THE SECRET OF WRAITHMOOR

AKIRA'S POV

As I slowly opened my eyes, a blinding light pierced through, causing me to shield my eyes with my hand. After a moment, I slowly removed my hand as my vision had now cleared.

"But where am I?" I asked no one in particular as I looked around and there was not even a single soul here.

Everything around me was bright in the shade of gray and white, just like a cloud. Confused, I rose from the ground and I began to explore my surroundings trying to find an exit, but I couldn't seem to locate any door.

"Father!" I called out, but received no response.

A sudden realization dawned on me; I was in a different world, somewhere like heaven. As I tried to remember how exactly I got here, a sharp pain throbbed in my head, causing me to drop to my knees, clutching my head in pain, and memories of my husband, king Darell of Wraitmoor, transforming into a beast flooded my mind.

My butt hit the ground as it was now clear to me that he had also ripped me into pieces when I learned of his secret and now I was in the realm of the dead.

"We should kill her immediately," I suddenly heard a voice.

"No, we can't do that. She is a princess of a nation; her death could ignite a war," another voice reasoned.

"She is just a slave's daughter. If we cut her into pieces and have her for dinner, no one will even care," a chilling voice suggested.

I kept hearing different voices of how they were planning on cutting into pieces and roasting me. Not able to hold it any longer as I had no Idea of where exactly I was, I let out a loud piercing scream.

"Your majesty," a familiar voice called out, snapping me back to reality.

I opened my eyes to find Natasha's concerned gaze upon me. Lifting my head slowly, I looked around the room and I realized I was in my chamber in Wraitmoor Nation.

"Is it all just a dream?" I wondered aloud, letting out a huge sigh of relief as I realized that I was still alive akd hadn't been ripped into pieces yet.

"Are you okay?" Natasha asked, trying to move closer, but I sprung up from the bed, moving away from her.

"Stay away from me, you monsters!" I screamed at her, causing her to step back with a bowed head and her hand placed on each other.

As I stood up from the bed I thought of what exactly to do.

No, I need to leave immediately and inform the people that the king of Wraitmoor Nation was not a human but a monster in human form. Then I head towards the door, facing Natasha while taking in step in backwardness, trying to make sure my eye is on her so that she won't attack me.

As I reached for the door, I quickly turned around and then held the handle to open the door but the door flung open, revealing the monstrous king with his guards behind him.

I quickly step back, moving far away from him. Now he had decided to finally come to my chamber after his true form had been discovered. I let out a small scoff as I slowly retracted my step.

Different things raced through my mind trying to come up with an escape plan, but I couldn't clearly think of a plan as I wasn't sure if the whole nation was made up of werewolves or only their king was. Or maybe they really had no idea that their king was a monster.

He entered the room and his guards stayed outside and closed the door from behind.

"Leave," he commanded, his sharp gaze fixing on me and I didn't try to avoid his gaze because I was trying to let him know that I was not even a little bit scared of him because I was a warrior before a princess or a queen.

Thinking he was referring to me, I wanted to make my exit and moved towards the door, but he clarified,

"I was not referring to you."

His words stopped me in my tracks, and I followed his gaze as it landed on Natasha, who quickly bowed her head and hastily left the room. He slowly made his way to the window, drawing back the curtains and flooding the room with light. Peering outside, he began to speak.

"No one will stop you from leaving, but there are a few things you need to know. Consider this a wedding present from me to you, as it seems I never actually gave you any," he said.

"Thanks," I replied.

"You are welcome," he responded, now turning around with his gaze fixed on me. "First, the moment you decide to leave, I will revoke our marriage."

Well, that was quite relieving, considering I never actually desired this marriage in the first place. His agreement to dissolve it brings me nothing but joy as I was now to be liberated, so I have no reason to refuse.

"Secondly," he continued, "the moment I denounce you and you depart from this kingdom, the hunt will commence."

Well, I don't seem to understand the hunting party.

"Hunt? What hunt? Well… I don't actually care if you were holding a hunting competition, so you don't need to invite me. Let's just expedite the first process, so I will be able to head back to my Nation Immediately." I interjected.

"I was referring to the upcoming Age Hunts. Some lupine citizens of our great Nation have just been blessed with their true forms and will have to showcase their strength to the populace by partaking in a hunting competition where you will be the prey and they will be the hunter. You will run for your life and they will hunt you down" he explained and now I know he is definitely insane, "And if you know you are strong enough, you will fight for your life and whoever delivers your head will be bestowed with an honorable title in this Nation, and I can assure you, they are all prepared, just waiting for my command." He added.

Fear ran down my spine as I realized I had become the prey for the Wraitmoor Nation. I actually thought only the king wasa beast but it seems the entire nation was actually one. And they were not merely beasts but demons who derived pleasure from using humans for hunts.

"How many of them are they?"

"Not that many, maybe around 300. Those who transformed last year couldn't hold a contest, so we are combining them with this year's batch," he replied casually, and my hands clenched tightly together.

I forced myself to maintain a facade, pretending as if I wasn't scared, but deep down, the terrifying images of being ripped apart into pieces flashed through my mind. The first piece of advice seemed reasonable, but it was clearly a trap leading to the second, which was undoubtedly….the worst. I needed to know what the third option entailed before making any decisions.

"What is the third one?" I inquired.

All I can see on his face right now is a devilish smirk as he heard me asking for the third advice, but since I was the one with a lower hand and power here, I decided to keep my emotion in check.

"Live like the dead. Hear nothing, see nothing. Just keep eating, drinking, and breathing. Do that, and we'll have no problems here,"

Saying that, he walked majestically out of my chamber. As soon as he departed, my legs failed me, and I collapsed to the ground. I slowly crawled to the side of the bed, releasing a deep sigh of relief after holding my breath for what felt like eternity.

Escaping from this place would be one tough battle as it seems that the entire nation consisted of werewolves. I now understood what had been happening and why they all referred to him as the Alpha.

However, there was one thing he was unaware of; I was not a weakling. I was the strongest of my kind, a fierce warrior who commanded an entire army. I had severed thousands of enemies' heads in wars, and I refused to give up now. I would not succumb to these monsters.