99. Melissa and Robert
99. Melissa and Robert
Muttering a curse while holding Dawn's sleeve and stopping her from attacking Beta Valentine was one
of the most challenging things to do. The woman looked like a feral animal who would like to bite the
man. While Beta Valentine? He put one of his hands on her forehead, halting her attack.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I stifled a laugh. Beta Valentine looked like a giant, while Dawn
was a cute but wild puppy.
"You coward mutt!" Dawn spat, still giving her best to attack the beta.
"And you are a leech," he answered back.
"Damn you!"
"No one's allowed to curse me, Luna Dawn. And you cannot tempt me like how you tempted Delta
Isagani."
Dawn hissed, her claws elongated, and she was on the brink of clawing the man. Dawn nearly slipped
under my grasp, but I was able to pull her again.
Despite Dawn's small frame, she was strong.
In all honesty, we were nothing compared to Beta Valentine in strength and power, but thankfully, the
man did his best not to give his all.
"Dawn! Stop it!" I said, gritting my teeth while feeling the soreness of my muscles. "Fighting the beta is
not helping us. Just think he is the same asshole we usually meet on the road."
Beta Valentine scowled at me.
Dawn did not listen to me.
"We did not come here to fight." We came to look for my parents' records! I nearly had a slip of the ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .
tongue saying the second sentence but stopped myself.
"Yeah. Give up, woman. By acting like this, you only make me look at you differently. You repulse me.
You have no breeding at all. Different from the Luna's I know."
"Fuck you!" Dawn cursed. "Rot in hell!"
Oh, Moon Goddess.
"Beta Valentine. If it's not too much to ask, please leave," I asked, gritting my teeth.
"Why would I? You are the trespassers here."
"But Sir Elijah asked for your presence. Come on, Beta Valentine. Dawn will kill you."
His eyes narrowed, and he gave up in the end. "Fine. I will leave because I am scared of that woman.
But I will be back. I'm watching you two. There is some part of me telling you that you will not do good."
"Watch all you can. I don't care," Dawn answered back. "Mutt," she added.
I slapped my forehead.
Why did she have to add the word? She was making this complicated.
"I don't want to deal with someone with a brain like a leech," he answered back and slammed the door
shut.
Honesty, the two looked like children who were fighting for their toys.
Dawn relaxed under my hold.
"Are you okay now?" I asked.
Dawn calmed and faced me with a smile. "Of course! Did I do great, River?" She scoffed. "I prefer
Delta Isagani's company compared to the mutt. I cannot stand his arrogance."
My mouth gaped open. "That was all an act?"
She happily nodded. "I had to think of ways to drive him away." Her claws retracted and fixed her hair.
"Dawn. That's dangerous. Beta Valentine is notorious for having the same personality as the alpha
king."
"Nah. Everyone is different. Beta Valentine is nothing like the alpha king."
"Yeah. But he could be worse."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him, River. If he really wants to fight with a woman, I'll give it to him.
He is getting on my nerves, also. I’m not scared of his muscles or his position in this kingdom. I fear no
one. Nothing holds dear to me anymore."
I sighed. "Dawn. You don't have to fight."
"I will if it means protecting you, River. You are like a sister to me. You saved me from Master
Henderson. I will forever be indebted to you. Anyways, Beta Valentine will be back in a minute, and we
have to move fast. Let's look for the secret door."
Right.
We have to move fast.
“Do you know where?”
“I don’t. But we can look for it.”
Separately, we looked for the door leading to the secret room. Sweat coated my forehead as my heart
hammered against my chest. I forced myself to act as fast as possible, hoping Beta Valentine had not
realized we were only fooling him.
“I think I found it,” Dawn muttered.
“Really?” I asked.
She was inspecting a bookshelf full of ancient books. Her hand was holding one book. “I think this is
the one. It is somewhat hard and connected to something. Wait. Let me check.” And she pushed the
book.
Something creaked, and before we knew it, the wall behind the alpha king’s chair moved, and there
was another room inside.
My heart beat loudly against my chest.
Dawn and I looked at each other.
“We must do it quickly, River. Now. Let’s move,” Dawn instructed and yanked my hand, and together,
we stepped inside the secret door.
I coughed when I smelled the dusty place, infiltrating my sensitive nose. No matter where I looked, I
was greeted by endless shelves. Tristan was right.
“Who are the names again?” Dawn asked, inspecting the records.
From the looks of it, it seemed like no one was cleaning this place anymore.
“River?”
“Melissa Dove. Robert Dove. And Tristan Camp,” I answered. I memorized those names like the back
of my hand.
“Got it.”
“Thank you, Dawn.”
“Don’t mention it. You helped me once. I will return the favor, River.”
It was a wise decision that Dawn was here. She could read faster than me.
“All the records are arranged alphabetically for easier access. Let’s look for the letter D, River. Every
shelf housed one letter for all.”
Without wasting time, Dawn and I checked all the records one by one. My hands trembled as I
inspected it. Finally, I was one step closer to knowing my family roots.
I stopped when I noticed two books unarranged, as if they were begging to be seen. Pull the two and
read the names.
Dove, Melissa. Dove, Robert.
These were what I was looking for.
Not looking at Dawn, I announced, “Dawn. I found them.”
"You did?"
The record was dusty as usual. There was some kind of year embedded on it and their names on the
front page. On the bottom part was the name of the previous alpha king and the record keeper.
"Open it. Hurry."
I inhaled deeply, before I flipped the pages of Melissa's record.