Forty Five

Veronica's Pov

Tears stung my eyes as I spurred the horse to move faster, the wind clawing at my face. My heart felt heavier than lead in my chest as I recalled how Indrik had spurned me, disgracing me even before his maid. The path before me blurred as the tears poured without restraint.

Reaching the golden gates of the palace, I barged in, barely noticing the beautiful sights that rolled past. The horse pulled to a stop before the palace and I slid off it, not caring about what happened to it as I ran into the palace. I could barely see ahead of me as I made my way to my room.

"Where are you coming from?" The booming voice of my uncle stopped me in my tracks just as I reached out toward my doorknob. My entire body trembled at the realization that I had been caught red-handed. I knew I was supposed to turn around but my face was still wet with my tears so I didn't dare to.

"Vee?" He called again, more softly this time as he started to approach me. An involuntary shiver consumed me again as I wished I could just open the door and escape his questions.

"Uncle!" I tried to speak but it came out as a croak and another tear rolled down. I subtly raised my arm and made a futile dab at my face, hoping I could avoid him seeing it.

"Veronica?" He called again, this time, his warm breath on my cold neck making me more skittish as he placed a warm hand on my shoulder. "Are you..." His voice hardened as he turned me around to face him, "crying!" He finished, his blue eyes burning with a kind of vengeance. I shivered again, knowing I was definitely in trouble this time. "Who did this to you?" He growled, his huge arm growing tighter around my shoulder.

My eyes flitted as I thought about what to do. He couldn't know where I had been. No! If he did, he was going to bring hell down on the both of us and I couldn't afford that. I managed a short laughter. "What? No! I only went for a short ride through the woods. The horse was fast and the winds were harsh which got my eyes tearing up. That's why..." I pointed to my face and added a wide-eyed helpless look that he could never refuse.

His eyes narrowed as he moved in closer, running his eyes over me. He spun me around slowly and by the time I came face to face with him again, I knew that he hadn't bought it. "Where in the woods did you go exactly?" He asked coldly.

I laughed again as his eyes trailed from mine down to my feet. I followed it and panicked at what I saw. I needed to draw his attention, and fast. "The pine woods, uncle. I have been feeling so cooped up these past few days and needed to clear my mind. The place always manages to cool me down. You remember the first time I went there? You had taken me there?" I was smiling but it soon faded when he would not raise his eyes from my feet.

My heart flew to my throat as he slowly raised his head, his eyes incredibly stormy, the way they got when he was extremely mad.

"When did the pine woods sprout a river?" His voice was calm but I knew better than to buy into that. My lie had been found out.

"Uncle!" I tried again but his icy cold eyes shut me up.

"You went to see him again." He muttered distastefully, his jaws set as he eyed me like he was trying to decide whether to beat me up for being such a fool or beat me up for being such a great fool.

"Uncle, I..."

"How could you?" He snapped, his huge muscles tensing like he was about to pounce. Something told me I knew who his victim would be and it wouldn't be a deer. "After all that...that.. imbecile has done to you! To us! You still choose to go to him? Do you have no shame, girl?" He growled angrily, his voice reverberating all over the long corridor. The guards were standing still like they were trained to, acting like they were totally oblivious to what was going on. Maybe they were, because they wouldn't dare to spill a word of what happened here but that did not make me feel any better. Not when my uncle, the Alpha was towering over me with eyes that were blazing with anger. I knew my uncle wouldn't hurt me but they didn't stop me from feeling like cowering before his rage.

Luckily, someone stepped in to save me, right before I passed out from a panic attack. "Rudolph? What is going on?" My aunt appeared out of nowhere.

"Aviel!" My uncle moaned as he turned toward her. "Can you believe she went to see that...mongrel?" He spat the last word out like it was still a term that was too honourable for the one it addressed.

My aunt glanced at me but it wasn't with judgement. She moved closer to my uncle and placed an arm on his chest. "How about we talk about this later? The poor girl looks exhausted."

He looked like he was going to protest but against his wife, my uncle stood no chance as he was led away. I sighed as my shoulders drooped. I opened my door and stepped in, glad to be free from that episode.

Inside my room, I removed my golden heart shaped locket and placed it on my bed. Reaching for my hair, I snapped a hair strand. In my other hand was a strand of black hair. I entwined the two and carefully folded them into the locket. With a smile, I returned it to my neck.

He might not know it yet but Indrik is going to be mine.