Chapter ４

They were only talking through what we called the link between them through their minds. There was a device in their head that made them respond to the voice of their packs.

King Markus was still lying on his bed while Ariane was in his arms. She served him in bed every night for one month now after the accusation towards her for killing Amaya because of Jealousy.

" Guard and protect the gate Argus! I'm counting on you!" He ordered his army leader to put his life to safety.

The King was already not in good shape because he was ill. Ariana was with him always but everyone in the palace didn't know that he was sick.

He told her to keep his secret to the whole Kingdom because his people would feel scared and lost their fate in him.

" My King, they're attacking us! What should we do?" Ariana asked him. Everyone outside the palace was in chaos and some were already dead. Everyone inside the palace was all running for their lives. Some just took suicide and some shifted in their werewolf form and ran away as fast as they can.

When Ariana saw the king cough and droplets of blood splattered on the floor, she helped him to lie down on his bed. " Just rest my King, I'll never leave you!" She told him.

King Markus took a small bottle with a dark fluid inside it. He hands it over to her and he told her that if anything happened to him and she had nowhere to go, she had to drink the liquid and when she woke up she would feel better.

Before the King died, he confessed to her that he's the one who killed Amaya. Ariana was felt sorry for her and wanted to curse the king but he looked ill. She already forgave him because his sorry felt genuine.

Ariana left him and ran out from his room, looking for a way to escape from the Hittite attackers. She saw the Kingdom with her own eyes, covered with fire and one of the Rogues saw her. She quickly ran from the savage werewolf. She was confused and surprised to see wolves in this place until she saw Charlie, the king's butler who shifted into a werewolf. She was hiding behind one of the Kingdoms' pillars.

She saw him from a human into a beasty animal. "What kind of place is this? Who am I seeing?" Ariana asked herself but it's a question that hard to answer.

She decided to sneak behind the Kingdom. She ran as fast as she can to save her own young life.

The whole Kingdom burned into flames and most of the people there were murdered and burned.

That night she ran away and that was the last night she disappeared into the darkness. No one could tell where Ariana went and who saved and took her.

Will she be found again?

What if she was the mysterious she-wolf, the Rogues were looking for without her knowing it.

Only her parents know but what if they're already dead?

Ariana PoV

The Kingdom was in chaos. Screaming, weeping, and howling of everyone echoed in the whole Arcadia Kingdom.

With only myself, leaving behind my things, I ran as fast as I could, afraid of looking back to the desolation palace, I gathered all my strength and courage to be lost around the wilderness.

I heard the screeching sounds of the invaders. I quickly hid behind the huge trunk of a tree near me. I peep with my other eye to see who's approaching. I covered my mouth with my palm, trying to decelerate my breathing. It's coming to my location. I saw bushes of leaves moving with his presence until I saw him with my naked eyes.

I swiftly turned around behind the trunk and grasped my mouth.

" Who's that thing?" I stammered.

I'm holding my breath to stay still. I felt goosebumps all over my body. My chest became heavy like something stuck in there. I'm trying to stay calm by taking a deep breath but my heart didn't skip a beat.

I saw it, it's a big black wolf. I saw his red eyes and sharp canines ready to devoured anyone coming his way.

" God, what should I do?" I uttered softly which only I could hear it.

I cast a brief look at his location and it's not there. I felt a sigh of relief when I found that the ugly thing was now out of my sight.

I'm safe, I said to myself. I slowly trawled my trembling feet from the muddy ground to find a shielded place but my eyes widened when the hair-raising black wolf jumped right into my face and about to devoured me when an arrow strike his head.

I fainted when I saw the black wolf fall on the ground, pooled his head with his blood.

I saw black dots everywhere and the sight of darkness ruled over me.

-----

Little did Ariana knew that the person who saved her from danger was Charlie, King's Markus butler. He carried her away from the Kingdom. He had a bit on his shoulders and he vomited blood after putting Ariana on the ground.

" I'm so sorry! I can't save you until then Ariana" Charlie said after gasping his last breath.

Two months later

Ariana Ferrer wandered alone in the wilderness until she found a river outside the forest. It's almost two months since she found herself beside Charlie's corpse rotting in worms.

She had nowhere to go.

She's thinking of going back to their house but she's afraid they would cast her out again because of the news that she murdered the King's concubine Amaya.

Her lips ran dry and her throat wants to drink fresh water so badly. She survived hunger by eating small animals like frogs, worms, small birds, and even grasses. She filled her lungs with fresh air before cupping the water on her palm when she saw a reflection of a guy behind her holding an ax. She thought he's a dangerous man so she quickly showered his face with water and ran away.

" Hey, it's not fair!" the guy called her to come back.

She wasn't looking back even she heard him calling her. She keeps on running when she felt that the man who was chasing her was almost at her back.

" Don't kill me! Please don't chase me. I won't do any harm!" She shouted to beg for his Mercy.

She's about to turn around when huge rocks hit her toe. She stumbled on the ground and a muddy grass ground received her pale and scraggly face. A man who chased her quickly came over to help her.

" Are you alright? Why did you run from me?" He asked her who looked worried on her bruised face.

Ariana stood up with his help. She was still in pain.

" Yes, I'm fine. I thought you would kill me? I saw you holding an ax!" She explained her side.

Arem laughed out loud when she said about the killing thing. His white teeth and tan skin reflected from the sun rays of the sun.

" Really? Am I like a killer to you? Anyway, I'm Arem and you are--" he said and reached out his hands for a shake.

Ariana was now more comfortable talking to him.

" I'm Ariana" she simply said and accepted his hands.

If Arem was an actor, he resembled Taylor Luther, in a Twilight Saga. Arem had all of his facial features especially his thick eyebrows that suited his narrow eyes. He got a four packs abs and he's the true meaning of tall, dark and handsome.

" So, who are you? Where did you come from?" He asked her while keeping her company in the forest.

Ariana wanted to keep her experiences from the Arcadia Kingdom especially seeing those black wolves. It's her first time to see deadly animals like those. She wants to hide also about her being arrested for killing Amaya where she wasn't the real culprit.

King Markus himself killed her that night and before he passed away, he confessed his sins to her but it's too late for forgiveness because they were already surrounded by invaders so he gave something to her. A small bottle with a green liquid inside. The King told her that if her life was in danger, she has to drink it so that she will know the answer.

" I'm lost and I didn't know the way home" she was stuttering.