The drive back to the castle was unnerving. The image of the rogue was still present in my mind, but I was calm. Calmer then I would have been if this had happened only a few weeks ago. When I looked out the window, all I could see was a few wolves stalking around the area. I didn't expect to see any humans, especially any I knew since it was past curfew. Should any human be out and about now? Killed immediately.
Maddox's eyes were glassy once more, who he was mind linking I didn't know, though I felt that it was about the rogue body that needed to be moved. He would most likely be sending someone out to do a perimeter check.
I was sleepy, so by the time that we were pulling into the empty castle courtyard, I was practically asleep. I didn't really know why I was asleep, in all honestly it wasn't that late at all. Yet I still felt as if my entire body had shut down.
I could feel the door open beside me and two arms wrap around my torso, pulling me up into a hold.
"No no, I can walk it's ok," I mumbled, my head lolling back and forth.
Maddox chuckled, "I'd like to see you try and make your own way up these stairs,"
He didn't put me down, I could hear the bustling noises around me but it didn't wake me up, more serving as a white noise source which seemed to be making me sleepier.
The last thing I felt before fading into unconsciousness was a soft hand moving my hair behind my head and the soft cushioning of the mattress and pillows rising up around me.
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When I woke up, everything was silent. I couldn't hear Haven, Verity and Faith bustling around my room but I also couldn't hear anything through the door. It was strange, considerably different, but not unwelcomed. I was in the same dress that I was wearing yesterday, so the first thing I did was change. I chose something simple, I was already sick of all of the dresses. A loose pastel t-shirt and a pair of jeans that seemed to be three sizes too big.
No matter.
I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and left it at that, before walking out of the room. The guards that Maddox always had outside my room weren't there either.
Now, this is weird. I kept walking, though every muscle in my body screamed at me to stop. Te more I walked through the castle, the more I felt like I was dreaming. Everything was silent. N scuffing of boots against the polished floors, no Epsilons shouting commands, no young pups chasing each other around the castle halls while their parents frantically ran around trying to catch them,
Nothing.
Not one sound.
"Hello!" I called out, my voice bouncing against the walls, "Where is everybody?"
The only reply was my own words echoing back to me. I cold shiver ran down my spine. This wasn't good. I ran up to one of the huge stained glass windows and prayed to see something when I looked out, but still nothing. The only movement was the gentle breeze brushing against the tree's branches.
That's when I heard it.
A slow whistle. It rung in my ears, an old human folk song. A nursery rhyme that would be sung to children before the fire went out. I recognised it straight away.
"Who is there," I called out, more confidently this time. The whistling stopped.
What if it was the same person? The one who had broken into the castle who had no problem in throwing knives at my face.
"No need to worry Miss, it's only me."
My head snapped around to meet the direction of the voice. A figure came waltzing out of the corridor, dressed in the too-familiar black suit of a servant. He spoke as if he knew me, and that I knew him. Yet I looked at his face, taking in the details and I came to the conclusion very quickly that I had never met this man before in my life.
"I'm sorry," I spoke, softer this time. "But do I know you? I'm afraid I can't recognise you're voice or face at all."
He sighed, "I suppose you wouldn't Miss, after all, I haven't had the chance to introduce myself yet."
He was peculiar. Dark blonde hair that easily would reach his shoulders, but now seemed to be pulled into a bun in the back of his head, a few wisps flying out in coiled curls. His eyes were gold, borderline topaz. They seemed to shimmer playfully as he watched my every move. His skin was a dark chestnut colour, which only seemed to set of the gold in his eyes more. His face was made of harsh, strong angles, his lips folded up in a devilish smirk. Tall posture; shoulders back and chin up,
He looked like that type of man that the human girls would swoon over.
Except for that scar.
Long and jagged, running from almost the top of his forehead to the corner of his mouth. It cut through his eyebrow, but also seemingly his eye.
He was blind in one eye.
I could sort of see the colour that it used to be. But the gold colour seemed to be clouded with spots of white, specifically over his pupil.
There was no doubt in my mind that I had no idea who this man was.
He stepped forward and extended his hand, "Belial, Miss, A pleasure to make your accaintance."
I hesitantly took his hand, not wanting to be rude. "I'm-"
"Our new Human Queen Elora Reed. Don't worry about introductions miss, I would say that every human and wolf in the northern continent knows your name by now, and you haven't even been formally introduced yet." He interrupted, "How it must feel to have the entire world know your name, yet no one knows the face. I would say that they are missing out, but I don't feel like dealing with an angry wolf." He teased, standing back in his original position.
I blushed, "Right. And you, Belial, do you have a last name? Perhaps I might recognise you through that,"
While his facial expression stayed exactly the same, his once eye darkened, "No Miss. Just Belial."
I paused, "Oh. Sorry then, Say would you maybe know where everyone is?" I asked, addressing the elephant in the room.
"I can indeed. There was a bomb alert, a tip from an anonymous source saying that a bomb had been planted in the castle. everyone was evacuated immediately." He answered, his arms tucked behind his back.
My brow furrowed, "Then why was I left here? Surely Maddox-"
"The Alpha King was out on his morning run when the tip came in. Beta Elliot organised everyone out of the castle, he and Beta Zina along with Gamma Cassius and Peyton and Delta Dakota and Callie were too busy organising their young children out of the house."
I shook my head, "Well that still doesn't make any sense!"
He grinned, "It does you see, they sent me to come and pick you up. Your ladies in waiting were currently indisposed and your guards had not yet arrived at the castle. They sent in a trusted palace worker to retrieve you and bring you safely back to the evacuation zone. I do apologise, Miss, I had trouble navigating the hallways and finding your room. I'm new, you see."
"Oh, right. Well, should we leave? Go to wherever the safe zone is? I don't want to worry Maddox for no reason..." I trailed off.
Belial's face turned embarrassed, "Yeah well, problem, I don't know where the safe zone is. They forgot to tell me that bit,"
My eyes almost popped out of my skull, "Well we need to leave! Even if the bomb tip was false, it's better to be safe then sorry!"
He tutted, "Trust me, it's a hoax."
I paused, "How do you know? Can you guarantee it?"
Belial nodded, "Unreliable source, plus, I was in the room when they got the phone call. It was from one of those prank numbers."
That really didn't make any sense. I highly doubted that he would have been in the same room when the call came in, but maybe he was telling the truth. That may be, by some random coincidence that he was in there, bringing in food or a certain file to whoever received the call. I had never met this man before, nor had I ever seen him or heard his name but I felt almost compelled to like him.
At least he seemed nice enough.
I clicked my tongue, "Well what are we going to do now?"
He looked around the room as if he knew something was there before turning back to me. "Well, I suppose we can do whatever you want. We really have nowhere to be,"
"We do have somewhere to be," I argued, "Do you know if wolves carry around phones or anything? My first priority is making sure Maddox knows I'm safe and trying to find out exactly where the safe zone is."
His face fell and he groaned, "Seriously? We could do anything we want and you want to make sure that your little wolf-mate isn't worrying about you!"
I narrowed my eyes, "Yes, actually. Maddox is kind, I don't want to freak him out."
"You wouldn't freak him out," Belial scoffed, "I'm serious! The whole castle to ourselves, what's something you've wanted to do since we got here?"
"I'm serious too, I'm not having this argument. Now, can you answer my question or not?"
His shoulders drooped, finally understanding what I was saying. "Yes, the Beta, Gamma and Delta, along with their mates have phones. Mainly to communicate with humans who they can't mind link."
"Good, is there a phone I could use?" I asked.
Belial nodded his head, "In the Alpha's office. He also has a list of phone numbers so you should be able to get all the information you need."
I sighed in relief, "That's amazing, do you know where the office is? I haven't been there yet."
"I know where it is," Belial affirmed,
"Can you take me there?"
He let out a sigh and nodded, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Let's go."
I was slowly getting more familiar with the layout of the castle, at least, with the main area that I seemed to be travelling to the most. So as Belial guided me to the office, I carefully made sure that I was taking in the route. Which corridors I needed to turn into, what rooms were nearby. I knew for a fact that learning just where his office was would probably be extremely helpful.
Belial stopped in front of a large oak door. He didn't say anything, but pushed open the door instead, revealing the most beautiful office I had ever seen.
Dark, wooden walls, accompanied by a large mahogany desk. Tall bookshelves stacked with titles that I couldn't read, most likely written in Nitoag. It was classically decorated, not one thing was out of place. There were two large windows, each on the side of the desk, that were covered by transparent curtains, sending a light shimmer through the room.
I quickly spied the phone and rushed over in its direction. Next to it was a little book. I opened it up and found six or seven numbers written, all accompanied by names. I traced my fingers down until I found Zina's, she would probably pick up.
I dialled in the number written on the paper and it began to ring.
Come on, come on, come on! Please pick up!
"Hello? Who is this?" Zina's familiar, authoritative voice rang through the phone.
"Zina, it's Elora, we're still in the castle," I said.
"Elora, really?" At this moment she brought the phone away from her face, "MADDOX WE'VE FOUND HER, SHE'S STILL IN THE CASTLE!"
"Is Maddox ok?" I asked, only hearing shouting from the other end,
"Yeah, he's ok, worried for you of course, but he's ok. Look, We've had the castle checked in the area that they said the bomb was and it's been given the all clear. We'll be back in a couple of minutes, just stay in the office, we'll meet you in there." Zina explained, practically yelling into the phone.
"Alright that's fine,"
"One last thing," She queried, "Belial? Is he with you?"
I looked over in his direction to see his starstruck face, "Yeah he is, he has been helping me since I woke up."
Zina blew out a breath, "Alright, well, we'll see you soon. Stay safe and don't move." Thats all she said before the line cut off, leaving a lou dbeeping sound in my ear.
I placed the phone back on the stand, "Are you ok Bel?"
He shook himself out of his daze, "Yeah I'm ok, are they on their way?"
I nodded, "Yeah, they'll be here in a couple of minutes. Can I just ask, are you from the Southern Continent?"
His figure relaxed, "Yeah, I'm from one of the islands called Gawn. It's pretty small, I doubt you've heard of it."
He was right, I didn't have too much knowledge of the southern continent, and I had certainly never heard of an Island called Gawn.
"Why did you come up here then? And your family too, don't you miss them?"
He looked down, "I came for better working opportunities. As for family, I came with my five other brothers. I'm the only one that landed a castle job, however."
"Do you miss them?" I asked softly,
He shook his head and smiled, "Nah, of course not. They're all bastards, every single one. I love them of course, but they are absolute bastards."
I let out a laugh, though it sounded like a choke, "I don't know how you can see it like that. I miss my brothers more every day."
His face hardened, "Aren't the wolves letting you see them?"
I shrugged, "I wouldn't know. I haven't asked."
"Well, maybe you should ask your mate. I'm sure he would say yes."
"You know, I think you're the fourth person who has said that."
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Good morning!
So here is chapter thirteen! What are we thinking?
I wanna thank you guys for 40 votes, again, it means a lot to me. I guess count this as your chapterly reminder to vote? But for real, please vote. I get around 15-20 reads per chapter atm and even just one vote would make me happy.
Also, nearly at 300 reads? That's crazy guys, but thanks so much <3
Leave some comments down below!
See you in the next chapter,
Eryn