Deception

Astrid’s Point of View

"Hurry up, kid! We need to get going quickly." It was more like a growl instead of a hiss from Peter. "If you don’t move faster, I might change my mind about you and kill you right away!"

"I apologize," I said and cursed under my breath. "You see, it’s been a long time since I rode a horse."

"Regardless of time, your hippocampus should help you remember things."

"I don’t exactly know what you’re talking about."

I was really pissed off. I had a hard time riding and controlling the horse, let alone balancing myself.

I didn’t foresee myself being in this situation, but I guess I needed to endure this whole fiasco to ensure Atasha’s terrible fate. I wanted to see it with my own eyes.

"I haven’t told you that his name is Jacob," Peter said. He controlled his horse and slowed its pace so he could level me.

My forehead creased. "What? Who’s Jacob?"

"The horse you’re riding," he clarified as he went on. "With his looks, it seems he’s detecting negative energy from you. Just so you know, a horse’s expression never lies."

I didn’t respond to him because I don’t know a single thing about horses, and at the same time, all horses have the same face, so how did he figure out that Jacob detected the negative energy within me?

This old man was acting weird, and it somehow crept me out.

However, I was a bit thankful that he was helping me to enter the Crimson Moon Pack. I must fight the urge to insult him and keep my emotions intact. He was definitely valuable to my progress.

"I’m impressed with your talent, Peter…" I said, forcing myself to engage in a conversation with him to act friendly. "If that’s the case, Jacob is right. I have negative emotions within me. He can consider me a bad person."

Peter chuckled a bit while shaking his head. He didn’t seem to buy the last statement I made. I bit my tongue and took a deep breath.

"You haven’t answered me clearly, so I want to ask you again. Why are you helping me? You mentioned that you remembered someone in me. Isn’t it correct?"

He threw me a blank stare. His face turned gloomy in an instant. I waited for an answer, but based on his expression, I assumed he wasn’t up to answering my question. I let out a harsh sigh and decided to change the topic to clear the air a bit.  I was about to say something a little nicer, such as complimenting the sky, but he then responded.

"You reminded me of my brother’s lovely daughter. She was my favorite niece and her name was Melanie."

I furrowed my brows. "Why? Do we have similarities in physiques? Or is she also emitting negative energy like I do?"

"Not physically, but yes, she had the same hatred towards her sister."

"Really? To what extent does she hate her sister?"

"She ended up risking her life because of her hatred."

Oh, wow! So his niece was already dead.

"Cool. Therefore, she’s indeed like me. We’re just the same…" I smirked.

Peter went silent for a few minutes. I wasn’t good at consoling people, so I didn’t speak afterward.

As we reached another large gate of Crimson Moon Pack, he made a sound and controlled the halter cord, motioning our horses to finally stop.  My eyes wandered around. We finally entered when the gates opened.

All eyes were on us when we arrived, and it gave me a little discomfort. Peter descended from his horse and went to the guards. He whispered something to them, and the guards looked in my direction. I avoided their gaze as I didn’t like the way they gazed at me. I was also scared, thinking that this might be a trap that was set up by Peter.

"Hey, come here!" Peter motioned his hand for me to come over to them.

I took several deep breaths and quickly got off the horse. I walked towards them in a careful manner. Confusion went through me when they handed me a bucket with some brooms in it.

"Follow me, lady." The tall guard ordered.

What?

I glanced at Peter. He tilted his head to the left and signaled for me to follow the guard. It made my forehead crease as he didn’t say anything.

What the hell was going on?

My lips were pressed together. I shot him a glare as I felt a little bit betrayed.

"I don’t know what’s happening. Care to explain the meaning of this? I thought you were going to help me, isn’t it right?"

Peter let out a huge sigh. "That’s exactly what I am doing, Trisha. Now, follow that guard."

I fisted my hand. I didn’t know what he was trying to do, and all I could do was utter a curse under my breath. I eyed him intently, and he seemed serious about what he said. I had no choice but to trust my instinct.

"Hey, come on now! You’re so slow!" said the tall guard. He then looked at Peter with an annoyed expression. "Peter, are you sure that this new helper is reliable?"

"Yes, she’s reliable, I assure you. I apologize…" Peter gave me a wide-eyed look. "This lady is a bit new to this kind of job as she was a waitress before. But rest assured, she can easily pick up and follow along. I appreciate your help, Jacob."

I was dumbfounded when he mentioned the tall guard’s name. Jacob!

"That’s the name of the horse, right?" I asked him.

I noticed a ghost of a smile on Peter’s lips. He only winked at me. I then glanced at the tall guard, whose name was Jacob, and if you looked long enough at him, he was definitely like a horse. I giggled, realizing that.

"Jacob helped my niece before to accomplish her plan against her sister. In fact, two Jacobs helped her. Funny, isn’t it?" He chuckled, remembering an old memory.

He then tapped my shoulder and offered me a thin smile. "Go on now, Trisha."

I blinked twice, and swallowed so hard. I only came back to my senses when the guard named Jacob called my attention again.

He walked so fast that he was already too far away from me. I ran towards his direction and stumbled on my feet. The bucket I was holding with some brooms inside fell to the ground.

"Shit," I uttered as I bit my lower lip.

When my eyes looked around, I noticed that people were laughing and shaking their heads, obviously mocking me. A fat middle aged man suddenly walked towards me, and without any hesitation, he kicked me in the stomach, which made me cough.

"Got up, you stupid slave!" he yelled at me.

Jacob then quickly stopped him by snarling. The man quickly apologized to Jacob, and then apologized to me. I clenched my jaw and didn’t bother looking at his disgusting face.

"Look on your way," said Jacob in a cold voice.

"I—I’m sorry about that."

"Be reliable. You can’t easily stumble like that, lady. Your job includes you being reliable and useful at all times. We, as servants, are expected to be good at our work. Your job is to ensure the cleanliness of the place. So don't make any mistakes. Do you get it?"

I simply nodded, and I picked up the brooms as I let out a harsh sigh. I still couldn’t forget how that fat man kicked me in my stomach. The pain was manageable, and I was still fortunate.

I grinned at the thought that this pack would be in big trouble once my cursed sister got in touch with the Alpha. May it be my sweetest revenge for the people who humiliated me here.

"Alpha Gregory..." I uttered enough for Jacob to hear it. He looked at me while we were heading to the designated place where I would be working.

"It seems like you’re excited to see the Alpha." He smirked.

"I am," I replied.

"You’re going to see him soon." He then tapped my shoulder. "Anyway, you will be assigned to clean their backyard. Bear in mind that you are not allowed to step inside of the mansion, understood?"

"I got it. I will keep that in mind."

Many questions whirled around my head. I wondered how the Alpha would like a nobody like Atasha, who came from the Silver Moon Pack. Either him or the Alpha’s son had to fall for Atasha so that the prophecy would be carried out as planned. If not, I would end up becoming a slave here just like her.

If that happened, I would choose my death rather than suffer in this place. No one would be able to use it, not even the Crimson Moon, who caused Alexander’s death.

When we arrived in the backyard of the royal family, Jacob briefed me for a moment.

"Here. You need to watch out for the trash. Once full, dispose of them. In addition, you will have to clean the entire backyard. Make sure to do it faster because there are visitors that will come here soon," he explained. "Go ahead and join the other helpers."

I just nodded and started picking up some dried leaves that were scattered on the ground. I noticed that there were tables everywhere and other helpers were wiping them.

"I wonder what would commence here..." I whispered.

A tap on my shoulder startled me. I spun around and saw a man behind me.

"Are you new here?" he asked.

My forehead creased. "Yeah, I was assigned here by Peter."

"Oh, Peter? Peter Deveraugh?"

I shrugged. "I guess so..."

"By the way, my name is Florenz. Nice to meet you."

"Trisha..."

We were then interrupted by one of the guards.

"You’re not here to relax and gossip!" He snarled at us, which made both of us almost jump out of our place.

Florenz offered me a thin smile before he left, and began helping the other workers to put some decorations on the stage.

I heard some helpers talking about Elijah, the soon to be Alpha and Beta’s daughter, whose name was Margaux. According to them, she would be announced as his fiancée.

After working for almost two hours, we were instructed to step aside and behave. Visitors started to swarm to the garden. They were all dressed up elegantly. Compared to the Silver Moon Pack, these werewolves truly had advanced more in terms of their clothing and jewelry, which symbolized their wealth. I couldn’t help but envy them, and in the back of my mind, I hoped that one day I could wear such expensive things too.

It didn’t take a while before the royal family arrived.

"Alpha Gregory is here! Please be ready to welcome him!" One of the guards declared.

I tried to move myself out of his sight as early as possible as I didn’t want to be caught by him and easily be killed by his werewolves.

"So Peter kept his promise... I would see Alpha Gregory here..." I murmured, and excitement went through me.

While I waited, Florenz walked towards me. He seemed excited too.

"There you are!" he said.

"H—Hi."

"Are you excited to see the royal family? You see, everyone is excited to witness the announcement of Alpha Gregory regarding passing his position to his son, Elijah Montreal."

"Is that a big deal? I mean, it’s supposed to happen, right?"

"Yes, but Elijah had been rejecting it for years..."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"There was an issue with the proposed new Luna. A big trouble happened."

"What kind of trouble is it?"

He then glanced at me curiously. "Are you sure that you're from the Mizbecta? You should have heard the remorse about the conflict between the two Deveraugh sisters."

I had no idea what he was stating about Mizbecta and even the two Deveraugh sisters. I just gave him a curious look.

"They are here!" Florenz clasped his hands together as he checked the man who came in the area. "Alpha Gregory is here!" He craned his neck as if he was looking for someone else. "Oopps, Elijah isn’t here yet."

I tried to check but a lot of people swarm in the middle of the garden then they went inside a private chamber where the royal family and the invited guests could only go inside.

In a matter of moments, the ceremony has just started. I asked Florenz if there was a way for us to sneak inside the chamber. He then grabbed my hand and we went inside, using a different door to get in.

"Hey, where are you taking me?" I immediately pulled my hand from his filthy hand.

"Let's pretend that we're part of the maids inside, Trisha," he whispered under his breath.

We slowly walked inside, beside the group of maids that were preparing food. My eyes wandered and I was in awe, seeing how marvellous the interior of the area was.

There were giant sculptures of werewolves in the corners. A beautiful painting of an Alpha with his pack on the ceiling, then a chandelier that lit up the entire chamber. My jaw dropped when my eyes landed on the guests, and once again, I was carried away by the beauty of the pieces of jewelry that they were wearing. From necklaces to bracelets... to the crystal drop from the she-wolves’ forehead that had precious stones.

"That's the Alpha over there! He looks so powerful! And that's her wife over there, her Luna Hera. She has quite expensive taste. She truly wants to throw the party like this."

I glanced at the Montreal family. Both the Alpha and Luna of this pack were respected, especially by Florenz. With his praise for them, it might be very difficult to put them down.  I suddenly asked Florenz if he knew something about the witch prophecy.

"Have you heard something about a prophecy? That if the Montreal bloodline contracted with a cursed werewolf, it would..."

"Kill their bloodline? That is nonsense. I tell you it is only a tale to scare the Crimson Moon Pack." Florenz shrugged. "Besides, no single cursed werewolf will live in this place. If the Alpha hears about anyone who’s hiding here, he or she will surely be beheaded."

"So you do not believe in the prophecy? No one from the Crimson Moon pack is thinking that it might be a possibility. The witches are the ones who foresaw it, right?"

Florenz threw me a suspicious look. "Are you sure that you're from Mizbecta? That small village should know that you’re not supposed to talk about those things because you will be in big trouble."

"I'm sorry. No more questions."

He smiled. "I'm glad that you're here with me. I felt something special already between the two of us. Even though you're having a bit of difficulty comprehending some things, I'm sure you'll follow along."

I palmed my face, realizing that this man might believe he'd found his mate. Anyway, he was also important to my purpose here in the Crimson Moon Pack, so I should follow him.

This pack appeared to be forbidden from discussing the witch's prophecy.

The door opened, and from there, all the people in the room glanced at the man who had the charisma of the next Alpha.  I might not be mistaken.

He was none other than Elijah Montreal.

Even if I was too far away from him, I could sense it in the way he smiled and talked to everyone. It screamed of dominance.

"That’s Elijah, our next Alpha. The future of the Crimson Moon Pack!"

Everyone was chanting a birthday song for the next Alpha. All of a sudden, Elijah's face seemed unbothered and he was just simply making jokes. All of the people were laughing. Even though it wasn’t funny at all.

Everyone in this room was biased toward him because of his status and power. His father, Alpha Gregory, then went to talk to a beautiful lady, who was wearing a giant necklace and had diamond crystals.

"Who's that?"

"Margaux, the loyal Beta's daughter. She would be the next Luna of the Crimson Moon Pack."

After a few moments, Alpha began doing his speeches. It seemed like Florenz was right, the prophecy was a joke. I sighed in defeat. Before my eyes, the Alpha had told everyone that his son was going to marry Margaux.

I felt so stupid, thinking that Atasha had a chance to be close with either the Alpha or Elijah. The Alpha's wife had a taste for lavishness and elegance, while Elijah's fiancée, Margaux, was beautiful and known as the daughter of the Alpha's loyal Beta.

I began to realize that I could no longer get my normal eyes back, and that I would be trapped with these thoughts in my head. The devil could easily linger in my mind, and I’d end up killing myself.

Despite winning against my own pack, getting back my own eyes was slowly killing me. I’d have my cursed eyes for my whole life. Seeing the weird devil goat from time to time at night would make me suffer, just like with my pack mates.

It was not worth it anymore. I lost to the witch. Tears began pooling down from my face, and Florenz suddenly pulled me away and asked if I was fine.

"I'm just happy for the next Alpha and his soon-to-be wife..."

The crowd began to scream, and a loud gasp was heard. I heard a different man talking on the stage. I glanced at him and it was Elijah Montreal. He was holding the hand of someone—a girl in such an elegant dress that fit nicely into her slim physique.

That was Atasha!

My heart rate picked up seeing her on the stage with the soon-to-be Alpha. He began speaking, which made me want to scream at the top of my lungs.

"As the soon-to-be Alpha of the Crimson Pack, I'm here to proudly announce that I've already found my Luna."

So I was right all along that it would happen... I’d get my eyes back...

"The prophecy would happen... It’s already happening, and I'm part of it. I will win this war..." I grinned from ear to ear.