Chapter 51: _Sneaky Celine

Chapter 51: _Sneaky Celine Marcellus’ POV ***** Sometimes getting other people to do your dirty work and watching them destroy themselves is far easier than actually doing it yourself. Okay... Who was he kidding? It was mountains of fun! After placing Celine under his spell, Marcellus watched from the shadows, monitoring her change in behavior and watching her scheming on how to cause Kaelos and Odessa pain. The amusing part was that her mother, whom Celine had always shared everything with, was now left in the dark about her most recent plans. Anyway, on the other side of the chess board, there was Odessa. He’s not going to lie... He indeed wanted to manipulate her and get into her head with his magic on that night that she came out to rant about Kaelos. But... There was a little problem with that. "She has a protection ring?" Cullen, his assistant, asked him when they discussed their plans while watching Celine from the shadows. Today was the day that the Alpha King’s tailor had come to his mansion to take measurements and the like. At night time today, long after the tailor had left the mansion, Celine had walked out, glancing around suspiciously. Marcellus tilted his eyes, squinting his eyes as he scrutinized her while also simultaneously answering Cullen’s question. "Indeed, Cullen. She says it was left behind by her mother who was apparently a powerful witch." He blurted casually before he and Cullen waltzed in the shadows, following Celine. What was she up to under the manipulation of his spell? It was exciting to watch, like a game of Russian Roulette. "Oh, right," Cullen muttered, scoffing soon after. "In that case, you’ll just have to take it off her finger, right? Easy peasy." Marcellus paused just then, rolling his eyes before he turned his gaze to Cullen. "Not ’easy peasy’, Cullen." He explained, a hint of irritation in his voice. "Protection rings of that caliber are usually made to protect the owner from outside magical influence that they’re unaware of. But also, it would alert the owner by burning their skin if it’s about to be taken forcefully." Now, as frustrating as all that was, Marcellus saw it as a potential challenge if the need ever arose. He could already think of some loopholes in getting that ring. Suddenly, the two men spotted Celine walking toward one of the outskirts of the pack. The fact that she was doing all this on foot should be exhausting but also dumb. "Couldn’t she be any more sneaky?" Marcellus grunted, shaking his head. Unfortunately, his spell could do nothing to augment a victim’s intelligence. Anyway, after what felt like hours of seemingly aimless walking, Celine finally got to the northern walls of the pack. There was a wall surrounding the entire pack, reaching five meters in height. From what Marcellus has been able to decipher, the walls were sturdy but also had centuries of divine magic protecting them. Divine magic channeled from the moon goddess herself. This way, it would be almost impossible for the witches to attack this pack. Well, almost... "Couldn’t you get someone to like... Get close enough to Odessa to take off the ring?" Cullen asked when the two of them hid themselves under the shadow of a tree hundreds of meters away from the walls. Marcellus arched an eyebrow, glancing back at Cullen. The lad was also a member of the true Lord of the North’s special forces of artificial hybrids. But compared to him, Cullen was still learning to get used to his transformation and was much weaker. That’s why he’s under him as an ’assistant’. "Believe me when I say it’s no problem, Cullen," Marcellus said with a confident smirk as he stared at Celine and watched the way she stood anxiously in front of the walls as if she was waiting for something or someone. "For now, Celine is enough for me to manipulate. Besides, there are a plethora of other chess pieces to move in this pack." Marcellus continued to Cullen while his eyes dimmed at Celine. At this rate, even though there were no buildings close to these walls, she might get caught by any patrolling pack soldier. What was taking her so long? Just when Marcellus was contemplating if his spell had completely fried her brain, something quite surprising happened. A shadowy figure materialized in front of Celine, a mist covering it. "What the..." Cullen muttered speechlessly as he stared at the shadow figure. Meanwhile, Marcellus almost instantly knew what the figure was. Or rather, who it was. "Keep quiet." Marcellus placed his hand on Cullen’s mouth, shushing him as the figure finally revealed herself. It turned out to be Regina, the true lord of the North’s messenger. "Well, well, well..." Regina muttered as she scrutinized Celine with a sly smirk on her face. "You actually made it. I hope you came alone." Just then, Celine scanned her gaze around before nodding in response. However, Regina soon brought her gaze directly to the tree where Marcellus and Cullen were hidden, her expression plain as her eyes glinted with an unknown light from the distance. Marcellus and Cullen remained hidden thanks to their cloaking spell, but the former knew that Regina was probably already on to him and might have even sniffed out his magic on Celine. But she wouldn’t dare meddle in his affairs. She knew how chaotic things could get if she did. Anyway, Regina finally tore her gaze away from the tree and stared directly at Celine, a mischievous smile on her face. "So, Luna Queen Celine. You said you want to make a deal with me even though I’m a rogue witch." Regina remarked, sarcasm laced in her voice. "I hope your contacts informed you of how... Dangerous and notorious I am. What could you possibly need me for?" She wasn’t a ’witch’ but Marcellus remembered that she worked as a mercenary, striking deals with corrupt wolves, witches or even humans who needed her services. None of them could ever suspect that she was a hybrid. Anyway, Celine seemed like there was a lump stuck in her throat, even from this distance. Her hate for witches was well known, so seeing her trying to strike a deal with what she assumed was one was ironic. After drawing in one deep breath, Celine blurted coldly. "I want you to kill Odessa Pierce."