Chapter SIXTY- FOUR: THE THREAT
“Oh my God, Ryan is here,” I jumped out of the chair as soon as the guard left.
“And how is that an issue?”
“What do you mean by that? Don’t you know the reason for his visit?”This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.
“Oh, I don’t. Maybe you should tell me.”
“He might have heard that I am here. And now he has come to take me back.”
“Well, I have nothing to hide.”
I stood stunned by what he had just said. He continued eating gently but he didn’t say anything else. I sat, wide eyes. How could he be so calm when he knew exactly why Ryan had come?
“I need to leave and perhaps find a place to hide. I can’t let Ryan see me here. I can’t go back to him. Not with all that I had seen.”
“Hey, you need to calm down,” he walked closer holding my hands, “You are with me now so don’t be scared, you have nothing to worry about.”
“I don’t know Kieran. I… I”
“Hey… Hey,” he held my chin raising my face and I looked at his eyes again, “Breathe. It’s okay.”
I looked away immediately. I couldn’t deny the fact that there we had a sort of connection. But it needed to stop. I had to take it all away and make it stop.
“Lets go,” he said.
“To where? Oh no, I can’t follow you there.”
“Ryan would not place a finger on you. Trust me.”
I took a deep breath and then walked out as he led me out.
…
“Clara! It’s such a relief to see you,” Ryan said as soon as he saw me. He made to move towards me but he guards held him back.
“Ryan, what are you doing here?” I asked.
“I have been looking for you all over. I haven’t slept a wink since your disappearance. You don’t know how much joy I feel seeing you again.”
“How did you find me?”
“I always suspected that you were here but I just couldn’t come to accept it. I never actually thought the Lycan King would cross his boundaries and take you. Well, until I heard rumours that a new lady had arrived at Kieran’s Palace and he is keeping her as his personal maid. The description fits you and so I had to come. I am so glad you are okay. We need to leave.”
“I’m sorry Ryan but she is not going anywhere with you,” Kieran said.
“You might be the Lycan King but you have over stepped your boundaries. Clara is mine!”
“Well she wouldn’t be here if she was yours. Look, go home and look after your pack.”
“Come on Clara, lets go back to what we were doing,” Kieran said.
“Clara,” Ryan called out, “I have always known that you are selfish. I took care of you and gave you a life and now you add being ungrateful to your list.”
“Good bye Ryan,” I said.
“You dare not leave!”
“Ryan you have to stop fighting. This is a lost battle. I do not want to come back to you. I am happy here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Clara look, I would do anything that you so desire. And I promise to keep to my promise once you come back.”
“I don’t want to come back. I trusted you Ryan, but you are not what I thought you were. I know your plans and I am so glad I got to find out. Leave Ryan.”
“No, I can’t leave without you.”
“Well, the lady asked you to leave. Guards! See to it that he leaves the palace.”
Kieran pulled my hand as we walked. Ryan wasn’t taking it lightly he tried to force his way through and the guards pulled him back dragging him away. I could still hear his voice as he cussed and called my name. I just didn’t like the feeling that creeped to me. Somehow, I felt guilty. Perhaps I should have just stayed inside and avoided anymore drama. I took my hands away from Kieran.
“Where are you going?” He asked.
“My room. I have a headache, I need to rest.”
I thought all night about what had happened. The look on Ryan’s face, like he cared about me while all he cared about was to harm me. It was scary.
“How could he be so callous?” I sniffed, wiping the tears that rolled down from my eyes.
…
Kieran had taken me off the maid duties and so I was left with nothing to do. But I knew Donna would need a hand in her tomato farm and so I got a basket and headed to her quarters. She had a weird look on her face as soon as she saw me approaching.
“Hey Donna,” I said smiling.
“What are you doing here?” She asked looking over her shoulders which got me worried.
“Well, I came to see you. You mentioned the other day that today is harvesting day and so I came down here with this basket to help you harvest.”
“You shouldn’t be here,” she said.
“But why?” Her continuous hushed tone and looking around made me a bit worried.
“Okay, give me a second let me get my tools.”
In a few seconds she was out and we walked towards the gate.
“What’s wrong Donna? Are you okay?”
I noticed she maintained a distance as we walked down.
“It’s nothing,” she stammered.
“You know that’s a lie. At first you weren’t happy to see me and now it feels like you don’t want to walk with me. Come on, what is going on? Is there anything wrong?”
“It’s nothing Clara, believe me.”
“Well, that’s a little hard to believe.”
As we got to the gate, Donna walked into the guards quarters just as she had done before and when she returned, she looked worse than how she had entered.
“You need to leave Clara.”
“Why?”
“The guards, they wouldn’t let me pass.”
“But why? I thought you said you had someone in there?”
“Yes I do, but they wouldn’t let me pass because of you.”
“I chuckled, “Is this some kind of joke? But they let us pass before.”
“Please you need to leave now. The tomatoes would not harvest itself.”
“Thanks for the basket,” she snatched the basket from my grip avoiding my eyes as she walked out of the gate without another word. I just stood there stunned and confused.
“What just happened? Maybe she is just having a bad day,” I thought. But everyone couldn’t just have a bad day all at once as they looked at me sternly. For a second, I felt a bit uncomfortable walking around alone and so I thought to stop by at Magdalene’s.
Magdalene was outside decorating a dress by the time I got to her home.
“Hey Magdalene, that’s a beautiful dress you have there,” I commended but just like everyone else she didn’t seem to notice that I was speaking.
“Hey Magdalene, are you okay?” I moved closer to touch her and then she cringed and threw my hands away.
“What are you doing here?” She asked.
“I came to see you. I never really thanked you for the dress and free makeup section the other day.”
“Well, there is no need for that. I never should have wasted my dress and efforts on you. You don’t deserve it.”
“I beg your pardon? Did I do something wrong? First it was Donna, the guards and the people I passed by and now you? What is really going on?”
“Leave Clara, I don’t want you anywhere around here.”
“Well, you need to at least tell me what I have done wrong to deserve all this treatment.”
“I wonder what the King sees in you. Well it is only a matter of time before you show your true self. It is only a weak werewolf that would betray her own pack. You have no shame. You should leave this pack. We don’t want your trouble. Wherever you go, you bring nothing but trouble.”
“Wait what? What are you talking about?”
“Leave! Or I’ll make you leave.”
“Magdalene, I don’t understand what you are talking about.”
She stumped inside the house but I still did not leave.
“Betrayal? What the fuck is she talking about?”
She returned with a bucket of water and before I could understand what was going on, cold water ran from my head down to the other parts of my body.
“Magdalene!” I gasped as I shivered.
“You still don’t want to leave?”
I navigated my way back to the palace dripping wet. The people with their eerie stares watched, giggling from the corners. It was the humiliation of a life time. I stopped as I saw Donna standing there with a basket of tomatoes. As usual, she said nothing to me. Only watching like the rest of them, although she didn’t laugh. The worst part of it was the fact that I had not even the slightest idea of why I was being detested and tagged as a weakling and betrayal by an entire town.