Hunter was sitting by River’s bedside, holding her hand in his tightly. He hadn’t let her go even for a minute. The pain of rejecting her mate was so intense that River had become unconscious, unable to bear it.
He must have blamed himself a thousand times for getting her through this ordeal. He shouldn’t have brought that scumbag to his pack. But it was Hector’s deceit and cheating that was creating havoc on River’s body. That and also his jealousy. He was extremely jealous of Hector for being her mate Hector didn’t deserve her even one bit
His eyes were only on her. And he felt her fear even before he heard her screams. Her nightmare thrummed into him, shaking him to the core. She was thrashing and screaming now.
Her fear wrapped around him, suffocating him to the extent that he could no longer remain in his place. He got on the bed and pulled her in his lap. Cupping her head with his large palm, he pressed it into his chest and grasped her thighs and scooted them over his.
“River,” I said, rocking her, kissing her. “River, wake up.”
She fluttered her eyes but she closed them and her screams dropped off. Her hair stuck to her forehead with sweat, her body having a high fever. She mumbled something incomprehensible and snuggled into his chest.
Hunter covered her with a blanket and rocked her for a long time. He shouted orders at servants to let the fire keep burning in the hearth. The healer had come three times that day only to check her pulse, and those three times he had repeated that she was going to be fine, but Hunter wasn’t satisfied. Every time she screamed, he called the healer It was almost six hours since River had gone unconscious, but he didn’t leave her side. He had stopped eating. wondering that if his mate died, he was also going to follow her to the Fade. Then his thoughts went to his successor. It would obviously be Mia but his sister was so young that he was scared for her as well. For the first time, tears ran down his eyes. He buried his face in her head and cried silently. Mia had come to talk to him, but he could barely talk because his throat choked with way too many emotions.
Six hours back.
Elijah had come and informed him that Hector too was experiencing the same issues. He was also unconscious, but he was showing signs of recovery. He was coming in and out of his unconsciousness. “Victoria has asked me if she could stay till, he was better and ready to be transported back to his back.”
“Has he accepted the rejection?” Hunter asked, as he covered River’s exposed toe with the blanket.
“No, he hasn’t. And that is why we have to let them stay,” Elijah sighed.
“That ***!” Hunter said sharply. “What is the guarantee that he will accept her rejection?” he growled. “If he won’t,! am going to simply have to ***him!” His jealousy returned and this time it was even more fierce.
“You won’t do anything of that sort!” Elijah warned him. “We are going to have to make him accept the rejection. I know how I will do that, so don’t worry.”
Hunter gritted his teeth. “Let me know if none of your tricks work. I will handle the situation myself with that scumbag!” Suddenly, River stirred in his lap and he reduced his voice to soft murmurs. “Shh… I am there for you…”
Elijah couldn’t help smiling at their Alpha. This was the man who led warriors against the werewolf invasions. Hunter was the man responsible for bringing the world inside the Veil to new heights because of his business acumen and vision. And here he was with his mate. So docile and possessive.
Elijah returned with Hunter’s decision. It was important that he made sure that Hector and Victoria did not come in front of Hunter and so he asked the servants to take them to the south wing of the castle where none of them would cross their paths.
Victoria watched the servants as they helped Hector and took him to the south wing. She rushed after him. Inside she was happy that River rejected him but she was having trepidations that Hector hadn’t accepted her rejection. On top of that she had to carry out Alpha Maxim’s plans.
The south wing was huge and Victoria was too jealous of River for having been selected by Alpha Hunter. Had she not been Hector’s chosen mate, she would have definitely wooed Hunter. The Lycan King was filthy rich. She had never expected that inside the Veil it was so beautiful. A healer came to check upon Hector and announced that he was fine. He just needed a few hours to heal. However, he might sense a little more pain after he accepted the rejection.
As soon as the healer left, Victoria tucked Hector into blankets and set off on her mission. It was 11PM and most of the castle was already sleeping. She sneaked out of the room with her satchel. She had only until morning to finish her task. Alpha Maxim had specifically instructed her to complete it. He had threatened her that if she didn’t complete the task, she could kiss goodbye to the marriage with Hector
Victoria ran through the gardens of the vast estate of the castle to find the dungeons But wherever she went, she only saw the normal layout of the castle For two hours she had been running around, sneaking and hiding and sometimes crouching just to understand the map of the castle, but there was nothing that said that this was the way to dungeons Defeated and highly imitated, she decided to go to the tallest tower of the castle From there she was surely going to get the best view of the surroundings Maybe, the dungeons weren’t located in the castle
She was surprised that the tower was abandoned. There was no quard on duty She climbed up the stairs, her imitation rising to the extent that she started cursing Alpha Maxim loudly. “If that ***hadn’t
come up with this nonsense plan, we would have been back to the Crescent Moon pack!” He punched the wall beside her, hoping that it was Alpha Maxim “The old man is going berserk! I will ask Hector to challenge him and dethrone him Moron Dimwit ***!”
“Who is there? River, is that you?” A soft and weak voice made her whip her head around her
Scared at first, Victoria pressed herself against the wall, thinking that she had walked into a guard But why was the guard thinking that it was River? That part confused her. Still, in order to take precaution, she stayed hidden in the shadows, pressed against the wall. Thankfully she had drunk a potion that would hide her scent. Holding her breath, she waited
“River? River?”
The voice came again.
“Did you find the keys to break this door? You said you would come back. You promised that you would free me from
here.”
Victoria was… shocked. She peeled herself off the wall and started to climb towards the source of voice.
“Say something. River,” the voice sounded desperate. “I am fed up with being here. Help me.” The plea was followed by subdued sniffles.
Victoria came to a landing and scanned it to see if there was a room. She was sure that someone was locked inside, but who? “Who is there?” she asked in a very low voice.
The woman on the other side became quiet.
Victoria went nearer to the wall. “I am Victoria. Who is it?”
“Victoria?” The woman sounded confused and scared. “I-I am Ella…..”
Victoria froze in her place. After a few moments she snapped out of her shock. “How can we break the door?” she asked, gulping thickly. “I can free you. River has sent me.”
“Oh!” Ella sounded relieved. “Have you got the keys?”
“No, but I have got something that will break the door.”
Ella became quiet. After a few seconds, she said, “Come to the right side of the wall and press it hard.”
Victoria did, as asked. She pressed the wall hard and it clicked open revealing a heavy wooden door with a small slit in the center. She dug inside the satchel to find the small dynamite strip. Peeling off the plastic, she attached the dynamite strip to the door. “I will be exploding this door,” she said to Ella. “So move back.” She heard footsteps shuffling away.
“I have moved back.”
“Good.” Victoria lit the tail of the dynamite and hurried back. The strip caught fire and it blasted lightly, ripping just a small portion of wood. Victoria came back and inserted her hand inside. She pushed the handle and opened the door.
Inside, in the dim light of a small room, she saw a frail woman with silvery ****hair, wearing a dark blue gown that hung to her ankles. Victoria smiled. “Ella, how are you?”
Ella looked at her with a frown, her eyes filled with fear.
Victoria closed the gap between them. “Alpha Maxim wanted me to free you. Now run!”
Ella’s ***dropped to the floor. “How do you know my brother?”
