Esma's POV
"Are you sure you are alright?" Dumeny asked for the fiftieth time.
I nodded. And with that, he started pacing around the room again.
"Why were they after her?" Diaz asked the most obvious question everyone was thinking about right now.
"Hell, she is the alpha, and the top of that, she is a female, making her the easy target," Darek said lamely as if stating the facts. Was I really an easy target?
"I guess we should deliver her..." Before Darek completed that sentence, Dumeny backed him to the wall by his neck.
"Say the word, and that would be your last sentence before death," Dumeny said, baring his canines, showing his wolf on the surface. Darek fought to loosen himself from his hold, his face turning blue with every second.
"Dumeny, stop it. I don't want anybody fighting for me." Surely not when the witches already thought that I was an easy target. I clutched the note in my head tightly.
A few minutes earlier, I hummed in approval and searched for him in the crowd but couldn't find him; his scent was fresh, which means he was present at the party. Everyone hated him, hell, even I hated him, but still, some part of my heart wasn't ready to accept that he was evil. Even after he had rejected me, I was somehow connected to him; the mate bond was still there, but I could hardly feel it.
Just when I thought the evening would not have any more surprises, the door burst open, and what we witnessed was totally a horrific sight.
The body of a guard was thrown into the castle. It landed directly at my feet. The body was half burned. It was totally destroyed, leaving no trace of flesh over his face. The large vines continued to grow from the skin on the other parts of the body, forming different colors of roses at different nodes spirally. Red, blue, white.
All of us were dumbstruck; nobody dared to make a move. A single vine started to emerge from his left ankle and slowly started growing the whole way through his legs, chest, and heart, and finally emerged from his left eye. I tried not to throw up. A single black rose surrounded by a bunch of thorns emerged from his eye and bloomed at its full glory. The whole scene was beautiful and horrific at the same time. The body was destroyed. We couldn't identify to whom it belonged.
A large bag stained with blood made its way through the window. Without a second doubt, we approached the bag. By now, the whole ballroom was emptied, leaving only us. The respective betas had already taken the females and pups to a safe place. Dumeny opened the bag, taking the lead, and quickly backed off. A single head without a body; the eyes were already popped out from their sockets.
I knew the person. He was Dumeny's beta, Casper. He was in charge of the security and all the arrangements for today's dinner. We all were alerted now; our wolves were at the surface. The door squeaked, and there stood a tall, hooded figure. It stood silently. No one of us could make out who or what it was.
It looked directly towards me and took a few steps forward. Dumeny quickly changed into his wolf and lunged forward. The hooded figure continued walking, and with a snap of its finger, it threw Dumeny across the ballroom.
It stopped a few feet apart from me and took its hood off, only to reveal itself as a young girl. All of us looked at each other's faces. Witches? What? Why?
Witches only meant trouble. They were of no good. They were too smart to be trusted. As if reading my thoughts, the witch smirked. Her hair was jet-black and so were her eyes, as if they told the tale about her dark soul. She looked at all of us, examining each of us, and lastly, her eyes again stopped at me.
"What do you want, witch?" Darek spat. By now, Dumeny had already recovered and was standing by my side.
The witch ignored Darek; her eyes remained on me. Her eyes were laced with curiosity and evil mischief. Her eyes gave me chills. She stood by the body of the guard and plucked out the black rose. The rose immediately caught fire as her hand touched it, but she stood still, looking pensively at us as if the flames didn't faze her. She stood still, and within the flames, the rose changed into paper. She threw the paper towards me and flashed his evil smile.
"If I were you, I would do the right thing," she said in a sickly sweet voice that could break even glass. And with that, she vanished into thin air.
I picked up the paper and opened it.
The Werewolves Community
All the alphas and their respective pack are informed that the blade of the Zydus is under our custody, and all of you are warned that we won't hesitate to use it against either of you. We meant no harm. We only wanted one member of your community, and we are pretty sure you had already gotten the idea about whom we are talking about.
You have all the time till the blood moon. In failure to do so, be prepared for the worst.
The Oracle Flashback over... (Present time)
The door broke open as Reed made his entry. From his face, he already got an idea of what happened. He searched the room desperately, and finally, his eyes were pinned on me. I swear I saw him sighed in relief.
"Fucking witches," Diaz tried to explain, but Reed stopped him by raising his hand.
"They must have left some message," Reed said in a sure tone. Dumeny eyed him for a minute before signaling me. I handed the paper to Reed. His face immediately turned seven shades of horror. He looked as if his worst nightmares were turning true.
"Oracle." Just as he said the word aloud, the paper caught fire, but it did not burn him. The paper turned into ashes.
His eyes turned red. "Who did they give this letter to?" he asked desperately. All were looking at me. The air thickened with the rising tension.
"Me," I said in a low voice.
Reed closed his eyes and breathed heavily.
"Tell me everything from the beginning." He took the seat opposite to me, just a foot apart, and looked desperately at me.
"I said EVERYTHING."