“I have heard of your unending magnanimous heart, chief elder. Accept my greetings,” Alpha Campbell greeted, extending his hand for a shake. Silas Darkthorn regarded him for a second before he accepted his handshake. “You may have your seat,” he pointed to the sofa across from him. Then he asked one of his men to serve them drinks. “Alpha Campbell,” he called when their drink was served. “You are welcome to Howling Moon Pack.”“Thank you, chief,” Alpha Campbell responded excitedly. He had been nervous making this journey. He had heard news of Silas Darkthorn and how he had power more than even the lycan Alpha. His aura told it all. However he had felt welcomed the moment he stepped in. People talked of how powerful and influential he was. No doubt. How could an ordinary elder command such respect and authority? How could an elder own such a number of men and servants? If he has such warriors guarding him, how many did the Alpha have for himself? “What brought you to my house? An Al
SCARLETT Samuel Wolfe had already refused my visit request two times now. It made me wonder if my findings were inaccurate. As much as I remember, what I had gathered about him pointed to the fact that he wanted revenge against Silas Darkthorn. Why then had he been refusing to meet even after I added that I would help him get his revenge against him. I wasn't going to keep waiting as I decided to meet him physically by all means possible. “I'm here to see elder Samuel Wolfe,” I told the man manning Samuel Wolfe’s gate. The unfriendly man looked me head to toe with a wrinkled face. “And who are you to ask for the elder?” I was expecting that. “I'm from Alpha Asher. Alpha Asher sent me.” His face wrinkled further as his eyes seized me. I imagined him thinking how could this nobody be from Alpha Asher and he didn't make any effort whatsoever to hide it. I could literally hear it very loud from his face. “Why would the Alpha send you to my boss?” “Do you want to get fir
SCARLETT “Leave my house. I cannot help you,” Samuel Wolfe said and started to head in. “I am dead!” I burst out. It was something I had said thoughtlessly but it worked. Samuel Wolfe stopped in his tracks. He looked at me like I had lost my mind. “You are a ghost then?”“Ghost?” I blinked in confusion. Oh right I just said I am dead.” I couldn't help not smiling. That had really gotten his attention. “Please if you can listen to me I will explain everything.” He looked at me a while longer. His expression softened and he returned into the center of the room. “What is your story?”“I–”“Sit down.” “Oh…Thank you.” I settled into the cushion across the one he sat. “Actually, the truth is Alpha Asher did not send me to you,” I confessed. “I only wanted to get your attention.”He didn't react and instead he said, “I am aware.”My brow cocked. “Did you ask him?”“No. Because he has guards, a Beta and a Gamma to send on such errands.”“What if he wanted it to be a secret?” I opened my
ONE YEAR LATER.“That shouldn't be there!” I yelled at Eli, one of my workers. Eli flashed an apologetic smile and began to push the plosh sofa away. I was intending to use it to rest in between long working hours. I pointed her where I would prefer it to be. Samuel Wolfe had forced me to take a worker because he believed the workload I would be getting would be much. After several searches and brief interviews, I finally settled for Eli. So far Eli had proven to merit it. She worked hard, learned easily and was tight-lipped. I tested her on this. It was the opening day and we were still arranging the shop. There was so much to do with very little time remaining. Soon people would start trooping in and the shop was far from being set. I hoped. Oh shit. I groaned. I should have listened to elder Samuel Wolfe. He told me not to rush but it was already long overdue. For one year, one whole year, I had locked myself in training hard and learning fashion. I couldn't wait to start my rev
SCARLETTWith her nose crunched, the woman snatched the fabric from Eli's hand, looked up at me and said, “I am the first wife of the most powerful man in this Pack.”Then, I thought of it. Of all prominent mens’ wives, there was one I never saw her picture no matter how hard I looked. Silas Darkthorn's first wife. “You know the most powerful man in this Pack?” She added, glancing at me cockily. “Ma'am?”“You don't know?” Her eyes flew wide. Honestly, I was annoyed. I already knew which man she was about to mention. She publicly called her husband the most powerful man in the Pack when he wasn't the Lycan Alpha. Throwing the ill feeling aside, I feigned shock. “Wow! You are the chief elder's wife, ma'am?” I swore her shoulder pad increased a notch. “His first and real wife,” she explained. She may not have spoken the words out loud but her face said something about the others being fake. Mae Darkthorn. Silas Darkthorn's first wife. People referred to her as Madam Chief. She had
Asher stood behind the window in his office. The blinds rolled all the way up. Although his eyes looked but they took no notice of what was happening. His mind had strayed away. He released a sigh and allowed the memories to overpower him, the thought of Scarlett the center of it. A year ago, Scarlett was declared dead. But not for him. He saw the signs that she was still alive. He knew she was alive. That she had faked her own death.But it had been over a year already. A year he hadn't seen her face again. Over a year and he still couldn't figure out why she did what she did, if she was still alive and if she ever thought of him. “You have a letter, my Alpha.” A guard announced and he was jolted back to the moment. Without changing his position, he stretched his hand and the letter was placed in it. As he held the letter in his palms, he did not open it immediately. There was no excitement or urge to see what was inside of it. What complaints and curse was he going to read this
“My Alpha, an elder from Howling Moon Pack, is here to see you.”Alpha Campbell’s face creased. What was an elder of Howling Moon coming to his house for? His frown deepened. He'd just sent in more werewolf ladies, what else did he want from him? “Which of the elders?” He asked his man. “Elder Silas Darkthorn.”Immediately he sprung up in his seat. “Silas Darkthorn?” He muttered as he hurried over to the window and from there he peeped. Truly Silas Darkthorn was in the frontage of his house.“Let him in! Let him in immediately and have the maids prepare the best dishes and bring the best drinks!” He ordered the guard before he hastily began to change into his official outfit. A few minutes later he strode into his meeting room where Silas Darkthorn was already in. “Chief elder!” Campbell hailed. “When I heard you were in my house, my amazement knew no bounds.”Silas Darkthorn managed a tight smile. He rarely smiled. Whenever he eventually ever did, it was a tight one. But that al
“What!?” Alpha Campbell blurted, sitting up. “Chief’s orders.”He shot up. “Wait wait… this may be his orders but this is clearly impossible. The men are not ready. They just started training two weeks ago!”“I'm only but a messenger.”“Damnit!” Campbell growled when the man from Howling left. He clenched and unclenched. Kicked the sofa and fisted. He'd been drawn to the edge yet again by Silas Darkthorn. First he made him start an illegal training now he wanted them to fight when they were far from ready. “Dad.” Noah came in. “Was this the big picture you have in mind?”Alpha Campbell stopped pacing and glared at his son. “Don't look at me like that! I'm doing this for us, for you and your brother! You should be grateful, you ungrateful jerk!”“Me and my brother?” Noah shook his head. “Father, you can't trust that man. He may be a powerful man but men like him are snakes. I have done a lot of bad things but this is evil, Dad.”“If you will not do as Father says then stay here and b
In Silas Darkthorn's house, the elders gathered. They formed groups around their sitting positions, conversing. More like complaining. “Chief Elder promised to do something. He has done nothing since our last meeting. How long must we wait?” One of the elders gathered moaned. “Exactly. He promised he will make the Alpha lift the ban on the werewolf ladies but nothing has been done about it!” another complained bitterly. “How long are we going to wait? Is this another of his fake promises while we fatten his pockets and give him more of our wealth,” the first elder gritted, clenching his teeth. As soon as they saw Silas coming, their voices turned to hushes. Silas's guard tried to serve him his drink but he put up his hand and stopped him. He uncorked the bottle by himself and poured his drink. “Go on, you all should speak as much as you want. Express yourself. No one is stopping you,” he said to the elders before he took a short gulp. The elders grumbled amongst themselves. Whe
WRITER'S POV Scarlett regained herself, her eyes swinging open. Asher was smirking. Nervously, she hastily drew backwards only to miss her footing. He stretched swiftly and grabbed her wrist followed by the quick movement of circling his arms around her waist and pulling her close. She gasped and her eyes locked with his own. Her chest grew tight. She missed him. She missed him so much her heart ached. Moments like this made her wonder if she could have done things differently. Helping Asher while being beside him as Scarlett. When she felt her eyes getting misty, she quickly broke apart and shifted back. “Are you here to get your measurements done? I will get my tape and–” She spoke hurriedly and spun. But he grabbed her and pulled her back. “Can you do that?” He asked after another intense stare. “Do what?” She gulped hard, feeling her pulse race fast. He smiled and released her. Scarlett could not feel her legs as she located her tape and book. Her fingers were trembling and
WRITER'S POV It was only the previous day but it felt like Asher wouldn't function properly if he stopped for a minute and thought about something different from the designer girl. “She is Scarlett,” he kept muttering to himself. He knew her too much to allow a few alterations to deceive him. She changed her hair and her eyes, so what? It didn't change the fact that she was still Scarlett. Was she avoiding being caught? “No,” he shook his head, recalling her response even when Freya was not around. She'd vehemently denied being or knowing Scarlett. He rubbed his chin, left his desk and went to the window. Changing hair style and color was possible but was changing eye colour even possible? He should ask a doctor. “Where have you been?” Freya questioned trotting in and breaking his thoughts. “You need to have your measurements taken. We are short on time.”Asher was just about to slam Freya and remind her again that he was never interested in officially marrying her and that was fi
WRITER'S POV The moment Scarlett had walked in, Silas Darkthorn had felt a kind of energy. He waited until she left before he called Mae in. “Where did you say you knew the girl that just left?”“The designer girl?” Mae repeated his question. “How do you know her?”“She's the new one in town and she seems to know what she's doing. I thought we should use her for the wedding.”Silas shrugged. “I have told you not to be too excited about this wedding. We are not going there to enjoy some meal but to watch history be made.”Of course I know my husband. It's just that I'm excited. She may not be my real daughter but I will be the mother of the day and that is a feat many women would kill to be in.”“Don't you like her?” She asked, taking a seat beside him. Silas shrugged. The feeling he was getting was far beyond whether he liked her or not. “Put your mind to rest, my lord. All that we have worked hard for will come to fruition very soon. We deserve it. You have served and worked so
SCARLETT’S POV All my mind was centered on Ava. Was she evil like her father or was she still the girl that saved me that day? Or perhaps, was I wrong about the version of her I saw that day? It worried me that she might have recognized me. Her behavior was off as well as her questions and words. I still remember that day vividly. She was the one that saved me from those bullies. Why did she lie? I could have agreed that she was talking about some other girl. But then she clearly said the girl was a werewolf. I was worried she'd begin to seek for things she shouldn't. I saw the doubt in her eyes when I denied recognizing her. It had already been a year. She could have had many encounters since then with many other Werewolf girls. A werewolf girl could have saved her as she narrated. Besides, she didn't say the werewolf girl was a girl staying in the werewolf quarters. But again, why was the name Scarlett?“It's this way.” Mae called my attention back. I almost missed her lead. It w
SCARLETT’S POV When Mae Darkthorn told me I'd be doing house visits job for her, I didn't think she was serious until one of her maids came and informed me to visit their home that evening. I told Samuel Wolfe and he was as shocked as I was. It was either Silas Darkthorn didn't know about me or Mae hadn't told him about me yet. However, it was a great opportunity which I grabbed with two hands. I had wanted so much to penetrate there but never found a reason. I arrived at Silas Darkthorn's house at 4pm and was let into the house. There were three buildings and each was well built. Sila's influence could be perceived right from the gate. “Wait here, my lady will join you soon,” the maidservant that had brought me in told me. She directed me to one of the wooden chairs stuffed with wool or perhaps cotton. There was nothing much to see in the room I was in. It had few chairs and was almost empty besides the paintings on the wall. It was hard to tell if Silas Darkthorn stayed in thi
WRITER'S POV “Where are you off to?” Freya called out to Asher storming out. She felt insulted by Asher storming out on her entrance and then ignoring her. To hide her embarrassment, she ticked her tongue playfully and laughed. “He must be shy. Don't worry I will get him as soon as we are done here.”“Yes ma..my Luna.” Scarlett responded and took out her measuring tapes. “Wait…” Freya stopped her as she was about to wrap the tape around her arm. “What did you two discuss while I was out?”Something sank into Scarlett. She gulped hard a flash of her conversation with Asher flooding her head. “Well, of course he refused to say a word to you, right?” Freya asked before he would speak. Scarlett blinked. Freya sighed softly. “The Alpha is like that. He does not care about any woman except one.” She sounded sad. Scarlett felt a daring moment. “Why do you say it that way? Who is the woman if not you.”“Ah,” she laughed awkwardly. “Of course it's me. It just…it just feels surreal to kno
SCARLETT'S POV “Are you ready now? May I come—” I asked, pushing the door open. Freya was latched onto Asher. As soon as she saw me, she pretended to be shocked. Freya invited me over. The opportunity I was looking for—a way to be close to Asher legally, was brought to me on a platter. The perfect one at that. The guard told me to wait behind on her orders. I glanced around. I recognized where I was standing. I had once stood there. Asher’s office. I heard them arguing. Freya’s desperation clawed through my chest and when I couldn't bear it, u bursted through the door. Asher froze at my sight. As expected. I knew. I knew I was going to run into him. I also knew that he was in there with her. It was even the reason I had boldly opened the door when the guard hadn't given me the go ahead to enter. Meeting him again was bound to happen. But why did it have to be in this manner…shit. I had prepared for this moment. I had imagined it. But it only made me want to shrink into a shell
ASHER I didn't think it would be this day but I saw her again. Why did it have to be today…why did it have to be this moment. “Scar…” my lips had already begun to move but I quickly called myself to order. A feeling of awareness overcame me causing me to finally push Freya away. “Oh, the designer is here,” Freya said, smirking. “Come on in.”My jaw clenched. This was all her plan—making her come in right at this second to witness this. I frowned as my heart skipped. I looked at Freya, dreading the impossible. Did Freya know she was Scarlett? “Hope you are ready? And you came prepared with everything you'd be needing? Like I said, what matters is how good you are. Have I made myself clear?”“Yes, ma’am.”“Here, I am referred to as ‘my Luna’ and you should too,” Freya told her. “Noted, my Luna. Would you like me to measure you first or show you the materials you requested?” She asked, unhanging the bag I could feel its heaviness from where I stood from her shoulder. I was watching