The Lycan King's Fate Calling (Shawn Gibson and Sylvia)

Rufus' POV:

As soon as Crystal opened the coffin, Noreen's dried -up skeleton came into sight. The greyish-white bones stood out sharply against the coffin's black velvet interior.

It looked as though Noreen had died holding a crystal ball, because her skeletal hand remained outstretched.

I was confused. Didn't it take a long time for rigor mortis to set in after death? Why did Noreen's body stiffen immediately after she died?

Was this what happened to black witches when they died?

With a grim expression, Crystal walked around the white coffin.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew, and the crows lurking on the tree branches took off.

Only then did I realize what Crystal meant when she mentioned that things were looking ominous.

Anything related to Noreen was ominous.

Using my flashlight, I studied Noreen's skeleton carefully from afar. It was no different from a skeleton of a human being. But one thing stood out to me the hair.

Golden hair flowed from Noreen's skull, but I noticed that the ends were charred and black from the attempted burning. I could only imagine how much effort was put into destroying Noreen's corpse.

I took a pair of tweezers from one of my men and plucked up a strand of hair. However, when the hair

was exposed to the air outside the coffin, it suddenly disintegrated to ashes.

"Is it possible that Noreen's actually completely gone?"

Naturally, I preferred the idea that Noreen's existence was completely eliminated from this world over the possibility that she had been reborn.

After all, even her hair-which refused to burn when she was buried five years ago-disintegrated as soon as it came into contact with a gust of wind. Didn't that mean that Noreen was really gone? Crystal walked up to me and looked at the skeleton worriedly. "I still don't feel good about this. I can't shake off the feeling that things aren't as simple as they seem. But I can't tell what's really wrong."

I put my arm around her shoulder and kissed her on the forehead in an effort to comfort her. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out. Trust me. Even if Noreen has been reborn, she can't possibly be as powerful as she was before. You killed her once, so you can kill her again."

Crystal's expression finally softened. She rubbed her head against my chest and whispered, "I know. I'm just afraid that you and the kids will get hurt..."

I flicked her forehead with my fingers and pretended to scold her. "You underestimate me! I'm the king of the werewolves. What can a rotten witch like her do to me?" Amused, Crystal finally cracked a small smile.

I felt relieved to see her smile. After giving her hand a reassuring squeeze, I turned around and ordered the soldiers to re-seal the coffin.

But just as the lid of the coffin was about to be closed, Crystal suddenly stopped them. She bit her lower lip and looked at me. "Can I have a closer look first?"

I nodded and followed her to the coffin again.

Crystal reached out to touch the skeleton, but I

quickly stopped her. "It's dirty," I protested.

"I just want to get a closer look." Crystal shook off my hand and insisted on touching Noreen's bones.

The trees swayed and the wind picked up again. The whole forbidden forest fell into darkness, and only the area surrounding the coffin was illuminated by our lamps. I held the flashlight high. Crystal's slender fingers slowly stretched out towards the skeleton.

The second she touched it, the skeleton turned to ashes and scattered with the wind. I

immediately pulled Crystal intel.net

my

arms, afraid that she'd inhale the black ash.

But the ash simply drifted away with the wind until it disappeared completely.

I still felt a little uneasy, but I sighed in relief.

The fact that the skeleton disintegrated must've meant that Noreen was gone, right?

While I was deep in thought, I suddenly realized that the woman in my arms was trembling like a leaf.

I looked at her in surprise, only to

meet Crystal's fear-filled eyes. "I

thought that it was just a coincidence that her hair turned ashes just now, but now even her bones disintegrated. Could it be... Is it because Noreen's soul is no longer in this corpse?"

Crystal paused for a moment and then her eyes went wide. "Could her soul be in..."

Her voice trailed off, but I knew exactly what she was going to say.

Beryl!