The Rejected Werewolf Princess

CAMILLA'S PO.V

I left Ryker with Juan and decided to check up on Christine. I knew they would be fine together. I wasn't sure how long they had been running but from the ease in their movements, it seemed like it had been a while. They were going to be fine together so I pushed them out of my mind and focused on my cousin.

I wasn't sure how I knew, I just knew Christine wouldn't be in the physician's quarters anymore and sure enough, she was in her room when I walked in. She was seated up in bed staring at the wall and she didn't even blink when I took the spot next to her. I could only imagine the millions of questions running through her mind at the moment and the worst part was I wasn't sure if I could explain them all to her.

I wasn't sure if she would want me to hold her or not, she had never truly been big on physical contact and although she was getting better with Juan, I still didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She had gone through something traumatic yesterday on what was meant to be the happiest day of her life and she was never going to forget it. We sat in silence for a full minute before she spoke.

"How did he know I was having twins?" she asked. I wasn't sure what I expected to be her first question but that wasn't it.

"He didn't," I began but she turned to me so fast I was scared she would get whiplash.

"Don't lie to me, not today and not about this," her voice was hard. "I heard him and he said babies. I'm not stupid, Camilla, and I deserve to know the truth. I deserve that much after everything that happened."

I let out a sigh. There were only two choices- I could either tell her about Audrey or tell her about Ryker. Neither was something I was particularly interested in doing but she was right- she deserved the truth. I had also promised myself that I would talk to Ryker firs before telling anyone about what was going on with him. It was like asking myself who I was going to protect- my daughter or my mate.

"Audrey drew something," I said finally and surprise was etched on Christine's face because that was clearly not what she was expecting to hear. "It was a family picture and she drew twin babies for you. We didn't want to say anything until we were sure."

"So, Ryker was sure?" she asked and I shrugged. I couldn't tell her that. "I'll get back to Audrey in a second but how did he know that something was wrong?"

"You'd have to talk to him about that. I can't say anything more than I already have."

I could tell that wasn't the answer she was looking for because she let out an exasperated sigh. "Goddess, Camilla, why wasn't I told that all of this has been going on? I still don't know exactly what the hell is going on." "Trust me when I say that I don't either. I am just going with the flow and hoping that I figure something out soon."

She ran her hands down her face. "How did Audrey know? Are her powers coming back?" I nodded and Christine cursed. "I didn't realize. She looks a lot better than she did the last time."

"She said the goddess helps her and sits with her through the visions. I still don't completely understand how that works but right now, I will take any win I can get. I don't have any witches who can lock up her powers again and I don't trust any other witch to bring them herer after everything that happened with Reina."

She nodded in understanding. "I'm still pissed that you kept me out of the loop. Why would you do that? We are a team, aren't we?" I opened my mouth to speak but she cut me off. "If you say that you did it because I am pregnant, I will kill you, I swear it." This time, I couldn't help but laugh. It was part of the reason but it wasn't the full reason. "I just wanted normalcy for a little while. It doesn't seem to be a big issue right now and I am hoping we can keep it that way for now but things seem to be getting out of hand."

"We will get to the bottom of things," it didn't skip my attention that she said the word 'we' instead of you. She thread her fingers with mine and lay her head on my shoulder. "Everything will be fine, it always is in the end. Audrey seems to be doing well and that is more than good enough for me."

I couldn't help but agree. "I have to go, Riley and Damien are leaving today. With everything that has been going on, I don't want to give her any more reason to believe that we hate them."

"Do you want me to come?" she began but I shook my head quickly.

"You need to rest, leave them to Ryker and I, okay?"

She frowned but nodded and once I was sure she wouldn't sneak out of the room, I was gone.

Ryker and Juan were already done with their run by the time I got down the stairs and Riley and Damien were already loading their things into the carriage.

"I thought you would leave later in the day," I said making everyone turn to me. "The day has barely broken and half of the palace is still asleep."

Riley shrugged. There was something different about her, I wasn't sure what it was but I could almost see it. She didn't seem to be carrying any form of anger towards me anymore and there was an ease in her step. Her cheeks were tinged slight pink and I noticed she was avoiding my gaze but I couldn't figure out why.

"I thought it would be best if we got a head start," she mumbled but I knew without a doubt that she was lying. There was more to the story and although I wanted to push, it wasn't the best choice. "I am grateful to you all for having us here, even with everything that was going on and with me being rude to you."

"It is forgotten," I didn't hesitate. I knew that was why she wasn't meeting my eye. Something had happened between yesterday and today and she felt embarrassed about everything that had transpired.

At my words, she turned to me in shock. I could tell she didn't quite believe me but I was telling the truth. I held nothing against her and I couldn't even if I tried. We might not have been related by blood but she was my sister and sisters fought, sisters disagreed, it didn't mean that we ended up hating each other. I wasn't sure I could hate her even if I wanted to.

"Thank you,” she whispered and I pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around me and we stayed there for what felt like hours. I didn't move until she pulled away first.

I saw her wipe a stray tear from her face before turning to Ryker. While they were talking, Damien made his way over to me.

"She needed that," he whispered. "She had been beating herself up all night thinking you were pissed."

"You're family," I said simply. "I wasn't going to hold one disagreement against either of you. You are more than welcome here anytime you want."

"I think we will hold off on that invitation for a while," he joked before pulling me into a hug.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Once the goodbyes had been exchanged, I watched them get into their carriage and ride off. Sometime during the goodbyes, Juan had disappeared and now it was just Ryker and I. The air felt thick with indecision. I knew I had to tell him about last night but I didn't know if now was the right time. He had his arms around me and his chin was resting on my head. He seemed relaxed and in a good mood. Realistically speaking, there was no better time to talk to him.

"We have some time before the girls wake up," he whispered. "We should go back to bed and milk in the rest of our morning."

"We should," I mumbled but I couldn't move.

"Is everything okay?" he asked and I nodded but that couldn't be further from the truth. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. "Talk to me, you've been acting weird all morning. First of all, you are never up this early. What is going on?" "Something happened last night," I began slowly and he sighed.

"I thought we already handled the issue with Christine. I told you what happened and-"

"It isn't about that. This happened after, in our room," I explained slowly hoping that something had changed and maybe he had a sense of what happened but he didn't. “Do you remember when you opened your eyes and saw me in the room? You thought that you had zoned out or something."

He nodded slowly. "What is going on, Camilla?”

"You didn't zone out," I whispered and he stilled. "You were there and you were talking to me but it wasn't you. There was something talking through you. I was talking to the literal embodiment of the magic inside of you."

For a full minute, there was silence and I thought that Ryker was going to laugh or say that I was imagining things but he said nothing and somehow that was worse. I could handle unbelief, I could handle a scoff or a laugh but I couldn't handle the silence because that meant that he did not think I was crazy; that meant that he believed me.

It took a long two minutes before he finally spoke. "We should get back to our room."

"Why?"

"Because you are going to tell me everything and I don't want anyone accidentally overhearing."