"Faster"

One of the guards pushed me harshly as I walked blindly to what I would presume towards my captor, a bag was put over my head so the only thing I could sense was the cold that prickled my feet like needles and the pain engulfing my body; for the love of me I was tired, I just wanted to crawl into some corner and let a heavy sleep steal me away into an abyss of darkness than the latter.

"Stop"

"Oh shut up" I retorted; I was sick and tired of being pushed around like a dog, do this, do that, it was starkly frustrating. A blinding light made my eyelids flutter shut as the bag was pulled away, opening my eyelids I was met with the impassive face of Vincent Pallis the king of the southern kingdom of the vampires sitting on his throne graciously, his cold steel blue eyes assessed my every movement then settled on my face.

"I told you he'll never come for me" I said slowly as I tried not to shudder at the cold look Vincent was shooting at me; standing there my wrist cuffed with bronze, a torn beige colored dress covering my body, bare feet I could already imagine how Vincent was contemplating on how to break me farther till my sorry excuse of a grandfather would come to rescue me faster than you could say 'not fair'.

"I guess you are right, he's stupid as I always presumed, you are the only hope for his kingdom and he's ready to neglect that fact and cower away in the walls of his medieval castle like a coward he is" Vincent stated each fact slowly as if rubbing it on my face that I'm nothing, at least I didn't expect my grandfather to come for me.

"Crowning me is a dream not coming true, I am a disgrace to my kind" I said and tried to fight back the tears in my eyes; being half human, half vampire was like being an abomination I wasn't supposed to exist but my mother fell in love and love was stronger than the rules set by the council.

"Don't give me such feeble facts Astraea, me and you both know your mother's blood was stronger than that lowlife of a being so you are almost a full vampire"

"That lowlife of a being is my father!" I shouted at him as anger sparked in me like a wildfire, I clenched my fists as the bronze burnt my wrist. In a second Vincent was in front of me and slapped my cheek as a set of tears crowded my vision; it was so painful.

"Your father whom I gladly tore his throat and drank him dry"

A sob racked at the back of my throat as the images of what happened two months ago flashed in my mind, I didn't want to show Vincent any weakness but I couldn't hold it back and fell on my knees.

"Astraea you have nothing and I guess your grandfather is the blame for all the deplorable things occurring in your life" he said slowly as he crouched and held my chin so I could stare at him.

"He did what was right, he was following rules" I said hoarsely and gazed at the floor.

"He could have killed the man, let his daughter stay and remain as the heiress rather than disowning and chasing her away from the kingdom" Vincent said flatly as if talking about killing someone is a normal thing, my grandfather was many things but not selfish; mom told me he didn't want to hold her back though he had the power to do so and let her go.

"He's not a bloody killer like you Vincent"

He laughed; worst of all it held so many unspeakable threats.

"That's where you are wrong Astraea" he stood up and I couldn't help myself but stare at him, he was looking at the portrait of the king before him which was his father, the vein on his neck popped out and with clenched fist he looked at me venomously.

"He killed my father"

Four words, that's what he said and went back to his glorious throne, it all came to me that it was a matter of revenge for the death of his father and I held on that knowledge closely cause it held each answer of each pain I have to go through.

"So I guess you know how it feels like to lose someone huh?" I said with a brittle voice which caught his attention; he smiled at me and gave me a slight nod.

"Why did you take them away then?"

"To add salt to the wound, to make him feel a tremendous pain, to make him regret the day His daughter left the confinement of his walls" Each word was filled with venom, his voice was orotund; loud and clear and it pierced my soul as the image of my mother in her white dress laying on the floor, her eyes lifeless, the fight pounding in her veins gone, she lay there in defeat, a dagger on her chest holding the hand of the man she honored to call his; I was upstairs in my room watching the scene unfold itself, defeated, powerless until he came for me and took me away tortured me and I kept holding on to the bleak hope my grandfather would come for me but as seconds turned to hours, hours to days, days to weeks I realized I was alone.

"Your former question Astraea, the answer is I know how it feels like and I can never stand and watch myself suffer for years without vengeance"

I wanted to shout at him, to curse him but the words were caught in my mouth when a loud howl; compelling and petrifying shook the walls of the castle I could feel it reverberate from the black marbled floor making my body shiver in the most inexplicable ways, for a moment I saw Vincent look ashen then his expression coiled into that of anger as he held his gleaming trident, a heirloom of the southern kingdom.

"What's happening?" He shouted in anger and in time for the double doors of the throne room to open and one of his personal guards came rushing in, shaking, a look of horror in his eyes.

"S-sire we are under attack" the poor man stuttered and for a moment I thought he would pee his pants but he kept shaking and looking everywhere as if something will pop out of thin air.

"I know that Zed but by whom?" He asked his voice filled with authority and Zed started looking everywhere but only came back to focus when Vincent hit his trident on the floor and commanded him to speak.

"The werewolves Sire, the A-al-alpha King"

Silence. A hunting silence hung over the room, the two guards behind me staggered backwards, Zed stared on the ground while Vincent clutched his trident tightly. I heard dark stories of the Alpha King he wasn't a man you would get to see easily and him attacking you is like digging your own grave, he made vampires cower in fear and even other werewolf packs feared him, his pack; Red moon pack was the standing strongest, my mother talked about him and even said she once met him.

"What did you sa--" Vincent's sentence was cut off when the left sides floor to ceiling windows broke and a huge black wolf jumped in landing swiftly on the floor, I almost screamed when I saw the large fiery beast but I was busy crawling away from the broken shards of glass flying everywhere, the two guards with Zed started running but a threatening growl made them stop, the werewolf stared at them, then his gaze flickered to me and I gasped at the jaded eyes scrutinizing me, his eyes landed on the cuffs on my wrists and a low adjective growl emanated from the back of his throat making me move further away from him, his gaze shifted from me to Vincent; the sound of bones breaking and shifting made me close my eyes, it was frightening and I was afraid I would die there on the ground.

"Vincent Pallis" My eyes opened on their own accord at the sound of the cool, threatening voice, the alpha king stood there, the only thing covering him were black boxers, out of shame and the evident blush on my cheeks I looked away.

"What do you want?" Vincent spoke flatly but there was hint of fear in his face, the alpha smirked.

"Wrong question, the real question is WHAT am I taking away from you?" He said coolly making my insides coil in fear; Vincent stared at me which made the Alpha stare at me with a smirk then he stared back at an ashen looking Vincent.

"You wouldn't dare?"

The Alpha smiled at least I guess it was his version of a smile which promised death.

"Ooh! I would Vincent but I guess we are not meaning the same thing here" he said moving closer to Vincent then he added " does the name Erick Christova ring a bell?" Vincent almost stumbled on his chair but tightened the grip on his trident, he looked scared.

"I guess it does and its clearly you remember what you did to him and Vincent when one touches what is mine I always pay back"

"That little runt was trespassing boundaries" Vincent said through gritted teeth and faster than you could say 'die' the Alpha choked Vincent who kicked the Alpha with his feet on the midriff making the Alpha stagger backwards but regain his composure and roundhouse kick Vincent to the extent of him dropping the trident and getting pinned on the ground, the guards moved to help their king but they all dropped dead when a female with blonde hair landed swiftly through the broken window holding a bow and an arrow then pointing it at Zed who was almost reaching the door.

"Stay where you are" Her voice was low but not menacing like the Alpha what stood out most was her authoritative tone.

"That little runt was my brother and you Vincent you killed him in cold blood" The Alpha said breathily and added " so I'll take away something of yours"

The door opened and Vincent's mother held hostage by two bulky men strode in, she wasn't tied in cuffs or anything but rather looked confused, her dark hair was tied in a bun, her electric blue eyes were filled with fear.

"Vincent what is this?" She asked slowly, looking at her son wearily, the two men behind her walked to where Vincent was and held him while the Alpha stared at the woman, he then stared at the blonde haired Lady who fished out pants from inside her coat and threw them at the Alpha, putting them on he moved to where the lady stood.

"Don't hurt her, she has nothing to do with this?" Vincent said lowly and for a moment I felt an intense pain and pity for him which was quite stupid.

"Ever heard how a werewolf's venom can kill a vampire?"

"Don't you dare!" Vincent was very pale.

"What have you done this time my boy, you never listen" his mother cried out, soft tears leaving her eyes, the alpha looked eerily calm as if he wasn't going to kill someone, the blonde lady looked bored as if it was a normal thing, Zed looked so scared, Vincent turned even paler.

The Alpha took the syringe the same one the two guards were shot at and held it on her neck at that moment I was reminded of my mother the woman who always smiles, even still love her father after he disowned her and without thinking I dug my own grave.

"Stop, don't do it"