she is here is because she didn’t want to be impregnated with one of those deformed creatures.” Moira’s voice was quiet, speaking in hushed and angry tones. “Now she’s getting thrown into a war she doesn’t even know about.”“What do you want me to do Moira? We can’t just smuggle her away from the kingdom. The King will destroy the village looking for his pet.” A gruff male voice said quietly, and I recognized it at Marcus.“She’s not an object.” Moira snapped at him, and grunted in anger. “We can’t just let her continue to be subjected to this abuse.” Silence enveloped to room, and I heard someone shuffle their feet across the ground nervously.“We could take her to the Gold Moon Pack.” Marcus said quietly, and I heard Moira gasp as if the mention of
Chapter 27 – Identical “You can’t think that I would actually fall for that did you Moira?” I snapped at her, and rolled my eyes. “Everyone in the kingdom knows that Devin is an only child. The king’s pride and joy.” I spat, and turned away from her, leaving Moira doe eyed behind me. I stepped back over to one of the chairs, and sunk back into the soft cushions, folding my arms over my chest as I looked at the three people in front of me. All of them looking back at me with their mouths hanging open like fish; stunned at my reaction. “I-‘m not lying!” Moira barked at me, and I raised my eyebrows at her. This day had been too eventful already to throw some mysterious brother into the mix. She wanted to protect her cousin, and I understood that, but making something up about a lost brother was bordering mental. “Alright, Moira. If you’re not lying, then where is he?” I asked with a half-smile on my face, enjoying watching her squirm. She looked a
Chapter 28 - Threader “You want to kill the king?” I felt my heart come to a stop in my chest as I watched Simon slowly nod his head at me as if he was explaining it to a child. I looked between Marcus and Moira, looking for some reasoning in the nonsense, but both had a determined glint in their eyes as if there were no other options. “Are you all insane?!” I all but squeaked out, as my voice had gotten so high it was barely there anymore. Droplets of sweat were starting to slide down my forehead, and I wasn’t sure if it was from the heat of the spewing fire, or the consistent rollercoaster of my emotions. “We’re not insane Aspen. You’ve seen what he is capable of.” Moira said stiffly, and Marcus nodded his head to agree with her; both of their faces grim with solid understanding. “Did you already forget about the law that sent you here in the first place?” Nausea turned my stomach at the thought of the fate that I just had just ba
Chapter 29 – Again Moira and I slid silently through the halls of the castle. Listening intently for any sudden noises or footsteps, and moving as quickly as we could without being spotted. The sun was just starting to set, and deep orange light was cascading thick shadows over the stone. We were moving back towards the cave of the lost children, and even though it was late enough that most of the staff had gone home for the night; there were still many guards milling about the castle. They had kept me in the hidden infirmary room for the twenty-four hours I was supposed to be with the children, as we prepared a plan. It wasn’t anywhere near perfect, or really a good plan at all, but it was all we could do with the little information that we had. It consisted of very few, but precise steps that could either save the entire kingdom or get all of us slaughtered. Either way we wouldn’t have to see what was to come, and I was beginning to accept eith
Chapter 30 - NightmareWhite hands were reaching for me through the darkness, as I ran down a long hallway. The sickening smell of death followed me, and I gagged as I tried to move as quickly as I could away from the beast. My foot caught on an uneven stone, and I stumbled and fell to the floor, landing hard on my side. I scrambled to get back up and keep moving, but was not quick enough, as thin bony fingers wrapped themselves around my ankle and dug sharp claws into the soft skin.“We found you.” The voice high pitched, and blood curling. As a monstrous face with white eyes appeared from the darkness behind me. I screamed, and clawed on the stone underneath me, but it was no use as it began to drag me towards its lithe figure. Opening its wide mouth into a guttural laugh; sharp teeth gnashing together in victory. My heart was beating fast as I fought to get away; reaching to pull on the gnarled fingers, but they had too tight of a grip arou
Chapter 31 - BareMoira burst into my room carrying a large pile of cloth that seemed to be in every color and style. Her face wash flushed as if she had been sprinting through the castle, as she struggled under the weight of the fabric in her arms.“We have four hours to get you ready for dinner. That’s not nearly enough time.” She huffed at me, and threw the pile over the large couch in front of the fire place. I rolled my eyes, and reached out to rub a particularly ugly green colored fabric between my fingers.“I don’t feel the need to impress the king.” I replied more sharply than intended. It was the truth though; forget his rules of formal clothing, I would much rather stir his pot than entertain his ideas. Moira glared back at me; obviously in no mood to deal with my black cloud.“Remember that that we need-“ Moira started.“We need to keep up our front, ye
Chapter 32 - GamesDevin took a step towards his brother; his hand outstretched as if he could reach him from where we were standing. His face was set in stone, but I could see his eyes as they flashed between fear and anger as he looked in at his little brother bleeding from the wall he was chained to. I remained still as I watched; my entire body unwilling to move towards the revolting scene, as I my heart pounded audibly in my chest.“You’re close enough son.” A voice rang out from the back of the dining room, and we both whipped around to look at the person speaking. The king stood at the large wooden doors at the front of the dining room, a large inhumane smile plastered across his fat features. He was holding what looked to be a large syringe, full of a silver-colored liquid, and was looking at Devin with a humorous glint in his wicked eyes. The king was enjoying this, watching his sons suffer under his hand; his twisted mind
Chapter 33 - RunA loud bang erupted through the dining room, and the eye contact between the king and I was broken as we turned to see that Devin had slammed his fists into the table. Dark red wine spilled over the bare wood as the glass chalices toppled over. One rolled to the end of the table, smashing to ground, sending crystal shards spraying in all directions against the gold flecked marble floor.“I AM NOT A WOLF!” Devin snarled, and kicked his chair away from him, sending it flying back into one of the awaiting guards who managed to catch it with a loud grunt. He lifted his arm to point a shaking finger towards me, his blue and brown eyes flashing in anger. “She, is not my mate. She’s barely-“ Devin’s words were lost when a loud hiss sounded at the front of the room. We all turned our heads just in time to see a bright white light encase the entire dining area, followed by a loud earth-shattering boom.&nbs