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The royals aren't like other stories where they live in riches and have everything handed to them on a silver platter. I've seen how hard they've worked when I watch Lucas and Seth.

It's been two days since I fought Lucas and nothing much has changed. I decided not to go to the ball. I was mentally and physically drained from the day.

Malcom hasn't said a single word to me at all or even spare a glance. I hear the doors slam late in the night which wakes me up. Then, he leaves early in the morning before I wake up. Anything to avoid me.

I ended up getting bored after sitting in the house doing nothing. So, Lucas let me watch him work.

I've watch Lucas and Seth and figured their personality out.

Seth only knows how to have fun. I haven't seen one moment he has been serious. He's always laughing and joking around.

Lucas knows how to have fun when it's the time. If there is work to be done, then it's time to be serious. Once his focus is on something literally nothing can break his concentration.

I watch from Lucas' couch. He was writing on a stack of papers one by one. My stomach growled from not eating anything this morning. I couldn't remember if I had drank a blood bag today.

Malcom's scent was always in this room. His office was parallel to Lucas' so I could always smell him.

I groan as I stand up and leave Lucas' office and walk straight into Seth's office. He was spinning in his chair with a stress ball in hand.

"Lucas is only making bored and hungry," I sigh as I slump down onto the couch in his room. He laughs and stops spinning in his chair.

"That's his common effect on people," he laughs. "And he wonders why he doesn't have a mate." I roll my eyes and smile.

"You said you were hungry?" He asked me. I nodded and he stood up and started taking his suit off.

"Um Seth?" I question him. He looked at me acknowledging me calling for him. "I don't think you should be stripping right now."

"You said you were hungry. So let's go for a run," he said. My wolf immediately started jumping in my head.

"Alright," I shrug. He leads me to the front door and shifts into his brown wolf. I don't remember if I've seen his wolf before.

My wolf keeps pestering me to shift and I finally give in. She shifted and stretched in the cool air. It wasn't too cold today. It was more of a light breeze.

His wolf grinned then took off into the forest. I shook my head and ran with him. I caught up with him easily. The satisfying crunch of leaves wasn't there because of the snow yesterday causing the leaves to soak up the moisture.

I tried to catch the scent of any prey as Seth's wolf took off in his own way finding his own prey. I finally caught on a scent and instantly and went after it.

The sweet scent of fresh deer was carried by the cool breeze of the winter morning. I saw maybe three deer trotting around the large trees.

I bent down low getting ready to pounce. I saw the deer turn it's head and I pounced. I aimed for its neck and bit down.

I didn't bite into its neck. I flew right threw the deer and into the tree. The deer flickered and then disappeared.

"Simple trick but I worked," a man said walking out of the trees.

"Hello Nicolette," he smiled and held up a needle and stuck into my neck.

Malcom slapped his neck. There was a bug like sting and then he went back to his work immediately.

——

"What the hell do you mean you lost her Seth?" Lucas yelled at Seth. Seth paced back and forth in Lucas' office.

"I-I don't know. My wolf chased after some deer then we couldn't find her. I can't catch any of her scent. I-its like she disappeared," Seth said.

"She can't leave so she's still on pack grounds," Lucas said. He ran his hands through his hair.

"Malcom he can smell her. Her scent from the mate bond," Seth said. Lucas' office doors swung open.

"Beta there's disturbance in the forest," a guard said. His face said it all. If his trained guards couldn't handle what was in the forest then they were in trouble.

I was tense from the lack of contact with other she-wolves. Commanded by my own Beta. Pls go the hell does he think he is.

The doors to my office flew open and Lucas stared at me.

"Trespassers on your land have Nicole," he said. I roll my eyes and lean back into chair.

"And why does this concern me?" I ask him.

"God damn Malcom. Get off your ass and stop thinking about yourself for once and think about others," he growled. I have a challenging growl back.

"She's not a pack member so why does she concern me," I said. I felt my wolf push through and my eyes glow golden.

"Are you listening to yourself Malcom. If there are intruders on pack lands they must have been damn good to get past border control. What do you think they could do to pack members. You say you're not like your father but I see the similarities. You're leaving her to die like your dad left you mom to die." I let out a growl and slammed my first on my desk.

"She's not a pack member so why does she concern me," Malcom said.

I groan as I lift my head up and my vision cleared up. I tried to pull my hand to my face to swipe the hair from my face but I couldn't. I look up and see my hands in blocks of silver chained to trees. I try to pull my feet but they were also chained.

I couldn't reach any part of my power. I look down and saw that I was clothed. At least they had the decency to clothe me. I struggled against the chains but it only caused the silver against my skin to become more irritated.

"Ah so young Nicolette is awake," I heard. A man approached from the trees holding a silver knife in his hands. "I haven't seen you since you were 100. Or, 110 to be exact." The memory of him hit me like a brick to my face.

"How does it feel. To finally meet the murderer of your parents," he smirks. My eyes widened and I pull on the chains trying to break free.

"You bastard," I scream at him. I wanted to kill him. Slow and filled with pain. Just like how I felt when my parents were ripped right out from under me.

"Oh Nicolette. I don't think you're in the position to be calling me names. I think you're the one that's chained to the trees," he laughs. I growl and struggle some more.

"I've been waiting for 500 years to kill you," he whispers right next my ear. He places the flat side of the knife on my neck and I let out a yelp.

"I'm going to tell you how I killed your parents and you can decide how you want to die. Like your mother or your father," he grins. He touches his finger to the blade and wipes off dirt from it. He's not a werewolf he's a vampire. I can't sense any witch in him.

"Your mother was quite fun to torture. First we let her watch us torture your father. Lucky for you it's only me today," he stated to say. My eyes brimmed with tears as he told me how my parents died. I didn't want to listen. It was horrible enough live all these years without them.

"We raped her in front of your father. Letting him watch every single moment of it," he laughs.

"No," I growl. Tears fall down my face as I pull against the chains.

"I thought about keeping her. Letting her be for my men and I'd personal use but it was more fun to kill her in front of your father," he grinned.

"Stop," I yell.

"What's that?" He says culling his hand around the back of his ear. "You want to hear more? After killing your mother, I told your father about how I was going to kill you. How much of a failure he was to you."

"Stop," I said weakly. I sniffed as I slacked against the chains. It hurt to fight. It hurt to listen to him. I heard shouts from the forest and my head snapped forward.

"This should be fun," he chuckled.

"You won't do anything to them," I growled. He fake pouted and drew a fake tear on his face.

"Are your Luna instincts coming in Nicolette. You really can't do anything can you?" He laughs. I saw Malcom, Lucas, and Seth emerged from the forest with a whole ass army behind them.

"This is my time to go Nicolette but I will see you soon," he grins and runs of. Seth and Lucas chase after them. Tears fall down my face. Malcom comes over to me and stares at the chains holding me to the trees.

"What a horrible thing to do," he said. He used his claws and slashed the chains. The metal blocks fell off my hands and I fell to the ground. He wraps his hand around me but I push him away.

"What a horrible thing to do you say but it's not like you care," I said looking up at him. I tried to stand but my knees buckled causing me to stumble and fall.

"What are you mumbling about," he said. I wipe the tears from my face and sniffle.

"I think your exact words were 'She's not a pack member so why does she concern me'. So what if I'm not a pack member? I'm your damn fucking mate," I scream.

"How the hell did you hear that," he questions bending down next to me.

"What does that matter? It's the fact that you said it," I said.

"He killed them," I whisper. "He killed my parents." He wraps his arms around me as I cry. From not talking to our skin tingling as it touches and tomorrow it'll probably go straight back to not talking.

———