THE NEXT morning, when I opened my eyes, I saw two pairs of green eyes looking at me. I was now lying on the center of the bed with Iris on my right and Luther on my left. Both of them had such glorious smiles on their faces.The sun was already shining so brightly outside. And when I glanced at the clock, it was almost ten in the morning. Thank God it was Sunday or else, Iris would never make it to school. I never got to wake up this late before. The nightmares loved waking me up crying and gasping for breath at either midnight or dawn. But today, I woke up with this certain calmness in my chest which just meant that I… was truly home.Luther and Iris looked like they just woke up minutes before me. Their hair was still messy, but they were just as beautiful.“Good morning, Mommy!”“Good morning, darling.”And then they showered me with kisses on both of my cheeks.“Good morning,” I replied, still surprised at how my morning had completely changed.The duo both motioned their cheeks.
“WHAT is going on here? Why are you hurting each other?” I asked, still dumbfounded. “Everything was fine before I left.” Iris clenched her hands. “Naddie started it!” “Why? What happened?” “She called you names behind your back,” Iris replied in a now meek voice. In an instant, the twenty students inside the room began talking all at once, eager to report what happened. Their voices were ringing in my head. And in a soft but firm voice, I said, “Enough!” Suddenly, the noises stopped. The kids turned to me, looking astounded, while holding their throats. I turned to Naddie, the little girl with braided amber hair. “And what are those names exactly? Say it in front of me.” The little girl held her head high. If only we were not in this situation, I would have commended her confidence. “I did nothing wrong. I just said you have no wolf and that makes you a useless queen to all of us. But that’s the truth!” I clenched my hands. I was not a fool. I knew about the antagonistic stare
“DARLING, if you wish to win, you have to do it quickly. Do not hesitate. Remember, your enemy is a Vampire. He is as quick as a lightning, as sturdy as a rock. Even a second’s hesitation could lead you to death,” Luther advised while he was beneath me and was lying on the mat. I was sitting on his stomach and was already sweating and yet, he still looked so fresh as if he had just gone out of the shower.We had been training for hours. When I expressed my intention of wanting to relearn how to combat, Luther volunteered to train me personally. We trained for four hours every afternoon and I believe I was getting the hang of it. It was like a recap of things I already knew. My body knew how to respond to every attack, but with an opponent like Luther, I could only defend. I could not attack yet. I knew he was going easy on me but even defending was still hard.He looked so composed, he was not even sweating or panting unlike me. I bet I was the only one who looked untidy. I went to gy
“WHERE the hell is she? Show me that wretched human who had the nerve to do that to my brother!”“Luna Scarlet, you have no right to talk to the Luna Queen that way! Much more, to barge in here uninvited. If you don’t want to lose your noble status, then I suggest you and your pack to quietly go back to the guest house and reflect while waiting for the King and Queen’s punishment for this crass behavior of yours. The manor will not tolerate this. All of you have crossed the line!” I heard Richard say in a ferocious tone. Their voices were too loud which interrupted my dinner with Dad and Iris.I heard that Scarlet was Naddie’s aunt. They went to the manor a month ago to apologize, but an offense was an offense. There were evidences that the couple was among the wolves who were spreading rumors against me to incite conflict between the Alpha King and the rest of the wolves. There was a rule and they failed to comply. I couldn’t stop Luther from enacting the punishment. People like that
I GLANCED at the women Scarlet had brought in this surprise parade of hers. They were lunas, too, all were Luther’s esteemed guests from different corners of the world. Since there was still a major threat lurking around, the guests wished to stay to serve the royal family and Luther had given them the permission to do it. Since then, more and more guests were coming, especially the daughters of the alphas and the elders.It was not that difficult to guess their purpose. This was not just about them protecting the royal family. The true goal was parading the luna candidates in front of the Alpha King. They wanted to toss me out of the empire. Even at my presence, the lunas kept visiting the main house with an excuse to offer their greetings to me bearing gifts not for me but for Luther while wearing their most seductive gowns.And if Luther came out to greet even one of them, I might have lost it, but he didn’t. He had never budged even without me around. His eyes were faithfully look
(Luther) IT WAS back. I saw it. Alexandra’s wolf had opened its eyes. It growled furiously. It was only for a while and the sound was not as loud as it used to be because it was still in pain but it was enough to be heard clearly. It struggled to rise and it fell down but its eyes were now fully open. It was still wounded, but its wounds were no longer as severe as before. It seemed as if it was… slowly healing. Another miracle was happening right before our very eyes. I was discussing things with Giovanni at my office when Isaac gave me a report about my wife’s situation. Giovanni just got back in the country but we had to cut our conversation short when we heard about the commotion. We went to the garden and both of us were taken aback after we saw how Alexandra held Richard’s sword. There were alphas present in the area, too. All were ready to protect the lunas of their packs. The commotion was that big that it could shake the empire. And Alexandra knew it. The Council had alrea
‘THE Queen’s lover, I found out who it was. The man was no other than Valerian Willers. It doesn’t ring a bell, does it? That’s because that was not his real name. His birth name was Valerian Theodore Alvarez, he was the hybrid all of us had seen at Magnus’ birthday celebration. He was also Kenneth Alvarez’s half-brother.’Giovanni’s report had never left my mind. I had always wondered who the heck that ‘Val’ was. It was a nickname I had heard my wife whisper in her sleep for weeks now. And every time, she would call him so sweetly.‘Do you think he knows who she really is?’ I remembered asking Giovanni.‘I’m guessing he didn’t. If Valerian knew, I doubt he would take her in. But now, the probability of him knowing the truth is a hundred percent.’Alexandra told me there was nothing to be jealous about. But then every night, she would call another man’s name. Some nights, she would cry. Other nights, she would smile as if she was remembering a fond memory only the two of them knew abo
(Alexandra)Five years ago…IT happened again. I coughed up blood in the middle of the lessons. When my classmates and professor looked at me strangely and began to whisper words to one another, I stood and ran to the nearest comfort room. I locked the door and began throwing up on the floor.I had gone to the hospital many times, but they all said that nothing was wrong with my body. And yet, I kept throwing up blood. And it would happen without warning. I could not even make friends in this state. Each time I would try, my body would make a mess of me in front of everyone. They avoided me for this, saying that I must have been cursed by a witch or I must have contracted a virus.There were rumors wherever I went.I sat on the floor. My legs had gone limp. Thankfully, no one used this comfort room on the third floor. After my schoolmates found out that the ‘virus girl’ was using this room, no one had dared to get in. It was just me here. I glanced at my wristwatch. I just had to stay