Chapter 1

His  boots were pounding successively on the ceramic flooring.Rushing past the tall chrysoprase casted pillars and heading towards the main meeting room of the palace .He was hyperventilating. His medium frame yet well built chest was rising and falling frantically obviously hinting that he had been running just heretofore.The veins on his  hands extruded from his skin as he clung tightly on to his saber .Traces of cold sweats on his temple were impossible to miss. His medium length ombre hair strands that had the appreance of an after perm, were dressed in moisture and some follicles had stuck to the back of his neck and some on his forehead. His long eyelashes were saturated in perspiration.

Dressing in imperial guard clothes just highlighted his gorgeous conformation. These garments are composed with a top similar to a banbi but completely sleeves. The material is pure black with a dark brown hue having the edges stitched with pitch black leather strands. Beneath the leather  banbi was a linon black banbi and it was tied to his forearms with a bright red silk riboon..His pants were just a simple black. This outfit gave him the appearance of a junior wuxian cultivator. The lacquer talisman attached to his waist kept making a clicking sound as it collided with his sword. His movements were extremely expeditious.

As he ran , his perfectly shaped  thin brows were arched up and dressed him in the expression of surreal dread. Navigating through the turns of this majestic palace is not child's play but due to his habitual visits to this palace,he managed to negotiate the curves with minimal effort. The dancing flames from the wall built -in torches followed him as he raced past them. Finally he reached the corridor to the meeting room. The torches on the sides lit up the space and revealed the magnificent architectural motif of the palace. The two guards by the entry way were dressed in similar attire as Reed but their clothes made them apear as if they are of a lowered rank .. When he reached the corridor , he didn't waste any more by scouting the environment and he just rushed past the two guards who were by the pillars. His speed was incredibly great such that one of the guards almost didn't recognize Reed if not for the saber and talisman. The guards bowed their heads as Reed zoomed past them. The meeting room is not at all concealed due to the absence of walls.. It is just made of large porcelain pillars ,some are finished with chrysoprase while others are of pure jade .The entriqutte contour patterns on the pillars were simply mystical creatures crafted using gold and silver alloys.

As for the point where the head of the pillars met the caisson ceilings, the juncture was made of strong word that made a bamboo pattern. Some of the pillars had white decorative silk that was embedded with fine stictch work. The different potted plants from the philodendron to the Magnolia and the peonies gave the room a relaxing and refreshing sensation. Each of the furniture in this space was tremendously exquisite.. The Suzhou camphor wood chairs sometimes were lined so that they are facing towards the center of the room. This divided the space into two sections. On each side the chairs were equally and greatly spaced. Previously the Suzhou chairs were replaced by a mat and a slightly inclined medium sized mahogany table. This arrangement was used for celebrations and acknowledgment meetings only as it was a very formal yet relaxing setup.Then with time the Guangzhou chairs where introduced then finally the Suzhou chairs. The unique design of the chairs which was clearly custom made highlighted that who ever where to sit on them where of a higher rank. The dragon throne was used by the leader of the place. This masterpiece was made with a divine blend of experience and excellent craftsmenship. The complex yet beautiful patterns of the wood and metal were phenomenal. On each of sides of the throne were other Suzhou chairs but these ones where made of oak instead. On special occasions depending on the theme, this space would be filled with praiseworthy furniture and the land's most elite officials.

However on days like today the only furniture to find where two mats and the tables. It shows that two high official had just been here. The leader was still on his throne reading through some paper work. The leader is an old man. His face had been favoured by the hands of time. The flesh of his eyes has caused his naturally occurring double eyelid to sag just a bit and appear that he has a droppy eyes.The precisely straight strands of hair from his head were a shade darker than pure white but too distinct to be classified as dirty white. His eyebrows are more on the bushy and clumped side.Sperks of monochromacy in his brows are too palpable.His lip shape is cupid and looks quite  like he seldom engages in a conversation. Peachy or to pale pink would be the right colour to allocate to the oigment of his lips.In addition ,his nose contour is abnormally straight as if he had just had a rhinoplasty from a reputed practitioner. The wrinkles on his white and patched face were quite defined. He did keep a beard,but one too many times ,one can't help but think that the leader must be quite picturesque without it or maybe just maybe looks even younger.The mystrery will forever linger on.However.. in spite of his old apprearance and stature, his hands were more beautiful than those of maidens of the entire palace.The even distribution of flesh added to the fact that the porcelain skin looks as if it belongs to a princess, the display was quite alluring to anyone. The short cut nails were trully sightful. As he wrote and paged through, one couldn't help but glare at these fine hands as they would be entrapped in their beauty. They do appear to be quite soft. If they were covered in drapery, one would be justified to think they belong to a young slim female. As the leader wrote he did manage to keep stealing glances of the twitch of a vein in his hand. Just then he felt a swooshing wind .

The meeting room is an open space almost like it's a balcony only that it's on the first floor. The sudden gush of wind was anything but auspicious. He felt the hairs at the back of his neck rise and that caused him to place his brush down. The papyrus paper he was writing on suddenly started to flicker with the wind. His hazel mixed with brown eyes gleamed as the flame of the candle his table started to misbehave. He looked outside and saw the white full moon that was gradually emerging through the clouds. The moon light gradually made its way inside and started to illuminate the inanimate objects in the space creating long casted shadows. He stared at the moon until he heard a thud on the wooden flooring.. Reed collapsed to the floor as he bowed ceremoniously. He prostrated then raised his upper body. As he rose he found the king already lowering his gaze from looking at Reed.

"Your highness we have found bodies in the eastern border of farming grounds", Reed muttered clearly trying to catch his breath

The leader does not speak too much but his voice is really something. There are days when it's high pitched, others when it is low and raspy. The pattern of the tone  of his voice is as unpredictable as the waves of the  raging sea. When he heard Reed s statement , he blinked twice almost in repressed disbelief.

"how many".. that's all he had said.Thats all it took to summon chaos into Reed. An avalanche of emotions flooded into Reed. His wrecked heart started pulsating vehemently as if it was also listening. He could almost hear  his own heartbeat in his throat. The air is his lungs suddenly went dry which was uncomfortable considering that he is already trying to catch his breath from running. He wanted to desperately look inside the leader s eyes but the leader had his head bowed the entire time. Reed lowered his gaze to the ground and fought back the tears by blinking them back . His hands were already ice cold because of how his heart was beating and made it difficult to keep holding onto the sword.This is the first thing he has said to Reed in a week. This is the first time they have ever been alone in a week and this is all he is going to say.They are so close but the distance between them is greater than the vast sea and it seems that they keep sailing away from each other.How bad he wished he could make the leader listen to his heart,how much he yearned to pour out his feelings to him but where would he start and what would he say. He opened his dried- up lips and tried to talk but all he did was make a soft whisper.

"three.." the lump in his throat was not budging and that was obvious.Reed closed his eyes shut but  his efforts were failing him. Just as he was about to ask the leader to look at him, the leader said with his head bowed,

"three people killed in one night" .. he exclamed .His soft voice was not doing justice to Reed's emotions.Why can't he atleast act vile and hostile towards Reed because anger and hatred are emotions Reed can understand.He could at least pretend to hate him because maybe then the fire burning Inside Reed might be tamed.

"..the dead bodies we found are alpha WOLVES"..he said softly

" what"..with that sharp word the leader raised his head to look at him and found Reed kneeling staring at the floor. Reed got startled and unconsciously looked at the leader and in that instant ,they locked eyes and leader stared directly into Reed's caramel orbs.The moment of silence befell these two.Within this moment of vulnerability, Reed's heart was going rampant in his chest because of staring into those hazel marbles.

"two of the bodies were in mid transformation and the other was a complete wolf. only alphas have the ability to change between human forms and animal forms.. "

The leader broke the gaze and looked away.His eyes searched vigorously with no objective whatsoever.

Reed looked at him and sighed deeply..His emotions were stabilizing which is good but for how long..

The leader stood up from his throne and Reed followed in sync still holding onto his sword. The leader steeped down the stairs from his throne and zoomed past Reed. He headed for the entry way. Reed turned around slowly and watched as his silk cloak hang in the air as he moved. His heart skipped a beat as the aroma of the leader s rose water scent which lingered in the air now rushed into Reed. He placed his hand over his heart and slowly staggered backwards. Moving his legs was tremendously difficult as he walked towards the exist. The blowing wind made his talisman click  onto the handle of his sword. He stopped moving then looked downwards and saw the beautiful ornament and he dropped his hand from his chest towards the tailsman. He held the talisman and looked at the moon outside.

The side of lips curled upwards and a tear trickled down his face. Feeling the warm of the tear stream made more tears to attempt escaping his eyes and he raised his head to the sky then licked his lips in attempt to stop the tears from falling. One question always burned Reed.. is he the only one who feels this way.. Better yet how does he stop himself from his selfish yearning.. He quickly lowered his face down and walked towards the exit. After he had left the meeting room corridor, Adrian navigated his way to an unlit pillar and clatched at his clothes. He left the pressure on his lungs like they were collapsing. He gasped for air and the tears fell from his eyes successively. he placed his mouth on the joint between his forearm and upper arm. The tears came rushing down and he couldn't help them. Why should he be in pain now..he felt his limbs going sore ,the blood boiled inside his abdomen and he fought to stop himself from throwing up the blood..Gosh how bad he wished to rip out that forsaken talisman...Reed hangs onto that talisman like a trophy not realizing that it makes Adrian s organs shrivel. His eyes got drenched in tears as he was cursing Reed and they even reddened. He was in so much pain and it was suddenly worsening just then he heard footsteps  .. he panicked and decided to hide in the shadow of that pillar.

Reed left the corridor still walking slowly. One of the guard looked at him and quickly lowered his gaze. They couldn't comprehend what happened. What emotionally charged conversation happened between the king and Reed?  Reed felt the judgement from these guards and made his way towards the direction of the rose water scent. He turned around the corner and he spotted the tail of Adrian s cloak on the floor. He purposefully walked in that direction but instead of stopping by the cloak he continued in a straight line. While hiding in the shadow, Adrian who was begging Reed to move away faster ,spotted Reed walking away clearly carrying the pain in his footsteps. He stopped abruptly as he felt Adrian s gaze on him but he never looked back but instead continued walking. What's the point of trying to have a conversation with Adrian, it's only going to hurt him more.. The blood rushed to Adrian s mouth and he blocked his mouth with his hand so that he doesn't throw up the blood but he never broke looking at Reed ,who had his back to him..A wolf s howl broke the emotional silence and both of them looked in the direction of the howl .

Reed speed rushed out of the scene and headed towards the outside of the palace. Adrian swallowed the blood ,stood up and went to his room. As he passed through the corridors each of the guards bowed their heads,he tried so hard that they don't see his gaunty face. He entered his room and automatically headed for wardrobe. He opened a small chest and talk out a small pill and he quickly swallowed.Despite his condition, he wanted to change into proper attire and follow Reed. The maid knocked on his door and he immediately dismissed her. He took off all his tops  and he went towards his folding curtain and just then.. His mouth dropped to the ground.. Those perfect marble orbs protruded from their sockets.. He took steps back and immediately fell on the furniture.

The two guards by the door heard the collision and prompted whether Adrian was fine . The lack of response made them to enter the room. They found Adrian backed against the table staring at the folding curtain. One guard looked but ... he saw nothing , not a spec of dust out of place.. Why was Adrian so scared.. The guard moved behind the curtain but everything was fine. he inspected the large bed but still everything seemed in order. The guard stood behind the curtain and just turned to face the king and his guard.. Adrian and the other guard opened their mouths in succession as they observed a large wolf shadow cast behind the guard by the bed ..

"Your highness, there is not...", before he could finish that sentence , the guard behind the screen let out a wail of pain . Shadows of plumes of smoke exhuded from his body into the wolf s wide mouth  . Just as the other guard moved closer to the screen, blood splattered onto the screen bringing the other guard to an abrupt stop.. Adrian moved from his position and headed for his sword.. The other guard was trembling in fear.. .

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