Chapter 19

Queen Magnolia’s POV

Magnolia made her way to the kitchen on the eve of the full moon. She knew of Naomi’s plan of having a servant drug Sebastian’s food. However, she didn’t know which servant it was. As she reached the servant, she heard the head chef speaking to the kitchen staff.

“We must be sure there is no alcohol or other stimulants in the food for the next few nights. Just until after the full moon. We need to keep as cautious as possible when serving the king’s food. Understood?”

“Yes, chef,” the other kitchen staff said as they continued working.

The head chef made eye contact with Queen Magnolia and bowed instantly.

“Your majesty,” the chef said. “I didn’t see you there. May I get you something?”

Magnolia stared around at the wide eyes, trying to figure out which one of these traitors was working with Naomi. They all had motives and they all looked guilty. Her eyes landed on a young boy who looked particularly guilty. Magnolia recognized him as the boy she hired not long ago, since the last maid “mysteriously” turned up dead. She also knew this boy didn’t belong in the kitchen.

They met eyes and he instantly turned away his face reddening. Magnolia pressed her lips in a thin line and turned to face the head chef.

“No,” she finally answered. “I was just seeing how tonight’s meal was going.”

The chef looked surprised by her answer.

“Oh, um…” he said. “It’ll be served in a few hours. I was just telling the others that we are steering clear of stimulants in the food. Just until after the full moon. Anything that’ll provoke the king during his maddening stage will be avoided.”

“See that it is,” Magnolia said, keeping her tone even and a bit cold.

She glanced at the young boy once again before turning and leaving. She made a mental note to get to the kitchen again tomorrow to see if the boy was still there.

…

The next day approached, and Magnolia returned to the kitchen, except she got to the kitchen a little later, to try and catch the boy in the act. She was sure if he was to drug the food, it would be last minute after it’s already been prepared by the head chef.

Just as the chef finished cooking the meal, he went to clean himself up while the other kitchen staff worked to plate and serve the food. Sebastian and Hannah haven’t gotten to the dining hall yet so it would be a little bit for the food to actually be served.

Magnolia poked her head through the door just as the young boy, she saw the day prior, sprinkled dust on one of the plates. He didn’t look particularly happy with the task he was doing.

She pushed the door open, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Magnolia asked in a growl.

The color on his face completely drained and he dropped the bottle of drugs to the ground. She watched as his body trembled uncontrollably and he took a step away.

“Your majesty…” he said in a hoarse voice. “I can explain…”

“Explain why you’re drugging the king’s food?” Magnolia asked, tilting her head to the side as she neared closer to him.

“I was trying to help him…” the boy tried to explain but he stopped speaking at the sound of Magnolia’s chilling laughter.

“How much is she paying you?”

His eyes widened.

“I’m sorry?” He asked in a whisper.

“Don’t play stupid with me.” Magnolia hissed. “You are being paid a large sum of money to drug my stepson’s food. How much?”

“Uh… 25 thousand dollars…”

Magnolia laughed again.

“That’s all?” She asked with a shake of her head. “You servant’s will do anything for a small amount of money. It’s pathetic.”

The boy said nothing, he stared at her shocked.

“I have to admire her efforts,” Magnolia said in a sigh. “However, what kind of queen would I be if I allowed something like this to happen under my nose?”

“Your majesty…please…” he stammered, nervously.

“I can’t let this go unpunished. You understand, don’t you?”

She didn’t wait for him to answer. She shifted, allowing her wolf to take over.

The vile creature transitioned into a deadly animal; her blonde fur was thick and sharp like razors; her teeth were large and pointy like knives.

She pounced in the direction of the boy who was too shocked and terrified to even scream. She bit into his neck, and he cried out in agony as she ripped through his throat. She tasted his blood oozing onto her large tongue and rinsing down her throat.

He only yelled out for a moment; as soon as she released her teeth from his flesh, he fell to the ground.

Dead.

…

(Hannah)

I was disgusted when I watched the camera footage I set up around my cubicle. I knew right away, upon looking at my paperwork, that the prescriptions were all messed up. It wasn’t my handwriting, and it was clear that it was erased and re-written. As soon as I started my internship, I set up cameras around my desk, knowing that Nancy was going to try something. She was Amy’s best friend; I would be stupid if I didn’t expect the worst.

I was glad I was prepared before I went to visit my patients with these prescriptions.

I clipped the video file on a USB; I was furious that she would stoop so low and jeopardize these innocent patients, just because she doesn’t like me. How could she try to ruin my reputation like that? How could she put them at risk?

I saw her typing something on her computer not far from my desk and I stormed over to her. She glanced up at me with a frown; she didn’t even look remotely sorry for her actions. Without saying anything I plugged the USB into her computer.

She narrowed her eyes at me.

“What do you think you’re doing?” She asked harshly, shooting to her feet.

I said nothing as the video played; her eyes widened as we watched her messing with my paperwork.

I turned to her and before she could say anything, my hand went across her face.

SLAP!

…

I brushed the thought of Nancy out of my mind and carried on with my day. I had patients to care for and I couldn’t let the immaturity of a colleague distract me.

Dr. Davis trusted me enough to make my rounds by myself. Most of my patients were very kind and let me do some test work without any issues. I prescribed the correct medication for them as well.

“Doctor, what happened to your bottom lip?” one of my patients asked curiously; her eyes were narrowed in on my face and there was concern in her gaze.

I frowned and touched my lip; there was a small bump that I hadn’t noticed before. I walked over to the mirror on the side of the room and saw that the bump was red. It looked almost like a tooth mark.

My cheeks flushed as I thought of Sebastian. He hasn’t asked me to kiss him in a long while; we’ve been distant from one another. I’ve been avoiding him often, even more since he attacked me the other night. But in the beginning, he requested that I kissed him every day because my saliva calms him.

Was Sebastian kissing me while I slept?