CHAPTER 249: BODIES

’There’s no way it’s going to work!’ she kept mumbling under her breath, even as she got into the carriage the next morning—one that was to take her back to the castle.

Gritting her teeth together in anger as she tried not to erupt, her entire face was hidden under a huge cloak that covered her from head to toe.

At least it covered most of the red bruises that marked her skin all the way to her neck—bruises that anyone would see and instantly know the details of how her night had gone.

’There’s no way I, as a full-blown werewolf, can carry a vampire’s child!’ she told herself again and again, aware that she would have been even more worried if she was still yet to awaken her wolf.

Still, another thing that greatly worried her was the fact that her smell was yet to change. It was the only reason Lord Drehk could still bite her, spend the night with her, and not be the least bit irritated—or angry enough to rip her head off her shoulders.

’Relax, Rymora! Just relax. There’s no way such a thing can happen!’ Her frown deepened as she shifted on her seat, well aware of the hot semen between her legs—something she had wanted to get rid of, but Lord Drehk had refused to allow her to do so.

"You need to keep it in for it to work," he had told her, even as she furiously glared at him with all the anger she could summon from deep within her soul.

Still, she leaned her back against the seat, staring outside as she watched the carriage rumble away as fast as it could. She was sure that the butler didn’t like her enough to want to spend a single extra moment with her.

As best as she could, Rymora tried to quiet her thoughts, determined to find a way to neutralize the effects of the ball she had swallowed.

’God forbid that I give birth to a monster!’ she thought, aware that the two conflicting bloodlines would for sure make him go mad as the ravaged tried to kill him.

It didn’t take too long before the carriage finally came to a stop at the castle, and she was able to get out of it. The carriage drove off the second the driver was back in his place, just as fast as it had ridden.

As fast as she could, Rymora instantly headed straight toward her room, intending to take her bath and forget all else for a few hours, since it was so early in the morning.

But she had just slowly moved toward the servants’ quarters and building when she was surprised to note the small crowd gathered right in front of the gate.

What was even more surprising was the fact that they all kept staring up at the same thing, alarm and fear in their eyes as they also glanced warily at each other.

Rymora instantly moved closer with a curious expression on her face—only to freeze as she got there, raising her sight upward, her mouth dropping open in shock at what she saw.

Hanging on the walls of the entrance into the servants’ quarters were bodies that had been clearly nailed into the walls, intact except for the fact that they were all covered in blood and missing the entirety of their heads.

The scene was grotesque in every way possible. It was horrible, and what made it even worse was that the people who had been nailed to the walls were servants they all knew.

Their uniforms made it even clearer that they had held a fairly high rank and most likely served the king directly—most likely linked to kitchen matters.

Rymora was stunned, and whatever thoughts had been plaguing her completely paled in comparison to what she now saw before her.

The monsters were real. What was even more real was the fact that, for all they knew, they were most likely hiding amongst them—even in the crowd—hence the wariness that seemed to plague every individual there.

Rymora herself didn’t dare move too close to anyone as she stood there staring at the bodies, unable to think of what else to do. The height was too high for any normal person to reach, which meant that the vampire guards had to be the ones responsible.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the vampire guards to arrive. They instantly took down the bodies and burned them right there, after each of them had been identified.

"First it was Eliza, and now four of the kitchen maids are dead! It’s clear that they are targeting us!" a maid closest to Rymora spoke, and Rymora turned to look at her, surprised to see that it was someone she knew.

"Can you not speak to the messenger of light and ask her to visit the servants’ hall?" Gloria continued, and Rymora was just about to respond that she would mention it when another spoke up—but in a more annoyed and pissed-off tone.

Tears streamed down her face in a way that showed one of the dead had been close to her, and she was barely keeping herself from wailing out in pain.

"Who knows, you might... you might be next! Don’t think you’ll be safe just because you’re her maid. You’re in danger... just like the rest of us!" she said amidst sobs, even as Rymora simply nodded her head without responding.

Turning around to leave the very next second—when it became clear that more and more people were paying attention to her—she headed straight toward her room.

A part of her felt relieved that with her wolf she could at least protect herself a bit, but even then she slowly realized she had the slightest urge to go back to the pack.

Even if she was ostracized like before, at least she would be able to spend time alone in peace, without having to worry about anyone or anything.

Thinking of Lord Drehk, whom she hurriedly wiped from her mind as quickly as she could.

She got to her room and instantly headed to the bathroom to wash herself completely from head to toe, relieved that the cloak she had worn had been enough to cover every part of her skin where the evidence of last night still remained.

’It’s better to be known to be proud rather than a whore!’ she thought—especially amongst servants and maids.