Erondale (A Friends to Lovers Werewolf Romance with a twist)

In the dark of night, Raleigh trips over a tree stump. She can hear the footsteps of the men that are chasing her. Sir Alrich's men are close on her heels. As she jumps up to start running again, she feels the breath of one of his men on her neck. Instead of screaming, she uses a burst of energy to kick backwards. Raleigh was to meet Christopher an hour ago. Instead of the man that she spent the last year with, in her secret hiding spot, Sir Alrich’s men were there. What do they want? She isn't sure but the air around her feels threatening as she moves stealthily into the grove. Raleigh runs before they even see her. They must have felt her presence, though, because they run right after her. It doesn't seem like she can hide anywhere. Just as she feels safe, more men show up. Just how many men does Sir Alrich have? Why are they chasing her? Raleigh trips over another stump and cries out. Sir Alrich's men can hear the fear in her shout and it must excite them as she hears their laughter. The sounds of their footsteps permeate the air around her; disturbing the peace of the night. She lays there, hoping that they won't find her, and cries silently. Her thoughts swirl around Christopher. Was he in danger? Did he send these men after her? Is Alrich trying to take over the Kingdom because of his his jealousy over her love? "Gotcha, girl." A man with dark hair and dark eyes says. Before she can spring up, he rushes to grab her. Raleigh can smell the whiskey on his breath and feel the callouses on his hands. "What do you want? Let me go." She cries. She squirms and tries to break free. Laughter floats on the air and Raleigh recognizes the sound: Christopher. "You're the one Raleigh." He says. He sounds shocked and amused. "What?" "My Queen.” He states with an air of arrogance and love. Love? "No!" She yells, shock issuing an automatic response. All she can see was the Christopher that she knew. She doesn’t know what to think right now. Why was he chasing her? Her heart is pumping hard and fast. She’s sure that everyone can hear it. "You love me, Raleigh. You can't deny that. I feel it." He steps closer to me. He gives me a soft look. "You will be my queen because you can’t stop it." Raleigh tries to deny her love for Christopher. She can feel her pulse beat erratically, just by looking at him, and knows that it's no use. "Please, you don't have to kill me." "Kill you?" Christopher laughs. His shock is evident in his voice. Christopher's soft and warm hands caress Raleigh's cold, tearful cheeks. "You don't understand, my love. You were born for this. Can't you feel it? You won't die. I’m not trying to kill you." He looks into her eyes, noting the sadness of betrayal written in them. "You will become powerful. It is already written. Your body was born to hold this power." He whispers. "I don't want this. I'm just a peasant. A horse trainer and farmer. That’s all I’m meant to be." Her voice, shaky with fear, pleads for him to understand. “If you love me, let me go." If he isn’t trying to kill her, then why were they chasing her? Why were they searching for her? And what is this foreboding feeling inside of her chest? She’s secretly always wanted to be his Queen, ever since he left her five years ago and she realized how much she loved him. However, something seems off. Is it Chris? Christopher shakes his head. "I can't do that. The Gods demand it. If you refuse me, we will both die." He presses his soft lips against hers. Their tears mingle together. "You can't defy them. They chose us." He grabs a hold of her face. "If you don't choose me, they will destroy this world and everyone in it.” He emphasizes the word everyone to be sure that she understands. “If you love me, you will choose me.” Raleigh tries to fight off the brute man holding her arms but it's no use. "I will not be your pawn. There are no Gods that rule us. It's just a myth!" She tries to yank her arms out of his grasp again, nearly hitting Christopher with her head. What is going on? Her heart beats harder as fear settles in more. Why is Chris acting this way? He’s spouting crazy nonsense, making her realize that maybe she is justified in her fear of the man that she has loved since she was a child. Christopher nods his head towards the man holding her. His voice shaky with sadness, he orders, "Do it, Preston." She smells it before she feels it. A thick liquid being forced down her throat. She stares at Chris as Preston, the Prince from another Kingdom and his friend, pours it down my throat. Why are you doing this Chris? She thinks. She starts choking as the liquid glides down her throat, tears silently flowing down her face. Darkness takes over and the last thing she remembers is the taste of medicine. The room is cold, dark, and eerily silent when she opens her eyes. She barely makes out the outline of a male standing over her. There is pressure on her wrists and her ankles. But, the most pressure is coming from within her soul. Something is changing in her and she screams. It's raging through her like fire. Every nerve ending feels like a jolt of electricity. "Shh. It's okay, my love. Don't fight it. Destiny is pulling you. I’m so sorry, love. I know it hurts. I felt it too." But she can't hear him; the pressure is mounting so hard and she's not able to fight it anymore. The feeling leaves her paralyzed and unable to move. She knows what he's saying is true because she can feel it. She can feel her soul being pulled somewhere. She feels pulled towards something or someone. She's scared. She knows what myth he's talking about now and she knows what she has to do. Wars and the destruction of over half the world is her destiny. She is to be the destruction of the world as they knew it. The punishment of the human's behavior is now up to her and Christopher. She doesn't want this. She’s to change the way the world, as she knows it, to something less. Not to extinguish, but to thin it. As she tries to fight, she feels the pull of her soul tighten. She watches Christopher cry as she is no longer capable of crying or screaming. She can feel the misery and longing coming from him. She can surprisingly feel all of his raging emotions. Not only that but she can feel someone else’s as well. Has she developed the feeling of empathy? So many emotions are being slammed into her but she can’t figure out the sources. She feels concern, love, desperation, anger, pain, and restlessness. Not all of it is coming from Chris so where is the other emotions coming from? She’s unable to say anything as all she can feel for herself is pain. Her body has shut down the ability to move or talk so she’s just laying there taking in all the pain. She wishes for death. "I love you, Raleigh. I'm sorry." He cries. "I've loved you since we were little kids. I'm sorry that I abandoned you. I had to.” He grabs a hold of her hand. He regrets that decision but he had a reason. It was to protect her. “I didn't want to hurt you. When I saw you a year ago, I felt myself being pulled to you. I couldn't let you go. I thought it was all of those feelings coming back from when we were children.” He lowers his head in shame. His heart is beating hard. He is secretly afraid that she won’t make it or accept him. “I know that I hurt you back then. I had to get you to hate me." He looks at her pleadingly, knowing that he can't help her while she writhes in pain. He needs to tell her everything just in case he never gets the chance. "I found out my destiny, Rae. It scared me. I knew that I would have a powerful Queen. I really didn't think that it would be you. I didn't want it to be you knowing what the future held. I didn't want anything to do with this destiny.” The thought of her being involved in wars, still broke his heart, but he was secretly glad that it was her because he loves her more than he can express. “Please, believe me. I never stopped loving you. I have always loved you. I tried to forget about you and move on but I couldn't.” Preston walks over to Chris. He looks down at Rae with sadness and pity. “I’m sorry, Rae. I hope one day that you will forgive me.” He says. Chris looks back down at the woman he’s loved since he was a child. He can feel her slipping. “When I became the King, they made me drink this same stuff. That was last year, two days before I saw you again. You can survive this. Please, come back to me.” He sighs. “You'll survive this, I know. I just want you to love me as much as I love you when your transformation is complete." He says so quietly that it almost sounds as if he’s talking to himself. Christopher leans down and kisses her face. She feels the feather light kisses but they do nothing to help with the pain. His soft warm lips touch hers and she feels his love through it. The feeling doesn’t last long. The world goes black. When she opens her wet and puffy eyes, she is no longer afraid. She's seen the atrocities of the human race and feels the power of the Gods. She has been shielded by all of things that have gone on outside of her Kingdom. There is another kind of world outside of the boundaries that she lives and it’s there that the human race has done the damage. It all played like a show inside of her head while she lay unconscious. She looks over towards Chris, a smile on their faces. Her love for Christopher is a hundred times stronger than before. He's right: she was born for this. The question now is, can she be responsible for the destruction of parts of the world? What of her friends?