WYMOND, THE CURSED BEAST

Arabella's point of view.

Legends creation college, Beverly hills.

"I'm so scared, I don't think I'll attend the selection parade"

"Me too, what if we don't come out alive?"

"My mom said the king eats human flesh"

"Same here, my mom said he prefers the flesh of young virgins"

"I heard he's old, ugly, and he's got two very sharp fangs"

Ugh, these are the words echoing in every hallway currently, the whole school is in a total mess as every girl I walked past was having a serious conversation about the selection parade.

The selection parade takes place every five years, it's an occasion where girls who have come of age, from 18 years to 25 years, from different species (werewolves, vampires, witches, elves, and dragons) are chosen and taken to the king's palace.

Although we don't know the reason they do it because all the girls who were taken there always comes back losing their memories -they don't remember and can't say what happened or what they saw there.

Another five years has come, and it's putting all the eligible girls on hot seats, sadly I'm one of those eligible girls this time.

Every girl is walking on their toes now because the selection parade is fast approaching and everyone is scared -honestly, I'm scared too.

Not wanting to hear any more words about the selection parade, I hastened my pace and rushed towards the direction of my first class for today.

I have not seen the king yet, but I believe these girls are kind of exaggerating -although I know for sure that he's old and ugly.

"Hey, Ara" someone called me from behind.

I stopped and looked behind only to see Daphne (my best friend since diapers) jogging towards me, with a bright smile on her face -as usual, she was dragging Dante (her twin brother) along.

"Let go of me, you beast" Dante cursed her and tried to get away from her.

"Let go of you?" Daphne scoffed. "In your dreams, not until you refund my money. Every penny!" she screamed in his ear, making him winced.

I stifled a laugh at Dante's expression, well, I can't blame him because his sister always seems to forget we're werewolves, and we've got super hearing.

"I didn't force you to give me your money, in fact, you begged me to accept it" Dante said.

They've stopped in front of me by now, but I didn't stop them from arguing because I wanted to watch some drama and have a good laugh.

Besides, with all these talk about the selection parade going on right now, I think having Dante around would set my mind at ease.

"...wanted to reject your money, but you desperately begged me to accept it"

"You're..."

"You were crawling after me, crying that I accept your money" Dante said in a mocking tone.

Daphne slapped his shoulder as hard as she could, but it didn't seem to do any harm to him.

"You're exaggerating things here, also, you tricked and lied to me"

"I didn't lie" he defended himself.

"You lied"

"I didn't"

"You lied"

"I said I didn't"

"I said you lied"

"I didn't"

Alright, I guess it's time for me to cut in, or they are gonna keep on arguing all day. I cleared my throat.

"I didn't..."

"Dolphin" I cut in and they both turned to face me.

Dolphin, my nickname for Daphne because it kind of sounded like her original name -Daphne, dolphin -haha.

"What did Dante promise to do for you?" I asked her.

"He promised he'd stay over at grandma's tonight and take care of her for two days, but now he's taking back his words" she explained.

I looked at Dante, but he quickly looked away from me and started whistling, which meant he's guilty.

I closed my eyes briefly and puffed out some air, then massaged my temples softly.

"Dante isn't to be trusted with money, why do you always believe his words and fall prey to his scams?" I scolded Daphne.

"Hey, I'm not a scam" Dante quickly defended himself.

Daphne and I both raised our brows at him, he chuckled lightly and nodded.

"I'm just intelligent" he said.

"Mr smart pants, you're just too lazy to work for your money" I retorted.

He released a tight smile, he grabbed Daphne's shoulders and pushed her to me.

"Sorry to disappoint you ladies, I just got myself a job last night, and it's at the king's palace"

"What?!" Daphne and I exclaimed at once.

He grinned widely, nodding his head.

"Oh, yeah" he replied.

"Are you crazy? Why did you go look for a job at the palace? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Daphne asked worriedly.

Dante shrugged his shoulders, he shoved his left hand in his pocket and waved at us.

"I'm off to class, my mate's waiting" then he ran off.

Daphne closed her eyes and pulled her hair in frustration.

"My dad's never going to agree to this, wait, I should mind-link him and inform him of Dante's craziness" she said.

Her eyes glazed almost immediately, I patiently waited until she's done, and we started walking again.

"What did your dad say?" I asked.

"He's going to have a word with Dante, he sounded angry, and I believe that talk is going to involve his fist" she laughed evilly.

I shook my head, she must have done this gossip to get back at Dante for taking her money -she and her brother can be so childish every so often.

"Did you watch the news?" Daphne asked.

She threw her right arm around my shoulder, and we headed towards our class -we both have the first class together.

"You know I hate watching the news, it adds nothing to my life" I said.

"It adds nothing to your life, but it makes you aware of the things happening around you"

I scoffed.

"We're wolves, we don't really need news or whatsoever"

"Of course we do" she replied.

I sighed softly.

"What about the news?" I asked, I don't want her to continue preaching in my ears.

She looked around shortly, pulled me closer to her, even though we're already close enough.

"A body was found last night at the wizardry forest" she said in a low voice.

"Oh"

"Yeah, rumors had it that he was killed by the beast King" she whispered even lower than before.

"Rumors?" she nodded. "It shouldn't be rumors anymore, we all know he's the one behind all the killings" I said.

Daphne nodded slowly in agreement with me.

"I don't know why they'd make a killer our king, he should be removed"

I gave her a daring look.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Aren't I saying the truth?"

"Of course you are, but telling me can change nothing...why not go talk to the twelve elders about it" I suggested calmly with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, thanks" she said, shuddering as if she was just thought of something unpleasant.

Well, hearing of the twelve elders is truly something unpleasant, they are the least people you'd want to cross paths with -they are second in command after our beast King.

"I wish my mate would just show up, and I wouldn't need to go to the palace" she sighed. "I don't want to see the beast king's ugly face" she cringed.

I laughed and stopped in front of our classroom, I turned to face her and patted her shoulders.

"Don't worry, you won't remember his ugly face even if you see it" I told her.

I was indirectly reminding her of every girl who comes out of the palace won't have any memories of what they saw or what happened in there.

"Hmm, you're right" she agreed.

"Let's forget about the beast King, it's time for class" I nodded at our class.

She tilted her head and took a peek, then gasped.

"Mr Clovis is already in, what should we do now?"

"Em..."

"I don't want him to scold me today again, he's going to tell my dad I came late to class and my dad's gonna..."

"Daphne" I interrupted her. "Breath"

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"We're taking the backdoor" I said, pointing at the backdoor.

Daphne smiled, then gave me a thumbs up.

"You're so wise"

"Of course, I know that" I replied cockily.

★★★★★

Another yawn escaped my lips as my eyelids twitched sleepily, but I tried my best to shake off the sleepiness.

It's almost 20 minutes since we entered Mr. Clovis' class and honestly, his classes are extremely boring, which is always making me fall asleep halfway through his lectures.

Another yawn escaped my lips again. Maybe I should get some sleep because I can't hold it in anymore.

"Hey" I called Daphne softly. "Mr Clovis' lectures are boring me, I think I'll take a nap... Wake me up when he's done"

Her eyes widened.

"A nap in Mr. Clovis' class?!" she whisper-yelled.

"Yes, I have a part-time job later, I might as well catch some sleep" I said and rested my head on the desk.

"But he's. "

I closed my eyes and tuned her off -sleep, oh sweet sleep.

★★★★★

"ARABELLA HUMPHREY!"

A voice shouted, and my eyes snapped open as I sprang up immediately, then I heard a series of laughter.

I looked around with a frown until I realized I'm still in the classroom, I looked to the front and saw Mr. Clovis glaring daggers at me.

Uh-oh, guess I've been caught.

"Arabella Humphrey, you always fall asleep in my class!" Mr. Clovis shouted.

I twisted my lips nonchalantly.

"That's because your lectures are boring" I grumbled.

But unfortunately for me, everyone in my class are supernatural creatures, and we all have super hearings -they heard me perfectly clear and roared into loud laughter.

"What did you say?" he asked in an outraged tone.

"Nothing" I answered quickly.

Mr. Clovis' face grew red from anger, he banged on the table and stormed towards me, waving his forefinger at me.

"You think this is funny, right?" he growled.

He stopped in front of me and glared at me.

"Detention for you"

"Detention?" I asked.

"Yes"

"Mr Clovis, we're no longer high school students, you know that, right?"

"Well, you're behaving like a high school student right now" he replied to me.

My mouth parted slightly as I wanted to argue, but he didn't let me speak.

"You're leaving this school premises by 8pm!" he said, leaving no room for arguments.

I sighed and quietly nodded my head, it's not appropriate to sleep off while the lecture was going anyway.

"Good" with that he stormed out.

I sat down and glared maliciously at Daphne, who's laughing like the rest of the class.

"His face was hilarious" she said, banging on the desk.

"And that earned me a detention, ha-ha" I laughed sarcastically.

"Oh, right"

"Hm" I hummed.

We started packing up our books, getting ready to head to our second classes -we have different classes for second period.

"I would have love to stay in detention with you, but I have to go over to my grandma's after school" Daphne said.

"Excuses, I understand you, though"

She grinned.

"You know I love you" she leaned forward and kissed my cheeks.

"I love you too"

★★★★★

The rest of the day went by in a blur, and before I knew it, it's already closing time.

I rushed straight to Mr. Clovis' office immediately after my classes, I didn't want any more of his nagging.

But unfortunately, he had already gone home when I arrived, I wouldn't have come to the detention had I known he won't be here.

So, I took it upon myself to sleep throughout the detention period -after all, I might work overtime tomorrow because of this stupid detention.

Finally, it's time to go home, I gathered my things and rushed out of the school. Everywhere was quiet, since all the students of Legends creation has all gone home.

My stomach growled loudly, urging me to make it home in time and get something in my stomach. -but unfortunately, from the school to my home is quite far, the only shortcut to my home is... The wizardry forest.

*Yeah, it's shortcut but least safe* I heard Amy, my sassy wolf nag in my head.

I rolled my eyeballs.

"Why do you easily get scared?" I asked.

*I'm not easily scared, I just avoid what's going to cause me trouble* she replied.

I scoffed and smirked wickedly.

"It's decided then, we're taking the woods" I said, referring to the wizardry forest.

What can I say, I love opposing Amy because she gets on my nerves every so often.

*You're very stubborn and...*

I shut her out and headed towards the forest, I'm too hungry and couldn't wait to get home.

★★★★★

Whoa, it's so dark here, I panicked mentally as I stared at the woods (wizardry forest) ahead of me.

I've made it to the entrance of the wizardry forest, but I don't know if I should continue or turn back and take the long road instead.

Staring at the woods is giving me an eerie feeling, and it's making my palms sweat weirdly.

*Are you scared now?* Amy mocked me.

I scoffed.

"Scared? Never"

*Then go in, but count me out when you meet trouble*

"As if I need your help" I retorted rudely.

I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply and ventured in -I pray I don't come across danger, though.

Arabella's point of view.

Being the only living soul walking in this lifeless, wizardry forest is quite scaring, and I swear I could hardly move my legs -but I'm already in, and I must get out quickly -so, I pushed myself to keep on moving.

I felt a gush of an eerie breeze blew past my ears, it sounded as though someone just ran past at a great speed and I shivered.

It's very dark everywhere, but since I'm a werewolf I can still see clearly -I saw goosebumps growing on my arms and I hugged myself.

Then it dawned on me, Daphne said a dead body was found around this area last night, could it be the killer is still lurking around?

"It's late" I heard a very deep, frightening voice say near my ear.

I jumped back and couldn't help the shriek that left my mouth, but before I could grasp what was going on or even get a glimpse of who just spoke in my ear.

A hand wrapped around my neck, lifted me off the ground and slammed my back on a tree I didn't take notice of earlier -I closed my eyes and grunted in pain.

If I wasn't a werewolf, I'm sure my backbone would have broken from the impact my back had with the tree.

"Who the hell are you?" I asked, struggling to get away from the person, which was impossible because of his stronghold.

I lifted my head and opened my eyes, my breath hitched instantly, and my mouth parted at the sight that greeted me.

Furthermore, I have been hearing people saying *he took my breath away*, and I haven't really read any meaning to it, but right now, I have the perfect explanation of *he took my breath away*.

My eyes trailed along his facial features, his thick and perfectly arched eyebrows which were knitted together in a frown, his long eyelashes were illuminated by his sparkling blue eyes.

His lips looked a bit pale, but still so beautiful and tempting as I stared at them longingly. I folded my lower lip in my mouth and bitten it hard, until I tasted a metallic liquid -that's when I realized I've injured my lip.

He looked so flawless and sinfully handsome, even though he was frowning he didn't look any less handsome.

Is this human? How can someone be so perfect?

Hold on a sec, why is my heart pounding so fast? Am I have a crush on him? What about mate? What am I going to do when he....

"What were you thinking coming into the woods at this hour?" his hoarse voice interrupted my unnecessary thoughts.

"It's the only way to my home" I answered, strangely in a bold tone.

He growled as if he didn't like the tone in which I answered his question, his free hand held my chin up, and he stared into my eyes with his squinted in... Anger?

"A lot of things can happen to you in the woods tonight, do you know that?" he snarled at me.

That's when I saw it, there's a small trail of blood in the corner of his mouth and judging from its scent, I could tell its fresh blood.

My eyes widened as fear suddenly gripped me, my heart accelerated because different thoughts were running through my mind at that moment.

Could it be I've met the beast? Is he going to kill me? Is my blood next in line?

Oh no, please spare me, I'm a perfect girl. I might be a little rude, but I'm still a good girl, please don't kill me -I started praying in my mind.

"Answer me!" he bellowed.

"A-are you the beast?" I asked instead.

Honestly, I don't know where this courage came from, or why I asked that question. I just couldn't keep it in and blurted it out.

"Don't I look like a beast?" he asked me back.

I studied his face and shook my head, according to grandma's description, the beast must be old with horns and dirty fangs in his mouth -this man looks pretty neat to me.

"No, you don't look like a beast, you're very handsome" I said.

He stared at me silently for a moment, then chuckled lightly, and his tensed shoulders slumped down a bit...the sound of his was wealthy and soft.

"Don't be fooled by looks, my darling, they can be deceiving" he told me in a calmer tone this time. "You seem like an obedient little, so obediently run home now" he added.

I scoffed mentally, I'm nowhere near obedient at all, in fact, I can be very stubborn every so often.

"What are you still waiting for?"

"Like you said earlier, looks can be deceiving" I smirked at using his words on him too.

He closed his eyes briefly.

"I'm not someone you'd want to mess with, leave now before I become your worst nightmare!"

"But you are not..."

His suddenly tensed again, his brows furrowed instantly as he sniffed the air, then zeroed his eyes on me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He quickly let go of me and I almost fell on my face, he took a few steps away from me as if standing close to me would burn him -as if I burned him.

"Get out of the woods now!" he barked at me.

"Then what about you?"

His blue eyes suddenly turned to a bloodshot, red eyes, and I took cautious steps back.

"Get out before it's too late for you!" he roared, making the forest shake, or maybe that was just my imagination.

I heard very heavy footsteps approaching us, it sounded like the feet of a monster hitting the ground in cartoon films.

My body started shaking in fear and I slowly picked up my bag that was laying on the ground, I ran towards the exit of the forest, I didn't want to stay back and witness that handsome guy lose his life.

I ran as fast as I can, using my wolf's strength to support myself -though she's fighting not lend her strength to me.

★★★★★

"Mom, I'm home" I announced immediately I stepped in our small living room.

I threw my bag randomly on the table and slumped on a chair nearest to me, I began releasing heavy breaths.

"You're finally home" Arthur (my younger brother, he's 17) said as he strode towards me, with his hands in his pocket.

He thinks doing that makes him look cool and stuff, I scoffed mentally, he's just bluffing himself.

"Where's mom?" I asked.

"She went to the pack-house" he answered.

"Pack-house? Why?"

He sat on a chair, reached for the remote control and turned on the TV.

"There's a pack meeting and I think it's about the selection parade, Alpha Jarek personally came to inform mom about it... "

He paused and tilted his head, with his brows furrowed in a serious frown.

".. Do you think he has a crush on mom?" he asked.

Alpha Jarek and mom together? That's not a good combination at all, I winced in disgust at the thought of them being together.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, you're too young to be talking about crushes"

Arthur coughed.

"I'm 17 years old, and I'll have a mate next year, so I'm not too young to be talking about crushes"

Weirdly, at the mention of mate, my mind flashed back to the handsome stranger I met in the wizardry forest -I wondered what happened to him.

Did the beast King caught up with him? Is he devouring the handsome stranger's flesh right now?

"Ara!"

Arthur snapped his fingers across my eyes, I blinked and alighted from my train of thoughts -it's a pity that a handsome stranger's life would be wasted just like that.

"Besides mom's a widow and Alpha Jarek is a widower..." he adjusted his posture to an imposing one. "... I'd love to have people referring to me as the alpha's son" he laughed evilly.

I leaned forward and pushed his head gently, making him glare at me, but he quickly looked away when I glared at him back.

"Stop dreaming about being the alpha's son, you're not fit for that title" I told him.

Arthur has girls flocking around him everywhere he goes and if it wasn't the respect he has for mom, I'm sure he'd have been a little heartbreaker by now.

If Arthur ends up becoming the alpha's stepson, I believe all the unmated girls in our pack will become pregnant with his kids, even before getting a chance to know who their mates actually are -after all, he's got great looks and a pompous personality.

In fact, everyone in our lineage has great looks and bodies, I'm not an exception.

"Right, you're already 22 years old and still haven't found your mate yet..."

I raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to conclude his words, although, I kind of had a hint where this conversation was going.

"Maybe you should visit another pack, your mate might not be in this pack" he said.

"I don't need a mate" I told him curtly.

"You don't need a mate? Who doesn't need a mate in this world?" he asked rhetorically.

"Perhaps me" I answered.

He set his lips on a thin line and turned away from me and gave his attention to the TV.

"Good for you" he said.

"What's for dinner?" I asked.

"Nothing, mom's not around to make dinner"

I glared at the back of his head.

"What a lazy âss" I grumbled under my breath, but he heard me anyway.

I got up, reached for my bag on the table and headed towards my room -I require a long warm bath and a nice sleep.

★★★★★

It's just me and him again in this lonely woods, not even a bird could be seen flying around.

"You're here" he said.

"Yes" I answered.

Then there's silence, he didn't say anything and neither did I.

It's always like this every time we meet, we don't talk, but we enjoy being in each other's company -it's almost as if we're speaking with our souls.

We don't see each other's faces too -or maybe he's seen my face, but I haven't seen his for once, I can't tell what he looks like.

His back is always facing me every time, I could only stare at the back of his head.

"You called me, and I'm here, can I at least see your face?" I asked.

This is the first time I've requested to see his face.

"No" he answered.

"Why?"

"I'm ugly" he said.

Ugly? I huffed mentally, handsome guys always refer to themselves as the ugliest beings.

"I don't care if you're ugly, I just want to see your face" I told him.

"No, my face would scare you away"

"Huh?"

"It's going to be your worse nightmare" he said.

How can I be friends with him but don't know what he's like? Who's he? Why does he always call me to meet him here? Wait, how did he even manage to call me?

"Stop thinking, your tiny brain's going to explode because it is unclear to me why I can call you too" he said.

How did he know what I'm thinking? Is he a vampire that can read minds?

"You're right, I can read minds, so I suggest you stop thinking"

"Oh"

This is all the more reason I must see his face, he might be someone I know.

I reached forward to touch his shoulder but...

★★★★★

My eyes snapped open at the sound of someone banging on my door very loudly, I threw a glare towards the door as I imagine I'm glaring at whoever is banging on it.

From the scent I could tell its Arthur, I angrily sprang up and sat on my bed, gathering my blanket in my hands.

"What?!" I barked at him.

"Mom said I should wake you up, breakfast is ready" he said.

I rolled my eyeballs.

"I'll be there in a jiffy" I replied, then I heard his footsteps fading away.

I fell back on the bed and covered my face with my palms, I puffed out some air.

The same dream again, it's been quite some time since I had this weird dream -why did I dream of him today?

I've been dreaming of this nameless man since I was twelve, I don't know anything about him.

But the unusual thing is, I always enjoy being around him in my dreams -I must be losing my mind.

"Ara, mom said you should hurry!" Arthur shouted from the living room.

"Well, you didn't have to shout before I heard you!" I shouted back at him.

I pushed the blankets off me and hopped out of bed, then dashed into the bathroom.

Arabella's point of view3

"Daphne, what are you doing here so early?" I asked, stopping on my tracks when I saw Daphne sitting at the dinning table.

"Good morning to you too, as you can see I'm eating breakfast" she answered, nodding at her plate of steaks.

I snorted and dragged my feet lazily towards the fridge, I reached for a yogurt before turning back to the dinning table.

"Why did you come here to eat breakfast after ditching me yesterday?" I was referring to the detention and I know she understood what I meant.

Daphne grinned widely.

"I'm sorry about that, but I really had to look after my grandma because my mom wasn't around and my dad had to attend the pack meeting" she explained.

"Hm" I hummed.

"Anyways, how was the detention?" she asked.

Arthur choked on his food at the mention of detention, he started coughing and I quickly reached for his glass of water and handed it to him, rubbing his back gently too.

He took a few gulps and slammed the glass on the table, then gave me a mocking look.

"Detention? Really? What are you? A high school student?" he asked, not even trying to hide his mockery.

"Ha-ha, very funny"

He held his chin up slightly as if he's trying to recall something, then he hissed and shook his head.

"I'm a high school student and I can't even recall the last time I was in detention" he smiled, giving me a thumbs up. "You impress me everyday, sister Ara" he mocked me further.

I leaned across the table and gave his shoulder a punch when I couldn't take his mockery anymore, he frowned.

"How dare you hit the alpha's son?" he asked.

"Alpha's son?" Daphne faced me, furrowing her eyebrows questioningly.

"Don't listen to him, he's just daydreaming" I told her and she laughed.

Arthur banged on the table lightly and faced Daphne.

"I'm not daydreaming, Alpha Jarek has a crush on my mom" he said.

I wanted to scold him, but my mom beat me to it.

Mom dropped the bowl of cereal she was carrying and pulled Arthur's right ear, he grunt in pain and tried to escape from mom's grip which is obviously impossible -my mom is strangely stronger than most wolves.

Maybe it's because she's from the gamma's family.

"What nonsense are you spouting, young man?" Mom asked, still pulling his ear.

"I.. I was just joking" Arthur tried to defend himself.

"Joking with something as serious as that?" Mom asked as she pulled harder, making Arthur howled in pain.

"Yes, yes, yes..."

"What?" Mom cut him off warningly.

Arthur quickly realized his mistake and shook his head desperately.

"I mean, no, no, I'm a fool, I'm a very foolish boy and I shouldn't have said that... Mom, I'm sorry" he blabbed.

Mom finally let go of his ear, she pulled out a chair and sat next to me.

"Mom, you almost cut off my ear" Arthur grumbled as he rub his ear to numb the pain.

"You're lucky I didn't cut it off, you mustn't spread rumors next time" mom warned him.

Daphne and I were just staring at Arthur in amusement, from the sly smirk on her face, I can tell she's deriving great pleasure from Arthur's pain as much as I was -call us witches, we don't care.

Having Arthur as a brother is the worst curse in my life, he's such a pain in my neck and he never stops getting on my nerves -he's so annoying but I love him so much -weird.

"You were already asleep when I came back from the pack meeting last night, how was your night?" Mom asked me.

"It was... ok"

My night would have been ok if I had managed to see that guy's face, it's a pity I didn't see it -all thanks to Arthur.

He stuck out his tongue at me when he caught me glaring at him, I gripped my fork tighter and sent him a quick mind-link.

*Stick your tongue out at me one more time and I swear I'll cut it off*

He quickly withdrew his tongue, but huffed at me before focusing on his food.

"I bumped into Mr Clovis at the pack-house, he told me you've been dozing off in his class recently, is that true?"

I sighed.

"Yeah" I answered.

Mom raised an eyebrow at me.

"B-but it's not everytime, I only dozed off yesterday because I didn't get enough sleep the previous night" I quickly lied smoothly.

I can't possibly tell my mom I slept in class simply, because I found Mr Clovis' class boring -they're siblings after all.

"I know you're lying but I'll just let it slide this time..."

Of course, you know -I grumbled mentally.

"... don't let me get another complain about you slacking off, you know what's going to happen to you then" she said icily.

My mind flashed back to the last time my mom punished me, I was bedridden and had to spend two months in the pack infirmary, I even took some of my exams there -bad shivers rushed down my spine and I shuddered.

"I swear, it's never gonna happen again"

"Good" mom nodded in satisfaction.

Daphne nudged me gently and I leaned closer to her.

"Why do I feel like your mom was once a sniper?" she asked me in a whisper.

I glanced at mom, sighed in frustration and shook my head.

"I feel that way too, who knows she might not even be my biological mom" I whispered back.

Mom cleared her throat.

"I can hear you, young ladies" she said.

Daphne and I coughed lightly and adjusted ourselves on our chairs, pretending like we weren't just gossiping about my mom.

"Right, how was the meeting?" I asked.

"Hmm, it's about the selection parade, it's been brought forward"

"What?!" Daphne and I exclaimed at once, making Arthur jump slightly and spilling his milk.

He glared at us through his eyelashes.

"Can you ladies have mercy on this little pup? Don't you know I need this milk to grow healthy and strong?" he pointed at himself, but we ignored him.

"Mrs Humphrey, why was it brought forward?" Daphne asked.

Mom shook her head.

"We weren't told why it was brought forward, Alpha Jarek said it was the king's decision"

The King? Ugh, then I guess it's final say -no one can oppose it.

"When is it now?" I asked.

"In two days" Mom answered.

"In two days? Isn't that next tomorrow?" I asked and mom nodded in reply.

Daphne and i exchanged looks, I believe we both have the same thoughts running through our minds right now.

Why was it suddenly brought forward? And here I was hoping the day would never come.

"Hurry up, kids, you're running late" mom urged us.

★★★★★

LEGENDS CREATION COLLEGE, BEVERLY HILLS.

Daphne and I breathe heavily as we stopped right in front of our school gate, we missed the bus and had to race here -without our wolves strength.

"I didn't know I'm good runner, I always thought my wolf has been one helping me everytime we race" she said.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I'll never race with you again without my wolf's strength" I told her. "I had to use up all my strength just to keep up with you" I complained.

Daphne laughed at my misery.

"Quit whining, your wolf is stronger than mine, so I think it's fair that I'm a better runner without our wolf's strength"

I narrowed my eyes.

"Are you saying I'm lazy?" I gritted out.

"Of course, everyone knows that" she answered.

I glared at her but didn't say anything, because she's right. My wolf is very strong, but my human (which is me) is very lazy.

Daphne threw her arm around my shoulder and we started walking inside.

"Hey, another body was found in the wizardry forest last night" Daphne whispered very lowly in my ear and I tensed.

"Another body?" I asked.

The image of that handsome stranger appeared on my mind, could it be he was killed by the beast King? Could it be that handsome face and godly body has gone to waste?

I shook my head in denial.

"You gotta stop with all these gossips, I walked the wizardry forest last night and I didn't see any beastly creature" I told her.

Her eyes grew wide, her mouth parted as though she's about to release a shriek, but she stopped herself when she took in our surrounding -a group of girls were walking behind us, at a safe distance though.

"You passed the wizardry forest last night?" I nodded. "What were you thinking? Were you trying to get yourself killed?" she asked in a scolding tone.

"Relax, there wasn't any danger when I passed it"

She inhaled deeply.

"Well, maybe the danger came right after you left, you're lucky -who knows if that body would have been yours"

I shrugged.

"Yeah, but the body is not mine" I stated. "You better use your time for something meaningful instead of listening to gossip news"

She grabbed my shoulder and made me stand still.

"It's not gossip, according to the news it's the body of a vampire"

I laughed at her, shrugged her hand off me and continued walking.

"Now you're sounding ridiculous, what would the body of a vampire be doing in our wizardry forest?"

"You don't believe me?" Daphne asked.

"Of course, I don't" I answered.

"But you believed me yesterday, in fact, you've been believing the beast King has been the one behind all the killings" she wondered aloud.

"Yeah, that was before I passed the wizardry forest last night -I don't think it's true that a body was found there"

Actually I believe everything she said, because I heard heavy footsteps approaching us (the handsome stranger and I) last night, before I took off.

I was just finding it hard to accept that, the handsome stranger was wasted just like that.

I hope the handsome stranger managed to escape before the beast King arrive, I don't want that body they found to be his.

"I'm kinda baffled by something, though" she said.

"What?" I asked.

"The beast king's palace is built on neutral lands, which is pretty far from our wizardry forest -but why does he always dumps the bodies in our wizardry forest after killing them?"

"I don't know, maybe you should ask him when we visit his palace"

She pushed me away from her and threw me a glare, I simply laughed at her expression.

"I hate you" she said.

"I love you too, baby" I replied and blew her a kiss, but she dodged it.

"Don't talk to me" she ran off and I quickly chased after her.

★★★★★

Third person's point of view.

WIZARDRY FOREST.

It was still daytime, but it's very dark inside the wizardry forest and a mere human wouldn't find his or her way inside.

The whole forest seem dead, the trees are all dead as their leaves has withered, even the birds singing echoed throughout the forest as if they're ghost birds -and they kept flying from one tree to another as though they're being chased by a force.

No one in their right senses would step foot in the forest, it's just so lifeless.

He stood in a very dark corner, his dark and emotionless eyes were fixed on the royal investigators who were busy moving a dead body -his fists were balled by his sides.

"Your majesty"

His adviser called him from behind as he (the adviser) jogged towards him.

He didn't reply or even turn to face his adviser, but his adviser continued anyway -it's pretty obvious he was listening.

"Your majesty, it's done, the date has been brought forward"

"Hm" he hummed.

"But I have a question though"

The adviser paused and waited for his response, which he knew he's not gonna get.

"It's way past sunset when you crossed paths, are you really sure it's her?"

His shoulders tensed when he heard his adviser's words, but he still didn't utter any words.

"You can't perceive your mate's scent or feel the mate-bond once it's sunset, we can't be sure it's her -right?"

Still no response from him.

"Likewise your mate, she won't feel you or perceive you, so I think we shouldn't jump into conclusions yet and raise our hopes up"

He finally moved his eyes away from the royal investigators, he faced his adviser -that darkness didn't leave his eyes though.

"We'll see" was his reply.