Cassie.

"Cass, help!" Elowen's cries were the first thing I heard as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom. My head snapped in the direction of her voice only to see a guard tugging roughly at her hair. The guy looked up at me and gave me a cocky smirk.

Must be new...the bastard thinks we are all defenseless little princesses. Willow, my wolf, snorted in my head making me smile a little.

His mistake. I said and without missing a beat sped towards him and punched him hard, sending him to the floor before turning to Elowen.

"You okay sweety?" I asked whilst tugging her into my embrace and hugging her tightly. I felt her shudder but she still nodded her head anyway.

Elowen was the youngest amongst the four of us. She just turned fourteen so she didn't have enough time to train before that excuse of an uncle ki-

Okay tiger, let's not finish that thought yeah?

"Cass, I'm scared...and worried about Leonardo, he's not back yet," Valeria said coming towards us from the balcony.

"I'm sure Leo is fine." I reassured pulling her into the hug, "And you've got me to protect you so don't worry okay?"

Just then, I felt the presence of the guard behind us so I loosened my grip on my sisters and swiftly turned around and sent a punch to his gut making him double over. Without waiting for him to recover, I sent a roundhouse kick to his jaw which sent him flying to the floor once again.

I looked down at the guard who was now lying flat on his back while holding onto his probably dislocated jaw. He looked up at me with shock, anger, and humiliation.

The idiot probably thought we were weak... Willow huffed if wolves could even do that.

Again, his mistake.

"You must be new here so I'm guessing you don't know the rules of this place," I said flatly looking at him.

"What rules? You're Lord Declan's prisoners and I'm a guard. I just thought of disciplining you a bit princess." The idiot said with a glare.

I rolled my eyes before glaring down at him. "Listen here mutt, if you even dare to think about stepping foot into our quarters again, so help me goddess I'll personally eliminate any chance of you having children," I said, coldly staring at him while moving my foot pretty close to his family jewels. I made sure my voice blended with Willow's and my eyes were pitch black.

The guard's face turned pale and he stared at me slacked jawed with his eyes wide. My sisters always say that my pitch-black eyes looked creepily like two gaping black holes.

He must be terrified. Willow said sounding very smug.

We did just threaten to forcefully make him an eunuch.

The guard hurriedly got to his feet, stumbling in the process, before beelining for the door like his butt was on fire.

"You okay?" I asked Elowen once again and she smiled up at me.

"I'm fine Sis."

"Sure?"

"Yeah...thanks." She muttered making me roll my eyes.

"Hey now, none of that okay? It's my job to protect you." I said, leaning towards her and gently rubbing her head. She lowered her head, refusing to meet my eyes.

"What's wrong Elo?" I asked softly but she only shook her head.

"Elowen. What?"

"I...it's all my fault. If I wasn't so weak...I..." She stuttered, looking up at me with a teary gaze.

"Elo." I said, softly pulling her towards me, "It's not your fault okay? You just turned fourteen. You were meant to start training when this happened."

The poor kid must still blame herself because she was left in the panic room along with her mom while we were out fighting.

Normally, wolves start training by the age of ten. That was so we would be physically fit by the time we shifted into wolves for the first time when we turned sixteen. But for Royalty, it wasn't necessary to start by that age as we were learning different skills, languages, and etiquette. Combat training started at age fourteen for us.

"Yeah but-"

"Shh, none of that now okay? How were you supposed to know that this will happen? You're not a witch are you?" I asked making her giggle before shaking her head.

"Yeah Elo, it's not your fault. You've got Leo, Cass and I to protect you." Val said with a little smile.

"Uhuh, so don't worry okay?" I added with a smile.

"Okay." She answered before leaning into my embrace. Just then, the door opened making me tense up but soon relaxed when I caught a familiar scent.

"The idiot must be new," Leo said as he entered the room.

"Yeah, the mu-" I started but stopped when I caught sight of his face.

"What happened?" I gasped in surprise as I took in his black eye and bruised jaw. Leo was the best fighter I knew. He was trained personally by my dad and the leader of the empire's warriors who was a hellhound.

Hellhounds were sort of like werewolves. Only five times our size in both strength and well, size. They were immortal, or at least have a longer lifespan than us which was something because an average wolf could live to the age of at least a hundred and fifty. Not to mention that our aging was way slower than humans.

The fact that Leo was no average wolf but a wolf with Alpha king blood, it was safe to assume that I was a mighty lot surprised that he was bruised.

"Jasper." He said simply.

"Ah, that explains it," I mumbled. Jasper Valtor, our cousin was the only wolf apart from my father and Sir Finn that I knew could keep up with Leo. Even I had a tough time keeping up with him. And I was the best female fighter in the kingdom.

Sir Finn and Dad did train him along with Leo.

Yeah, and his bastard father repaid them like this.

At least he's been neutral since Uncle Lunatic started this whole siege thing.

Uhuh, until Leo's face happened. I rolled my eyes.

I doubt he left him much of a choice...

True...

"So I guess that means you were caught sending out a messenger falcon." I mused with a frown.

"Yeah, Uncle Crazy saw me. The fucker couldn't get one on me so he made Jasper do it." He rolled his eyes.

+

"Watch your language," Val said with a glare before glancing at Elowen.

"I didn't hear a thing." Elo raised her hands.

"Sorry," Leo said sheepishly.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." He sighed, dragging his hands down his face, "Our only hope is the meeting happening in three months. Maybe we can convince one of the kings to help. But I'm not even sure if we'll be allowed to attend."

I nodded thoughtfully at what he said. The meeting was where the Alpha Kings gathered to keep the relationship between the four kingdoms harmonious. My dad was usually the one in charge of that. The fact that Uncle was in charge made me doubt whether the event would even take place more or less us being allowed to attend.

Wonder how Uncle Lunatic is going to take care of it.

Probably going to leave it to Jasper, I swear the dude has it rough.

Well, he does have a lunatic for a father so... Willow muttered making me shake my head a little with a small smile.

Damn right.

"Why is this happening?" I heard Elo mutter under her breath. I was about to answer when Leo beat me to it. He picked her up bridal style before spinning around making her cry out.

"Leo! Put me down!" She giggled. I let out a small laugh as I watched them. A few seconds later, he put her down before lightly caressing her cheek.

"Hey, don't worry about it. You just have to make sure you stay out of every one of the guards' way. The only males you can talk to are Jasper and I. Let me and Cass do the worrying." He said softly looking at her.

Elowen nodded before hugging him tightly, "I miss Mom and Dad." She muttered making all of us stiffen.

The death of our parents was something none of us had come to terms with. We never were given the chance to grieve them and move on. I guess we all just locked it away in our subconscious minds. We were aware that they were gone but the reality of it hadn't fully hit us yet.

"We all do baby. We all do. But you've got us. We just have to stick together." I said, coming from behind and hugging her. I turned towards Val and motioned her to come towards us.

For a few minutes, we hugged tightly, calming ourselves with each other's familiar scent when the door suddenly opened.

"Who is it gonna be this time?" A voice we were all too familiar with said from behind us. Turning around, we came face to face with Ryder, the head guard of Lunatic's security detail.

"You still doing this?" Leo snapped glaring at him. He only shrugged and said he was, 'just doing his job.'

"You know, all this can stop. Just surrender to His Majesty and Princess Cass, and marry Lord Jasper." He said lightly. Like he did not just ask us to betray everything we stood for. I could feel Willow growling in my head and clawing at me to let her out.

"You insane or are you just naturally stupid?" Leo asked with a raised brow making me smirk.

Ryder just raised his hands in surrender and only said "Don't hate the guard, hate the Master."

"Whatever," Leo said before moving towards him to which I quickly caught his arm to stop him.

Let me handle this. I mindlinked him.

What? No Cass. You went the last time. He said, looking down at me with a frown.

Yeah so? Just let me handle this. We need you strong and healthy for when we take back the kingdom. Can't have a dying king.

You can always be queen. He said lightly making me snort.

Sure. And burn the whole palace down. Thanks but no thanks. I'm more warrior material. Besides, I didn't get the proper training.

I don't feel comfortable with this Cass. He sighed.

Oh please, you know I'm no ordinary wolf. I'm a white wolf, remember? I can handle this. Willow's healing is also kick ass. I said confidently.

Are you sure?

Hundred percent. Oh, and Willow said you're being a pain and to trust her to handle this. I chuckled making him smile.

Hey, I'm just doing my job. I never thought a time would come when I'd hate the idea of becoming king.

I've got this Leonardo. I'd rather this than them taking mine and my sisters' innocence. That's for our mates to claim. I said softly.

"Well?" Ryder said a little impatiently.

"Let's get this over with," I muttered. Val and Elo called out behind me but I didn't turn back. I was scared that I would break when I saw their faces. I needed all the concentration and mental strength I could muster right now.

I followed Ryder down the hall and towards the underground dungeons. We entered one of the rooms after descending the stairs.

"You know, I'm starting to think you're sadistic," Ryder said as he strapped me to the silver chair. I let out a hiss as my back connected with the silver. I could feel it burning the skin of my back and wrists.

Silver was the only thing that could seriously do any damage to werewolves. When silver touched a wolf, it was like they were skinned alive, drenched in boiling oil, and then set on fire.

Yeah, that's bad.

The only other thing that I knew was fatal to werewolves was wolfsbane. But it was illegal so I wasn't worried. It affected us more than silver does. Terrifying, I know.

"Says the guy whose job is to hurt people." I greeted out. You would think I would be used to the pain by now.

"Touché," he said while heading to the table on the far left side of the room, "as I said before, marry Lord Jasper and surrender to His Highness."

"You say that like you're not asking me to go against my parent's teachings and abandon my mate," I said flatly.

"Chances of you finding your mate is as good as keeping a vampire and a wolf in the same room and expecting them to act civil." He shrugged as he came towards me with a syringe filled with silver and some bowl in his other hand. "That and your parents are dead."

"Watch it!" I growled in response but he only shrugged again. Leaning over me, he injected the silver liquid into my neck, and instantly, I felt like my body was tearing itself apart from the inside out.

I gritted my teeth as I tried to endure the pain and as I was beginning to get used to the pain, I felt a piercing pain on my feet making me hiss out loud.

Looking down, I cringed at the state my feet were in. The skin was peeling off and the red that was showing looked jagged and irritated. We once tried to rebel but we were only five people. Elowen couldn't even fight. Lunatic had total control of the palace, all my parents' trusted aids mysteriously disappeared and all the guards were new faces. I didn't know how he did it and Leo and I couldn't help but wonder whether there was a behind-the-scenes expert who was using Lunatic as his puppet.

I could feel Willow trying to shoulder as much of the pain as she could while telling me to hold on.

"Well?" Ryder asked but I just glared at him.

"Oh well." He said before blindfolding me.

"What the hell are you doing?!" I asked warily whilst tugging at my chain only to curse as the silver dug into my skin.

He only ignored me and as I was about to curse out his entire family tree, a hard punch connected to my stomach making me almost cry out.

Almost.

I had been training with the palace guards since I was fourteen. Several years of training made me immune to an extent. I could take a mighty load of pain, more than your average wolf at least.

I had not finished recovering from the first punch when a second one sent me reeling. He must have attached something to his fist because that hurt like a female dog.

The next few minutes consisted of him raining a series of punches on my body but never on my face. Don't ask me why.

I tried to distract my mind with thoughts of my sisters' smiling faces but there was only so much one's imagination could do.

I was trying to catch my breath when I felt a stabbing pain in my right thigh. That made me cry out. It felt like somebody thought it would be funny to stab a silver dagger that had been left in a fire for hours into my thigh.

Hang in there Cass. Just a little more and we're done. Willow said soothingly. I knew she was feeling as much of the pain as I was, if not more, from shouldering a bit of my own.

Yeah I know...it just hurts...what is that?

I don't know. But just endure...

"I don't want to ruin your body, Princess." Ryder said roughly, "Just surrender before it gets ugly."

Trying to catch my breath, I looked towards him. Or where I assumed he was because the silver was messing with my senses, "Do your worst!" I spat out with my teeth clenched.

"You sure about that? Cause my orders were to make you and your siblings surrender. Using any means necessary." he drawled and a second later, I felt his hand under my chest making me stiffen.

"Get your hands away from there you bastard!" I growled, my voice blending in with Willow's.

"Feisty. I like it." He chuckled, his hands now on my left breast, "You know, I've always had a thing for redheads." He muttered, squeezing my chest lightly. I growled out, imagining different scenarios of me tearing this bastard to shreds.

Just as his hands slipped into the front of my dress and was about to grope me, the door burst open, "Get your fucking hands off of her!" An all too familiar voice sneered.

"Lord Jas… Jasper!" the bastard stuttered.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Jasper's deep voice asked, eerily calm.

"I...I was...I was just-" the bastard started saying when he suddenly cried out before I heard a thump followed by a choking sound.

A second later, I felt the hold on my wrists release before the blindfold was taken off. Blinking lightly to adjust to the lighting, I looked up only to be met with the crystal blue eyes of Jasper.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly gazing at me with concern and guilt. My mind was numb at the thought of what would have happened if he hadn't shown up.

Looking up at him, I took in his dark brown hair, chiseled jaw, straight nose, and thin lips. His features were so familiar. Comforting even. He had my father's eyes.

People always said that he looked more like Dad than Leo did.

I felt tears burn the back of my eyes as I stared at him. God knew what that sleazy bastard could've done to me. I could handle physical abuse but sexual? It stood against all I stood for.

"I...he..." I stuttered, still reeling in shock.

"I know baby. I'm here okay? He can't touch you anymore." He murmured while wrapping his arms around me.

I immediately melted into his embrace which was so familiar to me. It brought back my childhood memories of when I was up to mischief and he had to bail me out when I got caught. Or when I hurt myself and he had to sleep next to me whilst holding my hand to comfort me.

It was not like I didn't want to marry Jasper but more like I couldn't. He was like a second brother to me. I just didn't see him that way.

I held onto him tightly, only letting go after I had calmed down.

"You okay?" He asked softly, looking at me.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks." I smiled up at him.

"Let's get you out of here." He said standing up before pulling me to my feet only for me to cry out.

"What's wrong sweety?" His brows furrow while looking at me.

"I...he hurt my leg," I mumbled as I gripped his arms to balance myself. I heard him curse under his breath when he glanced at my leg before he picked me up with one hand under my knee and the other around my shoulders.

As we passed the door, I saw Ryder lying in a puddle of blood with a silver dagger plunged into his windpipe. I felt a shiver pass through my body at the sight.

"Don't look, baby," Jasper said pulling my head towards his chest so that my view was obstructed. I hummed as I rested my head on his chest.

"I'm sorry." He whispered after a while. I looked up and met his guilt-covered face before letting out a sigh.

"I told you to stop apologizing. It's not your fault. The crime of the father had nothing to do with the son. Stop being too hard on yourself." I quietly said. He didn't reply as he continued walking towards our room and I also kept quiet.

Lunatic's—Declan—siege and attack was not only unexpected but it came as a total shock. It was so random and sudden that it swept us all away like a whiplash. Not only was it executed perfectly but it was carried out quietly without alerting anybody. I could swear on my life that apart from those within the palace walls, nobody knew that King Cyrus and Queen Lysandra were gone.

That just goes to show you how long and well he planned it.

"What were you doing down here anyway?" I asked after a while.

"Father wanted me to be your knight in shining armor. He believes that you'll fall for me when I rescue you in a dire situation. " He said rolling his eyes.

"Please, if I was going to fall in love with you, it would have happened since we were kids." I snorted, "Sorry to say but your dad is stupid and a lunatic."

"Don't be. It's true. Even I wonder how the guy thinks sometimes." He chuckled, "So no argument there."

"Yeah, and I know I'm not your type...you are into those brown-haired green-eyed types. Preferably the ones called
V...a...l..." I grinned as I noticed him clenching his jaw.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said flatly making me laugh.

"Oh please, I know you like Val," I said making his eyes widen.

"Wa...what? Who? V...Val? Little Val? Nah." he stuttered awkwardly, "What makes you say that?"

"Well for one, your smooth way of talking." I laughed making him cringe.

"You sound like my wolf." He muttered making me grin.

"And two, you stare at her whenever you're in the same room as her." I shrugged with a laugh.

"I give up." He said, looking up at the roof and pausing mid-step.

"What?" I asked with raised brows.

Valeria is my mate. He said through the mind link making me choke on air.

"What?!?" I shouted in shock while staring at him slack-jawed.