Luciano

There was a rustling of leaves outside, the trees stirred with the wind in the silence and my Mother stood up, her face turning cold, along with mine. The truth seeped into me and it got harder to breathe.

"She vowed never to remove it and she died with it and with her talisman." I said, my mind lurching with different, wild thoughts.

Fuck.

I had never felt dumber than ever. I sprinted out of the room and stumbled at my car that was parked outside in the driveway.

"You're drunk!" Father yelled.

"I'm not."

Not anymore.

He grabbed my elbow and yanked me away from the car. "I'll drive you."

"All right." I dragged myself at the back seat of the car and sat inside. My Mother sat at the front, with my Father and he drove out of the house and to the castle grounds, where Red was still buried.

When she died, I never noticed the diamond or even her own talisman, after all, her death was a blur and all I felt at that moment was just pain and pain.

I braced myself in the car, too afraid to break the little hopes that had built up in the past few seconds.

Red never removed the Stone of Lycans, I told her not too, knowing this day was going to come and at the end, she would still be alive. Which she was. She died with it and it would be anytime now she would revive as a wolf.

Or she must have.

My great-great grandfather died the same way, when he returned, he visited us often but was never able to relive as a werewolf. Till today, he'd visit my Father once in a year and they both would hang out like children, have fun before parting ways.

The tires of the car hit a brick and I snapped out of my thoughts, coming back to the reality. A smile crept on my face and I looked outside the window, watching everything flash by. She was still here.

Somewhere.

Waiting.

For me.

Father stopped the car at the metal gates, beyond the gates there was nothing except for ashes of the castle I had burned with my own hands and ruins of the witches that died along in the fire. I couldn't hold myself together at that morning and after burying Red, all I wanted to do was kill every single witch that knew Gretel.

I despised witches and still did. There was nothing attractive about ruining someone's life by practicing witchcraft and casting evil spells on the innocent.

I jumped out of the car and broke through the gates before running inside the castle grounds. While everything was burned, I made sure the garden was untouched by the fire as many graves were buried there, including Red's.

I stopped on my tracks and froze in the darkness when I found nothing. It was gone.

My wolf roared in the night. "What the fuck?!"

"What's wrong?" My Mother chased behind me and stopped. Her gaze dropped on the empty grave. "Oh, God."

I rubbed my forehead before my hands strained into fists. "I need to know who did this!" I yelled, grabbing the attention of the few guards standing outside—or more like sleeping at the gates. "Guards!"

Three of them jolted from their sleeps and came up to me. "Your High—"

"I will give you a minute to tell me who was where and where is Red's body. Answer straight or your heads will be separated from your bodies." I threatened them, quick.

Curiosity stormed into their eyes and they glanced at each other while rubbing their necks. When the minute passed by and none of them uttered a single word, I slashed their necks with my bare claws and their heads stumbled on the ground.

"Luciano!" Father yelled, pushing me back.

My nostrils flared. Calm down. "They were fucking useless anyway." I replied.

There was a sudden silence between me and my parents. I looked around into the night, hoping to see something or the other but didn't find anything.

My Mother kneeled down and picked up the dirt, she bought the filth up to her nose and took in a sniff of it. "It was just dug up a while ago. Whoever did this must be someone from the castle, or someone who knew Red is still alive—"

"Or someone who knows magic." I finished her words.

"Annabeth." She breathed hard. "Ben is on his way for her. We just need to follow him on time and we will know if she has taken Red's body. If so, she must've met her wolf as well."

My eyes filled with water upon hearing the words coming out of my Mother's mouth, they were filled with hope and it didn't make sense much up until she stood up and hugged me tight. I closed my eyes tightly and allowed myself to weep for the last time.

"She's alive." I whispered in my Mother's ears.

"Let's hope she is. But, don't have too many hopes, there still isn't a way to connect the wolf with a dead body that has no soul." She pulled away and explained.

I nodded. "I know."

Father stepped forward and asked. "Should we go? The village is hours away, we will reach by morning if we get lucky but Ben should be there a little earlier."

"Yes."

The burning in my chest vanished away at last, along with the guilt and the grief that clenched me tight for the past few days—it was all gone when I sat back inside the car and allowed my Father to take the wheel. There was nothing more I had ever wished for except for Red and her existence.

—

Ilragorn—another village of lost witches, hiding themselves from the real world. By the time we reached there, it was morning and the scent of the sea was strong. It was a long distance from my hometown to the village and once the alcohol wore off, I took control of the wheel and let my parents rest.

The throne I had left behind stayed empty, I came down from it, giving away my crown and everything else I had. I no longer desired the title or the respect, it made no ounce of difference to me.

The werewolf Kingdom was now temporarily ruled by a regent, my Father, until the next King could be chosen. It was a long path to choosing the next King, probably one of the royal son's or one of my cousin's.

Regardless of what would happen in the future, I still had no intentions of taking back what I had given away.

I still didn't want to be the King.

The blazing sunlight groped me and I raised my hand above my head while walking to the harbor. I was taken back on why a little village as Ilragorn had a harbor. Ben stood by the sea, his eyes glued at the waves, he had been in the village for more than an hour as he left earlier.

I walked over to him, standing at the edge. "Did you find Annabeth?" I questioned him. She must've seen Red's wolf and stolen her body off my own grounds.

Ben shook his head. "She's gone."

"What?"

"I inquired the people around here and they told me something about a ship leaving for England a few hours ago. We are too late. It has already left. There is a chance she hopped on it. There were even rumors about a golden wolf running around the village." He quickly explained.

My lips turned into a tight frown. "Fuck." I cursed while throwing a rock into the water. "Do you have any idea where she went and why?"

"No. But there is another cargo ship leaving tomorrow for England, it's going in the same route. Maybe, we can catch see and see what Annabeth is actually up to." He suggested me with a smile over his mouth.

I snorted and turned around, facing the morning light that blinded me and gave me a stronger headache. "Let me ask my Mother, she knows what happens in England. Till then, inquire about the names of whoever got on the ship. If Annabeth left on that ship, then we should too."

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