Episode6
1204 Words
WARDEN SMITH
Dinner hour has never felt this cold. From the silence that stretched farther than the long table filled with assorted meals, to the clanking of cutleries, down to the loud chewing of my younger siblings. Everything made the entire situation worse.
To crown it all, my father kept stealing glances at me, waiting for the right moment to strike and remind me once again that I’m the cause of ninety percent of the family’s problems.
I grew up alone for fifteen years before having my first sibling. Or rather..step sibling.
Aria.
No one expected it to be a girl, not even my father who had already made arrangements for a new room filled with male toys and clothings. I was the only one happy to see him disappointed on that very day.
How would a father deny his son love all because he reminds him of his wife who left him?
Cruel…if you’d ask me.
Aria turned out to be a better sibling than I expected. Same goes for her younger sisters. I bonded with them like an older brother would. But every day that passed, every day I shared and spent with them, drew me one step closer to my grave.
Despite being who I am…Wolf heir, Warden, as everyone would call me, I had a limited time on earth.
“How did you let her slip away from your hands?” my father finally broke the silence. I guess he noticed I was sinking deep into my thoughts, something he detested with his life.
I thought this was just going to be one of his yap sessions, so I continued eating after a two seconds pause.
My father banged the table with a clenched fist, sending chills down my spine and the fork away from my hand. “I asked a question!” He yelled.
The guards read the room and excused us. After they left, Aria led her siblings out of the dining hall, leaving just me, the beast and his wife.
“Coldrey started a fight, and I lost sight of her.” I tried to hide the pain and anger away from my voice.
“You lost sight of the one girl whom your life depends on?”
The question struck a nerve, but he wasn’t wrong.
My father killed a woman. A wolf-blooded witch. And that act led to the curse that has haunted me since I turned twenty-six. It was a curse with a remedy—one that involved finding my true mate before the last full moon of my twenty-seventh birthday.
As the old saying goes…the wheel of fate is unpredictable. It’s Stirred by the wind, and one can never tell what direction it goes next.
The same girl whose life I made miserable back in our days at the wolf academy turned out to be the one whom my life depends on.
Ravenna.
The events that led to my meeting her in the woods were all connected, and it took a full day before I realized.
But now, she’s gone.
And so is my chance of living past the next month.
“We’ll find her,” I muttered under my breath.
“When? After you’re dead, and the councilmen hi-jack the title from our family? Tell me, Warden!” He snapped.
“Can you have faith in me this once?”
“Faith?” My father scoffed, pushing his plates away. He stood angrily, and I knew what was next. Unfortunately, a fight with my father was the least thing on my list tonight. I stood up immediately, ignoring all he kept spitting as he made his way towards me and stormed out of the dining hall.
**********
The room still smelled of s*x and sweat as I fell off the last lady. I lay with one arm slung across the edge of the bed, chest rising slowly, eyes fixed on the cracked ceiling. The woman beside me whispered something I didn’t catch—maybe a name, maybe a prayer. I didn’t care to ask.
A hard knock shattered the moment.
Again. Louder.
I swung my legs off the bed. “Stay put,” I muttered, reaching for the cloth on the nearby chair. I wrapped it around my waist and crossed to the door, yanking it open to find two guards standing stiffly, urgency written across their faces.
“My Lord,” one said, breathless, “Coldrey’s men are on the move. We spotted them near the East Ridge. He’s riding heavy.”
I didn’t need more details.
I turned, grabbed my trousers and shirt, dressing with mechanical speed. “Saddle Brimstone. And tell the others to be ready to ride in five.”
The guard nodded and rushed off.
I yanked my boots on, strapped my sword belt across my hips, and strode out with the second guard trailing behind.
We descended the steps and cut through the corridor, torches flickering as we passed. The courtyard buzzed with movement—guards arming up, stable boys prepping the horses. I mounted Brimstone in one fluid motion, gripping the reins tight as he neighed impatiently beneath me.
But just as I was about to signal the ride out, he appeared.
My father.
Blocking the gates like a shadowy figure.
His arms were folded behind him, and his cloak danced slightly in the night breeze. “Don’t come back without her,” he said, voice calm but laced with warning. “Do you understand me?”
I bit down the urge to argue. Not tonight. Not when time was against me.
“Yes, Father.”
“She’s your only salvation,” he reminded coldly, stepping aside.
I didn’t reply. Words would only sour the moment more.
Instead, I dug my heels into Brimstone’s sides.
The stallion reared, then bolted forward, hooves pounding against stone and into the night. My men followed close behind as we thundered toward the East Ridge, hearts set on the same goal.
Finding Ravena Before it’s too late. If Coldrey was on the move, then it means he’s heard something. An intel on her whereabouts.
And if he stood in my way—I’d make sure he stayed down this time.
We galloped down the terrain, further into the woods until the first man came to a halt.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, pulling the reins.
He dismounted his horse, head buried to the ground.
“I’m sorry, wolf heir,” he blurted.
“Silas?” I called his name, almost dismounting my horse when an arrow wheezed past my ear and struck the man across me.
“It’s an ambush!” A voice belled, setting the alert off.
I fixed myself back properly, drew my sword and pulled Silas closer.
“You betrayed your pack?”
“No, wolf heir,” he answered, voice shaking and filled with regret. “I’m saving you.”
“Saving me? From what?”
My question was answered by the fire that lit up the sky behind us.
The pack was under attack. And soon, their cries filled the night.
“No. The pack!” I turned, ready to ride off when an arrow struck brimstone, sending us to the ground.
*************
- Writer
