LOGINElsie's POV Out on the wide field, I gathered team four into a tight circle and let those who wanted to volunteer for the match step forward. There would be two separate sets of rope pulling for this event. Each competing unit was required by the organizing veterans to provide a total of sixteen strong men. Eight would compete against eight from the opposing team in the first round, and the second group of eight would do the same right after.In the end, the points from both rounds would be added together for the final score in this game.Goddess alone knows what our total team point score actually is at this stage of the trials. There were endless speculations and rumors flying around the team, but none of us knew exactly how many points we had accumulated, and I highly suspected that it was the same confusing situation with the other teams. The final results posted on the board tomorrow will tell us all we needed to know about our fate.I had my sixteen sturdy men set aside, of w
Elsie's POV The Sunset pack warrior and I nodded in unison. We parted ways at the entrance, and I walked further into the mess tent, heading over to a table where a few of my teammates were already sitting. To my surprise, a full tray of steaming food had already been set out at an empty spot.I paused by the bench, looking at the plate. "Is this mine?"The guy sitting closest to the spot, who happened to be Carter, looked up and said quietly, "Yes. We grabbed it for you." He averted his eyes quickly right after speaking, staring down at his own bread.Oh, Goddess, how much longer was this friction going to go on between us? I can certainly be petty when I want to be, but I was just done with seeing his constant, guilty puppy-dog face around me every single hour. If anything, his obvious guilt just proved the guy wasn't an evil personbat heart. He was probably just misled and coaxed by Holmer's toxic influence.I sat down on the bench, picking up my spoon, and looked at him. "Carter
Elsie’s POVI eventually spotted Tate pushing his way through the crowd of hungry men. I raised my hand, waving at him over the heads of the surrounding men. He caught sight of me, broke away from his row, and sauntered straight over with a relaxed grin."Elias," he greeted, clasping my shoulder briefly. "What's up?""Nothing much," I replied, keeping my posture casual. "How is your team doing in the point standings?"Tate raised his chin proudly, a spark of confidence in his eyes. "Good. You bet we are holding our spot. We smashed our round yesterday night."I let out a breath. "Thank the Goddess. I would hate to no longer see your ugly face around this camp."Tate laughed, rolling his shoulders. "Me too, man. I absolutely cannot go back home just like that. If I get disqualified and sent back to my home pack early, my siblings will never let me hear the end of it for the rest of my life."I let out a short, quiet laugh at the image. "Let's go inside then. I’m starving."Tate paused,
Elsie’s POV"Enter," the Lycan King's deep voice called out from inside after a long, pregnant pause.I gathered my courage and took a bold step inside the large black tent. The torches were flickering softly, throwing long shadows across the space. The Lycan King was standing by his desk, clearing off various maps and loose parchment sheets.He didn't look up immediately as I approached, his hands moving efficiently. "You came at a good time," he said, his tone flat. "You should be resting, but just quickly pack these remaining files up into the trunk.""Yes, Your Majesty," I replied with a rasp in my voice. I quickly stepped forward to do what he had asked, gathering the scrolls and stacking them neatly inside the iron-bound chest in the corner. When I finally finished the task, I wiped a small bead of sweat from my forehead and turned around to look for him.He was sitting on the edge of his cot, idly fiddling with the laces of a boot."I have finished clearing the desk, Your Majes
Elsie's POV The head healer paused, holding a jar of dried leaves in her hands, before she slowly shook her head. "No," she said, her voice dropping into a quiet tone. "I am not going to tell him. I know what it feels like to wish to do something with your life, and not be able to do it simply because of a circumstance you cannot help."I blinked at her, the fear in my chest loosening just a fraction. "Really?"The woman hummed in confirmation, setting the jar down on a wooden shelf. "I worked as a servant in the royal palace back at the capital for years. I basically helped raise the children of the royal family, but what I really wanted to do since I was a young girl was practice medicine. I could not pursue it back then because people of my low social status would never be accepted by any master healer to be trained."I shifted on the cot, listening closely to the crackle of the stove. "So, how are you a master healer now?"She turned to face me, a soft smile touching her aged lip
Elsie's POV Turns out that our worst fears during dinner were valid. Out of the fifty-two men in our team four, just those two guys who had raised their hands in the mess tent actually knew how to swim well. Well, it was fine in the end because they only asked each team to present three divers for the event. Since we were short on options, I didn't have much of a choice. I would have to join them in the freezing current.We entered the rushing stream with the safety ropes tied tightly around our waists. Back home, I always enjoyed swimming in the warm pack lakes, but this task was on a completely different level. The water was freezing, numbing my skin instantly, and the dark night made it so I could barely even see a foot in front of my face.The two guys from my team and I had to work together to find our assigned dark green stones on the riverbed. We couldn't do it blindly. I motioned for us to link arms for a split second to establish our spacing, and then we fanned out in a syn
Elsie's POV I cleared my throat thoroughly, forcing my voice into its deep, raspy Elias disguise. "Good morning, Your Majesty."He just let out a low, gravelly grunt and walked past me toward his large desk, taking his seat. He looked to be fully recovered from the ordeal, exactly as expected of h
Elsie’s POV Tonight had been completely unbelievable.I sat with my back pressed hard against the wooden structural post in the far corner, my hands still trembling slightly. I could not believe the nerve of that bitchy woman from yesterday. The fact that she had actually smuggled herself into hi
Quinn's POVLiliana had completely lost her mind.As the thick fog of the drug tightened its grip on my brain, her twisted motive became glaringly clear. The plan was to get pregnant for me. For the very few times that we had had sex in the past, I had strictly ensured she took the contraceptive h
Elsie's POV It was training time."See you at dinner, Elias!" Tate called out, his good mood fully restored as he turned to head toward his training spot. We had to go our separate ways because we weren't assigned to the same training batch.I hurried over to my usual training clearing, arriving j







