Her Unwanted Mate On The Throne
Chapter 77

Chapter 77 The worst of the storm is still coming.

Within minutes, the winds turned from nasty to almost deadly. Doris could barely stand up straightfor more than a minute. It would shove her forward or back depending on where she turned andnothing she did set her straight. Her hands felt numb with how much she braced herself for impacton the ground. She couldn't tell what direction she had even come from the camp while she wasarguing with her inner wolf. How far did she stray? Would they be able to hear her cries for help? Orwould they ever replace her body when this was over with? Of course not-she couldn't even hearherself breath. Her screams sounded like whispers against the winds. Her wolf was entirely silent asif she abandoned her completely out in the cold, or perhaps she just couldn't hear her over theroaring noise. Perhaps it was scared off because of her own fear. Doris stumbled across the snowand fell face first into a large pile. She tried to pull herself out of it, but the winds forced her downharder. It crossed her mind that she might die out here. She tried to push those thoughts away andfocus on standing, on getting herself up and to safety but she couldn't. It was too strong, it was tooeasy to give up and let it control her. Doris closed her eyes and tried to change into her wolf. Shetried to push the wolf out of her but it wouldn't come. How did she make it come out? Why wasn'tit answering her calls? Now she was panicking. She felt it in her chest and it rolled through her bodylike a shock. Doris forced herself out of the snow that tried to trap her and fell right back on her asswhen she stood again. The fog blinded her it was like there was nothing in front of her for miles andshe felt as if she was an entirely different world she entered. She was so cold, it was agony. No senseof her felt warm or as if she would ever feel warmth again. This was it for her, it had to be. “Help!”Doris screamed, but it was lost in the air lie she said nothing. Her fear crept on her and tried tosuffocate any chance of survival. She walked against the wind and towards it, until she realized shewas going in circles. She kept passing the same tall rocks and her footsteps were covered before shenoticed she was heading the same way over and over again. She must have passed it a dozen timesbefore she gave up and stopped for a minute to think. Doris finally decided to rest against the rockswhen her legs started to burn. She wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes tightly,praying the winds would end and the storm would blow through soon enough. How long had shebeen out here? Would hours turn to days? She wouldn't last a single night in this weather. Herjacket wasn't warm enough to save her, not even close. Her teeth chattered so hard, she was afraidthey would crack and break into a million pieces. Her bones felt as if they were ice inside her andshe felt as if she completely lost feeling of her toes and fingers. If she was a wolf, she might havebeen able to survive this with all of her fur. But her attempts fell flat, her wolf wouldn't answer to herand she wondered if it was because of their argumentWould she punish her enough until shedied? Or did Doris just not understand how to shift on command? of course she didn't know how todo that, not even close. She only shifted once and she wasn't even sure how that happened. It wasripped out of her without a second thought to save someone else rather than herself. Perhaps deepdown, she truly just didn't want to save herself. Doris slid down the rock and fell into the snow. Herhands and arms felt frozen, she could barely lift them as more time passed. How long had shelaying here? Would anyone notice she was even gone? Of course not, she hadn't told anyone shewas going out for a walk. She bet everyone knew a storm was coming and she was the only onestupid enough to wander out into the worst of it. She bet they all thought she was in her cabin niceand warm like they all were. Snow began to cover her legs and the rest of her body. She held herarms tighter around herself and trembled. In minutes, her legs had been almost completely covered.She tried to stand and pull herself out of it, but her legs wouldn't bend. They were frozen, as wereher arms. She laid back in the snow almost willingly when the wind pushed her harder than it everhad before. It covered her in a layer of snow as if she was just part of the ground and she neverexisted. Why did she even come out here? She forgot what she had been mad about. She forgotwhat made her mad enough to ever venture out to her death and not think about the horribleweather. Freezing to death had never truly crossed her mind before. Even all the nights she shiveredand wished for a hundred blankets. All the times she fell into the snow and cursed at herself for notpaying attention, she never thought she would be caught out in a storm. How ridiculous of her todie this way after all she had been through. Doris closed her eyes and felt the darkness start to takeover. It was better than being raped or beaten to death, she supposed. At least she could take ashred of her dignity with her and hopefully it would pass on with her in the next life. By the timethey found her body, she would be nothing but ice. So cold, she would shatter like glass if they triedto move her. “Doris!”

The sound of his deep voice tugged at the edge of her mind. She saw his beautiful face behind herclosed eyes. He wasn't mad at her like he usually was, he looked almost peaceful. She thenremembered why she left her room, because of their fight. She wondered what would havehappened if she just agreed to help. Would she be laying here now? Most definitely yes, she wouldhave been upset with herself for agreeing to be something she wasn't. “Doris!” The voice calledagain. It sounded louder in her head, as if he was right next to her. She wondered if he noticed shewas gone or if he would care this time. So many times he had come to her aid when all she did waspush back against him. She didn't deserve to be helped by anyone, least of all him. Doris openedher eyes a saw a dark shape in the fog. A large body had his arm out in front of him, shielding hiseyes from the rough snow that tried to take him down. He moved like a force, she was sure she wasimaging it. That tended to happen when you were near death-hallucinating things she wished weretrue. She heard her name like a bell through the noise. How could she hear him so clearly when shecouldn't even hear herself? William lowered his arm when he saw her. His face was red and his eyeswere squinted as if he could barely hold them open to look at her. “Doris!” He shouted again.William fell to his knees beside her and pushed all of the snow off her body before he took her inhis arms. He lifted her as if she weighed nothing and she couldn't even bend her arms enough tohold onto him. Her legs dangled over his arms, he held her firm against his chest as he lookedaround. 1 “We have to replace cover, the worst of the storm is still coming.” He said loudly against herear. Doris shivered against his warm breath. He barely seemed to be bothered by the snow at all.Doris closed her eyes again when the snow stung her eyes and tried to blind her vision. He held herfirm as he stumbled across the rough patches of snow. She listened to his heavy breath and tried tofocus on that when her insides felt as if they were giving up on her, “I think there might besomewhere nearby.” He said loudly, as if he was just trying to keep her awake. Doris didn’t open hereyes, she wasn't sure how much time had passed until the sounds dimmed all at once as if the airwas being blocked out. Doris opened her eyes and saw nothing, just blackness. She tried to part herlips to speak, but nothing came out.

William laid her down. “I'll get a fire starting—" Doris couldn't hear a word he said after that asdarkness took her over completely.