The Crown's Entrapment

At Pinra's Mansion, Silver Crescent Pack Territory

"Lady Deni had only managed to wound Lady Clara's leg. She failed to kill her and eventually died in the process. What should we do now with her brother that is currently in our possession?"

Pinra lazed about in her afternoon bath as her right-hand man reported the day's events. The warm water of her spacious bath chamber was rather relaxing as she sequestered herself in a peaceful corner of her manor, her mind already running through what she just heard.

Lazily fluttering her long lashes, she slowly opened her dark gray eyes. She had those beautiful and kind-looking eyes, though hers harbored a sinister glare as she coldly admonished the man. "Stupid... I told her I didn't want to see Clara in the finals, and yet this is the extent of what she managed to do? Just wound her leg? Not even a single severed limb?"

Pinra gritted her teeth. Her uncle Nasser had warned her not to hurt Clara, so she decided that it wouldn't be her that would do the hurting on her behalf. Closing her eyes, she instructed in annoyance, "Release her brother at once. Make sure to make it look like the boy had simply passed out near some random place where he was last seen."

She then sat up and gave the man her most seductive smile as she added, "Just make sure we won't have any hiccups on this, my dear. If you make sure that happens, I'll do as I promised you... I'll reward you handsomely, and even give you whatever it is you desire."

Her right-hand man gulped as he ogled her glorious upper body. He drooled as he nodded, and Pinra couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sight of him. Truly, all men were the same, and more often than not, they would lust over gorgeous women as were their weaknesses.

Of course, would often use that to her advantage, especially since it was one of the easiest ways she could get what she wanted.

"Send my word to the rest. I want Clara's head in the finals, but they're not allowed touch Bella," Pinra hissed. "That bjtch's head is mine to decapitate, and I don't want anybody interfering!"

Pinra clenched her jaw just saying that woman's name. Her blood was boiling at the mere thought of that Bella who dared ridicule her. In the finals, she would make sure to have that slut's head rolling over all the corners of the arena!

"How about the Princess of Ebodia?"

Pinra raised her eyebrows at the obvious question. She then chuckled and mockingly declared, "Oh, sure... I almost forgot about the King's wife! Well, that one's head will be mine to take if she so happens to get out of that forest. Huh, I guess I'll do that then, cause why not?"

She blinked as she quickly caught herself salivating at the thought of killing again. Composing herself, she signaled the man salivating at her glorious body and beauty to leave before she began scheming again.

"Ah, Clara... Let's see what my cousin will do once your life is taken," she whispered out with curled lips, her eyes glistening as she submerged her body back in the water.

She was craving Clara's blood for one reason only, and that was because of Gilas, who only had his eyes on the bjtch for far longer than he should. He wasn't staying focused on the matter at hand, and she hated it.

She wanted to destroy everything around Gilas, and right now, Clara was the most important person in his life that she could get her hands on aside from the man's mother who was still off-limits to her.

It was rather infuriating. Her uncle favored Gilas since he was his son, but the man himself was an utter disappointment! She grew up as her uncle's killing machine, and she had never, in her lifetime, even thought about disappointing him. She wanted her uncle to see that she deserved his recognition and no one else!

"Gilas needs a lesson to learn," she hummed out with a smirk.

Losing his mate would make Gilas stay focused on her uncle's goal of bringing back the prestige of their family name through the throne. She didn't care what happened next. Only her uncle's word was enough to make her move.

******

At Ryder's Manor, Midnight Pack Territory

Clara blankly stared at Gilas as she whispered, "I...I didn't mean to..."

She had no intention of killing that woman, but her self-preservation instincts took over for her. There was no way that she could escape that woman's attack, who was obviously not planning to stop just maiming her.

Her opponent's intent to kill her was clear, so she had to do what she had to do. In the end, she stabbed the woman in the heart, instantly killing her with her silver-tipped arrow.

There was just no other alternative. All the weapons provided to them in the tournament were coated with silver. It was so that the officials could easily determine the winner. It also had the effect of letting the contenders actually feel weakened since a werewolf could just easily heal from their wounds unless they were wounded by something made from silver.

Still, it wasn't the first time that she killed, but this was different. She had killed enemies in her fight for their kingdom... rogue werewolves, barbarians, criminals, but she hadn't done so to someone who was one of her kind. She could still hear the loud cries of Lady Deni's family from the sidelines as she plunged the arrow straight through the woman's chest.

"It's not your fault. The woman you killed would've killed you if you didn't do something about it, Clara," Gilas reassured her as he quickly moved to address her wound. "Also, I have a suspicion that she had been one of my father's pawns..."

Staring, Clara didn't bother stopping Gilas as he gently held her leg. Lady Deni had hit her deep in her leg muscle, and it was still bleeding despite the meager bandages she wrapped over it. Indeed, they could heal on their own if the injury from a weapon made from silver wasn't inflicted on their vital organs like the heart, but even then, they could only do so with the help of their inner strength and a bit of meditation.

Knowing that Clara knew she wouldn't heal properly as she was distorted right now. She felt so weak and disoriented... And Lady Deni's parents... their wails of despair and the pain on their faces kept on popping up inside her head. She winced at the pain, more so mentally than physically.

"Just a little more. We need to stop the bleeding," Gilas murmured as he gently stitched her open wound shut after applying some medicine.

Silently, Clara stayed put, letting Gilas do his work as she composed herself just a bit. She had already stopped crying, but she was still far from being herself yet.

As soon as Gilas was done with her leg, he cleaned her hands as well with some water. He then cleaned up the rest of the remaining bloodstains still visible on her skin.

She could only watch as he moved around her bedchamber like it was his own, rummaging through her clothes to grab her a comfortable nightdress. "Can you change your clothes on your own? Or do you want me to call your chamberlain?" Gilas asked.

Clara remained quiet, seeing this, Gilas moved to stand up to call her chamberlain. But just as he was about to leave, she stopped him as she weakly whispered, "Stay here."

*******

AN: I will bother to post the AI-generated visual of Pinra in the comment section in case you want to see it. LMAO