~Luther ~



KNOCK

KNOCK



'Come in!"

I yelled out in a stern voice.



'You called?" Thorn opened the door and walked in.

A slight grin on his face and with good reason. We've accomplished what we set out to do. Take out Zayne.


'Yes, rally the crowd to the courtyard. I have a big announcement for them!"

My joy was too difficult to disguise.


'Yes I will!"

Thorn stepped out slamming the door hard behind me.


I was alone to my thoughts. Thoughts of how I was going to shape the kingdom in my way. How I was going to take the Lycan kingdom to the next level. To be the most feared of them all.


'Luther!!"

A loud squeal reached my ears.

I turned around to see Steph. Her joy and excitement was over the top.


He ran to me giving a tight hug.

'Luther, I thought I would lose you!" Her words almost made me puke out of disgust. I despised such heartfelt emotions.


'I'm here Steph," I said in a calm voice. 'I've come with great news too!"

I gently pulled her off my body.


'Really? What's that?" she asked curiously, her gaze now firmly fixed on me.


'Zayne is gone Steph! And now I can fulfil my mission and become the Lion king"


'Wow! Yes! My Luther will be king! And that means I will be the queen, right?"

She asked, recalling my mind back to a promise I made her.


'Ermm… About that?" Steph's drastically changed. Her warm smile soon disappeared. She could sense bad news incoming.


KNOCK

KNOCK


A loud knock cut off our conversation.

'Yes?"


'It's Cedric, the crowd are gathered waiting for you"


'Okay, I'll be out now!"

I picked up my jacket. 'I'll be back now" I said, turning my attention back to Steph.

Giving her a kiss on her forehead.


I walked out of the room and heading

downstairs.

A large crowd had gathered at the courtyard, all eagerly waiting for me.


The chattering abruptly stopped on sight of my arrival.


I woke up to a wooden uplift used as a sort of a stage.


'Good day my fellow Lycans! I know all of you are mourning the loss of a great king in Zayne.

But I haven't called this gathering to mourn him. Even though he was my brother, we can't just mourn to ourselves. Zayne won't want that!

I am here to announce myself to you guys as your king elect!"

The crowd burst out into a loud applause.


'Lycans so I urge in spite of the death of our once king.

You have another one, another better one to lead the Lycans into the future!!!"


'Luther what's happening?"


A familiar voice reached my ears from a distance.

A figure reached my sight, leaving me in disbelief.

Zayne?

I couldn't believe my eyes.

Am I seeing a ghost? It has to be!

There is no way Zayne could escape Vadka's wrath.

'Brother aren't you dead?" I was totally dumbfounded.

Zayne approached me and joined me on the wooden uplift.

He stood in front of me to address the crowd. My heart twitched as he stood just in front of me.

I felt like pulling out a dagger and stabbing him through the heart.


'Lycans, as you can see I'm not dead. I managed to escape alive"

Zayne's voice reached the crowd as they listened carefully to him.


'But with me I escaped with very big news. The vampires never attacked Flora!

And with the light of this report. It means that the intended murderer was of this castle"

Oh no!


'So the vampires are not our only enemies, we have one or more within us"


Fuck! How did he know that?


'What are we going to do, Zayne?" a voice in distressed escape from the crowd.


'We will have to be very cautious as of now! We'll take longer curfews to ensure your safety!"

Zayne answered him.


'Brother, are you sure of this news?" I asked standing behind him.


'I am! And now because of this false news we are now in a heap of trouble!

When Vadka manages to recover a few more warriors. He will come after us and do everything in his power to make sure we fall"


A loud chattering rose up from the crowd, their voices tinged with worry. Worried by the news, Zayne broke to them.


'Calm down Lycans. Even when Vadka comes, we will be ready and we will take them down.

Meeting adjourned!"


I took it up myself to close out the meeting on a good note for the Lycans.

The crowd soon dispersed to their rooms.

I was left alone by Zayne.


'How are you even alive?" I asked, still unable to wrap my head around the fact Zayne is standing in front of me.


'Does it matter? We have bigger issues on our hands.

I was barely gone for a day and you are already ready to be the king" Zayne said, his piercing stare sent chills down my spine.


I hesitated for a moment to respond to Zayne.

'The kingdom needs a leader and I had to step in"


'Luther, I've told several times you're not ready!"

His words twitched my heart. Stirring up a rage in me.

I despised whenever he says words like that. It makes me hate him even more.


'Welcome back brother!" I did my best to hide my anger, portraying a faint smile on my face.

'If I were you I would arrest Rowan. It was obviously him who tried to murder Flora" I said as I walked away from Zayne.

I always tried my best to whirl up Zayne in any way I can.

I was sure it worked seeing, his expression drastically changed.


'Thorn called the team, urgent meeting in my room NOW!"

I ordered Thorn.

I walked up to my room and locked the door behind me.

'Argh!!"

I pushed a vase down from my table in anger shattering into pieces.

'Zayne, can't you die!!"

I screamed out in frustration. I couldn't care less if any one heard my voice from outside.


'Luther! Open the door!"

Reta's stern voice reached my ears, as she persistently banged on my door.


'I'm coming!"


I unlocked the door to see Reta, Steph, Thorn and Crystal at my door, they furrowed their brows at me, their faces a picture of anger.


'What the hell happened Luther?!!" Reta stormed into my room, ranting at the top of her voice.

'Zayne is supposed to be dead, how is she still alive?"


I was just as dumbfounded as they were.

'I don't know!!!"

I raised my voice at Reta in frustration.

I was vexed by her attitude, she barges into my room and blames me for the reason Zayne is still alive.

If anyone has the right to be angry, it's me.


'Guys let's sit down and talk about this" Steph's calm voice served as mediator between me and Reta.

The tension between us was almost at its boiling point.


'Fine!"

I took a seat on my wooden chair and the rest of them filled up the couch across from me.


'We have other problems besides Zayne, right now.

Zayne has found out the vampires didn't attack Flora"


'What! How?"

Thorn asked, his voice gripped with worry. With good reason, after all he was the one who did it.

But if Thorn for whatever reason gets caught, it means I'll be implicated as well. Therefore I was equally worried as he was.


'I don't know, I guess Vodka told him something.

But don't worry, they have no evidence that shows we did it"


'So what now?" Reta asked in her usual stern voice.

'We stay low but act fast"

I said, they all gazed at me, their faces a picture of confusion.


'Now that the investigation on Flora is happening we have to stay low to avoid any complications.

But still we need to act fast before anything gets out"


'So what do you suggest we do?" Steph asked, her ears up on till now has been sharp and attentive to everything happening.


'We are going to change our target from Zayne to Emily.

Once we take out Emily from the equation, Zayne will be vulnerable"


'Crystal and Steph, I will need you guys to sniff around to see if you can find more on Emily. Anything we can use against her to Zayne"


'But we've checked her room already there was nothing to see"


'Then we check harder until we find something!"


~Emily~


I returned back to the castle. My heart was pounding.

I just prayed to myself that Zayne hadn't dropped by already to check on me.

He might think that it was me who was in the forest.


Oh! What a relief.


When I arrived at the castle, Zayne was addressing a crowd of Lycans in the courtyard.

I managed to sneak past him and head upstairs to the maid quarters.


I looked down on Zayne from the balcony as he spoke elegantly to the crowd.

Soon he finished and then Luther approached him.

It aches my heart to see Luther anywhere near my Zayne and same goes for Steph.


They seemed to be having a tense conversation.

‘You should arrest Rowan it's obvious he attacked Flora'

Luther's last words before he left reached my ears, stirring up an inner rage in me.

I won't stand and let someone, especially Luther, talk badly against Rowan.


Is he mad? How dare he accuse Rowan" I took a few marching steps, I was going to confront Luther and give him an ear full.

A warm hand grabbed my hand from behind pulling me back.


'Rowan?"


'Hey Emily. I would advise not to do what you want to"

Was Rowan spying on me? How else would he know I was after Luther?


'Luther can run his mouth as much as he wants. He's trying to get to get to you head, so don't think too much about him"


'OK"


'By the way Zayne is back, won't you want to meet him?"


'Yes but he's busy"

I lowered my voice, a bit shy talking about Zayne.

My feelings for Zayne are no secret to Rowan but I am still weird about it.


'Well he's in his room, and I can tell he's dying to meet you"

Zayne is dying to meet me? Lucky me, the Lion king is dying to meet me.

I hope Rowan isn't just making this up.


'OK, I'll go to his room"

I walked across the hallway out of the quarters in the direction of Zayne's room. He had two guards just outside his door.


It's been a while, he's used them. What's changed?


'Good day. I'm here to see Zayne" I asked, my voice shaking as I stood in front of them. They were well built, their size more than twice mine.


'Okay"

They opened the door for me and I walked elegantly between them and into Zayne's room.


'"Hi!"

My voice seemed to startle him as he just stared outside the window.

He seemed to be in deep thoughts about something.


'Hey Emily!"

He opened his arms welcoming an embrace. With little hesitation I ran towards him and tightly hugged him, my hold was firm around him.

'Zayne, I thought you….. died"

I managed to pull myself from him.


'But I didn't Emily, and I won't, not now or anytime soon"

Zayne spoke in a very calm tone, his words reassured my heart a bit.


'By the way, Zayne, are you okay?" I asked, my mind instantly recalled the scene of Zayne waking naked in the forest, twice.


'Of course I am" Zayne answered, not fluttered in the slightest"


'Why are you asking?"


'Okay, don't be angry but I found I followed Rowan to the forest and I saw lying naked by the river, and not for the first time"


'You what?!!" Zayne's pupils shrinked. His voice tinged with anger.


'I'm so… '


'Emily, leave now" Zayne cut me off. Trying his best to tame his anger.

I stood frozen to the spot a bit dumbfounded by Zayne's sudden anger, it didn't seem much of a big deal.


'I said leave now!!!" Zayne yelled in a stern voice.