Chapter 22

Sebastian

“SOMEBODY HELP! HE’S DEAD!”

He didn’t recognize the voice, but his heart thudded violently against his chest at the shrilling panic that was coming from the kitchen on the floor below. He hadn’t been near the kitchen all night so whoever was dead, he knew it had nothing to do with him. He’s been with Hannah anyways; it wasn’t possible.

He left Hannah alone in the bathroom; he wasn’t sure if she could hear the screaming from where she was, but he worried that she would think it was him as well. He ran down the stairs where a few servants were gathering around the kitchen. The head chef looked pale, and he was stumbling away with his body trembling.

He made eye contact with a few of the maids, and they also paled at the sight of the violent wolf king on the night of the full moon. He could feel his madness returning to him slightly, but not enough for him to lose sight of what was happening. Hannah’s scent and saliva still invaded him enough to keep him semi-calm.

There was a young maid that stood in the center of the kitchen; she wasn’t someone that Sebastian recognized but there were always new maids that appeared whenever another one of them turned up dead. He guessed she was someone that his stepmother hired.

She had tear-stained features and her body was shaking violently. She knelt over the deceased body of a young servant boy that he did recognize from around the palace. He was a teen, not much older than the young girl. She must have known him well because she was crying over his dead body. She was shaking him, trying to wake him, to no prevail.

“Please!” She cried to the other servants. “Somebody help my brother!”

Her brother?

“Scottie!!” She sobbed. “Please wake up. Don’t leave me!” As Sebastian made his way into the kitchen, the servants began dispersing quickly. It was clear they were frightened of him, and he couldn’t blame them. He wanted them all to run; looking at their terrified expression was only making him grow angrier and he could feel his madness returning, despite how hard he was holding off.

Eric was growing impatient and wanted to shred these servants apart, limb my limb. But he held back for Hannah’s sake. He knew if she saw him in that violent state, she would never smile at him the way she used to. The way she smiled at the doctor. He clenched his fists at the thought of it, trying to contain the jealousy he was feeling deep within himself.

The young maid looked up at him, her eyes growing wide and alert. She had obviously heard stories of him but probably didn’t think they were real. Until now.

She stumbled away from the body, falling onto her backside. Her dark hair fell over her features, covering her face.

“Please…” she whispered. “Don’t hurt me. I only just got here yesterday. My… my brother didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

Her voice broke off as he rose his hand for her to silence.

“Leave,” he said to her, his tone was harsh.

She shivered at his presence, but she stayed still.

“Please…” she said again through her tears and tightened jaw. “He needs help…”

“He’s dead,” he hissed. “There’s nothing more you can do for him.” This only made her sob even harder. “Unless you want the same fate as your brother, I suggest you leave.”

She stared down at the deceased servant once more before struggling to pull herself to her feet. She held onto her body with her frail arms, trying to keep herself from shivering too violently but she failed to do so. She wiped her tears with the back of her hand, sniffling as she hurriedly ran towards the door.

She looked back for only a moment before disappearing.

Sebastian waited until he was alone in the kitchen before staring down at the young boy. He sighed. It was a shame that he had to die at such a young age. Messily done too; his throat had been ripped open by a wolf. Blood was splattered against the floors, and some made their way across the walls. He had bite marks and scratch marks around his torso; it must have been a long and painful death.

He knew he had to move the body and clean up the mess before word got around the kingdom about this. Before he had the chance at moving the body, the door of the kitchen swung open. He didn’t need to turn to see who it was that was joining him.

He could smell her right away and Eric’s fury was clue enough.

“What have you done?” Queen Magnolia hissed, strolling into the kitchen.

He knew that she must have had something to do with this.

“You know I didn’t do this,” Sebastian said in return, without looking at her.

“You really are a monster, Sebastian,” Magnolia said, shaking her head with disapproval. “How many servants are you going to kill before you step down from the throne?”

“I’m not stepping down,” Sebastian muttered.

She scoffed.

“If you knew what was best for you, you’d step down. This behavior is unacceptable. The kingdom will uprise and remove you if they must.”

Sebastian snapped a look at her, fury flashing through his darkened eyes.

“If you knew what was best for you, you’d speak to me appropriately and stop with these tricks,” he snapped.

Her eyes widened and she almost looked confused, but he could see through her act.

“I don’t know what tricks you are talking about,” she said, waving him away. “But clean up this mess you’ve made…”

“You may have the kingdom fooled and you may have had my father fooled, but you will never have me fooled, Magnolia.”

She gave him a chilling laugh as she left the kitchen.

“I want to rip her throat out,” Eric hissed. “I want her dead.”

“Relax,” Sebastian hissed to his wolf. “I refuse to be the monster she wants us to be.”

Eric said no more, but Sebastian could feel he wasn’t happy with his response. He turned back to the young servant and cleaned up the crime scene. He buried his body in the backyard with the other deceased servants and finished cleaning the kitchen. He was glad that his madness didn’t return him fully.

Once he finished cleaning, he began to head upstairs. He too wanted to take an ice bath to calm himself down fully before returning to bed. He hoped that Hannah was sleeping soundly in their bed and didn’t know what was happening in the kitchen.

As he walked past the rooms to get to the bathroom, he heard the faint whispers of Hannah in Liam’s bedroom. He paused at the door so he could listen to what she was saying.

“I’m scared, Liam,” she whispered. “I don’t know what’s happening to me and why I reacted in such a way. I don’t know what he’s thinking most of the time. Sometimes he’s hot and other times he’s cold. But I know he’s dangerous and it’s only a matter of time before he kills me. My only worry is, what will happen to you if I die…”

“You won’t die, sis,” Liam said; his tone was soft and weak sounding. It was obvious he was getting sicker, and it was destroying Hannah to see him like this.

She gasped, sounding surprised that he is responding.

“I didn’t know you were awake,” she admitted, sniffling away her tears. “I’m sorry if I woke you.”

“I’m glad to be here with you,” he whispered in a sleepy voice. “It’s better than being alone at the hospital.”

Sebastian pulled himself away from the door, shaking his head with despair as he walked further down the hall and towards the bathroom. He paused a moment longer as he heard another familiar voice coming from the bathroom.

He poked his head in, trying to be unseen when he saw Hannah’s handmaiden Caroline, speaking to another maid, Valerie.

“I’m telling you, Caroline. It was terrifying. She’s so new and had no idea what the wolf king was capable of doing. But when she saw what happened to her brother, she’s insisting on leaving the palace permanently. She’s terrified and won’t stop crying. I don’t know what to tell her.”

They were both cleaning the tub from when Hannah took her ice bath; they must have helped her out of the tub and got her dressed.

Caroline stayed silent for a moment as she processed what was being said, she looked like something was weighing on her mind.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” Caroline finally said.

“You can talk to her!” Valerie insisted. “You have a calming personality. If anyone can talk to her, it’s you.”

“I can’t make her stay, Val,” Caroline shot back.

“What is wrong with you? You are always willing to help,” Valerie huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

Caroline rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Not this time,” Caroline told her. “If she wants to leave, that’s up to her and the royals. If they allow her to leave, then I think she should. I don’t wish this on anyone.”

Valerie silenced and bowed her head slightly; she was giving up on trying to convince Caroline of anything. Sebastian had never heard this kind of discussion from servants before and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“Aren’t you worried the wolf king is going to finish the job and kill her too?” Valerie finally asked. “They were siblings. Maybe killing one of them wasn’t good enough.”

“He could kill any of us at any moment,” Caroline muttered, she paused and met Valerie’s eyes. “But I don’t think it’s him we have to worry about anyways.”

“What does that mean?” Valerie asked, her eyes widening.

“It wasn’t the wolf king that killed that maid in the library,” Caroline told her. “Luna Hannah found that out quickly..." she paused again. "And he didn’t kill this servant either.”

“What?” Valerie asked, her voice rising slightly.

Caroline shushed her quickly, looking around to make sure no one was watching. Sebastian hid further into the hallway so she wouldn’t spot him. As servants, they weren’t able to use their wolves so he wasn’t worried that he would be able to be sensed, but if they looked hard enough, they would see him watching them.

“I saw the queen leaving the kitchen after the servant was killed. She was covered in blood and went to clean up. She didn’t see me, but I saw her,” Caroline said.

“Why would the queen kill a servant she hired?” Valerie asked, disbelief in her tone.

“I don’t know,” Caroline shrugged. “But I think she’s trying to pin it on the wolf king.”