Filed to story: Sheila Callaso and Alpha Killian Reid Book
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Third person’s point of view
It was at the peak of midnight, and the night’s air was colder. The moon shone brightly from its abode, trailing the subtle movements of the shadow that moved into the castle, wearing a long, hooded garment.
The figure moved hastily, the cold night’s air registering its presence, and the moon discreetly trailed behind it. There was only a light movement in the air, as the figure walked completely unseen. It moved carefully within the familiar castle walls, swiftly taking turns down every hallway. Moving with the aim to the castle dungeon.
The figure moved deeper into the dungeon’s darkness, and with a snap of the finger, yellow flames burned the wooden torches glued to the walls at every corner of the dungeon, illuminating the entire place.
This sudden action caused a stir in one of the cages. There was a light movement of metallic shackles against each other and a painful groan from the cage.
The figure came to a halt directly in front of the cage bars, dark eyes falling on the man crouched on his knees, both hands pinned to the wall by metallic chain shackles. The man groaned again from the wolfbane that was feasting on his skin, torturing him.
He mustered a lot of strength to push his head up, his gaze holding that of the figure in the long-hooded garment.
“You sure took your sweet time.” Rowan’s voice was strained and dry, his words escaping in a helpless whisper. He could barely keep his head fixed on the figure.
“Get these bloody things off me,” he said again, feeling his throat too dry to make any more sounds.
The figure moved closer to the metallic bars that stood between the man and the figure.
Again, the finger rose in the air, and with a wave, the shackles laced with the poisonous wolfsbane came crashing against the humid and hard floor, but its shrilling sounds against the floor never escaped the walls of the dungeon.
Rowan sighed in relief but could barely get up.
“So, what now? Your whole plan failed. That woman wasn’t executed as you had hoped for, and I am in a bloody mess.” Rowan spat in pure rage and vexation. His voice was not above a whisper, but his visitor could hear him just fine.
“You have to get me out of here,” This time he attempted to gaze at the face of the person before him.
“Tomorrow, at the first light of dawn, the Alpha himself is coming to see me. You know how dangerous that is. His lips moved again, but still, the person before him didn’t utter a word, instead, kept on regarding him with an expressionless dark gaze Rowan couldn’t fathom.
“Say something,” He was getting a little pissed at the person’s silence and more frustrated at his situation. “I am here because of you,” he sparked furiously.
“Lose that bloody tone of yours,” For the first time the figure spoke, it sounded like that of a female. The voice held great intensity as the figure moved closer to the bars, separating them. The burning torches illuminated the face, allowing Rowan to see perfectly. “If you did things right, that idiot of a Luna wouldn’t be alive this instant.” The voice was furious, her words holding hatred and dislike for his apparent failure.
Rowan fell silent as if pondering something, his eyes forced to meet the dark gaze of his visitor. “You could have killed her yourself. Why did you have to create this whole drama in the first place?”
“There’s no fun in that, it’s much entertaining to have the fucking Alpha murder his own mate,” Her voice was filled with rage.
“That doesn’t matter right now. First, you have to get me out of here,” Rowan said.
Even though her face was covered by the hood above her head, Rowan could make out the blinding rage that flashed on her face.
It frightened him so much that the pain in his body vibrated against every joint in his body. “We don’t have much time. Let me free.” He urged.
The figure in front of him had her hands folded against her chest, her gaze fixed on him.
Rowan’s chest prickled with fear at her hesitation. He sucked in the pain tormenting his flesh and bones, forcing himself to stand.
“Alpha Killian will be here tomorrow, wanting answers. We both know we wouldn’t want him to find out about you just yet, otherwise, all your efforts and plans will be flushed away, and you will be the one getting executed instead.”
His words seemed to anger the figure all the more. And this made Rowan smile.
“If you don’t want me saying things I shouldn’t, set me free now and I’ll leave this place.”
“You are right, I wouldn’t want you saying things you shouldn’t,” A sick smile haunted her round lips. “Thank you so much for your service all this while, but unfortunately, this is as far as you go.”
Rowan’s eyes widened as her words echoed in his ears. “You can’t-” He began, his heart jamming against his chest as she pulled her hand up in the air.
With a snap, his insides burned profusely with his lips sealed shut, allowing not a single cry to leave his lips.
Rowan clutched his chest, feeling the murdering pain in his chest, and immediately, he collapsed on the hard floor, dead.
Her dark gaze examined his body coldly with disdain. Without wasting time, she moved out of the dungeon and into the moonlit night that witnessed it all, fading out of sight.
Valerie’s point of view
I pulled down the woolen hood covering my shiny black hair as I stepped through the black gigantic gates of the supreme council. I breathed in calmly, the fresh air gliding into my nose, releasing the restlessness that had clogged my chest on the way here.
By my side was Alpha Killian of the Crescent North Pack. He turned to me, giving me a small nod, and together, we made our way to the supreme court.
Walking through the black doors into the supreme court reminded me of the Crystal Fortress. A place where I grew up. Unfortunately, it was no more.
My eyes scanned the familiar faces of everyone that had appeared for the Council meeting today. The court was filled with every ranked member of the Council from various supernatural kinds within the whole of North Central.
I moved closer to the large mound that was rooted in the center of the courts, which had various seats around it and also behind it. I settled into one of them, and so did everyone else.
The council’s head had requested an urgent meeting today to discuss something of great importance. But so far, no one was saying anything. There was an uncomfortable stir within me as my gaze fell on Amelie. She was one of the oldest witches from a long time ago. She was also a member of the Crystal Fortress centuries ago. She was a witch with the ability to foretell the future.
My thoughts were interrupted by Zeriyah’s voice. “I’m glad everyone could make it,” she said, scanning the large crowd in the Supreme Court.
Everyone was in a frenzied state. Well, I couldn’t blame them. The Dark Circle has struck again. Nothing was surprising about that; everyone’s fear was well understood. But what surprised me most was the fact that they had attacked the Fae kingdom. That didn’t make sense. Ever since the Dark Circle began their attacks, so far, they’ve gone after the vampire kingdoms, some witches’ covens outside the capital, a few packs within the central, which also included Killian’s pack, and last night, they went into the Fae territory.
“I won’t waste much of our time. We are all aware of why we have gathered here,” Zeriyah’s eyes circled again, “They have returned. The Dark Circle has appeared in the North Central once again.”
Even though everyone’s faces were either colored with unsaid rage or had adopted a grim expression, the court fell into another echoed silence as Zeriyah drew in a deep breath.
The Dark Circle was no joke. They were a congregation of the darkest and vilest creatures of the supernatural kind that had either run wild or lost every sense of morality. They were almost like the Council, but they were more dangerous and darker.
“So far, they’ve attacked some packs, vampire kingdoms, and last night, they were at the Fae kingdom, looking for something,” came Zeriyah again.
My brow crinkled as I leaned closer. I guess every one of us did. The Dark Circle had never attacked without a motive. Even that night, fourteen years ago, they had attacked the Crystal Fortress for a reason. I shut my eyes, not wanting to be drawn back into the past. It was a long time ago, but sometimes, it felt like it was just last night.
“And what do they want this time?” A voice rang distastefully within the crowd. It dangled with the usual rage, but also with a familiar disdain for the Dark Circle. I didn’t bother to swerve my head to know who that voice belonged to; it was none other than Leonardo, Alpha of the Black Blood Pack.
At Leonardo’s words, Zeriyah exchanged glances with Amelie and a few of the supreme council’s heads. There was something they weren’t saying.
“We believe they were in search of something, and last night confirmed it. A phoenix stone was stolen from the Fae kingdom,”
Short gasps sliced through the air, accompanied by murmurings.
“Why will they be after the Phoenix stone?” Killian asked next to me.
