Chapter 40

****** AUTHOR NOTE: I have just realised that i have named chapter 39 incorrectly. Chapter 39 is currently labelled as Chapter 41. I have submitted a request to have this changed and put back to the correct name. Thank you xxx

Elena’s P.O.V

The sound of my slap echoed out around the room, as I instantly bought my throbbing hand back towards my chest, groaning in agony. I should have known better than to slap a werewolf in the face. The pain was a clear indication that I’d broken at least two of my fingers, but being a werewolf, I knew that they would be fully healed within a couple of hours.

“Ugghh, now look what you’ve done!” I grimaced in pain, clenching my teeth together tightly. “Well done Kieran!”

“Look what I’ve done?” repeated Kieran incredulously. “You slapped me? What do you expect, slapping a werewolf in the face? You know we are tougher than we look!”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think of that did I?”, I muttered angrily while groaning in pain. “What have you done Kieran? Why have you sentenced them to death? They are meant to be our friends!”

“I thought you were gone forever! I panicked!” Kieran explained sorrowfully. “I didn’t know what to do. I was angry and hurt. I didn’t know where you had gone or who had you. It was the worst moment of my life!”

“We need to go back and save them!” I cried out loudly, feeling panic rising in my throat like a tide of hot, bubbling lava. “I’m not about to stand here and let them die because of your oversized ego!”

“Wow, Elena. That’s nice coming from you,” Kieran sneered before shaking my head. “It’s too late. What’s done is done. They will be dead before we even get there.”

“Not if we leave right now, Kieran” Nerissa butted in suddenly. “We can lead the way. Your men can catch up. Of course, we would have been quicker if we were able to travel in form, but due to current circumstances, we can’t.”

“Can’t you just mind-link someone and get them to stop!” I cried exasperatedly, looking at Kieran pleadingly. “You’re the king! Surely you can stop it!”

“No, under current laws, I need to be there in person to halt an execution,” Kieran explained stiffly. “Come on, if we leave now, we may just make it in time.”

I gasped as Kieran marched over towards me and grabbed my hand before pulling me back towards the main doors. The familiar sound of clanking metal behind me confirmed that our own army men were following in our footsteps. Just as we were about to run through the doors and out of sight, a loud voice called out, stopping us in our tracks.

“Kieran, my son! Wait!” Nerissa called out pleadingly. “Please. I’ve only just got you back. Do you have to go?”

“Of course, I have to go!” Kieran answered loudly. “I’ve made a terrible mistake! A terrible act of judgement if you will. And I need to go and put things right before it is too late!”

“Will you come back?” Nerissa continued with sorrowful eyes lingering on Kieran. “I can’t lose you again.”

“Then come with us,” Kieran simply replied. “Come back to the castle and regain your old life. Where we can spend countless hours catching up and filling each other’s lives with untold stories of our adventures over the years.”

“Thank you for your kind gesture, my son,” Nerissa beamed wildly, her crinkles spanning across her face. “I will catch up with you later. You must go and make peace with whatever you need to do. Go now!”

Nodding at the seriousness of what was to come, Kieran once more began pulling me down endless corridors behind him. Behind me, the clanking continued to follow, but faster this time as they marched to keep up with me and Kieran. Doors and walls and open windows revealing the bright blue ocean flew past one after the other as we both began to run down the empty corridors towards the main doors. Before we knew it, we both burst through the big, wooden doors and out into the brilliant sunshine. Panting heavily, I bent over and shook my head slowly.

“Kieran, you’re going to have to go on without me,” I breathed deeply. “I can’t run all that way. Not in this condition. I’ll only slow us down. I’ll catch up.”

“Who said anything about running?” Kieran smirked gently. “We will be much quicker on my horse. Not as quick as being in wolf form but quicker than us running. Jump on.”

Turning around, I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw Kieran’s faithful horse casually trotting towards us, while a young black haired girl in servants clothes led him towards us.

“I hope you don’t mind but I’ve been looking after your horse,” the young girl smiled casually. “I found him walking around the courtyard on his own. I didn’t want him walking out of the gates and into the town by himself.”

“Thank you, young girl,” Kieran nodded curtly. “He doesn’t normally allow strangers near him. What is your name?”

“Rosa,” the young girl blushed, bowing her head shyly. “He has been no trouble with me. I think he likes sugar lumps. He has been eating out of my hand, quite literally!”

“Hmm, well it seems like you have a way with wayward horses,” Kieran nodded thoughtfully. “How about you come to my Palace and you can care for him for me. Queen Nerissa will be leaving here shortly. You can come with her.”

“Ohh, thank you, Your Highness!” Rosa beamed excitedly. “I would love to care for your horse. He is a real beauty!”

“That he is!” Kieran agreed before mounting his horse, quickly pulling me up behind him. “Go and pack whatever belongings you have. Queen Nerissa doesn’t like to be kept waiting!”

With that, Kieran turned his horse around and cantered off towards the beach and the cliffs, sending sand and small stones flying from behind him. All I could see was a blur of colour as we sped past families playing on the warm, golden sand, while the pounding beat of my own heart drummed in my ears. The sound of the horse’s hooves beating against the ground eased my nerves as we raced closer and closer to home. I glanced back and smiled sadly as the Palace of Pearl grew smaller and smaller. It didn’t take long before the sand soon turned into long grasses blowing in the wind as we raced over the moorland. Feeling the chill in the air, I wrapped my arms around Kieran’s abdomen tightly and buried my face against his back, letting his musky scent fill my nostrils.

I had only been away from Kieran’s side for mere hours, but it felt like an eternity. I knew he felt bad about what he had subjected Brooke and Hollie to and I knew he was hiding his true feelings about his mother being alive for all of this time. It was only going to be a matter of time before his feelings came out and what way would he turn? Would he be glad of his mother’s return or would he resent her for leaving him with his brother and his father? Either way, it would be me to pick up the pieces. And how would Brooke and Hollie react to Kieran now, after being sentenced to death? Would they forgive him or would they also hate him? Would my very own friendship with the girls be destroyed because my Mate couldn’t control his temper and irrational thinking? Queen Nerissa’s abduction had messed everything up and everything was snowballing out of control.

I lifted my head up slowly and allowed my thoughts to fade away just as the familiar streets of the Bloodmoon empire came into view. The red-tiled roofs and the empty paved streets lay under the burning evening sun. The sky was beginning to turn into a fiery shade of orange as pink as the sun began to set on another day. Not a person was in sight and everywhere I looked was met with silence. Where was everyone? Why was it so quiet? As if he read my mind. Kieran turned his head back towards me and looked at me guiltily.

“Everybody will congregate at the Palace courtyard,” Kieran mumbled. “That’s where the execution will be happening.”

“Oh, so not only are you condemning my two best friends to death,” I scorned angrily while glaring at Kieran in disgust. “You are also making a spectacle of the whole thing. Get me to the Palace now! The sun has almost set! I’m running out of time!”

Sensing my fear and my desperation, Kieran spurred his horse on as we tore through the streets. The sound of galloping hooves echoed loudly as the familiar mountain path came into sight. I sighed desperately. I knew I’d be so much faster if I wasn’t pregnant. I couldn’t wait to turn back into my wolf again and feel the wind in my fur and the earth between my paws. The golden gates soon came into view and as we tore through them I gasped loudly. Time instantly slowed down as I stared around in the courtyard with shock and disgust. It felt as if I was having an out of body experience. The noise of the spectators roared in my ears but everything had become slow-mo.

The whole courtyard was rammed full of jeering spectators who had come to the Palace baying for blood. In their eyes, they had come to watch two traitors lose their heads. Drums banged loudly, while yells of ‘traitors’, ‘scum’ and ‘kill them’ rang out in the cool evening air. My skin prickled with fear and horror as I turned my head and laid my eyes on a simple wooden stage, right in the middle of the courtyard. Four wooden steps led up to a large square platform that housed an executioner’s block right in the middle. A wicker basket was placed in front, no doubt to catch the unfortunate victim’s head. A man, or was it a woman, stood beside the block, in a floor-length black robe with a black veil covering their face. All you could see was the whites of their eyes gazing out through a slit in the veil. That’s when I saw the long-handled axe, that the would-be assassin was holding. It had a long, sturdy wooden handle that connected to a large, curved blade that glinted in the sun.

Before I could, even process my thoughts, I was vaguely aware that the cheering and baying had become louder and more frenzied. Movement caught my eye and I turned my head to see Hollie and Brooke, being furiously dragged out of a small door in the Palace wall, towards the stage by the dungeon guards. They were no longer dressed in fine silk dresses, but rather a simple white cotton ensemble, with their hair tied up, exposing their long, slender necks. Both of them had their hands tied up in front of them with thick brown rope and I could see them crying silently as they resigned themselves to their fate. Without even realising that the horse was still moving, I jumped from its back and ran towards the stage, my heart pounding loudly in my ears. I could hear Kieran yelling behind me that it was too late but I had to carry on. I couldn’t stand back and watch my two best friends die. Everyone around me was too focused on the executioner’s stage to even realise that I was running towards it. I looked up just as Hollie was pushed roughly towards the block and pulled down into position while the executioner moved to Hollie’s side while brandishing the axe.

Feeling the wooden steps underneath my feet, I sprinted towards Hollie, just as the executioner raised the axe high above his head. Someone was screaming my name and to stop the execution but with all the adrenaline flooding through my body, I couldn’t work out who it was. My hands connected with the warm, but trembling body of Hollie as I roughly pushed her away from the block. Behind me, the slicing sound of a blade cutting through the air, followed by a loud thud rang out into the dusky air. I lay, panting heavily, on the stage, with Hollie, now safe, cradled in my arms, while sobbing uncontrollably. At that moment, time returned to normal and my ears filled with the sounds of almost silence. The Palace guards stood there in silence, looking at me in disbelief, while hushed whispers began to ring out about what had just happened.

And then I heard it. Someone began clapping in slow mockery while chuckling loudly. Groaning at my aching muscles, I sat up and looked towards to noise, only to see Carlton and Davina, walking towards the stage.

“Oh, I do love a happy ending, don’t you?” Carlton sneered loudly. “Look everybody, Elena’s alive!”