Chapter 57

Celia

My dream of my parents comes to an end when my body jerks forward, a pair of hands quickly catching me before I can fall off of the long backset of the car.

My back aches as soon as I regain consciousness after falling asleep while pressed up against Soren. His cheek is pressed against the top of my head and it has kept me warm throughout the night. A yawn escapes my mouth and I gently push off of him, eyes fluttering open.

When I first fell asleep, it was completely dark outside, but now it is bright as if it is the middle of a new day, one that I was unable to greet with open arms as I usually do. I yawn again and look to the side, noticing Soren staring at me, the corners of his lips barely tugged up into a smile.

“Where are we?” I ask, still deep inside a groggy state as I try my best to stretch out my body just for my hands to hit the top of the car.

I angle my head to the side, my eyes being greeted with an entirely new environment outside of the car than the city that Soren and I originally came from. It is more coastal than anything with white and gray seagulls flying across the bright blue sky.

It is surprisingly calming. I feel at east in the new setting and yet the lingering thought that Bianca and her despicable allies are lurking around every corner that we may pass instantly kills the hope I had of having a somewhat restful time away from the city.

“We are at one of my properties,” Soren responds, yawning on his own.

The soldiers in the drivers and passenger seat get out of the car, mumbling amongst themselves in their own conversation. They are out of their uniforms and are in casual clothing, which I think is to not raise any suspicions with the locals. I watch them with a close eye, wanting to see if either of them try to make a move on Soren and I.

Thankfully, they do not.

“And where is that exactly?” I finally turn to look up at Soren, who runs his fingers through his dark locks of hair.

“Does it matter?” he asks with a tired chuckle, pushing open the car door and slipping outside.

The smell of sea salt from the sea fills my nose. Soren looks inside the car and a small smile spreads across his face. He holds out his hand for me to take, which I do, and he helps me shimmy out of the car.

The first thing I do is stretch my arms out, sticking them up into the air. My back cracks and I crack my neck, feeling my body become as loose as possible after being asleep in such a small space for so long.

I turn and look at the house. It is cute, really, in comparison to Soren’s mansion back home. Instead of having multiple stories, it is just one floor but it makes up for side in its square footage, the length of the home much longer than I thought it would be. It is painted white, although some of the paint has been chipped and is beginning to peel away.

“Is it safe here?” I ask, turning to look up at Soren once he takes his place at my side.

“Yes,” he firmly answers and nods his head. “You can trust me, Celia, you know that, right?”

I hesitate to respond but eventually nod. He nods back and heads towards the door, unlocking it, and heading inside. I turn to look at the soldiers, who are preoccupied with taking our bags from out of the back of the car, and quickly make my way inside, not wanting to draw attention to myself or Soren.

The inside of the home is beautiful. It had recently been cleaned most likely his Beta’s doing, and I follow Soren into the kitchen where a semi-stocked fridge and pantry wait for us.

“Do the Lycans know of our location?” I ask the question that has been burning on the inside of my mind. Soren glances at me and slides a water bottle across the countertop, looking away for a brief moment as if he has to make up an excuse.

“The Duke and your grandmother know, yes, but nobody else does. They are two of three people who knows where we are,” Soren calmly speaks and walks around the countertop.

“My grandmother was awake?” I ask, all of the oxygen leaving my lungs.

I should have said goodbye to her. I should have thanked her for connecting me with the Duke and thanked him as well for all of the help and protection that he has given me so far. He is a true ally — a friend, even — and I could not be more grateful for their help.

“She was awake for a bit, yes, but the Duke is making for sure she gets all of the care she needs,” Soren’s words help me calm down but my heart still aches at the fact that I never got the chance to say goodbye to her. “We all want what’s best for you, including your grandmother.”

My eyes flicker to Soren, his green eyes peering down at me, and I can’t help but feel a small bit of paranoia build up inside my body.

It was not even a couple of weeks ago that I signed a contract stating that I will leave his pack, to permanently depart from his life so he can live one with Bianca instead of me.

To him, I was a constant reminder of what he had to endure while his beloved was away. To Bianca, I was the constant reminder of the replacement Soren had found for her.

It is only after the fact that the Duke’s Lycan artifact, the purple shell, revealed that I am the missing Lycan princess that Soren actually began to outwardly care about me. I do not know if he held any positive affection towards me before it.

So, as expected, I am bound to be paranoid that this is all one big scheme to take the power for himself, power that I never knew I had.

Soren did ask me if I wanted to give our fated mate bond a try, to give our old relationship a chance outside of a contract and have it be rooted inside fate itself instead. Did he say that so he could marry a Lycan noble? Or does he actually want to be with me after all of these years.

“I…I would like to get some rest,” I say, “my body hurts a bit after the car ride.”

Without another explanation, I turn on my heel and walk down one of the two hallways that leads to the rest of the house. As I walk, the lingering question of Soren’s true intentions nips at the back of my mind.

He continues to say that I can trust him, that I can place my faith in his hands and that he will handle the rest, but is that something that I can truly give into? Is this all a game of politics or is he acting out of the love he holds inside his heart?