Chapter 336: Let’s get Married

Rymora didn’t like what she heard. Not one bit, even as she struggled to keep a frown off her face. Fixing her gaze on Gregory, who returned it without hesitation.He was still the same brother she knew — the one who ignored her one minute while looking at her with disdain with the other.

At that moment, somehow, he managed to do both even as he went ahead to speak again, his tone sharp and impatient.

"...So when tomorrow would you be able to get her out of the castle?" he asked. He had spoken clearly, and just as clearly, he expected her to have listened. After that, there was nothing more to be said.

Rymora slowly nodded her head, the movement small and tense, even as she wrapped her hands around her stomach, which was much bigger than before under the free-flowing gown she wore. The fabric pooled softly around her lap, disguising but not quite hiding the truth of her condition.

Her status as Lord Drehk’s lover was well known, but there was nothing wrong with it since Lords took lovers all the time. The problem would be when he went ahead and married her.

"I’ll send a message to you!" she told him, her voice steadier than she felt, even as she signaled to the driver to stop the carriage by knocking on the connecting panel in front of her.

The hollow sound echoed briefly in the enclosed space.

Gregory wasn’t happy with that response, and he made it known, growling under his breath even as he grabbed her arm tight and fixed his eyes on her. His grip was sudden, rough, and filled with restrained irritation.

Holding her arm tightly enough to bring tears to her eyes.

"WHEN!" he barked with annoyance written all over his face. "Do you think I’m at your beck and call?" Annoyed that he had to go as far as find her in the first place, his tone dripped with resentment.

"If you mess up or make me wait! I’ll hurt you enough to make you regret it!" he promised her, even as he fixed his gaze on her with pure hatred in his eyes.

He didn’t know how Gregory — her previous fiancé — had disappeared, but considering she was now living in a Vampire lord’s house, he had his suspicions.

"Fucking whore!" he muttered under his breath as he continued to speak, venom in every word.

"Sleeping with a vampire lord is a new low. You’ll die a dog’s death the moment he finds out who you are!" he said, even as Rymora instantly refuted, refusing to let the idea stand.

"Do I look like a fool to you!" she snapped back at him, even as Gregory’s eyes focused and slid over her before he shrugged, raising his hood right back over his head to shield his ears.

"Appearances are deceiving!" he responded, even as he grabbed the carriage door on his side and made it clear that he was leaving — but not before sending out one final threat.

"Don’t make me wait!" He warned her, getting down even as he spoke before closing the door behind him with a hard, final click.

Rymora instantly looked relieved, even as she simply sat there without ordering the driver to move.

Her heart raced in her chest as she hated the situation she suddenly found herself in, the weight of it pressing down on her mind.

They wouldn’t hurt Aria — but what if they did, having seen what King Zyren did to Alpha Jared’s arm?

What if he was mad enough to do something to Aria in response? she wondered, while fully aware of what the consequences of her failure to do as she was asked would be.

Forget everyone finding out that she was a werewolf — her own family would make sure to hunt her down just to erase the embarrassment she was to them.

"To protect myself I won’t be able to leave Lord Drehk’s Villa," she thought to herself, aware that branching out on her own at that point would simply be another way of sealing her own death.

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she was, digging her nails into her palms as she tightened her fists the harder she thought, frustration simmering beneath her skin.

Aria had just lost her mother, and currently her sister was missing. The last thing she wanted to do was drag her into her fight.

Releasing a long sigh from her mouth, Rymora raised her knuckles to knock on the carriage panel, sliding it open to inform the driver to return before closing it right back.

Doing her best to look calm regardless of the worries that besieged her, even as she waited for the carriage to return, getting out once it stopped.

Heading inside the villa and back to her room — which was actually Lord Drehk’s room, but one they shared. Her heart thumped in her chest as she pushed open the doors to see that he had returned.

Taking off his clothes to reveal a well-muscled upper torso, even as he fixed his red gaze on her in a way that always made her flinch — almost like he knew something, something she did not.

Slowly, he sat down on the bed and beckoned that she come closer to him, which Rymora instantly did. Thinking he wanted a kiss, only for him to grab her waist and pull her onto his lap.

"You reek!" he whispered, even as Rymora looked like she had been splashed with mud right into her face. "...You reek of a dog’s smell!" he continued, which only got her heart racing even more as she heard him continue with a light smile on his lips.

"If I didn’t know better, I would think you were cheating on me!" he said, staring into her eyes, making it clear that he expected her to correct his wrong assumption by telling him the truth.

The truth was that she was a werewolf, and the thought of saying those words to him was like signing her own death with her own hands.

Staring into his eyes as she responded, "I’m not cheating on you! I would never!" she said, surprised to see him look relieved since she had assumed that he was joking.

A soft expression flashed across his face as he leaned into her and kissed her on her lips, running his hands through her back, unable to keep his hands off her — something both of them had recently struggled with.

The kiss got hot enough for both of them to know where they were headed when she felt him pick her up, more like shifting her weight to the bed from his lap.

But barely had he touched her arm when she flinched. It was simply a response to pain.

Gregory hadn’t held back in the slightest, considering the fact that he wanted her to scream and cry. Her regenerative powers as a werewolf had kicked in, but not enough to completely erase the bruises as Drehk instantly tore open the hem of her gown to reveal her very red arm.

Something that could only be done by someone that clearly wanted to speak to her.

Drehk’s movements instantly seized, staring at it aware that it couldn’t be done by him, considering how carefully he touched her.

"Speak!" he said, a dark note of anger in his voice — one that Rymora couldn’t even pretend to be blind to as she fluttered her lashes.

"It’s nothing... it’s just a—" but she was still speaking when she paused, noting the fury in his eyes, the kind that somehow dared her to lie to him and find out what would happen.

She breathed out and spoke again, "It’s the spying contract I signed. I’m in the process of ending it," she told him — but Drehk clearly didn’t believe her even as she doubled down and spoke again.

"...Trust me! It’s nothing!" she said, worried that Drehk would go behind her back and kill her brother — something the king would discover, which would be very bad since she was sure that King Jared’s presence wasn’t allowed by King Zyren.

Drehk looked displeased, even as Rymora tried to pacify him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck even as she wrapped her body around him as he knelt on the bed, aware that he could more than carry her weight.

She kissed him, worried when he didn’t immediately respond and relieved when he did. The kiss was slow and gentle, and they had just both pulled away when she heard words that made her eyes widen and heart tighten.

"We’re getting married tomorrow!" Lord Drehk said — and looking into his eyes, it was clear that it wasn’t a question but a conclusion he had come to, even as her mouth slightly parted in surprise.

Gaze fixed on him even as she scrambled for the words to say, which seemed farther than usual.