The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

RYKER'S POV

There was a shift in the air- I knew it. I wasn't sure who else could feel it, but it was there the moment I woke up. It was grossly overwhelming, it threatened to swallow my senses whole. It was a sense of impending doom, a knowledge that something was undoubtedly going to go wrong, I just didn’t know when and I didn’t know how.

“Are you okay?" I felt Camilla’s hand on mine during breakfast and I managed to give her a small smile. “You haven't touched your food.”

“I'm fine, just thinking" it wasn't a complete lie but it was clear that I was hiding something and she knew it too. Her eyes narrowed in my direction so I squeezed her hand softly, her lips curved ever so slightly but that didn't take the worry out of her eyes.

“I think it is best if we stay indoors today and keep the girls close,” I immediately changed the subject, not wanting to give her time to remember why she was worried about me. “The news just got out, the people might be a little agitated. I want to make sure everyone is safe, that includes you and Christine.”

She rolled her eyes and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Christine turn to me at the mention of her name. She was very visibly pregnant and only a few weeks out from her actual delivery date. It was nerve wracking to say the least and I could only imagine how she and Juan felt about the entire thing. I heard something about them building their nursery but with everything going on, I hadn't been able to fully focus on it and give them the help they probably needed.

“Why are we the only ones you worry about?” Christine crossed her arms over her chest. “If anything, we should be worried about you. You are the one more likely to throw yourself into trouble headfirst.”

I raised a brow. “I take offense with that."

She started speaking about something but I zoned out. It felt like I was thrust into the back of my own mind and watching everything with a different pair of eyes. It took me a second to get used to what I was seeing and in this state, the impending state of danger seemed to linger a lot heavier on my heart.Many paragraphs are missing. Read the complete book on Jo=bn- ib.c(o)m. I could see their auras again and the first person I turned to was Christine, wondering if there was something wrong with her babies again, but this time, everything was normal.

I looked between all of them and my eyes finally settled on Aurora. She looked normal, as normal as she did the last time but there was something clinging to her aura, something I didn’t notice before. Something dark and grey, I knew it wasn't something I could remove like the way I did with Riley. Whatever this was, it was a part of her. She was still too young for me to figure out what it was but it was there. As bad as it was, I knew that wasn't why I was in this state.

I managed to drag myself to my feet, at that exact moment, the door opened and a maid walked in. I knew immediately that she was the problem. Her aura was dull but I felt magic emanating from her, the kind of magic that felt like a song. She had her ear plugs in, but I already knew what had happened to her. I walked over to her ignoring everyone's eyes on me and grabbed both of her hands. Her eyes met mine and she screamed.

The shadows slithered out of me and onto her, encircling every inch of her. I had no plans to kill her, I just needed her f*****g quiet because her scream was like nails on the wall. As the shadows covered her, her sounds became more like muffled whispers. She was completely covered and I knew that if I so wished, I could have snuffed out the very essence of her life there and then. I could have blamed it on her being under the sirens influence and no one would bat an eyelash. The thought was appealing but somewhere on my inside, I knew I couldn't.

I forced myself to take a step back, pulling my shadows with me as I did. As soon as I released her, she crumpled to the ground and I was snapped back into reality. Her chest was rising and falling but she was unconscious. When I turned to face the others, they were all watching me with wide and wary looks.

“She was under the sirens control," I explained. “She is still alive. I don’t know if she is still under the control or not. You should have guards keep her under constant surveillance,” I started to leave when Camilla stood to her feet but I stopped her. “I need some time alone please.”

But

“Please,” I stressed on that word. “Just an hour at least.”

When she didn’t move, I took that to mean that she has agreed, turned on my heels and walked out.

I found myself in my office, I had come to hate the four walls of the office but it was a safer bet than going outside. I knew someone was going to come after me, and soon, I didn't want to put anyone in danger by going outside. It only took ten minutes before my door opened and to my surprise, it was Audrey who stumbled inside.

She had her hair up in a bow. She had begged Camilla to do it for her this morning because it looked cute and despite having nowhere to go, she wore her best pink dress. She closed the door behind her and rushed over towards me. I watched her as she climbed into my lap and pulled her ear plugs out. I wanted to tell her to keep them in but she didn't have her wolf yet, I couldn't communicate with her through the mind link. I sighed and pulled mine out too. “Your mother can’t know that you have these out," I told her carefully. “She will have both our heads."

Audrey giggled. “The bad woman isn't here yet, but she’s coming.”

“How do you know that?”

She looked around and dropped her voice to a whisper. “I can feel her. You can too, can’t you?" “I can," I agreed slowly not knowing where the conversation was going. “Audrey, is there anything you know that you aren't telling me?”

She fell silent and I saw something akin to guilt on her face. She turned away from me and buried her face into her lap, suddenly getting interested in my fingers. I used my free hand to gently push her hair out of her face willing her to look at me, but she wouldn't.

“Audrey,” I probed gently. “What aren't you telling me?”

“I can't tell you,” she whispered, there was something like fear in her voice. “If I tell you then and things are going to happen. She told me so, she said that if I tell you then it has to happen and I don't want it to happen.”

I vaguely remembered Lila saying something about that but that was an adult and this was my terrified child. I didn’t give a shit what was going to happen as long as it didn’t happen to her. She deserved a lot better than this and I was going to make sure I did everything possible to keep her safe.

“Are you going to get hurt if you tell me?” I asked and she shook her head. “Then tell me.”

She looked terrified and I couldn't imagine what she had heard or seen that could have made her this scared to talk to me.

“I saw the palace again,” her voice was soft and almost wary, as if she knew she shouldn't be saying it but as much as I wanted her to speak, she also needed to. She was a child and this burden was too much for her. “There was so much blood and you were there. There was blood on your hands and mummy too, her dress was red."

“Was your mum hurt?”

Audrey shook her head. “She wasn't but aunt Christine was. Everyone was screaming and crying and-" she trailed off and swallowed deeply. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

I pulled her into my chest and wrapped my arms around her. I couldn't imagine what seeing that had done to her, as an adult, I knew how it would wreck me. She wasn't crying, she just relaxed into my embrace and melted against me. All the tension in her tiny shoulder bled out and I pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

“Everything will be fine," I assured her. “I will make sure of it, I swear it"

She sniffled and nodded against me. “I need to wear those back”

I stared at the earplugs on the table then back at her. “You don't have to worry about that right now, okay?”

“But mummy said-"

“I know, and you will put them on later, your mum was right, you need to have them on, but you can forget about them for now. I'm right here and I have you."

She looked up at me with a small smile. “Thank you, daddy.”

“No, thank you for telling me. You can always tell me whenever something scares you." “Anytime?” she asked with wide eyes and I nodded. “What if you're sleeping or you're tired?” “I am never too tired for you,” I brushed her hair out of her face. “You are my little princess, I don't care if it is the middle of the night, you come to me and you talk to me or your mum about it, okay?”

“I don’t want you to get hurt,” she whispered in a broken voice. I hadn't realized just how deep this worry went.

“We won't. It isn't your job to worry about us, okay? We can handle ourselves. Now, promise me you will tell us."

She nodded. “I promise.”