Maeve peered down the staircase and the corners of her mouth lifted in a small smile of mischief. The coast was clear and there was no one in sight. Maybe a few servants but definitely not Alpha Dexter or his overly annoying brother; Kain. The gods were in her favors today, it seemed. 

She hurried down the stairs, the sound of her feet resounding as she did so. Her eyes lit up as they landed on a chubby servant girl who was walking with a tray of tea in her hand. Maeve grabbed the girl by her hand, almost toppling the tray over the both of them. At first, the girl was shaken, but after seeing that it was no other person but Maeve, she calmed down and her frightened gaze was replaced by a puzzled one. 

"My Luna…"

"Shh." Maeve immediately hushed the girl and looked around, lest anyone was spying on them. No one was paying any attention to us, thankfully. Everyone else was busy with their chores and minding their business to take notice of the two young women.

"The Alpha. Where has he gone?" 

"I have no idea. In a meeting with the elders of the council perhaps."

Maeve's heart lightened at the news. But not completely. She had to be certain about the other rascal before going ahead with her plans.

"And the Alpha's brother?"

"Beta Kain, you mean?"

"Yes. Kain."

"I am completely unaware of his whereabouts, my luna. But if I am to take a wild guess, he is probably hanging out with some woman upstairs in his room."

For the first time, Maeve was delighted that Kain was a womanizer. At least, that would guarantee her a clear path today. But only for today…if she was lucky.

"Good. I shall see you later, Mirabel." She turned on her feet to leave but the servant; Mirabel stopped her from taking another step. 

"Where are you off to, my luna? You are not allowed to leave the castle without security and worst, without informing the Alpha first." As Maeve hesitated for a second to give a reply, Mirabel's eyes squinted as a thought crossed her mind and she gasped in sudden realization.

"Are you sneaking out of the castle?"

"Shhh!" Maeve circled her hand over Mirabel's mouth to stop the girl from saying no more. She let go of her a few seconds later, after making sure she was going to shut up and not say another word.

"You don't have to be so panicked, Mirabel." She sighed and proceeded to explain herself to the servant even though it was completely unusual for a Luna to explain herself to a mere servant. But Mirabel had been the closest to her ever since she first stepped foot into the castle after Dexter saved her life. If anything, she owed Mirabel every explanation. She had been the one showing sincere care and looking after her.

"I am only going for a picnic with Faye. I'll be back before anyone takes notice of my disappearance."

Mirabel clicked her tongue and shook her head at Maeve. She didn't seem to be buying into her story. 

"The Alpha is definitely not going to be happy if he finds out you stepped foot outside of the castle without his permission."

"That is why I don't plan to tell him I left the castle in the first place." Maeve took a step closer to Mirabel and took her hand gently into her, giving her puppy eyes.

"You are not going to tell him, are you?" 

Mirable sighed and gave me that you're-ridiculous eye. "He is going to kill me if he discovers I let you out when I should have stopped you."

"That is if you tell him yourself. I am sure you wouldn't speak a word of this to him. Are you?"

"I won't." She replied with a sigh of surrender. "But you have to promise me you'd be back before he notices you are not around."

"I promise." Maeve gave her a wide toothy grin and Mirabel shook her head at her, probably wondering how a princess turned Luna was such a rascal. 

If there was one thing Mirabel would never understand, it was how it felt to be stuck in a large, overbearing castle as a protection from the outside world. No one would ever understand how suffocating and depressing it was. And Maeve wasn't asking for much. All she was asking for was space to breathe. All she was asking for was a breath of fresh air. Which was why she gladly accepted Faye's invite for a picnic in the woods. The plan was simple. Sneak out of the castle without Dexter and Kain's notice and return back on time before either of them found out she ever left in the first place. 

"Fine. You take care, my Luna."

Maeve smiled back at Mirabel. A large, cheerful, thankful smile. "I sure will."

....

When she arrived at the heart of the deep woods, Maeve's eyes searched around for any sign of Faye but she was nowhere to be seen. The woods were dead and quiet. Not even the birds were chirping, neither were the insects cricking. The wind was stagnant and did not blow. 

She stopped on her feet. The eerie feeling the wood sent her was a bad omen. She was quick to know that she shouldn't walk further into the woods. If anything, she should turn her back now and leave. But definitely not without Faye. They had planned that she would be in this exact spot, waiting for Maeve. Why was she not here yet?

Did something dangerous get her?

Maeve's heart cut at the thought. For the first time since she had hid under the safety of the walls of Dexter's castle, she felt her heart beat loud, fear seeping through her veins. Something was wrong. Something was here with her. She could feel its presence behind her. It made the hairs on the nape of her neck stand. 

Danger was near. A grave danger.

She quickly turned around, her body now tense in high alert. And there it was. The 'something'. Or rather, someone. 

Her eyes were the coldest, iciest, blue just as they were the last time Maeve had stared into them with so much hate and contempt. Her royal robe was crimson red velvet, long and cascading behind her. Her hands were covered in dark velvet gloves, and she stood like a statue, graceful and intimidating before Maeve.

Queen Isabella. The woman who had ended the Witch Kingdom of Tredanon. The woman who ended Maeve's kingdom and her family. The very woman Dexter had been protecting Maeve from all these while.

Maeve cautiously took a few steps farther from Queen Isabella and settled on a strong stance, ready to defend herself from her if she tried to make the slightest move to harm her. A part of Maeve wondered how Isabella had known she would be here. Not that she had any magic mirror in the wall that Maeve knew of. 

"So, the rumors were true." Queen Isabella finally broke the silence between them, taking a step closer to her. Maeve took another step back. "You are alive."

"How did you find me?" Maeve was more curious than concerned for her safety. Something told her someone had ratted her out. A snitch and a betrayer. But who could it be? She wasn't in touch with anyone else who knew how to get to the Queen. Dexter and Kain had made sure of that.

Unless it was…

"Hello, Maeve. Enjoying the party? I hope you don't mind an uninvited guest."

The voice behind Maeve caused her to grow cold instantly and she felt her legs turn jelly. Slowly, I turned my head to see who it was, sending a quick prayer to the gods that the voice did not belong to who she knew it belonged to.

But the gods weren't generous to her prayers this time. She locked eyes with the snitch. 

"Faye?" She could not believe her eyes. Was this supposed to be some sort of misunderstanding? Faye and Maeve were supposed to be having a picnic together. There was no way she tricked her into leaving the castle, just to set her up with Queen Isabella. Maeve stared at Faye wide eyed and in pure disbelief. After all, her dead father used to say not all things seen could be believed. The scene in front of her was one of those.

"Surprise, surprise." Faye walked past Maeve and stood beside Queen Isabella, her arms draped over her chest and an evil grin on her face. One look at them and anyone would conclude that they were an alliance. A dangerous duo. 

Still, Maeve refused to believe that Faye would betray her and choose sides with the evil Queen. She was Maeve's best friend. The only person from her past whom she had been in touch with after her parents demise. Faye would never betray her. Queen Isabella must have bewitched her.

"I'm sorry, Maeve. I couldn't say no to a better deal. You shouldn't be alive in the first place. You should have died with your parents."

Maeve's stomach felt heavy and her eyes formed tears. For the first time since Faye's appearance, she realized that she had truly been betrayed. Her best friend had turned around and stabbed her in the back. The tears that welded up in her eyes rolled down her face and she bit her lips to stop the tears and myself from showing any form of weakness before them. But no matter how hard she tried, I couldn't shake the heartbreaking thought that her best friend was never actually a friend but a foe dressed in sheep clothings.

And Maeve had fallen for it.

The sound of something running in the bushes diverted her attention from Faye and the queen. There was something in the woods and before she could comprehend what or who it was, a group of witch army sprung from the woods and surrounded Maeve, making circles around her.

She looked around her, frightened and overpowered. The armies were poised with their swords, targeting her. Queen Isabella stood aside and watched, a small smirk of delight playing on her lips. 

Realizing that she was in more danger than she ever bargained for, Maeve concentrated on her mind and connected with Dexter's. She sent him a quick mindlink.

"I am stuck in the woods and in great danger. Isabella is here and Faye betrayed me. Please help me."

As soon as Maeve's mindlink with Dexter ended, Queen Isabella's order came. Cold, heartless and with a tone of finality.

"Kill her."

The armies did not waste a single second to carry out her order. The next moment, they attacked Maeve, their swords aimed at her. She dodged their blows expertly and tackled one of the witches, jumping into the air and sending a kick hard and right against his face, causing him to fall unconscious and his sword, out of his grip. Immediately, she picked his sword and in a split second, swung it at another witch who was about to strike her with a blow from behind. The sword traveled into the witch's chest and Maeve pulled it out, bloodstained. The witch girl fell to the ground, dead. 

A third witch sent a spell her way but Maeve was quick to create a barrier and stop it on time. With her other hand, she formed a deadly spell and flung it at him. Instantly, he turned ice cold and fell dead to the ground.

The queen and Faye watched Maeve fight the witch army, terminating more than half of them, her dress stained with their blood. The smiles on their faces had faded away and were now replaced by frowns of uncertainty. 

"Isabella!" Dexter's voice drew Maeve's attention and she turned her head to see Dexter running towards her with the speed of an Alpha wolf. A relieved smile broke from Maeve's lips as she watched Dexter run towards her.

"Dexter…"

But that was the last moment she would be able to smile at him and call his name. It was the last moment she would appreciate his presence. She felt her entire body run cold as something sharp pierced through her back and into her heart. And in that moment, she felt time stop and she looked down to her chest to see a sword sticking out of it. 

"Maeve! No!" Dexter's horrified voice thundered through the woods and Maeve raised and turned her head around slowly to see who it was that had hurt her. Her heart shattered into hundreds of pieces to see that it was no other person but Faye. Her hand was still holding on to the sword that she had used to stab Maeve and for a moment, Maeve thought she saw something that looked like regret cross Faye's eyes. 

"Faye." She whispered, struggling to speak. "How could you?"

"I'm sorry." Faye's eyes welled with tears but in her repentant moment, Dexter's wolf claws ripped into her neck, causing blood to splurt and she fell to the ground dead, within seconds. Queen Isabella disappeared into thin air, successfully escaping Dexter's wrath. 

Maeve's head suddenly felt light headed and the world around her became blurry. She lost her balance but before her body hit the ground, Dexter caught her into his arms. The look on his eyes was that of horror and fear and he looked from Maeve to the sword that drove into her chest and back to her again, his eyes turning red.

"Maeve. No. No. No. Don't die on me, please." He held her by the face and whispered, refusing to believe what had just happened. She refused to believe it too. That one moment, she was comfortably living in the castle and the next moment, she was lying in her own pool of blood on the ground, heartbroken by her best friend's betrayal and with a sword in her heart.

It was unbelievable. But it wasn't a lie either. All of this was real. As real as the pain in her heart and the feeling of death drawing closer, welcoming her to its cold embrace. 

"Dexter…" She struggled to say his name and coughed blood as she did so. Dexter whimpered and buried his head against hers. It was the first time that she had seen an Alpha this broken and vulnerable before. Most especially one that came off as cold and emotionless as Dexter. She hated herself for making him this way. It was all her fault. If only she had listened and never left the castle, none of these would have happened. 

"I am so sorry, Maeve. I should have come to you quicker. If only I had come a second earlier.."

"No. Don't say that. It wasn't your fault. It was mine. I am sorry."

Dexter held her head closer to his chest and continued to whimper, the mighty, fallen. Maeve couldn't help but think that this was all Faye's fault. Faye, the one who had driven a sword into her flesh. 

In another life, she would kill Faye first. She swore by her dead parents' graves.

"Dexter…" Maeve raised a weak and pale hand to feel his face one last time. His face warmed her cold hand and she locked eyes with his forest green ones. "I will be reborn. I promise."

"You will be reborn, Maeve. But not now. You are not going to die." 

Her eyes were streaking with tears. This was the second time she had felt such great heartbreak. She did, once. When she was separated from her family, her friends and her kingdom. Now, she was being separated from the man who had stolen her heart and helped her get her life back together.

She would never forgive herself for the pain she had caused the both of them.

"You are not going to die, my love." 

More tears escaped Maeve's eyes to see him hanging on to the thin, flimsy thread of hope. If only he was right like he always was. But he was wrong this time. She could hear her heart barely breathing and her mouth had gone dry and thirsty for water. 

"I have alw–ways wanted t–to be a bookstore owner." She told him, coughing as she spoke. "When I am re–reborn, I will be born as a bookstore owner. Promise you'd find me?"

Dexter's lips shook and Maeve could see that he was trying to get a hold of his emotions together. But he was barely able to. He looked completely shattered in a way she had never seen before. Did he really love and care for her this much?

"D–do you pro–promise?" She rubbed her thumb gently and slowly over his cheek and looked into his eyes for an answer. She wished he could reply to her quicker. She was barely breathing and her eyes were beginning to flutter shut. The sounds of nature in the woods sounded suddenly so distant.

She was dying. Her soul was leaving her body.

"I promise." He sniffed back tears and finally answered her, smoothening her hair with his hand. "I'll look for you."

And then, with a small wry smile, she told him "I lo–love you, Dexter. I'll continue to love you with every new life I am born into."

"I love you, Maeve. For you, I will wait a thousand years, no matter how long it takes to find you again."

And that was all she needed to hear before her eyes finally fluttered shut and she delved into total darkness and into the cold hands of the grim reaper.