Damien
My heart flipped over at the words, but my stubbornness remained. "We will solve one problem at a time, Beatrice. For now, I need you to find a way to take it off forcefully… either by magic or medicine."
"Dear Alpha, I can't do this for you— you know it's forbidden."
"I do not care," I growled. "Are you going to obey your Alpha or dare to be rebellious?"
Her eyes flashed with fear as my tone increased— before they dropped to the ground. "We'll have to— if there is any chance, I need to check the library."
"Good. I'll come with you, then." I waved my hand forward and despite her hesitation, she knew better than to disobey.
Quickly, we made our way to the library.
"Alpha, this is the section. I will start up," she said as soon as we stopped at the farthest shelf from the library's entrance.
"Fine, do it." I rolled my sleeves and decided to take the lower section myself. I have long been taught to always do things independently and never trust a worker too much.
The books were bizarre, mostly on curses and forbidden spells.
"The medicine section, let's look there." I pointed when I cleared the one I was on. It was already looking harder than I thought.
The apprentice wiped her forehead and complied.
She stepped down and opened the small door to an inner section of the library, where all the older books were.
"So where should I start—" A sharp pain suddenly shot through my chest, forcing my words to return to my throat.
I was about to wave it off as a small thing when the pain hit me again. This time stronger than before. Then I recognized it. It wasn't coming from me, but my mate bond.
Arielle.
'Damien!' My wolf winced in my head. Yet I tried to ignore it again, but it kept getting worse.
"Alpha Damien, are you okay?" Beatrice stopped beside me.
"Shit—" I groaned in pain, hating every moment of it.
Beatrice's hands started reaching for my shoulder as I fought through the pain; "Alpha, I think I should get the healers," she stated, and I let out a deep growl.
I slapped her hand off me and stood up. I couldn't ignore the pain anymore. For me to feel it this much, it meant that Arielle was being tortured.
"Continue looking for the medicine, I have to go see something." My neck felt hot, as I stormed into the corridor, irritated by the situation.
From our bond, I could feel her in the stables. My legs developed a mind of their own as I hurried down there.
On getting there, I met her cleaning the stables on all fours like an animal. A shiny silver chain dangling around her neck was attached to a wooden pole.
Raymond and his entourage stood there, enjoying the show.
My wolf growled and threatened to release its true form, but I compressed all that emotion like a knot and swallowed it. Then forced a grin as I drew closer.
"Come on witch, what powers do you have?" Raymond laughed as he pulled the chain.
"Ah!" Arielle let out a gasp as she fell to the ground. The water she was cleaning with splashed on the floor, earning a good laugh from Raymond.
I wished I could laugh too but my heart failed me. And for reasons I couldn't put a name on, her pain resonated with me. And it was all her fault.
Why was she even here? She should have been resting, why was she working when she hadn't recovered?
As Raymond's eyes fell on me, he instantly sent his entourage away. They bowed in acknowledgment and took their leave.
"Damien, I never expected you here, do you need anything?" He asked with a grin dancing on his face.
"I need to talk to you, I'm having some trouble with something," I stated.
Raymond cocked his brows and smiled. "Sure, what is it?"
I could sense Arielle's wondering eyes, but I kept a straight face.
"It's about the party coming up. I don't really know what to wear, I have a lot of good clothes, but I'm lost," I started to say, "You go to parties with our subjects, you should have an idea. Right?"
Raymond looked back at Arielle and rubbed his stubble— almost as if the bastard was considering leaving her side. "Yeah, let's see your clothes. Let's go to your chambers, I will help you." He finally let out.
"Great, let's go then!" I announced but Raymond was still rooted on the spot.
He looked back at Arielle and scoffed. "I really wanted to punish this witch though, but it is your lucky day."
He reluctantly released the chain on her and my wolf twisted as a bright red mark appeared on her neck where the chain had been.
Now free, she slowly got up with the bucket and went away— for her sake, I hoped she would get back to her room and stay there.
---
"You know, the coronation after-party is going to be big! Some influential people are coming, they all want to become your allies!" Raymond said as we climbed the stairs to my room.
"These people, where have they been all these times? I won't accept them. They failed to become partners with my father and want to try it with me, I'm not dumb," I grunted.
"No, you don't have to be like that. There's a first time for everything." He opened the door to my room and invited himself in— much to my irritation.
"Yeah sure, whatever," I growled as I got in after him.
I was already regretting my decision. I should have just ignored the pain and damned the consequences!
"Damien, you never really needed my help…" He pointed out and my eyes followed his sight to the clothes arranged on a mannequin at the corner. It was my party clothes. Fuck.
He rubbed his stubble and slowly faced me with that grin of his. "Why exactly did you call me here?"
I narrowed my eyes at him and remained silent as I calculated other means of avoiding the conversation.
Raymond furrowed his brows. This time, he sounded very different. "Say, are you starting to fall in love with that witch?"