Hellbound Heart

This bonus chapter is dedicated to @Sacogun! Thank you once again for the supergift!!!

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As soon as she pulled opened the cage door, Elle turned and ran towards the main door and held onto the door handle. Just in case Snow White might want to attack her, she would just be one move away to go out and have Rion and Raven help her to put the wolf back inside its cage.

Standing there with fingers tightly wrapped around the doorknob and knuckles already turning white, Elle was holding her breath as she watched what Snow White would do as he looked at the cage door swing open.

But he simply stood inside its cage, looking at her as though it was asking her what she wanted it to do.

Elle somehow felt bad of her mistrust towards the poor animal. So, she squatted down by the door and stretched one of her hands out. "Come here, baby…" she called. And surprisingly, the wolf moved, finally stepping out of its cage.

Slowly, it approached to where Elle was crouched.

She could hear her heartbeats drumming up a wild rhythm in her ears with every step that Snow White took. Still, whatever she was feeling was still not enough to send warning bells ringing in her head. She had yet to feel her guts screaming at her to 'run'.

Soon, snow White reached her and the first thing it did was to sit right before her.

Elle released her breath and laughed quietly. Relief and gladness washed through her as she reached out her free hand and petted the wolf. Oh dear… how lucky was she that this wolf was so docile and good? What a good wolf it was!

"Such a good boy…" she smiled from ear to ear, her nervousness was quickly evaporating. She could not believe at how easy it was!!! This was such a rare case, right?

Time passed and Elle did not even realize how easily she had dropped her guard down against Snow White. She had decided that Snow White's behavior towards her must surely be because he had already seen her as his savior. She knew that animals do remember the good someone had done to them. This was the thought that had made Elle relaxed and did not think too much about the reason why Snow White was easily tamed like this.

"Oh g-g-good heavens!!!" Lorna who had pushed the door opened to bring in the princess' dinner shut the door again and exclaimed. The middle-aged woman was clutching at the clothes on her chest as though she was going to have a heart attack.

"What happened?" Rion and Raven both shouted and rushed to the door.

"The wolf! Th-the wolf is out of his cage!!! And the princess is… she's cuddling with him!!!" Lorna stammered as she explained the situation that she had seen in that short while she had opened the door.

Rion and Raven had their eyes widening before rushing inside the room, startling both Elle and Snow White who had adjourned to the couch. The wolf's head was currently lying in Elle's lap while the princess was calmly reading a book.

Snow White lifted its head and snarled towards Raven and Rion who had taken a step towards them.

"It's fine, Snow." Elle said, petting the wolf's head as she looked at the guards' shocked faces. They looked like their souls were about to leave their bodies.

"P-p-princess! Why did you let the wolf out of its cage?" Rion asked, looking like he was about to cry.

Elle lifted her brow at them. "Why can't I? He's my pet and he's such a good boy." Her voice was full of pride for Snow White as he was being such a good and well-behaved pet.

Raven pinched the skin between his brows in exasperation as he witnessed how the princess was going on with the wolf.

"Can't you guys see how behaved he is? So, there is no need to panic. Go back to your posts." Elle shooed them away when the Lorna entered with Elle's food.

"Then I'll walk him first, while you eat." Raven later said and Elle could only give in, realizing that it was also time for Snow White to eat.

…

That night Elle again waited for Sebastian to return while cuddling with Snow White on the couch. But again, Sebastian did not arrive.

The next day came and still there were no signs of him coming home.

Soon, the fifth day came and then it was night again. Elle stood by the window staring up at the dark sky. Her fists were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned bone white.

Her eyes were filled with so many intense emotions. Mostly, anger, and a tinge of… hatred. She looked like she was barely hanging on.

The wolf approached her and sat down next to her. Elle naturally reached out and pet the wolf that she had come to love within a few days tenderly. Without Snow White, she would not even know how she would be faring right now.

Still… this was getting too much for her to bear. She just could not take it anymore.

…

Outside the door, Rion sighed. "The princess didn't eat much again. I hope she's not feeding her food to her pet. When will Prince Sebastian return? I don't think he should make the princess wait any longer than this. Why don't we call him back?"

Raven sighed as well, leaning against the wall. "Did you forget that he had ordered us to only call him if there's an emergency? He even emphasized that we can only call him if something that concerns the princess' safety goes wrong and if she feels any pain again."

"I know, but… I think he will regret it if he doesn't come home soon. The princess hadn't talk to any of us, and even to Lorna since yesterday. Not even a single word, Raven! Who knows what's going on in her head right now? I really think it's time to call him. Come on Raven… I'll make the call."

Raven stared at him but eventually, the man gave in. He too, was worried for the princess. "Fine. Do it then."

Rion did not waste a moment longer and took his phone out.

On the first ring, the prince answered it. "What happened?" Sebastian instantly asked.

"Uhm… Your Highness."

"Get to the point! Did something happen? Is my wife alright?!"

"Err… she's fine, Your Highness. Nothing happened actually."

Silence reigned for a moment. "Didn't I tell you to –"

A howl suddenly echoed.

"That howl…" Sebastian's voice rang out from the receiver.

"Ah… that's Snow White. The princess must have asked him to howl like the other day –"

"You've let her out of her room?" Sebastian's voice suddenly turned threatening.

"No. No. No. we would never go against your order, Your Highness!"

"Then why…??"

"She was the one who ordered us to bring the wolf into her room. And now –"

"What? The wolf is… In. Her. Room?!" Sebastian growled out menacingly.

"Uhm… well, yes, Your Highness. The princess insisted to have it in her room so we could do nothing but grant her wish. But don't worry because… Your Highness? Hello? Hello??" Rion looked down at his phone only to see that the call had already been disconnected.

Rion slowly turned to Raven. "There's no way the prince is heading back here now because of this… right, Raven? Should we go alert Her Highness?"

"She's already asleep."

"But… His Highness seemed angry."

"Well, Her Highness is definitely angry too."

"So you're saying let's just prepare for an upcoming war between the couple."

"It's not like we have a choice." Raven sighed. "I don't think the princess will ever let us take the wolf away now. She's very stubborn, you know that."

"Right." Rion nodded in approval. "And I feel like this is what the princess want to happen, anyway... For His Highness to rush back home."

"Let's just hope heads won't roll once he's back."

"Haha. I'll just go hide behind the princess if he comes for my head. Easy escape." Rion smugly said.

"You think the princess can save your ass?"

Rion smirked, looking so confident with himself. "You underestimate the power of the crown princess, bro."

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A/N: Last day of voting for this month guys. Let's finish at top 2 in Golden ranking this month hellbounders! ^^