MasukWREN'S POV
“Shhh Wren, just close your eyes, it will all be over soon.” The sound of banging on the door woke me up with a jolt, my heart racing like a jackrabbit.I was getting ready to dismiss it as my imagination when I heard it again. The dream I had was starting to get fuzzy and I could barely remember it but it had felt so real, almost like a memory. I rubbed my eyes, grimacing as I felt crusts that had accumulated overnight.The banging had continued,this time with a vengeance. It was as if it was in tune with the pounding in my skull. I groaned. Why can't this person knock like a normal person? Astrid grouched,we were both not morning people. I yawned as I threw my feet on the hardwood floor with a thud, the sound coming out louder than it should. Cracking my neck,I walked over to the door and flung it open with annoyance, the chair I placed behind fell to the floor with a thud. “What?" I growled, barely dodging the fist that was coming my way. “Sorry.I didn't expect you to open the door so suddenly." The person said sheepishly. My eyes narrowed at the colorful burst of rainbow in front of me. The first thing I noticed was her bubblegum pink hair. She was wearing a pretty summer dress with different colors of polka dots.And she was short, like really short. How can a midget make such noise? What kind of wolves are they making these days? Astrid grumbled. “Who are you?" I eyed her warily. “I’m Robin and I'm here to help you get ready." She pushed past me with surprising strength. I stood aside blinking in surprise. “Woah, your room is so pretty!!! I love the lavender.” She squealed, her eyes scanned every inch of the room, taking it all in. " Uh….thanks, I guess." I said awkwardly, I wasn't good at interacting with people. I used to be…but not anymore. She must heard the awkwardness and uneasiness I felt. “Am I being pushy?” She asked gently, her lips turning downwards in a frown. " No!” Yes, Astrid rolled her eyes “okay, maybe a little bit, but pushy is good, I love pushy." I lied. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at me.There was a moment of awkward silence, then she giggled,her eyes sparkling with amusement. “We've got a lot of work to do on your lying skills.You're such a bad liar.” She said, turning to march on to my wardrobe. I stuck my tongue out at her. “I saw that." She chuckled, still not removing her attention from my wardrobe, her fingers dancing across the clothes. " You said you’re here to help me get ready, ready for what? Oh, I'm Wren by the way.” I sheepishly introduced myself. " Of course you are silly. Everyone knows who you are." She said absent-mindedly, her voice was muffled by the clothes. My brows shot up in confusion. " Wait what? What do you mean everyone knows who I am?! I only got here yesterday!” “Well, we all knew Alpha Caelum was going to get you yesterday. So when we saw him with a stranger yesterday, we knew it was his mate he talked about. Oh, and he confirmed it yesterday although the news had already spread before then. The power of gossip.” She laughed. " So everyone knows I'm his mate.” I said, my voice flooded with uneasiness. " Yup.” She chirped. What if they think we're not good enough? Astrid asked in a small voice, her insecurities coming out. We don't care, we’re killing him remember? I reminded her. “You still haven't told me what I'm getting ready for." I cocked one brow, my curiosity getting stronger. She facepalmed. “Silly me! We're getting you ready for breakfast. You can't show up in sweatpants and t-shirt.” That was what I planned on wearing. “Why? What's so special about breakfast?" I whined. I really loved my sweatpants. " Wren,this is your first meal with the pack. There would be a lot of people, more than the usual meal. People are coming to get their first glimpse of you. Do you want that first glimpse to be you in sweatpants?” Damnit, she made a great argument. I could already feel myself conceding. " Fine.” I grumbled. " It's cute that you think you had a choice. Now hurry up or we’re going to miss breakfast." She snorted. For a midget, she sure was terrifying…. —------------------------------------------------------ “Come on! Walk faster or else all the good foods are going to be eaten and I'd be left with fruit loops.” Robin said, her words dripping with disgust. She was dragging me all the way to breakfast and we still weren't fast enough in her books. Thank God I ditched the heels she tried to force me to wear. “What's wrong with fruit loops?" I mumbled. She suddenly halted making me almost crash into her. She whirled around, her finger right in front of my face. “Don’t tell me my new best friend is a fan of those truly horrible excuse of a cereal.” She shuddered, her face contorting to one of disgust. " Uh…no?" My answer came out like a question. She squinted her eyes at me. “Well,in my defense, it's been 13 years since I tasted cereals or anything, if you think about it. I've forgotten how they taste like! How anything taste, to be honest.” I smiled sadly. Robin’s eyes softened. “Well, you're not missing out when it comes to fruit loops. I can tell you that.” She laughed. Suddenly, I felt the presence of a pair of eyes on me. The feeling was intense and I looked around subtly,trying to find the person staring at me so intently. Instinctively, I looked up. There, perched on the railings like a cat was a guy with brown curly hair and the most beautiful pair of heterochromic eyes I'd seen. One part green, the other amber. We locked eyes and he cocked his head, bringing his finger to his lips. Chills ran through my body and I could feel the hair on my neck stand. There was something unnatural about this guy. I felt a hand on my arm. Startled, I flinched back. Unexpected contact took me back to those days at the slave market. “Wren, are you okay?" Robin asked, worriedly. I cleared my throat "Yeah, I'm good.” I smiled tightly. Her eyes searched my own for something I didn't know but she must not have seen it coz her lips curled displeasingly. “Are you sure? You looked pretty out of it for a moment there.” Her concern made me feel warm inside, I smiled genuinely and nodded. “Okay,we have to hurry though. Breakfast is almost over.” she paused for a moment before walking, her hand still tucked into mine. I looked back at the railings but the guy with the heterochromic eyes had disappeared. It was so terrifying, I hadn't even taken my eyes off him for up to two minutes. Just who was that guy? Was he just a figment of my sleep deprived brain?Wren’s POVThe High King’s Palace was less of a building and more like a declaration of power. White pillars with golden vines reached for the clouds like they were trying to stab heaven itself. The air shimmered faintly with magic, the kind that hummed against your skin and whispered you don't belong here.Gold and white banners lined the grand courtyard, each marked with the High Court’s sigil, a wolf howling at the moon. The gardens were lush with plants of various species, all creating a diversity of colors and scents. It felt like stepping into a different, new dimension, one filled with magic.I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, letting the various scents wash over me and I could feel some of my stress fading. Yeah, i thought, i could get used to this.We hadn’t even crossed the first marble step when people started bowing. At first, I thought someone had dropped something and everyone was helping look for it. Then I realized, nope, they were bowing. To Caelum.Dozens of guards
Wren’s POVThe meeting room was a disaster zone disguised as organization. Papers were scattered like battlefield casualties, coffee cups formed a defensive perimeter, bags of chips strewn everywhere, and someone had written Murder Suspect No. 1 with an arrow pointing to my chair. In short, it was a hot mess.“Real mature,” I said flatly. Soren snickered, it would have given him away if I didn't already know he was the one.He grinned. “It’s called crime scene labeling. You’re welcome.”Caelum didn’t even look up from the table. “Soren, if you breathe one more word, I will personally duct-tape your mouth shut.”“Could still hum,” He said cheerfully.“Not for long,” Dane muttered in that dry tone of his. I grinned at him, he didn't grin back but the corner of his lips curled and I counted that as victory.Across the table, he tapped away on his laptop, ignoring us all with the focus of a man who regretted every career decision that led him here. Robin leaned over his shoulder, nursing
Wren's POV I stumbled back with a gasp as my head turned black and my vision blurred. My head swivelled from one man to another, looking for an explanation.“I-I don't understand. That knife….” I trailed off, remembering that they weren't aware of the knife I had stolen.Caelum waved a dismissive hand, “Yes, you stole the knife to kill me, blah blah blah.”I threw him an incredulous look, “you knew about it?!”He snorted but it lacked humor, “every weapon in my armoury is well accounted for, I would be a shitty leader if I wasn't aware of my resources. Besides, there are cameras in the armoury and you're a shitty liar. Soren knew from your first meeting that you had taken something you shouldn't have so we went over the footage and we saw you try to sneak away with the cyanide and the dagger.” His voice was lowered at the ending. Soren stepped forward, “that isn't the important thing, we should be talking about how your dagger ended up in this man's chest.”I blanched, “do you think
Wren's POV The drive to the bakery was short but it felt like an eternity. My heart kept pounding and my hands grew sweaty, this fear was not from caelum, it was utterly my own. I kept thinking of the worst case scenario, the panic I had felt through the bond, was it Dane? Chills and cold sweat ran down my spine.A body…I was almost out of my mind with anxiety, if it was someone I knew, could I handle it? The added grief would push me over the edge, I just knew it. Losing someone else after losing my pup would break me and somehow, I didn't think I would recover from it.A sharp thought ran through my mind, could it be Caelum?If I was feeling chills before, I was downright shivering now. The panic I felt, had that been a call for help? No, i thought, soren would not be so composed if it was Caelum and I would have felt the bond break too. I checked the bond and it was as strong as ever, only a bit taut from the emotional distance between us, but it was there, a wave of relief cras
Wren's POV The next few days passed in a blur, time had lost its meaning to me. I wasn't eating much, I wasn't drinking much, I was just barely living. I was alive but not living, only existing.The hollowness in my chest grew bigger with every passing day but I hid it under fake smiles, smiles that I was sure everyone could see through but no one wanted to call me out on, maybe they were afraid to look closely and see the truth reflected in my eyes, well, until now.Robin slumped on my bed and sighed dramatically, “You have to got to get out of your room. You have been inside ever since you got back.” That was the term everyone had been using ‘got back’, it rubbed me the wrong way, one would think I travelled instead, like I had chosen to leave. Even now, I wanted to scream, I wanted to remind them that what happened wasn'ta prolonged vacation, I was kidnapped but I swallowed my words and gave a fake smile instead, the same one I had been giving everyone.“I'm always happier indoor
Caelum's POV It felt like I had been struck with a blow, something warm unfurled in my chest, “pregnant?” I asked, breathlessly.He nodded, I laughed in disbelief and rubbed my unoccupied hand over my face, i could feel the rough stubble on my chin. I was going to be a father, excited laughter burst out of me, I felt like I was on top of the world. Just then, something he said sunk in.“Wait, was?” I asked, confused. The sadness and grief in the doctor's eyes told me the answer but I didn't want to accept it. No, there was no way my pup was gone, I refused to accept it, I couldn't have gained and lost a child in just one second.“I'm sorry, alpha, she lost the pup.” The doctor said more but I couldn't hear it over the ringing in my ears. The words kept replaying over and over till I was drowning in them.Lost the pup….Lost the pup……I tasted bile at the back of my throat, my world continued spinning. I could hear Xyler howling in pain in the back of my mind. My pup, my first child,
Wren's povThe elders just didn't want me to fail and lose my title, they wanted me to die. Well, I refuse to die, at least not today. I looked down into the chasm, it was so deep, I couldn't see the end. Overheard, the dark clouds continued to gather and the wind blew fiercer. I screamed in frustr
Wren's povYou're not alone, remember, I'm right here, Astrid said softly.What do I do Astrid? I can't do this, i sobbed louder.Yes you can, you’ve come too far to give up now. If you don't want Caelum to die of a broken heart, you have to stand up right now!But I'm scared and cold, and my body
Wren's POVI stepped out of the tent in my new boots when I heard the signal for me to come outside which was my name. One of the elders, elder Samuel, came towards me,“Are you ready Blackthorn?" He sneered at him, he looked at me with derision and contempt.”I lifted my chin up in determination a
“We are gathered here today to witness another history take place.” I heard one of the elders announce. I was inside a tent-like structure waiting for my name to be called.I opened a gap in the flap of the tent and peered outside. My breath caught at the sheer number of people that came to watch m







