The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

RYKER'S POV

To say I was still reeling from the shock would have been a gross understatement. My heart was pounding in my chest and every passing second felt like a dream. We had killed the siren, we stopped the people, killing her had snapped them out of her spell, but there was still so much that was left unfinished- namely, her daughter.

“We should check on the girls," I said finally and Camilla turned to me with an unreadable expression. “They must be absolutely terrified.”

“Don’t you want to check on the younger siren,” she deliberately kept her voice void of all emotion so I couldn't tell exactly how she felt about the entire thing. “Make sure she isn't running away.”

“She won't,” I wasn't sure how I knew, or how I was so convinced but a part of me was just certain. I could tell Camilla didn’t completely believe me but the desire and the need to see the girls was greater and after a few seconds of silence, she murmured something under her breath and headed in the direction of the room.

The girls were hidden just like Camilla had asked them. They were hidden in the dark passage with a maid- I was assuming she was the one the siren originally compelled to watch over Aurora. She was full of apologies when she saw us but I couldn't be bothered with listening to her. The most important thing for me was that my children were safe and unhurt. Audrey was terrified, that much was clear, but she was safe and for the moment, that was enough.

She clung to me with her arms wrapped around my neck and would not let go so I just left her there. Camilla sat with Aurora in her arms, even at her little age, she knew something was wrong and cried whenever Camilla tried to set her down. I glanced at the clock every few seconds knowing I needed to see the little siren.

A knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up to find Caius making his way in. “l assume you know about the si-"

“Yes! I cut him off. “We were responsible. Has someone cleaned it up?”

“I just instructed someone to do it. I couldn't help but notice that the daughter wasn't,” he trailed off when I shot him a hard look. “I just wanted to make sure that you were alright, your majesties”Many paragraphs are missing. Read the complete book on Jo=bn-

ib.c(o)m. "Everything is fine here," I said simply. “You don't need to check on us, or on Juan and Christine. They need their space right now."

He looked confused but when he saw I wasn't offering any other answers, he bowed. “Of course, your majesty, forgive the interruption.”

He started to leave when I stopped him. “Thank you for checking in and thank you for cleaning the front gate!”

He just nodded. “I am an elder, it is my job to assist the crown. If you would excuse me,"

He bowed and walked out without another word. It was at that moment I realized Camilla had been silent next to me the entire time. Aurora had fallen asleep in her arms and it was both a poetic and slightly terrifying sight to see her like that, bloodied and with our daughter in her arms. She said nothing, just stared blankly at the wall.

Audrey's hold on me had gone slack and I knew the last thing our girls needed right now was to wake up alone so I gently tugged on Camilla’s arm. She followed me blindly but I doubted that she actually knew what she was doing or where she was going. I had to lead her because I couldn't trust her not to bump into a wall on her own. She was clearly in shock and I couldn't blame her.

Once we were safely within the confines of our room, I lay Audrey in bed and took Aurora from Camilla. Thankfully neither of them woke so I could pay attention to my mate. I walked her into the bathroom and as I began to undo the laces at the back of her dress, I mind linked Caius. Juan would have been my first choice but I couldn't bother him, not right now.

“I need you to go to one of the guest rooms for me,” I said down the link. “Take some food there and give it to the girl"

“The siren girl?" he asked and I hummed. “Am I doing this as your elder?”

“l am asking you as a friend, Caius”

There was a pause. “Then I'll do it immediately, but, I have to tell you, I don't think she can be trusted. She was by her mother’s side and she is a siren.”

“I never said I trusted her, I just asked that she be fed."

“Will you take her to the dungeons?”

“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I have a few things I would like to know first before I condemn that child to her death. If she walks into those dungeons then she will not be walking out. Whether it is by my hand or by one of the guards- she will die”

“I will be very discreet while getting the food to her, you have my word."

I cut off the mind link immediately satisfied that I had handled that for the time being and focused on my mate. She still hadn't said a word, she just stood there unblinking as I helped her into the tub. I expected some reaction as I poured water over her hair but still, there was nothing.

“What you did today was extremely brave,” I whispered to her. “You held onto Christine and you saved her life by putting pressure on that wound. If it weren't for your quick thinking, we wouldn't have been able to kill the siren either”

She was still silent.

“They have two kids now, the palace is going to be overrun with little feet soon enough and there's finally a boy in the house to teach-"

“She could have died,” Camilla cut me off, her voice soft and almost indiscernible. “There was so much blood and I could feel it pouring out.”

“I know, baby, I know.”

She turned to me with accusing eyes. “You left me. You took the little girl and you left. The siren girl, where is she?”

“Safe within the palace. I will not do anything with her without talking to you, Juan and Christine first, you can believe that.”

Some of the anger left her eyes, but underneath all of that was something raw, as if the experience had split a part of her open.

“It reminded me of Aurora,” she continued. “Holding the baby and not knowing if she was going to live. I kept thinking how do I tell Christine that both her babies were dead? How do I say to her that she lost the babies that I made her plan a nursery for?”

“You didn’t have to."

“But I almost did,” she swallowed and brushed her hair out of her face. “It didn’t hit me until after that we would've- we almost-"

She trailed off once more and buried her face between her thighs. The full force of everything hit her at once and her shoulders shook as the emotions barreled into her. I wrapped my arms around my mate, not caring that she was clean and I was still stained with blood. I held her until she no longer shook and I no longer feared that she was going to break apart in my arms. “I'm sorry,” she began as she pulled away but I was quick to put an end to that.

“You have no reason to apologize to me. What happened there was terrible and I can’t even begin to think about what that felt like for you. You are an amazing woman, Camilla."

She gave me a watery smile. “I should be thanking you. You saved the day, literally. You brought those babies from the brink of death. I still can't wrap my head around it"

“I can't either. I'm just glad that everything turned out okay for everyone.”

“In theory, yes, but that doesn’t change how terrifying this was. I thought everything was over and then the girl, she-"

“She said she had to, right after she did it. She said she was sorry and that she had to." Camilla’s expression hardened. “She didn’t have to do anything, her mother was dead, the spell was broken. She did it because she wanted to."

I had thought about that, but something told me there was more to the story and I had zero intentions of harming a child. At the end of the day, she was still a child and I was hesitant about killing children. If someone had died, I would have done it without a second thought. It was a skewed moral compass but it was my compass and I wanted to make sure that she wasn't manipulated into doing what she did.

Camilla got out of the tub, not caring about the water that sloshed everywhere. “Where are the girls?"

“Asleep in our bed. I couldn't leave them alone, not after everything that happened.”

Her eyes softened but almost immediately, they hardened into slits. “Good, I don't want to talk about this anymore but I have one more thing to say.”

I nodded carefully knowing that whatever she was going to say was going to put me on edge. “You can wait to talk to Christine and Juan, but the siren girl dies.”

“Camilla-"

“You wanted my opinion, right? Well, I just gave it to you. The siren girl dies. She almost killed the only sister I have ever known and two innocent babies. She has to go, Ryker, that is my decision and I won't change it. Unless Juan and Christine magically vote otherwise, she has to die”

“She is a child,” I tried to reason but Camilla snorted.

“If you don’t want to do it then I will do it myself, or juan will, I know he will be more than glad to do it but she has to die. Remember what we read about sirens and revenge? I won't leave her to come back and wreck this havoc on our daughters and if that makes me a monster then so be it”