Chapter 60: Alone in the Field

’You are no different,’

It’s good to know exactly what he thinks of her.

Della didn’t argue after he’d said that, because she’d expected nothing less from Malachi. She had simply lay back down and closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.

She could still see the image of the little girl in his arms clearly, especially the liveliness in his eyes.

And warmth.

So much warmth.

It was so difficult to believe that a man like him only had warmth in her eyes, since they had changed so much now.

She also recalled Katherine’s face. The colour of her eyes and hair looked exactly like Della’s, which gave her another understanding as to why Malachi was always irritated whenever she was close or far.

Della wished she could take away all that pain. She understood it well, since she knew what it felt like to be betrayed and stabbed in the back. What it felt like to watch the person you trusted the most, only want to see you crumble to the floor.

The next morning, Della quietly prepared his medicine. He was already moving around the room, and she left it sitting by the side of the room before leaving the room for work.

Hauling stone.

As she walked toward the fields, she wondered if she should even bother herself going there. After all, she would be dead in nine days.

Plus, Garrett was there. She never wanted to run into that man again. The thought of seeing him or hearing his voice brought raw chills crawling down her spine, and she felt like puking.

Talking about puking, she’s been feeling an awful amount of it lately. Her stomach would grumble and turn on her, even though she barely touched food in the Pack. This morning when she had stood up, her head had felt dizzy for a few seconds and she had to wait a few seconds for the dizziness to go away.

Just then, Della watched a familiar figure turn the corner in front of her. The maid was carrying a basket of fruits and heading in her direction, but the moment she saw her... something flashed in her eyes, and she noticed the maid almost turned around and leave from where she’d come from.

Instead, she quickly planted a smile on her face and approached her.

"Della!!"

Della’s instinct rang again. The way she had called her reminded her of the way Beatrice used to call her in the past, before she found out her sister hated her.

"Mara," Della forced a smile.

"I see you didn’t escape. Why?"

What kind of question was that? "I ran into some rogues, and I ended up back here. You were there, weren’t you?" Della’s eyes slightly narrowed.

"Oh! That’s terrible!" She looked terrified, "Well, I’m so glad you’re alright now,"

Alright?

That was a very wrong word to use.

"Thanks," Della just kept staring at her.

Something wasn’t making sense. The maid was acting far more on edge than usual, like she was hiding something.

"Yeah, well, you’re heading to the Fields for work, right?" Mara asked.

"I...am,"

"Good," She answered, "Because you haven’t been there for a few days now, and the carts of stones had increased so much I doubt you’d be able to finish everything in a single day!"

Della’s eyes almost fell.

They’d left her work piling up? It probably wouldn’t take long before Garett came into the castle walls looking for her himself, and the Moon Goddess forbids what he would do to her if he finally got his hands on her!

It was best if she quickly cleared the stones before it got to that stage.

Quickly, Della ran off to the fields.

The moment she stepped into the open, the air suddenly prickled coldly at her skin, and she shivered slightly and looked up.

It wasn’t winter yet.

So why was she feeling cold exposed to the air even with the clothes she was wearing?!

She shook her head and waved it off. By the time she finished hauling those carts of stones, she’d probably be drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Luckily for her, Garett wasn’t present when she stepped into the field but the whispers followed regardless. She was used to what they said before, but now that the Forgotten Law has been brought to life, every word made her feel more dreadful than she already was.

"If it were me, I’d kill myself before I’m raped to death by a hundred men!"

"Would you look at her? Gosh, I almost admire her resolve,"

"The Alpha has let her live long enough as a part of his mercy. It’s time he showed her exactly who she is and where she sits in his life,"

"Wife or not, mate or not, a rotblood Luna can never exist in a million years!"

"Nine days left for her existence. Then, all the filth in this kingdom will disappear!"

They all snickered one or two nasty comments as she walked by, making sure it was loud enough for her to hear. And although she felt like bursting into tears right there, she swallowed every pain and continued to walk till the got to the large craters of stone.

There were at least two hundred of them.

Where was she supposed to even start from?!

Another wave of dizziness hit her just thinking about it, and she sighed, waiting for her vision to come back to normal.

Once it cleared, she rolled up he sleeves and started her work.

One by one, inch by inch, bit by bit, she pushed the craters with every strength she had all the way to the other side of the field. Her back was on fire, her muscles and bones aching badly and the dizziness was hitting every two seconds.

But she said stop.

By the time it was almost noon, she had finished over a hundred large craters.

As expected, her whole body was drenched in sweat but she was still feeling cold seeping into her bones, and there was a pounding headache at the back of her head.

The other workers were already finishing for today and had begun leaving one by one.

Too tired to move again, she leaned on the next crater she was supposed to push and closed her eyes briefly, hoping the pain and dizziness would settle down a bit, enough for her to continue.

Just then, Della felt a huge wave of disgust crash into her face and vomit churned in her stomach, threatening to come out violently. Quickly, she physically stomached it back down, her eyes watering so hard.

What the hell was that?!

The moment she opened her eyes, she understood why she had felt that way.

Garrett was here.

Leaning against a wall at the other end of the field, and staring directly at her. Again, he had that lazy, eerie grin on his face.

She quickly turned away and resumed pushing her stone down the field. She tried to finish as quickly as possible, but she knew it would be impossible. She would probably be done in another six hours, and by then everyone would have left.

And she would be alone with Garrett.

And she couldn’t leave now.

Because he was already here.

Shit! She was trapped.

Just as she had predicted, two hours later the field had gone completely silent and empty. The one thing that could be heard was the sound of stone dragging against sand as she pushed one crate at a time.

If only she had wolf powers.

Those stones would have been a piece of cake!

But no, she has to live the rest of her life Wolfless, hated, blamed and scorned.

She went to push the next crater of stone when she noticed Garett wasn’t standing at his usual staring spot anymore.

Was he gone?

She looked around, hope and relief flaring in her heart. Was he really gone? Is this her chance to escape?!

Suddenly, her body went completely still and her face grew pale.

She had felt him.

Right... behind her.

He had snuck up on her.

And now, she could feel his palm on her backside.

"I missed you," He whispered into her neck, his stinking breath making her eyes water, "Shall we continue from where we stopped the last time?"