Chapter 85: Get Your Disguise Back

MAEVE

Fuck this.

I don't know if I would be thankful that my disguise was ripped off in front of a stranger and not someone from the palace. I don't know if this was much better than getting by any of the recruits.

I was just running around, stopping men from grabbing the women escaping from their grasps. I was so focused on my tasks that it took me several seconds before I realized that I was bleeding. My appearance changed in the middle of the crowd.

Thankfully, everyone was in chaos. I was able to sneak inside the empty tunnel before anyone, especially Draven, could see me. But little did I know that someone else followed my footsteps.

"What's your name, beautiful?" the man stepped forward while I clutched my wound, my wolf desperate to heal it instantly. "I know you're not Massimo."

I tilted my head, expression flat. "Isn't it obvious?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. "I'm not Massimo, but don't ever think that you will find out my name."

"What a brave girl," he chuckled, his eyes tracing me from head to toe as if he could look past the men's clothes covering me. "You know what? Women with sharp mouths like you have a special place in the district."

"Is that so?" I stood in my position, not minding the closing distance between us. "Too bad. Your dens are now ruined. Those women already escaped. That special place is destroyed," I grinned. "What are you going to do?"

He didn't seem annoyed. Instead, the glint in his eyes intensified. "You did this, didn't you?" he asked, approaching my position with deliberate steps. "You infiltrated our district and ruined it from the inside. Do you know what the Alpha King can do to you because of that?"

"I don't care about the Alpha King," I spat out. "Besides, I didn't start this. I'm just a part of it," I grinned widely. "So even if you catch me, you wouldn't find out the master mind. Your district will still turn to ashes and every filthy man like you will burn inside this district."

"Oh, don't be so sure, beautiful," he stopped a step away from me. He pushed his chin up, inhaling the scent in the air as his hand reached out for the tip of my hair. "We have a lot of ways to make you talk."

"Do you think I'll talk?" I challenged, looking up at him. "Even if you cut my limbs one by one, you wouldn't get anything from me."

He smiled. Not the warm and genuine kind, but warning and predatory. His fingers twirled around my hair upwards, and with one swift movement, he yanked it towards him. My head hit his nose, and I could hear him inhaling deeply as his other hand reached out for my wrist.

"Even if you don't, I think I will still enjoy being with you," I felt him smirking on my head. "It's rare to find a woman with your scent, darling. I could use your first and give you to the Alpha King. How does that sound?"

I moved my head, looking up at him. "That sounds disgusting."

His eyes widened, slowly looking down at his chest as my claws buried in them. I twisted my wrist, gripping tightly on his heart. A horrifying scream escaped from his lips, drowned by the people's chaos.

"You followed the wrong person," I muttered, watching him as he slowly fell to the ground. His organ subtly peeked from the hole on his body, with blood dripping down like waterfalls.

"Who... are.. you?" his voice weak as he clutched his own heart, making desperate attempts to save himself. Unfortunately for him, there was nothing he could do. In just a minute, he would lay on the ground unmoving and breathless, cold as a corpse.

I didn't respond. Instead, I wiped my bloodied hand on my clothes. My eyes landed on the relic hidden beneath it. I think I could now leave. The women had been sent out, and the relic was already in our hands.

As I waited for my wounds to cover up, I listened to the chaos outside the tunnel. If the number of people would decrease, my scent would overpower them. I'm sure that Draven would have sensed me once that happened. I couldn't just stay here and wait for that.

"Fuck. The potions," I muttered, tapping the pockets of my clothes. I placed a potion and syringe inside earlier, just in case this thing would happen. Yet it was now missing.

My heart thumped uncontrollably. I couldn't come out looking like this. They knew what Maxwell wore earlier. They would catch me. Draven was just outside of that tunnel.

"Damn it!" I threw a rock to the man's now dead body. It echoed inside the tunnel, together with the steps of someone approaching.

My claws immediately half-shifted, with my other hand wrapping my hair around my face. I couldn't smell anything from that creature, yet I could hear its steps. The shadow it made went closer and closer, until the figure came to light.

"I knew it," Nathalia's voice echoed. Her eyes landed on me, taking a long time on my eyes and my clothes. "It's really you," she smiled, a wide one. "Maeve."

I took a step backwards. I couldn't confirm what she just said. I knew that she already had suspicions on my identity, and I was able to clear it once. But now? I don't know.

Her head looked back, then on men once again. She opened the small bag hanging over her shoulder, pulling a fabric and tossing it in my direction.

I immediately caught it, just to realize that it was a white dress that only reached my knees.

"Wear that," she spoke, pointing out the only exit of the tunnel. "You don't want Draven to see you in those clothes, do you?" she asked as I stared at her and the clothes. "Draven is outside. I will have my men catch his attention while you run. Go ahead and look for somewhere else to get your disguise back."

She ran back, yet her steps stopped for a moment before she turned back at me. "Thank you, Maeve," she smiled, reaching her ears. "I'll make sure Draven won't know about this."