Chapter 45

The dagger could have been easily avoided but it was such a thrill to have her willing close by, trying to reach into his heart, even if what she had with her was a blade that seamlessly cut through flesh and not a heart of her own.

His gaze flickered to the dagger and stayed there for a while, his blood on the blade, no one daring to reach for it.

That dagger was now his, he would get Laura another.

"What else is going to go wrong in this castle?" His sister's angry voice seeped into his ears. "I already have scars from the punishment of scaring the little thing last time."

A quick hand held her hand underneath the table to caution her, but Laura pulled away from Delice's hold. She was far too angry to reason.

"Soon she'll be running the whole place. A mere wolf!"

"Laura," Delice called out in a quick whisper, her voice filled with fear for her best friend.

The more Laura talked about the wolf that had suddenly been forced into their lives by the power of that ridiculous bond, the more her anger grew, her sight turning into a shade of red.

Her fingers curled around the goblet on the table and she raised it to her lips, hissing as she drank the blood in one gulp.

Slam!

The bottom of the goblet hit the hard surface.

"A despicable creature."

That did it.

He picked up his goblet, sipping leisurely.

"What do you just call my mate?"

The dining hall became deadly quiet, and the anger rising in Laura died immediately, sensing the threat in her brother's voice.

"I--I---" she began to say but words deserted her.

"Seems you didn't learn your lesson the last time." His gaze was fixed on her, and she stiffened; her eyes shone with fear as the thoughts about what had happened the last time she had attacked that useless wolf with silver flashed through her mind.

It had only been a scratch, but oh, did she suffer?

Absolutely.

She had to go without blood for a week.

It hampered her training and made her feel weak.

A whole week!

All just because of a scratch on a mere wolf!

"I'm sure you will enjoy your time in the dungeon."

The words hardly finished leaving his mouth when she sprung up to her feet.

"I'm your sister, Your Majesty. The Princess of Lavida. You cannot send me to the dungeon," the words bounced off her lips with distaste. A person of high royalty in a place like that. A whole princess to be treated like a prisoner. Her honor would never recover. Desperate, she turned to her friend for help. "Delice, tell me."

Delice nodded frantically, afraid to come in, yet scared to leave her friend at the King's brutal mercy.

"Your Majesty..."

"You will be there for only a day. If it were anybody else, they would stay there for the rest of their very long life." His gaze was fixed on her once again and she found herself bowing her head in submission. "A disrespect to my mate is a disrespect to me. You will ensure not to make the same mistake again, Laura."

The chair scraped the floor loudly as she dropped to her knees, feeling restrained and controlled by a powerful force, so powerful that her body screamed with pain. She pressed her lips together, trying to restrain her groans. She wasn't about to lose face in front of the guards standing in the shadow.

She felt increasingly angry too. It had been so long since her brother used his command on her like this.

"Yes, Your Majesty." The words pushed out of her mouth, then suddenly the pain left. She pushed forward in a subtle jerk, rising to her feet quickly.

"Take her away."

Her eyes widened.

"This is ridiculous." Hands were on her immediately. "Get your hands off me. I can walk!"

With that, the guards followed her out of the dining hall.

She would make that pesky wolf pay for this. How? She didn't know yet but she would get around it eventually and certainly.

No one crossed her and remained unharmed.

Even for the creatures of the night, in the dark was where evil was committed the most. So much evil that the sky cries.

Weeps and thunders, lightning sparks to reveal, but the second of light on the dark land could only do so much.

The lightning flashed again, revealing the speeding person in the rain through the path in the forest.

The figure moved with so much speed that nothing could be told about them until they came to a stop right in front of the tall black gates of the Castle.

The person was covered from head to toe with a black raincoat and black rain boots. With a quick maneuver and little words spoken to the guards, the person passed through the gates and now walked at a quick pace to the Castle's back door.

A pace not too fast to be suspicious and not too slow to affect him/her.

The person's boots made contact with the wet ground, as he/she headed to the back door of the Castle. With a discreet pull, he/she swung the door open and sneaked into the Castle, then up the stairs to a very familiar door that was Lady Delice's.

Creek.

It opened quickly and in stepped the person, into the warm room with a colourful ambiance. The walls were painted with a light shade of purple, the books Lady Delice had just recently borrowed from the library were littered across her study table, the purple laid bed in front of the person was empty and cold, like the wind blowing outside the close windows with gray designed curtains over them.

All was well now.

She was in her room, she could get rid of this.

Delice took off the raincoat, putting it away as quickly as possible.

Until a knock came against her door and she stiffened.

The thought of who could be at the other side of the door made her go cold and her heart filled with immeasurable fear.

No.

It couldn't be.