The crowd is thrown into chaos. Murmurings arise as everyone awaits my father's response. I do not know what Chase is talking about, but I can see his plans now are to get Ruby to stay behind with Red Valley and at his side in place of me.
I put on my best saccharine smile and say to him, "Alpha Chase, let's not cause a scene with my worrying."
He cuts me off. "My dear, it pleases me to grant your request, and I will do it with all gladness."
"My daughter, Ruby, has no concern with the Red Valley pack. I believe one child is enough." My father spits because this news is something he doesn't like.
"What can I do? Marelyn wishes for her sister to be near, and I can’t ignore my Luna. So, I will offer Ruby Everdeen a spot on the Alpha's courtesan train." He quickly adds. "Mind you. This is not up for debate."
Ruby speaks up at once, placing a deceitful hand on my father's arm. "Father, I will go. If my sister, the Luna of Red Valley, wants me near, who am I to refuse?"
My father does not listen to her, instead he turns to me and steers the eyes of every other person in the room, including Chase. He asks. "Marelyn! Is this true? Is this what you really want?"
I want to open my mouth and purge out the truth and expose the sham Ruby and Chase are willingly carrying along, but the Alpha had appealed to my moral conscience. If I dare run my mouth, my family and the only home I know will vanish before my eyes. There will be bloodshed.
"Yes. This is what I want most." I gulp and spare a tight-lipped smile at the crowd. Bile rises to my throat as I see the look of glee on Ruby's face. She feels she has won.
My father sucks in a long breath. He purses his lips and says, "If the Luna wants it, then I will grant it. Alpha Chase of the Red Valley pack, accept my daughter, Ruby Everdeen, not as a courtesan, but as your slave."
The smile on Ruby's face dips, and my father's request catches Chase off guard. There is no way he can refuse the request because if he does, he will put his affair with Ruby out in the open.
"We accept, Alpha Ivan," I say before Chase can regroup and I realize again that in this pack, I hold power. I'm the second in command, even before the pack's beta.
On my command, the pack's general, Séverin, comes with two soldiers and snatches my step-sister away from the gathering of Blue Silver wolves. Ruby screams for them to let her go, but they don't budge. She's publicly embarrassed before the crowd and as quickly as she's dragged away, she's forgotten.
Chase is furious at my side. I can feel the waves of anger rolling off of him, but he can't say a word or stop all that is playing out. We sit in silence for a long minute until he says, "Alpha Ivan, thank you for giving up your daughters. This meeting is over."
He rises to his feet and storms off through the back door, but I remain settled on my throne, feeling like I am celebrating my win too soon. It doesn't add up. Why would my father give Ruby as a slave to Red Valley?
My father nods to me and leaves with his pack. They all exit the throne room, but I do not budge from my seat.
An hour later, I'm racing to the dungeons because I need to know why. My father has a secret and I am sure of it. All this time, I thought my family was kept in the dark about everything. Now it doesn't seem that way. There is something I do not know and I must find out.
I arrive at Ruby's prison and shake the gates to call her attention. Being a slave of the Red Valley pack means constant suffering and beatings. I can see the recovering bruises on her face already. As much as you heal is as much as you are tortured.
She stands and lurches for the gate in a flash. Ruby shouts. "What are you doing here?"
"Sister."
"Have you come to mock me, Marelyn?" Her tone drips venom and I'm careful not to get poisoned.
"Why did father do that?" I ask, and she recoils visibly. I urge her again. "Tell me, Ruby. What do I not know?"
Ruby averts her gaze, holding a hand over her belly. My ears strain on instinct as I follow her movements with my eyes. I hear it. I hear it as loud as a siren in my ears.
"No." The words fall out.
She looks at me again, and there's pain and defiance mingled together in her brown eyes. "Must you always be favoured over me because you're special? Your cup is full, Mare. This one's mine."
I'm still trying to register with everything and she doesn't dare deny it. She tells me all I need to know with that statement.
"R-Ruby." My voice cracks. "You're carrying his child."
Carodia is a country hidden on the globe. The rest of the world thinks it does not exist, but it does. It is very real. Carodia is a kingdom made up of wolf packs, co-existing on common ground. Wars happen. Misunderstandings have claimed many packs over the centuries, but this Kingdom is what the moon goddess has provided for us. The maids are here again. It's been three days since my coronation and trouble looms near. I'm wearing battle clothes instead of a pretty gown to the throne room today. The red Valley pack is fighting a war and I am Luna. I must lead by example. The doors of the throne room open for me and I walk inside, making all heads turn. I see the way Chase looks at me from his seat. His eyes rake over my attire. The pure leather pants and black corset top hug every curve in my body and my blonde hair I always have in a messy bun drapes over my shoulders. His eyes fix on the way my small breasts perk up inside my top, but I ignore his scrutiny and make way to my th
My eyes crack open, and I find myself inside a room I've never seen before. It's fancy, with paintings on its walls, two sofas and a centre table, and the bed at the head of the room. I raise my eyes to the ceiling and I see the chains binding my wrists to the loops on it. Fear grips me again. I remember my last moments at Red Valley and I begin to struggle. Chase was far away. My father and my people can not help me now. I don't even know where I am—Immediately, my ears catch the sloshing sound of sea waves and breaking tides. The wheels in my head turn like fiery chariots. I'm currently at sea and my captors aren't planning on keeping me in Carodia. They are taking me out of it. But it's not only my captors that I fear. It is the waters we cross now that make me antsy. I struggle until I'm wet with sweat and feel the little energy in my bones leave me. "Do not fight it." I hear the low-pitched, deep voice as footsteps bound down the short stairs leading to where I am. A man in a
Zeke is gone. He disappears up the stairs and the beta brings me to a group settled on sofa sets lining the deck railings. I hear people laughing ahead. It's a party down there and I'm wondering why the rogue has gone in the opposite direction. As I walk, I take in my surroundings, gauging their numbers and trying to understand just what it would take for an escape. I am out of those horrible chains now and I'm not planning on returning. My eyes scan the endless blues around me. We are at sea, and I can tell just how far gone this sailing boat is. Daybreak is near. I can taste the impending sunset in the air. We've sailed for five hours, which means we've claimed half of the journey's worth. I know all of this because before the mark and before my destiny changed; I had taken an interest in Raven studies. "The name's Jai-Blynn." The beta officially introduces himself to me. He does so right before the group of five now focused on us. "Mar—" I start, thinking it is the right thing t
A pound of slimy flesh slaps down on the deck, and I dodge by a near miss. The boat rocks violently as the tentacles seize every corner. We are going down and the world around me goes blur. I can't find my strength. I'm losing blood just as the rogue had predicted and the worst part is I can't heal. The crew shifts into battle mode. Everyone's fangs and claws are out in defence, but my wolf is buried underneath the surface and weak. I struggle to crawl away from the edge and find safety as chaos plays out. I hear screams, but it's a fair fight. It reaches a point where I cannot even see what is ahead. Now I'm at the entrance to the deckhouse, steadying myself on the wall. Drusila yells from behind me and a hand reaches out suddenly and shoves me out of the way. I stumble and fall. There's a piercing pain in my head as my skull collides with the floor of the deck. It's stinging my ears too, and the world slows. The war around me finds its voice. I roll over onto my back, breathing he
Drusila comes many hours later, and she looks different. I do not know how long I've stayed in this dark room, but I survived. My wolf did not desert me as Jai-Blynn expected, and I can't wait to throw it in his face. The old lady opens the cage and sets me free. I was shivering with fear when she found me. The dark is somewhere I dislike, even with my wolf's vision because a part of my history is dark enough to suffice. Since I woke up here, Drusila is the only one who's shown me kindness, so I save the bite of my tongue for those who need it. The fabric of her clothes is different now. She's dressed in a finely cut purple maxi skirt and jacket. Her age doesn't deceive me as it did when I first saw her in that tunic and knee-length boots. "We've reached land." I strain my ears, but I do not hear birds chirping. "How long has it been?" I ask as she leads me through a narrow passage I'm not familiar with. "Fourteen hours." Drusila stops before a small door and turns to me. "You ca
"Leave us." His deep voice demands, and Drusila obeys. He walks past me after that and I don't know where my mind is, thinking he would've helped me up. I stand on my own and turn to him with my hands crossed over my chest. Zeke's staff is not with him, and you can only tell his need for one if only you look closely. He's dressed casually in a grey cotton jacket and a black button-down shirt and pants. His brown hair looks different and longer. It's curled at his nape. He says unexpectedly, "Must be nice being a bloodline silver wolf. You heal faster than we all do." I'm lost for a moment, then I access my body and sight the bruise on my ankle. It's clearing up like magic and in a second, it doesn't hurt anymore. I spare a tight-lipped smile. "Yes, but it must be nice as well. You're a waterlink. A legacy. Now that was a shocker." Zeke rolls his gaze over his feet, bobbing his head. He juts his chin as he says, "We need to talk." I avert my eyes, looking anywhere else but at him
After the plane ride, Drusila hands me a pair of sunglasses and I don't understand what they are for until we leave the airport. Throngs of people rush towards us in this cold late afternoon. They're all asking questions and flashing their cameras our way. The lights blind me even with the dark glasses covering my eyes, and no one but me seems affected by it. Jai-Blynn is in a single-breasted suit, leading Zeke ahead, who's also wearing shades. Drusila falls in step with me and I can tell this is a normal occurrence for all of them. Zeke suddenly stops at the hearing of a particular question. "Is the owner of Vanver studios willing to try again?" The lady repeats, holding out her mic. She's tall and classy in a black suit jacket and tailored pants. Zeke takes off his shades and doesn't even break a smile, but his expression is far from a grimace. "Only time will tell, Maggie," he says. They murmur at his vague answer. After Zeke throws the reporters off balance, he continues o
He holds out the dagger for me, and I eye it sceptically for a minute. He hangs his hand, waiting for me to see that my thoughts do not matter and regardless, I will still sign it as he has ordered. I take the dagger and cut my palm. Before it can heal up, I dip my thumb in the lump of blood that has formed over it. The torn skin heals immediately, just as I stamp my thumb on the spot Jai-Blynn shows me. It creates a gleaming silver mark in its wake. Zeke picks the seal and signs it off after me. The beta leaves us again, carrying the dagger with him. "What do you do?" I ask suddenly, cleaning off the smear of blood with a tissue. He says unconsciously, "I'm the people's favourite, Marelyn. I make films and star in them." "You must have enemies?" I don't know why that comes out next, but I'm genuinely curious to know what I am getting myself into. He said I've not even come close to seeing what his life looks like and I want to be sure it's not what I think it is. He checks the ti