Seven

The third day finally arrives, and Caralyn can’t help but be anxious.

In those three days, she has tried to escape three times already, and she was caught each time with harsh scoldings from her father and his wife. Now, she has guards watching her like a hawk.

That does not mean that she has given up. Even if the plan to eliminate Riccardo succeeds, she still has her own life to live, and she will never go down that easily. Her resort is stronger than ever; she will not be defeated into submission.

Never.

Thoughts run through her mind when one of the servants comes to get her for breakfast. The positioned guards have doubled in size, and she can already feel the gore that that day will deliver.

There will be bloodshed, there’s no avoiding it.

She pauses in her step when she sees Alpha Jason sitting with the rest at the dining table.

Caralyn approached them. She has barely sat down when Dora speaks.

“Saw your cup in Supreme Ultima’s study yesterday. I originally thought it was mistakenly used by the servants to serve him. But I interrogated all of them and found out the truth.”

Caralyn’s heart picks up, but she isn’t afraid. She is anticipating, almost glad, that Dora brought up the topic. She is finally going to crush Alpha Jason’s fantasy into pieces.

 

Dora continued. “None of them is stupid enough to use your cup in serving the Supreme Ultima. The next morning, they discovered blood on his sheets when they went to get the laundry. You spent the night with him, didn’t you?”

Caralyn was silent. Everyone is shocked by Dora’s accusation.

“Is that true?!” Alpha Jason thunders.

Caralyn looks him in the eyes. “Yes.”

He swipes away everything in front of him in fury. He leaps up and storms at her. She fell off her chair to the floor at the impact of his slap.

As if on cue, one of the men came rushing in, a horrified look on his face. From the man’s report, Riccardo is currently marching towards the building they are in, eliminating everyone that stands in his path.

‘He is not dead. Thank goodness’, was the thought that first came to her mind.

She watches as all of them make their escape, nobody bothering to call her along. She isn’t even surprised, but she is more terrified. She will be the one paying for all their sins if Riccardo’s men meet her there.

Perhaps she is being too paranoid. Her father and Alpha Jason are the criminals; they might be the only ones Riccardo is after.

“I will destroy you,” Caralyn recalled Riccardo’s words to her father.

Then, she remembers how his eyes had trailed down as he looked straight at her. “And everything associated with you.”

Yeah, she’s definitely not safe. Going to hide in her room is pointless, and so is going outside. Riccardo’s men are probably already scattered around every corner of the property.

She does not have much time to think as she ducks and crawls under the table, pulling all the chairs in so they cover her a bit. The tablecloth only covers a bit of her body. The dining area is in a corner anyway, and so there is just a small chance that they can see her when they enter.

“Let me see who dares point his weapon at the Supreme Ultima!” she hears a shout from outside.

She recognizes the voice as Alessio’s.

 

There was absolute silence for almost a minute, until it was disrupted when the door was slammed open. She jumps, and her hand clamps against her mouth, her whole body shaking.

Her breath catches when she sees her father and Alpha Jason being dragged in. They are thrown down roughly in the middle of the living room.

Then, she sees the Supreme Ultima himself, striding in.

On either side of him are Alessio and Enzo. Riccardo went straight to sit on one of the couches, facing her family and Alpha Jason. No one said anything. For the first time, she sees an expression that contrasts with every expression she has ever seen on Alpha Jason’s face; it was fear.

And her father? King Brooks looks as composed as ever, but she knows his insides aren’t as composed. She bets he’s already thinking of ways to make a bargain with the Supreme Ultima.

“Iniziare con lui”, Riccardo orders, with his eyes on Alpha Jason.

{Iniziare con lui - Start with him}

 

“Mr. DeSantis. Let me explain. It doesn’t have to be like th-”

Alpha Jason’s pleas are cut off when a blow from Enzo lands on his head, and he falls flat on the floor. Caralyn witnesses the most horrific scene of her life when men hold down the alpha, and Enzo starts slicing him open.

 His screams of pain fill the entire space, but Enzo didn’t stop.

Until Alpha Jason’s insides… are on his outside.

A minute later, a man steps inside, a somber look on his face. Caralyn knows him; he is her father’s estranged cousin. He stops a few meters away from the Supreme Ultima and bows.

“Prince William, do you know why you are here?” Enzo asks.

Prince William’s eyes drift to King Brooks and the dead man who is on the floor. “I have nothing to do with their attempt on the Supreme Ultima’s life, if that’s what you think,” he said defensively.

“We know that. You are here because you will be appointed as the next king and become the Alpha of the Lycan Dominion Pack,” Enzo revealed.

 Enzo smirked. “But before that, you need to see what happens to anyone who dares to go against the Supreme Ultima, in case you are tempted with the same idea in the future.”

 Everyone looks astonished, including Prince William himself. King Brooks’ fate has just been decided; he will be eliminated, and he also knows that as his eyes widen and his mouth opens to plead for his life.

“Wait, we can-”

 A single gunshot from Alessio.

 It was too fast, straight between King Brook’s eyes. Caralyn watches her father’s body collapse to the floor. Her eyes water, and a sharp, short pain overtakes her heart. King Brooks has been silenced forever. The man was never a good father, but he was still her father.

Caralyn looks away, not able to withstand the sight. Tears fall from her eyes, and her insides keep turning till she feels like barfing. She tries holding it in, but it is too late; she cannot control it.

She heaves, and the sound reaches two pairs of ears.

Alessio and Enzo spot her, and their eyes met hers.

While Alessio has no intention of exposing her, Enzo has other ideas. He stalks towards her, and soon enough, fingers yank the tablecloth aside, as Enzo drags her out.

Mrs. Hale comes running out from nowhere, getting in front of Caralyn, to block her from Enzo. “The princess has nothing to do with this. Let her go! Please!”

Caralyn almost sobbed. 

Only Mrs. Hale can do this for her, but she will never let an innocent woman die in place of her. One of the guards comes to drag Mrs. Hale away. As Enzo’s hand clamps on Caralyn’s shoulder, her eyes roll in, and she faints, collapsing to the floor.

 

It was something she had done many times already, and now, she was perfect.

“She fainted,” Enzo stated the obvious.

 “Pack up,” Riccardo ordered.

 She hears the footsteps of Enzo leaving. Soon, multiple footsteps follow, till the absolute silence makes her sure that they are all gone. She wonders what he is going to do with Mrs. Hale.

 She slowly opens her eyes and gets up in a hurry. When she turns around, a gasp leaves her, and she almost falls, if not for her hands that shot out to hold the table behind her.

There on the couch, Riccardo is still seated, Enzo and Alessio beside him.

“Done acting?” Enzo teased, walking toward her with his unsheathed dagger shining dangerously in his hands.

 She recoils more into the table.

“Please!” Her plea came out in a whisper.

The dagger in his hand raises, and her heartbeat rises with it.

 “Stop!” the voice commands when the dagger is only inches away from her chest.

 She knows Riccardo’s command saved her, and she will no longer be stabbed to death as she had pictured, but her heart does not seem to get the signal that she is safe for now.

 It gave out.

And she lost consciousness… for real this time.