/-Ezra-/

I stood in my room, the twins crying in my arms when the bright blue sky suddenly went dark, and thunder clapped.

I moved away from the window with the twins as lightning struck. What is going on?

The doctor whom I had sent to escort Melucia to the borders came running in.

“Alpha! Alpha!” he panted, and I raised a brow. I tried to control my impatient self to give him enough time to catch his breath, but I was fast losing it.

“What happened? Answer me!” I demanded. “Where is she? Are we under attack?”

“The Beta… the guards… they set the witches ablaze as you instructed, but Melucia cast some spell and…’

“What do you mean by setting them ablaze as I instructed?” I cut him short. A puzzled expression crossed his face. “Stop staring and answer my goddamn question!”

“I… I thought you were the one who ordered the ambush. After I dropped her off at the borders, the guards suddenly surrounded her along with Beta Carden..”

“Oh my goodness!” I dropped the twins immediately on the bed. “Take care of them, and don’t leave until I return. If anything happens to them, I will have your head,” I warned, before hurrying out, but for some reason, I didn’t trust him, so I locked the door and took the key with me.

I hurried to the borders, but there was a strange calm, although the flames were still blazing. Carden was unscathed, along with the rest of the soldiers and Elders. He stood there, face cold as he watched the flames.

They bowed on noticing my presence.

“Greetings, Alpha,” they bowed, but I wasn’t in the mood for their greetings. Not when my heart was drumming wildly against my chest.

“What the hell happened here?” I asked Carden.

“The witches,” he answered with a victorious smile. “They tried to escape them but we caught them. They fell right into our trap! Did you know the one they call priestess, who escaped about a year ago, came back to free them!’

My fists clenched, guilt and anger weighing down on me. The fool unjustly killed the mother of my children right after I promised her freedom. I wasn’t one to feel pity or pain, especially over a woman, but my heart tugged.

I wanted to gut him and hit him until he took his final breath.

“On whose order did you burn them?” My fists clenched. “If you caught them, why didn’t you simply take them into custody or inform me?” I growled.

His smile faltered as fear took over his features, “I… I thought it was what you would have wanted, Alpha,” he said meekly.

“And who are you to speak for me?” I thundered. I couldn’t control the rage burning through me. My canines were already surfacing, and I was on the verge of attacking when the Elders stepped in.

“There is no need for you to get angry, Ezra. He was wrong not to inform you but he did NightClaw a favour. Besides, their evil Priestess already cast a dark reborn spell. She will certainly come back stronger and angrier, thirsty for revenge. We should be focusing on control measures to protect ourselves and the pack.”

I stepped back, running my hands through my hair. Although her return brought some sort of relief to me, I knew I was going to be the primary target. I could imagine the rage she felt in her fiery grave as she thought of her children and the fact that I betrayed her trust.

I didn’t sign up for this. I made a deal for her to give me a child and move on with her life, not come back to torment me. It made me even angrier.

I turned to Carden in fury.

“This is all your fault!” I spat. “Because of your stupidity, the entire pack is in jeopardy!”

“Please calm down, Alpha,” the Elders solicited on his behalf.

“I will have no part in this! Just the same way he managed to incur her wrath, he will lift it all by himself. I will not be involved in this!” I stated.

“We are talking about your people, Ezra, not just him!” One of the Elders chided.

“She is coming for us all. We do not know the time or the form she will take, but we must protect our people. A Priestess reborn of fire and blood is equal to a demon. She will bring chaos on not only us but every wolf pack in the East,” Another said.

I took one last glance at them before walking away. I was done with witches and packs, I had children to take care of.

TEN YEARS LATER

/-Melucia-/

“Priestess…” I heard an indistinct voice.

I was surrounded by total darkness. Even when my eyes were open, I was lost in the void. In complete nothingness.

“Priestess, it’s time…”

I felt empty. As light as a feather. There was no memory, no emotion, nothing.

“Wake up, Priestess..” the voice became clearer.

I tried to answer. Tell whoever was out there that I was up, but I couldn’t talk. It felt like my mouth was sewn together. I couldn’t talk no matter how much I tried. How much I struggled…

“Melucia, get up!” It snapped suddenly, and I jerked up, gasping for breath.

My head was heavy and the bright light almost blinded my eyes. Where am I? Who is Melucia?

I was suddenly aware of the pain in my stomach, and when I glanced down, my eyes widened in horror as I saw the knife stuck in my sides. I felt dizzy all over again.

“Princess! Princess!” I heard from a distance just as I blacked out.

Princess?

I woke up to see several people attending to me. I blinked rapidly to clear my hazy vision. I was certain that the dizziness was doubling all the images I was seeing, but even as it cleared up, their numbers were still the same.

Eight of them attending to just me.

“She’s awake!” One of them announced and eight pairs of eyes snapped to me.

“How are you doing, princess?” A man approached me.

Princess?

Is that what that voice was calling me? Princess, not Priestess? Princess Melucia? Was that me? I didn’t understand why I had no memories of who I was, not to talk of this intense pain in my head.

“Princess, can you tell what this is?” The man asked again, holding up two of his fingers.

“Two fingers,” I responded. “My head hurts.

“It must be from the fall,” he said.

“Fall?” I whispered.

“Yes, princess. You fell off the cliff after stabbing yourself with a knife,” he told me. I tried to think hard, to remember it but I ended up giving myself a headache.

Why would I stab myself?

I didn’t remember I spoke aloud until the doctor responded.

“Why you did that, we don't know yet. All we know is that you were trying to get away from your fiancé but you shouldn’t bother yourself about that now. You are suffering temporary amnesia. It will come back to you soon. Don’t worry,” he assured me.

I have a fiancé? Who is he? And why would I be so desperate to get away from him that I would stab myself?

Was he a bad person?

They conducted their tests and whatnot. Eventually, I fell back asleep with more questions than I woke up with.

By the time I woke up, I felt a lot better, but there were still no memories, and I was still greatly confused.

It felt like there was something important that I was missing. Like a crucial part of me was locked up somewhere and I just couldn't reach it.

Instead of the doctors, there was a strange man in my ward with stunning blue eyes and brown curly hair.

My mouth went slightly agape as I took in his beauty. He was the type of man who screamed danger, yet his effortless sexiness wouldn't let you go.

His unnatural beauty and masculinity had my mind spiralling for a second with dirty thoughts.

First, I tried to kill myself, but now I was harbouring lewd thoughts.

“You're awake.”

I found myself melting at the honey-like baritone.

I couldn't shake off the feeling of deja Vu. Like I had seen this man somewhere before and described his voice the exact same way.

“Hi,” I muttered and those thick bushy brows furrowed on me.

He stepped towards me, and something about his icy stare had the temperature of the room dropping by a hundred degrees.

I shuddered, aware that we were not about to have a pleasant conversation.

“You had one job. Take care of my children. Yet you let my son trip down the stairs and got pineapple juice for the other after I categorically stated he was allergic. Then you throw yourself off the cliff to escape me?” His dark darkened.

“Huh?” My eyes widened. Was I a princess or a babysitter?

“It would have been better if you sl*t your throat so there would be no possible way to bring you back, but since you are here, alive, unfortunately, you will have to bear the consequences of hurting my children.”

My blood ran cold.

I was going to suffer for something I didn't even remember doing.

“Our engagement is nothing but a formality that can be called off at any time, but involving my children in your dramatics is something I will not forgive.”

He was by bedside now, crouching over as I shrunk further into the bed in fright.

“Pray to your stars that nothing happens to my sons, Annabelle, or else I will give you a slow, miserable death and make your darling parents watch me dice their little princess into pieces,” he threatened.

Annabelle? Not Melucia? Who exactly am I? Why does everyone call me a different name?

“I'm…I'm sorry…” I stuttered. “I didn't mean to hurt anyone.”

“Maybe, but I hurt people and my actions are always intentional.”

With that, he left the room.