SWNOVELS Chapter 35
Chapter 35
My defenses still hadn't gone down but I was less on edge. I took out the brownies and put them on the opposite
counter to cool because I didn't want Kiara touching it by accident. As I did that I never once took my mind off him in case he decided to do something suspicious.
Once the brownies were safe and out of Kiara's reach, I took off the mittens and walked over to the guard. Hel was standing immobile and watching me carefully as if I was a puzzle he wanted to fix but didn't know how to. I searched his face for any signs of familiarity but I knew I had never met him before..
"Who is it from?" I asked without taking the letter. I didn't want to be surprised by the contents.
"It is from the king," he said and suddenly it was like the walls I had built crashed to the floor.
I couldn't help the small smile that graced my li*s and I felt all the tension deflate from my shoulders. I reached out and took it from him. "Thank you."
"It was my pleasure," he said and he bowed to me before disappearing.
I glanced at Kiara to make sure she was okay and she was looking at me with her head cocked to the side in confusion. She probably didn't understand half of the conversation that just happened. "It's from daddy," I told her waving the letter and her eyes widened.
I peeled it open excitedly. I wondered when Jaxon had the time to pen down a letter for me. It was incredibly romantic and I felt like a giddy school girl again. When I read the first line, I felt my joy deflate like a balloon. Chills crawled up my spine and I suddenly felt like I was being watched.
I read it over and over again trying to figure out if I had read the words right but they didn't change. Fear gripped me and I immediately rushed to the door to see if I could find the guard who had delivered the letter but he had returned to his position.
Panic gripped me and it felt like the room was closing in on me. The hallway was deserted and I couldn't help but fear that someone was going to reach out and grab me so I rushed back into the kitchen with the letter still tightly in my grasp.
"Mummy," hearing Kiara's voice snapped me back to a medium of reality and I rushed over to pull her into my
I could tell that she was shocked and confused by my actions but I couldn't bring myself to utter any words. She
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did not need to know the contents of that letter or the horrible things that were said in there. I wanted Jaxon. I wanted the warm familiarity of his embrace. I wanted him to ki*s me and tell me that everything was going to be
fine.
As if I had summoned him by my mere thoughts, he rushed into the kitchen. The first two buttons of his shirt were undone and he looked like he had ran the entire way. He glanced over me and Kiara as if he was searching us for any injuries. He ran his hand down my hair softly and I could see the questions in his eyes.
Aiden arrived shortly after him but I couldn't bring myself to even turn my attention away from Jaxon. It felt like my world was about to fracture and Jaxon was the only thing keeping me stable. "What happened?" Jaxon asked me with concern lacing his every tone. "I felt your panic through the bond but I couldn't reach you. Is everything okay?"
"Mummy made you brownies," Kiara said oblivious to what was actually happening.
Jaxon smiled down at her and pressed a k*ss to her forehead. He whispered something in her ears and she squirmed to get out of my arms and into his, I allowed her to leave my embrace knowing that she was safer with Jaxon than she could ever be with me.
I tried to walk away but Jaxon intertwined our hands and pulled me out of the kitchen and towards Kiara's room. After making sure I was safely in her bed, he moved to the bathroom to clean her up. I couldn't verbally express my gratitude so I just sat there quietly with the letter still clutched in my grasp.
I heard Kiara giggle in the bathroom and I could hear Jaxon's deep baritone but I couldn't make out their words. Everything was like white noise to me and it felt like I was in a simulation. I briefly registered Jaxon coming out of" the bathroom with Kiara and helping her into her clothes.
Almost as if on cue, once she was dressed, there was a knock on the door and Nadia walked into the room. Jaxon spoke to her in hushed tones and she nodded in response to everything he said. Once they were done talking, he held out his hand to me and I carefully took it.
He didn't force me to speak the entire time we were walking to our room. He shut the door behind him and i
46 knew he was going to ask what was wrong. I wasn't ready to speak about it so I grasped for something else to talk about. My eyes caught the closet and I blurted out before he could speak.
"My clothes need to be moved here," I said and it took him a few seconds to understand what I was talking about. When he did, he shook his head with a small sigh.
"I'll handle that, opened my mouth to say something else that was probably stupid but he cut me off. done enough avoiding. What's wrong?"
You've
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I didn't want to say it because it felt like talking about it was going to make it more real but I knew that if anyone. could help me then it was Jaxon. "I got a letter from you."
His brows scrunched in confusion and I handed the letter to him. He took it from me and his eyes moved over the words silently. I saw his face morph from confusion to anger then to a carefully curated blank expression.
I didn't need to re read it to know what it said because I had already memorized the words. It wasn't a long letter, it was a few lines and it was printed out so I couldn't be sure who had sent it.
You looked beautiful at your little date. It was a shame that we had to miss you. I plan to rectify that as soon as possible.
I also hear you have a daughter. I am sure she is just as beautiful as you are.
I cannot wait untill get to meet the both of you.
"Who gave this to you?" Jaxon said after a beat of silence and I described the guard because I didn't know who
he was.
Without another word, Jaxon stood to his feet and took his phone out of his pocket. I didn't know who he was talking to but he was absolutely furious and he spoke very fast. He gave the person explicit orders to find Fred who I assumed was the guard and once he was done speaking, he hung up the phone.
It took a few minutes but there was a knock on the door and Aiden walked in with the terrified guard behind
him. Fred's eyes were wide and I took a wide guess and assumed he had never been in Jaxon's room before.
"Where did you get the letter that was given to my mate?" Jaxon asked in a low and dangerous tone. Fred's eyes flickered to me hidden behind Jaxon and Jaxon growled. "Look at me, not her."
Fred looked like he was about to pee his pants and he swallowed deeply. He opened his mouth but nothing came out but a squeak. He looked innocent but I couldn't acquit him until I was sure that he had nothing to do
with it.
"It was with the pack mail," he said in a frightened voice. "I was in charge of sorting the mail this morning and I saw it. I just assumed that you had accidentally dropped it there because it was your name and hers on the back. I don't even know the contents of the letter."
I could tell that he was saying the truth and so did Jaxon because he ran his hand down his forehead in frustration. He waved his hand and Fred rushed out of the room without another word. Aiden was still at the door and he glared at Jaxon and I with a confused expression.
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"Is everything:
Aiden asked but he was met with silence for a minute.
Jaxon handed the letter to Aiden. As Aiden read it, he was better at keeping his emotions under check. I couldn't read a single thing on his face as he took in the contents of the letter. When he was done, he looked up at me and his eyes were piercing as if they could see into my insides.
"I'm assuming this was done by those rogues," he said what we were all thinking. "They were the only ones w who knew about your date because of the attack. I can increase the patrols to help us find them." "Do that," Jaxon said then he glanced at me. "I want guards watching Kiara and Freya at every single moment." I opened my mouth to refute but Jaxon cut me off with a hard look. "It is not negotiable. It is either that or you are never allowed to leave the palace walls again."
I swallowed deeply and nodded in understanding. He was just trying to keep us safe and I would much rather have guards than be locked in forever.
"I want everything and everyone that comes into this palace to be properly searched and vetted," Jaxon continued and Aiden listened with rapt attention, "Lastly, get the elders back into the council room and put the soldiers on standby. I need to find these rogues before they do something worse."
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