A Dark Smell

••• Arabella’s POV ••• After the celebratory feast had concluded, and the nobles had eaten and drunk to their satisfaction, the gathered aristocrats began to bid their farewells and set off on their journeys home. “Ari,” I heard Mom’s voice, and Max and I quickly stood up as we saw my parents coming toward us, with Dad holding Mom’s waist. “Mom, Dad, you should’ve waited for us to go to you,” I slightly complained because, as the younger generations, we should be the ones going to them to bid our goodbyes. “Oh, pish posh,” Mom waved her hand. “You haven’t finished your drinks yet.” “Your mom needs to sleep soon as we have a full day tomorrow,” Dad informed with a serious tone. My mom rolled her eyes at Dad while I couldn’t stop the giggles that escaped my lips. Dad still cared about Mom a lot, and he sometimes spoiled her like a daughter. “Is your mate like this with you?” Mom asked me through our mindlink. “I don't think so,” I told her. “I doubt it. Max and your Dad are kinda similar,” Mom rolled her eyes again, but I saw the delight in her eyes. I couldn’t help but glance at Max. Would he spoil me as much as Dad spoiled Mom? “Alright, we need to go. I know you are talking about us men through your mindlink,” Dad said before hugging me and kissing my cheek. “See you soon, Ari,” Mom said. “We are proud of you tonight.” “See you, Mom, Dad,” I returned their hugs, and they nodded at Max before going away. Max and I sat back down, and he asked, “What were you discussing about us with your Mom?” “Nothing important,” I told him. I couldn't tell him about my conversation with Mom since if he knew, he might see it as a clue that Mom was expecting him to spoil me. I took my wine glass and talked with him about anything to divert his attention until he leaned in closer to me, and as our eyes met, I saw the fiery determination in his gaze, understanding exactly what he was implying. Just then, a nervous-looking guard approached our table, disregarding obstacles in his path, and requested, “Princess Arabella, can I have a private conversation with you?” I shared a look with Max, a foreboding feeling settling in my heart. “Alright,” I replied, and Max and I both stood up to follow him. In the company of Max, the guard, and the elders, we entered a private room. “Princess Arabella, I’m from the northern garrison,” he said, making me frown. Northern garrison? Wasn’t the maximum security prison in the northern region? His following words proved that my thought was right. ”The convoy escorting Abigail had been destroyed, with no survivors among the guards and prisoners while she is missing,” the guard informed me. His words sent shockwaves through everyone present. “How could it be...” an Elder’s disbelief whisper sounded in the room. “Who would have the audacity to do such a thing?” another Elder spoke with the same disbelief. “What should we do?” the guard asked me anxiously. I thought about it for a while and decided, “Go with the Northern Second Legion to collect all the bodies and move them to a secure location. I need to see those bodies and investigate them myself.” “Alright, Princess Arabella,” the guard replied and went away to do my command. “Princess Arabella, when will you go to see the corpses?” one of the Elders asked. “You don’t have to come with me,” I replied, knowing he was asking if they should come with me during my investigation. It wasn’t really their duty to do this kind of investigation, so I didn't need them with me. “I’ll let you know the result,” I added to make them feel involved. “Alright,” the Elders agreed with my decision. “Elders, Princess Arabella and I need to go home now. It’s been a long day for her,” Max said as he held my waist, said goodbye to them, and stirred me toward the door before they could stop us. “Could he hear your mindlink with your mom?” Iris asked once we were in the car. “Impossible,” I told her and leaned against Max, who had his arms around my shoulder. “Just enjoy it, then,” Iris said a bit happily as if the news of Abigail’s escape had been long forgotten. “Do you think Lina was the one who helped her escape?” I asked Max. “Who else could it be?” he said. “She doesn't really have anyone now.” “She still has Shawn and the Battleclaw Banes Pack,” I pointed out. Max snorted. “Shawn doesn't want her anymore. He’ll be stupid to save her and risk ruining his pack’s reputation further.” “You are right,” I replied and let out a yawn. “Is she that powerful to be able to kill all the guards? Could the blonde woman help her?” “Sleep, Arra,” Max kissed my forehead gently. “We can’t conclude anything before investigating the bodies.” He was right again. Maybe Lina had used dark magic to kill everyone. But why would she kill the prisoners, too? Just to leave no eyewitnesses behind? My eyes became heavy, and I drifted off to sleep with those thoughts in my mind. *** The next day, with Max and Rosa by my side, we proceeded along the winding, endless corridors, followed closely by the pack's security detail. At the end of the corridor stood a massive and sturdy metal door, and an overwhelming stench reached our nostrils, causing Rosa and me to vomit uncontrollably. “Gosh, what smell was that?” I mumbled as Max handed me a tissue and a bottle of water given by one of the guards to rinse my mouth. “Decaying corpses...” Max replied grimly. Was it really the stench of decaying corpses? It didn't seem like it. The head guard opened the door and stepped aside to let us enter the room. The stench became even stronger, but I could hold myself back from vomiting this time. I followed Max into the room, heard him curse, and he pulled me into his arms, pushing my face against his shoulder, not allowing me to see the corpses. “What happened?” I asked him nervously. Did something happen to the corpses? Did they decay too fast? But it couldn’t be. The head guard had told me they had preserved the bodies. But... What about the stench? Now that I thought about it, preserved corpses wouldn’t give off any smell. “I want to see the corpses,” I tried to push him away as I became more curious. “Arra, it’s...” Max hesitated to tell me, and somehow, I became annoyed with him for doing this to me. I had seen many corpses before as I had studied to become a doctor, so his worry about me getting sick was unfounded. “What’s hap-?” Rosa gasped in shock and couldn’t finish her sentence. Hearing her reaction made me even more determined to see the corpses. I pushed Max away with all my might, catching him off guard and letting go of me. I quickly turned around and gasped louder than Rosa. It... The corpses... They were destroyed beyond recognition, and there were bite marks of wild animals on them! Max pulled me into his arms again, and this time, I let him as I needed a comforting presence after seeing such a gruesome scene. I trembled when I thought how those corpses would look if they weren't preserved. Max kept whispering comforting words until my nerves calmed down a few moments later. “You okay, Arra?” he asked softly and comfortingly. “Yes.” I nodded and turned around with his arms still holding me. I saw Rosa cautiously circling the corpses with deep concentration, her brows tightly knitted together. “Can you find out anything?” I asked her. She nodded, glanced at me before paying attention to the corpses again, and replied, “The scars on the bodies gave off the stench.” “But they’ve been preserved.” I was puzzled. “Yes,” she nodded again and grimaced. “Preserved corpses don’t give off any smell unless it is a dark smell.” “A dark smell?” Max asked in a cold voice. “It could be done by the wolf or some other beast who carried a dark magic power,” Rosa replied to him, and her frown deepened. “But I have no idea why the beast seemed to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the bodies,” she added. Hearing Rosa’s words, I realized that Lina, or the one behind her, was far more dangerous and terrifying than I had imagined. To let a beast kill, eat, and drink the blood of everyone in Abigail’s convoy just to save her was just too much. And what kind of beast would drink blood? They ate flesh, yes. But drank blood? I had never heard of such a thing. “Max...” I mindlinked my mate, who was still holding tightly from behind. “Hmm?” His thumbs moved and caressed my arms in a soothing motion. “We are facing a force with potent dark magic...” I told him, still through our mindlink, and added, “Something we have never encountered before.”