Chapter 24

Hannah’s POV

I woke up the next morning and Sebastian was gone. I knew he had some important meetings to take care of for most of the day, but there was so much I wanted to say to him. I wanted so badly to ask him about the scars on his face, or the lack of scars I should say. I wasn’t expecting to be able to see his face and I certainly wasn’t expecting his face to be as handsome as it was. It wasn’t making any sense; where did these rumors about the wolf king being hideously disfigured come from?

Nora was intoxicated by not only his scent but by his appearance as well. I remembered a while back that Sebastian requested to mark me as his chosen mate after the full moon. I was made to believe he wanted to wait because he feared that I wouldn’t survive this full moon. But now that it was the day after the full moon, I couldn’t help but wonder when he planned on marking me.

I think the moment we saw his face for the first time and Nora went straight into heat, was the moment she was accepting him as our chosen mate as well. My skin felt tingly thinking about his fingers on mine; the ghost of his lips remained on my mouth, and I touched my fingers to it.

I had to admit that I was in a lot of fear of the wolf king, but there was something about him that I couldn’t shake. Just the mere thought of him drove Nora nearly insane.

When Sebastian put me in the ice bath last night, I thought my body was going to freeze death. He left me to fend for myself, saying that he wasn’t going to help me with my estrus period. Whatever that meant. As he opened the door, I heard the screaming coming from the floor below. A tremble shot through my body, wondering what could have happened to cause a commotion.

I stayed where I was though, afraid of angering Sebastian any more than he already was. I stayed frozen in the tub until Caroline found me.

“Oh my goodness, your highness!” She gasped as she ran into the bathroom.

I could only imagine how I must have looked to her. I knew the color in my skin had drained and I was shivering violently in my skin. She grabbed a towel off the rack and ran over to me. I could hardly form words. She attempted to pull me out of the tub, but her lack of strength proved that task to be difficult.

The servants weren’t particularly strong.

She ran from the bathroom, telling me to hold on as she disappeared. She returned only moments later with another maid that I recognized as Valerie. Her eyes widened as she saw me and she froze at the doorway.

“Help me get her out of the tub,” Caroline ordered; I had never seen her take such charge before.

Valerie snapped out of her trance and ran towards me. They each grabbed half of my body and pulled me from the ice water. My body nearly shriveled as I fell to the ground. I cried out as my body began thawing and the pain began setting in. Caroline wrapped the warm towel around my body and held me close, trying to keep me as warm as possible.

Caroline turned to Valerie, both of their eyes were large and alert.

“While the Alpha King is preoccupied downstairs, run into their shared bedroom and grab her night clothing,” Caroline ordered.

Valerie did as she said instantly. I was silently impressed with Caroline. It was clear that Caroline had some sort of authority over some of the maids. Or at least they respected and trusted her enough to do as she said.

Valerie returned with my clothing and together they dressed me. My body began warming up enough that I wasn’t shivering as violently.

“Are you okay, your majesty?” Caroline asked.

Tears welled up in my eyes; how could Sebastian just leave me like that? Was he actually trying to kill me?

“I think so…” I murmured between my tears.

“Did the Alpha King do this?” Caroline asked, keeping her tone low.

I nodded once, too weak to form an actual sentence. Caroline fell silent for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

“It’s odd,” she breathed. I looked at her confused. “He typically takes ice baths to calm himself down during his madness. That or he locks himself in his underground dungeon if he’s able to. I wonder why he would make you take the ice bath instead though.”

I didn’t answer her; I wiped my tears on the back of my hand and sniffled softly. Caroline didn’t press me for answers. Instead, she stood up and pulled me to my feet with her.

“You should get some sleep, your majesty,” she said gently, giving me a soft smile.

I nodded to her and smiled my thanks to them both. I left the bathroom; I began heading towards the bedroom I shared with Sebastian, but I couldn’t bring myself to enter. At least not right now. I turned towards Liam’s room and went inside.

…

I didn’t stay with Liam all night; only for a little while before returning to my room. I was relieved that Sebastian wasn’t there. I was hoping he had resolved what had happened on the floor before as I thought about the screaming, I heard while in the bathroom.

I slept for the rest of the night. By the time I woke up, he was gone from the palace to resume his duties as the wolf king. I made a mental note to speak with him later about his face. Today was my day off, which was much needed after the week I’ve had. They probably figured I would need the day off after the full moon.

Caroline tapped on my bedroom door briefly before entering with a tray of food. She gave me a polite smile and curtsied as she walked in.

“Good morning, your majesty,” she said, sitting the tray of food on my lap as I sat up. I blinked at her groggily, without saying anything. “How are you feeling?”

“I think I’m okay,” I told her. “Thank you for helping me last night, Caroline.”

She blushed and chuckled softly.

“Of course,” she said. “It’s what I’m here for. To assist you.”

I smiled my thanks to her.

“What happened last night?” I asked her. She frowned and met my eyes. “I mean with the screaming from downstairs. What was going on?”

She was hesitant before answering.

“Another servant turned up dead,” she answered gravely. “He was young; it’s a shame he had to die.”

I felt my heart thudding in my chest rapidly; could Sebastian have killed him? That didn’t make sense because he was chasing me around the yards most of the night. When would he have killed this servant? Perhaps before I returned home from work?

“Who was screaming?” I asked. “It’s not the first time the others have seen something like this happen.”

“His sister,” she answered.

“I wasn’t aware the king had siblings working at the palace.”

“They were both new. She was brand new though. Just started a few days ago. I imagine it wasn’t easy to see something like this. Especially when it happened to be her brother,” she said sadly.

“Has Sebastian left for the morning?” I asked, changing the subject.

Caroline nodded.

“Yes, your majesty. He should be returning this afternoon. Is there anything else you needed?”

“No thank you,” I said to her. “Thank you for the breakfast.”

She nodded again before leaving the room.

I wasn’t sure what to do with myself for the rest of the day. I wanted to find that maid and tell her how deeply sorry I was for the loss of her brother, but I figured she probably needed some time to herself. I also wanted to ask Caroline if she thinks Sebastian was the one who killed him, but I also didn’t want to unintentionally start any rumors. So, I kept my mouth quiet and tried to keep to myself for the rest of the morning.

I finished my breakfast and made sure that Liam had also had breakfast. He was growing sicker with each passing day, and I was watching him waste away before my eyes. it broke my heart knowing I couldn’t do much more to help him. Thankfully, he had a doctor’s visit this afternoon, and they would surely give him some more medicine to make him a little better.

Once I finished tending to Liam, I went out into the gardens of the palace. The memory of running through the rose bushes invaded my mind as I rubbed my sore ankles. They were scabbed over by the thorns that pierced my flesh and I grimaced at the thought.

Despite that memory, though, the gardens were my favorite place in the palace. It was so peaceful and beautiful; not to mention it smelled lovely and sent a calming sensation through my body. I sat there for a long while, allowing thoughts to invade my mind before heading back inside.

I went into the living quarters and sat on the couch with a book. Most of the servants were hard at work around the palace and didn’t bother me. I wasn’t sure where Queen Magnolia and Jack were though. They rarely left the palace grounds, so I knew they were lurking around somewhere.

I was startled at the small spot of blood that seemed to be smeared against the wall in the living quarters. And another one staining the floor just below it. I frowned, narrowing my eyes at the blood, wondering who it was and how it got there. From what I was told, the servant was found dead in the kitchen, so it couldn’t have been his.

Before I could stand up to analyze it any further, I was startled by a sound coming from the window across the living quarters.

CRASH!!!