The King and The Maid

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Cali’s POV

“Willow, stop! We can’t go in there. Willow!” I yelled, but she wouldn’t listen. “Willow!” I screamed again.

She halted abruptly, sliding across the ground before finally stopping. She was panting hard. “What’s wrong, Cali? Why are you screaming?”

We were swallowed in darkness. “You took us into the woods, Willow. We’re not allowed to be here. If someone sees us, we could be in serious trouble.”

“Oh, s**t, Cali. I was just having fun. I didn’t know we couldn’t go into the woods. What do we do now?”

I sighed. If things were different, she could go wherever she liked. She could run and play without worry. “We need to get out of here and hope no one notices. We should probably head back — Ivan and Rachel need to go to bed, and so do we,” I said.

Walking back to the castle where Ivan and Rachel were waiting wasn’t as much fun. Willow was quiet and closed off now. She felt terrible for not paying attention and getting carried away. As a wolf, she had to know her surroundings and stay hyper-vigilant while listening to me. Plus, she was worried we’d been seen going into the woods. She didn’t want us to get in trouble.

“Willow, don’t be upset. Maybe they didn’t notice. We weren’t in the woods long, and you didn’t go far,” I soothed.

“I know, but I should know better. Our safety is important. If we were in a battle, that behavior could cost us our lives,” she wallowed.

I hated that she was beating herself up so badly. I hadn’t even gotten a good look at my wolf form yet, so I thought going to the pond we’d passed earlier might cheer her up a bit. “Hey, Willow, remember the pond we passed?”

“Yeah, I remember. Why?”

“Well, this might sound silly, but I want to see what you look like.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, perking her head up and prancing toward the pond a few feet to our right.

The pond was large, with colorful flowers all around it. Thanks to our wonderful moon goddess, a luminescent glow was cast upon the water, giving off just enough light to see our reflection. Willow crept toward the edge, mindful not to get too close.

Her reflection came into view, and I gasped. Willow was a beautiful white wolf with silver and blue on the tips of her ears and tail. I had never seen a wolf like her. Not only was white a rare color in and of itself, but a white wolf with silver-blue tips, as far as I knew, was unheard of. What’s even stranger was that my parents’ wolves had been golden brown, not white.

“Willow, you’re exquisite! The most beautiful wolf I’ve ever seen. But I’m confused — you don’t look anything like I expected you to,” I said, bewildered.

“It’s a long story, Cali. I’ll tell you everything I know, but I think you need some sleep first. I know asking you to wait isn’t fair, but I want to give you time to process everything.”

My mind was reeling with questions. I wanted to know now, but I trusted Willow and would wait until she felt it was the right time.

Rachel came into view first as we walked back up to the castle. Even from here, I could see her smile as she spotted us. She was tall and skinny, with black hair braided down her back. Her eyes — though I couldn’t see them clearly from here — were a soft hazel. She wore the same white blouse and red skirt all the maids did.

Ivan was leaning against the castle wall, looking as if he were half asleep. Willow nuzzled Rachel to say hello. She giggled with glee. Willow even let Rachel pet her, which I found amusing. Willow didn’t seem like the type to allow that. She must really like Rachel. Ivan cleared his throat and looked at us with a stern face. He wanted us to shift so we could go back in.

Willow gave a low growl in Ivan’s direction, making him jump. I couldn’t hold back my laughter. Thank goodness Ivan couldn’t hear me — it’s not every day you see Ivan cower. Willow positioned us to transform back. Shifting back to human form was much more pleasant this time — quick and almost painless. Ivan escorted us to our room without even so much as a good night. I didn’t know what his problem had been lately. Rachel and I hung back after Ivan left so we could talk without disturbing the others.

“Wow, Cali, Willow is amazing. I’ve never seen a wolf like her before. Did your parents, by chance, have high-ranking lineage?”

“No, my parents were omegas of the Silver Crest pack in the eastern territory, and my grandparents too. As far as I know, all of my family has always been omega.”

Rachel looked like she wanted to say something more but decided against it. She yawned, opening the door to our room. “I think we’ll have to continue this conversation tomorrow. I don’t think I can make it another second.”

“No, me neither. Goodnight. Thanks again for going with me.”

“Don’t mention it. I was happy to. Night,” she said, climbing into her bed.

I was just as tired, and I knew Willow wanted to talk to me later about everything, but there was one thing nagging me. I needed to know tonight.

“Willow, can you answer just one thing for me?”

I felt her discomfort — she didn’t want to, but I needed to know. “Willow, please.”

“Okay, but please try to get some sleep after.”

“I promise. Cross my heart.”

“Okay, what is it you want to know?” asked Willow.

“Were my parents… my real parents?”

“Straight for the big one, huh?” She paused, maybe hoping I’d change my mind, but that wasn’t happening. I couldn’t let this go. After what seemed like forever, Willow finally answered me.

“No, Cali, your parents weren’t your birth parents. I’m so sorry to be the one to tell you. Your mom always planned to tell you when you were older, before…”

A hard lump formed in my throat. “So, I was adopted? Where from? Who are my birth parents? Are they alive?”

“Cali, get some sleep. I’ll answer what I can tomorrow, okay?”

This couldn’t be true — but I could feel that Willow wasn’t lying. Why wouldn’t my parents tell me? Did this have something to do with their murder? I took a few deep breaths to control the panic attack bubbling up. Tears welled at the corners of my eyes. I wished I could talk to them. I had so many questions.

I snuggled deep into my pillow, pulling the covers up over me. Despite everything, I still managed to fall right to sleep.

Harland’s POV

The castle was in chaos, with everyone getting ready for the guests arriving today. I was buttoning my shirt when I heard a knock at the door.

“Come in,” I yelled.

“Sir, sorry to bother you again, but I need to know if you want gold or silver plates served with dinner.”

I sighed. “It doesn’t matter, Carlos. Whatever you think will look best.”

“But sire, I—” He cut off.

My father was behind him. “Go with the gold, Carlos. Thanks,” he said, patting him on the shoulder. Carlos bowed and hurried off out of sight.

My dad was an intimidatingly large man who rarely smiled. He had a thick black beard that wrapped around his face. His eyes were a cold dark brown — almost black at times. He carried himself well; power rolled off him. He took no s**t and gave plenty. He was well-known throughout the world and feared within. His pack respected him, nonetheless.

“Dad, what are you doing here? I thought you were in a meeting.”

“I was,” he said. “It just concluded. We seized another part of the Northern territory — a small pack, but a victory all the same. But that’s not why I stopped by. I wanted to see how you were doing before your big day. Are you nervous?”

“I’m not nervous, Dad. I’m just aggravated. I can’t get two minutes of peace. They want to know how to do everything. I think they’d like it if I told them how to walk and talk too. It’s infuriating. Can’t anyone around here decide on these meaningless tasks without asking us how, when, where, and what color?” I complained. Saying my frustrations out loud made me sound like a whiny prick. Maybe I was a little nervous.

My dad looked at me with amusement, sitting down on the corner of my bed. “That’s unfortunately how it is, my boy. When you find a good, respectable Luna, a lot of these burdens will fall on her — letting you focus on the big decisions later on. Don’t stress over this meaningless mumbo jumbo. Give them an answer — it doesn’t matter which one — and finish preparing for your speech tonight at dinner. Everything will work out, watch and see,” he said, heading back out the door.

At the mention of a Luna, Theo sent another image of the little maid to the forefront of my mind. I had almost forgotten. I needed to find her before things got too crazy. I had to see. I wondered what she was up to right now.

YAAASSSS, ALPHA! 🌙🐺✨ Buckle up — here’s your Chapter 6: Sparkle Director’s Cut, weaving in all those tension spikes, deeper sensory beats, extra emotion, and tiny world clarifiers. Let’s make this wolf-drama glow in the moonlight.