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+Chapter 3+

“W-Why?” Mari tried to ask bravely, cursing the tremor in her voice.

“It’ll be explained later.” He said blandly, stepping forward to firmly take her arm.

She thought of struggling but that would only prove her guilt so against her better judgment, she let herself be taken away. Through the tinted windows of the car she was put in, she watched the town members swarm around to watch what was going on.

Nothing ever really happened in the small sleepy town of Wintree so this was big news and would quickly spread like wildfire. Which wasn’t all bad because at least Dana would quickly find out that she wouldn’t be able to come to work - she was already very late though.

The car ride was the worst thing Mari had ever experienced, and she had a pretty ugly past. There were two men on either side of her and two in the front but none of them spoke to her, the atmosphere tense and frigid.

Now that she had gotten in, she was starting to think of how bad an idea it was to have followed random suspicious men just because they told her to. For all she knew, they could be kidnappers or murderers.

“Where are we going?” She finally broke the silence, not expecting an answer.

“Just to the outskirts of the town, we just want to ask you some questions.” The man who had approached her first spoke again.

That didn’t bring relief at all, if all they wanted to do was ask some questions why didn’t they do it at her burning apartment? But it was too late to protest now, protesting might just get her in more trouble and there was currently no way of escape.

When they got to the sign that read ‘Now Leaving Wintree’ there was another surprise waiting for her. There were even more black unmarked cars, and if she was sure her eyes didn’t fail her, two very unexpected individuals.

The King of the South, Lucien Thorne, and the King of the North Kade Grimm were having a conversation just a couple of feet away from her.

Although King Lucien was her King, as she was from the southern Kingdom of Moonbeam, she had never seen him in person because Wintree was very backwater.

But for not just one but the two werewolf Kings to be in Wintree, it meant that something very important was happening.

The car she was in slowed to a stop within hearing distance but she was left in the car while the men with her went to speak to King Kade.

From where she was seated she could clearly see both Kings, their looks matched their personalities. King Lucien was friendly and sociable while King Kade was said to be a literal monster who no one dared cross.

Their expressions looked nothing like what they were said to be though because King Lucien looked more menacing than King Kade at the moment.

“Might I ask what you’re doing in my territory?” Lucien asked, his piercing blue eyes dimming as he stared down Kade.

“Forgotten we signed a treaty so soon? I can freely visit your territory and the same goes for you.” Kade calmly explained with boredom in the depths of his black eyes.

“Then why did you decide to visit Wintree?” Lucien asked with thinly veiled hostility, a vein ticking on his forehead.

Kade lifted a brow, unimpressed, “Is it off-limits for some reason?”

King Kade’s unruffled air only served to piss Lucien off further, the treaty was merely a necessity to deal with the Shadows but he knew better than to trust the shifty King of the North.

“What’s in my Kingdom belongs to me.” Lucien said without mincing words, knowing that Kade understood what he was talking about.

A smirk lifted the side of Kade’s lips, his black hair waving slightly in the faint breeze, “Not if I get to it first.”

Without being told, Mari had a feeling that they were talking about her. She already suspected that the important-looking men had come for her because they believed that she had some connection to witches but the fact that both Kings had also shown up sealed the deal.

Because witches had long gone extinct, if they feared that a dangerous witch had somehow survived, of course, they would both come for her. The men who had left her in the car were too busy trying to get King Kade’s attention to keep an eye on her; she tried the door handle and found it open, silently sneaking out.

The outskirts of Wintree were all woods but that was fine with Mari. She couldn’t return to her apartment after all, and she would have to constantly be on the run now. Witches were shown no mercy, and although she could understand why, her tune changed when she was on the receiving end.

Kade was starting to get irritated with the obstinate King of the South, and just as he was about to desert the conversation, a flash of white at the corner of his eye caught his attention.

He glanced at it just as his men walked up to him to whisper in his ear.

“We’ve found her, Your Highness.”

Kade’s exasperation was evident in his voice, “And you fucking lost her.” He snarled, breaking out into a dead run.

Lucien caught on quickly, he whipped around and saw a figure dressed in white disappear into the woods, Kade giving chase. He had been called out because he had gotten information that a strange occurrence connected to magic had occurred.

By the time he approached the small town of Wintree, he bumped into King Kade. It was too suspicious to be a mere coincidence, he didn’t appreciate another King being more well-informed about the happenings of his Kingdom than he was.

His long white-blond hair whipped in the wind as his long legs ate up the distance after King Kade, the bodyguards of both Kings left stunned unable to do a thing.

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