It was finally the end, and I had no reason to doubt. Just as expected, Laura blew the flute with all her energy, making sure it was as loud as she could make it be.
Everywhere went dead silent, and I kept my eyes closed, scared and sad to die. My heart ached from everyone's betrayal, especially my dad's, but at the same time, I felt it was best to die and end this suffering.
We all waited for a few minutes, all mute and anticipating the Lycan prince. My father had also ordered the bodyguards at the entrance to leave the door open so he would have a free pass.
"What is going on?" Scarlett was the first to throw out the question that everyone had been asking themselves. Laura frowned and gave it another try, blowing air into the flute with every ounce of energy, and when I opened my eyes, I saw how bulging and red her eyes were.
"How long should it take him?" My father asked, both eyes narrowing in surprise.
"It took the man who drove him to his place twenty minutes. With his extreme speed as a Lycan, he should be here in twenty or thirty minutes." One of the royal guards answered immediately, bowing as he saw the grim look in my father's face.
"Tell that servant who drove him there to go and fetch him!" Dad commanded, but just then the servant walked in.
"He changed location. We have snuck in and checked on him at that exact house, but it is all empty. He doesn't want anyone to know where he is staying." The man narrated with a bow, and everyone was more frustrated.
Laura was boiling in anger and fury as she went for another round of deafening our ears with the flute.
"It isn't how hard you blow it that would tell if he would hear it or not. He won't be alerted by this sound we are hearing; it is a spiritual connection!" Dad, who was already becoming mad, shunned her as he grumbled to himself.
"Why isn't he here?!" Laura whined, breathing heavily. Her eyes were glinting with anger—even more frustration than my father's.
"I think we are being too impatient! He will be here!" Scarlett hissed and flashed a glare at me as if I was the reason the Lycan prince refused to appear at the sound of the so-called flute he gave them.
I almost laughed as I watched them sweat and grunt at each other while Laura kept blowing and blowing until all the veins in her neck came out, pulsing and bugging out her skin.
All their faces were red, and the elders just couldn't say anything as they growled in utter disappointment.
"What if he gave us the fake one?! This flute! What if it is all fake!" Laura barked, flinging it away. All thanks to a guard who was able to catch it.
"You are lucky it didn't fall and break! Laura, you have to calm down because you were just about endangering us!" My father, who had just recovered from the shock of seeing her fling off the Lycan's flute, seethed at her, but Laura really didn't care at that moment.
It showed how desperate she wanted to kill me. It was obvious that her time to kill me was running out. If the Lycan doesn't come, then there is no other way.
"The Lycan prince didn't give us a fake one. What if he intentionally refused to come?" Scarlett chimed in, and everyone turned their gazes sharply at her as if she had grown two heads.
"Why would he not come?!" Everyone chorused at the same time, perplexity rubbing all over their faces.
"He might be in love with her. We might have failed to convince him Ella was a demon, and he just pretended like he believed us, and...."
"That can't be true!" Laura shut her up, fuming as she darted her disdainful eyes back at me. A tantrum built up as some agreed and some didn't, murmuring among themselves.
" Scarlett might be right!" My father's angry voice broke in, and every noise died down. They all faced me as if I were the cause.
"You are really a threat to our lives!" My father rasped, his eyes becoming darker and his alpha's aura filling the air. Every one of his muscles was enlarging, and both fists were balled up as if ready to strike.
I gathered the courage to look back at him, and all I could see was a dumbass grown man who had been reduced to a total fool. The fact that he was actually my father was enough to baffle me. Right now, he just called me a threat. For real? When the danger was right beside him.
"You have no idea who the threat is! Have you ever asked yourself or pondered on why exactly she wanted me dead so desperately, even more than you?" I spoke out bluntly, gesturing at Laura, who stared back at me with a sneer.
I wasn't sure where the courage came from, but I figured now was the time to talk sense into my obnoxious father before his foolishness endangers the entire pack of werwolves in the east.
His eyes widened and glinted with dismay and fury mixed together. He was actually surprised to hear me talk back at him that way, but at the same time I felt he was pondering my words.
"You mean Laura?" He scoffed, and I nodded.
"What are you trying to say?!" Scarlett flared, and Laura giggled.
"I think we should listen to her and hear what her demon clan has whispered into her ears to say!" Laura uttered with a lopsided smile on her face, and my father growled and peered furiously at me, as if he had been charmed once more.
"That woman beside you is a demon agent, and she works for the demon king. Your mate died because she was possessed by the same demon controlled by Laura. I am sure you won't believe me, and I won't force you to. When you realize this truth, it will be too late. I would be far gone by then!" I warned, and just as I expected, he rose from the throne and charged at me like a thief.
"You don't dare call my second mate a demon! You are the demon here! I see she was right about you saying what your fellow demons whispered into your ears!" I bellowed and gripped my hair, pulling myself up from the kneeling position.
"Dad, since we failed to kill her today, can you fulfill my wish now?" Scarlett grumbled, and he released me and then faced her.
"Yes, my beautiful daughter. You start your new school tomorrow, and you start with her as your slave. It's time to give her the mark as your slave, just as you wished." He responded to her with a huge smile of satisfaction, while Scarlett squealed and jumped on him in great excitement. Her screams were all over the place while I slouched helplessly like a sacrificial lamb.
My father actually said those words with his mouth.
I was staring at him as he offered me as a slave to the Beta's daughter and threatened to brand me so the world would know that his daughter had become a slave.
Isn't that so ridiculous?
Can you imagine how it hurts? Did I survive death today just to be faced with a more gruesome life? Not only would I be her slave, but she would also take me to school where I would be scorned and berated.
I was still in shock, dumbfounded, and confused when the bodyguards bent my head aside and drew down the collar of my shirt to expose the side of my neck where the mark was to be made.
The strength to struggle was not there. I was shattered and torn apart, and my eyes immediately closed when I saw my father pick up the silver knife from the table and dip it into wolfsbane.
Tears poured like rain, washing down my cheeks. My heart thumped and swelled up in overwhelming sadness. When I felt the sharp and stinging pain of the knife on my neck, I bit my lips tight, pushing back the outburst of crying and screams that were about to break through my lips.
I was sick and tired of crying from pain. There was no need to waste my tears when I was definitely going to kill myself after this. It was impossible to continue living with the everlasting mark of a slave for the Beta's daughter.
Even if no one recognized me as an Alpha bloodline, I still knew my birthright. I knew who I was and who I was made to be. I won't survive living as an official slave and being trash to every student out there. This was finally the peak.
I didn't know my father was done till he asked Scarlett if she loved how he wrote the S.P.S. with the sketch of two hands in a chain. That was the trademark of a slave.
The S.P.S. was an acronym for "Scarlett Personal Slave."
He explained to her, and she was out of the world in happiness—shrieking and dancing around.
"I love it, dad! This is a dream come true!" She laughed crazily and grabbed my chin so I could face her directly.
"Look at your master, little slave..." She snickered, her face full of smugness and her eyes flinting wryly.
"You are not my master!" I snapped, and she was about to slap me, but held back as she saw what I was about to do.
"Really?" She exclaimed, surprisingly as I brought the claws close to my heart. I was about to end my life.
"That's the best thing to do!" Laura chimed in, grinning as her shimmering eyes of happiness trailed my claws, which were already glazing through my chest.
The same pack my presence was saving actually doesn't need my help. Laura can do whatever she wants with them. I don't care.
In my grave and the next world to come, I would never forgive my father and this entire pack. They should be burned to ashes. I don't care!
"Do it!" My father coaxed, and it was like a spear lurching into my heart.
Even if I were going to kill myself, he should not urge me to. This hurts unimaginably.
With a loud cry, I drew my hand back and, with full force, I struck forward to my chest, but just before my claws could plunge in, I caught the smell that froze me to a spot, and just at that same time, I heard his voice call my name in the most lovable and soothing tone that melted my heart immediately.
"Ella, Don't do it, please. I spared you for a reason. We still need each other and I am always here for you." Those were Dracula's words which sank deep into my heart and soul.
He was somewhere around and was talking to me through our mindlink as mates.
I shuddered in shock, and my hand dropped with every claw sinking back and transforming into my nails. All my pain and sadness gave way to the joy of hearing my mate talk to me again.
My eyes darted through every corner and fixed to the entrance as a little smile curled up in my face. I waited for him to come in and save me from my misery.
"What are you looking at?! Why did you stop!" Laura and Scarlett both shouted at me, but I ignored them and kept staring at the door in anticipation.
But I waited all day, and he never came. He left and I couldn't smell his scent anymore.
I became Scarlett's slave, still hoping he would actually show up one day and save me.
That hope was the only thing that kept me from attempting suicide. I believed in him. I trusted him to rescue me some day, but he vanished.