Mated to the Mad Lord-Chapter 239: Stay and Live

The night was chaotic, with William going as far as to shift into his wolf form to avoid being killed by the assassins whose main goal was his head.

It wasn’t until they were all dead around him, along with his guards who had not managed to keep their lives, that he transformed back into his human form.

The smell of blood filled the air, and any normal human would have vomited the second they came across the gory sight of bodies that looked like they had been mauled to death.

Without batting an eye, he grabbed a coat from one of the dead men and wore it to cover his naked body, taking a step forward to see how bad the damage was when his legs suddenly weakened, and he fell to the ground.

"Shit!" he mumbled under his breath as he gritted his teeth and struggled to get back on his feet, even as he cursed Eldric in his head, aware that such an attack with such professional attackers couldn’t have been done by anyone but a lord.

The more he thought about it, the more annoyed he was, unable to comprehend what Eldric’s goal was since it couldn’t have been to annoy him to death.

With a dark look on his face, he got off the ground and began to move again, headed back inside to see the extent of the damage.

Heading straight to his room and office, he wasn’t surprised to see a complete mess with bodies of his guards both in and out of it, in a way that showed that there had been a serious fight.

His cold gaze strayed around the room as he stood at the entrance without going in, not seeing a reason to do so as he stood there with a huge frown on his face.

In a split second, he had just turned around to head down the stairs when he heard a rush of steps running towards him, and he saw one of his guards kneel right in front of him with a low bow.

His entire body trembled ever so slightly as he spoke, even as William stared at him with a visibly annoyed look on his face.

It was clear that something had happened. Something he wouldn’t like.

"La-lady Fiona is gone!" he said, and William visibly took a deep sigh in as he raised his hand, stretching it out to lean against the railing of the stairs.

He was tired, and because of the exertion of shifting, he felt like he was teetering on the edge of a deep sleep.

"You’re sure?" he asked in a low voice, his lashes fluttering ever so slightly as he asked.

The guard instantly nodded his head even before William was done asking.

"Yes! The cage was broken into, and she’s gone. We’ve searched everywhere, but there’s no sign of her!"

"Was there blood?" he asked, aware that if there was, it would mean that Eldric would rather kill his daughter than allow her to have his child.

Again! This sudden change of behavior surprised him, even as he stood there staring into the distance with a long face.

"Extend the search to the district! Find more men! SEARCH EVERY HOUSE IF YOU HAVE TO!" he ordered with a tight expression on his face.

"No plane is to take off! She’s still in the district. FIND HER!!!" he ordered, waiting until the guard got back on his feet along with the others as they ran off before raising his hand to his mouth as he coughed vigorously into his palm.

Hard enough for whoever was listening to wince since it felt like he was about to cough out his lungs.

Tears filled his eyes, coupled with the pain that flooded his throat, not surprised to lower his hand and see blood, which looked much darker than it should be.

He was clear about what had happened. He shouldn’t have shifted, but he did.

His body was already barely holding on, and he went ahead to strain it even more, even as he realized that apart from taking Fiona away, hastening his death was another reason for the attack.

In the blink of an eye, his expression darkened even as his hold on the railing got much harder, squeezing against it, coming to a conclusion even as he felt pain surge through his entire body.

He was just about to move when he heard the door of the mansion be pushed open again and watched Fervor hurry in with a concerned look on his face.

"You’re okay? I heard there was an—" he began to say as he moved closer to William, only to freeze, his expression worsening as he did nothing but stand in front of him.

For a few seconds, he did nothing and said nothing as he stood in front of William with a mostly blank expression on his face, one that seemed to see everything but feel nothing.

"You turned!" he said like it was a fact, even as he looked at William, who slowly began to move down the stairs, not having enough energy to speak even if he wanted to.

"You should head back to bed!" Fervor said, and William instantly snapped, almost like he had been waiting for it.

With a dark scoff, he stared intensely into Fervor’s eyes as he spoke.

"...and do what? Lie down and sleep while all the plans I made are completely ruined!!!" he said, his voice pitched but frightening.

"...hand over my district to Eldric on a platter of gold! I should let him fucking win?" increasing his pitch even more as he screamed right at Fervor, whose expression didn’t once change as he stared right back at William like he was nothing but stone that couldn’t be moved.

"...you think even with the child, Eldric won’t have control over Fiona?" Fervor asked with a slightly confused look, having more questions which he didn’t dare to ask, especially since once William had agreed to something, it was almost impossible to convince him that his plan was simply dumb.

"She loves me!!! Even in death, she is mine!!! Moreover, with you as Lord, it’ll be impossible!" he said, indirectly reminding him of the conversation they had and what they agreed on.

Fervor nodded his head to show that he knew what he was supposed to do: to kill her the moment the child was born.

William ground his teeth down on his lips until they bled. He straightened his body and tightened the coat around himself as he headed towards the main doors with Fervor walking behind him.

But he was just about to step out when Fervor suddenly spoke just as he grabbed the door handle.

"William..." he said, calling his name with a tone that couldn’t be completely referred to as cold.

"You’re weak right now, and worse...you’re playing into Eldric’s plans!"

"There’s no way you don’t see this!" he said, his fingers twitching as he stamped down the urge to grab William back and pull him all the way to his bed.

If you walk out the door in your condition, do you really think you’ll return?

"I can—" Fervor began to say, using more words than he usually did, only to hear William shake his head in response, interrupting him before he could finish.

"I KNOW WHAT I’M DOING!" he barked with a tinge of anger in his tone as he pulled the door open and walked out with Fervor following behind him.

********

Fiona had just woken up, her eyes adjusting extremely slowly to the light of the warehouse when she realized that, unlike before when her hands had been tied, she no longer had anything holding her down.

The pain that surged through her entire body was the only reminder of what had happened as she squeezed her eyes shut, only to open them wider as she stared down at her hands.

Her hands trembled, not from the pain but at the sight of the wounds she was covered in, aware that the same thing had been done to her face.

Tears instantly filled her eyes as she shook from head to toe, sitting on the metal slab still stained with her blood, looking around the warehouse, not surprised to find it empty.

Slowly, she struggled to stand on her two feet even as she raised her fingers to her face.

The pain wasn’t as bad...not at all as bad as the awareness of the size and length of the scars, scars that her body could not heal from, not with the silver that had been poured into her skin.

Tears soon slid down her face even as she covered her body with her hands, half-naked from her neck to her waist, as she numbly moved forward.

Having just taken a few steps, almost at the door of the warehouse, when she turned her face and saw a mirror, which was too fine and too well-made to have been forgotten.

Hanging on the wall!

It wasn’t until she came face to face with her image that she suddenly gasped, like someone had grabbed her heart and was slowly squeezing it right in her chest, her body rocking back and forth as she began to stifle cries that slowly poured out of her throat.

Falling to the ground, wailing at the top of her lungs.

Tears streamed down her face as she screamed and wailed loud enough for it to echo through the entire warehouse, unable to fathom who would have done such a thing to her and why.

Above all...what she could have done to deserve it!

Recalling the face she had seen and how ugly it looked even to herself.

Worse, it wasn’t something that could be fixed, as far as she knew...

The only thought that kept popping into her mind was to end her miserable life, but even as tears ran down her face, she couldn’t help but lower her hand to her belly, rubbing it ever so softly as she wailed anew.