The Rejected Werewolf Princess

CAMILLA'S POV

I was able to have guards in the room within minutes and needless to say, they were turning the entire place upside down. They already had orders to take anything that looked suspicious. Peggy was not happy about it but there was little she could say or do without coming off as suspicious. There was definitely something in that room and I needet to find it. I needed a reason to be able to pin Marie so that I could get on with my life.

“What is this?” I heard Marie ask as she made her way towards the room. To say that she looked pissed would have been an understatement. “Is there a reason that our room is being taken apart? Are we under investigation or something?”

“Something died in that room, can’t you smell it? I just want to find the source of the smell and help you get it out,” I took a step close to her but she held out a hand to stop me.

“You have done more than enough, thank you very much,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “Call out your guard: I do not want them snooping around my stuff and treating me like I am some sort of criminal. My only crime was eve coming here”

She was throwing a tantrum that was not proportionate to the situation at all and that was how I knew that she was hiding something. She should have been happy that I was trying to rid the smell from the room. It made no sense that she would be fighting me tooth, nail and claw when I was on paper trying to make her life a little more comfortable and perfect.

“You just need to calm down,” Peggy interrupted before I could say anything. She placed a hand on Marie's shoulder. “It seems like there is some anger hidden somewhere underneath all of this. Why don’t you both take a deep breath and try to figure out what exactly is causing this? Camilla is only trying to help.”

Marie snorted. “That is all she ever tries to do. She wants to help everyone as long as they are not us. Can you see al those guards, mother? They are combing through our room.”

“They are trying to find what died in there so that we-"

I was cut off from my sentence when one of the guards cleared his throat and gestured for me to come with him. I followed him in, Marie and Peggy were close behind and he led us towards a spot behind the massive wardrobe where not one, but two dead birds lay unmoving. It was clear that the smell had originated from there considering the fact that the birds were half way into decomposition.Content provided by NôvelDrama.Org.

I turned to Marie with a raised brow and her cheeks flushed pink. “I hope you can see now that all I was trying to do was help.” I turned away from her and back to the guards. “Thank you for taking the time out to do this. Please put the room back in order and have someone clear that out.”

I walked out of the room without looking back knowing fully well that Marie and Peggy would follow. I deliberately led us far away from the room and chose not to turn back when I noticed Ryker walking in after the guards. They would update him on anything weird and he would update me after. It was the perfect plan and no one was the wiser.

Once we were in a deserted hallway, Marie reached out to grab my arm. “I am sorry, okay? I was jealous and angry and I know it does not make sense to you but it does to me and I really hope that you will understand.”

I turned to her. “Make me understand, then. If you say that it is important to you then you should be willing to help me understand.”

She sighed and you would have thought that I asked her to cut her off own leg. “This place, it is different for me. I don’t belong here and every day is an indicator of that. I don't feel comfortable in these dresses, I don't like the fact that I cannot walk out in the sun. I miss the lake, I miss the market and the people. I miss the village, okay? This place isn’t for me and I look at you and you fit in. You look like them, you talk like them and for f***s sake, you act like them. You are one of them and seeing you care about that girl, it just reminds me that you are one of them- not one of us.”

I exhaled deeply. If I was being honest, I did not buy her excuse one bit but Peggy did and if I truly had lost my memory then I would too. I sat on the nearby bench and gestured for her to sit next to me. She hesitated before doing so and I took her hand in mine. Her hands were colder than usual but I chalked it up to the fact that her dress had very short sleeves. I gave her a small smile and squeezed her hand softly.

“Maybe I do belong here,” I shrugged. “Maybe you feel like you do not but that does not change anything. I am still Camilla and you are still Marie. These people are supposedly my family and sometimes I get flashes of what I assum are memories.”

I paused to gauge her expression and I saw her eyes widen in shock but there was no other emotion. Her eyes seemed dead and bored. I glanced over at Peggy who I could see had wide and more expressive eyes but I couldn't focus on her because I wanted to get an emotion out of Marie. I wanted to know exactly what she thought and felt. “I will probably remain here for the rest of my life,” I said simply. “You might choose to leave for whatsoever reason but that does not change anything about us. You will always be welcome here. You will always be part of my family.” I waited for her response and all she was able to say was, “You are getting your memory back?”

“I don't know if I would say that,” I lied. “I just get flashes sometimes of me walking in the halls or I get a feeling of déja vu. Nothing concrete has returned and honestly, I dont think I would be particularly bothered if nothing return: I enjoy the new memories that I am making.”

“You mean you enjoy Ryker,” she deadpanned and my cheeks heated.

She looked like she wanted to say more but as if on cue, Ryker walked up to us. She wagged her brows at me in a suggestive way and I smacked her shoulder playfully. Ryker made sure to give her an acknowledging nod before turning to me.

“Is it alright if I borrowed you for a minute?” he asked and before I could respond, Marie all but pushed me to my feet. “Please take her,” she said with a small giggle. “We can have this conversation later, Camilla,” she leaned into my ear before whispering. “We will have this conversation later.”

I gave her a small smile and waved before going off with Ryker. We made sure to keep a distance that was deemed respectable but also showed that there was interest. What I hated most about my plan was the fact that I had to pretend around Ryker. I liked the way things were with us- easy and stress free- but ever since I started this, every move we made was psychoanalyzed and had to be done with careful precision.

“Is there a reason they looked like that?” he asked once we were away from them.

“Yes, I told them I was having flashes of memory,” he stilled in his steps. “I wanted to get a reaction out of Marie. I wanted to see how she would react but her eyes were so emotionless and cold.”

“You didn’t think I would have loved to know about this?” he didn’t sound annoyed, merely frustrated.

“It was a spur of the moment thing,” I explained before dropping my voice to whisper. “I am sorry. I should have told you. If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t get anything out of them. Marie didn’t even look fazed, she seemed excited but nothing else.”

“Peggy looked like you had kicked her cat,” he mused and my brows furrowed. “You were so focused on Marie that you didn’t even look at Peggy. When I walked up to you, she looked a tad bit annoyed and maybe a little frustrated.” I shook my head. “No, maybe you saw it wrong. Besides, she was angry with Marie and I because we were fighting. That was probably what you saw.”

“Maybe,” he shrugged. “l wasn't close enough to hear the conversation or decipher any bit of it and I guarantee we have maybe a few minutes at best before they return to their room.”

“You found something?” I asked and he nodded.

I couldn't help the excitement that bubbled up inside of me as he led me towards the room but that excitement quickly died down when I realized what was on the ground in front of me. I heard about them but I had never seen one in person and I never thought that this would be the first place that I would see one

“What is that?” I asked wanting to be sure it was exactly what I thought. I reached out for it but Ryker was quick to grab my wrist in a tight grip.

“Don’t you even think about it,” he warned. “We have taken the others away. Whoever owns it will not out rightly ask for it, but we will begin to realize that the effects are wearing off."

It looked like a miniature doll. It had no facial features but there were pins in it. I had heard enough about them to know what they were.

“They were found underneath the bed. There are at least four more of them. I believe the appropriate term is voodo doll.”