Wymond, The Cursed Beast.

Arabella's Point of View

Legends Creation College, Beverly Hills

"I'm so scared. I don't think I'll attend the selection parade."

"Me too. What if we don't come out alive?"

"My mom said the King eats human flesh."

"Same here. My mom said he prefers the flesh of young virgins."

"I heard he's old, ugly, and has two very sharp fangs."

Ugh. These are the words echoing in every hallway right now. The whole school is in total chaos, as every girl I walk past is having a serious conversation about the selection parade.

The selection parade takes place every five years. It's an occasion where girls who have come of age—from 18 to 25 years—from different species (werewolves, vampires, witches, elves, and dragons) are chosen and taken to the King's palace.

Although we don't know why they do it, all the girls who were taken there always come back having lost their memories—they don't remember and can't say what happened or what they saw there.

Another five years has come, and it's putting all the eligible girls on hot seats. Sadly, I'm one of those eligible girls this time.

Every girl is walking on her toes now because the selection parade is fast approaching and everyone is scared. Honestly, I'm scared too.

Not wanting to hear any more about the selection parade, I hastened my pace and rushed toward the direction of my first class for today.

I have not seen the King yet, but I believe these girls are kind of exaggerating—although I know for sure that he's old and ugly.

"Hey, Ara!" someone called me from behind.

I stopped and looked back, only to see Daphne (my best friend since diapers) jogging toward me with a bright smile on her face—as usual, she was dragging Dante (her twin brother) along.

"Let go of me, you beast!" Dante cursed and tried to get away from her.

"Let go of you?" Daphne scoffed. "In your dreams! Not until you refund my money. Every penny!" she screamed in his ear, making him wince.

I stifled a laugh at Dante's expression. Well, I can't blame him, because his sister always seems to forget we're werewolves—and we've got super hearing.

"I didn't force you to give me your money. In fact, you begged me to accept it," Dante said.

They had stopped in front of me by now, but I didn’t stop them from arguing because I wanted to watch some drama and have a good laugh.

Besides, with all this talk about the selection parade going on, I think having Dante around would help ease my mind.

"...wanted to reject your money, but you desperately begged me to accept it."

"You’re—"

"You were crawling after me, crying that I accept your money," Dante said in a mocking tone.

Daphne slapped his shoulder as hard as she could, but it didn’t seem to do any harm to him.

"You’re exaggerating things here. Also, you tricked and lied to me!"

"I didn’t lie," he defended himself.

"You lied!"

"I didn’t!"

"You lied!"

"I said I didn’t!"

"I said you lied!"

"I didn’t!"

Alright, I guess it’s time for me to cut in, or they're going to keep on arguing all day. I cleared my throat.

"I didn’t—"

"Dolphin," I cut in, and they both turned to face me.

Dolphin—my nickname for Daphne because it kind of sounds like her original name: Daphne, Dolphin—haha.

"What did Dante promise to do for you?" I asked her.

"He promised he'd stay over at Grandma’s tonight and take care of her for two days, but now he's taking back his words," she explained.

I looked at Dante, but he quickly looked away from me and started whistling, which meant he’s guilty.

I closed my eyes briefly, puffed out some air, then massaged my temples softly.

"Dante isn't to be trusted with money. Why do you always believe his words and fall prey to his scams?" I scolded Daphne.

"Hey, I’m not a scam!" Dante quickly defended himself.

Daphne and I both raised our brows at him. He chuckled lightly and nodded.

"I’m just intelligent," he said.

"Mr. Smart Pants, you're just too lazy to work for your money," I retorted.

He released a tight smile, grabbed Daphne’s shoulders, and pushed her toward me.

"Sorry to disappoint you ladies. I just got myself a job last night—and it’s at the King’s palace."

"What?!" Daphne and I exclaimed at once.

He grinned widely, nodding his head.

"Oh yeah," he replied.

"Are you crazy? Why did you go looking for a job at the palace? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Daphne asked worriedly.

Dante shrugged his shoulders, shoved his left hand into his pocket, and waved at us.

"I’m off to class. My mate’s waiting." Then he ran off.

Daphne closed her eyes and pulled her hair in frustration.

"My dad’s never going to agree to this. Wait—I should mind-link him and inform him of Dante’s craziness," she said.

Her eyes glazed almost immediately. I patiently waited until she was done, and we started walking again.

"What did your dad say?" I asked.

"He’s going to have a word with Dante. He sounded angry, and I believe that talk is going to involve his fist," she laughed evilly.

I shook my head. She must have done this gossip to get back at Dante for taking her money—she and her brother can be so childish every so often.

"Did you watch the news?" Daphne asked.

She threw her right arm around my shoulder, and we headed toward our class—we both have the first class together.

"You know I hate watching the news. It adds nothing to my life," I said.

"It adds nothing to your life, but it makes you aware of the things happening around you."

I scoffed.

"We're wolves. We don’t really need the news or whatsoever."

"Of course we do," she replied.

I sighed softly.

"What about the news?" I asked. I didn’t want her to continue preaching in my ears.

She looked around briefly, pulled me closer—even though we were already close enough.

"A body was found last night at the Wizardry Forest," she said in a low voice.

"Oh."

"Yeah. Rumors had it that he was killed by the Beast King," she whispered even lower than before.

"Rumors?" she nodded.

"It shouldn’t be rumors anymore. We all know he’s the one behind all the killings," I said.

Daphne nodded slowly in agreement with me.

"I don’t know why they’d make a killer our King. He should be removed."

I gave her a daring look.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Aren’t I saying the truth?"

"Of course you are. But telling me can change nothing... Why not go talk to the Twelve Elders about it?" I suggested calmly with a hint of sarcasm.

"No thanks," she said, shuddering as if she had just thought of something unpleasant.

Well, hearing of the Twelve Elders is truly something unpleasant. They are the last people you'd want to cross paths with—they’re second in command after our Beast King.

"I wish my mate would just show up, and I wouldn’t need to go to the palace," she sighed. "I don’t want to see the Beast King’s ugly face," she cringed.

I laughed and stopped in front of our classroom. I turned to face her and patted her shoulders.

"Don’t worry. You won’t remember his ugly face even if you see it," I told her.

I was indirectly reminding her that every girl who comes out of the palace doesn't have any memories of what they saw or what happened in there.

"Hmm, you’re right," she agreed.

"Let’s forget about the Beast King. It’s time for class." I nodded at our class.

She tilted her head and peeked in, then gasped.

"Mr. Clovis is already in! What should we do now?"

"Em…"

"I don’t want him to scold me again today. He’s going to tell my dad I came late to class, and my dad’s gonna—"

"Daphne," I interrupted her. "Breathe."

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

"We're taking the back door," I said, pointing at the back door.

Daphne smiled, then gave me a thumbs up.

"You’re so wise."

"Of course. I know that," I replied cockily.

★★★★★

Another yawn escaped my lips as my eyelids twitched sleepily, but I tried my best to shake off the sleepiness.

It’s been almost 20 minutes since we entered Mr. Clovis’ class, and honestly, his classes are extremely boring, which always makes me fall asleep halfway through his lectures.

Another yawn escaped my lips again. Maybe I should get some sleep because I can’t hold it in anymore.

"Hey," I called Daphne softly. "Mr. Clovis’ lectures are boring me. I think I’ll take a nap… Wake me up when he’s done."

Her eyes widened.

"A nap in Mr. Clovis’ class?!" she whisper-yelled.

"Yes. I have a part-time job later. I might as well catch some sleep," I said and rested my head on the desk.

"But he’s—"

I closed my eyes and tuned her out—sleep, oh sweet sleep.

★★★★★

"ARABELLA HUMPHREY!"

A voice shouted, and my eyes snapped open as I sprang up immediately. Then I heard a series of laughter.

I looked around with a frown until I realized I was still in the classroom. I looked to the front and saw Mr. Clovis glaring daggers at me.

Uh-oh. Guess I’ve been caught.

"Arabella Humphrey, you always fall asleep in my class!" Mr. Clovis shouted.

I twisted my lips nonchalantly.

"That’s because your lectures are boring," I grumbled.

But unfortunately for me, everyone in my class is a supernatural creature, and we all have super hearing—they heard me perfectly clearly and roared with laughter.

"What did you say?" he asked in an outraged tone.

"Nothing," I answered quickly.

Mr. Clovis’ face grew red with anger. He banged on the table and stormed toward me, waving his forefinger at me.

"You think this is funny, right?" he growled.

He stopped in front of me and glared down.

"Detention for you."

"Detention?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Mr. Clovis, we’re no longer high school students. You know that, right?"

"Well, you’re behaving like a high school student right now," he replied.

My mouth parted slightly as I wanted to argue, but he didn’t let me speak.

"You’re leaving this school premises by 8 p.m.!" he said, leaving no room for arguments.

I sighed and quietly nodded my head. It’s not appropriate to sleep off during a lecture anyway.

"Good." With that, he stormed out.

I sat down and glared maliciously at Daphne, who was laughing like the rest of the class.

"His face was hilarious," she said, banging on the desk.

"And that earned me a detention. Ha-ha," I laughed sarcastically.

"Oh, right."

"Hm." I hummed.

We started packing up our books, getting ready to head to our second classes—we have different classes for second period.

"I would have loved to stay in detention with you, but I have to go over to my grandma’s after school," Daphne said.

"Excuses. I understand you, though."

She grinned.

"You know I love you." She leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

"I love you too."

★★★★★

The rest of the day went by in a blur, and before I knew it, it was already closing time.

I rushed straight to Mr. Clovis’ office immediately after my classes. I didn’t want any more of his nagging.

But unfortunately, he had already gone home when I arrived. I wouldn’t have come to detention had I known he wouldn’t be there.

So, I took it upon myself to sleep throughout the detention period—after all, I might work overtime tomorrow because of this stupid detention.

Finally, it was time to go home. I gathered my things and rushed out of the school. Everywhere was quiet, since all the students of Legends Creation had already gone home.

My stomach growled loudly, urging me to make it home in time and get something in my stomach. But unfortunately, from the school to my home is quite far. The only shortcut to my home is… the Wizardry Forest.

'Yeah, it’s a shortcut, but the least safe one,' I heard Amy, my sassy wolf, nag in my head.

I rolled my eyeballs.

"Why do you easily get scared?" I asked.

'I’m not easily scared. I just avoid what’s going to cause me trouble,' she replied.

I scoffed and smirked wickedly.

"It’s decided, then. We’re taking the woods," I said, referring to the Wizardry Forest.

What can I say? I love opposing Amy because she gets on my nerves every so often.

'You’re very stubborn and—'

I shut her out and headed toward the forest. I was too hungry and couldn’t wait to get home.

★★★★★

Whoa, it’s so dark here. I panicked mentally as I stared at the woods (Wizardry Forest) ahead of me.

I’d made it to the entrance of the Wizardry Forest, but I didn’t know if I should continue or turn back and take the long road instead.

Staring at the woods gave me an eerie feeling, and it made my palms sweat weirdly.

'Are you scared now?' Amy mocked me.

I scoffed.

"Scared? Never."

'Then go in—but count me out when you meet trouble.'

"As if I need your help," I retorted rudely.

I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and ventured in. I pray I don’t come across danger, though.