CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Prince Derek – POV
The skittering of the rat around the cell and the rhythmic dripping of water kept me up almost every night.
I wasn't used to this kind of treatment. My early mornings were usually filled with maids skittering around, helping me get dressed while they whisked in breakfast.
Waking up every day in this moldy cell greased with wolfsbane around the metal bars—was weakening my senses and making me angry.
The bed alone wasn't fit to carry my whole body causing discomfort all through the night. I couldn't even tell what day it was.
Once again the morning sun rays spilled through the tiny window of my cell. Irritated, I jumped out of bed and washed my face with the water from the bowl placed on the bathroom sink.
Large dark circles cornered my eyes. I looked like a former image of myself the feared prince reduced to a lowly outcast.
Werewolves feared me. Servants scampered for safety. Packs trembled.
But here I was, rotting away in a cell because of my *father*!
I bared my teeth. Father had chewed more than he could handle, and I loathed him more than ever!
He dared treat me like one of his playthings in his experiment lab. I growled, punching my fist directly into the mirror.
Crash!
Jagged pieces of the mirror fell to the floor. Blood dripped from my hand.
I stared at the blood for a while.
Remembering the night I had saved Ariel—she had looked like this too. Pitiful. In a worse condition.
She had refused to say where she was from, and all I knew was that she had lost a baby… Then the invasion of the dark creatures… Father's lunatic craving for power… my marriage contract with her… and this!
Did she plan all of this? I shook my head. She looked so naïve. She didn't even know who she was.
Neither did I.
But if the dark ones wanted her…
Then I guess she's powerful. And might I add a beauty.
Also the reason why you're stuck in this cell, my wolf nagged. It was irritated by not running freely under the moonlight but being forced to stay cramped in a cell.
"I will get us out of here," I responded, knowing my father would soon ask for my help. After all, my twin brother wasn't as strong—or as cursed—as I was.
A guard appeared at the door with a plate laden with food. He pushed it inside my cell, scared to even come close.
"Eat up, prince. Your father will soon have an audience with you."
I stared at the guard. His hands trembled as he tried to finish his sentence.
"The dark ones have returned, Derek. We need your help," the guard stammered.
"Help?" I scoffed. My father wouldn't get *that* unless he was buried ten feet beneath this cell. I turned my back to the guard.
I could hear his heartbeat. **Thump, thump, thump**, from where I stood.
The slow pulsing of his veins as they pumped blood to his heart… My wolf was getting triggered and wanted to kill.
And strangely, we both wanted the same thing.
"Who sent you down here?" I demanded, still facing away from my cell door. I was cornering the poor guard before my wolf attacked.
"Your father sent me," the guard replied with a shaky voice.
"Did he explain my condition to you?" I coughed in pretense, drawing the guard's sympathy.
"No, heeeee said if I were to come, he would spare my daughter," the guard replied, unsure of where the conversation was heading.
At the mention of his daughter being a captive to my lunatic father, my heart softened.
But my wolf growled defensively. It wanted blood.
"Soooo, you're my peace offering?" I turned to face him, my wolf already surfacing as it longed to bathe the guard in blood.
"I-I-I know nothing of what you speak," the guard moved backward—but too late. My hands were already on his neck, feeling his pulse and beating heart.
"You smell awful for a snack. How wicked of Ragal to send a lowly outcast to feed my trembling desires." I licked my lips.
"Please don't kill me! I beg of you!"
But I knew even I couldn't tame this beast that gave me such power and yet little control.
"Your begging irritates my wolf's ears. For it is he that demands a sacrifice to appease his wild lust." I brought him close to the metal bars, weakening my wolf as I came in contact with them.
"The pack is in chaos, my prince," the guard replied in a feeble attempt to get me to care.
"Pack in chaos?" I chuckled and laughed wildly at the guard, who looked pale, knowing this was it—he was nearing his death.
"Where was the pack when I was imprisoned like an experimental lab rat?!" I growled, pressing my claws deep into his throat.
"The king plans to marry Ariel."
I heard a familiar voice from the corridor.
"Ray!" I called out with anger. My own twin brother allowing me to rot in a cell was unthinkable.
"All this while you were with Father!"
"Drop the poor guard. He's just a pawn in our father's little game of power," Ray's voice continued steady, mocking.
"Come close, Ray. It's a family reunion, is it?" I flung the guard, his bones crashing against the prison wall.
"Hopefully, I don't become a victim of your barbaric wolf," Ray chuckled, still far from where my hands could reach.
"What is this I hear about Father marrying my bride?" I knocked, but deep down, hot flashes of anger rolled through me like waves.
"You know Father. He's a little off these days wanting commoners, beggars, and might I add… demons." Ray smiled coyly.
"Demons???" I said, wide-eyed.
"Don't be ridiculous, brother." Ray's grin deepened, revealing his white te
eth. "Ariel is a half-demon."
Whatttt! I yelled aloud. The revelation shook me to the core.
I loathed demons.