The Damned Princess

Jayson is proving that he is the man of his words. It’s been, I don’t know how many days since we’ve been back and he’s not talking to me. During college he pretends like I am not there, he won’t even look at me. I tried calling and texting but he ignores me every time.

My heart and my mind are constantly in a battle. One moment I want to run to him and tell him the whole truth, another moment I think it’s good he’s keeping distance and maybe I should disappear from this place to end all of this.

But I am still here, waiting for him to acknowledge my presence, I guess my mind will never be able to win any battle when it comes to him. From the moment we’ve been back, there has not been a moment of peace. When I came to my house, Becky was so happy for me, she thought I had the perfect little holiday with my mate.

I have not said a word since I came back. Becky is constantly asking me about how everything went. “Enna, I know something went wrong, please tell me what it is”, Liam asked. I looked at him, “does the name Edmund Claiborne Hunter, ring any bells”. He thought for a while and then answered “yes, I think, those Claiborne’s came to Italy, in the 80s”. I nodded and said, “Jayson’s full name is, Jayson Claiborne Hunter”.

His eyes widened; he opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. I am not even going to tell him about the panic attack I had or he’ll have one. “Who are Claibornes Enna” Becky asked. My eyes were locked with Li, we are much older than Becky is and there are a lot of things about me that she’s not aware of. Liam looked conflicted about whether to say anything or not, but I nodded at him to tell her.

He told her everything, in brief, I was sitting and holding my knees to my chest. Becky did not say anything for a while, so I said “yes Becky, it’s true, see my luck I’ve brutally killed my own mate’s ancestors”. “They deserved it Enna, they killed innocent wolves”, Liam said defending me.

“You know very well Li how else it could have gone; I could have let the king sentence them”, I said. I was feeling so lost, I was trying to focus on my breathing because it was getting harder to breathe. “This is karma Li; this is all coming to me because of all the sins I’ve committed”, I said in a whisper.

“No, Enna. I know all the choices you made were not the best but that doesn’t mean you did no good. Those hunters deserved it and Jayson will understand when he knows how you protected the little innocent boy and all the innocent women of that tribe. He’ll understand it once we’ll tell him the whole truth” he said to me.

Becky sat next to me and pulled me in for a hug, “Enna, why do you always see yourself as the worst. Everybody makes mistakes so did you but that does not define who you are. You’re not the person you were before” she said softly. “Would you forgive Liam if he would have done it”, I asked her.

She looked into my eyes and said “if the situation had been the same, I would have forgiven Liam, they deserved it”. I could see in her eyes that she was not lying. “And I’m sure your mate will understand you as well” she smiled at me.

My phone buzzed bringing me back from my thoughts, it was Piero, one of the guards we’ve assigned with Jayson. I was in class but I could not ignore it, it could be something important. I put my head down and answered the call, “yes”. “Princess, someone’s following Jayson”, he said.

“What”, I said loudly. “Is there any trouble Miss Castello”, the teacher asked me. I got up and quickly left the class and told Piero “tell Cristofano to keep an eye on them, you meet me at the back of the parking lot and call Liam”.

He was already there and Liam and Becky came just in a second. “What happened Enna”, Li asked worriedly. Piero bowed down to the three of us, “tell us what you know Piero” I told him.

“There are two men keeping an eye on Jayson and you. We saw them in NY but just once and nothing seemed suspicious then. But then we saw them around Jayson’s house once and today they followed him to college as well, they haven’t noticed us yet because we keep a distance. They don’t even have a scent; they must be cloaked so that you guys can’t sense them” he told us everything.

“I’ll burn them to ashes” I growled. Liam grabbed my arms and said “Enna, we can’t do anything now. We need to catch them away from here and we need to know who sent them. The good thing is you and Jayson haven’t been near each other since NY so I’m sure they’re waiting here to confirm things, you need to stay calm for now, I promise no harm will come to Jayson and you”.

We did not go to class after that but we did not even leave for home we had to stay near Jay. Piero sent us the pictures of the two guys, I don’t think I have ever seen them before but one thing is for sure they are not leaving California alive.

I was getting more anxious by the time and all I wanted to do was go and kill them. V was also with us and she had asked me multiple times if I am alright, thankfully Becky is talking to her to keep her mind diverted. “Oh guys, can you please drop me home today”, V asked.

Liam and I shared a look and I quickly answered, “no”. She looked at me weirdly, “I mean we’ve to go somewhere today, some really important work for father so we won’t be able to, I’m sorry” I added. She nodded but she looked suspicious of my behavior. After a while, she left saying goodbye.

When she was out of sight Becky asked me, “why did you refuse her a lift Enna”. “I don’t want anybody to start following her Becks, we already have Jayson in trouble because of me”, I said, she did not say anything. We were waiting for Jayson to come out so that we can leave once we know he has also left.

Finally, he came, he looked at me once but then quickly turned away like he did not even see me. I can’t even explain how much it hurt. We also got up and left keeping an eye on Jay. We went to our car and had to leave to make it look like how we do every day. I wanted to go with my mate but I could not.

I was so restless and constantly on a call with Piero. “Listen to me Piero, you do things like normal but make sure you are always aware of what Jayson’s doing and the other two men. If they try to harm him, I want you to kill them on the spot without worrying about the humans, just make sure not a scratch comes on my mate” I ordered him.

I have been pacing around the house since we’ve been back. “Enna come to eat something”, Becky said to me. “I’m not hungry”, I told her. “Enna would you just sit down for a moment”, Liam said. “I can’t okay, I can’t rest until I know my mate is safe”, I said in a slightly raised tone. I took in a deep breath, “I’m sorry guys I just can’t stop thinking about everything”.

My phone buzzed. I answered and put the call on loudspeaker so that everyone could hear, “yes Piero” I said. “Princess, one of the men has left I think he’s coming to check you; I’ve sent Cristofano to check and I’m here keeping an eye on Jayson and the other man”, he told me. “Okay, stay alert tell Cris to maintain distance and call me if anything happens”, I said and hung up.

“I want to go see him, Liam I can’t stay in here”, I said. “Enna you know it’s risky”, Liam said. “I know but I just can’t rest, I want to be there with him making sure that nothing bad happens”, I said and sat down with my head resting in my hands. “Please do something brother” I muttered.

After a few moments of silence, Liam said “come on, get up we’re going to drop you at his place”. I quickly stood up, “but how, you said it’s risky”. “It is but I can’t see you like this”, he said. He grabbed the car keys and we left our house.

There was nobody following us yet. Liam said “Enna I’ll drop you at the back of Jayson’s house and Becky and I’ll drive from the front so those men see us and hopefully will follow us. If they do your way will be clear and you go in quickly”. “And if they don’t”, I asked. “Well, we've to end them at some point”, he said.

We did as we decided, Piero called and informed that the guy followed after Liam as we anticipated. I quickly went to Jay’s door and rung the bell multiple times. Layla opened the door, “hi, Layla can I please see Jayson for a moment” I said. “Hey Sienna, sure come in”, she said. I entered the house quickly.

He was not around, Rayn came out “hey Sienna, what are you doing here”, he asked. “Hi Rayn, I’m here to see Jayson”, I said hoping he’ll call him. “Yeah he’s in his room, go I don’t think he’ll mind”, he said. I think he will Rayn, I thought but I went anyway because I could not wait anymore.

I knocked multiple times but he did not say anything so I opened the door. I looked around he was not there; I heard the shower was on. I entered his room; his beautiful intoxicating scent was all over here. It calmed me down so much. I was waiting for him to come out. His room was kind of a mess, I went to his table and saw the diary with E.C. Hunter initials on it.

I picked it up, my heart was beating really fast, I did not want him to think that I was invading his privacy but I wanted to see what’s in it. The first few pages were nothing related to us, I went in further and a few loose pages slipped out. It was like my world started spinning around. My heart was sinking. There was everything in here, my tattoo representing my pack, some others for other packs, folklore about werewolves, lycans, and other supernatural.

There were more things about the royal blood, he connected the dots, he knows. Everything just represented our dangerous side, the monsters in us. I was so lost I did not hear Jayson coming out. “What are you doing here Sienna”, he said. He was standing there with just a towel wrapped around him. I could not answer him, I did not know what to say, what to ask.

He turned to his cupboard; I placed the diary down with shaky hands. “How long have you known”, I asked in a whisper, I doubt if he even heard me. He stopped but did not say anything for a while. Finally, he said, “I figured out everything in the week we came back”.

He turned around and our eyes met, his were totally blank without even a hint of any emotion. “Why didn’t you come to me, like you said you would”, I asked. He did not answer, my eyes flickered to his hand and I saw him holding a knife. “You think I’d hurt you” I whispered to myself.

It felt like he shoved that knife straight to my heart and kept stabbing me with it. Something broke inside me, what I was afraid of happened, my mate thinks I’d hurt him. Tears filled my eyes and blurred my vision, “you said you’d come to me once you know the truth but now, you’re afraid of me” I whispered and a few tears escaped my eyes.

My whole body was shaking, I was afraid I’ll collapse. If I would have stood there for one more moment, I know I would have broken down because this pain is too much to handle.

I looked at him and smiled “you should have done better research love; a knife won’t even slow me down”. I opened the window and jumped out, “Amore” he shouted. I looked back up he was standing there, “oh my god, are you okay”, he asked. I managed a smile and gave him a small wave. I turned around and started walking away.