Filed to story: The Rejected Werewolf Princess (Camilla & Tyson) by Didi Adeyemi >>
He walked towards me and curled a strand of my hair around his fingers. I stayed completely still while he moved. I knew it would be foolish to try to attack him when I was outnumbered so I kept my eyes fixated on the ground and tried to get to Ryker or Christine via mind link but I couldn’t. it felt like there was something blocking the connection.
“Don’t bother trying,” Alastair suddenly said. “When you have lived as long as I have, you will make friends n high places. I had a witch spell the cave so no one can mind link inside of it. You are completely on your own.”
The gravity of the situation hit me at once and I couldn’t help but wish I had just stayed at home with the girls like Christine had suggested. I was going to die in the mountains with no one knowing the truth. I knew I had to stall. I looked around thinking of hat I could ask and my eyes fell on the men in the cage.
“Why did you start attacking the wolves?” I asked and he froze behind me. “We had a wonderful peace treaty going on. You were probably alive when it was made. You chose to break it, why? What could have been worth it?”
“There is a lot you don’t know, Camilla. You werewolves are practically blind to the grand scheme of eternity. Do you know what it means to live for eons? To see centuries rise and fall while you remain. I believe it is both a blessing and a curse,” he walked over so he could stand in front of me. “War is inevitable, Camilla, the quicker you realize that, the better.”
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“You have something that I want,” he said suddenly and my brows scrunched, “and you are going to give it to me.”
“I will never help you.”
“I thought you would say that,” he stood to his feet. “Look around you, Camilla, you aren’t getting out of here without giving me what I want. Do us both a favor and end this right now.”
“I don’t know what you want but I can promise that I will not be giving it to you,” I spat and his l*ps curled downwards.
“I never wanted it to come to this but you leave me no choice.”
“What are you even talking about?”
He didn’t respond.
RYKER’S POV
When I was told that there was another b*dy, I was expecting to see a scene similar to the last ones. When I got there, I was suddenly thankful that I asked Camilla to stay back. It was so graphic that one of the guards threw up on sight. The smell of blood hung in the air and it was so messy that I didn’t even know where to stand. It was clear that unlike the others, this man was killed in the forest.
His head was completely severed off and there was blood everywhere- on the grass and on the trees. There was no way we could hide this one even if we tried. I muttered a curse and ran my hands through my hair as I thought of what we could do. The guards were most definitely going to talk and the family of the boy were not going to accept any bullsh it explanations.
“Your majesty,” one of the guards spoke snapping me out of my thoughts. “What do we do with the b*dy.”
“Right now, leave it. Get the physician here. We can’t risk transporting it back to the palace.”
He nodded and left to do as I asked. While we waited for the physician, I spoke to the guards who had found him. They were lured by the scent of blood and discovered the scene. No one recognized him yet and I was grateful for that. It was easier to deal with the victim as a stranger than someone’s child or father.
It took twenty minutes for the physician to arrive with his son and I saw him flinch when he took in the scene. He muttered something under his breath and went to work analyzing the b*dy. His son looked a little green and if it were another day, I would have suggested that he sat it out but I needed to get to the bottom of things as soon as possible.
“It is the same as the others,” he said as he stood to his feet.
I didn’t want to risk the others overhearing us so I turned to the guards. “Wrap up the b*dy and take it back to the palace. Ensure it is cleaned and made presentable then find out who he is and if he has any family.”
While they scrambled to do as I asked, I led the physician to a corner of the woods away from prying ears. I didn’t know what he wanted to say but I had a feeling that I was not going to like it. He looked around to be sure that no one was listening before he spoke.
“I think it was the same vampire that did this,” he whispered. “It looks more disorganized and the scene is made to look like he lost control and ripped the head off but I don’t think that’s what happened. It was a clean cut. It wasn’t ripped out using teeth because if it was then it would have jagged edges like ripped skin.”
“What are you saying essentially?”`
“I’m saying that whoever this is has to be exceptionally brilliant. They know what they’re doing. This is a game your majesty, I just don’t know what the rules are.”
I sighed. “Thank you for your help.”
He nodded and I watched him walk away. I waited until the guards finished clearing the scene before I got into the carriage to leave. I just wanted to sit with my mate and forget everything that happened. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this exhausted and it wasn’t a physical thing.
As soon as I got to the palace however, I knew something was wrong. It wasn’t as if anything stood out, there was just an unease in my chest. I tried to mind link Camilla but her wall was up. I decided to go looking for her but I saw Christine with the girls.
“Where is Camilla?” I asked making all of them turn to me. Audrey ran into my arms but I could barely focus on her, my attention was on Christine and the guilty expression on her face. “Where did she go?”
“She took some guards to follow up a lead on the vampire king. I tried to convince her to wait for you but she said she would be back soon. I’m sorry.”
I cursed and rushed out of the room. I knew Camilla made impulsive decisions but this topped the cake. I immediately up the guards while Christine told me where she went. If it wasn’t so frowned on I would have considered just rallied permanently locking Camilla up in a room so she wouldn’t make crazy decisions sand give me a heart attack before 40.
No words were spoken as we took off. I was burning with anxiety and fear. I kept trying to reach Camilla through her mind link but it was almost as if something was blocking it. I couldn’t get to her no matter how hard I tried. The sun was setting and I was getting increasingly paranoid. The night was their domain and I didn’t want her out while there was a crazed vampire on the loose.
We got to the mountains and I didn’t know where we were going but I trusted that we were going the right way. When I found the horses tied up and abandoned, I let out a sigh of relief. Even though Camilla was not with them, it filled me with a sense of relief that we were going the right way. I decided to continue on foot since we were already at the base of the mountain.
I could feel the curiosity from the guards with me. The sun had almost set completely and we were still nowhere close to finding them. The logical thing to do would have been to call off the search until morning but Ii had zero plans of leaving Camilla out alone. There were only two choices- return with her or do not return at all.
“Your majesty, I found something,” I immediately rushed towards the sound of the guard’s voice. I didn’t know what I was expecting but it definitely was not the severed b*dy of one of our guards at the mouth of the cave.