The Rejected Werewolf Princess by Didiadeyemi

Chapter 89
CAMILLA’S PO.V
I was so excited to finally have things settle down. It felt like ages since we had any form of peace and I could finally spend long
parts of my day with my family. Audrey in particular loved that and she made sure to milk every hour we were able to spend with
her. She played her cards well and managed to convince Ryker to take her to do whatever she wanted. I was just happy to see
my family safe and happy, it had a very content feeling to it. It felt like I could finally breathe without feeling like someone was
looking over my shoulder and waiting for me to fail. It was also an added bonus that I hadn’t seen the elders in over a week. I
was relieved and I prayed that the feeling would last.
I made my way towards the training grounds with apprehension in my heart. I had started training again full time thanks to
Ryker’s encouragement and it was still weird at first but I was slowly getting back into a comfortable point with my powers. There
was still a small part of me that held a little bit of resentment to the powers but I was beginning to get over it. It also helped that
Lois was one of the kindest and most patient people I had ever met.
He had been trying to get me to summon water from moisture but it as difficult. My brows were tinged with sweat and my head
hurt but I was unable to do it. It felt as though it was just out of my grip. I could almost feel it but I couldn’t get to it. I resisted the
urge to scream in frustration and just bit down on my bottom lip. “Your majesty, forgive me for this but I don’t think you are trying
hard enough,” Lois said slowly after I had failed to conjure up anything and I narrowed my eyes at him. “The water is all around
you. It is no different from pulling water out of a stream, just pull it and use it.”
“I am aware of what I am supposed to do but I suppose it is harder to pull water out of thin air considering that it is air,” I couldn’t
keep the snark out of my voice.
Lois sighed and made his way over to me. “You remind me a lot of our mother. I didn’t train her but I was present for most of her
sessions. May I speak freely?” I waved my hands. “I see her stubborn streak in you.”
“I don’t think stubborn would be the first word I would use to describe myself.”
“I don’t mean it in a bad way at all. I meant that you both have me ntal blocks in your minds that are too stubborn to remove- or
maybe, you don’t want to remove them.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and turned to him. “I don’t know what you mean by that.”.

“I think that you don’t want to use your powers anymore, at least, that is the vibe I am getting off you. It is almost as if you
despise them for some reason. Your mother did too because she was never supposed to have them,” before I could ask what he
meant, he made his way over to the chairs and gestured for me to follow
him.

I hesitated but ultimately took the seat next to him because I was more interested in the conversation than anything else and if it
gave me the opportunity to pause training for a little while then it was an added bonus. For a second, he didn’t say anything, just
stared up into the distance.
“You know that your mother married into the royal family meaning she didn’t have powers, or at least, she wasn’t supposed to.
She was eighteen when they were married. Your father had powers; he was one of the greatest elementals to ever live. There
was almost nothing he couldn’t do with his powers- he loved them. Your mother was the direct opposite.”
I hadn’t known my father was an elemental like me. It was knowledge I could have done without because everything I heard
about him up to this point did not make him someone I wanted to emulate or be reminded of.
“Your mother is distantly related to the crown. Her grandmother was the second daughter of the king. She already knew about
the powers but was relieved to not have them. Now imagine her surprise when on her twenty first birthday, she begins to display
them. She was furious, I remember she spent weeks looking for ways to get rid of them. She refused training and she would not
speak about them to anyone.”
“How did my father take the news?” I asked and he shook his head.
“Remember that I am just an outsider, I wasn’t privy to most of their conversations and can only speak based on what I heard
and saw the few times I was around them,” I nodded to show that I understood. “He was jealous, he was used to being the
special one but suddenly, that had been ripped away. I was told it caused a lot of problems for them. Your mother began to
despise those powers. She felt they were responsible for the downfall of her family”
“Is this the part where you say that she finally looked inward and found that she was the problem?”
He smiled. “Not quite, the only reason your mother began training was to spite your father. They were an amusing pair, those
two. I feel like in a different lifetime, they would have been soulmates,” he cleared his throat before going back to the story. “She
hated her powers every second that she trained and it wasn’t until she was able to find a way to remove that hatred from her
heart that she was able to reach their full potential.”

“I’m happy for her, but I don’t hate my powers,” even to my ears, it sounded like a lie.
“You may not completely hate them, but if you could get rid of them right now, would you?” I hesitated too long before
responding.
It was an appealing offer. My powers had never saved me in an emergency so it wasn’t like I was going to lose anything except
the title of being an elemental. “Exactly,” he said when I didn’t respond. “Until you deal with the source of that
rage, you will not be able to tap into your potential.”
“There is no source. Water powers are practically useless. What is the best I can do with it? Probably party tricks.”
He turned to me and laughed. By the time he calmed down, he was shaking his head at me as if I were unbelievable. “Did you
know that the human body was made predominantly of water? Did you realize that there is water under the earth? You can

control almost anything as long as it has water inside of it. It is a more complex skill to master but it is not impossible”
My mouth was wide open in shock. I had never thought of it that way. It seemed like something I would be willing to learn but I
was worried I would never be able to. Before I could say anything, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Ryker with Aurora
in his arms. Both him and our daughter were smiling as they made their way over.
“Am I interrupting?” he asked and Lois shook his head as he rose to his feet. “We were justfinishing,” he clasped his hands
together and bowed to both of us. “Think about it, your majesty.”
He disappeared immediately after and Ryker turned to me with scrunched brows. “Do I want to know what just happened there?”
“I’ll tell you on the way inside.”
I told him everything that Lois had said and he listened intently. By the time I was done, he didn’t say any words. When I glanced
at him, I knew he had a lot to say but for some reason, he was holding himself back. I waited until we got to the room and I was
relaxing in the tub before I spoke.
“Just say whatever you want to say. You know I value your opinion.”
He sighed before speaking. “All of this started after our mother passed. Could it be that you feel some sort of responsibility in her
passing? If you could conjure water from moisture at that point, you would have been able to douse the flames. Could that be it?”
I hated how accurate he was. I turned away from him and kept my gaze fixed on the wall. “That isn’t it, you’re wrong.”

“Am I, because you cannot even look at me?” he asked but I kept my lips shut. “Camilla, it was not your fault.”
“I know that.”
I heard shuffling then he returned to the room empty handed. Before I could ask where Aurora was, he crouched down by the
side of the tub and cupped my face with both hands. “It was not your fault, Camilla. There was nothing you could have done
then. Do not despise the gift you have been given over this.”
I swallowed and finally looked up at him. “I need to finish up.”
It was a clear dismissal and I hated doing it but I didn’t want Ryker breaking me. It wasn’t something I could handle. He sighed
and took a step back with a nod. The
moment he walked out, I wanted to call out for him but it was like all the words had gotten stuck in my throat. I heard the door
click shut and I realized that I was well and truly alone.
I didn’t leave my room for over an hour after that and thankfully, no one came to look for me. It wasn’t until my stomach grumbled
in protest that I finally found my way to the dining room. I was shocked to see the entire family seated there. I expected that they
would have finished by the time I got down but to my shock, they were just about to start.
“Camilla, I was just about to call you,” Christine said with a smile and I knew that Ryker hadn’t told her anything.
I didn’t look at Ryker as I took the seat between him and Audrey. My daughter was all smiles and giggles as she spoke
animatedly to me. I tried to match her energy the best I could but I felt drained. I think I did a good job because she didn’t
complain once. When the food came, I used that as an excuse not to speak but I tried to listen to her as best as I could. It was
hard though because I had a splitting headache.
Lunch went without a hitch and by the time I was done eating, I prepared to make my quick escape but Ryker anticipated that
and spoke.
“Christine, can you please take the kids and give us a moment?”

Chapter 90 CAMILLA'S PO.V “Of course,” her response was quick as she gathered the girls.

Audrey came over to give me a hug and | kissed her hair softly. When she got to Ryker, | heard her speak.

“Will you be there to tuck me in?” she asked softly and he nodded. She smiled wide at those words and kissed his cheeks before ski pping over to meet Christine.

| wanted to leave with them but | knew that would only prove my guilt so | forced myself to stay still. The door ! shut behind me but no one spoke. For the first time, silence between us was suffocating and awkward, | expected him to pick up the conversation from where it ended before but he didn’t. To my shock, Ryker just held out his hand for me to take.

| hesitated for a split second which caused his eyes to narrow. He led me out of the dining room and out of the palace. It was windy but | could barely focus on the cold because | was so anxious to know where we were going. We walked in silence ignoring the guards who greeted and bowed to us. | thought we were going to take a walk but Ryker led me towards the royal garden.

“What are we doing here?” | asked but he ignored me and went to stand directly in front of the fountain. He gestured for me to come to him and | did so slowly. “Ryker, what is this?” “We're going to practice,” | raised a brow and he gestured to the water in the fountain. “| don’t know how long it is going to take for you to get over your resentment but that isn’t going to happen until you begin to enjoy your powers again.” “| still don’t understand what that has to do with all of this,” | gestured around us. “I practice every morning with Lois. What good does an extra hour of practice every night?” “This isn’t out of obligation,” | stared at him blankly and he sighed. “You used to sit here and make animals out of the water, do you remember? Audrye loved it. While you were pregnant, you would sit here and just play around with the fountain. You said it calmed you down.” “| was stressed out, I'm not anymore but if you want me to make animals,” | waved my hand and a large ball of water rose from the fountain in the shape of a dog. | made a show of making it run around for a few seconds before dropping it into the water.

“Is that good enough? Would you like me to create fishes too?”

“l am more of an amphibian person,” | conjured up a water lizard. “Try being a little more enthusiastic about it.” His tone dripped with sarcasm and | flashed him a smile while doing it to which he laughed. | couldn’t stop myself from smiling too. | hadn't felt so light using my powers in a while even if | was just using it to mock him.

“I don’t know what you want me to do, Ryker.” Ryker made his way over to me and stroked my cheek soft. “That's the thing, you don’t have to do anything. | just want you to sit here and remember. It is in your hands right now. This isn’t practice where you are obligated to practice.” “So | can just sit down and do nothing if | want.” He frowned. “I wouldn't like that but yes. We only have half an hour so we can tuck Audrey in.” | thought about if for a second then | sat down gently on the ground with my legs crossed in front of me. | saw the disappointment on Ryker’s face but | ignored it. After a split second, he sat down next to me.

“What are you doing?” “I'm sitting with you,” he said simply. “Whatever you choose, | will do it with you. Every night, without fail, we will sit here if that is what you want.” “You don’t have to.” “l want to.” So we did.

For the next half hour, we just sat there doing nothing. | rested my head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around my shoulder. By the time half an hour was up, Ryker helped me to my feet and led me into- the palace. Audrey was already half asleep when we got there but she was excited to see that we had kept to our promise. We also checked on Aurora before finally making our way to our room.

| noticed that Ryker was weirdly silent as we got dressed for bed and | couldn’t help but feel like | had done something wrong especially when | put on my favorite white night gown and he didn’t seem to notice. He had his back to me so | made my way over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. He stiffened before turning around.

“Are you mad at me?” | asked and he gave me an incredulous look as if | had asked him to grow an extra head. “You've been quiet. If | embarrassed you earlier-”

“You didn’t,” he cut in almost immediately. | didn’t believe him and he must have noticed because he sighed and closed the distance between us. “Do | wish you did something different? Of course, but Camilla, there is no timeline on this. You can move at whatever pace you want. | can’t be embarrassed by you.” “You looked disappointed earlier and you have barely even looked at me.” “| was giving you space,” he sighed. “You can be hard to read sometimes but | thought you wanted space.” He kissed me softly. “I just want to know that you're alright.” “I'm alright.” | assured him and just like that, everything was better.

He ran his eyes over my body. “Don’t think | missed the night gown. You look exquisite and there are so many things | would love to do to you tonight.” “Do them,” | whispered and the corner of his lips quirked up.

“I'm afraid that there may not be enough time.” It was late when we finally went to bed. | was wrapped up in Ryker’s arms and buried under the blanket. Neither of us had bothered to put on clothes because we didn’t expect to be woken up until morning. However, that wasn’t the case because | heard frantic knocking on the door. At first, | thought it was a part of my dream but it became more insistent.

“Camilla, are you awake?” | quickly recognized the voice as Christine’s as | roused from sleep.

Ryker was awake too and he looked as confused as | felt. He began to rise but | waved him off and assured him that | could handle it. | grabbed the closest thing which was Ryker’s shirt and threw it over my shoulders: | pulled the door open and Christine stood there looking frantic.

“The guards have been trying to get your mind link for hours but you were both asleep. Thankfully, | was awake so they were able to get to me. | thought | could handle it because | wanted you to rest but, Camilla, this is beyond my pay grade, | have no idea what to do about this. | didn’t want to wake you but-" “Christine,” her rambling had woken me up completely. “What is it?” “| think you need to see it.”

| closed the door so | could get dressed. Thankfully, Ryker was already out of bed and getting dressed. | handed him his shirt and pulled on my night gown before throwing one large coat over it to give a sense of decency. | couldn’t be bothered to get into a dress at- | glanced over at the clock- one a.m.

Christine was waiting outside the door and she quickly rushed off in the direction of the front doors. A carriage was waiting and | wondered where we could be going at such an hour thatrequired a carriage. | could tell by looking at Ryker’s face that even he was curious but no one said anything. We just held onto each other's hands and got inside. Christine was tapping her feet anxiously and she looked like she was five seconds away from throwing up.

The carriage ride took less than ten minutes and by the time we got there, | noticed that there was a huge crowd. The guards were gathered at the edge of the woods. They bowed when they saw us and it was one of the generals who crossed the line to meet us.

“We are so glad you came, your majesties,” he said. “We didn’t want to wake you this late but we didn’t know what to do. We haven't touched anything.” “Show us.” He nodded and directed us to follow him. We walked for another five minutes before we came across another handful of guards. They were standing in a circle around what | realized was a body as | saw the leg sticking out. They parted the way for us and it was obvious that the man was dead.

“He is a miner from one of the lower towns,” the general explained. “He went missing a few days ago and he suddenly turned up here. There are no | juries or wounds on him but he is-" “Dead,” | deadpanned. “Why is he so pale though? He almost looks like a statue. Did he die a long time ago?” “That has been one of our major questions but | don’t think so. His body hasn't started ton decay yet. It seemed he died a few hours ago but | have never seen anything like this. He was so cold when | touched him, almost like ice.” “Is that unusual?” | stepped forward but Ryker reached out a hand to stop me. He turned to the general. “Inform his family that he has been found and convince them to have him buried as quickly as possible with minimal questions.” “Do you know what happened?” | asked but he ignored me.

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“Make sure no one breathes a word of this to anyone. If they ask, he died of poisoning and that is why he is pale. Am | clear?” The general nodded and went off to do as he asked. | turned to Ryker with my arms crossed over my chest. “Are you going to tell me what it is?” “l will. I have a hunch but | really hope | am wrong about it.” “Is it bad?” | asked and he nodded. “On a scale of one through ten?” “| would say an eight,” my eyes widened. “| need to get you out of here first before | say anything else. | don’t want to risk anyone overhearing. Do you trust me?” “Always.” “Good, now come.”

Chapter 91 CAMILLA'S PO.V Ryker was acting weird but | didn’t want to push too much. Since we saw that man, he was off his game. He was quiet the entire carriage ride back and he seemed to be lost in thought. When we got back to the palace however, he led me back towards our room and locked the door. | waited patiently for him to say something but he didn’t.

“Ryker,” | began and he sighed.

“I'm thinking of the best way to say this,” he explained. “When Damien was here, he told me about a rumor that was going around of a creature who steals people in the night and returns their bodies in the middle of the woods drained of blood.” “That sounds like a vampire.” “That's exactly what | said and now a body turns up in the middle of the woods freezing cold and pale.” | couldn’t help but shake my head at him and smile. He was cute when he worried but | couldn’t believe that a vampire was attacking citizens. | grabbed both of his hands and led him to the bed where | pushed him to sit down. He tried to speak but | held up a hand to stop him. Once he was quiet, | crawled up behind him and began massaging his shoulders. He looked confused but allowed me do as | wished without putting up too much of a fight. | waited until his shoulders slacked with relief before | spoke.

“We have never had any interactions with vampires prior to this,” | reminded him slowly as | kept my fingers moving on his shoulders. “I find it hard to believe that a random vampire came out of nowhere and decided to drain blood from someone in the town.” | saw him frown. “When | heard it from Damien, | thought the same thing but now- you saw the man.” “There’s no confirmation that a vampire killed him. It gets very cold at night and if he was wandering and unable to shift, he could have frozen to death which would explain why his skin was so cold,” | combatted. “Until we have proof that he died from a vampire attack then we shouldn’t jump to conclusion.”

His frown remained and | briefly wondered if he wanted it to be a vmpaire attack. It made no sense. If it were me, | would have taken the excuse | was giving and run with it but then again, | preferred to run from my problems while Ryker loved t face them head on.

“Do you know how many pack members are lost to vampire attacks on a monthly basis?” | asked and he shook his head. “I don’t either but | am sure there is a number somewhere. This could just have been an accident or a lone murder. It probably has nothing to do with what Damien told me. Your mind is just playing tricks on you.” | felt him tense. | knew it would be hard for him to let go of his preconceived notions. Was there a possibility that he was right? Sure, but | really hoped he wasn’t. | wasn’t sure the palace could handle another attack right now. When | spoke, | was trying to convince myself as much as | was trying to convince him. The idea of a rogue vampire causing problems among wolves wa ssomething that | was sure the covens had heard and | knew that even if it were true, they would do everything in their power to make sure it was handled to avoid another war.

The last time there was a war between vampires and werewolves was over a century ago. According to what | heard, it was brutal and it lasted for years. So many people were lost and a treaty was signed to ensure that none of it happened again. The vampires decided to move into the mountains after that while the wolves stayed in the forest. | doubted that anyone wanted a repeat of that war.

“You're right,” Ryker said finally. “If | hadn’t heard about that from Damien, | wouldn’t be worried. It is probably nothing.” “Good,” | leaned down to kiss him. “We were having such a good night. I'm sure we have a lot of paperwork to do in the morning about the boy’s death.” | took my hands off his shoulders and he turned to me. He loked a lot better and | couldn’t help but smile. He wasted no time in getting under the covers with me and pulling me into his chest. | pretended not to notice thathe held onto me a little tighter than usual.

The next time | woke up, Ryker was already out of bed and it was almost seven. | never planned to sleep in and | cursed when | realized that he would have met with the elders without me. | got ready in a rush and started towards the council to take a de room when | heard Aurora crying. | had to a detour and feed her first. It wasn’t until she was peacefully sleeping that | could finally leave. By the time | got to the council room, they were already deep in their sconversation.

“Your majesty,” one of the elders drawled. “How kind of you to join us.” | didn’t miss the undercurrent in his voice and my eyes narrowed. “Thank you for waiting. Children can be so unpredictable sometimes. The last thing any of us needed was a screaming child in our meetings.” His cheeks heated and he turned away. “Is there something in particular that we are talking about.” “Not exactly, his majesty was briefing us on the boy that was found at the border. It was such a sad accident, | am sure.

Thankfully, he doesn’t have any family in the area. He was much of a loner.” “Thankfully?” | couldn’t help but ask and | saw the elders shrug.

“It would have been a shame if there was family that we needed to break the news to.” | wanted to speak. They wouldn't have been doing anything, | would. It infuriated me when they acted like they had the worst jobs when all they had to do was just sit here like kings and reap the benefits. The words were at the tip of my tongue when | felt Ryker’s hand intertwine with mine. He wasn’t looking my way but | could feel him all the same and he was asking me to calm down.

| exhaled deeply through my nose and forced my shoulders to relax before turning to the elders. “If you are done discussing then | assume the meeting is over.”.

| watched their faces contort in disbelief that | had just dismissed them before they finally filed out of the room. It took all my willpower not to throw something against the wall. Ryker kept his hand intertwined with mine presumably to keep me grounded and prevent me from doing something | would most definitely regret later.

Once they were all gone, | turned to him. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?” “| wanted to, but you looked like you needed the rest. This is the only thing we had scheduled for today and | honestly thought you could use one day without having to sit opposite them and listening to their bullsh it.” | couldn’t help but laugh. “Is there a way we can change the elders? How are they even given their position?” “I have no idea,” he admitted. “But we can definitely try. Who would we even put in their place?” | shrugged. “Anyone is better than them right now.” He was about to reply when someone knocked on the door and | saw a guard poke his head in. he glanced over at me and | immediately knew what time it was.

“You have to train, don’t you?” Ryker asked and | nodded. “You'll do fine.” “I hope so.” | didn’t do fine. | couldn’t do anything more than what | usually could and even at that, it drained me more than it should have.

Loris told me that my anger had a deeper hold on me than | thought and | needed to find a way to work on it. | knew he was right and | knew that if Ryker was present, he would tell me the same thing but | didn’t want to hear it from any of them. | was good with pretending that all was good because it wasn’t like my powers were going to come in handy.

We were rounding up training when | heard scurrying feet. | turned to see Audrey rushing over and she practically threw herself into my arms. She was supposed to be having her lessons so | couldn’t help but wonder how she got out.

“Aunt Christie said you were doing magic,” she whispered and | couldn’t help but raise a brow. “Can you show me some?” “Shouldn’t you be having lessons? | asked and she hid her face from me. “Audrey Valentina, what did do?”

you “Nothing,” she was quick to defend herself and throw her hands up. “I just wanted to see you so | left.” “You have to go back,” | saw some guards rushing out of the palace. There was no doubt in my mind that they were looking for her.

“Just show me one trick, please,” she gave me those innocent eyes that | could never say no to and | ended up sighing.

| didn’t want to let her down so | thought of something that | knew would blow her mind. | stretched out my hand and created an arch over her heads while drawing water from the stream nearby. Her eyes widened and she clapped in glee. | decided to go a step further by making little animals. | couldn’t remember the last time | concentrated so hard. | didn’t want a single thing going wrong. Her cries of excitement were worth the pounding headache | knew | would sh ave later.

| let the water fall back and turned to her. She was grinning from ear to ear. “That was amazing, mummy. You're the bestest magic person ever.” | couldn’t stop my own smile as | kissed her head. “Thank you, sweetheart. You have to go back now.” She frowned. “Will “I will.” you do some more later?” | put her down and watched a she ran off towards the guards. | was still watching her when | heard Loris speak.

“That was the happiest I've seen you while using your powers,” he mentioned casually. “Perhaps we should have the princess sit in while you train. It might serve as some form of motivation.” | laughed. “There is no way my daughter is sitting in just to watch me embarrass myself.” | had expected a frown or something at that but instead, the corner of his lips tilted up in a smile as if he had just figured out the answer to all his problems.

“I'm beginning to think that there is still some hope after all.”

Chapter 92 CAMILLA'S PO.V After training, it was basically just me sitting in my office doing nothing. By the time evening came around, Ryker made good on his promise and we sat in the garden alone. He offered to bring Audrey and | knew he had spoken to Lois but | didn’t want her to see me like this. | didn’t want my child knowing that | wasn’t as special as she thought. She thought of me like this super amazing person and | didn’t want to ruin it for her because a part of me wished | could be that for her.

| felt a longing and a pull towards the water but | couldn’t bring myself to act on it. My fingers itched and it took everything in my power for me to resist that pull but | did. | could feel Ryker’s eyes on me the entire time almost as if he could sense my internal struggle and was trying to find out a way he could help me. When our thirty minutes were up, | subconsciously reached my hand out towards the water but | caught myself.

“Why?” he asked but | stayed silent. “Is there a reason you keep denying yourself something that you obviously want?” “| don’t want it,” | lied and he shook his head.

“Do you know what this reminds me of?” he asked but | stayed silent. “When you first came to the pack, you were so hesitant to receive even the slightest bit of affection. You fought me at every turn even though you knew that | was just trying to help you. Why do you do that?” “That’s not what I'm doing.” “Isn’t it?” he asked and | couldn’t bring myself to answer because | knew he was right. “Just accept help where it is given, Camilla. All | am asking for is for you to try. You want to, so why don’t you? “Because | know I'm going to fail,” my voice was a soft whisper ax | spoke and | saw something crack in Ryker’s eyes. He sighed and reached out for me. | wanted to pull away but | let him hold me. | allowed him wrap his arms around me and | reminded myself that he could protect me. | allowed myself to feel safe in his arms.

By the time he pulled back, there was something softer in his eyes. It was almost as if he could finally see me for the first time.

“Just try something.” “l don’t know what to do.” “Anything.”

There was a soft encouraging tone imbued in his voice. | reached out my hand and hesitantly willed the water to me. As if it could sense my hesitation, the ripples began but they weren't stable. | tried to get a stronger grip on myself and tugged it towards me. The water rushed out of the fountain towards my hand and just held it suspended in the air in a bubble.

EE ————

It was the simplest thing in the world but Ryker was looking at me with so much pride. | felt moved to do more so | tried some of the earliest tricks | had first learnt. | remembered the feeling of glee and excitement when | did them for the first time. | remembered hoow | showed it off to Christine every chance | got and she responded with pride and adoration.

“I've never seen your powers in action,” Ryker’s words snapped my concentration and the water went splashing back into the fountain. | turned to him in disbelief.

“You're joking, right?” | asked and he shook his head. “I could have sworn that | used them around you once.” “I never joined one of your training sessions and there was never a time for you to use them. Your mother was the one who told me about them. | was always curious but | never wanted to push.” “I'm sorry,” | didn’t know why | was apologizing but | knew that | felt bad for some reason.

He pressed a kiss to my temple. “It doesn’t matter. You did good, baby. Do you think you'll be up to try again tomorrow?” This time, when | nodded, | meant it.

| was in a better mood the entire day. Maybe it was because | had finally decided to give training a chance but in reality, | knew that it had everything to do with Ryker. Loris noticed the change but he asked no questions in regards to what brought it on. | still couldn’t conjure water out of thin air but | was getting better at controlling large bodies of water and manipulating them. It drained me more because of the size so we were working on my stamina.

By the time training was over, my shoulders ached and my muscles protested. | wanted an ice bath with a massage to relax. | was trudging back towards my room when a guard approached me. He looked hesitant and a bit young, | had a feeling he was one of the new guards hired to replace the traitors. When he got to me, he bowed low and his sword clattered to the floor.

| leaned down to pick it up and as | handed it over to him, he looked mortified. “I am so sorry, your majesty, | am very clumsy.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.” “It's fine, | can be too,” | waved him off. “Is there anything you need?” “| was asked to escort you to the physician’s quarters by the Prince Consort.” My brows scrunched in confusion. | tried to reach Ryker via mind link but his wall was firmly in place. It was weird that he would send a guard instead of getting me himself but | decided not to question it too much and followed the boy. He walked ahead of me and | noticed him paying extra attention to his feet as if willing them not to mess up.

When we got to the physician’s quarters, Ryker was waited outside. | thanked the boy and made my way over to my mate.

“What is happening?” “The physician said it was important. | waited for you.” I smiled and him softly. | could tell he was a bit worried, it was in the creases around his eyes and the way he gripped my hand lightly. | decided to make the first move by pushing the door open. The physician and his son were muttering to themselves and they jumped when they saw us. The room was just as | remembered- there were vials and jars lining every wall filled with weird liquids. Books took up the rest of the space and of course, the little bed where the victim was lying down.

“Thank you for coming,” he rushed over to welcome us. “I hope | am forgiven for requesting your presence but this wasn’t something that could be uttered outside of this room. The walls have ears and if anyone gets a wind of this, it could be disastrous.” | cast a wary glance towards Ryker. His eyes met mine and | could see that his emotions mirrored mine. He squeezed my hand in silent solidarity and we turned back to the physician.

“There is nothing to forgive,” Ryker was the one who spoke because | couldn’t trust my voice. “What is it that you wanted to show us?” He beckoned us over to the body and | couldn’t help but feel a pang of pity as | looked down at the boy. He couldn’t have been older than mid-twenties. The physician didn’t seem to hold the same concerns | held in regards to the body because he just walked by it and began flipping through his notes.

“| noticed something when | was looking over him. | would like to preface by saying that | am a physician and sometimes, | may be wrong. | doubt that | am wrong here because | have checked three times just to be certain,” he cleared his throat before continuing. “This boy was dead only a mere three hours when he was found. There is also no indicator that he had been out in the cold long before then.” “Why was his skin so cold then?” | asked. “He looked like he could have frozen to death.” “| wish that were the case,” he paused as if wondering how to continue. “I am sure you have heard about the blood being the life force of an individual. Your blood is part of what warms your body and regulates the temperature.” | nodded not quite understanding where he was going but trying to follow nonetheless.

He turned the head of the boy to the side and pointed to two barely there puncture wounds.

| felt Ryker tense beside me and | couldn’t help but remember what he had told me earlier about the vampire. | refused to believe that was what happened. Maybe it was just an accident. Maybe we were just overthinking and reading too much into things.

“This is a vampire bite. Normally, | wouldn't be too bothered about it because we have the occasional vampire roaming around.

In my time, | have handled three vampire cases but this is different.” “How so?” my voice was barely over a whisper. | was scared to ask because | was scared to know the answer.

“This man was somehow drained completely of blood.” “Why is that weird?” “When vampires bite, it is for two reasons- to feed or to turn. They rarely ever completely drain bodies of blood, not even the newly turned make that mistake. The only time a vampire would make that mistake is if they lost control and this man wouldn't have a head if that were the case. | believe this was a deliberate action on the part of whoever did it.” No one dared to speak. It was one full minute of Ryker and | staring at the body and not knowing what to do. Our worst fear had been confirmed- the rumor was true and for some reason, the vampire was here.

Ryker was the first person to snap out of his reverie. He straightened his shoulders and faced the physician eye-to-eye. “Do not breathe a word about this to anyone. Tell the family whatever you need to in order for them to let this rest as quickly as possible.” “But your majesty-" his son began speaking for the first time and Ryker leveled him with a sharp gaze.

“If anyone breathes a word about this, they will have to pay, am | clear?” he asked and they both nodded. “Go over the body one more time and tell me if you missed anything” Without another word, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room. | had so many questions but | didn’t know where to start so | stayed silent.

Chapter 93 RYKER’S POV | hated being out of my element and this was one situation where | couldn’t control that.

From the moment | saw that body. | knew it was a vampire attack. | tried to convince myself that maybe it wasn’t the one from the stories. | allowed Camilla convince me that | was overreacting but now the evidence was directly in front of my face and | couldn’t deny it. As we left the physician’s room. | couldn’t help but run my hand down my face in frustration. For the first time, | was at a disadvantage- | knew nothing about vampires.

| knew nothing about the rumors as well because | had completely dismissed them. If | had just chosen to investigate it a little then | would have a little information on hand instead of walking completely blind. | wanted desperately to punch something.

“Ryker,” Camilla began slowly from her spot by my side. She sounded almost hesitant as if she were unsure of whether she should speak.

The last time she sounded like this was when she was still getting to know me and didn’t know how to trust me. | turned to her almost immediately, all thoughts of the vampire were forgotten. | never wanted my mate to feel like she needed to walk on eggshells around me.

“What’s wrong?” | asked and she hesitated for far too long before responding.

“What do we do now?” she asked. “I don’t know where to start.” “We don’t start anything. The last thing the people need is to panic. We are going to summon the elders and convince them to implement a curfew for the people.”

“They would want to know why. No one panics more than them,” she added the last part with a snort. “Why can’t | just put the curfew?” “If you do it then people will realize that something is wrong. If we make the elders believe that it was their idea then they will have to come up with a reason behind it. Just leave the talking to me, | can handle them.” She nodded and | couldn't help but bask in the complete and absolute trust she had in me. Her eyes softened and | could see in her eyes that she would have done anything | said in that moment. There was something euphoric about knowing that and | swore that | would never do anything to make her second guess that blind faith she had put in me.

It took half an hour to get the elders assembled in the council room. It would have taken longer but to our relief, they were already in the palace when summoned. There were varying levels of confusion on their faces and | prayed to the goddess that | wouldn’t mess things up.-

“if | am correct then it is your job to keep us up to speed with everything happening in the palace, correct?” | asked and they all hesitated before nodding. “Then explain why | didn’t find out until today that people have been getting lost in the woods. in the dead of night.” It was a huge stretch. | knew of only one person who got lost in the woods sand that was the man who was currently lying on the physician’s bed being examined. The elders looked like deer caught in headlights and | wondered if it was because something similar was actually happening or if they just felt incompetent.

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“Your majesty,” one of them began. “Every year, at least five people get lost in the forest at night and cannot find their way back. So far, there have only been three cases that have reached our ears and one has been found recently although the physician hasn't released the body.” That means there are two more people waiting to be found in the woods.

“Didn’t you think it was something that should be handled?” | asked and he opened his mouth to speak but | cut him off. “What kind of leaders are we if we just left our people to suffer without offering solutions.” “What are you suggesting?” “| am suggesting nothing. | was unaware of the plight until today. You chose to keep it a secret so you will all handle it yourselves,” | looked over them all slowly. “I don’t know how you plan to stop people from going into the woods especially at night so they don’t get lost but it is out of my hands now.” | leaned back in the chair and grabbed Camilla’s hands under the table. The ball was now in their court, | had planted all the seeds necessary and all | needed was for one person to say the words ‘curfew. | waited for an antagonizing thirty minutes before someone finally got the hint.

“What about a curfew?” he asked. “It is one way we could keep people in line. They would never go against that. The question is, what is the reason we will give them?” “| am sure you can figure out something.” | sat up straighter. “The last thing | want is for any of you to throw the people into panic.” | stood to my feet and pulled Camilla up with me gently. “You are all dismissed.”

| could see that they all had more to say but there was nothing they could do about the dismissal. | watched them file out and disappear. It wasn’t until the door to the council room clicked shut that | could finally breathe. That entire time, | was in a state of panic wondering if my plan was going to work. That was not something | wanted to feel again. Helplessness was not something | enjoyed.

Camilla breathed deeply. “I didn’t think we would be able to pull that off. What do we do now?” “We do nothing.” she scrunched her brows in confusion. “You continue your duties as usual.” “You have got to be kidding me. How do you expect me to pretend like nothing is wrong when we have a vampire on the loose? They might attack again. They have probably already attacked again.” “I know. We need to avoid suspicion. The elders will be looking at us now. Just keep doing your thing. | will go to the library in my spare time and find everything | can on vampires.” She frowned. | wasn’t fooling her that easily. “| want to help. You can’t stop me from helping.” “I'm not stopping you from helping, | am trying to keep you safe. Focus on your training. You will be able to help that way.” She pursed her lips and | knew there was more that she wanted to say but the truth was that it didn’t matter. She could have given me all the excuses in the world and | still wouldn’t have agreed.

| placed a kiss on her head. “I can handle this, trust me.” “| do trust you,” she murmured before sighing. “I'll let this slide just this once.” | watched her walk out of the council room. | waited until she had left before | grabbed the nearest bottle of ink. | needed to write to Damien.

| told him briefly what was happening and asked for the names of the packs where the rumors started. | knew it would take at least a day or two to get the letter to him and another day or two to get a response. | sealed it with wax to ensure that no one could read the contests before taking it personally to the office of the people responsible for correspondence.

“Your majesty,” they bowed. They looked shocked to see me and | didn’t quite blame them. | had never willingly walked into this place before. “Is there anything we can help you with?”

| handed the letter to the man closest to me. “Ensure that this gets to my old pack as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence.” | could see the curiosity etched on their faces but they couldn’t ask any questions. They bowed and rushed off to do as | had asked. | didn’t wait to ensure that they did what | asked- | knew they would and | had more important things to handle. | needed to find the general library.

| knew where the normal one was but | had a feeling that there was another- there was always another. A place where they kept the older texts that they didn’t want people knowing about. | didn’t know where it was but | knew someone who might.

“Christine, are you there?” | called out down the mind link and it took a second for her to respond.

“Yes, sorry. If you're worried about Aurora, she is out like a light. Camilla came here a while ago and she is watching over her.” “It isn’t Aurora, | need your help. I'm in front of the palace library.” She didn’t say anything for the next second. “I'll be there right away.” True to her word, she appeared in less than five minutes. | could see the confusion and unease on her face as she made her way over. She was trying her best not to look like she was in a hurry and if not for the fact that | knew her as well as | did, she would have deceived me too.

She came to stand next to me and we both turned to face the doors. | waited for the guards behind us to walk past before | spoke. “Is this the only palace library?” “That’s a weird question,” she answered immediately. “Is there a particular reason for it?” “| don’t have the time to explain things, Christine. | need you to answer me truthfully. Is this the only one? Lives could be depending on your answer.” “No,” she answered after a beat of silence. “But you already knew that, didn’t you? You’re not stupid, Ryker and neither am I. | was told about the man in the woods before you were. If | am going to be honest with you then you have to award me the same decency.”

| knew she was right and | also knew that | couldn’t do this without her help so | sighed. “It’s vampires. | need access to the other library to see what | can learn.” “What do you mean by vampires?” she whisper yelled. “Do the elders know? Do the people know? How bad is it?” “| don’t know,” it pained me to admit but it was the truth. “What | do know is that right now, | need access to that library and | need it as soon as possible.” There was shock and confusion on her face along with a million questions but instead of asking them, she nodded. “Come with me.”

Chapter 94 CAMILLA'S PO.V | didn’t see Ryker for the rest of the day and | honestly thought | would be grateful to not do the extra practice session with him but | found that | actually missed it. | went looking for him around the entire palace and even asked a few guards if they had seen him but no one could tell me anything. | ended up retiring to my room in the hopes that he would come to bed while | was asleep.

By the time | woke up the next morning. | knew he hadn’t come to bed. His side of the bed was still neat and cold. | tried to search for him for as long as possible before training but it was as if he had disappeared into thin air. Christine was too busy helping me with Audrey for me to ask and right after training, | had to spend over an hour trying to calm Aurora down because she just wouldn’t stop screaming.

It was almost noon when she calmed down and | was already at my wits end. Christine offered to help me with her while | went ahead with my work but | knew that if | put her down, there was a huge possibility that she would start screaming again. | balanced her in one hand and went to my office to finish up some paperwork. It was hard trying to do that with a child in my arms but | managed.

It took twice as long as it should have and by the time | finished, | was exhausted. Aurora was passed out in my arms and | had planned to go into my room to relax when one of the elders approached me saying they needed to meet with Ryker and I. | couldn't tell them that | didn’t know where he was so | made up an excuse about him being busy and followed them.

| could see the relief on their faces when they saw that | was alone. It should have annoyed me that they feared Ryker more than they respected me but | didn’t quite mind. It was the life | lived and it served me well on a good day. | sat down at my usual spot but it felt different without Ryker’s steady presence next to me. | squared my shoulders and plastered on my stoic expression as | faced them.

“We delivered the news of the curfew today,” one of the elders began. “The people are murmuring. They will not be held down like this for long. We need to come up with a more permanent solution.” “What do you suggest then?” | asked and there was an awkward silence.

“You are the Queen, your majesty, it is your jo to come up with these things,” his tone was condescending. He spoke like | was a child that needed explaining to. “Our duty is to help as best as we can but ultimately, we cannot make the decisions for you.”

“That sounds very convenient,” | shifted in the chair when Aurora began to stir. “I'm not asking for a solution from you, | am asking for suggestions. You kept it a secret for so long so | assume you thought about potential outcomes. That is within your job description, isn’t it?” | was tired of dealing with them. | decided to play on the same cards that Ryker used yesterday. | knew | wouldn't be as good at it as he was but | figured it would be enough to leave majority of the brainstorming to them. They cast wary looks at each other but neither of them spoke. | knew | had trapped them in a tough position where they could either admit that they were slacking on their jobs or they could think of solutions for me.

“Your majesty, with all due respect, this is all very last minute” one began.

“| am sure that gives you an idea of how | feel about this then. | will leave you to the thinking. In the meantime, pacify the people. Divert their attention to something else. Do not make them feel trapped. Everyone will love a cage if it is presented as a gift. Make them feel safe and get me the names of the two other people who went missing.” There was a brief moment of hesitation and | knew there was something

they weren’t saying. “What is it?” “Someone else went missing.” My first instinct was to scream but the sleeping infant in my arms reminded me that | couldn’t do that instead, | focused on breathing calmly and | crossed my hands over my chest. “Why am | just hearing about it now? Who is it?” “He is a homeless man. The only reason we know about it is because there is a guard who takes food to him every day. He realized the man hadn’t been there for a few days. We have it under control.” “That doesn’t explain why | was not told.” “It happened last night but we couldn't find you. We assumed it wasn’t important. Especially since it was a homeless man.” “That was not your decision to make.” “Pardon me, your majesty but it is hard to know what you take seriously when your mate isn’t even here for the meeting. You are always busy with one thing or the other and you never treat this council room with the respect that it deserves,” his voice rose and Aurora whined from her spot in my arms.

“Lower your tone elder,” | narrowed my eyes at him. “You will not wake my daughter.” “A council room is no place for a child,” he all but yelled. “You were not raised in the plaace and you do not know the ways of the palace. You are a ong step away from being the Queen that your mother was and you will not get there if you keep treating this room with contempt.” While he was speaking, the door to the council room opened and Ryker walked in. he was in fresh clothes but | could tell that he was not well rested. | was relieved that he was there because | was certain that conversation was destined for a downward spiral.

“Get up,” Ryker ordered and for a second, | thought he was talking to me but his eyes were fixated on the elder who had spoken.

He tried to look brave but | could see the undercurrent of fear in his eyes. It was general knowledge that Ryker did not shy away from confrontation, that was my job. Where | was gentle, he was fierce and he never tolerated disrespect from anyone, especially when it was directed at me. The elder rose to his feet. and Ryker slowly made his way over to him.

“Repeat those words,” his voice was deceptively calm but everyone could smell the storm brewing. When the elder didn’t speak, Ryker grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Is there a problem elder?” The elder shook his head. “Not at all, we were just talking.” Ryker smiled darkly.

“If you ever speak to my mate like that again, you will lose your tongue. If you cannot respect her as your Queen then respect her as my mate.” He pushed him away harshly then turned to the others. “That warning goes for all of you. If you disrespect her again then | will personally make sure that immensely. Is that clear?” you suffer They were quick to nod. Ryker ignored them and quietly took Aurora from my arms. Thankfully, she hadn’t woken up. He helped me up to my feet and we walked out of the council room together.

He waited until we were out of the council room before he spoke. “You need to defend yourself, Camilla. | can’t always protect you from them and they need to respect you for you and not because they are scared of me.” “| know that,” | mumbled under my breath. “I just don’t know how to.” “You're going to have to learn, Camilla. This is your kingdom and until you start acting like you own it then no one is going to treat you like Queen. Those men in there respect power and authority. You need to show them that you have it and you are here to stay. Do you understand me?” | knew he was right but that didn’t mean that | had to like it. | decided to change the subject instead of answering. “Where were you yesterday? | searched for you everywhere.” He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I was in the library but | lost track of time and | fell asleep. By the time | woke up, it was almost noon. | rushed over as quickly as | could.” | narrowed my brows in confusion. “I checked the library last night. It was one of the first places | checked when | realized that you were missing.”

He looked around to make sure no one was listening before whispering. “Come with me.” We put Aurora to rest in her room first before Ryker led me towards the stairs. | had no idea where we floor were going but | knew he wouldn’t hurt me so | decided to trust him. He led me towards the top which was mostly unused. The only room that had been occupied in the last century was my father’s room. | had never been in there and | wasn’t sure | ever wanted to.

Ryker led me past what used to be his room to a large and elaborate tapestry. He looked around to make sure that we were alone before pulling at one of the edges and to my shock, it opened to reveal a narrow hallway. | turned to Ryker in confusion.

“How many secret passages does this palace have? Were you exploring the tunnels?” “This isn’t a tunnel. You have to go in.” | hesitated at the mouth of the hallway. “How did you even find it?” “Christine showed it to me,” | was shocked. | had asked Christine where Ryker was and she just shrugged in response. | opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off. “I made her promise not to tell you so you didn’t demanding to help me. Just come in and see.” end up | huffed and made my way into the narrow hallway. | kept both hands on the wall to guide myself but it was more of Ryker’s hand on my back that led me. The hallway wasn’t as long as | expected it to be. Within minutes, we were standing in front of what had to be the largest library | had ever seen. My mouth fell open in shock and | turned to Ryker.

“What is this place?” “Welcome to the secret palace library. It has everything on anything including forbidden texts.”