Chapter 192

Chapter 192 Something is blooming William stayed with Martin until it was time to take his body away. He stood with his brother’s blood drenched over his clothes as if he’d just came out of a pool of it. Doris didn’t realize the crowd had thinned out around them until she glanced around.

Only a few guards remained as if they didn’t know what else to do. Enzo stood near the back of the room and Beth was outside of it as if she couldn’t stand being inside. Doris didn’t blame her in the slightest.

She would have done the same.

Doris hesitantly stepped up to William, but he refused to lift his gaze to her. He looked out of it. As if he left his body and there was only a hollow shell walking around in his place. It pained her to see him that way. 2 “Let’s go back to the camp…” Doris whispered. It was too soon to go back to the palace, she was afraid it would all fall in on him if they did something like that. “We don’t have to be here anymore.”

William said nothing. Doris reached her hand out for him but he walked right past her and out of the door as if she was a ghost. Enzo watched him leave and looked back at her with a look that was almost as helpless as she felt. They didn’t know how to comfort him.

Doris followed William out and gripped Beth’s hand to pull her along. This house was tainted with trauma, she wanted them all out of here before things turned worse. If that was even possible.

Beth followed silently. Her grip was tight enough to make Doris wince but she didn’t mind one bit. The guards watched William as he walked right out the door with the blood of their leader on his hands. They said nothing either. It didn’t seem like they knew what to do with themselves now that Martin was gone.

She wondered if they would eventually find their way back to the palace to serve as they did before.

The silence made her ears ring. They hadn’t really won, not when it ended like this. An invisible weight fell on his shoulders and she wished she could take that away from him. She could see it in every step he took as if it tried to weigh him down to the ground.

The carriage ride back to the camp was dead silent. Only the sound of the wheels crunching against snow kept her thoughts at bay. William stared out the window in his own world and Beth did the same.

Enzo had ridden separately as well as the guards they brought with them. Doris briefly wondered if the palace would bury them all together or if they would each get their own funeral. It seemed sick to think of it so soon. Only that morning he had told her that he wanted her to stay with him forever and now he was… gone. Just like that. A horrible ache tried to rip her chest open, but she swallowed it down before anyone could see it on her face. Martin was once her favorite prince. She thought he was the kindest, most wonderful man. How fast things changed when she didn’t look too closely.

Once they arrived, William waited for the ladies to leave the carriage before he exited himself and went straight to their tent without a word. His clothes were still stained with red, everyone at the camp silently stared as he passed by. They were wise to stay silent. Beth took Doris’s hand and pulled her towards the path they usually walked on in the mornings. “I should go check on him-“ “Give him a moment alone, he needs to process what happens before he can talk about it.” Beth said gently. They walked along the path quietly until they got far enough away from everyone’s eyes. Doris was only glad that all the bodies had been cleared from when they last were at the camp. “Do you think he’ll be okay?”

Doris asked. She glanced back at the tent that seemed so far away from her. “Only time will tell, but I believe he will be eventually.” Beth sadly smiled a little. “He has you and your baby you created together, he will heal and learn what it’s like to have a healthy family. Eventually.” “I’m worried that this will weigh on him for a long time. He only has Daniel and his father left, but even his father isn’t doing well.

Everyone said he was on his death bed.” Doris frowned. “I hope he gets the chance to make things right with him before he passes. His father owes him an apology and so much more.” “This war might show William as the villain to others, to his own father.” Beth said quietly. She glanced back over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “I heard some of Martin’s guards mention how they consider William a traitor for what he’s done. I don’t know how much worse this will make it, there were so many guards to see it happen.”

“A traitor?” Doris chewed on her lip. Beth was right, this may have made it even harder to gain the trust of the people he needed it most from. Everything kept unraveling. “I think everyone will see his true intentions in time.”

“Can I ask you something?” Beth said suddenly. “There’s been something on my mind since we left the palace.”

Doris nodded. “Of course you can, what is it?”

“When Martin mentioned your white wolf.. what did he mean by that? Is your wolf special? He said that it made Luna Queen mad to see you as a white wolf. Why would that matter?” “1–I’m not entirely sure what it means yet, only that it’s special. I was told that a white wolf is extremely rare but don’t know why I would be given a wolf so extraordinary if I’m just an average girl who used to be a maid. Sometimes I feel like I was given something I didn’t deserve.” 3 Beth rolled her eyes and bumped Doris with her shoulder. “You are not just any average girl. There’s a fire in your heart and if you say that sort of wolf is rare and extraordinary, you were given her because you deserve it. Fate isn’t mistakenly given, it’s set out with purpose. I see you as someone entirely new from the girl I used to know.” “Sometimes I wonder if I’ve changed at all.” Doris muttered as she kicked at a pile of snow.

Beth laughed a little. “You are not the same girl from before, I guarantee you that. The girl from before would not be brave enough to break me out of a cell or take down guards just because I was in trouble.

The girl from before would not stand up for herself or jump into trouble because it’s the right thing to do.

The girl in front of me is who you always were meant to be.”

“I feel like I haven’t earned what I am-“

“Doris, what you are now is something to be celebrated. You don’t have to prove yourself to be yourself.

Your wolf color shows that you are more than worthy, even if you aren’t ready to believe it yet.” Beth wrapped her arm around her shoulder. “I don’t know as much about wolves or what anything means, but I know that you deserve to be a white wolf more than anyone else I have ever met.”

Doris shook her head and laughed a little. “People keep telling me something like that.”

“Then stop doubting them. The longer you waste time doubting yourself, the longer it will take for you to fully grow.” Doris rested her head on her friend’s shoulder. “What would I do without you?” “You would be miserable, clearly.” She pushed her shoulder to make her stand. “Now, go check on your prince. Enough time has passed.” Doris stood up instantly and nodded her head. She hurried back up the path and towards their tent. She silently prayed that he wouldn’t push her away like all the times before. Hesitantly, she entered their tent to find William in bed. His back was to her and the covers pulled up to his neck as if he wanted to hide from the world. “William?” Doris said softly. She crossed the room slowly as she peeled off her coat and went to sit next to him on the bed. “Is there anything I can get you?” He said nothing. Silence answered her and only more followed. Doris saw the uneven rise and fall of his breathing and knew he wasn’t asleep-not yet. Doris kicked off her shoes and curled up beside him, careful not to touch. “I’ll be here when you need me.” She whispered. “No matter how long it takes.”