Chapter 317: Another Try

It didn’t mean that she wasn’t terrified even as she felt him slowly strip her clothes off of her, the faint rustle of fabric sounding far too loud in the quiet room.An intense gaze in his red eyes showed just how much he wanted to eat her, the hunger there unmistakable and primal, making her breath hitch despite herself.

The fear of her werewolf smell suddenly coming on and her being eaten scared her to the bone, a cold dread settling deep in her chest as she fluttered her eyes shut even as she kissed him back, clinging to him as though that alone could keep the truth hidden.

The last thing she wanted him to know was the fact that something was wrong, that her body was already betraying secrets she could not afford to reveal. Even as she lost herself in the pleasure of being joined to him, her mind refused to quiet completely.

It was electric, the sensation overwhelming, even as she moaned against him, feeling him groan in pleasure against her as he thrust back and forth into her until finally they collapsed on the bed, wrapping tightly around each other, skin slick and breaths uneven in the dimly lit chamber.

It had been nice enough to make Rymora hope that if she was careful then maybe for once things would go in her favour, that maybe she could pretend—just for a little while longer—that this moment could exist without consequence.

But the thought was still settling in her mind ever so slowly when she heard Drehk speak from beside her, his voice low and casual, saying words that had her crashing back to reality as though cold water had been thrown over her.

"You’re not as winded as usual!" he mentioned, the words making her already racing heart skip a beat as she froze for half a second too long.

"If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re almost as strong as any vampire!" he said, and that was enough for Rymora to renew her determination to be gone before the week was over, no matter the cost.

She leaned into him and kissed him without responding, deliberately silencing him even as she climbed over him, guiding him back to her center as she moaned in pleasure, a sound practiced enough to be convincing, which was enough to divert his attention. As he instantly began to thrust into her again, his earlier curiosity fading beneath desire.

Leaving is the only way I’ll ever be safe, and the baby inside me won’t be killed the moment he or she is born, she thought, painfully aware that even if by some miracle they could accept her, the truth would never truly be forgiven.

No one would be able to accept a baby that was half werewolf and half vampire. It was unheard of, and instead of it being seen as an impossibility that happened, the child would be seen as an anomaly instead, something to be destroyed rather than protected.

Their moans echoed through the walls even as each of them ground against the other, trailing kisses on each other’s bodies even as they explored their bodies like lovers did.

*******

Back in the werewolf realm, King Jared stood in his throne room, but instead of sitting on his throne, he stood by the table, furious, his massive frame tense with barely contained rage.

One of his hands had already broken the table in half with a single punch as he glared down at it and at all the council members and important family heads that stood around it, none of them daring to meet his eyes.

On the table was every healing elixir, poison detoxification pill, and artifact that they had opened and clearly used, some bottles cracked, others empty, their uselessness on full display.

So much so that the smell on King Jared was one of a kind, a bitter mix of blood, magic, and rot, yet not a single one of them seemed to have worked.

Instead, his wound still looked very fresh and sour and continued to bleed at intervals. For a werewolf, such a thing was completely unheard of, as King Jared himself struggled to come to terms with it, his jaw clenched hard enough to ache.

Worse was the fact that since his wound was not healing, it also meant that he was in constant pain, which was most likely why Zyren had not killed him on the spot, choosing humiliation over mercy.

Angry, he glared at all of them with complete hatred on his face as he screamed at them, his voice echoing violently through the stone walls.

"USELESS! YOU’RE ALL USELESS!" he screamed at them in a loud voice, swiping the remaining contents off the table, crashing them straight to the ground even as glass shattered at his feet and he continued to bellow in anger.

"You all can’t do anything right!" he shouted at them even as he dismissed them, ordering them to keep looking no matter the cost.

Everyone, including the council members, simply bowed and lowered their heads, none of them daring to open their mouths and speak with how enraged King Jared looked, his presence alone suffocating the room.

Angry enough to kill whosoever dared to open their mouths and say the wrong thing, not to mention give an excuse for why they were yet to find the perfect thing that would heal him.

One after the other, they hurriedly left the room, footsteps echoing as they fled, until only King Jared was left—and Clara, who unlike the others still continued to stand not too far away from him, unafraid.

She had a light smile on her face even though King Jared’s face looked like he was searching for someone to kill as he focused his gaze on her, golden eyes burning.

"What’s so funny?" he practically spat out even as Clara slowly shook her head as she responded.

"Nothing really, just the fact that Zyren practically handed us a way to kill him," she said, and King Jared was just about to lash out in anger, all he was concerned about being his arm, which refused to heal and regenerate, only to pause mid-motion.

His eyes widened slowly as he stared at his arm even as Clara continued to speak, carefully enunciating her words so he wouldn’t miss their meaning.

"If a little can do this much damage to you, think of what a lot of whatever it is can do to him!" she said even as her smile grew bigger, sharp with satisfaction.

"I don’t know how the artifact didn’t kill him, but this... this is bound to make it impossible for him to deal with," she said even as King Jared slowly nodded his head, hope flickering briefly before a worried look crept onto his face.

"But what if it’s a vampire potion that works against werewolves? It might not affect a vampire like—"

"It’s not! I’m a hundred percent sure that it would kill him! It has to!" Clara responded, her tone filled with utmost confidence even as King Jared’s face morphed into that of anger as he snapped right back at her.

"That’s what you said about the artifact!" gold eyes beaming with anger as he stared at her. There were no injuries and no consequences for her even though it had clearly been her idea, and that infuriated him more than the pain.

It infuriated him to see her bring up another idea that could get him killed, especially after realizing that Zyren was way stronger than him, even more now that he was missing an arm.

"If whatever’s in that black vial doesn’t kill him, who do you think is going to be dead!" he raised his voice back up in anger as he focused a hardened gaze on her, daring her to argue.

Clara couldn’t help but lower her head, especially since the artifact had been her idea, hoping to kill two birds with one stone as she responded quietly.

"...you don’t have to be the one to make him drink it! Aria, his pet, wants him dead, does she not? We can ask her to!" Clara said, but King Jared was already shaking his head firmly to show that he didn’t agree.

"She won’t agree! She’s sleeping with him!" he told her. "...she might say one thing, but she clearly means another!" A trace of frustration slashed across his brows even as his fists tightened, showing just how much he despised the thought.

Clara, on the other hand, continued to speak meekly, intent on killing at least one of them if not both.

"Then we can use the last artifact we have to beguile her!" she said, and even before she was done speaking, she could see that King Jared could see the appeal of what she had said.

His eyes brightened ever so slightly, a sight that nauseated Clara simply to watch, as she heard him ask in a slightly excited tone that he didn’t even try to hide.

"But she’s bonded with King Zyren. Would the artifact actually work?" he asked even as Clara slowly nodded her head with a slight smile on her face.

"It should. It’s a one-time use, so we just need to order her to find the black vial and use it to kill Zyren!" Clara said with a confident gaze in her eyes, even though it was clear that Jared was still extremely skeptical about the entire thing.