by Karen Ruth
“Nina.” Lucas started saying as he began to stand up.
Spontaneously, I put my hand in a stop position and gently placed my hand on his shoulders pushing him back down to sit on the rock once more.
“Lucas, please let me talk and you must promise not to read my mind.”
“Nina, you’re scaring me. What is going on?” Lucas said back to me with his head turned sideways and his eyebrows furrowed.
“Please promise me, Lucas.” He stuttered for a moment but reluctantly agreed.
I sat down on the rock next to him and looked deep into his golden eyes. They sparkled, but not the way they do when he’s about to turn. The way they do in sadness. I reached down and grabbed my hands in his and set them on his lap.
“Lucas, you must marry Adelina. There is no other option.” I said to him not removing my gaze from his eyes.
“Nina,” Lucas muttered, but I cut him off.
“No, Lucas, listen to me. You are worth so much more than I could ever be. I’m a nobody. You’re the prince of the whole United States fricken States. You are the packs only remaining hope. There is nobody else to take over your position. If you don’t take it, there will be bloodshed. It will become a full-on war. Many wolves will die. Nobody wants that. All your friends are terrified, Lucas. They need you to do this. I need you to do this.”
Lucas's eyes twinkled with pain even more.
“But what about you Nina. Why can’t you be my Queen.” He disputed.
Since the beginning of the conversation, my eyes never waved from Lucas. After he said this, I couldn’t help but lower my gaze to our entwined hands.
“Lucas, we both know that I’m not fit for a Queen. There is no way that you could keep me from going out and fighting just like I did with Seth. Tell me honestly Lucas, if I were the Queen, would you allow that?”
Instead of answering verbally, Lucas simply shook his head no.
“Plus, I refuse to even wear a dress. Isn’t that the first step in being royal?”
I brought my eyes back up and I gave out a small chuckle which caused Lucas to briefly curl up his lips. It immediately fell back down in sadness.
“Plus, the benefits with Adelina are too good to refuse. You need to strengthen the pack by bringing in the British pack. You never know if you will need them. There is always strength in numbers Lucas. You are smart, I know that you know this.”
“But Nina, you are missing one thing in all this.”
“And what is that?” I asked him while cocking my head to the left, confused.
Lucas lifted is hand from mine and tucked my hair behind my ear ever so gently.
“Nina, I love you. I don’t love Adelina.”
His words caused my heart to flutter but at the same time, it caused it to sink. He loved me, but we could never be. Some great life I had. Some stupid Romeo and Juliet crap. I placed my hand over his and closed my eyes for a brief second. I opened them slowly and looked into his eyes once more.
“I love you too Lucas, and I always will.”
“Why do I feel there is a but coming?” Lucas questioned.
I shook my head yes and said, “but you still must be with her and not me. Please Lucas, you have to for the sake of the pack.”
He dropped his hands from me and turned around facing the castle his eyes dropping to the ground.
“I don’t know.” He said in response rubbing his eyes.
“Please Lucas, do it for me. No matter what happens between us, there is no way that I’ll ever leave your life. We will always be together one way or another.” I said to him once more trying to get him to say yes.
Lucas stuttered for a moment before muttering “Very well. Can I at least have one more kiss?” He asked me, looking back at me.
Instead of answering him, I quickly moved straight to his lips and gave him the most passionate kiss we ever shared. It started out soft but quickly grew into a hard kiss. We were as close to each other as we possibly could be. Our bodies were pressed against each other with no holes between us. His hands were entwined in my hair and my hands were against his hard-broad chest. After what seemed like only a millisecond, I had to pull away. For if I didn’t, I knew that I never would be able to leave him. We both dropped our heads and didn’t say anything. After a few minutes, Lucas broke the silence, “there is a meeting in the royal courtroom that we have to go to.”
He stood up and extended a hand to me to help me up.
I took his hand and stood up while saying, “how much time do we got?”
He pulled out his cell-phone to check.
“Like five-minutes. We better get going.”
“Very well,” I replied back to him as we began our journey to the meeting.
Chapter 3
We walked into the meeting, and as usual, everyone stared at us. I trekked over to the King and Queen and greeted them.
“Hello Devlon,” I said bowing to him in respect. “How are you doing today?” I asked him.
“Hello, Nina. I am doing quite well. How about you my darling,” He responded to me, flashing me a genuine smile.
“I’m decent Devlon, thanks for asking.” I flashed him a weak smile. “My darling, what is wrong? Is there anything I can help you with?” He asked me concerned.
“Oh, it’s not anything you can help me with Devlon, but thank you for your offer.” I flashed him another half-smile.
This one was even weaker than the first. In response to this, Devlon patted my hand and let me go. I walked over to the Queen. I bowed to her in respect.
“Hello, Amelia. It is good to see you again. You look as beautiful as ever.”
“As do you, Nina,” Amelia replied. She bent to whisper in my ear, “remember Nina, if you ever need me for anything, I will always be here for you.”
I inclined my head in gratitude.
“Thank you, Amelia,” I said to her.
She bowed her head as I took my seat at the Royal Court table.
“Nina is showing off ag….” Reed started but must have shut up when he saw the sadness on my face.
Everyone glanced from me to Lucas and back again. Neither of us commented on what just happened. I would rather not even think about it, but I knew that we would have to tell them eventually. Either that or they would just read our minds and find out for themselves. I looked around the table in discomfort. Every single one of them had their heads tilted sideways trying to figure out what was wrong.
“Is everything ok between you the two of you?” Amelia questioned in her sweet loving mother's voice.
“Everything is fine,” Lucas answered in a grumpy tone as I looked at the table.
“Nina did you..” Reed started but was cut off by Caleb bumping into him rather hard on purpose.
Obviously, Devlon didn’t care about the drama that was going on as he started with the meeting.
“Alright, let’s begin. There have been numerous reports about the werewolf hunter society just outside of our territory. We have sent out guards to take care of them, once more, but they just keep coming back. We have lost a few of our wolves in battle already. What do you guys think the best way to take care of them is?” Devlon asked the group.
The werewolf hunter society, I repeated in my head over and over again. I couldn’t recall if I have ever heard of that name before. Suddenly, my dream popped up in my head. The meeting fading away from my field of view. I remembered the mystery man against the tree. “Who is we?” I asked the mystery man. “TWHS,” he replied. The dream faded away and the meeting was visible once more. My heart plummeted. For the first time since the meeting started, I looked up from the table.
“Devlon?” I asked for his permission to speak. “This werewolf hunter society, they wouldn’t happen to also be known as TWHS would they?”
Everyone turned their eyes to me, their face full of shock. Lucas tilted his head to the side. Eli broke the silence.
“Nina, where have you heard of them before?” He asked me.
�
��So, they are the same thing?” I questioned them again.
“Yes,” Eli replied.
Devlon jumped into the conversation, “Nina, look at me. Where have you heard of them before?” He asked again.
I turned my head directly towards him. “In a dream. A man was dressed in black against a tree with a rifle. He shot Catherine. He said that they were coming. I asked who and he said the TWHS. I asked who that was, and he didn’t reply.” I said replaying the memory in my mind.
Images flash through the crevices of my mind as I recalled the memory.
“Nina, have you had dreams like this before?” Devlon asked me in a serious tone.
“No, well, kind of, I guess. I had two similar dreams where I saw Seth trying to claim me as his, and then Catherine being with Seth. They have never been completely correct, why?” I questioned him further while shrugging my shoulders.
“Nina, I think you can tell the future,” Amelia said to me.
I laughed at the suggestion.
“They were just dream's guys,” I said to them.
They just blinked at me very slowly.
“Nina, I believe they are premonitions. If you have these again, you must come tell me at once. Do you understand?” Devlon said in an authoritative voice.
“Of course, Devlon,” I responded back to him.
Devlon exhaled and looked at me sincerely, “Nina, I think it is time to tell you about your mother.”
“What do you mean?” I questioned him.
“Nina, your mother wasn’t a simple human like you think she was.” Devlon started.
“Of course, she was,” I replied cutting him off. “I knew her my entire life. She was a human. Sure, she was kind of crazy, but she was 100 percent a human.” I said still in denial about the whole locket situation.
“Nina, let him speak,” Amelia replied.
“Your mother was a werewolf that belonged to this pack a long time ago. She comes from a long line of werewolves to be exact. She was a wonderful wolf. She had a beautiful fluffy grey coat.” Devlon said. He looked like he was lost in thought. “Unfortunately, she fell in love with a man who was outside of our pack. Actually, he wasn’t even a werewolf. He was a human, but a very strong human. He belonged to TWHS. We found out about this and your mother was stripped of her wolf as it is against our laws. It was a treacherous act, to fall in love with ones who are trying to kill us for simply being who we are. We tried to erase her memory of the existence of werewolves. Unfortunately, she must have loved your father so much that the memory couldn’t be erased.”
My mind raced at the thought of everything he told me.
“What exactly is the TWHS and why didn’t you get suspicious about my mother being with someone after Cath was born? How didn’t you realize it until after I was born?” I asked him confused as it took them so long to notice anything.
“Like I said Nina, TWHS kills and hunts werewolves. They think that we are some sort of monster that doesn’t deserve to live. They hunt us down and kill us one by one. They are trying to wipe us all out. And as far as your mother goes, she was smart. She had another wolf named Luke who pretended to be the father to the babies. Nobody questioned it. Not until you were born Nina.”
“Why me?” I questioned back.
“Because Nina, you were different. You had a hidden spunk to you as a baby that nobody else had. Especially not Luke. He wasn’t very known for his bravery. Besides, you had that brown hair of yours. Both Luke and your mom had blonde hair. There was no way that you should have brown.”
“So, what happened to my father?” I asked him not taking my eyes off his.
“He’s dead. Our werewolves hunted him down and killed him after we figured everything out.”
“What about this Luke guy?” I questioned Devlon further.
Devlon let out a huge depressive sigh.
“The memory wipe was too hard on him. He forgot everything and couldn’t handle it. Unfortunately, he committed suicide not long after.”
“And why did you wait until now to tell me everything?” I asked him, feeling betrayed.
“I’m sorry Nina. I never got a good look at your mother until her funeral. None of us who are old enough to know really had the chance to meet her. Lucas and the others had no idea as well.”
I looked around for clarification as to whether that was true. They all shook their heads that they in fact had no idea. They were astonished as well.
“Well, I better go tell everything to Cath,” I said to him and he bowed his head. “Do you need me to figure out how to take them down or may I be excused.”
He hesitated for a second before being cut off by Amelia.
“Go tell your sister Nina.”
“Thank you, Amelia.” I bowed my head to her.
“Very well, if we need you, we will call for you Nina,” Devlon said to me. I bowed my head in respect to Devlon.
“Thank you.”
He bowed his head back to me. I stood up to leave and began walking towards to heavy door. I heard Lucas mutter, “Father,” to Devlon.
“What is it, son?” He asked him.
“Call Adelina. I have decided to follow through with the wedding and become the King.”
I heard a few scoffs and the heat of all eyes on me. I hurried out of the room and didn’t look back.
I reached my door and had to think about how I would tell Cath everything that I just learned. I took a deep breath in, opened the door, and walked in the direction of my sister’s room.
“Cath?” I called out.
“In here!” She yelled in the direction of her bedroom.
I knocked on her door. I heard her scoot off her bed and make her way to the door. Once she arrived, she opened it slowly.
“What’s up Nina?”
“May I come in? I have something very important to talk to you about?” I asked her while looking at the floor, avoiding eye contact.
“Always.” She simply replied while opening the door further.
I walked through the door and made my way to her bed. I sat down at the edge of it and patted the spot next to me.
“Nina? Is everything ok?” She asked confused.
“Somewhat,” I replied to her. “Listen, Cath. Mom apparently isn’t who we thought she was. Apparently, she was a werewolf just like us.”
“But how?” Cath asked. “She never transformed around us or anything like that. She didn’t even seem to know what werewolves were.”
“I know, I thought the same exact thing. Devlon just told me everything about it.”
“Devlon?” Cath questioned confused.
“The King. He said that mom fell in love with a werewolf hunter guy and we were born. Apparently, it is against the law, and her memories were taken away for it as well as her wolf. Dad was killed because of it.”
“If mom’s memories were stripped, then how does she still remember dad?” Cath asked me confused.
“Supposedly, she loved dad so much she couldn’t forget him no matter how much they tried to remove it.”
“Wow,” Cath said. “I hope to have that kind of love someday.”
“No kidding. Same here.” I said to her smiling.
“You already have that Nina,” Cath replied.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” I voiced while dropping my gaze and my smile.
“What’s wrong Nina?”
I exhaled and looked at her. “You know when people say things are too good to be true, yep, it's completely true.”
“Oh no, what happened?” my sister questioned as she jumped off the bed, knelt on the ground, and looked into my eyes.
“I had to break it off with Lucas. He’s a Prince and he has bigger responsibilities than me. He must get married to become the King and very soon at that. Adelina is the only one fit enough to be the Queen.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry Nina.” Catherine jumped off the floor and wrapped me in a bear hug.
I hugged her back.
“Thank you
, Cath.” I closed my eyes and tried to forget about everything.
A knock sounded from the door.
“Come in!” Cath and I yelled together.
Cassie approached from the doorway. “Sorry guys, I just wanted to see if you guys were ok.”
“It’s all good Cassie.” I saw her sad expression on her face.
“Cassie? Is something wrong?”
She ran over to us with tears in her eyes. I opened my arms and gave her a huge hug.
“Oh, Nina! I am going to have to leave again. Adelina won’t come back unless I become her personal dresser again. I don’t want to leave you guys!”
My heart ached for her. She was such a sweet woman, and she didn’t deserve this.
“I’m sorry Cassie. It is all my fault. I’m the reason she is coming back.” She lifted my chin with her pointer finger.
“I admire your courage, Nina. Do not blame yourself. This is above you in many ways. Promise me that you won’t forget about me if I am too busy to visit.”
I looked over at Cath and we scoffed together.
Cath was the first to speak, “Cassie, we could never forget you. You are the best person we have ever had.”
“Yes, I completely agree with Cath. You are like a second mother to us.”
Cath shook her head in agreement.
“Thank you!” Cassie squealed in delight. “I love you guys!”
“We love you too Cassie.” Cath and I said together.
We sat on the bed, hugging it out, trying to forget about all the upcoming nightmares.
Chapter 4
The next day was what I call a lazy day. I refused to get out of bed other than to grab some food and use the restroom. As I laid in bed, with the fireplace on, I decided to pick up the book Lucas gave me not so long ago. Well, it felt like a long time ago. Although, in reality, it wasn’t. I needed to see if there was anything in the book about TWHS.
Flipping past the images of the first war, I came upon an interesting image. It was a man with a rifle, just like the weapon I saw in my dream. I leaned into the book, pages just inches from my face, to get a better view of it. How were my dreams correctly guessing things that would happen in real life? It couldn’t be true. There is no way that Devlon is correct. There are no such things as a werewolf who can have premonitions. Leave that to the so-called witches that live within this universe.
