CHAPTER 25
I pulled ofl‘ my dress as soon as I walked in through the doors of the room. I made my way into the large walk in closet and even though it isn’t my first time, I was still stunned as I took in the rows of clothes.
I had just finished putting on a lace nightgown when Zander finally walked into the room. I heard the door click shut and I pretended like I didn’t hear him call out my name softly as I folded my dirty dress and put it in the hamper.
Soon enough however, light filled the closet as he opened and closed the door behind him and made his way over to me. I felt him approach me until he was directly behind me and his body heat was searing into mine through the layers of clothing we had on.
“I’m truly sorry about leaving the ceremony the way I did,” he
whispered and I forced a nonchalant shrug. “I cannot imagine how you felt in the moment but believe when I say that I would never have done it unless it was important.”
“It was about your parents. I cannot imagine how you must have felt in that moment. If it were my parents I cannot say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing.”
The truth was I did understand how he felt. My parents were killed in a rogue attack and if I had a chance to catch the rogue who did it to them I would take it in a heartbeat. I truly understood why he left but it didn’t take away the embarrassment I felt at being left there.
“When everything is calm we will have another ceremony- a much larger one,” he assured me, “It can be like a second chance; you can do
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CHAPTER 25
#FARV
whatever you want and make it as upscale as you would like. How does that sound?”
“It sounds really good.” I admitted and I finally turned to face him.
He sighed in relief when I finally looked at him. “I will probably be extremely busy in the days that are to come. The person who-,” he inhaled sharply as if the words hurt to speak, “The person who poisoned my parents is really smart and crooked. I will need all hands on deck to be able to find him.
“You don’t have to explain yourself to me.”
“I do, he used one of the deadliest poisons known to were kind and he managed-,” he trailed off again and I knew it hurt to speak about it.
“We don’t have to talk about this,” I held his hands in both of mine, “You have had a very long two days and you look exhausted. Come, let us rest.”
He looked relieved that I wasn’t forcing him to speak about his parents. but there was something else, something buried deep in his eyes. I couldn’t decipher what it was and a part of me knew that whatever it was that he was hiding was huge but it had been a long day and I truly was exhausted.
So instead of asking, I allowed him strip down into his underwear which is how he usually slept and I allowed him wrap his arms around me from behind as we both drifted off to sleep.
***:
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When I woke up the next morning, he was already gone. His side of
the bed was cold and I tried to clamp down on the unfamiliar feeling that rose in my chest as I looked at his empty side. I decided not to dwell on it too much and instead focused on getting dressed for training
By the time I got to the fields, training had already begun and as punishment for being late, Helena made me run one extra lap around the field. We were mainly working on weights and although I tried to focus on my workout, my mind kept drifting to other places.
“What is it?” she asked after a while, “You are distracted and until you get whatever answer you want, you will not be able to focus. So ask me what it is that you need to know.
I looked around to make sure no one was eaves dropping before I asked, “What happened to the king and queen?”
She didn’t look shocked by my question, “I was wondering when you would ask about that.” She took a seat next to me on the bench and looked around, “I’m not sure if I should be the one to tell you.”
“Please Helena,” I begged. “They don’t teach us about the royal family back at my old pack and there is no one else I can think to ask.”
“People do not talk about the late king and queen for a reason.”
“I know that, but I need to know what happened to them. All I know is that they are dead.”
I didn’t know if Zander had told her about the poisoning and I knew it wasn’t my story to tell so I refrained from adding that part. She looked at me for a second before sighing.
“The Queen died shortly after giving birth to Ender,” she explained, “They always wanted more children and the physician had told the queen that she would never conceive again after Zander. Ender wast
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their miracle baby and there were some complications in the birth. She passed away before she could even hold him.”
“That is horrible, does Ender know?”
“No. Zander forbade anyone from speaking about it to him. He thinks that his mother died after his birth. It would wreek him if he knew what truly happened,” she grasped my arm, “You cannot speak of this to him.”
“I won’t, I swear.” She swallowed and released me, “What about the king?”
“The king killed himself a few months after the Queen’s death. He could not bear to live without his mate and he died.” She turned to me and looked me dead in the eye as she spoke, “A lycan’s bond with their mate is different than that of a wolf’s.”
“How so?”
“It is not something that can be explained. A lycan bond is stronger than a wolf’s and if a lycan is to lose their mate it would be as if they lost the entire world.”
I was stunned by her words but I still had one more question, “How old was Zander at the time and how did he cope?”
“He was twenty already so he had a lot of contacts. He kept the kingdom together and took his place as the acting king even though he was still prince. He was already well liked so it was easy for people to come to his aid and support his claim to the throne.”
“Was Camilla’s family one of those people?”
She gave me a sad smile as she nodded.
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“They were integral in Zander’s rise to the throne. They are one of the biggest packs in the world and with their support. It was a smooth claim. Camilla and Zander were together at the time and people. thought it was only a matter of time before he made her Queen Luna. That was part of the reason why it was easy for Zander to claim the throne.
“What happened between them?”
“They broke up a year later,” she sighed, “If you want to know more. you will have to ask Zander or Camilla. The details behind their split are between the both of them. Neither of them has told a soul about it and people have wondered for a while.
“Thank you, Helena.” I realized that training was over and we were the last two people.
I started to leave but she held onto my arm, “Zander and Camilla were over a long time ago; you do not have to worry about them. Neither of them have feelings for each other.
I gave her a small smile and slowly disentangled my arm from hers. Everything she told me about Zander and Camilla wasn’t news to me. it was obvious that they had history together but I couldn’t help but wonder what exactly made them split.
If she was integral to his claim to the throne then obviously he wouldn‘ t be quick to discard her and the way she acted around him yesterday was not like someone who was over him. Yesterday, she was trying to make me feel like an outsider when they were together.
Regardless of whatever the truth was, I knew that I needed to find out what happened between both of them.
