The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

RYKER'S POV

No one made a move to touch the cloth. There was just so much fear and concern filling the room, it was almost suffocating. I sighed and reached out with my toe to push open the rag but nothing would have prepared me for what was in there. Inside said rag was one of the dolls but it didn’t look normal, it was black, almost as if it had been burned and it had the most putrid smell I had ever been unfortunate enough to encounter.

I knew what it was immediately, we all did. Christine had a hand to her nose and I watched her rush over to a corner to throw up. She should have left, I wanted to force her to leave but she didn’t, instead, she came right back and stood next to us.

“What the hell is going on?” she asked. “I was watching it and all of this happened within seconds. Something weird is going on.”

Camilla agreed but as I glanced back over my shoulder at the rotten body in the cell, it all made sense. “The cell keeps out every form of magic. The moment we put her in there, the magic keeping the body alive started to leech away, it had to go back to its original state. My only question now is what happened to the person in her body?”

No words were spoken as we all wracked our brain for any possible responses, the honest truth was that we didn’t know. This was magic and it was completely out of our pay grade. We didn’t have a resident witch who could answer all of our questions and tell us what was true and real or not. All we had at the moment was a dead body and a rotten doll.

“Peggy!” Camilla exclaimed after a second. “Shit, how are we going to explain all of this to her? She is going to be devastated. I have to tell her what happened.”

She looked to me and I knew she wanted me to handle it. It was clear that she was emotionally invested in this and I couldn't expect her to be at her best in this situation. I turned to the guards who were still watching us with close curiosity and anticipation.

“Get rid of the body, I would prefer that you burned it. Make sure to take this doll with you,” I gestured to it, not wanting to go any closer. “Do not touch it with your bare hands. We don’t know what it was used for or if there are traces of magic inside of it”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“Speaking of magic, do not take that body out until the fire is ready. I don’t know if the magic will seep back in or not. This entire situation screams foul play and I don’t want to make it worse,” I turned to the women. “We should go.”

should let Peggy see her first?” Camilla asked in an unsure tone. “She might want to say

worse were harsh but I needed to drive my point across. “We will break the news about Marie. I will be righ there

with her. I turned to

you,” I whispered and she waved me off. “I think we can handle it from here. You should go and rest, I cannot imagine

and I. My mate definitely didn’t want to see Peggy, she dragged her feet the entire time and I knew it was worry for how she would behave and take

arrived at Peggy's door, I had to knock because I knew that in the moment, Camilla couldn't bring herself tc do anything. I knocked quietly and there was some mumbling before the door opened. Peggy took one look at us an she frowned deeply. I opened my mouth to speak but

would rather you didn’t,” she cut me off. “Can I at least see her?” “No, you can’t,” I hated doing that to her especially when her eyes

call to make,” she spat and I knew that I had successfully pissed her off. “You can

made to do so, I saw Camilla take a step into the room. She had her hands wrapped around her mid-section, almost as if she were anxious. I couldn't just leave my mate so I followed her as

never heard her speak about this ou loud. “I wanted to, so badly but I was advised against it. I was furious, I thought they were trying to take her from me I thought they didn’t want me to say goodbye. I threw every

her, I watched her take her first steps, I watched her shift, I was there when she had her first kiss. I love my daughter with everything in me and you cannot stop me from seeing her. This is the time that

needs you to be strong. You

girl, you have no right to speak for

instead, I let out a warning growl. Both women turned to me and Peggy's cheeks heated as she realized what she had done. She took a small step back to show me that she meant no harm and only then did the tension in

strained minute. “I know how much this hurts and while I might not have known Marie, you can trust that I know this

your mother in a fire is not the same as my daughter's body rotting on the ground, Camilla,”

way over

didn't tell you how her mother died,” I said simply and

shook ever so