The Rejected Werewolf Princess

CAMILLA'S POV

When Ryker rushed out of the office, I had blindly followed him. I wasn’t sure what he had seen to make him react like that but I knew it had to be important. When I heard those words leave Riley's lips, it felt like my entire world had closed down on me. I couldn't speak, couldn't think, couldnt even breathe as the knowledge that one of those dolls belonged to my daughter.

“Are you sure she didn't cut herself on anything?” Ryker asked after seeing my face and Riley nodded.

“She was lying next to me on the floor. There was nothing sharp next to her, I can swear it by the goddess. I don't know what happened.”

“I think we do,” Riley looked confused but I knew Ryker wasn't going to explain anything to her. “Thank you, where is she now?”

“In her room.”

I didn’t wait to hear anything else before I started walking in that direction. I heard Ryker’s footsteps behind me and I should have waited so we could walk together but I didn’t. I knew if he caught up to me he was going to shove som bullshit about it not being my fault down my throat until I took it but I didn’t want to hear it. It was my stupid idea and I had never imagined that my daughter could be a potential victim. It had only been the four of us in my mind and that was my problem.

I was being too narrow minded about the entire thing. How she managed to gain access to Audrey long enough to do that was beyond me but then again, we didn’t really keep her away. We had our attention fixed on Marie, she could have done anything and we would have been non the wiser.

“Camilla,” Ryker's hand wrapped around mine like a vice just as my fingers hit the doorknob. “You need to calm down. She isn't hurt, she is fine.”

I raised a brow. “I am very sure that a cut on her arm does constitute as hurt.”

“You know what I meant,” he rolled his eyes. “We needed to know and now we do. There is no possible way we could have found out if we hadn't done this. Would you rather not know that she was the one?”

“I would have rather not hurt her”

“I know, I would have rather we didn’t either but you beating yourself up about it is not going to change what has happened. Right now, we need to make sure that it is her and figure out who the other person was.”

I knew he was right. I ran my hands down my face in frustration as I tried not to scream. “Could it be Aurora?”

“No, Riley was with both girls. If it was Aurora, she would have told us. All we need now is to focus on Audrey and then figure out how to get rid of those dolls.”

I nodded and he kissed my temple before pushing the door open. For someone that had just been hurt, Audrey didn't seem phased at all. She was in her pink princess dress and she was doing a pretend tea party with Damien an Aurora. The bandage wrapped around her arm was prominent and caught my eye but it didn’t seem to bother her. When she saw us, she smiled wide. “Join us for our tea party!” she exclaimed and without giving us a chance to refuse, she grabbed us by our arms and pulled us in. “There's space for you here next to uncle Damien.”

I couldn't have protested even if I wanted to. I sat cross legged on the ground and watched as she mimed pouring te: for us. “How is your arm, Audrey?”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t hurt anymore. Uncle Damien said I was a strong girl because I didn’t cry.”

“But you did cry,” he shot back and she giggled.

“Only a little,” she held up her index finger and thumb very close together. “I stopped crying very fast, mummy. Are you proud of me?”

“Very,” I answered without hesitation. “Damien was right, you are a strong girl. Now, why don’t you serve me some more tea?”

We sat there for the next half hour playing tea time with her and I only left when she was well and truly satisfied anc tired. I managed to drag her down for dinner before she all but passed out at the dinner table. All eyes were on her bandage the entire time but no one said a word, at least, not until after I had put her in bed.

Christine met us in the hallway. “She had one of the dolls?” I nodded. “What about the other?”

“I don't know,” I explained. “It wasn’t Aurora and it wasn't either of us. Who do you think it is?”

“Honestly, I'm not sure either. What if it is one of the maids or servants?”

“There are millions of them. How are we going to find out which one? Besides, most of them are fully grown wolves, their cuts would have healed by now.”

We all knew we were stuck in a hard place, there was nothing we could do at that point. I wasn’t going to risk using one of the dolls again and picking the wrong one- I could hurt Audrey.

“The best we can do is hide them,” I said simply. “Keep them somewhere that Reina will never find them. She had those dolls for a reason and we need to make sure that she doesn’t succeed for whatever reason it is.”

“Who hides it then?” Ryker asked and we both turned to him. “Reina had access to our daughter. Who is to say that she somehow didn’t get access to us? She isn't stupid, she knows those dolls are missing. What if she has others?” “Wouldn't we know if we were being controlled?” I asked but no one spoke. Neither of us knew the answer to that question. “So what do we do? How do we know who we can trust to hide it?”

“You do it,” Christine announced and I turned to her. “She wouldn't control you because she wants you. She would d it to the people around you to make you feel helpless. You take the dolls and hide them wherever you see fit.

“So we just forget about them?”

“It is magic, right? When Reina died, they will most likely die with her. We just need to keep it hidden until we can somehow kill her. What do you say?”

“Do I really have a choice?” I asked and she shook her head. “Give me the dolls.”

Christine went to retrieve them and I was left wondering where the hell I could possibly hide them. After a long few minutes of deliberation, I made my way over to the private library. Very few people knew about it and very few woulc actually look in it. I hid it in one of the furthest drawers and locked it tight. It was a weird place to choose but I was confident that it wouldn't be found.

I left the library but when I walked past my father’s bedroom, I stilled. I hadn't gone in there in a while and although didn’t hold anything against him anymore, I just couldn't bring myself to love him like I did my mother.

“I miss him,” I nearly jumped when I heard Brigg’s voice from behind me. “I apologize for scaring you. I should be in bed but I couldn't sleep. I can count on one hand the number of times I was actually in this palace.”

“Why is that?”

“Your father liked to keep certain aspects of his life away from each other,” he explained. “It was why he kept Eva anc Frederick away and it was why he kept me away at that vacation home. I was the only link between every part of his life. I knew everything inside and out and he didn’t like that, neither did your mother if I am being honest. It was better for their marriage if I stayed away and allowed them live in blissful ignorance.”

“Is there anyone excluding Frederick?” I asked and he shook his head.

“He was very careful after you were born. He loved you and you were everything that he wanted. I think that drove Eva mad because she knew he didn’t love Frederick the same way.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better," I said simply and he gave me a sad smile. “You can go into the room if you want. I don't think there is anything of importance there but if it makes you feel closer to your friend then-"Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

“Your father is dead, and no matter how much I miss him, it will not bring him back to life. I can go into his room anc mourn or I can help his daughter who is actually alive. How is it going with the witch?” I was stunned by the swift change in subject. “I have been thinking all evening to know if there was something I forgot.”

“Is there?” I asked and he shook his head.

“I told you everything that I know. Everyone can be killed, Camilla, you just need to know how,” he cleared his throat and turned to walk away but stilled a few steps out. “How did you survive?”

“I don't know. I think my powers had something to do with it”

“How did she survive?” I didn’t know the answer to that either and I didn’t have any theories as to why. “Could you have possibly helped her survive.”

I shook my head. “My powers were well and truly spent. It is a miracle I even managed to live.”

“Well, perhaps you should start there. If you can find out why she lived then maybe you can find out how to kill her. There is something my father said for many years, he said that water held memories.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don't know, my father was an insane old man,” he chuckled. “But he was right about many things. Goodnight, Camilla.”