Chapter 109 WE NEED TO ESCAPE NOW
Chapter 109 WE NEED TO ESCAPE NOW
\- MELISSA -
There was chartering, drinking, laughing and all sorts of noises coming from every corner. Pack members were thrilled by the festival and they were enjoying themselves.
As a child, I too had wanted to take part in the Moon Festival inside the palace with the Wolf Alpha. I never got the chance then but it had always been a dream.
At that time, I would have killed just to see Alpha Lancaster. Now I was walking side by side with him, and all I could feel was an unsettling hatred twisting through my stomach.
Lancaster escorted me to the table. I rolled my eyes and walked past him instead, Luca clinging tightly to my side. There was a seat prepared for me and another for Luca. The chairs were far apart.
There was no way we were sitting like that.
I settled into my chair and pulled Luca onto my lap instead. My gaze found Lancaster immediately. He was staring at us.
His expression stayed blank, but his eyes carried a cautionary glare.
I looked away, ignoring him completely.
In my mind, I had already decided - If he had a problem with it, then he could come over himself and tear us apart.
I kept my eyes forward, staring back at the people staring at me.
Or rather—
staring at us.
Their gazes shifted awkwardly whenever I caught them looking, but it was obvious.
Luca and I were everyone’s eye candy tonight.
Just not for a good reason.
“Try to enjoy it at least. It’s your first, after all.”
A feminine voice whispered from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder. The first thing I noticed was the waterfall of blonde hair streaming down her face. I remembered that hair. It belonged to the she-wolf I had dragged away from Luca the night I came to this palace.
“So you can talk,” I said flatly. “I was honestly convinced you were mute.”
She giggled softly and pulled a chair beside mine before sitting down.
I turned fully toward her this time. Until now, I had never truly looked at her face. Surprisingly, she was already staring at me too - almost as if she wanted me to recognize her.
My eyes widened.
“Alicia?”
Her smile widened instantly.
“Ah, so you still remember me. I thought you’d forget, you know. You’ve been gone five years.”
“You’re supposed to be dead,” I deadpanned.
She laughed again. I frowned in disgust.
“What’s funny? Did the fire mess with your brain too?”
Her smile vanished immediately.
“I’d stop talking about the fire if I were you,” she said coldly. “A lot of people here lost family because of you. Unless you want them tearing your throat out tonight, you should really learn when to keep quiet.”
I watched her with dull, unimpressed eyes.
“That’s shocking,” I muttered. “I never pegged you as the caring type.”
I tilted my head mockingly. “Or is this your newest attempt to impress me? Do you think impressing me will make your husband love you more? Even after all these years, you still bully women prettier than you just to feel better about yourself. You’re still trying to kiss up to an Alpha who cannot even love you. You’re still begging another she-wolf to be his, even though you’re already his wife.”
Veins slowly surfaced along her neck.
“If you really have even one bone in your body dedicated to caring, then use it to care about your own miserable life first.”
Alicia dug her nails into the armrest so hard I thought the wood might crack. She looked like she would crack and jump on me. I turned my head away from her, ignoring the look on her face and everything else she was doing.
Alicia started to laugh, her voice low but dripping with disdain. She sounded like a maniac. Luca withdrew closer to me, shrinking away because she was scaring him.
Meanwhile, I pressed my lips together tightly, barely holding back my grin.
Just like I predicted.
She fell for it perfectly.
I drew in a long breath and waited for her to do it.
I knew I had twisted her in the right places.
And now, she was definitely going to sink like a toy doll.
“You really think you are anything special?” Alicia sneered. “Do you think you are here because Frederick is still in love with you?”
She snickered.
I didn’t spare her a glance.
That only made her angrier.
“You really are full of pride, aren’t you?” she hissed. “Well, I will see how inflated your pride will be when the ritual ends. You fake stupid witch.”
I stayed quiet.
Alicia leaned closer.
“I am really looking forward to the look on your face when you realize that everybody and everything you’ve ever loved and lived for are all lies.”
Her lips curled.
“Everyone, including your darling—”
“ALICIA!”
Lancaster’s yell exploded across the festival grounds and into both our ears.
I restrained myself.
But Alicia nearly jumped right out of her skin. She flung her head in his direction immediately.
“Go.”
Lancaster’s voice was cold.
Alicia didn’t move.
She looked betrayed and confused all at once.
Without warning, Lancaster grabbed her arm and yanked her out of her seat.
He dragged her across the platform and practically banished her from the high table without caring about all her begging, snapping, crying, and cursing.
Then he returned to us.
He gestured for Luca to sit where Alicia had been sitting instead.
“It’s awkward having the boy on your lap,” he muttered.
I didn’t even look at him.
I kept my gaze forward like I was deaf.
“Melissa, fuck, can you not do this right now?”
He spoke through gritted teeth.
I ignored that too.
“Melissa, come on. Just fucking do this one thing. I swear I won’t let anything get started unless you do it.”
Eventually, it was Luca who gave in, much to my displeasure.
I exasperated loudly and stood up.
Luca hopped down from my lap.
I stepped into the gap between the two chairs and dragged them together before asking Luca to sit.
He obeyed sweetly, taking my hand immediately after.
I glanced at Frederick.
He was seething in anger, but there was nothing he could do about it.
He stormed off.
After he vanished, drums began to beat.
Mighty drums.
Their sounds echoed into the night, awakening every soul present.
And the wolves began to howl at the moon in response to the drums.
They were honoring the Moon Goddess, as was routine before any festival began.
After this, Lancaster appeared again.
He raised his hand in the air as a sign that the goddess was pleased.
The wolves stopped howling.
Everyone started cheering and laughing happily.
From the corner of my eyes, I spotted Luca smiling.
A sigh escaped my lips.
‘It’s supposed to be like this. He’s supposed to be happy. He shouldn’t have to be drowning in trouble as a child. Life is so unfair.’
“Now we welcome the priestess of the goddess so she can bless the festival and hold the ritual.”
The drums began again, this time in a different rhythm.
They were accompanied by the cries of the priestess’s people which filled the air while they entered the center grounds of the festival.
The wolves moved back immediately.
Probably because of the stories and rumors they had heard about the priestess over the years.
The drums grew louder.
Harder.
Faster.
The priestess stepped forward. Her claws were grown out. Her fangs stretched over her lower lip.
Golden eyes glowed beneath the moonlight while strange tattoos covered her body.
Then she began to dance. Her people sang around her.
The drums hammered on, following every movement she made, bending to the rhythm of her swaying body and the flow of her hands.
And suddenly — her gaze crossed mine. She froze.