Chapter 192

Carol’s POV

“Jenna,” I said in a mock greeting, folding my own arms across my chest. “It’s a pleasure to see you again as well.”

Jenna was cruel to me when I was last here and she tried to humiliate me on numerous occasions. She didn’t want me here; that much was clear. But I wasn’t going to let her break me and I certainly wasn’t going to let her scare me away. She thinks she has the upper hand here, but I couldn’t be bothered with her.

She was less than a year younger than me, but I felt like I was much older than her because of her petite form and teenage attitude. She was also drop-dead gorgeous, just like her mother. She was the spitting image of Queen Elizabeth with her dark hair and emerald-green eyes. She almost reminded me of a gypsy of some sort; she also always wore the latest designer clothing and shoes.

“It’s Princess Jenna to you, bitch,” she said coldly, making Monica flinch.

It was clear that Monica was afraid of Jenna, and I wondered what Jenna had done to cause this much fear in her.

“With that logic, shouldn’t you call me princess as well?” I asked innocently as I batted my lashes at her. I didn’t want to be called a princess or have anyone think that I was one, but I couldn’t resist ticking her off.

Her face grew red with anger, and she pressed her perfectly plump and glossy lips in a thin line.

“You are not a princess,” she said, glaring at me. “And soon, everybody will know it.”

I decided not to retort and turned away from her, looking gently at Monica who was physically shaking in her shoes.

“How about you show me to my room,” I suggested.

She nodded and motioned for me to follow her; she kept her eyes fixed on the ground as she passed Jenna.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Jenna growled, gripping Monica’s arm hard and digging her long and manicured nails into her flesh. I could see the red blood dripping down Monica’s forearm, and I gasped. I realized there were numerous bruises and cuts just like that on her arm and I wondered if there were injuries on other parts of her body as well.

Monica flinched from the force of Jenna’s grip, but she remained silent; her eyes downcast and filled with fear.

“The guest rooms are on the other side of the manor,” Jenna said through her teeth, her eyes turning dark and deadly. I even shuddered at the sight of her; it was no wonder Monica was afraid of her. This girl was a complete psychopath.

“Y…yes, Princess,” Monica stammered, her eyes still on the ground. “But the King wanted her in a private suite with the rest of the family… he… he had one designed just for her.”

A low growl escaped Jenna's mouth, and her lip curled up in disgust.

“Why?” She asked, pulling Monica closer to her face.

“I… I don’t know,” Monica stammered.

Jenna tightened her grip, her hand becoming red as blood poured out of Monica’s wrist.

I gasped at the sight of it and quickly rushed to Monica.

“Release her,” I ordered. “You are hurting her.”

Jenna gave me a mock grin and yanked Monica so hard that I heard a popping sound. Monica whaled in pain as Jenna released her hold. Monica’s arm went completely limp, and her shoulder was bent unnaturally. She fell to the ground as more blood pooled out of her wrist; tears staining her cheeks as her lips trembled. Her shaky hands rested on her shoulder, trying to support it, but the touch seemed to have hurt her because she winced.

“What have you done?!” I nearly shrieked, dropping to the ground beside Monica. “You hurt her!”

“Me?” Jenna asked, stepping towards me. She bent down and wiped her blood-soaked hand all over my shirt and arms. I frowned at her, not sure what she was doing. She truly had lost her mind completely.

Monica continued to cry and held her arm. She couldn’t have been much older than 17; she was only a young girl and now she was in this amount of pain because of this bitch of a princess. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I was only there for 5 minutes and already Jenna was playing nasty tricks on those who work for her.

I wiped the damp hair out of Monica’s sweat-soaked face and tried to give her a compassionate smile.

“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I’ll get the healer. Candance will be able to help you.”

Jenna chuckled darkly as she bent down to face Monica; before I knew what was happening, she gripped Moncia’s throat and squeezed tightly; her wolf breaking through the surface and overpowering Monica in a heartbeat.

“Remember what I told you, Monica. Go against me, and I’ll make sure your mother never gets the treatment she so desperately needs,” Jenna threatened, taking me aback.

Moncia’s eyes grew large and misted with tears. She was unable to speak because Jenna was squeezing the life out of her, but she gave a short nod in response, indicating that she understood. Jenna smiled darkly as she released her hold on Monica’s neck and stepped away.

She folded her arms across her chest and glared back at me.

“Why are you doing this,” I asked her, my tone wavering only slightly.

She grinned.

“Why am I doing what?” She asked. “I was the one who walked out of my room at the sound of a commotion and saw you hovering over poor Monica with blood all over you. What had you done?”

My mouth nearly fell open at the sound of her words.

Was she insane? She couldn’t possibly pin this on me!

Could she?

“What’s going on here?” I heard Bennet ask as he rushed down the hallway, Queen Elizabeth on his tail.

“Oh, Daddy! It was awful!” Jenna cried; actual tears ran down her cheeks and I gasped at the performance. “I heard Monica screaming and I rushed out of my room to find Carol hovering over her and covered in blood!”

“What?” The Queen asked, staring at me with a shocked expression. “Is that true?”

“No!” I protested. “That’s not what happened, I—”

“I’m sorry for whatever I did, Carol,” Monica shocked me by saying. I snapped a look at her and I could see her blanching under my scrutiny. “I didn’t mean to upset you. But please, don’t hurt me anymore…”

“Carol, how could you hurt this poor girl,” Jenna said, rushing to Monica to help her. “Monica has never done anything wrong before. I find it hard to believe that she deserved such treatment.”

“Are you already trying to fill your role as a royal?” The Queen asked, folding her arms across her chest. “We didn’t know you were so greedy like that.”

“You have it all wrong!” I tried to say. I stared at my biological father; he was the King and was supposed to know when he was being played. He was supposed to know when people around him weren’t being truthful. “Please, you have to believe me.”

“Are you saying my daughter is lying?” The Queen asked, astonished.

“That’s enough,” The King said, holding his hand up to silence the rest of us. He turned to look at Monica, his expression softening as he stared down at the young girl who remained whimpering on the ground. “Tell me what happened.”

Monica’s bottom lip trembled as she glanced up at Jenna who gave her a subtle nod, encouraging her to continue with the lie.

Monica swallowed the lump in her throat before looking up at the King.

“I was walking Carol to her suite and then she grabbed my arm and pulled it out of its socket,” she explained, completely throwing me under the bus.

“That’s not what happened!” I tried to protest, but the King held his hand up for me to be quiet.

“She told me that I can’t be a replacement for Tilly and that I would never be her,” Monica continued as more tears fell down her cheeks. “I told her I didn’t want to be a replacement and that I was sorry her friend was killed but it had nothing to do with me. She then grabbed my throat and threw me on the ground. Jenna came out of her room just in time and stopped the whole thing. If she hadn’t… I probably would have been killed.”

My heart shattered in my chest as I stared at Monica. I didn’t know her well, but she already lost my respect. She was willing to throw me under the bus because of a threat Jenna bestowed on her.

“I’m sorry that you had to find out about Tilly this way, but that doesn’t give you the right to harm my maids,” the King said, turning his attention to me. His tone was hard, and I felt a sense of dread forming in my chest.

“I swear, they are lying. I didn’t do this,” I told him, my voice pleading.

He looked as if he wanted to believe me. But he couldn’t and I wasn’t sure why. What had I done to make him not trust me to this extent?

“Thankfully, Monica has werewolf blood and will heal quicker than a human,” The king said. “Jenna, can you bring her to the infirmary to get checked out.”

“Of course, and don’t be too hard on Carol. I’m sure she’s just under a lot of pressure right now,” Jenna said, batting her lashes.

She helped Monica to her feet, and they walked away; Monica gave me an apologetic look while Jenna smirked, both of which went unnoticed by the King.

“I don’t think Carol should be staying in our personal suites,” the queen said, folding her arms across her chest. “I don’t trust her near us.”

“Please leave us,” the King said, dismissing the queen.

She looked startled by this and a bit hurt, but he wasn’t wavering.

She straightened her posture, gave me a deadly look, and then turned to leave.

“I swear I didn’t do this,” I blurted out as soon as we were alone.

“I’m not really sure what to believe right now, Carol. This is all too much. But my wife is right, I don’t think you should be staying here,” he said, folding his arms across his chest. “I’ll be taking you to the guest rooms and you’ll stay here until I state otherwise. Far away from my family.”