and are warmly welcome. Send them to my email: along with your :)

I am just a few hours away from Friday yet I updated this chapter because I won't be home for almost a day.

Next update is on but if I am free then I'll try to slip an update before Friday ;) You're welcome...

Without me - Halsey

~

"Yes, you will and your third task is..." He trails off. Silence follows his words. Only our breaths could be heard. This intimacy is bothering me now. My body is acting against me and I could feel myself melting into him. The heat of his body is escaping into mine while his hot breath blows on my face, "to be my queen."

I do the most satisfying thing next...

I slap the shit out of him.

The sound of the slap echoes in the gravely silent forest. Several birds flee from the trees and crowd the skies. Both of us keep still. His hold tightens on me and his breathing gets hard. I feel my heart race in my chest. I won't say that I regret slapping him. In fact, I regret hitting him not hard enough.

I want to hurt him so much.

A growl ripples through his chest before I am being picked up and thrown over his shoulder. My head is dangling upside down while he holds me in place on his shoulder, his hands resting possessively on my thighs. I scream and start to thrash around but I stop when I feel a stinging pain on my butt.

My mouth hangs open as soon as I realize what just happened. He just spanked me!

I feel so humiliated. Heat creeps up my cheeks and a blush appears in them. I press my lips in a thin line and cross my hands on my chest while dangling upside down. My waist long hair is dangling upside down in the air along with me. I want to scream and cause havoc. I want to raise hell but the way his hands are resting possessively with a warning on my hips, I know that he won't mind spanking me again if I try to do anything further.

I let out a low growl and let him carry me. I will give him hell for this. But where's he taking me? By the direction he is heading, all I can tell is he is heading towards the ruins.

"Where are you taking me?" I demand but he keeps silent. He continues to take me to the ruins. Only the crunching of snow beneath his feet and our breaths could be heard.

"Let me down," I command. He growls at me before tightening his grip on my hips. Pleasure seeps into my body but I try not to show it on the surface. Showing him that he's having an effect on me is the last thing I want.

I feel him climb the makeshift mountain before passing his statue.

"Ughh, let me down. All the blood is draining into my head!" I say, putting my hands on his back and trying to push myself up. Black spots have started to appear in my vision and the whole world is spinning in front of my eyes.

He sighs before shifting me from his shoulders into his arms until he's carrying me bridal style.

He looks down at me and smirks while I recover from my daze. I glare at him but he ignores me as he looks up, ahead of him before carrying me inside the ruins. I haven't been here for long but still, it feels as if it was yesterday when Arles was throwing black balls of fire at me.

Rage brims up inside me as the old memories float in front of my eyes. I want revenge. I'll make him pay for each and every scratch he ever put on me and all the nightmares that kept me awake at night. He carries me through the ballroom and into the corridor before stepping foot inside the courtroom.

"Put me down," I protest, my hands are resting on his chest and pushing him back. He ignores me completely before I see the floor crack and a huge black hole appears from underneath it. It's spinning like a whirlpool, the dust covering the floor is now flying around it, forming a dust tornado. The darkness in the hole seems to be sucking in the mere light that's present in the courtroom.

"PUT ME DOWN!" I scream again before starting to thrash around. He growls at me before tightening his grip around me.

"Stay still or I'll be too much tempted to drop you." He growls but I continue to thrash around.

"I said PUT ME DOWN!" I scream while bringing one of my feet up and kicking him squarely on the face. The blow was pretty hard and unexpected because I feel him stumble back. I smirk at him while he glares down at me.

In the next moment, he steps in front of the black hole before I feel his arms disappearing from beneath me and gravity claiming my body. A loud scream leaves my mouth before I am sucked inside the black. I am falling in this endless hole. Right now, I feel like Alice when she fell into the rabbit hole but judging Arles, he won't drop me into a rabbit hole which would be a way to wonderland. Nah. I bet it's a hell hole, acting as a portal to the darkest corner of the hell.

I don't know how long the fall was. For a moment, I felt as if I am suspended in the air but the air whooshing past my ears and my hair above my head told me otherwise that I am in fact falling. I cannot see anything but darkness around me.

Suddenly, I feel hitting something cold and wet before being submerged into the water. I feel the breath being knocked out of me. My head is spinning and my lungs are screaming due to the lack of oxygen in them.

I start kicking my legs and start swimming upwards. It's dark here too but I see some light above me. I kick my legs harder into the water. My hands are levitated above me, desperate to catch the light in the darkness.

More and more light surrounds me as I ascend up in the water. My lungs are at the verge of bursting but I continue to kick harder. Finally, I break the surface, gasping for air. Some of the water manages to get inside my windpipe, resulting in me chocking severally.

"Your Highness," A deep voice speaks, claiming my attention. I look around to find Archander standing by the edge of the lake that I am in. I finish choking before swimming to the edge of the lake. Archander extends one of his hands towards me to help me out of the water but I ignore it before I place my hands on the edge and swing one of my legs on the edge and pull my body out of the water.

I am still coughing and choking on the water. I am drenched in the water and as soon as I step out of the water, a gush of chilling cold wind hits me and I shiver. I look around to find everything covered with snow. The sky above me is dark and gloomy.

The water of the lake from which I emerged is black and the trees that surround this place are naked and dead. They don't have a single leaf on their branches. This place looks cold and dead. It's haunting. Only the distant croaks of crows could be heard along with the angry wheezes of the strong wind.

I get up and wrap my arms around me in a failed attempt to keep myself warm. My teeth are chattering and suddenly the memory from the night when Arles asked me to bring the eyes of the Basilisk flashes in front of my eyes.

"Where am I?" I growl at Archander. I am not pleased with him. I trusted him. I thought he was loyal to me. I thought he was my guardian angel, helping me to get through my miserable life but I never expected him to make it worse.

All this time, I thought that he was the most familiar person to me but right now, standing in front of me, he seems nothing less than a complete stranger with possible motives to hurt me. All the warmth that I felt towards him is now gone. He seems the most unfamiliar person now. I don't trust him. I cannot trust him anymore.

"You're in Zaeris, the land of immortal wolves. The kingdom of Arles," He speaks while taking off his black cloak to reveal a gear suit beneath it. He lowers his gaze before stepping forward and holding up the black cloak in front of me. I ignore it before glaring at him.

"I want to go back," I growl.

"I am afraid, that's not possible." He speaks gently but there's this edge to his voice.

"I will go back!"

"You're trapped here, your highness."

"I'll find my way ou-"

"It will take you forever."

"UGHHHHHHHHH, stop it Archander. I hate you! You handed me over to that dog who likes to call himself a god! God my foot! He doesn't deserve that title!" Archander watches my outburst silently before stepping forward and draping the cloak over me. His eyes have an unfamiliar emotion in them.

"You don't know what you're talking about, your highness." He says before stepping back. I am breathing fire at the moment. I want to hurt him. I want to hurt every single one of them. Looking at Archander standing in front of me, I feel like a fool. I feel being used. He... he fooled me. He kept me in the dark. He protected me all this time only to hand me over into the hands of the person I hate the most.

I am seeing him in a different light now. Uncovering a different part of him that I never knew existed.

"I trusted you Archander," I feel my voice break as I speak while looking at him. He instantly looks away, guilt clearly visible in his eyes.

"I am sorry, your highness but I did this for your own good-"

"This is not good. THIS IS WORST. You were the only person I trusted the most and you backstabbed me. I'll never forgive you! You're a traitor!" I say while pointing an accusing finger at him. His head hangs low in guilt and remorse.

"Let's get you somewhere warm," He tries to speak to me, changing the topic.

"I want to go home!"

"Stop calling that place home. It was never home for you. This is home. Now, come with me." Archander snaps all of a sudden, taking me by surprise. I look at him in surprise before pressing my lips into a thin line because what he said was partially true. I may call that place my home but I never felt wanted there. I felt as if I was an outsider there.

But how could he tell me that this place is going to be my home? What makes him so confident? This place already looks so eerie. I rarely want to be here. In fact, it's the last place I want to be because it's Arles' Kingdome.

He sighs when I don't move and continues to look at him.

"Nefret..." He trails off again, taking me by surprise. He never called me by my name. This is the first time ever I heard him call my name, "please. Come with me. Give this place a chance. Give him a chance. He is your mate after all." He speaks while I listen silently. My arms are crossed on my chest.

"I don't care if he's my mate or not. I am going to reject him."

"Well, it's too late for you to reject him. He already marked your wolf." He speaks sternly and my jaw hits the floor.

"You're lying!"

"I am not. He marked your wolf the first time he saw you." He says stepping forward while I take a step back. Every passing moment, it's getting hard for me to wrap my mind around it. I am wishing so hard for this to be a dream. Any minute I might wake up and find myself wrapped in the warmth of my blanket, lying on my bed in my room.

"You're lying! I don't remember-"

"Of course you won't. You were unconscious when he did ..." He trails off before taking another step in front of me while I am standing here, questioning everything.

When? Why? How?

I don't remember! I don't believe anything! It's hard for me to believe because as far as I know, Archander could be manipulating me to go with him. It's hard for me to trust him now as he broke it.

"I don't believe you! Not after what you did!" I growl.

"I am sorry. But you need to come with me in order to find out if I am telling the truth."

"I already know you're lying."

"Here's the deal. You come with me and see yourself. If you find that I've been lying then you're free to go back and no one of this realm will ever bother you." He offers. I ponder over the deal before nodding lightly at him. I know that he'll not let me go if I don't go with him. Either way, I'll be dragged to the place.

He leads me through the naked and dead trees, through the snow-covered forest. This place is so eerie and quite. There's this strange thickness in the air of this place. The air reeks of death and decay.

Slowly, the trees start to thin out and I could see several huts coming into view. As we step out of the trees and walk through the group of huts, the grand palace comes into clear view.

My jaw hits the floor at the sight of it. It's huge! It's bigger than the ruins!

It looks old and reeks of royalty. The bricks of the palace are black, giving a haughty look to the place. It looks cold, inside out. It looks like a place you wouldn't want to be in the first place.

We finally start climbing the stairs to the palace and soon, enter it. The huge doors open to reveal a dark corridor merely lit with torches hanging on either side on the walls.

I silently follow him as he walks deeper into the place. I pull the cloak tighter around my body because this place seems colder than outside. As he walks deeper into the dark corridor, I follow him. Our footsteps could be heard only.

After taking some turns and passing a couple of huge halls, we finally reach another set of humongous doors. Two guards stand on either side. They bow when they see Archander before opening the doors to reveal a courtroom much similar to that in the ruins but in a better condition.

The room is lit with torches on hanging on the walls. The dome over the room is decorated with tinted glass whose colorful reflection drenches the room along with the light. The walls are black, absorbing the light and dimming the room to some extent.

The sides of the room are lined with stone carved chairs which are occupied with people whom I suppose to be Arles' ministers. Since Archander is walking in front of me, I cannot see anything at the front.

Frowns, sneers, and disgust decorate their faces as they look down at me from their high seats. Their eyes are throwing daggers at me, glaring holes in my body.

"Your Highness!" Archander speaks in front of me before stepping aside, revealing Arles sitting on his throne which is set higher than all the chairs in the room. The throne is the same as that in the ruins except it looks more regal and bigger. Behind his throne is a big statue of moon goddess that almost touches the ceiling. It is drenched into darkness, giving it a haughty look.

He's looking down at me passively. His eyes are void of any emotion. I couldn't help but glare at him. I hate him so much that I cannot describe it in words.

"Who's this she-wolf, your highness?" One of the ministers sitting near Arles' throne spits before looking down at me with disgust.

Woah. What did I do to him? Everyone here seems to hate me already. I want to leave.

Arles stands up from his throne, his eyes fixed on me, making my insides tingle. I am breathing hard and my hands are in a fist. I want to destroy something... anything.

"My loyal Council members... I present you your queen," Silence follows his words. If I thought that those looks of disgust weren't enough then I was wrong. The disgust on their faces has now turned into pure loathing.

Wow, they already hate their future queen. But it's not like I want to be their queen either. I am being forced into this. If they already hate me for no reason then I couldn't help but wonder what they'll do once I come into power and do all the horrible things that I could possibly think of...