Chapter 3
Determined to prove to herself that she had heard it all wrong, Ralphine forced herself to find a shirt from one of the baskets in their house, grabbed it, and walked out. She used the shoal from earlier to cover her head because she didn’t want anyone to know she was among them.
Of course, that was a given, but this wasn’t how she had imagined things to be. She didn’t want to imagine how this had come to be, but one thing she was sure of, was that someone was lying. Someone was making false claims against her parentvand she needed to know why.
Her family was the definition of dirt poor, so it just didn’t make any sense that her father and mother would be able to organize a coup and an attack against the Lycan king, Miroslav Ibrahimovich.
Anyone who knew the dark king knew that he was not just someone to play with. The man was a beast in all forms and many said he was more beast than man. Her parents wouldn’t dare go against that.
“Death to the traitors!” the wolves shouted, even though it sounded ridiculous to them. None of this made any sense because those who knew the Belyaevas knew they didn’t have the capacity to call for a revolution, much less convince people to go. against the Lycan king, Miroslav. It was a death sentence.
“What happened?” Ralphine asked one of the older wolves who were next to her when they made it to the pack square.
The former alpha, Rykov, was standing at the balcony of the pack house. With him were the reigning alpha, Rykar, his Beta, Drescher, and the Lycan king’s Beta, Viktor, a man who had been sent by the king as the Lycan envoy.
Beside Viktor, were three other Lycan warriors standing there with the royals of Koslov. They had grim faces like they wanted. to get this over and done with, which was an expected scene. It wasn’t daily that they came to the wolf lands.
“The couple at the stake are being accused of triggering the Lycan attack,” the older man said and Ralphine felt her heart sink into her stomach. This was just not real. It couldn’t be, and for a moment she wondered if she was hallucinating.
Perhaps it was the side effect of the beating she had taken earlier. Perhaps her mind was playing games with her and there was just no way that her parents were up there, right?
Well, if she was dreaming then this had to be the worst ever nightmare for any kid, as she was helpless staring at the chaos that would ensue and the glaring eyes that were staring at her parents.
“Move over a little, please,” Ralphine said to the people in front of her, as she struggled to get to the front.
She had to see for herself if they really were her parents because this was insane on so many labels. Perhaps she was in denial and the longer she heard the whispers about how her parents were spies, she couldn’t take it anymore.
Some of the wolves claimed that her parents were hiding in the mines because that was where the revenue was mostly sourced
from.
It was absurd, but then Ralphine couldn’t blame them. The accusations didn’t make sense to her because she was their daughter, but even if she wasn’t, her parents were wolfer. They were always frail, and delicate like they never belonged to the
mines.
“Good evening, people of Koslov,” former alpha Rykov greeted, and his people greeted back. They were curious to know what had happened, and so in silence, they listened to the alpha talk about the Lycan attack that was for the werewolves on the radar of the Lycan king.
He went on to talk about how the accusations had found their way to the Belyaeva house and made sure to press on like he wanted people to believe him so damn much.
“I know I have explained a lot, but I would like to introduce you to a fact that could explain why the Belyaevas tried to attack the Lycan kingdom. They wanted a revolution, a war with the Lycans. They needed that because if they won, then they would come black and claim their position here,” Alpha Rykov said, and everyone stared at him like he was crazy.
Why the hell would the Belyaevas even have a position at the Koslov palace? It just didn’t make any sense, unless they wanted to burn down the current regime. That was a really tempting state, and anyone would risk that.
At the same time, the people knew how hard the Belyaevas worked at the mines to give their daughter a better life.
I see you are confused. Allow me to explain further. Solomon Belyaeva and Karina Belyaeva are not their real names. Well, Karina was born Karina Belyaeva, which meant that her entire family took her last name. Solomon Belyaeva is actually n
my okler twin brother. We are fraternal twins, which makes him the rightful heir to the Koslov pack and palace.
“His family should have been sitting and standing here where my family sits, but my brother, Vladimir Koslov, chose to live a simple life with his family members. Funny how that turned out, right? The heir to the crown abandoned it for a simple life, one that has brought him to this point,” the alpha said and Ralphine faltered.
Her father was the heir to the Koslov crown.
She was a royal?
What was she even supposed to do with that truth when her parents were at the stake to be burned? Ralphine could sense so many blanks in the former alpha’s statement, especially when she saw her father stare at the former alpha with disappointment while her mother had a blank face.
She didn’t know what to make of the situation and it wasn’t comforting at all.
“If it were up to me, I would have imprisoned my brother and had him serve his sentence. However, as you can see, the Lycans need proof that we are dedicated to the alliance. As a result, I hereby sentence Vladimir and Karina to death by the stake. Light them up!” Alpha Rykov said, and Ralphine went numb.
She had gone through so much in just one day, but nothing hurt like hearing her parents screaming for help when their bodies were engulfed with fire. The moment the fires began, a good portion of the Koslov wolves left, literally.
They didn’t have the stomach to watch the family be taken out like that. The fact that Ralphine was watching her whole world crumble before her was even disheartening and many couldn’t handle it.
“What just happened?” Beta Drescher asked as he looked at Ralphine’s parents burning at the stake.
He had never imagined that burning at the stake was even still a thing. They had dungeons and other ways of punishing sinners. It just didn’t make sense but he couldn’t ask more because his best friend was the alpha and he couldn’t do shit about
Soon, everyone had left the place where the assembly was, and Ralphine was left staring at her parents. She had been standing there the whole time, watching silently as the life went out of her parents, and as their bodies were burnt to crisp.
It was a cruel fate for her, but even then, she was just silent, silly accepting the reality that was here before her.
It didn’t take long before all that was left of her parents was just ashes. They had used the Lycan fire to take out her parents, and that was the kind that wouldn’t leave a trace, other than just ashes.
“Am I next?” Ralphine asked softly as she looked around her.
No one was there and yet she could feel that someone was watching her. It wasn’t like she could fight, but she knew for a fact that someone was around, waiting to pounce on her or cause her more pain. Well, it was impossible for her to feel any more pain, because her heart was shattered more than even she had thought possible. Everything hurt so bad.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t defend you, the ever–silent girl with so much pain said to her parents as she looked at the Koslov pack house palace one last time. She knew that she couldn’t stay here anymore. She would be depressed and would probably take her own life.
She didn’t want to die and she didn’t want to either because that was something she was sure would happen to her. She also didn’t want them looking at her as the pitiful heiress to a non–existent throne and the girl who had lost everything in a span of one day
So defeatedly, Ralphine made the choice to leave Koslov. She didn’t have anything holding her back here anyway.
“I hope I don’t ever see you again, Koslov,” Ralphine whispered when she reached the border between the Koslov pack and the unclaimed lands where the rogues always roamed.
She knew that the rogues were cruel and would probably kill her. She thought it was risky, and that while Koslov might have turned into her hell for just a day, she had been safer there than out here. However, that didn’t matter. She had lost, and if it was her fate to lose her life again, then she wouldn’t fight it.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t good enough” was the last thing she said before she gave in to the darkness she had been fighting for a
