6 Rebecca Harman.

1556.

The date was 5th June,  just a day to his 218th birthday and it would be her last.  A single man in possession of great fortune must be in want of a wife and he had found his, the one he wished to spend eternity with.  In their humble love nest , he had wrapped her in his arms , she was fast asleep and he laid there on his side watching her. She looked so perfect , innocent, he felt the love all around him and deep in his heart he wondered if she would love him the same when she found out the truth.  The truth , universally acknowledged , is always the hardest to tell when it is about us which made him believe it was better left unsaid but sometimes fate could be karma .

Lost in her beauty , he moved a hand to touch her hair , he slowly combed them backwards with his fingers  and just then something caught his nose, he sniffed. His ears stood up and alert as he sat up concentrated on what he heard. The footsteps of men, carefully trying to go unnoticed. From the swiftness of their feets on the wet grass , he could tell they had to be soldiers . Slowly and quietly he got up from the bed which revealed he was just on his brais ,  his countenance foretold he was ready for war as he moved towards the window to get a closer view , he peered through the darkness of the night and saw that they were surrounded . 

'How did he find us?' .

He turned to look upon his love who remained deep in sleep and immediately there was silence.  He knew something was up. He felt something bad was about to happen .

'Why now? Why today?'.

Suddenly he heard a hard pound on the door, His lover was forced up . They were trying to break through the wooden door with something quite big.

"What was that? What is going on Stace…?" . She panicked.

"Under the bed and be still". He ordered her as he marched towards the door. 

"Under the bed?  What is happening? I am scared.."

She whispered . 

Stace remained speechless , the pounding on the door had increased , he slowly turned his head halfway from where he stood .

"Under the bed.. I beg of you.."  He repeated.

She sat there, confused but soon hurried under the bed covering her ears with both hands.  Terrified by the pounding , her breathing became hard and almost noticeable , her spine shivered . She laid flat enough to still make sense of what was happening above her. Peeking from where she hid, her eyes soon met with what made her dumbfounded.  

As the cracking on the wooden  door  made it obvious that it was soon going to break down , Stace took a deep breath and with his right foot , he brought down the large heavy door . It crushed on the men behind it and their painful screams could be heard . Her eyes widened as she moved her hands to cover her mouth.  With the door brought down Stace proceeded to stand on it .

"Is this what you want father? !  You bring these men here to die when you know what they come to fight against!"  .  He spoke loudly. 

"I forbid you!  You chose to be my enemy and not my son when you chose to wallow in the bed of a common woman over the throne! You would rather bring shame upon the family name than perform your duty to the people as the crowned Prince of Gazar !  You rubbish my legacy!" .  An even louder voice spoke from the outside , it was the voice of an older man , the king on his horse.

"It was never a secret that I took no interest in your royal games " .  Stace replied. 

"You are a fool ! You would throw it all away for a feeling that waxes away with time. For a woman whose heart is like a bird that makes a new nest wherever she prefers! You render value to what has none , You call off your wedding to your betrothed just to be with an ordinary woman!" 

"She is no ordinary woman! gather your men and Leave"

Stace warned. His eyes had become golden yellow with rage.  The king slowly got down from his horse , and marched towards him.

"You sincerely mean to disrespect me and disrespect the royal secret for your whore. Very well then. Let us damn it all" . The king said as he took off his crown . A soldier approached to collect it and ran back to his position in fright.  The king now stood before Stace , he looked him deep in the eyes and whispered,

"The number of men here this night is 50. If you succeed to kill me, you must kill them and when I kill you, I will make it come to pass that everyone of my men here shall have a taste of her before she dies" . 

Stace became infuriated leaving a quick punch in the king's stomach . The force from it made the king sweep backwards till he brought himself to a hold.  The king then raced towards him angrily , Stace dis likewise and the physical brawl began.  Fear  gripped the soldiers as they watched the display of great strength from the king and the prince, the king who was too old to throw a punch was receiving blows that didn't seem to be having any effect on him. 

"Did your whore make you weak?!"  . The king yelled at Stace as they fought . Almost as though it was perfect timing,  the dark sky paved the way, and the full moon appeared. 

Transformation….

The king looked at him with a devilish smile ,

"You forgot, didn't you? The spell doesn't protect us when the full moon rests on our skin" .

Stace's eyes grew larger at the realization that he had been lured. As they both transformed , he thought about his dear Rebecca who laid hidden beneath the bed. 

'Was she watching all along? Will she see him now?' .

A full grown beast , the king pounced on him as they battled hard for a winner, it was forbidden for the king's soldiers to leave without his word and so they stood sweaty from great terror , some passed out, some peed in their pants.  Some already began shedding tears as they stood with the belief that tonight was their last and as it became obvious that Stace overpowered the king and seemed to emerge the winner of the fight, he heard a screech . Even in his beast form , his humanity was not off , he recognized the voice of the screech and his head rang 

'Rebecca' .  

With his back against the grass , blood all over his face and furry body, the king laid half dead . Stace heard his thoughts.

' your emotions remain your weakness…..' 

This made him turn towards the direction of the house and he sees Titrus holding  onto Rebecca's  hair as he holds onto her neck with his other hand. Stace saw Rebecca struggle.

"Stace!" . She called.

"You would kill father for this?!"   . Titrus  yelled.

Confusion…

Stace slowly made a move to get up on his feet and walk towards them.

"Titrus.. you don't want to do this.."  He telepathized .

"You would hurt mother this much for an ordinary woman?"  . Titrus added tightening his grip on her hair which pulled her head upwards revealing her long neck, he was holding her neck harder now which made her groan in pain . 

Just then , an arrow struck Titrus on the arm. Whatever poison was in it had quite the effect.

"ahhhhhhh !! " . He groaned.

He fell to the ground and Rebecca broke free. She ran towards Stace .

'She isn't scared of me..'  

He said to himself in amazement. She embraced him tightly and looked up at his face.

"I knew… " . She said..

"I always knew…" she continued . 

'but when? How? ' . He thought . 

"Behind you!"  . She screamed . Just then he swiftly made a turn and buried his claws deep in the king's chest ripping out his heart. He crushed it as the King dropped to the ground. 

"Noooooooooooo!!!"  . Stace heard Titrus scream from where he laid. He angrily  headed for Rebecca and he got pushed to the floor by another werewolf .

'Walter! '  . Stace called.

'Do not hurt him.'  . He added.  Walter looked at Stace as he let go of Titrus .

'Took you long enough'  Stace continued.

'Do you think I enjoy looking this hideous?' . Walter said as he approached them  .

Suddenly Rebecca falls on Stace .

'What is it? What is wrong my love..?' .

He said,

'What did you do to her?!' 

He barked, turning towards Titrus .

'How does it feel, brother!' .

Titrus replied.

Walter rushed to where he laid on the ground and struck his head with a blow which made him unconscious.

'No..no no no no .. you have to open your eyes.. please ..  don't do this to me.. our wedding is tomorrow, i proposed tonight remember?'  .

He said as he broke down, he held up her hand that had the ring on it but her eyes kept dimming till they were shut.  He felt great pain he couldn't express. He noticed a pin stuck on the side of her neck. 

Poison.

He gave an agonizing cry as he stood up and looked around him, he could see the soldiers still standing in their positions. They looked dead from fright  already but he didn't care. He couldn't let them go and he had to vent out his pain  somehow and so he raced towards them. On seeing this, they scattered to safety , others held out their swords for a fight but he caught up with every one of them , ripping them apart and snapping their necks. He was on a vengeful spree. Walter understood his grief and so he carried Rebecca back into the house. Titrus crawled away on seeing what his brother had become,he feared the worse .  

Stace was done. He turned to see  the dead bodies that littered around.

He fixed his eyes back on the house and staggered his way into it . When the full moonlight was no longer on his skin, his body slowly transformed back to it's human form. 

''Rebecca… where is Rebecca…? My Rebecca…''

He voiced.  He could see Walter too was back to his human form and how he had carefully laid his lover on the bed . She just laid there, so still. She wasn't talking. Wasn't breathing. Wasn't sleeping.  His worst nightmare had become his new  reality , his entire body trembled at the acceptance of the truth.  

"You should have heeded to my words"  . Walter voiced sadly. "And none of this would have happened. All you understood was that you loved her, and that she loved you. I tried to make you understand , you both are not the same.. and that was enough reason for you to let go" . He added .

"You judge me because you are not me. If you were.. would you listen to you?" .

Stace replied as he lifted up his head to Walter's.

Walter gave a facial expression that told Stace, something had changed.

"What is it?" . He asked.

"Your eyes.." 

"What about them?"

"They are red.. ...You just became the Alpha, everything has changed" .  Walter replied  . 

In that instant , Stace realized how much things had gone beyond his control. He took his eyes back on Becca . He held onto her  left hand and tears fell off his eyes, he slowly slipped the engagement ring off her finger. 

"Till we meet again.. "  . He said planting  a soft kiss on her hand with his eyes shut.