Chapter 38
POV: Lamina Darkwood
“So, how is the plan going?” She mockingly inquired as she sipped her wine and stared at her husband, who was doing the same.
They were all in the study room and were having a small celebration, for their plan finally succeed.
She mentally let out a smug smirk by thinking of the reason for their small festivity.
“The first plan has been executed, my dear.” Cessair gave her a knowing look.
Lamina let out a hearty wicked laugh.
“And no one ever caught you?” She impishly asked as she took a sip of her wine.
“Of course. The rogues’ tongue was cut. How could they even talk?” Her husband mercilessly stated, and a conceited smile escaped on his lips.
Lamina derisively grinned as her eyes moved towards her two children who were just staring and listening to their conversation quietly.
Especially to Leah, who she promised to be with the King.
She would do everything she could just for her daughter to be the next Queen. She would do everything for Leah to fulfill the dream that she never had.
Well, she almost had…
But that Hadia interfered, and everything was lost and ruined.
She clenched her hand that was holding the wine glass as she remembered the past that was fueling her anger and thirst for revenge until now.
Flashback…
“Lamina! Run!”
She could still hear her father’s loud voice. She could still hear her mother’s painful cry. But her feet automatically followed her parents’ orders for her to run… to run as fast as she could… to escape from the ones who were after them.
Lamina couldn’t shed a tear, although her heart was tearing apart. She knew what was happening. She knew that her father was the mastermind of the intensifying gossips about the Cursed Blood. She knew that it was her own family who planned to assassinate the Royal Bloods. She knew that their own pack had created various alliances to eliminate the favorite ones of the moon goddess.
And she couldn’t do anything about it. She was torn between her own family, her love, and her own revenge.
She was panting hard as she felt her wolf at bay. She hid under a huge tree and tried to take a peek only to witness how her parents died at the hands of the King himself.
He saw who the king mercilessly torn them apart using his bare hands.
She covered her mouth to prevent herself from creating any unwanted noise. She wasn’t bothered by the fact that the king could smell her scent from a distance. She knew he wouldn’t. Her father made a medicine that could hide her scent from anyone.
Lamina bit her lower lip harshly.
The love of his life killed her parents.
She clenched her both fists as her eyes moved towards the woman beside him looking so innocent yet stoic at the same time, Hadia.
She pursed her lips together as she tried to stifle her raging fury.
If not for her, her parents wouldn’t come this far.
If she became the Luna Queen, everything wouldn’t been at peace.
It was all her fault!
If she wasn’t the one destined to be the King’s mate… if she wasn’t the Sacred Emissary…
She wanted to scream… she wanted to shift into her inner wolf, but she tried so hard not to. She tried to control herself as much as she could be able to handle.
Lamina leaned on the tree as her tears started to fall. She ran as fast as she could as the king’s sentinels were still after her. She must run fast, or she might get caught.
She clenched her jaw.
No.
She wouldn’t get caught. She would escape and find her revenge. She would make sure of that.
It was not easy for her. She almost died that day, for she was hit by a poisoned arrow by one of the Kingsman. But she might be lucky to be alive.
After a year of holding herself together, she plotted to find strength and abode through the Darkwoods. They were recognized by the Reeve and Hadia to live on the Eastern Side though she knew that they were evil and thirsty for power.
There, she plotted to be part of the clan. She lured and married Cessair in secrecy. But she never stepped foot in the Darkwood Mansion and started telling him her white lies. She instantly knew how to manipulate the man until he had already fallen so deeply into her.
It wasn’t hard for her, though. They both shared the same goal anyway to execute all of the Royal Bloods. They both want immense power and high authority. That’s why they got along pretty well.
Lamina stayed in the woods more of the Southern Side. The moment Reeve and Hadia died because of a certain disease that his father conceptualized, that was the only day she was known by the Dark Wood Pack.
His father, Lomero Kersh, was a well-known salutary wolf. He invented medicinal plants in secrecy, and she couldn’t believe that his poisoned work for Royal Bloods.
It took it more than a year to take over Reeve and Hadia’s bodies. It slowly crept within them.
The main thing was she couldn’t reinvent the poison that he used. She couldn’t find the book where he had written his inventions.
But knowing that Reeve and Hadia were already dead she didn’t know how to react.
Just plain blank, cold, and void of any emotions.
She was never Lamina Kersh, the one who deeply loved her best friend, King Reeve Pierce. She was never that woman who did everything… gave everything her heart, mind, body, and soul to him, but in the end, she had lost everything.
She would never be the same woman again.
She was now the cunning and ruthless Lamina Darkwood, who unfolded those who turned against their backs at her pack and would eventually find her own revenge one day. She was a woman fueled with retaliation and a thirst for power. She wanted everything that was supposed to be hers from the very beginning. She’ll do everything just to fulfill her goal.
But her plans were ruined because of the rise of Sacred Emissary.
The word that separated her and Reeve.
The word that she loathed so much.
The word that was never hers.
Two young girls who bear the same mark as Hadia were the ones prophesied to be the next mates of the Royal Bloods.
They were the ones called upon to continue their legacy and bloodline.
And who would have thought that they were part of the pack whom their family loathed the most?
The Lunar Pack who helped the King and Queen find out the truth about the assassination that her father planned.
How she hated that it was the same pack where these two young girls originated.
But she planned on imprisoning the younger one, who was destined to be the king’s mate. And she was gone… forever.
Or she thought.
Imagine, how she nerve-wrecking it was for her to discover that a woman named Tamara was in the castle and was part of the competition.
But whatever and whoever she was.
Whether she was the Sacred Emissary whom she kidnapped ten years ago, she would never win the competition.
She would make sure of that.
***End of Flashback…
She let out a deep sigh.
“Mother… are you okay?” She heard Leah’s worried voice and she drifted back to reality.
Her eyes viciously turned to her older child.
“Yes, of course.” She coldly replied making Leah look away because of the abrupt humiliation that she felt.
Her daughter would continue to pursue her dreams and goals. Well, she could be the Mother Queen she could do everything that she wanted. And that would also be fulfilling for her. She would get hold of the throne… of the immense power she was longing for… of the high authority.
And she would make sure to make the Lunar Pack suffer and to kick the hell out of the Royal Bloods… for good.
It was now her time.
She was blessed with a powerful and loving husband who always supported her wishes. A fierce and strong daughter and a genius and inventive son.
Lamina mentally let out a smug look on her face.
No one could ever stop her plans now.
“My dear… how’s the next plan doing?” She ferociously inquired her husband, who was talking with their son.
His deep blue eyes moved towards her as she saw it turn a little bit of a darker shade.
“It is being executed now, my dear.” Cessair smugly replied as he raised his wine glass and acted as if he was asking for her to cheer with him.
Her gray eyes sparkled with pure excitement.
“Cheers!” She viciously mouthed and seductively drank all the wine that she had on the wine glass.
***
POV: Tamara Davis
She was so worried about Shahara. She was totally mad right now just by hearing that her parents were in a critical condition.
“Who did this, Dreyson?” Her voice was cold and emotionless.
Every minute that passed, she could feel her inner wolf was already at bay, and at any moment she could burst. She was hoping that what happened to her in the woods wouldn’t happen now. It was just too traumatizing.
But seeing Shahara’s reaction now, she was afraid that she might lose control again.
“Shahara, you must calm down.” The good doctor tried to be near her, but she stepped away.
She saw how shocked Doc Dreyson was but what caught her the most was the pain that crossed his eyes.
“Just tell me who they are, Dreyson.” Her voice was threatening, and she and Doc Dreyson shared a knowing look before it moved towards Shahara.
With one look, she just knew it. Shahara was at her point of losing control again. And this was an ominous omen.
“Uh, stay here and I’ll get you a glass of water. Okay? Then, let’s discuss what happens. Tamara… wait for me, okay?” Doc Dreyson started to panic a little and gave her a knowing look before he moved towards the nurse station.
He must get a medicine or whatsoever to calm Shahara down before
But her thoughts suddenly went blank the moment the doctor turned his back at them, Shahara instantly ran away from the infirmary to God knows where.
With her reflexes getting enhanced, she swiftly ran after Shahara.
“Shahara, wait!” She loudly called her, but she was going to where the sentinel wolves were.
She tried to cope up with her rapid speed after she turned into her wolf.
Her heart was beating so fast because of worry and fear. She must stop Shahara. She must stop her from getting out of control again.
She didn’t know how far they were getting into. All she knew was she could sense someone following their every track.
They took an abrupt stop the moment they heard some leering wolves around them. Shahara let out a loud growl asking who the hell they were and black salivating rouges went out of the lofty trees.
She felt her inner wolf snarl inside… out of doubt and fear.
There were about ten rogues surrounding them. She feared that Shahara would act irrationally, and this happened.
Who are these rogues? Tamara mentally thought as she was trying to calm her nerves down.
They were outnumbered, alright.
And given by the expression of these rogues they seemed out of their minds and unstoppable.
Shahara let out another loud growl, as if telling the rogues to stay away from them, but the rogues just equaled her cries with an eerie one causing the birds to fly away from their nests.
Her heart began to beat crazily.
She knew that she was afraid not just for herself but also for Shahara.
Shahara’s wolf sneered at her and nodded her head towards somewhere.
With their mind linking together, they instantly ran towards where Shahara had told her to go.
They were running for their lives. She never knew that she could be this fast, a little faster than Shahara now. But she also felt that the ones after them were just a few meters away.
But they took an unexpected stop when they reached the brighter part of the place.
It was a high rocky cliff. It was so high, but there was a river below.
They saw the rogues nearing them with their bared canines ready to attack them.
If they chose to fight, she didn’t know how long they’d do it because they were surely outnumbered. She couldn’t count how many of them there were. She just felt that a lot of them were still secretly hiding in the woods.
If they jumped into the river, she didn’t know whether they’d be safe because of the rocks that were sharper than a knife. They might face a sudden death without even fighting for their lives.
Her wolf let out a loud frustrated growl.
But before she could even decide, she saw an arrow moving towards Shahara and had hit her body. She let out a painful loud roar.
She was panting hard, and her heart was like bursting with emotions.
Little did she know, Tamara’s eyes were starting to turn bloody red.
The shock it gave her crept into her heart and mind, and she trembled with an unadulterated fury.
She watched how Shahara stepped back causing her to fall into the cliff.
Her mind was shouting Shahara’s name, but the intensifying emotion inside her was like burning her all over. Her body convulsed with the scorching sensation that covered her entire body…
Her wolf let out a loud roar because of the excruciating pain she felt…
It was too overwhelming…
And she unconsciously stepped back…
Her head was throbbing so hard, and before another arrow shot at her, she also had fallen into the depths of the rocky cliff.