ZARAMANNI (BOOK ONE)

When Darren came to, he found himself on the cold, aesthetic ground that made his room look majestic.

His body had formed into a round ball and he found it somewhat hard to straighten his figure.

Once his entire body was now lying straight, the man who had the side of his face staying glued to the floor made an effort to get up.

Both of his hands went to work, trying to lift the rest of his body, their palms steadily glued against the ground.

But his bones felt feeble and he took a pause.

Alpha Darren then recalled the last time he was conscious. He remembered how his beast forced its way out with a certain intent.

Frightened by the thought of not knowing the things that happened after they jumped out of the palace, King Darren quickly left his pitiful position.

Standing upright, and more alert, he scanned the room he was in.

He confirmed that it was indeed his royal room, and was about to take steps towards the huge windows of his room when he noticed a certain colour.

The deep, crimson colour of blood.

Swallowing hard, his strained sight followed the single drop of blood he was looking at.

It led to an even bigger drop of blood.

It was a significant amount, one that called for the need to recall what really happened when his wolf took over.

As he tore his sight from the huge splatter of blood, King Darren looked towards the sky which was gradually turning to normal.

It showed indications that the day was still early and that reminded him of the meeting he had.

Alpha Darren had barely moved when his eyes caught something else.

Darren looked down at his chest and he saw more blood splattered over the unique fabric he was wearing.

His mind began to race and one question rang in his head.

’Did my wolf kill someone?’

The question scared him greatly because if he did kill a person, his quest to become a better leader of his people would be threatened.

If his wolf goes around killing everyone in the kingdom, how would he live with himself?

While his mind pondered and probed, he noted that his wolf who kept repeating unforgettable statements the previous night was unusually quiet.

It wasn’t clawing at Darren or splitting the man’s mind.

King Darren, who had no intention to be caught looking so bloody, rushed into his bathroom, grabbed an overused shirt, a bucket filled with water, and got to cleaning.

He tried to keep a stable mind as he cleaned the mess.

Once the floor was looking as good as new, he went on to take care of the mess on his body.

Though it pained him to do so, he tossed the special shirt on his body into the wastebasket for items that end up being incinerated.

Soon, he was washing his body, getting rid of the dirt. Sadly, no matter how hard he washed, he couldn’t get rid of the strain in his soul.

When all that was done, when he was now dressed in cleaner clothes which failed to make him feel less dirty, he walked toward his bed and grabbed one of the many documents that detailed the Kingdom’s security situation.

He was about to walk to his right where his work desk was positioned when Sham ran into the room, his Luna, rushing after him.

“Your Majesty…” The man panted hard. And, he halted his steps before he could barge into the Alpha King.

“What is it?”

“Your Majesty, there has been…” The man’s chest heaved heavily, it was almost hard to make sense of his words. “Someone was murdered.”

“What?” King Darren felt like life was sucked out of him.

“One of the omegas working in the palace was found dead in the pantry. It is brutal.”

”Very brutal,” Laura added with extreme worry and fear in her voice and on her face.

“Wh-what happened?” The King’s nerves became tense, he could feel his palms curl, and balls of sweat formed on his forehead.

“It looks like a wolf attack,” Sham replied, his stance looking firmer than the King’s. “Do you want to take a look?”

King Darren’s eyes locked with Sham’s, but his mind traveled somewhere else.

While it was his duty to check on such an issue and maintain order within the palace, he feared that the murder scene would confirm his thoughts.

“Darren, people are waiting for your instructions. They need to hear from you,” Laura said from where she was.

“That’s fine.” His lips twitched and he soon wore a determined look. King Darren decided to man up and face the issue.

Their steps were quick but the walk to the main pantry was quite long.

King Darren’s mind had many thoughts on the journey there.

He felt scared and worried, he wanted to turn and avoid the issue but a quick look at the walls of the palace was able to change his mind and help him summon courage.

The long walk soon came to an end as the trio walked past a crowd that mostly wore pitiful looks. Their murmurs filled the atmosphere that reeked of special spices.

Trying to ignore the hushed talks, King Darren advanced toward the crime scene.

His eyes noted an unbroken smear of bloodstain which suggested that the body had been moved.

Slowly, King Darren lifted his eyes off the ground.

He gulped hard when he saw the lifeless hand of the body.

His eyes twitching hard, he finally faced the scene and the horrid sight made his breath hitch for some seconds.

It almost seemed like he would have a heart attack at that point.

But his composure arrived and his sight stayed glued on the contents of the woman’s stomach that were spilled and mutilated. Her face, which was turned away from people’s sight, had huge claw marks.

The beast that attacked her undoubtedly dragged its claws over her face in a fierce manner. It ripped one of her legs as well.

King Darren had one more question to ask himself. It was a simple yet scary question.

But he wondered if it was his wolf that did the terrible thing.

“Your Majesty,” Sham called.

Taking a deep sigh as his feet itched to leave, Darren tilted his head in the man’s direction and said, “Tell the people that investigations have started. Make sure to ask them if they saw anything significant. We must catch whoever did this.”

King Darren’s response frightened him who had uttered it.

What if he was the one responsible?

Still ignoring the many murmurs that filled his ears, Darren walked out of the pantry and dragged his feet to his room.

Soullessly, he walked.

His mind was blank as all he could see was the image of the murdered omega she-wolf.

Once he reached his room and closed his doors, he approached his messy work desk.

King Darren had not realized it, but his hands were shaking and his knees were almost knocking against each other.

But, when he slammed his hands on the table, he noted those things.

The more he stared at his feverish hands, the more his jaws clenched. His eyes became clouded with certain wetness which he instantly fought back.

Darren’s lips were now releasing thick shivering gasps, and his chest rose and fell significantly.

The Alpha hated the way he was feeling. His soul was suffocating and his mind wouldn’t stop thinking about terrible things. In addition to that was the feebleness in his limbs.

Alpha Darren suddenly hated himself. He wished for a way to rip his soul out of his body. He wanted to feel free.

But that was not possible. Instead, with immense anger, he tossed the table beneath him.

The furniture gave a loud noise and it shattered.

His breaths still unstable, the man stood over the mess. His hands clenched into fists and he asked with a low voice, “Is this how you want to do it?” No one replied to him. “Do you want to turn me into a murderer?”

Still no response.

“You won’t answer me?” Darren’s voice aimed to taunt the wolf inside him. “You were so loud before. You didn’t stop talking but now, you won’t answer me?”

The man nodded as more silence filled the room.

A scary smirk tugged at his lips and his fury took over his body.

The tingling in his hands and legs increased.

“Is this how you want to play this game? Is this fun for you?” He released a deep exhale. “Fine. I will make you regret making me your owner. I will make sure I kill you even if it means that I lose everything dear to me.”

King Darren was serious.

His intent was written all over him.

Just as he did on the day the fairies took life from his kingdom using their dubious means, the Alpha took a vow and he meant it with all his soul.

He refused to have a wolf that wouldn’t be tamed.

He strongly rejected his wolf…

~

Zara’s head pounded strongly as she opened her eyes.

Remaining in her lying position, she wondered what happened after she took a drink from the suspicious-acting guardian.

She failed to recall a single detail.

A rapid blink of her eyelashes and she began to search her head.

There was a gap in her memories that she needed to fill.

But, her head ached so much that she could not advance her thoughts.

She looked up and toward Clarissa’s hospital bed. The woman was still not there.

Before she could unnecessarily get worried, Zaramanni reasoned that Clarissa could have entered the room while she was still sleeping.

She also figured that the she-wolf would be able to fill her missing memories.

“Is this where you are? In bed?”

Zaramanni jumped out of her position when that familiar voice questioned her.

“Lord Elias… Ugh!” A faint ring filled her head and she grabbed a portion of her hair.

“Are you okay? Are you feeling sick? Is that why you didn’t come to the class?”

The class? Zara wondered.

But she quickly realized that Lord Elias had set a class to hold after he came back from the council meeting.

The council meeting…

Zara’s headache was temporarily forgotten and she eagerly asked the man a question that had been bothering her.

“About the meeting… Do they know I was the one that crashed it? I know my hair is a huge giveaway but, I hope they didn’t realize that I was the one. They may find out about my true identity at this rate.”

“What are you talking about?” Lord Elias, who crossed his arms, looked confused.

“What do you mean?” Zara chuckled. “I fell out of nowhere and appeared in that room. You were there, so were King Darren, Sham, and Zoey.”

The advanced look of confusion on the man’s face bothered Zaramanni.

The back of his hand reached to feel her forehead and she became more worried when he said with all seriousness, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”