LOGINChapter 10: Avalyn's POV
The cars parked in the large driveway of the castle. The first thing I saw as I looked out the window was a tall man carrying another who had blood dripping out of his eyes. The angle at which the head leaned to told me that the man was long dead.
My stomach churned and I felt like gagging.
I was right when I thought this place was my tomb. It was indeed going to be my beautiful tomb.
"We are here!" Dawn chipped.
She was excited but I couldn't bring myself to even plaster a fake smile on my face. There was death awaiting me out there and she expected me to be excited about it?
I wanted to stay in that car forever. It was the only thing keeping me from the cruel hands of death. From the look of things, I knew that my death wasn't going to be a pleasant and calm one. It was going to be gruesome.
The towering man stepped out first and tapped on Dawn's side of the window. She rolled it down and turned her head to him.
"Take her to Sara, I need to see the alpha now," He said. She nodded curtly and he turned to leave.
Who was Sara? Would she be the one to kill me? Did they sell me to her now?
Multiple questions zoomed past my head as I tried to control my rattling chest. I was at the murder house and the seconds were ticking for my time to come.
"You heard the beta, let's go," She said to the driver.
She was in a very light mood. I couldn't tell if it was her nature to be this way or if she was just excited that I was going to be killed.
Did werewolves use human skin to make things?
Perhaps she was promised a designer bag made with my skin... Oh, God. Thoughts stormed through my head and I didn't know what to do anymore.
I was so scared my hands trembled as I tried to keep them from clattering.
The vehicle spurted to life again and it moved out of the driveway but we didn't leave the castle grounds, he just swerved to another driveway which was at the back. We rolled for a few minutes before we came to a stop at a beautiful bungalow that was painted white with blue architectural columns.
"Thank you," She said to the driver, and my horror the doors clicked open.
No, I didn't want to die!
My brain started panicking and I almost wet myself as she stepped out and walked around the vehicle to my side.
Tears brimmed in my eyes and my heart broke all over again. This was it. This was how I died.
But if I was going to die, I didn't want to be remembered as the human that cried till death took her away. My stepmother and father had thought me well. They had prepared my body to handle pain no matter what.
Like some twisted faith, they had prepared me for this moment without even realizing it.
I swallowed my fears and sniffled them away. I would be brave —I sang in my head like a mantra.
As she opened the door and joined her. She gave me her hand and I hesitated before taking it either way.
She led me into the clean building and I wondered if this was where they washed up their victim for a brighter killing.
The large doors opened to a reception. There was a lady, dressed like a nurse at the desk and as we walked up to her she beamed with smiles.
"Dawn!" She exclaimed. "Sara wants your head! When was the last time you came for a check-up?" She asked.
Okay, maybe this was a hospital. The trouble in my heart reduced but just as it did another idea flashed into my head and I let out a soft gasp —they were going to harvest my organs!
"Who is she?" The lady at the desk asked Dawn as she now noticed my presence. "Hello!" She said beaming at me.
"Oh, she is a guest of the king. I brought her here to see Sara. She needs to fix her up at once," Dawn explained.
My brows corked and I wondered what they spoke of. They couldn't have been talking about me, because I didn't need fixing, I was fine.
"Then you should get going right away!" She said straightening up at the mention of their king.
Dawn nodded and pulled me toward another set of doors at the far end of the hall. We stepped in and it opened into a corridor. We walked to the very end and Dawn knocked on the door once before pushing the door open.
An elegant middle-aged woman sat at her desk working on some papers. There was a small Pai of glasses on her nose and as soon as the door opened she looked up to us with a clear air of confusion on her face.
Then she slowly brightened up as she recognized Dawn. She got off her chair and started coming to join us at the door.
"Hello, I am Sara. Did the beta send her to me?" She asked as she came to stand before. The first part of her statement was to me but the second was to Dawn.
"Greg has instructed that she is cleaned and made ready," Dawn explained.
"I see..." The woman whispered thoughtfully. Then as if she remembered something, she looked at me and a frown sat on her face.
"My dear, is there something wrong? You haven't said a word. What's your name?" She said in a soothing voice.
I looked at Dawn and she smiled at me but that was just something she did very often. I couldn't tell if she wanted me to go left or right.
"I am Avalyn. Avalyn Howard." My voice sounded distant and cracked.
The woman took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze.
"Avalyn, you don't have to worry about anything when you are with Sara, you are safe. Do you understand?" She said and I swallowed the new lump in my throat.
How was I supposed to trust someone who was going to help prepare my body for my organs to be extracted?
I nodded and she beamed brighter. "Wonderful, now let's take you to your room."
She took my hand and led me out of her office. We took another bed and she stopped at the second door.
"Dawn please get my instrument from Margaret," She said as she opened the door to the ward I was going to be in.
Dawn gave a response but my heart was beating so loud at this point, I couldn't hear what she had to say.
"Come, my dear, sit," Sara said and I moved timidly to the bed. I suddenly felt vulnerable now that Dawn was gone and I was left with Sara.
Not like Dawn protected me or anything but I have known her longer. Even if they were going to kill me, her constant smiles had helped keep me at ease. Now that she was gone, I didn't know how to behave around Sara.
"Let's see your eyes for blood..." She said as she came up to me with a small torchlight in hand.
She placed her middle finger under my eye and gently dragged it down. Then she brought her small torch with her free hand and pointed it into my eyes.
"Hmmm," She mumbled as she repeated the process on my second eye.
When she finished she scribbled some things into her sketchpad and came to take a blood sample with a small needle.
"Don't worry, you won't even feel it," She said and then showed me the syringe already filled with blood.
"Huh!" How did she do it so fast? I wondered and she smiled.
"It's a small trick I do, to help my patients relax. Now you know that if I have to give you an injection, you won't even feel it," She said and I simply nodded in amazement.
"Now, you don't have enough blood, from the exposed parts of your skin I can see you have a lot of scars... I will give you an injection that will help build back all your scar tissues. Your skin should be good as new in a few days," She said.
The more she spoke, the more confused I got. Why were they trying to fix my skin if they would end up killing me? What exactly was their plan? Why did they bring me here?
"Avalyn, has anyone told you, your eyes are very beautiful... you should smile more," she added and I felt my cheeks heat up.
I watched as she fixed the injection and came to my side. She took my arm in her hand and prepared the spot she wanted to inject.
I saw her hand come with the injection but the next thing I could register was the small cotton ball pressing into my arm.
"Done," She chirped.
The door suddenly burst open and Dawn stepped in. Her smile was gone and I heard the echoes of heels on the floor as they approached us.
I wondered what could have happened to snatch her smile away from her.
"The Luna is here," She whispered to Sara and I watched as Sara's easy nature also changed.
Who was this Luna person?
My heart resumed racing as the sound of the heels got closer. They stopped and a guard pushed the door open, holding it in place.
To my surprise, a very tall and elegantly dressed woman stepped into the room. Her skin was so fair, she must have never been under the sun all her life.
Her eyes were the brightest shade of blue I have ever seen and her lips were rosy. She was very beautiful in all definitions as her flowing black dress swept into the room.
But there was a steel-cold aura around her. I didn't need to be told that this woman was evil. Was she the one to kill me?
"Leave us," She said and I noticed that even her voice was perfect.
Perfect to kill me.
Chapter 100: ScarlettThe morning sunlight spilled through my windows in golden beams, painting the marble floors with streaks of light.And for the first time in years, I let it wash over me without flinching... without feeling like it mocked the darkness I carried.It felt good. I felt good.Because today wasn't an ordinary day, it was the day I was finally letting go of all my burdens.For so long, guilt had been my companion. Guilt for falling in love with a man who had betrayed my family...But today, it was all gone. Because I now knew for sure that Asher was a changed man.He was no longer the man hungry for vengeance. People now sang his praises. He was now the king who cared for his people, the man he had pretended to be...Now, he was truly that man.And my heart ached in anticipation of seeing him again after so long.My hands smoothed the silk of my long dress as I smiled at myself in the mirror.I had sent an invitation to him about Blade's coronation, but this was going
Chapter 99: AsherScarlett's words sliced through me like an arrow that didn't kill, but left just enough damage.My eyes moved to the knife in her hands, but rather than see the blade, I saw the way her fingers trembled with pain.I saw the tremors of hurt that shook through her like violent waves...I saw the love even in her anger... And this was more painful than the death I had wished for myself.Seconds ago, when I heard her voice, I thought my mind was screaming down another memory.Even when I opened the door for her, I thought my hallucination had brought the worst out of it. I didn't want to believe that she was real...That the ritual Fiona had done could wear off...But when she slapped me, I realized this wasn't a dream or a hallucination. It was real.She was real. And the ritual had truly worn off.And right now, as she stood before me with the silver blade trembling in her palms, asking me to take my life again, I felt stupid.I felt weak and I felt broken over and ove
Chapter 98: ScarlettAs the jubilation of the revelation went on around me, I felt a tug in my chest and that same feeling returned…That unease that something was missing. Or that I had to find someone…The tears of joy on my face dried up as I watched Bee… I was happy that he was my brother. I was happy that after so many years of searching, I had found him.But for some reason, finding him didn’t stop that itch deep inside of me.The same feeling I had been getting ever since the day we got requested from Willow’s wicked clutches… What was it?My thoughts became jumbled and my emotions blanked out.Somehow, I was no longer in the celebration. I felt detached…Subconsciously I looked around. I didn’t know what I was searching for, but it was almost like I could feel someone watching me.I knew this was ridiculous to even say out loud considering the amount of people that had trooped into the hall to celebrate with us…But this stare… they felt different.Yet as I turned to search ar
Chapter 97: AsherAt least an entire week had passed since the war with Willow and her shadows.Life had sort of returned to normal for everyone else… except mine.Albert took care of burying our dead. Greg took the Black family’s soldiers back to do the same to their dead as well.But Axel couldn’t travel due to his injuries. He and the rest of the royal family had to stay behind. And that meant, I had to watch from the corners how Scarlett readjusted to her new life.She was still hurt and broken from the loss of her aunt. And seemed mostly distant and angry about the whole thing.I watched how she watched the crystal she had taken from Willow’s lair. And I could only pray it gave her the comfort she desperately sought.At least knowing that she was dealing with her grief— the same grief that I had caused, made it easier for me to make peace with myself.To make peace with my life.I had told myself that my life was worthless the moment I realized how much I had ruined hers. No matt
Chapter 96: ScarlettThe war was over. But my pain remained.How could it even go away? How could I begin to live with the new grief?It was already hard living without my parents. Not knowing if they were alive or not… it was already hard surviving without my younger brother, Blade—“Oh goddess,” I whimpered as tears filled my eyes again.With all of this pain, how was I supposed to add Aunt Emily to that list?And this time, it wasn’t an uncertain feeling… it was real. I knew what had happened because I saw it myself.She wasn’t lost or wounded or simply dispersed by war. She was gone.She was dead.My tears flowed even faster as thoughts came to me like a storm. I saw the scene happening before my eyes again…There was this pain in my chest that I couldn’t ignore. It was like a feeling that I had to do something.I had to find something or someone to replace the pain.As for Axel, it was easy. At least he had Violet and his baby by his side.But I had no one.No mate. No one to kee
Chapter 95: AsherAs the last breath shuddered out of Willow, her shadows screamed— The sound was like a thousand voices howling in agony.They immediately started dropping off her body, disintegrating into ash with a wave that shook the entire place.And like a detonated sequence, the rest of her army also started falling. One by one they collapsed into smoke, just like the ones on her.Truly she was their control because within minutes, the battlefield was filled with dark smoke as all the shadows fell.As everyone realised what was happening, a thunderous howl of victory tore through the place as everyone jubilated.Yet all I could do was kneel there, still holding her body.Her head dangled to the side, with that unsettling smile still there… as though she had won something I couldn’t see.I could still hear her words, her curses and her promise to return. And the more I stared at her, the more irritated I felt.My fury grew, expanding into a knowledge my father had long taught me







