Two

“What is he doing to her?!” Dora exclaims in question, not out of concern, but out of curiosity and fear.

Caralyn finally realizes. He isn’t sucking the life out of her; he is pulling out her rage. She watched his black pupil narrow until it almost disappeared, before it appeared fully again. It happened twice.

When his hands finally drop from her skin, there is no rage left at all.  Caralyn, for the first time in six years, ends her rage fit before the clock strikes midnight, which is when her fits usually end.

The glass drops from her hand, and she takes a few steps back in fear. She is now able to fully observe the room, seeing about six armed men standing behind the couch Ultima Riccardo is sitting on.

Riccardo’s hands balled into fists, and he suddenly looked enraged.

“Where are we staying?” Ricardo’s right-hand man, Alessio, asked the king without so much as a hint of respect in his voice.

“I will show you,” King Brooks said, still taking cautious glances toward Caralyn.

He started walking to the door, beckoning to Ultima Riccardo and the rest to follow. They will be staying in the West Wing, an area that has been thoroughly cleaned for their arrival.

“You witch!” Queen Jessie barks immediately when the Ultima’s retinue is out of sight.

Caralyn jumps at the sudden sound, backing away as the queen approaches her. Her eyes immediately dropped down to the queen’s feet. She learned the lesson ever since she was small, looking the king or the  queen in the eye while they scolded her makes them feel challenged, and that will only lead to physical abuse.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized, insincerely.

She didn’t ask to be born, especially with a curse; it isn’t her fault. She never wished to be like this either, so she didn’t even feel the least bit apologetic. But to get off easily, she needs to make them think that she really believes everything is her fault.

“Get out of my sight!”

Caralyn didn’t wait. She hurries out of the queen’s sight, heading for her room. She gets there and goes straight to her bed, curling up against the head. The feeling she always has after every fit overwhelms her.

The feeling of peace, gladness that the curse won’t surface again until the end of the next month. Somewhere at the back of her mind, she thinks of the possibility that perhaps her curse has been broken completely by that encounter, and she no longer carries it.

But she also knows that the possibility of that is very low.

*

Caralyn feels it before she knows, something is amiss.

It has been three days, and nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The Supreme Ultima and his retinue have been keeping to their side of the wing, and she is happy with that.

She doesn’t want to run into him.

That morning, she had woken up with a piercing feeling in her chest. The feeling of dread overwhelms her, even as she gets herself ready for school. The sudden fatigue she feels as she picks up her bag makes her drop the bag and take her phone to call Kylo.

There is no answer.

He calls her back immediately after the phone stops ringing. She picked, but it wasn’t Kylo who spoke.

The person sniffs. “Caralyn. Kylo died in a car accident a few hours ago.”

Caralyn recognizes the shaky voice as that of Kylo’s elder sister.

Goosebumps rise on her skin, and her ears ring. The phone slips from her hand, and it shatters on the floor. In her ears, the sound feels like not the shattering of her phone, but the shattering of her life.

The promises they made to each other, the life she dreams of having with him, the plans she hopes to carry out with him, all shatter.

A sudden thirst enveloped her parched throat, and she swallowed tightly. She collapses on the floor, tears rolling down her face without control.

No sound left her throat, but she feels as if multiple knives were being plunged into her. She wipes her face and hurries out of her room in search of her father. After three minutes, she is told he went to the West Wing to discuss with the Supreme Ultima.

Caralyn didn’t turn back.

She saw him coming out of the West Wing with the Supreme Ultima and a few men. He stops with a frown when he sees her, but she doesn’t stop until she gets right in front of him.

“Was it you?” Caralyn choked on a sob.

King Brooks gave her a confused look.

“Did you kill Kylo?!” she yelled with pain.

King Brooks glanced at the Supreme Ultima and cleared his throat awkwardly. Then, took Caralyn’s arm and pulled her a few distances away from the others.

He stopped when they were out of earshot of Riccardo and the others. Caralyn snatched her arm out of his hold, glaring at him  as hard as her grief would allow.

“What?! He is dead?” King Brooks asked with surprise.

He finally understood Caralyn’s question, and his eyes hardened. “I didn’t do it. All I wanted was to break your bond, not kill.”

As much as Caralyn needs someone she can vent her anger on, someone like her father, who hated Kylo’s guts, she knows he is telling the truth. That is one thing about King Brooks. If found out after doing something horrible, he never denies it. No matter how evil, he will own up to it, with pride.

“Losing one’s mate is a pain no one wishes on their loved ones. I can only imagine how you feel, Caralyn. I’m so sorry.”

Caralyn feels arms around her as he embraces her in a hug. She knows he’s definitely just doing it for show, since Ultima Riccardo and his retinue are still watching. But Caralyn didn’t pull away.

She needs the embrace; she misses being in his arms. Even the thought makes her feel pitiful, but it’s been a long time, and she is starved. Starved of love, care, and comfort.

She cried like a little child.

Her father was never overly loving to her in comparison to her stepsister, Princess Dora. But there was a time he cared for her. He completely changed for the worse after she turned fifteen and started manifesting the curse.

*

Caralyn sits curled up on her bed, tears streaming down her face. It’s been a week since Kylo’s death, and her grief has only heightened with time. Kylo had been buried, and she wasn’t even allowed to see him for the last time.

His parents were furious with her.

They think it was her fault since she should have broken up with him after knowing that her father would go to any length to separate them. Even though his elder sister tried to calm them down, their anger was fueled by sorrow.

She had to leave, guilt weighing down heavily on her. She believed they were right. She was the reason Kylo died. He was a hardworking and honest guy who loved her the way nobody ever did; he didn’t deserve to die.

A large part of her wanted to believe that he really died due to an unplanned accident, but deep in her mind, she knew there was more to it. She suspected the queen and Alpha Jason.

She should have agreed to break the bond to protect him.

Her doorknob turned slowly. And immediately she saw who stepped in, she scrambled off the bed immediately, her whole body alert as she wiped her eyes.

“What do you want?” she spat with disgust.

Alpha Jason walked through the room like he owned the space. “Speak with respect, Princess Caralyn.”

“You deserve no respect from me!” Caralyn sneered.

“Princess or not, a wife respects her husband. I don’t mind you being a brat now, though,” he smirked. “I can wait two months.”

Caralyn’s brow moved into a frown.

“Oh! My bad. Just finished discussing with your parents. Since your mate is out of the picture, as I wanted, there’s no need to give you the luxury of time anymore. The wedding will happen in two months.”

The word dropped like a bomb on Caralyn. She was disoriented. The first question that came to her mind was, ‘When will life give me a break?’

The feeling Alpha Jason’s revelation gave her was similar to that of giving a death sentence to an innocent man. He had a hand in Kylo’s death, no doubt about that.

Her heart thudded violently in her chest as her eyes clouded over.