Chapter 137: Feeding Time

ARIEL

The cold metal of a gun presses into my back.

I quicken my pace, heading up the stairs and out of the dungeon.

The guards came and collected Isabella and me from our cell, but didn’t say where we were going.

~Is Esmeralda going to execute us?~

~Are we being taken to a firing squad or the gallows?~

I try to keep calm and still my mind. I have to be vigilant and take any opportunity we have to escape.

We emerge from the dungeons in a part of the palace we didn’t see during the party and continue through the winding corridors until we’re outside.

The sun is beginning to rise, setting the sky ablaze with a deep-orange color.

The guards order us to keep going until we arrive in the royal gardens.

I see Esmeralda walking among the flower beds, holding on to a golden leash. Bubbles is on the other end.

He stares at me and licks his lips ominously. I gently push Isabella behind me, ready to protect her if Bubbles decides he wants a snack.

“Welcome, Ariel,” Esmeralda says, smiling.

“What do you want?” I say tersely as Esmeralda comes close. She gives Bubbles a scratch behind the ears before answering me.

“Come, come Ariel, we are both civilized people, there’s no need to be rude.”

“I’m pretty sure civilized people don’t lock their families up in towers,” I spit back.

“And ~you’re~ such a model queen? I did my research on you, Ariel…

“Attacking the president of the United States, hoarding your ~extraordinary~ healing powers for yourself, killing wolves in the middle of mating ceremonies, the list goes on.”

I scowl.

“I didn’t realize you were such a big fan,” I say.

“Like I said, I did my research,” Esmeralda says. “I wanted to know the king and queen that were coming to visit. Although to call you a queen is ridiculous. How did Alex end up with a lowly wolf like you?”

Esmeralda gives me a withering look as she continues.

“He has royal blood. He should be mated to another royal. Someone like me. We could be the most powerful couple in the world.”

I can feel rage about to burst from me, but I stamp it down. I don’t want to snap at her with a gun pressed up against my spine.

“What do you want, Esmeralda?” I repeat.

She breaks into a smile. “I ~thought~ you might enjoy being out here or in the palace rather than in that cramped and smelly dungeon. A queen like you shouldn’t be treated like a prisoner.”

“I don’t care about being pampered,” I say. “Wherever Isabella goes, I’m going with her.”

“Well, you won’t be together for too much longer,” Esmeralda says. “I’ve already called Alex. We’ve come to a settlement: your life for Mateo’s.”

“What?” both Isabella and I say at the same time.

~Alex made a deal? He was just as committed to this mission as we were. He wouldn’t throw all our effort away now, would he?~

“I’ve given Alex a deadline of tomorrow evening. If he doesn’t deliver Mateo, or if you try to escape, then there will be dire consequences.”

I feel Isabella tense behind me. I try to reassure her by firing back at Esmeralda.

“Your threats don’t frighten me. If you’ve done your research, you’ll know that I was captured by werewolf hunters before I even turned eighteen. I’ve been to hell and back. Anything you do won’t come close to their brutality.”

“Oh, I think I have something that might,” she says before giving me a cruel smile. She kneels down next to Bubbles and starts scratching under his chin and neck.

A shout comes from the palace doors. I turn to see a man being dragged out by two of Esmeralda’s guards.

From his long, matted hair and shabby clothes, and the shackles on his wrists, I can tell the man is a prisoner, just like Isabella and me.

“It’s almost feeding time—another Cataluna prisoner,” she says as Bubbles licks her face.

“After this, Bubbles’s next meal will either be Mateo…or you! Bubbles has never had the pleasure of tasting royal meat, but I’m sure he’s going to love it.”

The guards drag the prisoner over to us and throw him on the ground at Esmeralda’s feet. He scrambles away from Bubbles’s enquiring sniffs, his eyes full of terror.

“Start running, ~vamos~,” Esmeralda says to the man, kicking dirt at him.

Despite his shackled hands and weak appearance, the man jumps to his feet and starts sprinting through the gardens.

Instinctively, I go to move forward, to put myself in front of Bubbles and the fleeing man. I know what’s about to happen, and I’m going to stop it.

But as soon as I make a single step, I hear the clicking of gun safeties being turned off.

Esmeralda smiles cruelly as I back down. I can’t stop her.

Bubbles starts pulling on his leash, wanting to chase down his meal. Esmeralda waits a few more moments before unclasping the leash from his collar.

Bubbles bolts after the man, gaining on him with every second. Both Isabella and I turn away. I don’t want to see what happens.

A scream rips through the air and Esmeralda cackles with glee.

“You better pray that Alex makes the right choice,” she says as the guards lead us back to the palace. “Otherwise you’ll be on the menu next!”

ALEX

“I will give myself up to Esmeralda,” Mateo says.

“I told you, I’m not going to let that happen,” I reply.

“But you deserve to be with your mate,” Mateo replies. “I do not care that Esmeralda will kill me as soon as she has me. Now that I have seen Isabella one last time, I can die a happy wolf.”

“No, we’ll think of a plan,” I say, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. “We’ll save Isabella, I promise you.”

“What can we do though?” Mateo says. “There are only the three of us against an entire army.”

I purse my lips together in thought.

“I’m working on it.”

I look up and see Jo still on the call with Vivian.

Jo’s playing with a few wayward strands of hair and her smile reaches from ear-to-ear.

Then it’s like a lightning bolt hits me. ~Vivian.~

I grab one of the headsets.

“I can’t wait to see you again. I know it might be too early, but I think I lov—” Vivian says before I cut her off.

“Hey Vivian, I’m here. I need your help.”

“Sure, err, Alex…ahem,” Vivian says, trying to collect herself. Jo smirks. “Go ahead, what can I do?”

Mateo was right, we need an army to go up against Esmeralda. So I’m going to get one.

This is bigger than reuniting Mateo and Isabella now.

She’s a vicious queen who completely destroyed Mateo’s kingdom, just because he chose to love someone else.

She’s taken my queen hostage and threatened to kill her.

Goddess knows what she will do next if we give in to her demands.

Now that she knows we intervened to bring Mateo and Isabella back together, she has every right to invade the Royal Pack.

I won’t allow that to happen. We need to end her reign of terror…tonight!

“Charter a plane and rally General Dave and as many warriors as we can spare,” I say.

“Where to?” Vivian asks. “To Spain?”

“Yes. The Royal Pack is going to war!”