ARTEMISIA
“This one!” Ramona squeals, but my mother peeks at it, scrunching up her nose.
“Isn’t she supposed to walk through a forest? With that gown, she would just swipe the ground.”
Ramona groans while I giggle. “You surely know how to take the magic out of things, Lulu.”
My mother gasps theatrically, hitting her with the kitchen towel she is holding before she scurries back into the kitchen.
It is surely good to be home.
But it has been exhausting as well.
My mother had been right about me needing to focus more on my health as the pups did grow quickly and started to move hectically, draining my energy.
Sleeping did get increasingly difficult and the doctors scurrying around me, checking on me repeatedly didn’t help with my anxiety at all.
And I keep feeling on edge, without ever being able to relax fully as Rachel is always present with the most intimate conversations between the doctors and my mates as she is there to report and to monitor my pups for the high council.
I absolutely hate it.
Cayden has tried to reassure me several times about how it all is going to be alright. But I can’t shake the feeling that the high council has something planned once the pups are born.
I keep having nightmares about how I will lose my babies.
At the same time, I feel trapped in a pitch with snakes and I honestly can’t see myself being able to stand it any much longer.
But I keep doing the best I can, trying to get as much positive mindset through the little happy moments with my loved ones.
Just like this one.
For the rest, I have to face my fears step by step as we still have to find proof that Rick is behind it all.
And maybe my brother is helping him.
Even if it took me a few days, I did go to see the culprit my brother had transported to us once.
I was shocked to recognize him.
And honestly, I couldn’t believe he was behind all of this. He was known as the pack idiot, but he had always been nice to me.
Even behind his cell bars, he lit up with a huge smile as he saw me.
“Missy!” he beamed, standing up from his small and creaky bunk bed. “Long time no see. We have been missing you.”
I hugged myself, trying not to get too impressed by his shattered clothes or his swollen face. At least, I knew from Cayden that he wasn’t as mentally strong and practically gave in as soon as the tortures had started, admitting to everything he had done. “Hey Ed, what happened?”
“Not much.” He shrugged, smiling brightly. “Just hanging around.”
I cringed as he obviously didn’t have the intellectual capacity to pull off something like this, just as he jerked up with an even bigger smile, spotting my mother standing behind me. “Oh, Luna Lucrezia. So lovely to see you.”
“I’m not Luna anymore, Edward,” she said calmly, making him chuckle.
“Oh, no. You will always be the Luna for me.” He nodded repeatedly, setting his eyes back on me. “Luna Diana isn’t worth her title. Our new Alpha sold his sister to appease the devils.”
His voice was hushed and guttural, seeping through my skin and making me shudder uncomfortably.
“What do you mean?” I asked calmly and he threw his hands in the air before clasping it into his hair.
Withstanding the urge to flinch back, I forced myself to keep my head high. “He made a deal with the devil! I heard him myself.”
Low whimpers got me to look over to the three Omegas shivering on another bunk bed, holding themselves, trying to calm one another. The cell was just next to the one Edward was staying in, while Lisa’s cell was all across, on the other side of the dungeon.
Edward wailed louder, falling onto his knees. “They wanted to save us but sacrificed the princess. This is not fair! She was the only one we had.”
“Ed…” I tried but he was still not done. His voice boomed from the cold walls, hitting us with the desperation loaded in it.
“He is totally mental,” Matthew whispered as he came to stand next to me. “He kept on telling us these kind of fairy tales all the time. It’s a wonder he didn’t start with dragons.”
This word seemed to trigger something as Edward jumped up, lifting his finger towards us. “Eyes red like those of a dragon,” he yelled, making my blood freeze but Matthew just groaned.
“Oh, please…”
Red eyes?!
Devils.
Crouching down, I clasped my skirt to keep it from sliding down. “Where did you see the red eyes, Ed?”
“Don’t even try,” Matthew warned me. “He will just make you feel confused. Like on the worst trip ever.”
I would have liked to chuckle, but Edward’s eyes kept me from doing it as he inched closer, fear flickering in his eyes. “The forest. The devil came to me and told me what I had to do. They made a Pact with the Devil. They stole our only princess.”
He reached between the bars, wanting to caress my cheek, but Matthew was fast to keep him from touching me. His hand touched the silver bars as he pulled it back, making him burn himself on the metal. “What devil? Who came to you?”
“Nooooooo,” he shouted, burying his head into his hands. “He will kill us all. And take the princess for himself.”
“Oh, my Goddess,” my mother breathed out behind me, holding her hand on her chest. “We didn’t know that he was spiralling like this.”
Shaking my head, I tried to speak to him again. But there was no avail. He kept wailing loudly as soon as someone said something.
“What did he tell you?” I asked as I got up, facing Matthew who was looking at him with a saddened expression.
He is just too kind for all of this.
He sighed, looking back at me. “He told us more or less the same thing. And he told us how he indoctrinated the pack, reaching out to Lisa. She then proceeded to form a little stupid army, because they wanted Rachel back anyway.”
One of the Omegas looked up, spitting in our direction. “She was the best that ever happened to the pack. You are just blinded by some stupid and weak she-wolf.”
“Well,” Matthew said, ignoring the Omega completely. “That’s about it.”
“What about this one?” Ramona tears me out of my thoughts with her question.
I jerk up in my seat, looking at her wide-eyed. “Huh?”
“Where did I lose you to?” She giggles, tapping the picture with a model wearing a short blue dress again.
Shaking my head, I sigh exhausted. “Sorry, I was thinking of Ed.”
“Again?” My mother asks, walking back out of the kitchen with two steaming cups. “You have to let it go. Sometimes people do bad things. I’m just happy that he didn’t get through with his plan.”
Ramona tsks as she picks up her cup from the tray. “How insane. Wanting to kill your babies because he said it was the devil who told him. And bad things are going to happen.”
Rubbing my belly, I purse my lips. “Yeah… But I still can’t believe that it was just him. And just because of a fever dream of his.”
Something is really bugging me about what he said. But there are things that just we know, and I can’t tell everyone, so how can I even explain that for me it made just a bit of sense what Edward said?
But maybe I’m just too exhausted and my brain is tripping.
I really should just talk about it with him.
Dodging my mother serving me the tea I’m not allowed to drink anyway, I skyrocket out of my seat. “I’ll go for a walk.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” My mother asks, looking at me worried but I just shake my head.
“No, I want to be alone for a bit. It rarely happens and I need a bit of fresh air.”
“Okay,” they say in unison, looking at me sadly as I walk out of my quarters and hurry down the stairs.
Passing the working Omegas, I leave the house and continue to walk around the house until I reach the training field of the warriors.
Gregorius already flashes me a big grin from afar, pointing to the stables. “He is working for once.”
I thank him as his deep laughter rumbles over the training court and I push myself further, passing through the warriors standing around to watch their pack members train.
Pushing out a deep breath, I lift my gaze to see Fynn standing outside the stables. I’m just about to wave at him as I notice that he is not alone.
I halt in my tracks as he moves, making my blood freeze.