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Well, sneaking away would be a lot easier than I thought.
Rhoan
Cerri didn’t know it,but I left a glamoured copy of myself in the kitchen. I left the copy standing at the kitchen window with his fingers between the blinds so he could peer outside at the potential fight going down in the backyard. She was busy, tearing open the cabinets in search of potion ingredients anyway.
The fae that’d attacked and ruined the Pack cookout had left no trace. While that was largely because their bodies turned to dust upon their death, that left me with nothing to throw at the Alpha’s feet other than myself.
Quiet as I could, I went outside. The dark clouds in the sky gathered over the angry couple still fervently arguing under their breath. Occasionally, lightning slammed into the ground near them. Neither flinched, which told me exactly what kind of people they were.
This was the couple that’d killed the previous Pack Alpha, the one that’d hurt Cerri. I owed them for what they’d done, even if they’d killed him to keep the Pack safe. They’d protected my princess in the process.
So, regardless of the electrical storm, I dropped to my knees before the couple and bowed my head in apology. It didn’t feel great. I only wanted to do this for Cerri. She was the only one who deserved me on my knees, but I knew that this would help my princess in the long run.
The devastation on Cerri’s face had been too much for me to bear. One look at the tremble of her lower lip and my resolve slammed into place. There was no way that I would let Beryl win this battle.
“If blame should be placed on anyone, it should be me,” I said to the ground. I lifted my head and met the Alpha’s gaze, a bold move on my part considering that it would have been an open challenge were I a shifter. “I have the ability to sense the auras of those nearby, and the fae went unnoticed even by me. I should have been more aware. Now your pack has to suffer because of my failing.”
Damn, that hurt to say. I’d failed my own court so long ago. They were all but gone because I hadn’t been able to help them the day Beryl took over. It was happening all over again. Beryl had gotten the best of me. The Unseelie Queen proved that I was not the knight that I needed to be. I fell short time and time again.
The storm dragon, Ryder, sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he turned his gaze towards the heavens.
This was it. He would strike me with a divine bolt as proper punishment, like a child of Zeus or some shit.
Even my inner monologue was starting to sound human. I’d spent too much time drinking among them.
“Get off your knees, damn it,” the dragon man grumbled.
He extended a hand down to help me up. Taken aback, I gave him a questioning look. Of course, I was having trouble trusting. These were Cerri’s friends, but this man had turned his back on her in the blink of an eye.
His wife, however, was another story. She still stared daggers at him. When she jammed a finger into his shoulder, she hit him so hard I thought her finger would go right through skin and flesh.
“I didn’t let you run me through so we could abandon our Pack members,” she snapped.
That sentence brought a whole slew of questions that I wasn’t sure I wanted to ask right here and now. Maybe I would ask Cerri later, once we were far away from this squabbling couple.
Ryder’s brow flattened. “Cerri is fa—"
“She’s part of the pack!” Ness howled.
Ryder crossed his arms over his chest.
I saw what was happening. Licking my lips, I prepared myself to jump into the middle of this. “You had an interaction with Queen Beryl, from what I understand. Correct? It left a poison in your heart that you have not yet been able to shake. While I apologize for what you’ve endured, please understand that we’re trying to defeat her so that she may never hurt another soul the way she’s hurt you.”
“I know you’re not working for her.” Ryder gestured to the party and his suspended Packmates. “What I can’t forgive is how you brought your battle into my home.”
“She didn’t do that on purpose, and you know it,” Ness hissed. She put her hands on her hips and stepped around to stand beside me.
All the while, my back was turned. I couldn’t see Cerri working in the kitchen. I’d assumed that since she wanted me with her at all times that she wouldn’t run off. That was my first mistake. I should have known the women in this friend group would have bold and stupid ideas.
Feri hopped into view below me. He stood on his back legs and waved his arms to get my attention. I’d had him watching over Cerri. The fact that he was here and not in the kitchen with her should have been enough to tell me that she’d gone and done something stupid.
“The princess!” he cried out.
Everyone stopped talking and looked down at the furry familiar on the ground.
“The princess has had a lapse in judgement and left the premises!” He clutched the sides of his head as he shook it. “I watched her walk in-between and disappear. Where she went, I do not know, though I worry about the possibilities.”
My stomach dropped. Every time I lost Cerri, she tried to visit Beryl.
