Chapter 3
"Just get it done already! Once you've had the next mountain guardian, I can finally run off with Rayne!" Samuel barked, striding over to help his idiot son lift the hem of my wedding dress.
"Vincent, help me!" I cried out, my voice shaking with fear.
I didn't care about the pain in my mouth, or that the Mountain God was a giant, terrifying python. Only one thought was on my mind.
I could never let Samuel's idiot son defile me and force me to give birth to a bunch of his rat-faced kids.
"You old creep, what do you think you're doing?" Rayne snapped, her voice cutting through the room.
Samuel flinched at Rayne's shout and quickly slapped his hand over my mouth.
"R-Rayne, nothing!" Samuel stammered, his voice shaking.
Samuel fumbled for an excuse, pressing his hand even harder over my mouth.
His long nails dug into my skin, the pain so sharp that I thought my face might tear apart.
"Get out of the way!" Rayne barked, booting Samuel aside.
She marched right up to the coffin and peered inside.
My eyes flew open wide. Wasn't this Rayne Stanton, the Mountain God's sidekick?
A woman's face, harsh and seductive, appeared above the coffin, staring down at me.
Her narrowed eyes flashed with a creepy green glow, making my skin crawl.
It was just like those nights three years ago, after I saved the python, every time I looked up, I'd see those same spiteful eyes glaring down at me from the roof.
Rayne was Vincent's sidekick, but she was also hopelessly in love with him.
But with her status, she could never catch Vincent's eye, let alone be worthy of him.
So all she could do was toss Samuel a few crumbs of attention, just enough to keep him hanging around as her loyal lapdog.
But none of that stopped her from always having her eye on me.
Back then, Rayne sniffed me out for Vincent, and she was the reason Vincent found my home.
Ever since that day, every single night, that pitch-black python would slither onto my bed.
It would wrap its icy body around me, its tongue sliding over every inch of my skin again and again.
Night after night, I was left drowning in those dirty, humiliating dreams.
She'd been jealous of me for three years straight. There was no way she didn't know me.
"R-Rayne..." I tried to call out, my voice barely a whisper.
With Samuel still knocked aside, I took the chance to call out for help.
If Rayne figured out it was me, she'd definitely let me go, or at least tell Vincent.
After all, I saved Vincent's life, and I was his contract bride!
"Samuel, you old fool, sneaking around behind my back with some lowlife woman?" Rayne spat, her voice sharp and full of contempt.
Before I could say a word, Rayne pinched my mouth shut, her fingers digging in with vicious force.
My lips were already riddled with tiny punctures, and Rayne's grip made the scabbed-over pinpricks start bleeding all over again.
"You've got it all wrong, Rayne. This is just a live sacrifice the folks from down the mountain sent up..." Samuel said with a sleazy grin.
He shot a glance at his idiot son, who was still drooling and yanking at my dress like a total pervert.
His idiot son was in full heat, totally out of control, just dying to knock me up and fill me with his rat-faced brats.
"I-I just want my idiot son to hurry up and have the next mountain guardian, so I can finally be with you, dear Rayne," Samuel said, grinning as he sidled up to her and gave her a playful nudge.
"Don't even think about pulling any tricks, or I will swallow you whole!" Rayne snapped, her voice sharp and threatening.
Rayne jerked my chin aside, giving me a look of utter contempt.
"I... I'm Jacqueline Johnston..." I barely managed to get the words out, my voice muffled and shaky.
My speech was so slurred that it was almost impossible to understand.
Rayne's eyes flashed for a split second, and I thought she'd finally recognized me. But Rayne just let out a cold snort.
"Trash like her? She's not fit for the Mountain God," Rayne sneered.
"Guess your idiot son's getting lucky. Hurry it up. The Mountain God's coming out of seclusion today, so don't make a sound and disturb him!" Rayne snapped.
With that, Rayne gave me a look that I couldn't quite read, then twisted her hips and strutted away.
Samuel's idiot son, given the go-ahead, lunged at me, raking his claws across my skin and ripping at my clothes, leaving bloody marks wherever he touched.
Streaks of blood soaked through my dress. There wasn't a single spot left unscathed.
"Who dares make such a commotion outside my place, disturbing me?" a deep, commanding male voice boomed from inside the hall.
The voice was both authoritative and magnetic, echoing through the shrine.
Rayne and Samuel dropped to their knees in an instant, and Samuel even yanked his idiot son down with him.
Though the idiot son looked pissed, he didn't dare make a sound. He just knelt obediently beside his father.
"Welcome back, Your Grace!" they called out respectfully.
Your Grace? Was he the Mountain God? My mind grew hazy as I sensed a powerful, shadowy presence closing in on the coffin.
I felt a chill down my spine. It was him, the python who'd haunted my bed, night after night.
"I've been in seclusion for half a year, and you people turned my shrine into a dumping ground for corpses?" Vincent snapped.
He barked out the words, his eyes full of revulsion as he looked at the coffin.
"Your Grace, the villagers sent this live sacrifice up here to thank you for watching over them," Samuel spluttered, shaking so hard that he looked like he might fall apart.
I couldn't help but give a bitter chuckle inside. The Mountain God was still as cold as ever.
He didn't even bother to look at me and just figured I was another wandering ghost dumped out in the wild.