The Masked Alpha leaped into his room on the third floor of the castle from the window. He landed gracefully despite his imposing figure and then walked to the large bed that could fit at least three regular humans.
But for him, it should only fit him and one more woman, the same woman whose scent hadn't changed even after thousands of years.
He gently laid the woman on the bed. Despite her death, he still wouldn't treat her body roughly, as only he knew the extent of his true strength.
The Masked Alpha sat at the edge of the bed, staring down at his bride's dead body. She already lost her life the moment they entered the dark cloud, but it was alright because no living being would be able to live here anyway.
He kept staring at her for a good while before slowly extending his hand, which was covered with black wolf fur, and sharp claws at each end of his finger.
He ripped her dress with his claws and placed his hand on top of her bare chest, where her heart was supposedly beating right now. She was as cold as a corpse could be, so the Masked Alpha was sure that she had died.
Slowly, an ink-like goo seeped from the tip of his fingers and entered her body through her pores.
The skin around her chest turned dark as ink instantly, and the moment he lifted his palm, the ink-like goo was drawn out of her skin.
Her skin gradually regained its previous color as if he hadn't done anything to her. But in his palm, the ink-like goo gathered together and turned into the shape of a blackened heart.
This was her heart that had stopped beating. It had no use in this realm, so he crushed it instantly until it burst.
The Masked Alpha watched as his bride's eyelashes slowly twitched, and she started sweating as if she was having a terrible nightmare. She looked very much alive even though she didn't have a beating heart anymore.
The man behind the skull mask smiled thinly as he took off his skull mask briefly and leaned closer to her ear. He took a whiff of the scent coming from her nape, and his smile deepened.
He whispered in a gentle voice, but his voice carried such a terrible taste that it only worsened her nightmare.
"Welcome home, my—"
**
Odette was experiencing a nightmare so horrible, to the point she even realized that she was trapped in the said nightmare.
In her dream, she stood in front of a looming figure who looked down on her with his red eyes. She couldn't see his face, but he was so tall, menacing, and had a dark aura that could swallow her whole. She was intimidated, and her instinct told her to run away as far as possible from this man.
Unfortunately, she couldn't.
She was petrified on the spot, and she couldn't even close her eyes.
She tried to scream and beg to be spared, but nothing came out of her mouth as she wasn't even allowed to utter a single word. She was forced to stare at those red eyes filled with unrestrained bloodlust.
"Welcome home, my—"
Odette couldn't fully hear what he was saying, but she was sure that he said a complete sentence just now.
Before she could ponder about it, the monster slowly stretched his hand, which was covered in black fur with sharp claws at each end of his fingers.
The monster touched her heart with the tip of his claw, and her chest exploded.
*
"Don't—!" Odette gasped as she woke up from that nightmare the moment her chest exploded. She stared at the ceiling while trying to catch her breath, and was dazed after seeing a beautiful chandelier hanging on the ceiling.
It didn't take her a long time to know that she wasn't in the forest anymore. She looked around and realized that she was in a spacious room with a comfortable bed, a furnace near the closed window, and a rug with a bear head still intact.
The last thing she remembered before passing out was entering a dark cloud that was hanging low in the sky while being carried by that mysterious man wearing a skull mask, so she assumed he must've been the one to put her there.
As Odette slowly recalled what happened to her, she swept her glance around the room again.
'Then, where is he?' Odette wondered. She didn't know where she was right now, but the first thing she needed to do was to find him and thank him for saving her. If it weren't for him, she was sure that she'd be lost forever inside that forbidden forest, or simply die getting mauled by a random dark beast.
However, the moment she tried to get up from the bed, her legs became wobbly, and she fell on the carpet.
"Ah!"
"Your Grace!"
The door was suddenly slammed open from outside, and two maids rushed into the room. They helped Odette to get up and sit on the bed. Odette stayed silent the whole time, but she was surprised to see these two female beastmen with similar faces wearing maid dresses.
They had furry cat ears and tails, so it was obvious that they were cat beastmen, but what shocked Odette the most was how they treated her with respect, even going as far as patting the dust out of her dress.
'Wait, dress?!'
Odette looked down and saw that she was wearing a beautiful purple dress made out of silk, far different from her usual rugged tunic.
"Your Grace, please call us if you need anything. His Majesty said that you need a long rest until you're fully recovered!" the cat maid on her left said.
"Yes, we're always guarding your room outside, so don't hesitate to call us, alright?" the cat maid on her right added.
…
There was a long silence until Odette asked in a low voice, "Where am I?"