Hellbound Heart

This bonus chapter is dedicated to @MonsterUnderTheBed! Thank you so very much for the supergift!!!

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Disappointment washed over Elle when she lifted her eyes and saw that it was not Sebastian who stood by the door. She had thought that Rion was going to inform her that her husband was about to reach home, as she knew it was still too early for Lorna to come knocking on her door to bring her her meal, but she was wrong on that count too.

"I think the wolf needs to get some time to go walk, princess. We can't have your room get… you know… dirty…" Rion explained the reason why he was there. "We'll also feed him –"

"I want to go on a walk too." Elle cut him off as she said that stubbornly. "I too, need to have some movement after being cooped up in this room for the entire day, not doing anything. I have already missed my daily exercise for a couple of days now. I can't miss it again today as well, especially since all that I've done for the past two days was to sit, eat and lie about in bed." She complained.

Rion rubbed the back of his neck, truly feeling sorry for the princess but knowing that he could not do anything about it. "I'm sorry princess –"

"This is important for my health. You do understand that I need to stay fit and healthy as well, right?" Elle challenged him, putting on the pressure.

"But if I grant you your request, I might lose my head, princess." Rion looked at her so helplessly. His green eyes pleading with her. He was even pouting slightly to make his look believable.

In the end, Elle could not convince the men. She had also held back, knowing that they could really get into trouble and be punished hard if they dared to disobey their master.

As she was left in the room by herself, Elle could only clench her fists in frustration. It was not working out as smoothly as she had hoped it would. Was it because Snow White was still left in the cage?

The heavy feeling in her chest continued to grow as the hours passed by. Sitting there in the room was just so boring to her, more so that her devices were not accessible to her. She felt as though she was about to go crazy! She must take on a more drastic action if she wanted to see any results.

And that afternoon, Elle approached Snow White's cage and reached out to touch the wolf's fur again.

"Do you want to get out of the cage?" she asked it fondly, but there was still a light hint of nervousness coloring her voice.

The animal's ear stood at attention, and he looked at her, but only sideways. His beautiful sapphire blue eyes stared at her, as though it truly understood what she was trying to say. It was… breathtaking.

Slowly, the wolf turned around to face her, straight on.

Her heartbeat hastened as this was the first time the wolf had set his full attention on her. He had completely ignored her since he had been brought into her room last night. It seemed… like he badly wanted to get out of the cage too… just like her.

"If… if you'll be a good boy, I'll let you come out of the cage. How about that?" she said in a coaxing voice. Suddenly, the wolf bent his head down against the cage. It was as if he was asking her to pet him.

Elle was awed and shocked at the same time. Awed that such a mighty beast would even bow its massive head to her, and shocked that it seemed to have such an intelligence! She had thought of getting the wolf out due to her anger and disappointment that her plan was not working. Despite knowing that it was too risky, she thought that it might be the only way for her to force Sebastian to come home and meet her.

She was not planning to have him bite her or something but, she would be crazy to want that to happen. But if she could have him out, maybe Sebastian would think she was putting herself at risk and might come back to scold her or remove Snow White from her room himself. Because she had planned to never let the guards remove Snow White unless it was Sebastian who will come to talk to her himself.

Taking a deep breath, Elle lifted her hand again. She was nervous but the nervousness was not enough to scare her. When her hand landed on the wolf's big head and start to pet it, it squinted its eyes until it was almost closed.

Elle's eyes widened in surprise, but she still did not dare to drop her guard down. She needed to test the waters first.

But Snow White did not react violently. He was doing the opposite in fact. He was so docile. So well behaved. And he seemed to like that she was petting him. Was this… normal? For a wild animal to let someone pet him like this? Was it normal for an animal like this to get easily attached to someone? Was it because he thinks that she was the one who had saved him days ago?

Time ticked by and Elle found herself enjoying what she was doing. She had wanted to pet him since last night itself, and now here she was, already really doing it! This was a huge sign that Snow White liked her right? He would not harm her if she let him out, right?

​ "Good boy…" she uttered, smiling. She even eventually snuck her other hand inside the cage to pat his fur.

After another long while, Elle had decided to take the leap. She looked at the leash and the dog muzzle in the basket Rion had used on him when they took him out earlier.

"Alright… let's put this on you, first, okay? If you remain a good boy while going around my room, I'll take this off too."

Elle struggled a little to put the muzzle on him as she was still incredibly wary and cautious in handling Snow White. However, after this, Elle's confidence that Snow White would not attack her had only risen. Because if he was truly a vicious animal and wanted to bite her or attack her, he would have done it already and would have bitten her hand. r

"You're such a good baby boy, aren't you?" She praised and finally, Elle took the key that was hanging on the cage's door and inserted it into the keyhole. The door to the cage was finally unlocked! r