The heiress without a wolf

Episode3

INDRA

The next day came faster than I had wished. Zero dreams. Despite my silent prayer to the goddess. Great!

I slipped out of bed, changed into my regular clothes, kissed Theo who was still sleeping before creeping out of the room. The long line of workers waited at the storeroom…the regular workers, a train I belonged to.

Dylan stole me from the line. “We need to go back,”

“Why?” I asked, acting like I didn’t want to know more. “He’s not serious,”

He dipped his hand into his pocket and dropped a parcel of Wul coins in my palms. “That’s a thousand Wul coins. He promised to complete the rest if we come back tonight.”

“A thousand?” I mumbled, weighing the parcel.

“Yes. That’s enough to get you the divorce you need and set up a comfortable place for you and Theo.” He said. “And me. If you still want me around,”

“Of course I want you around. You’re my friend. But how can we trust him? This feels too good to be true,”

“We…” he held the rest of the words, then shielded me with his shoulders. “Someone saw us. Go. Hide it and meet me at the fountain tonight.”

I skipped the line and hurried back to my room. Theo was still asleep. I hid the parcel under the wood beneath the fur rug and hurried back to the line.

Dylan and I carried out the rest of the work and the day casually. We strolled, helped people, visited and shared food I stole from the house to the people living close to the borders of the city. The very same place I grew with Evelyn before the night of the moon festival, when the mate bond snapped between Dorian and I.

People living close to the borders faced worse problems than any other citizen of Wulveris. Abject poverty, dirty water, poor living condition and get hit first during invasions.

By the time we returned to the house of royals, it was dawn.

“See you in a few hours,” Dylan bid me goodbye before taking his path. I returned to my room to rest a little and catch up with Theo, but I walked into a completely scattered room.

The fur rug was off, and the wood beneath it was detached. The coins.

My legs moved faster than my thoughts and gave way to my knees. “No! No! No!”

“So now you steal from your own people?” Evelyn’s voice cut through my whispers. She walked out of the dark corners of my room, arms folded across her breast.

Dorian stepped out a few seconds after her, his eyes burning with fury and disgust.

“It’s not what you think,”

“Then what,” Dorian cut in. “What exactly would you be teaching Theo? What kind of a mother are you?”

His last words shattered my heart, especially seeing Theo standing in their midst. Dorian whispered something to Evelyn, and she left reluctantly with Theo. After the door closed, Dorian stepped closer and bent a knee.

“How could you go this low? Stealing from me. From the packs treasures,”

“No,” tears streamed freely. “I…” my sobs swallowed the rest of my words. Better silent than exposing Dylan and the man…I thought. It seemed like the best option.

“I had better hopes for you, Indra. Not one day did a picture of you as a thief cross my mind. You’ll spend the rest of your month here. Alone. Without Theo,”

“Dorian, you can’t do this. Please! Please!”

He stood immediately and walked away. I ran after him, but the doors shut before my face and the locks clicked from outside.

I banged, screamed, yelled and kicked aggressively until I was out of breath. The pounding stopped only when my hands became too weak to keep hitting the door. I slid down against it, hugging my knees. My chest hurt. My throat burned. Theo was gone. That was the real punishment.

Not the coins nor the locked room. Dorian knew the only way to truly hurt me was to keep my son away. After a long while, the tears stopped on their own. I couldn’t cry anymore. I just felt…empty.

I stood slowly and washed my face with the cold water in the basin. My eyes were swollen, and my cheeks were red. I barely recognized the woman staring back at me.

“You have to keep going,” I whispered to myself. “For Theo.”

I changed into my plain grey dress and wrapped a dark cloak over it. Then my eyes drifted toward the window. The room was on the first floor.

The guards had locked the door. They hadn’t bothered with the window. I lifted it carefully. The hinges creaked softly. Taking a deep breath, I climbed through and landed in the flower bed outside. The cool evening breeze brushed against my face.

Keeping to the shadows, I hurried through the quiet paths until I reached the old fountain. Dylan was already there. The moment he saw me, his smile disappeared.

“What happened?”

“Nothing.”

He frowned. “Indra.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve been crying.”

I looked away. “I said I’m fine.”

He sighed but didn’t argue. “Come on. Let’s see if this mysterious buyer actually shows up.”

I nodded. The walk to the tavern felt longer than usual. Neither of us spoke much. My thoughts stayed with Theo.

Had he eaten? Was he asking for me? Would Dorian let me see him again?

The tavern was already busy when we arrived. Music filled the room while people laughed over drinks. I searched every corner.

No sign of the stranger. We waited. Ten minutes passed. Then twenty. An hour. My hope faded with every person who walked through the door. Finally, I stood.

“He’s not coming.”

“Maybe something happened,” Dylan said.

“Or maybe this was all a joke.”

He looked around one last time before nodding.

“Let’s go.”

We stepped into the cool night. The streets were almost empty now. “I knew it was too good to be true,” I muttered.

Just then, a man staggered into our path.

“Evening,” he slurred. “Got any coins to spare?”

“We don’t,” Dylan answered.

The man’s smile disappeared. “Liar.”

He rushed at us. Dylan shoved me behind him and landed a hard punch on the man’s face. The stranger crashed onto the ground.

“Run, Indra!”

Before I could move, two more men stepped out of a nearby alley. “Dylan…”

“I see them.”

The first charged. Dylan ducked and punched him in the stomach before throwing him aside. The second swung at him, but Dylan blocked the blow and pushed him backward.

For a moment, I thought we were going to escape. Then another shadow appeared behind Dylan.

“Dylan!” I screamed.

But it was too late. A thick wooden club slammed into the back of his head. The sound made my blood freeze. He collapsed onto the street without a word.

“No!”

I ran toward him, but strong hands grabbed my arms. I kicked and struggled.

“Let me go!”

Someone stepped in front of me with a dark cloth in his hand. Before I could turn away, he pressed it over my nose and mouth. A strange sweet smell filled my lungs. Everything around me spun. The lanterns blurred. My legs gave out.

The last thing I saw was Dylan lying motionless on the ground before darkness swallowed me whole.