The Rejected Werewolf Princess

CAMILLA'S POV

Marie was whispering on about something but my mind was back at the physician's room with Christine. I hadn't gotten any updates from Ryker and while I knew I could very well just ask; I didn’t want to rouse any suspicion from Marie. She didn’t seem to be worried at all, in fact, it seemed like Christine was the last thing on her mind.

“Do you think she is badly hurt?” I asked and she stopped mid rant to turn to me. “Christine, she just passed out like that. She could be badly hurt. What do you think?”

“I think she has the best physician in the world looking after her so she will be fine,” she said it so dismissively. “I cannot imagine how considerably lucky she has to be to have the best staff on hand ready to attend to her every need. Most people don't have the privilege of having a physician waiting for them when they pass out.”

“True, but at least she is getting help. Isn't that what matters? She could be hurt and we should just be happy that she is receiving medical attention.”

She snorted. “What matters is that I don’t care about her. She has the physician to do that. Do you know how many people would kill to have a physician who was at their beck and call? Do you know how many people die because they don't have access to healthcare?”

“What does that have to do with Christine passing out and being hurt?”

“It has everything to do with that,” he spat. “She and all the other royals are just living in undeniably luxury while the rest of the world suffers.”

It sounded like there was a hint of jealousy in her tone and it hit me that Marie was jealous of the people in the palace. It didn't matter that she was living in here now, it didn’t matter that others outside would see her like they would see us, to her, she was different. If you are not reading this novel on Jobn'i’ b.com, some sentences are incomplete. To her, we were privileged and entitled and she wanted that for herself. “Il am a palace girl, Marie,” I drawled and to her credit, her cheeks flushed pink. “It feels good to know that is how you think about me.”

“Come on, Camilla, you know I was not referring to you. You are not one of them.”

“Aren't I?” I shot back. “I am the Queen after all, I am the most royal of them all”

She seemed to be having trouble choosing her next words. She opened her mouth to speak but no words would come out. She seemed frustrated but it wasn’t directed at herself, it was pointed outwards at everyone else. I found the nearest bench and took a seat on it while waiting for her to finally say something.

“You don't get to blame me for what I said,” she said finally crossing her arms over her chest and I raised a brow. “You saw how we lived out there and you can see how life is here. Can you see the gap in the way of life? They have too much, why can’t you see that? They should be giving it all away. No one should live like this.”

“Maybe,” I admitted with a shrug. “But if they gave it away then how do they pay the guards that protect the cities? How do they send resources to packs in need? I may not know much but from what I know, the money here is not jus thrown around on frivolous living. What is wrong with you anyway? We are talking about a person who is in a physician's bed and you are not even worried?”

She shrugged. “When I needed a physician's bed, I didn’t get one so screw me if I am not feeling particularly hospitable.”

I was shocked that she had bridged that topic and even more excited now that it meant I could finally ask. “What do you mean? Are you okay?”

She snorted. “Please, don't pretend like my mother has not already told you. She does not know how to keep her mouth shut. Everyone in the town knows. I will not be surprised if you did.”

“All she said was that you were attacked by someone you considered a friend,” I lied. “She said it made it hard for you to trust people.”

“I was not attacked. They planned every second of it,” she spat. “They lured me into the woods and they would have killed me too. I lay there on the floor bleeding out and dying. I would have died too had someone not come to find me. I was taken to the physician and even he didn't want to treat me because we didn’t have any money so yes, I am being prejudiced and yes, I am being a terrible person but I have a right to do so.”

I was more concerned about the story than her outburst. It was completely different from the one that her mother had told me. “Peggy said that you walked to the physician.”

She looked up at me and in the most boring tone, she said, “I thought you didn’t know anything.”

“lI don't,” I tried to lie but she held up a hand to stop me.

“I don't want to talk about this anymore,” she stood to her feet and brushed imaginary dirt off her dress. “I should never have spoken in the first place. She is your cousin after all and you are right to defend her. I hope you figure ou what is wrong with her so that it doesn’t happen again.”

With that, she walked off and I couldn't help but think back on her last words. it didn’t sound like an ordinary greeting, it sounded like a warning, like a clue. Before I could stop myself, I found myself sprinting down the halls until I was in front of the physician's office.

Ryker was still there and he tried to get me to speak but I couldn't. I pushed the door open ignoring the physician who was standing at the foot of the bed and Juan who was holding Christine's hand. My attention was solely fixated on my cousin who was awake but looked very weak and tired.

“What did you do in the last twenty four hours?” I asked and her brows furrowed in confusion. “Humor me, Christine, what did you do? Where did you go?”

“l was in the palace. I ate, I slept, I hung out with your girls and I attended the meeting that we had. What is this about? I have a headache and I really cannot be bothered to think about my schedule over the last-"

“It will happen again,” I cut her off and her eyes widened. I felt Ryker still by my side. “It was a passing comment but it sounded like a warning. She said she hopes we figure out what is wrong so it does not happen again. Something is wrong.”

“Camilla,” it was Ryker who whispered and reached out to hold me gently. “She could have just been expressing concern. Who is she anyway?”

“Marie,” I whispered. “I don’t think she was. You have to trust me on this one. It sounded like a warning. She might have done something to Christine.”

“I think you might be reading too much into-"

“I believe her,” Christine cut Juan off. “Even if she is wrong, there is no reason why we should not take our time to fin out if something was done. I don’t want this to happen again.”

I looked over at Juan who sighed after a beat. “Fine.”

Once that was settled, the physician started to speak to them about the possible tests he would have to run. Ryker grabbed my bicep and slowly pulled me out of the room. No one noticed our sudden exit and he made sure the hallway was empty before he started speaking.

“What is this about?” he asked but I said nothing. “Tell me what you both spoke about, Camilla, for f***s sake.”

I broke down the entire conversation with her and by the time I was done, Ryker was just staring at me. He ran his hands down his face in obvious exhaustion and frustration.

“I think she might suspect something,” I said softly and he cocked a brow. “She acted weird, Ryker. You didn’t see he! but I know she suspected something. I don’t know what she did to Christine but she did something.”

“If you believe that then find out”

“What?”

“Find out, find a reason to search her place. Find something to hold her with. I trust you, Camilla and if you say that she did something wrong then she did, you just have to find out. You should go, I'll be here.”

I debated it for a second when an idea popped into my head. I couldn't believe I didn’t think of it earlier. I grabbed Ryker's face and kissed him softly and rushing off. I headed straight for Marie and Peggy's room. It was connected vic a shared door and the moment I walked in, I was hit with that god-awful smell again. It took me a second to gather my bearings and once I did, I realized that it was only Peggy in the room.

“If you are looking for Marie then she-" she began but I cut her off.

“I didn’t come here for Marie, I came here for you."

“I don't want to talk about what happened to my daughter anymore, Camilla. That part of her life is better left in the past. Please, I would ask that you dropped it as well”

“I didn’t come here to speak about that. I came here to find out if this smell was still here.”

“The maid said that it would go out in a few days. It has gotten better.”

She was right but she didn’t need to know that. All that mattered was the smell was still there and that was enough of a reason to get the place checked.

“I think it is worse. I will get some guards to search the entire place and make sure nothing died here.”

“That is not necessary,” she began but I held out a hand to stop her.

“Please, Peggy, I insist.”