CHAPTER 295: _REGINA AND CAROLINE

Caroline’s POV

*****

It’s been four months...

Four freaking months and Regina, that she devil, still managed to linger around her like a shadow. Haunting and taunting, trying so hard to probe her and get her to reveal what she truly was.

Each visit from the agent of Lord Ryker felt like torture... But it soon started becoming something she would look forward to every day.

No, not because of any weird reasons. She couldn’t possibly fall for a lunatic like her.

Nah, it was because she was cautious of Regina, watching her in case she had any plans for Odessa or to cause chaos of any sort.

’That’s a big ass lie and it’s not even a good one.’ Vilda suddenly spoke up in her mental space when she was reminiscing about everything from the comfort of her balcony.

Today was quite... Eventful.

From Alpha King Kaelos proposing to Odessa and then the latter fainting out of the blue after her magic went wild.

Something dark was brewing. She could feel it and she was sure Odessa and the others could too.

That was the main reason for her awkwardness around Odessa earlier today. Because of the deep-seated dread of what’s to come.

"Oh, hush, Vilda. You know I wouldn’t do something as stupid as falling for that sapphic devil." Caroline rolled her eyes in response to the last thing Vilda said to her, wrapping her hands on the railing of the balcony. "She’s... Not relevant. The only thing that matters is Odessa’s safety."

"Well, ouch." A silvery voice spoke behind her from within the room just then, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Shit...

Caroline closed her eyes briefly before she opened them again and slowly turned around. However, her heart nearly jumped out of her body when she did that.

Standing only a few inches in front of her was Regina who had a pouty expression on her face, blinking at her with those enchanting black eyes of hers.

"Do you really think I’m not relevant, Caroline?" Regina asked with a puppy voice, sulking. "Oh, that breaks my black heart."

Caroline’s eyes twitched before she placed her right hand on her shoulder, trying to shove her away.

But the second her hand touched Regina, the latter grabbed her wrist, pulling her into the room in one fluid motion.

"What the—" Caroline was about to curse out loud but Regina already had her against the wall, breathing down her neck and leaning closer, scanning her seductively.

Caroline swallowed hard, trying to regain composure and prevent her head from spinning. "What do you want, Regina? Seriously, this is getting old."

Regina sniggered, nodding slowly. "Right. We should just skip to the part where we..."

She trailed off, pressing her body against hers until they were eyeball to eyeball. Regina was a few inches taller, her right hand placed on her waist while her left pinned Caroline.

The latter blinked, going through so many emotions at once.

What the fuck is happening right now?!

"You’re a freak!" Caroline yelled, managing to push Regina aside. She glared at her for a few seconds before shaking her head and walking away. "I seriously don’t have time for this. I—"

"I get it." Regina interrupted yet again, but this time, her voice was less flirtatious and more understanding. "You have your mysterious duty to protect Odessa or whatever. And I have mine... A complete opposite of your function."

Caroline froze, looking over her shoulder back at the artificial hybrid who now leaned against the wall where for a fleeting second, it felt like their lips almost touched.

Regina looked... Nervous.

Wait, that’s not right. She hasn’t known this walking embodiment of chaos for long but she knew very well that an emotion like being nervous... It was foreign to her.

"What’s... What’s up with you?" Caroline found herself asking, ignoring the protests from her inner wolf, Vilda.

’This is the part where you call in the pack soldiers. For the moon’s sake!’ Vilda snarled.

Meanwhile, Regina folded her arms in front of her chest, her expression becoming stoic. No confident smile or seductive glint in her eyes.

It was as if a mask fell off.

"I didn’t..." Regina paused, biting her bottom lip as if she were trying to hold herself back from saying too much.

Caroline stared at her for a bit before getting frustrated quickly.

"Fuck..." She shook her head, about to turn around again when Regina chimed.

"We’re more similar than you think. You and I."

That was enough to make Caroline do a 360, tilting her head at the artificial hybrid who adjusted her black dress casually.

The nerves!

"We are anything but similar, Regina." Caroline sneered, eyeing her. "For starters, I’m not a cold-blooded killer or manipulator with clear sociopathic tendencies."

Regina’s stoic expression slowly turned into a broad grin, genuinely freaking me out.

"Yes, true. But at the same time, have you told anyone that an agent of the true lord of the North has been visiting you for four months?" Regina asked with a sharp voice, causing Caroline’s jaw to clench.

But she wasn’t done.

"Like me, you’ve sealed your heart to focus on your mission, whoever sent you in it, and yet you still managed to get vulnerable enough to fall for someone not once... But twice."

When Regina said that, Caroline frowned.

Twice?

"What do you mean ’twice’?" She asked with a shaky tone but Regina merely smirked.

Suddenly, she disappeared and reappeared right in front of her again, her lips lingering close to her face. Daring. Tempting.

Caroline’s pulse quickened as she struggled not to move an inch.

"At the end of this all... I don’t even know what my fate will be." Regina whispered, her voice becoming a little sad now. "But... I know I’ve had quite a lot of fun messing with you."

And with that, she disappeared into a cloud of black smoke, leaving Caroline standing there with her eyebrows furrowing with confusion.

There was a gut punch to her stomach, as if a hole had been punctured through her... Heart?

"It can’t be..." She muttered, refusing to believe it.

Her gaze subconsciously went to her right arm just in time to see the black slash mark that had haunted her for months, fading like starlight.

She blinked, confused when it completely disappeared. Regina had left that cursed mark on her arm, using it to monitor her somehow.

And now it was just... Gone?

Caroline’s eyes went out to the balcony where the wind picked up slowly, a sparrow on the railing.

It seemed that just like her... There was more to Regina than she knew about.

"Goddess, what did she do to me?"