The Crown's Obsession

Music Recommendation: Drive to Parkersburg- Marcelo Zarvos

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A young woman carried a basket in her arms filled with some of the vegetables that she had brought from the main market of the village. It was so that it could be sold to people who lived in the outskirts of the village and near the forest.

Her face had a little dirt that toned her beautiful face, but her striking green eyes was enough to catch one's attention.

Elizabeth Harris made her way through the quiet road, a road she was trying to familiarise with. Before she could get to the place where she had taken shelter recently, she came across two men who were walking towards her from the opposite direction.

"Milady! Why don't you allow us to help you with that!" came one of the men's voices whom Beth didn't know. By looks, they were both humans. Being new to this part of the land, there were only two people whom she knew of, and she was yet to meet King Warring as he had been away from the land.

The men didn't wear the usual village clothes but wore clothes that usually belonged to a high-status family. Beth had met many men like this before to know what kind these two were—deciding to ignore them by walking past them without paying heed.

"Where do you think you are going, miss?" asked the other man, catching hold of Beth's arm to stop her from walking further. The basket from her hands fell.

"Let go of my arm!" Beth warned the man, but the person didn't listen to her and instead came to stand right in front of her.

She could feel her hands tremble, and it wasn't because of fear for herself but for the other two people near her. Since the time she had been bit by a werewolf, she had noticed the subtle changes in her moods, one of them being anger that coursed through her veins where she wanted to hurt the other person.

Staying in Devon, she had come to understand her situation wouldn't get better unless she went to look for a solution. She needed some guidance on how to control the animalistic urges that came within her.

"Did you not hear what I said?" her green eyes turned darker in threat.

The two men chuckled at her words, "You must be really new to this place because we have never seen you here. What is your name?" asked the man who had spoken to her first.

"I don't have time to sit and chat. If you could let go of my hand, I would go on my way," Beth tried to pull her hand away from his grasp but the man's hold on her only tightened.

"Why won't you tell us your name, unless you are a rogue werewolf," the other man commented, getting closer to her and sniffing the air around her. "She doesn't smell like a rogue wolf. You have so much dirt on your face, let us help you in washing it."

"I have hands to clean it," glared Beth, her fingers slowly starting to curl. "You will be very sorry if you don't step back right now."

"What are you going to do? Just because we came here to talk to you, you are throwing us that attitude," and the man pushed her head as if he was reprimanding her. He pushed her head two more times. "What are you going to do?" and he laughed.

"She doesn't look like she is from here, does she?" laughed the other man and right when his hand moved closer to Beth's chest, at the same time, her nails grew into claws, and her teeth turned feral in defence to protect herself.

Consumed by the animalistic instincts, Beth didn't realize what happened until she heard one of the men screaming in pain while on the ground. The man stumbled back with his hand on his chest, and not a second later, blood started to ooze out as Beth had used her claws against him.

"W-what did you do?!" questioned the other man in shock, who came right at her, but Beth pushed him right across the tree to have him crash and fall on the ground.

As her senses returned a little, Beth looked at them in horror. She wasn't sure what to do with one man bleeding! She had hurt someone!

"Elizabeth?" She heard someone call her, but her eyes were fixed on the man she had wounded.

"I hurt a person," she whispered under her breath. "I killed someone."

The sight of blood triggered a memory of hers, snow covering all around the ground and the person in her arms, who continued to bleed to his death where she had been unable to do anything. The more the memory continued to repeat in her mind, the worse it had gotten in time. Right now, one hand was coated in blood.

A couple of footsteps were heard along with voices.

"What are we going to do with these two?" asked someone.

"Have someone tend to them and send them back home," ordered the man in charge of the area. "And who is this? I thought this area had been cleared for rogue wolves," the voice was gruff.

"Alpha, this is Elizabeth Harris. She's from Devon," said the person who had identified Beth.

"Bring her to the dungeon right this instant!"

By the time Beth had completely gained consciousness of the situation, she had been dragged to the dungeon of the village and had been placed behind bars.

She found herself in the dark lit dungeon, and she quickly moved to the bars, "Is anyone here?!" she called, worried.

Hearing footsteps approaching the cell she was being held in, her eyes widened on seeing the person, "Mr. Heathcliff?" Seeing a familiar face, she felt relieved. It was James Heathcliff.

"Good evening, Lady Elizabeth," James bowed his head in greeting while standing on the other side.