Bite or Howl

Chapter 39

"This has always been your dream Nick, not mine." Chase says suddenly, making me turn away from Felix and his popcorn fiesta. Chase's gaze lifts up and meets Nick's. "I'm passing my role to you whether you like it or not." He grins, leaning back in his chair. Intentionally speaking, his speech may have been a lot more demanding than it should have. Chase's language choice isn't exactly proper when it comes to things like these.

Nick's completely dumbfounded. "I've already had all of the crowning ceremonies and announcements made. They should hand you all the papers and schedules by tomorrow and yeah. You can start work whenever you want, I mean, you've got plenty of time to settle in." Chase rambles, glancing at his watch. "As for Phoebe and I, we could stay in the castle but I'd much rather permanently stay in the cabin in the mountains. Anything you like, Phoebe." He starts to option, leaving the decisions to me.

He's moving so quickly, I can't seem to properly understand what he says. Nick on the other hand, he'd lost his attention as soon as he said the words terminating my position as king. "Wow," I hear him mutter under his breath. Chase stands up from his seat and walks over to Nick. His hand motions out to his seat as he says, "go on." Nick stands up, hesitantly and sits down at the end of our table where Chase used to be. Chase then moves to Nick's spot, sitting right in front of me. He gives me a sly grin before turning back to Nick.

"This is probably the biggest surprise I could ever imagine." Nick claims, shaking his head. Felix chuckles beside Chase. Wait, he'd moved?

He clasps his hands together and a playful expression goes over his face. He snickers, adjusting his posture so he's leaning against his seat, his legs up on the table. "Well, that isn't exactly the biggest surprise we've got." He mumbles, his voice tinted with a mischievous tone. I furrow my brows and look at him, waiting for him to continue. But he doesn't.

Felix smirks and looks directly at me. They all start to turn towards where I sit while I gape at them in confusion. They're gaze stays where I am for a few moments and I start to feel like they're playing some sort of trick on me. My arms cross over my chest and I lay back in my chair, an unimpressed expression painted across my face.

But as I slump downwards, their gaze doesn't move. Even as I start to sink into my chair and lower myself, their gaze is still fixated. Not at me. Then I realised, they were looking behind me. Before I could turn my head around, a strong hand landed on my shoulder, its strong grip grasping on me. I let out a gasp in shock, my head not daring to look behind me. The fear of looking back faded after a thick, familiar voice started to speak. "My Princess."

My body jumped out of my chair, twisting around to meet face to face with someone I thought I'd never see ever again. His hair a mess, his crumpled white shirt fading into a grey and his clear eyes that stared directly into mine. Lupus.

I seem to react without even knowing, my legs carrying myself out of my seat and quickly taking  a step, drawing me closer to him. My hands wrap around his torso in a death threatening grip, afraid of letting go. He chuckles and brings his arm around me too, my forehead resting directly on his chest. His familiar scent filling my nostrils, easing my body and relishing itself. I felt like a child receiving their first teddy bear or seeing their parents after a long time. I felt home.

I pull back, lost for words and absolutely shocked. I was dreaming. Definitely. My lips slowly part, trying to form words as I continuously shake my head. Lupus laughs at my reaction and nods to Felix who'd appeared beside me. I quickly turn my head to face him. "How?" I could barely speak. Felix laughs and digs his hands into his pockets. "You know, you aren't exactly the only white wolf." He tells me, not helping at all. White wolves? "For someone that spent most of their life reading history books, I'm surprised you don't know that white wolves can heal." He adds, seeing my lost expression. White wolves. Healing.

"After he'd died, I spoke to some elder wolves and they showed me a way to bring him back. Lupus was in critical condition for four months and only started to wake up after that." He explains to me, bringing a smile to my face. My excitement gleams and I feel all giddy. I turn back to Felix and whisper, "thank you."

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The bitter cold crawls up my bare arms, making me shiver against Chase. My breath comes out as frost in the air, noting how cold it was right now. I held onto Chase's hand with a firm grip as we stepped into the Royal Garden. It was the first time I'd been here after Catherine had killed me.

I keep glancing over my shoulder, looking over to the place where she'd slit my throat while I sat there, useless. I shrug the thought off and turn back to Chase. His arm wraps behind me, palm rubbing my forearm. "Cold?" He whispers and I nod. He steps forward, dragging me along with him. "This'll be fast, I promise." He says, bringing us to the very edge of the balcony so we're leaning on the railing.

He looks down at his watch and taps his foot. "In about three seconds." He comments pushing his hand back into his pocket to cover his hand from the cold. I look out onto Mount Verona, the huge city that's hidden between mountains and forest. Everyone stands outside their doors, huddling together and seeking for body heat. They all look directly up into the sky so I do so too, watching as the stars shine brightly.

But then, while I gape up into the sky, it erupts in a bright light. Red, green and blue lights come bursting into the sky, illuminating its light. My eyes widen and a giggle at the sight. Turning to Chase, I smile. The light reflects off his eyes, abstracting the glows of the light into them. "Fireworks?" I question, smirking. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "I know, it's cliché." He shouts, competing with the loud bursts of light.

I smile and lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder as his hand rubs my arm, keeping me warm. I lift my head up to face him. "You did well, Chase." I whisper. My small comment brings a smile to his lips. Not one of his Chase grins, but a sincere smile. He swoops his head down and brushes his lips over mine, enjoying the moment once and for all.