Lycan King's Regret: Punished The Wrong Daughter novel Chapter 33

Chapter 33: 33- I Knew

Arabella Toussaint:

Goddess. I couldn’t feel my arms anymore. Not even my legs or my back. Every part of my body had long ago surrendered.

I sat motionless on the thick branch of a massive tree while Zara rested against my chest, in my arms.

Two days. We had been trapped here for two days. The herbs might have hidden our scent, but I didn’t dare to climb down. Every howl in the distance sounded too close. Every rustle of the leaves or branches made my heart jump in fright.

So, I did the only thing that looked easier. To stay there and wait. Wait for the help to arrive. Surely, they must be searching for us, right? Then what was taking them so long?

My gaze dropped to the little girl in my arms, who hadn’t spoken to me in the last twenty-four hours. At first, I thought she was simply exhausted, but now...

Now I wasn’t so sure. Her tiny body felt limp against mine.

"Zara?" My voice came out in a hoarse whisper as I gently brushed her mud-covered hair away from her forehead.

As expected, there was no response. I had no idea if she was sleeping or if she had fainted from thirst and hunger.

I didn’t know anything anymore. Last night had been the worst. A snake had somehow found its way onto the tree. I had forgotten that snakes could climb trees. For a moment, my blood had turned to ice. Zara noticed it too. The odd thing was... she hadn’t cried. She only lifted her trembling finger towards it before closing her eyes again... as if... she was too exhausted to be scared.

I had spent the entire night holding my breath and praying that it would leave. Thankfully, it had. But the fear never left. It stayed with me.

Goddess. I don’t know if I’ll ever return to that palace. But this girl is so full of life. She doesn’t deserve death. She deserves to live among her loved ones. Please unite her with her family.

I made a sincere prayer in hopes that the Moon Goddess would hear me. For Goddess sake, Zara was too little. She didn’t deserve to die like this in a tree.

I looked through the branches towards the endless forest below.

Where was the fucking Royal army? Why hadn’t they found us? Zara’s mother, her grandmother, and her uncle...

They were powerful people. Why hadn’t they reached us?

Please come to us before those rogues do. I pleaded with them silently.

And what about my friend? That beast...

The first time I had been abandoned in the forest, he found me. Where was he?

I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled the child closer to me.

"Zara. Please stay alive for me. Please..." I whispered to her small frame, "Please wake up, darling."

I placed my cheek on her head and started crying like a fool. Of course, they would have difficulty finding us when I had rubbed so much herb paste on our bodies to hide our scent. I raised my face to the sky and made a silent prayer to the Moon Goddess, and noticed a star shining brighter than all the others. For some reason, it felt as though it was watching over me.

***

Lucien Volkov:

We sat in a circle on the rocks overlooking the search area. Nobody spoke much anymore. What was there left to say?

The third day had begun, and still there was no sign of them. We had nothing. No footprints, no scent.

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