While no one guessed correctly, I'm dedicating this to _Owlet_ who gave me a great idea that I'll be using for the rewrite! I haven't put any dedications on a few past chapters, so I dedicated one to the others who ventured out and took a guess! Only five chapters left guys omg. After the end, I'll explain my idea for the sequel/not-sequel thing. I can't explain now because it'll ruin something that isn't really "revealed" until the end. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! OOOH and we got a special guest appearance at the end of the chapter.

Chapter Thirty

I do not know what I was expecting. Perhaps a hunter who wanted to boast about killing the legendary King. Maybe in the depths of my mind, I believed that it was a servant or guard who felt as if they had been done wrong and wanted to personally punish the King for their loss. However, standing by the window was none of these.

She appeared to be older, fading into a silver color at its roots while the rest was a darker brown, all of it piled on top of her head. She also wore a large black gown that reminded me of what would be worn to a funeral. The material was thick and rich, something only someone from a background of wealth could afford.

Her head was held high, her arms folded on top of one another in front of her. One of the arms appeared mangled, scars wrapping themselves all around it. Her hand appeared to be missing a finger, the rest drumming along her upper arm.

"Who are you?" I asked, breaking the silence. My voice seemed to create a booming effect, threatening to send a shiver down my spine. I kept still, my eyes never leaving her figure.

She casually turned towards me, a smile appearing on her face. It was a perfect one at that, kind and gentle. Yet, her presence suggested something entirely different. "Forgive me, dear. My name is Anise Sandalius. Formerly known as Queen Sandalius." I blinked, more lost than before.

She had been given the chance to kill the King, long ago when he was given a death sentence for killing her husband. Why had she not accepted if it was her plan now?

"Everything was going according to plan until you came along, Rowan. The King was going to be gone soon enough without my intervening. However, you arrived at the perfect time for him, ruining that. So, I had to come out of hiding and speed up what you were only prolonging."

She finally walked away from the window, coming closer to me with each step she took. Her face did not hold any of the cruelty that her thoughts and words did but perhaps that is why no one ever questioned her. "I am terribly sorry about the fox, dear. However, it seemed I was helping the deformed thing. A creature like that shouldn't be allowed out in the wild. There are dangerous things out in the forest."

I stiffened, refusing to take her bait. Todd had lived in the forest for all his life and not been attacked except for once. He was able to handle himself quite well, however, I was not going to explain that to her.

"Why allow the King to live? You were given the chance to end his life and rejected it," I replied, turning to keep my eyes on her as she began circling me, her back towards the door.

She gave a short laugh, shaking her head as if it was a ridiculous question. "And give him what he wanted? That boy would've gladly welcomed death at the time." Her eyes narrowed, reminding me much of a predatory bird's zeroing in on its prey. "I wanted Kieran to pay for what he did to my husband and me. When his life ended, I wanted him to feel guilt and pain as I am sure he's experienced over these past few months."

I pursed my lips, replying. "Having the King killed will not bring your husband back."

Finally, Anise's facial features twisted into something less kind as she smirked. "No, but it will certainly make me feel much better."

She had been planning this for some time, this much I was sure of. Perhaps she had a backup plan in mind in case things did not go as planned, which is exactly what had happened according to her. If she had not come here, no one would have suspected the widow who had gracefully grieved for her husband and humbly pardoned the King. No one would know of the shadows that lurked behind her or the darkness that had made itself at home within her mind.

"The both of us had given that boy everything he could have ever dreamed of and more!" she snapped, her voice raising abruptly. "We raised him as a proper child yet he fought against us as if we were the indecent ones, not those wolves. And do you know what he did, dear Rowan? He repaid our hospitality and generosity by killing the man that had acted as a father to him and making me flee.

There were no consequences for his actions! So, all I'm doing is returning the favor," she said, getting her emotions under control at the end, composing her expression at the same time.

"You speak nothing but lies. The wolves were his family first and foremost. They were his true caretakers. You and your husband were nothing more than obstacles for him," I spat back, remembering the King's story of how they had treated him.

She once again laughed, this time throwing her head back dramatically. "Family? Those creatures were nothing but killers. They tried killing me when we were hunting them." She raised her disfigured arm, twisting it and turning it to show me the full extent of her injuries.

I scoffed. "No wonder they attempted to kill you. It is only a shame they were not able to finish the job," I said, satisfaction running through me when her eyes flashed with anger.

"Enough talking!" she snapped, growing tired of our charades. "Where is the child?" She no longer appeared to hold the elegance of royalty. Anise now held the composure of a criminal, alert and poised to strike.

"I have nothing else to say to you," I replied, tightening my grip on the knife I held. Her eyes focused on it, flickering before she ran and darted out of the room.

Kieran Sandalius' POV

Every man had a breaking point. It is the point in which everything piling on one's spine grows too heavy, finally snapping it into two. It is the point in which we can no longer deal with the strain that life has placed on us. It is not when we snap that matters but how we deal with the situations at hand.

My breaking point had happened long ago or so I had believed. My life had been altered when I was swept away from the pack of wolves, from my family, and placed into a sheltered building that quickly turned into a prison.

I could remember the very day the witch came to the castle. She had been dressed inconspicuously, going unnoticed by the guards at the time. When she revealed herself, the King and Queen were frightened, calling for someone to whisk her away. I was fascinated.

She had knelt in front of me, promising to make everything better. I had believed her, listening as she told us that she would return me to my parents. It is safe to say that no one expected what happened next.

I was turned into a wolf and when I was human again, the King and Queen locked me in a room. I remained there for some time until they brought an adviser. The adviser told them it was best to treat me as a wolf rather than a human when dealing with me. This way, they would be prepared for the worst before it happened.

They allowed me out of the room but with this came stricter rules. I was not allowed in public alone and curfews became tighter. I was punished more severely for behavior that was considered unnatural by the King and Queen.

I would find myself shifting over the slightest emotion imbalance that occurred. Those days, I was more often a wolf than a human. This continued until one night when the King reached his own breaking point.

He had snapped, yelling that he was done training me. He told his wife that I would never make a good ruler and they should have killed me along with the wolves. She had attempted to reassure him, telling him they would send me away to someone who would be able to straighten out my abnormal behavior. He told her that if she did not find someone within the next few days, he would have me banished from the lands before he punished me yet again.

I suppose I too had reached my breaking point, tired from the harsh treatment I received from the two who called themselves my parents. That night, I shifted and killed the King.

I was sent away and told that I would be killed. I did not put up a fight, pleading them to do so. It was not killing the King that scared me. It was not being able to control my own body, not being able to know what I would do. What would happen if I began to care for another? Would I hurt them as well? To this, I was not willing to wait and find out the answer.

Before they could kill me, however, the Queen put a stop to it all. She pardoned me, leaving the castle and all its land to me. I returned, growing worse than before. I learned it was easiest to control myself when others were not alone so I began to avoid people, only doing what was needed. I locked myself in a single room, leaving Sage to deal with anything in the castle and Shaterria anything outside of its walls.

Now, I was in yet another prison, this one much more real. This time they had placed shackles around my ankles, wrists, and neck. The chains led to the wall, bolted into the stone. The room itself was a small one lacking room to walk in. However, given my current situation, I was not able to walk as is.

Most of the days were spent drifting in and out of sleep. The first few, they had attempted to break me, whipping my bare back. That was ended when I shifted, the shackles on my ankles and wrist no longer fitting causing me to hang myself as a wolf. So I was left alone, someone only coming by to present me with food and take out the bucket of waste.

I had gathered that by tomorrow, I could be killed. It would be done publicly because so many had argued that they had been harmed by me and it was only fair that they were able to watch as I took my last breath.

Soon enough, I would be free of this world and able to run with the wolves once again. 

*** A bit of information from previous chapters about the Queen:  So in Chapter Three Rowan is told the story of the King. It mentions that he killed the previous King and the Queen was not mentioned. She is later mentioned in Chapter Nineteen as having pardoned Kieran was he explains above.