Uninvited Guest

It's been a month since Yeri moved in to Allegra to protect her secret mate, Prince Reed and their relationship was as complicated and confusing as ever. The mate bond definitely forced them to get closer, with the ultimate goal of consummating their union, once both parties accepted their mate and consented to it. However, Yeri had her own reservations. She still refused to accept Reed, who was a different species from her, to be her mate because of her own terrible past. Reed, on the other hand, was pressured by the royal officials to take a bride so he could inherit his father's kingdom on the next blood moon. Driven by lust, the vampires had the tendency to be more promiscuous compared to the wolves, who upheld monogamy. Reed's cassanova reputation preceeded him and Yeri caught wind of it, thus all the more doubts filled her heart. Furthermore, their reunion was restricted to night time, while her wolf yearned for freedom during the daylight.

Dawn has broken in Allegra, the humans had begun their daily activities while the vampires turned in for the 'night'. Yeri slipped outta her bedroom, made her way quietly across the hall, past Reed's chamber. As she neared his door, she heard muffled voices conversing inside the room and curiously she put her ear at the crack to listen in. It was Reed and Abley, discussing new sightings of rogues around the green plains at dusk and how some human farmers living in the countryside had been losing their livestock to them. Most cattle and poultry farms had been registered for the Royal Guard to patrol so rogues would not be able to steal from them. However, there were still smaller farms near the woods that remained vulnerable. Rumours had it that most rogues were turned by the Zenons in order to grow their war power.

"My Prince, have you ever thought of asking the lycans for help to patrol our perimeter during daylight?" Abley asked out of the blue.

"No." Reed shook his head, "I have troubled them so much and caused so much pain, I can't possibly ask them to do that for us, we don't own them."

Abley was quiet for a second, "Wow... that did not sound like the Reed I knew."

Reed scoffed, "Well almost-dying TWICE kinda opened my eyes to the world. Besides, I still feel like I owe the lycans my life."

"You're probably right, you stole their future alpha here too." Abley flashed a meaningful grin.

"I did not steal her." Reed sighed, "She wanted to come."

Yeri stood stock still outside of the wooden door, intensely listening to their conversation.

"She wanted to protect you, Reed."

"Well she does not have to. Her duty is to her own people... her pack needs her." Reed waved his hand in frustration, "This... stupid mate bond business is really fucking me up."

"What are you saying?" Abley pried.

"My head knows we're different species, my body says we're extremely compatible... my soul is longing for his mate but..."

"What does your heart say?" Abley interject Reed's thoughts.

"My heart is conflicted. I cannot differentiate between lust and love anymore. Like my mind goes hazy when I'm near her, her touch burns my skin and goddamn her lips were soft like...." Reed trailed off, his eyes closed as if imagining Yeri's face.

"Soooo... you like Yeri, don't you?" Abley smirked, irritating Reed.

"Shut up." Reed threw himself onto the bed and covered his head with the blanket. Abley chuckled as he could see his ears reddened from thinking of Yeri.

"Get some rest, I'll see you at sunset." Abley turned on his heels to leave and as soon as he opened the door, Yeri was frantically running away and acting like she just got there.

"Miss Han." Abley addressed her politely, "Are you going out today?"

"Ah.. hello, Abley." Yeri replied awkwardly, desperately hiding her blushing face, "Yeah, I'll take a longer walk towards the woods later."

"Please be careful."

"Don't worry, surely rogues are sleeping too." Yeri smiled.

"I wasn't talking about rogues..."

"BREACH!!! WESTERN PERIMETER BREACHED!!!"

There was a sudden uproar from the castle guards. Abley instantly went on alert mode and both him and Yeri rushed towards the source. Her senses heightened and she could smell a distinctive wolf scent that she never smelt before. It was not her pack, this wolf was new to the territory.

"LYCANS!"

Yeri screamed at the guards "MOVE BACK, IT'S DAYLIGHT! LET ME HANDLE IT!"

Some of the royal guards outside the castle were humans - called familiar - humans under the influence of the vampires who pledged to serve the vampires and the kingdom. They were struggling to hold down fort as a strange wolf wreaked havoc in the western side of the woods. As soon as Yeri's skin hit the sunlight, she transformed into her wolf and attacked the intruder. They fought for a while, clawing at each other until Yeri belted out a menacing low growl, inserting dominance and the intruding wolf cowered. Reed watched as they fought from his big glass windows, wrapped in blanket as the sun got higher.

Yeri returned into her human form as the royal guards surrounded the other wolf, which also returned into his human state. It was a male wolf, around Yeri's age or probably younger with a lot of battle scars and bite marks on his back. He looked like a stray, but he had a very strong charisma that even though he was by himself, he was scary enough to intimidate the familiars.

"My my... who would've thought a lycan would be guarding a vampire castle in broad daylight." he spoke in a deep baritone voice.

"Introduce yourself, wolf." Yeri gritted her teeth, not letting her guard down just yet.

The male wolf took another sniff at the breeze that carried Yeri's scent and his eyes widened, he immediately dropped on his knees.

"My apologies, Alpha." he looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with Yeri.

"Get up. State your name and your tribe." Yeri moved ahead of the row of familiars.

"I'm Declan, son of Durmont, Southern Pacific Tribe." he replied respectfully.

"What's your business in Allegra?"

"I was lost, Alpha. I was on a trip with my business partner when we got separated and some vampires attacked me in the woods. I followed them here, I thought they were hiding in the castle."

"Rogues, Miss Han. We found them lurking on the western border just beyond skyline." one of the familiars whispered into Yeri's ear and she nodded.

"Are you hurt?" she asked again, sounded more genuine and a little concerned.

"I was bitten, but I think by now I would have healed, although..." Declan raised his left arm and there was a large bite mark on his bicep from Yeri's bite, "This one might take a little longer to stop bleeding..."

"Sorry, my bad. I bit you too hard." Yeri replied sheepishly, "We'll take a look at it. Come inside."

"Thank you Alpha."

"I am not an Alpha yet." she replied curtly, but her words would not mask the scent of alpha blood in her veins.

Declan secretly smiled to himself as he tailed Yeri into the castle.

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Abley met Declan in the great hall, as soon as they walked into the castle.

"What business do you have in Allegra?" Abley had begun interrogating Declan when Reed made an appearance. He was wearing his casual clothes, clearly sleepy but intrigued by another wolf.

"My Lord." Declan nodded his head towards Reed, acknowledging his rank.

"At ease."

Reed waved his hand casually at the guards who stood in attention in a row as soon as he stepped in. Yeri was tending to Declan's wounds, she used some herbs from the Oracle which helped wolves heal faster.

"We have a distribution company, where we source out the best butcher and deliver them to the Southern Pacific tribe HQ. We also filter the blood and sell it to the vampires around our vicinity. We were supposed to meet Mr Skinner to sell our recently filtered blood."

"Damon Skinner?" Reed perked up at his friend's name, "You do business with the Skinners?"

"Yes, My Lord." Declan answered.

"Cut it out, just call me Reed. You're not a vampire, don't call me Lord." Reed shivered a little as he could hear some intrusive thoughts flooding into his mind, he was reading Declan's mind and felt that he was hiding something.

"And how may I address you, Alpha?" he shfited his attention towards Yeri who finished bandaging his arm.

"I'm just Yeri."

She quickly packed up her stuffs and got up, "Come, I'll lend you my room to rest before you go into town."

"Thank you, Yeri." Declan smiled.

Reed's icy blue eyes followed Declan's every move, his every gestures and especially his thoughts. As he was about to pass by Reed, he put a hand against Declan's chest and stopped him on his track.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on her."

Reed threatened Declan clearly, both were staring into each others' eyes .

"I'll try my best. She's a fine she-wolf."

"NO!" Reed roared.

Yeri spun around in shock and found the two men on a staring contest.

"She is mine." Reed declared.

"If you say so, Prince Reed."

With that Declan broke the eye contact with a short nod and continued to follow Yeri into her chamber.

Reed's fiery gaze followed until they disappeared from view. Abley approached him.

"Are you okay, Reed?"

"I don't like that guy." he pouted, "He put a glamour on his thoughts, I couldn't penetrate."

"Hmmm he is quite an interesting one." Abley concurred.

"Keep an eye out, make sure he doesn't try anything with Yeri." Reed said full of jealousy.

"Why don't you do that yourself then? Since you care for her so much." Abley teased Reed again.

"Arrhhh whose side are you on?"

Frustrated, Reed ruffled his own hair and stomped away, back into his chamber and forced himself to sleep.

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The sun has finally set in Allegra, the humans have begun to disappear from the streets, leaving the magical creatures to roam the earth. Soon, the vampires awoke and the wolves returned to their dens. Reed was barely asleep; his mind was busy thinking about Yeri, the kingdom and their new guest, Declan. He was pacing back and forth aimlessly at the great hall, when Yeri suddenly appeared. She startled him, as he almost knocked the standing vase over. Yeri's quick reflexes saved it.

"Are you okay?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Yeah, sorry I was day dreaming." Reed replied, his cheek blushed ever so slightly.

"My bad, I scared you." Yeri smiled as she put the vase back in its proper place.

"Who said I was scared?" Reed retorted our of embarassment.

Yeri ignored his antics and proceeded to the kitchen, to grab some water. As she stood with her back towards Reed, she could feel her heartbeat quickened, sensing the presence of her mate behind her. She could almost feel Reed's stare on her back, as she poured some water into the glass.

"Is Yeri here?"

Another voice came from the door, as Declan pushed his way into the great hall and found Reed with Yeri.

"Ah... Forgive me, My Lord. Am I interrupting something?" he eyed the two of them suspiciously.

"No, I am leaving." Reed replied curtly and made his way out, leaving Yeri and Declan in the kitchen,

"Is the prince always so cold like that?" Declan scratched his head in confusion, "I think he doesn't like me."

"You're not the only one he's cold to. He's pretty cold to everyone." Yeri replied, offering him some pieces of bread that she found on the counter.

"You seem to know him really well."

"What gives you that impression?" Yeri raised her eyebrows.

"Just a gut feeling." Declan smirked as he munched on the bread.

"I'll show you around town so you can find your friends." Yeri said, as she got ready to leave.

As soon as Yeri turned her back on him, Declan slipped a little something shiny from his pocket and hid it in a tiny crook next to the spices rack. He smiled to himself before leaving the kitchen, satisfied.

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It was not as quiet as Yeri expected as there was chaos in the centre of town, where Damon's shop was located. Vampires were fighting amongst themselves, some of them looked like fledglings under spells and the Royal Guard was slightly overpowered. Yeri's wolf instinct was tickled and she turned to look at Declan who appeared as shock as she was, but she noticed him being a little odd, as if he was secretly smiling.

"What's going on?" Yeri asked one of the Royal Guard closest to her but he snapped at her "Stand back and shut up wolf!"

Yeri parried one of the enemy attack while still trying to get the other guards to talk, but evidently these vampires had no respect for her, as they only thought of her as another she-wolf under Reed's command.

"Get outta here!" Abley shouted from the middle of the battleground, busily swinging his sword, beheading enemies who approached him without mercy. His sword was laced with a line of silver, the vampires were poisoned as soon as the blade cut into their skin.

"Did you know anything about this?" Yeri turned to look at Declan, who was surprisingly calm while leaning against a wooden post, half-hiding himself.

"Why did you accuse me of causing mayhem when you are well aware that I was with you at the castle?" his demeanour shifted and a glint of coldness reappeared in his eyes. It was not obvious to other people, but Yeri picked it up right away. She did a low growl and lunged at Declan with her wolf claw around his neck,

"You turned up and this happened, coincidence much? I don't think so. SPILL IT!" she threatened him but he remained still and returned Yeri's angry gaze with one of malice.

"There he is! There's the wolf!" suddenly the vampires shifted their attention towards Yeri and Declan, as everyone followed. They started attacking both Yeri and Declan, leaving no gap for Yeri to shift into her wolf form. Declan was quick on his feet and managed to break free, releasing his wolf and retaliated.

"ENOUGH!" suddenly a deep raspy voice boomed in the night, putting the fight into a halt.

Count Gladstone and Reed appeared on horse backs with more guards, as the rogues and fledglings attempted to flee the scene.

"What is going on here?" Count Gladstone sounded really furious as he scrutinised all the unnecessary damages scattered in front of his eyes. 

"Take the humans away from here, treat the wounded and burn the dead." his cold voice swiped over the silence, as his guards started to move to execute his order.

Reed hopped off his horse and approached Yeri, who was still in her fighting stance.

"You okay?" his eyes softened as he examined her pretty face, battered and bruised as always.

"I had no idea what's going on. They just attacked us!" Yeri lowered her voice in anger.

"Where's the other wolf?" Count Gladstone asked for Declan, who made himself known from behind the tavern, back to his human form.

"My apologies, My Lord. I was simply looking for the thief, who is a wolf." a feminine voice cut through the air, as a strange looking carriage made its way into the street.

Reed's eyes widen as he instinctively pulled Yeri aside and shielded her with his back.

"Zenons."

Clarissa has arrived in Allegra in her father's distinguished carriage, one that was unique to the Zenons. She was wearing a long dress, showing off her elegance and nobility. The air around her seemed to shift ever so slightly, a little bit of glamour with air bending as she moved towards the royals.

"Clarissa of Zenon, pleased to meet you again my Lord." she curtsied ever so gracefully, the air of nobility surrounded her but at the same time suffocated the people around her.

"Princess..."

"I have a message from my father. He would love to stop the attacks against Allegra under one condition." Clarissa glanced at Reed's side profile as he clenced his fist and gritted his teeth in disgust.

"Prince Reed and I are to be engaged in the next blue moon, and my father would be visiting then for the engagement party."

Count Gladstone was rendered speechless. He turned to look at his son, whose colour has been drained from his face and every citizens were in shock at the sudden request.

"And I'm here to find the thief that stole my mother's precious earrings. My witness told me it was a wolf." Clarissa's piercing eyes met with Yeri's.

"..who looks just, like, her." her pointy index finger was adorned with a pearl ring and a black manicure.

"That's absurd! Yeri has been with us the whole time and she has never been to Zenon before!" Reed defended Yeri, who was too dumbfounded to respond to the allegation.

"She has an underling named Rocco who patroled the border of her own town, does she not?" Clarissa continued as she moved closer to Yeri, but Reed kept pushing her backwards, hiding her from Clarissa.

"We caught him snooping around and this was in his possession. He was scouting Zenon under the order of the Alpha, and that's you... isn't it? Han. Ye. Ri." Clarissa emphasised her words carefully, as she delivered the intense news.

"We will never steal one's jewel. I never ordered such thing!" Yeri stepped back from Reed and no matter how hard Reed tried to stop her, Yeri confronted Clarissa head on.

"Don't look so surprised, Chief. Oh right, you might not know... " Clarissa taunted as she waved her hand and her guards dragged two figures from the back of the carriage, those Yeri knew very well.

"Father! Grandma!" Yeri dropped everything and rushed towards her family members who were held hostage by the Zenons.

"Stay strong, little one. The truth always prevails." Chief Han was bound in all limbs, making it impossible for him to escape his captive and the Oracle was shackled on the ankle.

"LET MY FAMILY GO!" Yeri snarled at Clarissa, baring her teeth as her wolf was ready to emerge.

"As I was saying...." Clarissa walked closer, "You gotta return the stolen earring first. It was my late mother's precious heirloom."

"And I am telling you, I did not steal anything!"

"We'll see about that."

One of the Zenon guard pulled out a small knife and swiftly stabbed Chief Han in the back. It was coated with wolfsbane poison, which caused his blood to clot and his heart to fail in a matter of minutes.

"Father~!!!"

Yeri screamed in anguish as she watched her father gasped for air and slowly dropped to the ground. The Oracle was sobbing next to his stiff body, hugging her son's body as life started to leave his eyes.

"The.. truth.. Yeri... always. Trust... yourself."

Yeri pulled her father into a tight hug as she felt him exhaled for the last time. Her chest constricted, the air in her lungs burnt as she let out a loud howl of despair. 

Clarissa murdered an alpha wolf in cold blood, in front of his own daughter, in front of everyone present in Allegra at the time. Count Gladstone could not believe his eyes, he was worried of what Zenon King would do to his people if he refused to heed the marriage arrangement deal.

"Father..." Reed rushed to his side, "We can't let them stay here! They're not welcome here!"

"Quiet, Reed." Count Gladstone dismounted from his horse and approached Clarissa. His hand trembled slightly as he tapped her on the shoulder.

"Ah, My Lord." Clarissa put on her sweet smile again, as her personality seemed to switch on and off depending who she talked to.

"Abley, please escort Miss Clarissa and her entourage into the castle. They shall be our guest until the next blue moon." Count Gladstone's word struck Reed hard.

"Father! What are you doing!"

"YOU!!!" Count Gladstone sternly addressed Reed, "You failed to find a mate before your 30th birthday. YOU will, follow through with this arrangement."

"Me??? And the Zenon princess? Father, she MURDERED our ally!"

"It's the only way to save our people." the Count whispered into Reed's ear and Reed had no choice but to bite his tongue.

"Let my grandma live.... let her stay with me... I have nobody else left but her..." Yeri begged as she held her father's lifeless body on the ground. With another wave of her hand, Clarissa let her guards release the shackles on the Oracle's legs and left them on the ground, as they made their way towards the Gladstone Castle.

Reed stood still next to his horse, watching the Zenons marched, leaving a distraught Yeri with her grandma and the corpse of her father. He reached for her hand, but she did not budge, she kept sobbing while hugging her father tight. Killian and Damon filed out from the crowd, tears in their eyes as they watched the execution of their saviour.

"I'm so sorry..." Reed choked up as he knelt next to Yeri.

"I should've been there to protect you..."

"No." Yeri answered weakly, "This is why we can't be together, Reed. Our worlds are too different and being with you..." she held back her words as her lips trembled, "The longer I stay with you, the more people I lose."

An ache seared through his skin as Reed bit his lip and withdraw himself.

"I promise you, it will not happen again. I will protect you with my life." he swore.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, My Prince." there was a hint of mockery in Yeri's voice, as the mate bond forced them to get closer but each fought the bond and kept their distance.

Yeri looked at Reed dead in the eye and spoke in a cold tone, "I, Han Yeri, hereby reject you, Prince Renophilus Gladstone as my mate."