Watching the body being taken away, fear pierced Miranda like a knife at his words, but still she didn’t know where the courage to speak so boldly came from.
“What do I have to do to prove to you that I am not the enemy?”
Everywhere became silent as the alpha contemplated on what to do to regarding the lotus princess’s claim. It took him a while to finally figure out the best way she could vindicate herself. The silence was once again cleared by the sound of his voice.
“I will send a message to your father that I am holding you captive for trespassing on my lands. He has to respond to me within three days with the official seal of the alpha of the Lotus pack, only the alpha holds such power. If he does this, then I will know that your claim is true.”
“But….”
“What?”
“What if… what if he can’t….? What if he is unable to respond by that time?”
“Then I’ll know you’re a fraud, and you’ve already seen what I do with frauds.”
She began to cry again, “No, no, no….! You don’t …. You don’t understand….”
“What should I understand about a father who is not able to send a simple letter to save the life of his own daughter?”
Sniffs, “my…my father…. he… will not be able to give you a response on time…”
“And why is that?”
“He is currently in the sick bed.”
“Then I’ll address the message to someone else with authority in your pack to vindicate you. What about your beta?”
“My father’s beta holds the strongest contempt for me for something I did, he’ll be more than happy to hear that I’m dead.”
“Well, he’ll be happy soon if you don’t give me someone with authority who can prove your claim to be the lotus princess. I’m getting impatient with you, if you know that no such person exists, then it’s better to accept your fate now so I’ll make your death quick and less painful.”
Silence….
.
“I thought so. Guards…!!!”
The guards came marching in, “yes sire,” they chorused.
“Take her away.”
“Wait!!!!”
With a show of hand, the alpha quickly stopped the guards from taking Miranda… “What is it???”
“I have… I have someone… someone who can prove my identity.”
“Don’t waste my time. Let me hear of this person.”
A thought had come to Miranda before, a thought she didn’t like at all, that was the reason for the silence, but given the circumstances of the situation, she didn’t have much of a choice now.
“Alpha Walden, of the night shadow pack.”
“And what business do you have with the night shadow pack’s alpha? Is he a relative to you or something???”
“I was supposed to get married to him, but the engagement got called off.”
Laughter filled the room suddenly as even the members of the court couldn’t help themselves.
“Is this some kind of a joke? You want me to send a message to someone you’re no longer acquainted with? Why would he want to help you now?”
“Because the engagement will no longer be called off, I’ll agree to marry him if he comes here himself with the official seal of the alpha of the night shadow pack to save my life. That is all your message needs to contain, he’ll come to rescue me once he finds out that my life is in danger.”
“Ok then, I’ll send him your message, and remember, he has three days to respond, better pray that he does for your sake, else you’ll be the next in line for the death toll.”
He then signaled to the guards again, “take her away.”
**********
***BACK AT THE LOTUS PACK***
Valledor put on his cloak, leaving the Beta’s chambers, he came back from the conference yesterday evening, as the sacrifice was held immediately since the wedding no longer took place. He left his room, went downstairs and out of the packhouse through the back door, he was very careful, sneaking past the guards, ensuring that they didn’t see him.
Finally, he was successful in leaving undetected, as he was now outside, shifting into his wolf form before entering the nearby forest, running the distance through the woods, towards the edge of the forest that bordered the city.
Someone was waiting for him in the woods, his accomplice from another pack. After he saw the shadowed figure, he knew she was the one, shifting back to meet her. Upon seeing Valledor coming towards her, she smiled, removing her cloak to reveal her face.
“Dear Samara, how are you?”
“Not fine at all, the princess has called off the engagement.”
“So, I heard, I was devastated by the news too, but that girl is so strong, she wouldn’t even change her mind, even after I beat her.”
Samara slumped on a nearby log in frustration. “I only wanted the engagement to be postponed till next year so we’d have enough time before Luther dies!”
“Nonetheless dear, we should not be discouraged, we should forge ahead with the rest of our plans, we must not rest until both the night shadow and lotus territories become ours.”
“Yes, yes…. We mustn’t….” Samara then noticed the smirk on Valledor’s face. “You seem to be happy about something, what is it?”
“I should just tell you since you’ve guessed my mind… We might not have to wait until they get married before we strike; one out of the two might have already been gone for all we know, as the princess is now missing.”
Samara’s face lit up then, “missing??? But… how is this possible?”
“She’s been missing for more than 24 hours, I even sent out a search party to look for her when I arrived from the conference, but up till now, she’s no where to be seen.”
Nodding, “this is good…. We could use this to our advantage… if both Luther and Miranda die, then nothing will stand in your way of taking over the lotus tribe. You’d better hope she remains missing… or better yet, dead.”
“Yes, with the death of the princess, taking over the lotus pack now sounds good, but it will only mean that we will no longer have an alliance with a stronger pack.”
“Leave that to me, there won’t be need for a marriage anymore. Once I plan the attack, kill Walden and take over the night shadow pack, you’ll have plenty of our soldiers at your disposal.”