Four Years Ago
Holding my full cup of wine, I pretended to sip from it as my eyes constantly scanned the crowd. While I knew taking a few sips would do well to calm my throbbing headache and the uneasiness inside me, I refrained from it.
The Great Hall of the North was filled with a crowd of people. The grey cold stone walls draped with banners. Red, with black wolf crests, and the blue banners of the South, Crescent pack, where I came from.
It was midnight of the welcoming ceremony, prepared for us Southerners in the North. And though most South around me, guards, who'd traveled with us to the cold North, were all drunk from wine, I wanted a clear head tonight. Hopefully.
It was a good thing I'd done so much research, having spent months reading books about the history of the North.
Glancing around the Hall, I saw strange faces. Their eyes terrified me. The eyes of the Northerners. I saw the Northern warriors milling around with stoic faces. I saw their women dancing in the arms of their men. The women were beautiful with long shiny black hair, some golden as the sun. Their skin bore different complexions, from porcelain to the darkest shade.
I stared at my mother. She was the most beautiful woman, my father would often say. A golden jewel adorned her long braided brown hair. They were a perfect match against her caramel brown skin.
The cool air swept across me, sending shivers down my spine. As I continued to stare at my Mother who looked as uncomfortable as me among the Northerners, laughter drew my attention. My eyes lingered on the broad, grey-haired men standing at the corner, laughing at each other's words. I studied them. Their faces were seasoned with age.
They were the seven Elders of the North. Mama said the North was the most powerful territory on the continent. They were once connected to a great and mighty Kingdom long ago, and something happened. War sundered them from the Kingdom, driving them to the coldest part of the continent. At first, they lost many of their people because of the cold. But once they became one with it, the North ruled strong for centuries, and not even dozens of packs were able to bring them down.
However, they weren't the reason for my uneasiness. Two weeks ago, on a cold night when Father summoned me to his Alpha's room, he came with bad tidings. After years of war between the Crescents and the North, the Lycan king of the North had finally agreed to a truce. He was willing to call off the war, but for something in return. He was going to marry me.
I straightaway dismissed it because I knew with certainty I was not going to marry him. King Mätxin, as they called him, was cold and had blood on his hands. The blood of my people he had ruthlessly shed in this war. I lost my Uncle to this war, and now he wanted to marry me? What if he was doing this to capture and use me against my father?
There were also other reasons. I had just turned sixteen a few months ago, and even though I knew I was young, Mother said I was becoming a woman. It was at this age that girls began getting married.
I held onto my refusal for weeks, but when the bloodshed continued and Father was running out of men and war supplies against the North, I finally conceded. And that was how I found myself here in this hall, surrounded by barbaric strangers.
Pretending to sip the wine the Northerners had offered me, I fashioned a smile for a passing woman. Mother had always told me that the Northerners were very quick to read expressions. Any slight shift in my face or body movement, and they would assume I was nurturing malicious thoughts. And that was absolutely the truth.
Oh, how desperately I wanted them all to perish.
Glancing around again, my eyes connected with a pair of cold, dark red eyes. The same red eyes that had been unsettling me all evening.
King Mätxin.
While his eyes were frightening and made me apprehensive, that wasn't the sole reason I avoided his stare. It was because of the stories that stirred around him. As the stories went, King Mätxin had lived for more than three centuries. They called him the Red King. His reputation preceded him. He rarely went to war, but when he did, his Lycan returned drenched in blood. For all his restraint, the King remained the most appalling man in this hall.
"Leia." When I heard my father's voice, I immediately turned to face him. Father was tall with a muscular build.
He offered me his hand, and I took it, rising from my chair and deserting my wine.
"Did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?" He asked. "The seamstress did a wonderful job making you look presentable for the King."
"Father." I realized he was leading me toward the Northern King. "Why me?"
"Because he couldn't resist such beauty as yours."
"There are so many other beautiful girls." I shivered beneath the Northern King's stare. He looked at me as though I were already his possession.
"There aren't many girls with features like yours. He described you as someone rare and pure," Father murmured. "You are our gateway to ending this war."
Father was right. I was not like other girls. I was born with skin discoloration that brought out pale white patches across my brown skin. My nose, lips, and other parts of my body were pallid. While one of my eyes was green, the other was pale, almost white, as though the discoloration had penetrated through it. I was nearly blind in that eye and could barely use it. The discoloration extended into my hair, streaking it pure silver white.
"The King has promised to wait until you turn eighteen."
My mind drifted at once to Lucian. His bright smile and boyish face. The way he always made me laugh. We had been friends since childhood, and though Father disapproved of our closeness, Lucian and I had been growing very close. During the full moon last summer, he kissed me and professed his feelings towards me. I wanted Lucian, not this Northern King. But Father would never agree.
"Father," I whispered. "Please don't make me marry him."
He frowned, turning to me sharply. "You will marry the Northern King. We exchanged wine and shook hands about this matter. You will be a good wife to him."
My head throbbed with pain as Father met with King Mätxin. The two of them conversed before Father turned to me, the King's eyes sweeping over me like a predator's.
"Greet," Father instructed sharply, and I quickly bowed my head.
Light footsteps sounded, and when I rose, I found the King standing close. Being this near, I felt small beside his towering, intimidating height.
"May I have this dance?" He didn't wait for my response as he snaked his hands around mine. When he took my hand, I felt the coldness emanating from it. It penetrated my bones and sent shivers rushing through me.
The crowd fell into silence and every pair of eyes were fixed on us.
A few nights later, as I retired to bed a northern maid helped me with my night routine before blowing out the candles. Because we shared one room at Father's request, I slept on the smaller bed while Father and Mother shared the larger one. The room was warm, with a well-lit fireplace offering shelter from the bitter cold outside.
When I woke from thirst and was about to rise, I found my father pacing the room. Mother lay on the bed with the blanket drawn to her chin, her eyes fixed on Father. He looked restless, consumed by a worry that was engraved in his features.
"I will refuse the marriage for Leia's sake," Father said.
My eyes widened. He was going to do that? But why? Just days ago, he wanted nothing more than my marriage to the Northern King.
My mother quickly sat up. "You cannot. You must not."
"My duty is to protect my daughter. The intentions the Northern King has for her are far too dangerous. Had I known sooner, I would have forbidden him from ever setting eyes on her."
"He is a King, and kings are not like Alphas. If you refuse his marriage to Leia, he will want to know why, and sooner or later he will strike us."
"Do you not understand the dangers in this place? The King… The Northerners… They do not wish us well. This was all a trap to lure us in. His idea of marriage has nothing to do with building an alliance." Father shook his head. "Leia is in danger."
His eyes wandered to my side of the room and instantly I shut my eyes.
"I have already sent letters to warriors in Crescent, warning them that war may arise at any moment. And Leia, we will take her from this place by morning."
Mother had begun to speak when a knock sounded. Father turned toward the door and frowned. "What is it?"
"Alpha, the Northern King has summoned you to the throne room."
"Did you tell him I was asleep?"
"Yes, but he insists on seeing you."
"Very well. I'm on my way." After a long pause, Father turned to Mother, and she rose to her feet.
"I'm coming with you," she said.
When the two of them left the room, I pulled the covers from my body and sat up. I didn't like this summons. Why had he called for them in the dead of night, knowing everyone would be asleep? Was it so urgent it couldn't wait until morning?
Overwhelmed with trepidation, I stood and slipped out of the room, following the corridor that led to the throne room. When I arrived, I neither stepped inside nor approached the entrance where two guards stood. I knew I would be dismissed the moment they spotted me, so I pressed myself against the towering floor-to-ceiling windows and strained to listen to the voices within.
My eyes widened at the men lying on the floor, covered in blood. They were dead. Crescent guards.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't cut you down where you stand." The Northern King's voice was measured and lethal as he spoke to my father.
Bile surged up my throat and I inhaled sharply to keep from retching.
"Just when I believed we were beginning to forge something, you do this," he said. "Sending your men to prepare for war."
"Not with the intentions you have for my daughter," my Father spat. "I would sooner see this war through to its bitter end than sanction this marriage."
"If I have to bring your daughter here right now and fuck her in front of you, you would not be able to do anything." King Mätxin's voice was deep and cold.
A muscle twitch on father's jawline. "You killed my men and this is what you have to say." Father shook his head. "You have insulted me and there is no way in hell I would let this slide without another war. This time you'll be the one to yield."
"What makes you believe you'll survive another war?" He tilted his head.
My father's face darkened. His animalistic nature was beginning to surface. His eyes shone green as his wolf rose. I had witnessed my father shift countless times and knew how lethal he could be. But what of the Northern King?
"I should kill you now for this insolence, then go after your daughter. How does that sit with you? Because no matter how far you run, she will be mine."
My eyes went wide as my father released his wolf. Mother screamed, crying out his name, but it was already too late as Father charged toward the King.
He hadn't even reached the stairs before King Mätxin stood forward, closing the distance in an instant. He seized my father's wolf by the throat and tore through his jaw with savage, inhuman strength, until Father fell lifeless at his feet. I clamped both hands over my mouth to smother my scream. Father slowly shifted back into his human form, and the scene was horrific. Blood pooled rapidly around him.
Mother screamed. It was raw, unfiltered and her wolf surfaced in response.
Silent tears streamed down my cheeks as she fell down instantly, struck down by an arrow. When I glanced at the King, I found a male standing next to him with an arrow in his hand. He'd shot mother with that arrow.
No.
This couldn't be real. They couldn't be dead.
King Mätxin regarded their bodies as though they were dust beneath his feet. His expression never wavered. He looked utterly monstrous.
He had slaughtered my parents in cold blood and felt nothing.
I wanted to scream. My head was spinning. If I did, he would find me, and his men would capture me.
Just as I turned to flee, his head tilted slowly to the side. Toward me.