Arranged To The Alpha
Chapter 73

Natalia:

Drake stood in front of me for a few seconds before shaking his head.

“You really don’t get it, do you?” He asked, his tone mocking. I had to fight back rolling my eyes at his current ignorance. The man was too full of himself to even understand what I was referring to; however, it wasn’t the other way around. I wasn’t as stupid or blind as he currently was.

I understood very well what game he was playing at, but I was going to make sure that we all got out of it, even if it meant me dying. My mate and husband were not going to suffer the consequences of his brother’s actions, and considering that me winning would also mean me dying, I knew to put them first.

“You would be surprised about what I do and do not understand, Drake Knight.” I said, putting a finger on his chest. “But I think the main issue here is YOU not understanding what you’re getting yourself into and that alone could be a problem.”

“A little too confident, aren’t you?” He asked, his tone mocking, and I shook my head. If anything, I was nowhere near being confident. I knew that this world was not meant to be my place of peace. I should have realized it sooner, but I knew that I was too naïve to see the facts right before my eyes.

“At least I have something to fight for, what is your cause behind this? Because as far as I am concerned, you seem to be going after greed and revenge.” I asked, raising an amused eyebrow. Just the idea of him making a whole event for people to die in a public revenge sickened me, especially since I could tell that he had no valid reason for it. Most were his enemies out of actions that he or his witches might have made. Otherwise, if things were as ‘unfair’ as he claimed, then all these creatures would be at one another’s heads right now. It didn’t seem to be the fact to me, and though I haven’t known any of them for long, I could tell that they have lived with the society long enough to know how to cope living with different creatures in one environment.

“Oh, really? Would you be kind enough to enlighten us about your ‘cause’?” He asked and I smiled, shaking my head at him.

“You wouldn’t even understand if I tried to explain it,” I said, tapping his chest twice. His eyes were fixed on my hand for a few seconds, and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at his action. His eyes softened for a second, as if confused about what was going on before they hardened once more making me frown in confusion. Blake, seeming to notice what I did, wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me back to him. The two of us studied his twin’s expression carefully before noticing that the witch behind him tensed for a second.

“We will leave it at that.” Blake said, choosing to be the one to talk. “Now, if you have nothing to say…”

“I do,” Drake said, stopping his brother. “Level one is in an hour. Therefore, I do suggest that you start reviewing these maps and scrolls while you wait.”

A few maps and scrolls appeared in front of us, and I frowned, looking at them as they opened, revealing helmets and knights. The main helmet was golden, floating over the others and it was as if a war was happening in whatever hologram we were seeing. I could tell that it was all magic, and though I knew the fate that awaited us during the period, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat amazed by the map’s details and beauty. It was almost surreal. In reality, I knew that it might be for some, but to us, this was all very real, beautiful, and accurate.

“You have one hour, and I do suggest that you use it wisely.” He said, looking at Blake and I. “That is, unless you decide to die.”

He walked out without waiting for any of us to bother responding. And I turned to look at Blake who seemed to be just as confused as I was. “Please tell me that I was not the only one who saw what I did.”

“No, you were not, and I have a feeling that I am starting to pick up what is going on.” He said, looking at the door. “However, now is not the time to discuss this.”

I nodded in understanding before picking up one of the maps to frown when it glowed. The blue glow shimmered and radiated over my arm before the map floated, revealing a path. My heart raced against my ribcage as I noticed that the map only moved when I touched it. The others who were using the maps seemed to have normal paper ones.

The River of Justice was written on top of the paper, and staring at it, I couldn’t help but feel like my veins were threatening to pop.

A long river appeared in front of us, leading through what looked like a deadly path. Three knights emerged from the water followed by what looked like sea creatures. Though neither one of them came out of the water, their eyes turned red as I lay my finger on the river. The knights seemed to turn at my touch to the map. I pulled my finger away and their eyes turned back to normal, seeming to fade as they focused on the river.

The Island of Truth was written, replacing the first title before the whole paper shifted to a completely new drawing. Blake tightened his arm around my waist, holding me upright as the two of us looked at the map.

A dark forest appeared, none of the trees had leaves on their branches, and one could tell that they had been dead for a while. An owl flew in the dark night before landing on top of what looked like a reaper’s scythe. The reaper had no face but the words ‘answer the question with all honesty or die,’ repeated itself in the air before the owl flew once again. I looked at Blake for a second before he nodded, assuring me that he was there for me. I knew that he was also scared of what he was seeing. This was not something that we were used to and the amount of magic could be felt within or veins.

The sounds around us seemed to be blocked and the only things that I could feel or hear were my mate and maps. Nothing around seemed to exist anymore and now, it was like time was truly relevant and did not exist.

The Heart of The Lion, replaced the previous title revealing what looked like a door with the face of a lion. A keyhole and a gong were the only things that could be seen; however, the dark and stony path told me that I did not want to know what lay behind that door. Helmets flew by the door before the golden helmet appeared once again, this time, landing on top of what looked like a stand for it. The helmet landed on it before being sealed as if waiting for a result.

Then suddenly, as if it didn’t exist at all, everything faded and the room lit up again. Voices and clatters around us could be heard, and it was like no one had seen what we were seeing. If anything, everyone seemed to be busy doing their own thing as if what we just experienced didn’t exist. Most of those who were in the room were already heading out, leaving to wherever it was that we would be taken to. The fact that this whole thing would be done publicly didn’t escape my mind, though how it was going to be done without raising questions from people, I didn’t know; however, now was not the time to question it.

I looked at the watch that was hung on the wall to frown when I noticed that it had been an hour already. And I couldn’t help but feel my heart race at the fact that it barely felt like a few minutes.

“Blake, Natalia, what are you two waiting for?” Elijah asked, nodding at the door as he held on his map. Each one of them had their maps in their hands and it seemed like the ‘groups’ that initially formed were now broken into even smaller groups. That fact alone was alarming to me as I knew that now things were going to be different.

These smaller groups would break into smaller and smaller groups until even lovers no longer know one another. It would be a game of lives, and that game is not going to be one that is easy. If anything, I knew for fact that it would be a game that questions our very existence. And that is not something that I wanted to think of.

“Blake…”

“It would be us against the world, baby girl.” He said, answering my unsaid question. I didn’t even know how I was going to voice it out if I had to; therefore, I was thankful that he chose to respond without the need to do so. “Until the end of time, this is how it’s going to be…”